Council Agenda for May 30
It's been a while since I've looked at a City Council agenda, but thanks to Tom Bazan, I saw that the latest one has quite a few interesting items in it.
First is something that caught Tom's eye:
4. RECOMMENDATION from Director Building Services Department for approval of final contract amount of $2,429,031.86 and acceptance of work on contract with CARRERA CONSTRUCTION, INC for Sylvester Turner Park fka West Little York Park, WBS F-504B02-0002-4 - 21.20% over the original contract amount - DISTRICT A - LAWRENCE
Twenty-one percent over budget! Love how government operates. Instead of telling a contractor that they have to work within the accepted contract, and any cost overruns have to be eaten by the contractor, the city gives them more money. Any contractor that accepts city work should be expected to do its own homework to determine if a contract is reasonable when it is approved and accepted. Now imagine the cost overruns for Metro's rail lines and the Dynamo's soccer stadium.
We are still unclear why the City of Houston should be in the subsidized housing business, but it's a priority of Mayor White, so next up are items 39 through 45:
39. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing agreement between the City of Houston, WHITNEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION and TEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $700,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of ten (10) affordable homes - DISTRICT H - GARCIA
40. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing agreement between the City of Houston, WHITNEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION and AVENUE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $700,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of ten (10) affordable homes - DISTRICT H - GARCIA
41. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing agreement between the City of Houston, WHITNEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION and GUIDING LIGHT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $420,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of six (6) affordable homes - DISTRICT D - EDWARDS
42. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing agreement between the City of Houston, WHITNEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION and RE-WARD THIRD WARD to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $700,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of ten (10) affordable homes - DISTRICTS D ‑ EDWARDS and I ‑ ALVARADO
43. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing agreement between the City of Houston, WHITNEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION and ACRES HOMES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $700,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of ten (10) affordable homes - DISTRICT B - JOHNSON
44. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing agreement between the City of Houston, WHITNEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION and MACSC AND HOUSING, INC to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $210,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of three (3) affordable homes - DISTRICT D ‑ EDWARDS
45. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing an agreement between the City of Houston, UNITY BANK and HOLMES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION to provide a second lien construction loan of Federal “HOME” Funds in the amount of $700,000.00 for eligible costs in connection with the construction of ten (10) affordable homes - DISTRICT D - EDWARDS
The HOME webpage states that "participating jurisdictions (PJs) match 25 cents of every dollar in program funds mobilizes community resources in support of affordable housing." Maybe someone can explain which entity will be paying the matching dollars -- City of Houston (taxpayers), or the partner group listed in each entry.
Finally there's this entry:
60. RECOMMENDATION for supplemental allocation of the following funds for Professional Civic Art and Conservation Administration Services Contract for the Houston Arts Alliance:
· $183,000.00 - Fire Consolidated Construction Fund
· $467,500.00 - W&S System Consolidated Construction Fund
· $369,000.00 - Police Consolidated Construction Fund
· $161,250.00 - Public Library Consolidated Construction Fund
· $187,800.00 - Parks Consolidated Construction Fund
· $140,000.00 - Public Health Consolidated Construction Fund
DISTRICTS B ‑ JOHNSON; D - EDWARDS; G - HOLM; H - GARCIA and I - ALVARADO
TAGGED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WISEMAN
This was Item 3 on Agenda of May 16, 2007
Ultimately the recommendation will pass, but we love that Addie Wiseman asks questions about agenda items.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/26/07 08:14 AM | Print |
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