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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2019-11 RESOLUTION NO. R2019-11 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, EXPRESSING ITS FULL SUPPORT FOR THE BOND PROJECTS IDENTIFIED, PRIORITIZED, AND PUBLICLY PRESENTED AS BEING INCLUDED IN AND FUNDED BY THE HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT 2018 BOND ELECTION AND REQUESTING THAT HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT PROCEED WITH SUCH BOND PROJECTS; REQUESTING THAT HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT NOT INCORPORATE THE USE OF HUD LOW-TO-MODERATE INCOME CRITERIA TO NOW RE-PRIORITIZE THE HCFCD 2018 BOND ELECTION BOND PROJECTS. * * * * WHEREAS, after receiving permission from the Governor of the State of Texas, on June 12, 2018, the Commissioners Court of Harris County, Texas ("Commissioners Court"), approved an Order calling a special bond election for and on behalf of Harris County Flood Control District ("District") as an emergency election in response to catastrophic damages caused by and resulting from Hurricane Harvey to authorize up to S2.5 billion for flood control projects and future flood protection ("HCFCD 2018 Bond Election Order"); and WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 14 of the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election Order, the Commissioners Court declared its intentions that: "(a) The proceeds of the Bonds shall be used only for the purposes described in the Proposition. (b) The projects undertaken with proceeds of the Bonds will provide benefits throughout the boundaries of the District which coincide with the boundaries of Harris County. (c) The District expects that the projects to be provided with proceeds of the Bonds will include,but are not limited to,those projects described as Bond Projects in the report to be filed by the District with the Court ("Bond Projects"). Bond Projects are also set out as such on the District's website (www.hcfcd.org ...."; and WHEREAS, the Commissioners Court realized that the flood waters from Hurricane Harvey did not discriminate based on income,jurisdictional or political boundaries; and WHEREAS, in Section 14(g) of the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election Order, the Commissioners Court provided "a process for the equitable expenditure of funds, recognizing that project selection may have been affected in the past and may continue to be affected by eligibility requirements for matching Federal, State, and other local government funds"; and WHEREAS,the Bond Projects identified by the District were spread geographically across Harris County and the different watersheds to ensure that all citizens benefited from the Bond Projects -not just those citizens in low-to-moderate income areas as identified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and WHEREAS, between June 5 and August 1, 2018, the District hosted 23 Community Engagement Meetings in each of Harris County's 22 watersheds (plus Halls Bayou, a tributary of Greens Bayou), to gather public input and ideas, and to answer questions about the 2018 Harris County Flood Control District Bond Program; and WHEREAS, in addition to the pre-Bond Election Community Engagement Meetings, the District has been and will be hosting additional Community Engagement Meetings as part of the preliminary engineering process for each Bond Project to gather additional public input for the project before presenting the final Preliminary Engineering Report to the Commissioners Court R2019-11 2 for each project; and WHEREAS, these Community Engagement Meetings and the amount of information provided to the public for the various Bond Projects included in the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election has provided the most transparent process ever implemented in the history of Harris County; and WHEREAS,on August 25,2018,the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election was held,and the bond proposition was approved overwhelming by the public with approximately 86% of voters approving the bond proposition based on the Bond Projects that had been identified and presented to the public. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS: Section 1. That the facts and matters set forth in the preamble of this Resolution are hereby found to be true and correct and are incorporated herein and made a part hereof for all purposes. Section 2. That the City of Friendswood fully supports the Bond Projects identified, prioritized, and publicly presented as being included in and funded by the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election. Since the flood waters from Hurricane Harvey did not discriminate based on income, flood control and future flood protection projects funded by the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election should be provided to all areas and not only to low-income areas. The basic criteria for selecting Bond Projects should be a cost-benefit analysis to assure that the most good is achieved with the bond proceeds that have been approved by the voters. The Bond Projects that were represented to the public as being part of the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election were based on a cost-benefit analysis and distributed geographically throughout Harris County and the different watersheds to ensure that all areas received flood control and future flood protection improvements. Utilizing HUD low-to- moderate income Census blocks now to re-prioritize the approved Bond Projects does not ensure equitable distribution of the Bond Projects or bond proceeds for all Harris County citizens, and Harris County should not incorporate the use of HUD low-to-moderate income criteria to now re- R2019-11 3 prioritize the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election Bond Projects. Section 3. That the City of Friendswood respectfully requests that Harris County Commissioners Court proceed with the Bond Projects as promised to the public in the HCFCD 2018 Bond Election and not incorporate new criteria that would re-prioritize the Bond Projects to benefit low-to-moderate income areas as opposed to all areas regardless of income level. PASSED,APPROVED AND ADOPTED this the 1st day of April,2019. • Mike F. em /. May. ATTEST: IA Melinda Welsh, TRMC ".% City Secretary * . A 0 ...*: OF• R2019-11 4