HOUSTON – At Thursday’s Harris County Commissioners Court, officials revealed the county will be coming up short on its plans tied to the 2018 $2.5 billion bond focused on flood prevention.
A total of 15 projects that have not yet broken down are closed for now. 26 more projects that have started are being put on hold. The county said 75 projects that are under construction will be completed, but also made it clear that 54 are officially done.
The completion of those under construction will be three to five years, well after the 10 year anniversary of Harvey.
Judge Hidalgo’s take after court, “What we built is not enough?” After Commissioner Rodney Ellis asked, “How much more will we need to complete these projects?”
Tina Peterson, director for the flood control district responded, “We have determined that there is roughly $410 million dollars that would be required to complete the projects that we currently do not have.”
The county is blaming the shortcoming is on 8% inflation. The issue of prioritizing these projects fairly for communities in need is up for debate according to environmental equality advocate Stephany Valdez.
“I just want to say, all of this was really offensive, like watching you all say good job to Ms. Tina - even though the framework was not prioritized, it was not followed they way it should have been. It’s really offensive you all should think about the communities you represent and the way this harmed them,” Valdez said.