Houston City Council confirms new public works director

Houston held its monthly City Council meeting, with the agenda focused on the adopting the annual budget, including the capital budget for Fiscal Year 2023.

Mayor Virgie Thompson added that looking over the Senate budget that has recently been approved, there were no amendments that included any City of Houston Capital Improvement Projects to make improvements. She encouraged council members to “move forward, be creative and do what we can to work towards the city’s goals, one of which remains infrastructure, and remained hopeful that assistance could be met from the federal or state budgets.”

Thompson said that she does not know what that will look like from the state, with one possibility discussed that could address municipalities that have lower annual budgets and work with those cities on some type of matching grants instead of large batches (of money). Mayor Thompson noted the importance of staying on top of how and when the federal money from the Infrastructure Bill signed by President Biden earlier this year and disseminated to the states will become available, and what it will look like for Houston.

Another item up for discussion was Resolution 22-08 which would extend conditional use permit of property along the Parks Highway in which Coalaska, Inc. is doing business as QAP, the applicant. Talk centered on this being the company’s 2nd extension, and it was suggested instead to take termination action on the permit, citing city code that states conditional permit has exceeded the time period. Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson stated that he had previously objected to this permit as there had been nothing done with the property “I stated in 2018 that this is a valuable piece of property that needs to be used.”

Thompson agreed that there hasn’t been activity there in a long time and was unsure of the company’s justification for the extension request. She also said that there is a need for QAP to address these questions and address their intention for the land.

The land in question had been used as a gravel pit for the company which has done road projects throughout the Borough. However, questions persist about how much gravel is even available on the land, and given that the company sought a permit for a second gravel pit, Mayor Thompson and Deputy Mayor Wilson raised concerns.

“When they (QAP) had applied in 2018, it was under the impression that there would not be enough gravel for them to mine or do anything with, that’s why they have the new (pit),” said Mayor Thompson.

Ultimately, the request was set to a public hearing on June 9, giving Houston Public Works and QAP time to confer and get clarification for the council before the resolution is considered for approval.

Other items of note included the confirmation appointment of George Thompson as the city’s new Public Works Director, who is not related to Mayor Thompson. Of great concern to the council and residents is the condition of many of the roads in Houston, and response to repairs and work. Mr. Thompson stated he had already driven many of the roads and had identified areas that will need attention, although funding will remain an issue.