CROSBY – Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia indicated that he intends to make sure that as long as he represents the Precinct, county services will not go lacking, anymore.
Last Thursday, the Commissioner and former Sheriff addressed a capacity crowd in the office and serving chapel of Crosby Church hosting the Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce Luncheon concerning flood control, roads, and working together with businesses.
Initially, Garcia told the crowd TxDOT will begin work on widening FM 2100 in two phases one to begin early next year and the other later in the year as acquisitions are completed. “The County is ready to contribute its portion,” regarding other sections of that roadway.
“The lack of the flood control area in Harris County and particularly in this area — I am always one to jump on one that is not particularly doing their job — but in all fairness, the Harris County Flood Control District has always had an incredible job to achieve. Their job has been to maintain our tributaries, keep our systems working well, do the filthy, all for an average of $60,000,000 for the entire scope of the county. That is impossible.”
Garcia recalled that in 2004, he went to the Public Works Department of the City of Houston and said he wanted to stop flooding in Harris County and the engineer pointed to a book and said, “There are about $2 billion in projects there. Give me the $2 billion and I can stop flooding.” Garcia indicated that the $2.5 billion dollar Hurricane Harvey recovery bond was a good start, but they needed about that much for the last several years. In the Hurricane Harvey Project, it is going to take about six to ten years to do all of the projects.
“Imelda came to visit us within two years of Hurricane Harvey. I hope Mother Nature will give us a reprieve, but I have made this a principle focus of my time because I know it is what we need.”
At the end of August, Commissioners Court was the scene of a 3-to-2 vote of allocate more revenues to Precinct 1 and 2 to spend on roads and other transportation infrastructure this year at the expense of rapidly growing Precincts 3 and 4. The vote was unanimous to step up projects approved by voters during last year’s bond election, starting on 86 of 105 neighborhood projects in 15 months, starting work before the 2024 hurricane season. The county adopted a “Worst First” formula using eight criteria related to the resilience of communities to external stresses. This move was dubbed “Harris Thrives.”
“Certain areas had been favored and that was where work was going. Folks, let me just tell you, you are all part of Precinct 2 and my commitment is to make sure you feel that and that you see that. We are working to make sure that your county tax dollars are coming back to your neighborhood. We are working to make sure that the entire precinct is part of a broad plan focusing on fundamental things.”
“Street striping contributes to public safety. Too many roadways, especially after a night rain, you can’t even tell what lane you are in.”
“Working with CenterPoint to bring the halogen lighting to bring brighter visibility at night and safety to the community.”
“The Precinct regretfully has a long history of kids that have been killed because we have no sidewalks, no hike and bike trails. So they are navigating the same street that some heavy vehicle traffic is on.”
“We are working with the school districts in the precinct to look at those areas that are closest to the schools so we can protect the public safety of those children in those areas. And then looking at how we can connect the other neighborhoods in the area. We may not be able to do it in all places but we are going to do it in as many places as possible.”
“We want to make sure that dog parks and trails in Atascocita become a part of the Crosby community.”
Lastly, Garcia recognized John Foley of KMCO Inc., and the importance of local business.
“Look, we need those jobs here. We need their contribution to our area and national economy, and I want to work together with you to make sure that we are good neighbors to one another. I would just say that of all the C.E.O.s I have meet, that man right there has my utmost respect.”
Explaining that Foley went beyond expectation to communicate with the county.