April 2009 V.P. Report

 

Kossman v. City of Houston Lawsuit Ends.

 

The Houston City Council on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 passed a settlement agreement ending the thirteen year old Kossman v. City of Houston lawsuit.  This lawsuit dealt with the City’s Affirmative Action Division and their MWBE program.  Specifically Mr. Kossman had made a claim of reverse discrimination against the city stating that he had lost work due to the city’s implementation of the MWBE program and asked the court to declare the it unconstitutional. 

 

The settlement agreement, which HCA helped to broker between the two parties, changes the city’s current overall goal of 14% MBE 5% WBE and 3% SBE to a new overall city goal of 14% MBE and 8% SBE.  The WBE aspect of the program was removed and rolled into the SBE segment.  This change in the WBE status was required by the City in order to comply with their current disparity study.  The agreement also recognizes that civil construction goals needed to be separated from the overall general goal and creates individual goals for the different disciplines within civil construction.  These new goals will take effect immediately on all new jobs coming out of Public Works, however it may take a few weeks before we actually see them on the streets.  Here is a chart with the new goals broken out by discipline.

 

		MBE	SBE
PROJECT DESCRIPTION	CIP NOS	GOAL            GOAL
Thoroughfare and Storm	N-0500 - N-0800	7	10
Sewer Relief
Neighborhood Street	N-300 - M	9	7
Reconstruction
Sidewalks	N-0610	4	9
Overlays	N-1037	13	5
Lift Stations	R-0267	10	8
Treatment Plants	R-265 & R-0572	10	8
Line Work	R-2011	10	8
Water Line Replacements	S-0035	11	9
Large Water Line	S-0900	10	8
Water Tanks	S-0600 & S-61 0	8	3
Plant Work	S-0056 & S-0012	12	6
Rehab Work	- - - --	12	9

 

 

 

The settlement also allows for the continued use of good faith efforts as an affirmative defense for a contractor not hitting the goals and also calls for the city to undertake a new disparity study immediately.  Furthermore, HCA has been asked to assist the City in the selection and criteria processes for the contractor who will perform the new disparity study.

 

HCA has worked hard to see that the interests of the civil construction industry are recognized by the City and to advance the issues that affect our industry.  We feel that this agreement is a positive step forward and through this process, we have improved our relationship with the both the Affirmative Action and Legal Departments. 

 

Meeting with Marcotte

 

Representatives of the Houston Contractors Association met with Mike Marcotte, Director of Public Works for the City of Houston and Daniel Menendez, Deputy Director of Engineering and Construction to discuss construction issues.  The primary concern of HCA was the volume of work coming out of the City.  While it was stressed to Mr. Marcotte that with the economy down, now is the time for the City to put out more work.  Mr. Marcotte commented that while he did not have a pot of money that he could reach into, he was aware that the construction prices had dropped and he was working to get as many projects out on the streets as fast as he could.  There was a lengthy discussion concerning the City’s role in the federal stimulus package.  Mr. Marcotte stated that he was not sure how much money would be coming into the Houston area from that program, stating that the projects had to be fairly large, already in the pipeline and with a completed environmental study.  He went on to say that of the estimated $50 million worth of possible projects, only about $20 million will probably be eligible for funding.  Of those, the majority will probably be flood control, detention ponds and drainage projects.  Also concerning the stimulus package projects, HCA asked if the commercially useful function test will be applied to subcontractors since the source of the funding is federal.  Mr. Marcotte only shrugged and said that any contractor who receives one of these jobs should expect audits and that the MWBE specs may not apply in many cases.  For any contractor who is not familiar with the term commercially useful function, it is the new, far stricter standard that a MWBE subcontractor must meet and it is working its way down through the system from the Feds.  Talk with anyone who has done a TxDOT job lately.  Mr. Marcotte also stated that PW&E would be taking a more active role in helping the Affirmative Action Division oversee MWBE participation in construction contracts.  Public Works would do this by monitoring the work progress on jobs compared to MWBE utilization.  Mr. Marcotte stated that they would rely primarily upon the City’s monthly utilization reports to monitor minority participation on projects.  There is no information available on how this is working so far, but we will keep you updated if there are any problems.  HCA is also working with Mr. Menendez to create a committee to clean up the specifications and to standardize forms used by the city.  Stay tuned for more information on that.

 

HCA Web Page

 

The HCA web page has opened up another section to its members.  Now you can see the entire HCA directory on-line in the Members section of the web site.  Just go to www.houstoncontractors.org , click on the members section and enter your user name and password for access to a complete copy of the HCA directory on-line.  User names and passwords should have been sent out to each company’s primary contact earlier in the month, but if you have not received it, call the HCA office at (713) 349-9434 and we will be happy to give you your pass code.  Also check out the on-line calendar for a listing of all our upcoming events.  All HCA events will now have downloadable invitation forms attached to the on-line calendar for your convenience.  Also check out the photo gallery to see shots taken during this year’s events.

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March 2009 V.P. Report

 

MWBE Goals

 

The City of Houston’s Affirmative Action program, specifically their MWBE goals, has become an increasingly hot topic at City Hall lately with department Director Velma Laws feeling the heat from all sides.  At a recent council meeting Velma was targeted by District B Council Member Jarvis Johnson for not being rigid enough in her enforcement of the MWBE goals.  He also stated that he did not care for the use of Good Faith Efforts by contractors as an acceptable reason for not hitting said goals.  Council Members Peter Brown and Ron Green sided with Council Member Johnson and added that they had received multiple calls from constituents complaining about the difficulty companies were having being certified by her division.  All of this is in addition to a host of issues that she is already facing concerning the MWBE program including dealing with the twelve year old Kossman lawsuit, problems with the disparity study, concerns about pass-through contractors being certified and the potential removal of women contractors from the Affirmative Action program has almost every council member asking questions of her department. 

 

At the last MWBE Council Committee meeting, Council Member Johnson went after Ms. Laws and the practices of her department again stating that he wants to see the companies that do business with the City reflect the residents of Houston.  In other words one third black, one third white and one third hispanic, in rough numbers.   Mr. Johnson stated that he believes the last disparity study that found that African Americans are underutilized in the Houston construction job market and said that he wants Ms. Laws to be more rigid in her enforcement of the MWBE goals.  Mr. Johnson didn’t stop there in his call for reform.  He went on to state that he wants to see the MWBE goals pushed higher, stated that he had no faith in good faith efforts and finally challenged the low bid process stating that it put small, minority-owned companies at a disadvantage when bidding jobs.  He said that he wants to see the City take a more active role in overseeing the process and replace the low bid system with a best value bid system.  A best value bid system would allow the city to select a contractor based on a series of preset qualifications and not have to rely solely on low bid.  In response Ms. Laws stated that she would be tightening the good faith effort review process and was looking into the concerns stated by council concerning the certification process to become an MBE or SBE.

 

On a related note, there has been a growing movement on City Council to end the MWBE goals program and replace it with an all small business program like the one at the Port of Houston.  HCA has met with several Council Members concerning this effort and while HCA would support a changeover to an all SBE program we are also warning council that any goals above 20% for civil construction projects, whether they are for an MWBE or an SBE program are unattainable through legitimate means.  I will keep you updated as this issue progresses.

 

State of the County

 

Judge Ed Emmett gave the State of the County presentation recently stating that despite the nationwide economic slowdown, Harris County is solid.  Judge Emmett stated at the event that the 2009-2010 county budget would be before commissioner’s court soon and that it should total approximately $1.7 billion in expenditures.  According to the Judge this reflects a 7% increase over last year’s budget.  Judge Emmett noted that 71% of all new jobs created in the United States were done in Texas, and that the majority of those new jobs were in Harris County.  The Judge did stress however that the county can no longer do things the way they used to do them.  The Judge stated that there were several issues that are driving county politics to change its practices not the least of which are the changing demographics of the county and increasing affluence in the minority communities. 

 

Judge Emmett noted that by 2030 the population of Harris County is supposed to double in size and there are issues that need to be addressed before that happens.  Specifically the Judge urged for the expansion and enhancement of the Port of Houston to prepare it to be a premier international port.  He stated that Houston is perfectly positioned to be the primary port for all South American goods and a growing percentage of the foreign trade with Asia. 

 

According to Judge Emmett another issue that needs to be addressed concerns the aging communities in the unincorporated areas of the county.  These communities have not been annexed by a city and they are beginning to have issues with deteriorating neighborhood streets.  The problem is that neither the MUD districts nor the county are equipped to accept those streets and without a remedy, it will fall to the residents to maintain and repair them.

 

Judge Emmett also stated that transportation and healthcare are issues that also need to be addressed.  Under transportation, the Judge said that he would like to see the completion of Beltway 8 and the widening of US-290.  Judge Emmett stated that he would like to see 290 given the same importance as was done to the expansion of interstate 10.  He also said that a commuter rail line running to that south end of the county is needed and would be an important piece of our transportation plan as the county grows.  Under healthcare, he stated that with all the facilities that are present in the county, we should be a model for the nation, but that we need the help of surrounding counties to help provide more level one trauma care centers for the region.

 

HCA Directory Ads

 

We are about to go to press with our 2009 HCA Membership Directory.  At this time we are offering advertizing space within the directory to our members.  If you are interested in placing an ad in our directory please call the HCA offices at (713)349-9434 to have a request form faxed over to you.  Simply fill out the form and fax it back to the HCA offices at (713) 349-9435 before April 15^th to reserve your spot.  Ads are available in three sizes:

 

1/3 page ad which measures 3 ¼ “ wide by 2 ½ “ tall for $200.

1/2 page ad which measures 3 ¼ “ wide by 4” tall for $400.

A full page ad which measures, 3 ¼” wide by 8” tall for $600. 

 

The ads will all be printed in full color.  Companies can either design their ads themselves or work with our design professional to create your ad.  Design work done by the HCA designer will be billed to the company separately.  Please forward any artwork to jnielsen@houstoncontractors.org.  All artwork must be ready no later than April 30^th.

 

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March 2009 Cover Story

 

HCA Welcomes the Texas Wildlife Association

 

The Houston Contractors Association was happy to welcome Mr. Randy Rehmann, President and Mr. Gary Joiner, CEO with the Texas Wildlife Association as our guest speakers at this month’s luncheon.  According to Mr. Rehmann TWA started 24 years ago as an advocacy group out of South Texas to look out for and assist the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and to advocate for land owners, hunters and hunting rights in general.

 

TWA played a primary role in getting the State to recognize the agricultural and wildlife value associated with raising deer for property owners who do not want to raise cattle.  Today they have a four man lobby team that is in Austin on a daily basis working on their various issues.  Mr. Rehmann noted that water is a recent issue that the TWA has been working on with the legislators in Austin.  According to Mr. Rehmann, when we get water in Texas, it starts on private land.  How that private land is tended to, directly determines whether or not we have any water in the rivers or aquifers.  A recent study funded by the TWA in conjunction with Texas A&M University found that the removal of eight acres of cedar equates to one acre foot of water in an average year.  That is over 300,000 gallons of water.

 

Education is important to the TWA.  The Conservation Legacy program is about wildlife education for adults and their children.  TWA works on getting into the classrooms in public school districts and also taking kids out into the field to experience the real outdoors.  TWA also takes kids hunting through their Hunt Master program.  According to Mr. Rehmann, this is an all volunteer program that teaches kids more than just about hunting or the outdoors, it builds ties between fathers and their sons or daughters and encourages them to spend time together as a family.  Through the Hunting Heritage program, TWA has a state-wide, big game awards program that also recognizes landowners for good land stewardship.  “Without someone taking care of the property and the habitat, you won’t have good animals.” said Rehmann.

 

At this point Mr. Rehmann introduced Gary Joiner to the crowd saying that he worked for the Farm Bureau early in his career and had recently joined the team at TWA.  Mr. Joiner gave a quick power point presentation on the TWA programs.  Mr. Joiner stated that TWA has three primary areas of interest, those being issues and advocacy, conservation legacy and hunting heritage.  All three were briefly touched on during Mr. Rehmann’s presentation.  He stated that TWA is a non-profit organization that represents landowners, wildlife managers, conservationists, hunters and anglers.  Much of TWA’s energy goes into working the legislature in Austin.  According to Mr. Joiner working Austin is a lot of playing defense, making sure that bad bills don’t make it through the process. 

Another area that TWA focuses on is emerging issues, education and landowner workshops.  These are workshops designed to provide up to date information and new technology to individuals who are considering the next big issues in resource usage.  Wind turbines and their potential impact on the land and the wildlife are a key example of issues that are discussed.  According to Mr. Joiner these programs reach approximately 1500 individuals annually.

 

Mr. Joiner stated that their conservation legacy program is the education arm of TWA.  The goal of this branch is to achieve new heights in agricultural and natural resource literacy. According to Mr. Joiner they are doing this through adult and youth education and initiatives.  Approximately 25,000 people have been touched by these education programs since 2008.  The Texas Brigade program is an example of one of TWA’s programs.  This is a weeklong camp that allows young people between 13 and 17 to learn species habitat, natural resource science and landowner practices.

 

TWA is also working closely on the Trinity River initiative.  This is a project that stretches from Dallas to Houston along the Trinity River.  They are working with the conservation foundation and the project covers approximately 150,000 acres.  They are also working with the landowners to help them better utilize their properties in order to provide better water quality and quantity to the river.

 

The hunting heritage program takes young people out hunting, sometimes for their first time.  According to Mr. Joiner, this is a family experience.  The time spent on this ranch involves hunter and wildlife education, quality time with the family and develops leadership skills.  This is a volunteer run program and there are typically six or more volunteers per hunt.  Over the last year TWA held over 142 hunts with over 900 hunters, 7,000 participants and 200 landowners involved.

 

The Texas big game awards program is a joint effort between TWA and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.  According to Mr. Joiner, this program is not only about recognizing the large, trophy animals that are taken out each year, it is also about recognizing first time hunters and the landowners.  In 2008 TWA had a 20% increase in the number of entries in this program.  The program recognizes four categories; youth, first-timers, hunters and landowners. 

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Executive V.P. Report

February 2009

 

The Mayor’s Race Rundown

 

February 2^nd was the first day that candidates for city offices could officially begin raising money for their campaigns and many of them are wasting no time, especially those candidates running to replace term limited Mayor Bill White.  So far the list of announced, or soon to be announced, candidates for mayor includes Council Member Peter Brown, City Controller Annise Parker, Harris County Department of Education Trustee, Roy Morales, and Ex City Attorney Gene Locke.  Former Governor Mark White is also rumored to be considering throwing his hat into the ring.  Ben Hall, another former City Attorney was considering a run at the office but has since been persuaded to stay out, and finally Ms. Amanda Ullman of the Socialist Workers Party, as if things weren’t bad enough.

 

The most recent fun that has occurred with the mayor’s race was the potential entry of Former City Attorney Benjamin Hall III.  As of January 29^th Mr. Hall was all set to enter the race even going so far as to have a formal announcement at his downtown law office.  However just minutes before he was to speak, it was reported that he received a call from Gene Locke asking him to delay the announcement.  A week later the two held a joint news conference where Hall announced that he would withdraw from the race and support Gene Locke for the position.  The deal was allegedly brokered by U.S. Representative Al Green and ends the possibility of having two African American, Ex-City Attorney’s on the ballot at the same time, and any chance that the black community’s vote will be split in half.  Hall was also going to have a little trouble because he doesn’t exactly live in the city limits.  Too bad though, from the spectator point of view I think he would have added a great deal of fun to the race.

 

On a short side trip, it was recently rumored that former Kemah mayor and one time Houston mayoral hopeful, Bill King was set to jump back into the mayor’s race if Ben Hall had announced.  Mr. King recently made it official however that he will not be running for mayor in 2009 with a press release earlier this month.  In his statement Mr. King noted that his entry into the race would cause a focus on partisan issues which would not be favorable for his election.  He also stated that he has become aware of some very serious financial issues facing the City stating that “the City is in for some very difficult times over the next several years.”  Mr. King went on to state that the City has made “unsustainable commitments that will financially hobble future generations…”  By that I guess he is referring to the problems with the city pension funds.  Whatever it was, apparently he saw something in the financial documents or the political tea leaves that ran him off, but I suspect it had more to do with Bob Lanier backing Gene Locke and thereby drying up the big business support that he was counting on to finance the race.

 

The trial balloons went out early from the Lanier camp.  I personally got a handful of calls from ex Mayor Lanier employees.  They all started the same, “Isn’t it great, Gene Locke is thinking of running for mayor.”  While I was less than impressed with the blatant spin attempt out of the Lanier camp, the fact of the matter is that Gene Locke will be a formidable candidate for anyone to overcome in the race for the mayor’s seat, especially now that he has quelled the Ben Hall rebellion.  Gene Locke originally came to prominence as the City Attorney under Mayor Bob Lanier, a position that he held for several years before moving on from the City.  He has represented the Port of Houston, Metro and the Sports Authority since then and is currently with the firm of Andrews & Kurth, LLP.  To his credit, Locke is no Lee P. Brown.  While at the City, his legal opinions were always measured and well thought out, he is intelligent and likable.  Not to mention that he has the active backing of Mayor Bob Lanier, that brings with it a stable-full of wealthy backers from the business community.  Ned Holmes is already co-hosting an event with Tony Chase over at Tillman Fertitta’s, River Oaks home for Mr. Locke next month.  Gene Locke will have all the money that he needs to run a successful mayor’s race, he will have the backing of the black community, and a good chunk of the business community to boot and, in my opinion is the man to beat in this mayor’s race.

 

City Controller, Annise Parker is the last major player that is looking to fill the mayor’s seat in November.  Annise officially announced her candidacy on February 2^nd through an e-blast that directed people to a three minute on-line video where she touted her experience and hometown roots.  Ms. Parker enters the race as the most politically experienced candidate in the field having won an at-large City Council seat in 1997 and then being re-elected to that seat in 1999 and again in 2001.  In 2003 she was elected City Controller and easily won re-election to that post in 2005 and again in 2007.  Ms. Parker distinguished herself while serving on City Council as being a leader with a talent for calmly and logically reviewing even the most hotly debated issues.  As City Controller she was able to consolidate the use of City audit authority under her office and not be subject to the approval of the Mayor’s office.  She has used that authority to portray herself as a hardnosed fiscal watchdog of the City’s finances.  Ms. Parker is counting on that reputation to help put her over the top in this race especially with the nation looking at some of the worst financial times in recent memory.  Her time on City Council and as Controller has also garnered her an early advantage in name recognition.  According to the Lake Research Partner poll conducted in January, Ms. Parker has a 50% name ID among likely voters, with 28% saying that they would vote for her if the election was held today.  Granted I am sure that her camp paid for the poll, but that is still a good start and this will be a long race.  One last thing, Ms. Parker is running as the only openly gay candidate for the seat and while this would be a poison pill to most other candidates, Ms. Parker has never hidden the fact that she is gay and has in fact won every election thus far without that playing any part in the outcome.  If you think that her sexual orientation will play into the outcome of this race you are wrong, on that issue she is bulletproof.   The only weaknesses that I can see so far is, can she raise enough money to make it through a runoff and will the public consider her a big enough player to vote for her as mayor.  Only time will tell.

 

Join a HCA Committee Today!

 

Over the years I have heard many different opinions on what member’s think it takes to become part of an HCA committee.  Some think you must be elected to the position, some say it all depends on who you know.  I am here to set the record straight once and for all.  If you want to be part of any of HCA’s working committees all you have to do is ask.  HCA is now accepting members for committee positions, either associate members or contractors.  If you have ever wanted to serve on any of HCA’s committees but were not sure how to begin, then this is your chance.  Simply call the HCA offices at (713) 349-9434 and express your desire to contribute to the betterment of this association.  Sign up now and help make HCA the best association it can be.

 

 

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February 2009 Cover Story

 

HCA Holds Forecast Luncheon

 

The Houston Contractors Association held their fourth annual construction forecast presentation at the January luncheon.  This popular event always draws a large crowd and this year was no exception with an estimated 225 attendees turning out for this the first luncheon of the year.  The attendees got to hear representatives from various regional public entities give their construction projections for 2009.  The list of speakers was as follows; from the Texas Department of Transportation we had the Director of Transportation, Mr. Gabe Johnson, from Harris County Public Infrastructure was Deborah Vaughn, Director of the Architecture & Engineering Division.  From Harris County Flood Control was Construction Department Manager, Gary Zika. Also present was the Assistant Director of Engineering & Future Infrastructure for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, John Tyler. Mr. Tyler was followed by the Deputy Director of Public Works for the City of Houston, Engineering & Construction Division, Mr. Daniel Menendez.  We also had the Director of Public Works for the City of Pasadena, Robin Green, City of Pearland Project Director, Trent Epperson, Director of Public Works for Missouri City, Mr. Scott Elmer and the finally the Assistant Chief Engineer for the Port of Houston Authority, Mr. William Wachel.  There were also reports sent in from Montgomery County and the City of Sugar Land whose representatives were not able to attend, but wanted to be included in the process.

 

Gabe Johnson with TxDOT opened up the program by stating that TxDOT has a total of $873 million worth of lettings for this calendar year, but out of that $270 million is for the Sam Houston Toll way.  Mr. Johnson reminded the crowd that this project would be let and managed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority.  TxDOT’s letting sheet shows seventeen different projects proposed to be let throughout 2009.  Other projects that are worth noting are FM 646 and S.H. 242 and F.M. 1488.  These are pass-through financing projects where local entities pay for the projects initially and then TxDOT reimburses them later.  As with the Beltway 8 projects, these too will be let and managed by the local entity requesting the project.  There will be approximately $380 million worth of projects being let by locals and $493 million by TxDOT.  Mr. Johnson listed out some of the bigger projects that TxDOT will be overseeing starting with U.S. 59 North at $40 million, Beltway 8 north, this is not the HCTRA portion, but has to do with the frontage roads from I-45 to the Hardy Toll Road and will run about $17 million.  S.H. 332 in Brazoria County will be $81 million, S.H. 146 will be $46 million, F.M. 529 the extension of Greenhouse to Fry is estimated to cost $15 million.  The I-10 project in front of the TxDOT offices from Washington to Taylor will be $70 million and S.H. 35 in Brazoria County will be about $30 million.

 

Deborah Vaughn with Harris County Public Infrastructure Division began her remarks by saying that she did not have a specific list of projectswith her today.  According to Ms. Vaughn, Harris County no longer provides a detailed list of projects, but instead she presented a total dollar amount of construction broken out between buildings, asphalt and concrete work.  Ms. Vaughn stated that for buildings they are estimating spending about $45 million for this calendar year.  She noted that most of this construction will appear in the form of upgrades to existing buildings.  On the road and bridge side, the County is anticipating over $111 million worth of concrete projects.  There will also be an additional $32.5 million worth of asphalt road construction.  The total estimated construction for the year is just over $189 million.

 

Gary Zika, Construction Department Manager with Harris County Flood Control stated that they have about $72 million worth of funded work coming out this year.  That work can be broken up into two main parts with $59 million in capital projects with about fourteen projects listed.  Six of those projects, totaling $17 million, are for bridges along Sims Bayou to support the Army Corps of Engineers project there and two more are on the Brays Bayou supporting that Federal project.  There is about $14 million in three basin constructions, one is the Halls Bayou at north 59.  Another is in the Tomball area and there is a small project at the Hill on Sims Bayou.  There are five channel projects for about $28 million.  The other main part is maintenance projects of which Mr. Zika stated that they have about $12 million.  These are smaller projects with 34 different projects making up the $12 million.  $5 million of the funds will be for concrete repair work with two projects on brick house gully and another on the west side of town.  Mr. Zika stated that there are a couple of de-silting projects and then the balance of the funds, about $6 million is spread out across the remaining 27 projects that will average a quarter million dollars each.

 

John Tyler, Assistant Director of Engineering & Future Infrastructure with the Harris County Toll Road Authority stated that they are planning on completing the rest of the Sam Houston Toll way this year.  The bid packages should start coming out in March and according to Mr. Tyler there will be two packages out every two weeks for a total of nine packages.  There is also a Beltway 8 South widening project for $120 million and there will be three contracts let out on that.  From Hwy 59 to 288, HCTRA will be taking a four lane cross section and making it into an eight lane cross section.  Mr. Tyler stated that the bulk of his list is primarily ramp and system improvements.  HCTRA is planning to make dedicated E-Z Tag lanes in most of the ramps and make the lane widths a little wider.  Mr. Tyler also said that they have begun the first stage of extending the Hardy Toll Road into downtown.  The Lorraine underpass project is the first step in that process stated Mr. Tyler.  HCTRA is working with the railroads to relocate their lines and that will make way for the toll road extension.

 

Daniel Menendez, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works for the City of Houston, Engineering & Construction Division stated that he recognized and appreciated the difficult job that contractors perform and thanked us for our service.  Mr. Menendez stated that the City had approximately 95 projects that it would be putting out this year worth upwards of $400 million.  He stated that the jobs are the standard grouping of storm sewer, sanitary, water and roadway projects.  Some of the bigger projects include the reconstruction of Pinemont Drive from T.C. Jester to Ella Boulevard.  The reconstruction of West Little York from Wheatley to T.C. Jester and the Sims Bayou waste water treatment plant improvement project.

Robin Green, Director of Public Works with the City of Pasadena opened by saying that the City will have about $104 million worth of work coming out this year.  All of the projects are funded and the Department is up and running again.  Mr. Green stated that they had lost about two months after Hurricane Ike but that everything is now back on track.  In streets, Mr. Green stated that there would be about $28 million worth of street reconstructions.  These projects cover the paving, drainage, sewer and water and require the contractor to work in the existing right of way.  In drainage, Mr. Green said that there would be about $4 million in projects, all are either slope paving or box culverts.  There will be two new fire stations for a total of about $6 million.  There will also be about $7 million worth of projects in the areas of police and parks and recreation.  In the water and wastewater area there will be about $12 million worth of projects covering new water wells, new water lines, some lift stations and some sewer rehab work.

 

Trent Epperson, Project Director with the City of Pearland stated that they are continuing to work on their $162 million bond package that was passed by the voters back in 2007.  Mr. Epperson is expecting it to be a busy year for construction in the city.  Over the coming year the City of Pearland is expecting to spend about $77 million on transportation projects.  The Magnolia/John Lizer reconstruction project bids this month and is estimated at over $15 million.  There are also two TxDOT managed projects that the City of Pearland is funding, and both go out for bid in February.  The first is the Cullen Rd. (F.M. 865) reconstruction with an estimated cost of $17 million.  The next is the Dixie Farm Road Phase II project that has an estimated cost of $17.8 million.  Mr. Epperson stated that he would also have about $19 million worth of drainage projects, almost $23 million worth of utility projects and $18 million worth of parks and recreational projects for a grand total of $138 million overall.

 

Scott Elmer, Director of Public Works for Missouri City stated that there were a number of projects that Missouri City would be letting this year and they break down into parks, drainage, transportation and utility projects.  Mr. Elmer noted that he is currently going through the design process for the animal shelter renovation.  Mr. Elmer stated that currently Missouri City is working with an engineer on the Mustang Bayou Watershed.  This project is estimated to cost $1.5 million and will cover drainage, channel work, levy work and outfall structures.  Mr. Elmer said that there will also be a project to extend Independence Boulevard which will encompass about a mile of four lane, esplanade boulevard and is estimated to cost approximately one million dollars.  Currently the Turtle Creek reconstruction project is out for bid.  It is about $2.4 million worth of bridge and four lane roadway work.  There are several projects where Missouri city is working with TxDOT on intersection improvements including, Cartwright Road at FM 1092, Glen Lakes at Hwy 6, Lexington at FM 1092 and Hwy 6 at FM 1092.  These projects will include signal reconstruction and additional turn lanes.  The South Gessner reconstruction project should be going out for bid soon with an estimated cost of $5 million.  Mr. Elmer also said that there are a couple of smaller park projects that include parking lots estimated at about $400,000 each.  Bids will be going out in March for $2 million worth of renovations to the Missouri City, City Hall.  Mr. Elmer stated that under utility projects there would be an interim regionalization of the Mustang Bayou Wastewater plant with the coordination of MUD districts 47 and 48 worth about $1.1 million.  Missouri City will also be letting out their Steep Bank Flat Bank Wastewater Treatment plant rehabilitation project that will be valued at $9 million.  The big project however, according to Mr. Elmer will come out this fall, it is a $51 million, 10 mgd surface water treatment plant. 

 

William Wachel, Assistant Chief Engineer with the Port of Houston Authority said that there is about $216 million worth of construction planned for 2009 at the Port.  Mr. Wachel stated that there are several paving projects, paving repair, new construction, wharf repair, bulkhead, painting, rip-rap shore protection, two or three buildings, some security and landscaping projects.  However Mr. Wachel threw in the caveat that all projects are based on the Port’s business conditions and are subject to change. 

 

 

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