A preview of the 2016-17 fiscal year budget for the city of Jersey Village May 16 and 18 featured discussions on flood mitigation between staff, council and residents.
Due to flooding in the area in late April, flood recovery became a major topic of conversation. Residents at the May 16 regular City Council meeting used the public comment period to provide feedback on what needs to be done. The May 18 budget workshop was dedicated entirely to flood mitigation.
City Manager Mike Castro suggested putting out a request for quotation to bring on an engineering consultant to examine flooding in the city and work toward tangible long-term solutions.
“That would provide us with an idea of where we fit relative to what has happened before,” Castro said. “We can take a large subset of ideas and look at what has the greatest promise and gives us the most bang for the buck.”
The workshop also gave the council an opportunity to discuss how residents can be more involved in providing feedback. A group of residents led by 38-year resident Fred Ziehe attended the talks and offered support for bringing on an engineering firm but urged the council to make more of an effort to take citizen voices into account.
“I have been involved with a talented, diverse group of citizens in the last few weeks [who] have identified specific items that need to be addressed and rethought,” Ziehe said. “I believe this citizen group concept could provide valuable assistance to the City Council and [the Harris County Flood Control District] in mitigating flooding.”
Mayor Justin Ray suggested putting an item on the June 20 city council agenda to put out an RFQ for an engineering consultant. City staff would then review the applicants and recommend a firm to the council at a later meeting.
The council plans to allow a citizen group composed of Ziehe and three to five other residents to collaborate with the engineer during the study. It will also host a separate meeting for the engineers to respond to citizen concerns.
Some residents also called for a procedure by which the council can systematically provide updates on what they are doing to mitigate flooding. Several residents suggested a blog on the city’s website.
Some mitigation concepts would require working together with HCFCD, such as making improvements to White Oak Bayou, while the city could look into other concepts on its own in future budgets, such as improving street drainage or detention capabilities at Jersey Meadows Golf Course. No specific solutions were finalized at the May meetings.
Reflections and planning
Castro’s budget presentation at the May 16 meeting also provided an update on this year’s budget and a preview of the 2016-17 budget, which could be adopted in September.
Expenses and revenue are both tracking with projections, Castro said. Property tax revenue is up 4.6 percent, and sales tax revenue is down 1.1 percent. Castro said he expects sales tax revenue to see a steeper decline in coming years—as much as 8-10 percent—for reasons related to Hwy. 290 construction.
“Once we get into active construction in the main commercial areas of Jersey Village, I expect that number to fall,” he said.
Projects under consideration in 2017 include carrying out the city’s traffic calming projects to address speeding and cut-through traffic, making improvements to the Jersey Village Civic Center, purchasing a street sweeper and developing a Jersey Meadows Golf Course marketing plan.
Castro also discussed the city’s comprehensive plan, which was updated in February, and what initiatives the city can move forward with in the next budget. He recommended looking into a city branding initiative as well as starting on a code enforcement review. Other priorities under consideration include a landscaping master plan and a study of the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
