Less than a month since the May 4 election, League City is working to make improvements across the city. The League City City Council on May 28 unanimously approved three separate agenda items to begin design work on drainage projects in different subdivisions. LJA Engineering will design drainage projects in the Bay Ridge neighborhood for $260,500 or less; Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam will design flood-mitigation projects in the Oaks of Clear Creek neighborhood for no more than $250,000; and Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. will design projects to improve drainage in the Bay Colony and Dove Meadows neighborhoods for no more than $255,500, according to city documents. The projects will be funded through bonds League City voters approved during the May 4 election. About $73 million in bonds will go toward drainage projects, and about $72 million will fund mobility projects. Bay Ridge resident Marika Fuller said during public comment she would like to see the first phase of projects done in 60 days instead of the projected two to three years. “Let’s give them a little bit of a time crunch,” she said. “If we’re gonna give them $250,000, they better deliver, and they better deliver fast.” Some council members agreed the lengths for design and construction for some projects were too long. “The timetables have got to be condensed down to as quick as you can get them done,” Mayor Pat Hallisey said.
The city has begun pre-construction work for mobility projects included in the bonds. League City City Council in March approved a design contract for the $11.2 million Grissom Road reconstruction project, and design is almost complete on the $7.7 million reconstruction project of South Calder Road, according to a city press release. City staff is awaiting the results of an environmental review of the $65 million project to extend Landing Boulevard north to I-45, nearly half of which the Texas Department of Transportation will fund. Staff expects to have a final design contract to present to the City Council by summer, according to the release. Staff over the next few weeks will put together a master timeline for all 21 drainage and mobility projects included in the bonds. Staff will also reach out to neighborhoods that will be affected by the projects, the release reads. Voters also improved a sales tax rate increase of $0.0025 per $1. Under the increase, which goes into effect Oct. 1, League City’s sales tax will be the maximum allowed under state law, similar to many other Bay Area communities.