The first suggested package for the possible drainage bond includes construction on Hughes Road from Pearland Parkway to the Pearland city limit, funds for Phase 2 of the Hickory Slough Sportsplex and building a new fire station. The Hughes Road construction entails the completion of four lanes and a bridge. This package costs about $44.01 million total.
The second package includes funding for Phase 2 of Independence Park’s construction and a concrete replacement program for the city’s sidewalks, which together cost $31.7 million.
Council Member Adrian Hernandez emphasized the importance of a prospective sidewalk improvement program that could be included in a streets and sidewalks proposition within the bond package.
“It’s [important to give] people a way to get to and from our beautiful parks that we build, and you're not given the sidewalks to get there of course; you got to get in the car,” Hernandez said.
These projects would appear as separate propositions alongside the central element of the bond, which is a list of 14 drainage improvement projects at $105.5 million. If all packages are approved by the council and passed by voters, it would be a total $181.3 million bond.
A city presentation indicated three of the projects would have a “significant” impact on the city’s general fund budget: the Hickory Slough Sportsplex, the new fire station and Independence Park, which would each have a recurring cost of $487,165, $1.8 million and $243,006 respectively. Each project would come with a one-time payment as well.
Council Member Alex Kamkar criticized the proposed additions to the drainage bond, saying the additional packages did not undergo the same committee evaluation process that the main drainage items received.
Mayor Kevin Cole said the projects would be divided into streets and sidewalks, parks, and public safety propositions on the ballot. The council is signaling it is likely to call the bond at the next Feb. 13 meeting, which is the deadline for calling the bond for a May 6 election.
“I stand like others: I think we put [the propositions] in,” Cole said. “We break it up, we do different propositions, it gives people an opportunity to weigh in on their particular interest: May be all, may be a portion, may be none of it.”
