January: Pearland, Friendswood aim to mitigate flooding, incorporate recreational space
There were several drainage projects throughout Pearland and Friendswood that broke ground or finished up in 2021, and there will be more in 2022.
Both cities will take on projects this year that are designed to help mitigate flooding issues, but there is also a different aspect Pearland and Friendswood officials said they look to include: incorporating recreational and green spaces with these projects when possible.
February:
Pandemic worsens mental health of Pearland, Friendswood area
Since the pandemic hit the Houston area in March 2020, bringing with it limited socialization, an economic downturn and a state of uncertainty, mental health has deteriorated for many Pearland and Friendswood patients, mental health providers said.
Mental Health America’s 2022 key findings, which use 2021 data, organized each state and Washington, D.C., based on mental illness prevalence and access to mental health care. Texas ranked 27th overall but was fourth in terms of prevalence of mental illness and 51st—the lowest possible—for access to care.
School districts tackle special education ratings
The Texas Education Agency released in December its annual Texas Academic Performance Report, which grades school districts across the state in different sectors, including a determination status for special education programming.
The TAPR showed while Pearland ISD improved its determination status, Alvin ISD remained at the same rank as the year prior.
March:
Pearland gears up for potential flood bond program
The city of Pearland has started the process of considering a future drainage bond package, which would be the city’s first bond program since 2019 if it is approved.
Pearland City Council at its Feb. 14 meeting opted to not pursue a stormwater utility fee that would have gone to voters in May’s ballot, which would have been one way for the city to gain funds for needed drainage improvement projects.
Foster children without placement rises across Brazoria, Galveston counties
The number of children without placement in the Texas foster care system has skyrocketed over the last two years, increasing by more than 1,100% since October 2019, according to data provided by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
According to DFPS officials, individuals in the state’s foster care system receive a “child without placement” designation, or CWOP, when the state cannot find a suitable and safe placement for that child, requiring the DFPS to provide temporary emergency care until a placement can be secured.
April:
Businesses adjusting to changing economy
It has been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and Pearland and Friendswood business owners said they continue to feel the effects on supply chains, inflation and labor shortages.
Additionally, the ongoing conflict in Europe caused by Russia invading Ukraine in late February has added a new variable that has caused fuel prices to rise, experts said.
Opioid overdose deaths continue to rise due to pandemic, fentanyl
Opioid overdose deaths have risen in Texas since the pandemic began in 2020, but officials with Galveston and Brazoria counties said initiatives have been implemented during the pandemic to help prevent a dramatic increase in opioid-related deaths.
Information from the Texas attorney general’s office indicates in 2020, drug overdose deaths had increased by around 32% from the previous year, driven primarily by opioids. Additionally, provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics has shown reported opioid overdose deaths nearly doubled in Texas from January 2019 to January 2021, and there was an additional 30% increase in deaths from October 2020 to October 2021, the most recent data available.
May:
Friendswood looks forward to incoming development
The city of Friendswood is expected to see unprecedented development in the next five to 10 years, Friendswood Mayor Mike Foreman said, with a majority of it occurring downtown.
The downtown area will have three new developments complete by 2024: one broke ground in April, a second will break ground this year and a third will begin in 2023. One of the developments is a 30-room boutique hotel, named the 161 Project, which will be the first hotel within Friendswood city limits and will function as its own community with apartments, office space and retail space, said Brett Banfield, co-owner of Banfield Properties, which is developing the 161 Project.
Pearland to govern short-term rentals
The city of Pearland will soon regulate and collect hotel occupancy taxes from anyone operating a short-term rental property, which can be found on vacation rental websites, such as Airbnb or Vrbo, within city limits.
Pearland City Council at its April 11 meeting passed an ordinance establishing requirements and regulations to operate short-term rentals within city limits. The ordinance is the culmination of an odyssey among residents, council members and city staff.
June:
Medicaid expiration may put enrollees at risk
When the coronavirus pandemic emerged in March 2020, the U.S. government issued a requirement that states could no longer kick people off Medicaid during the public health emergency. The purpose was to prevent people on Medicaid—a government-run health care policy—from being left without insurance.
That requirement is still in place two years later, but health care advocates in Texas and Houston said they are worried about what could happen when it ends and millions of people have their safety nets put into jeopardy. The Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, estimated as many as 1.3 million Texans could be deemed ineligible for Medicaid once the public health emergency ends.
Pearland becoming destination for health-related industries
The city of Pearland has become an attractive destination for multiple medical-related businesses, including providers, manufacturers and research companies.
Since 2015, companies like Lonza, Memorial Hermann and HCA Houston Healthcare have opened facilities along or near Hwy. 288 in Pearland.
July:
Local officials fight for reform as property values skyrocket
Homeowners across Pearland and Friendswood are seeing property values shoot up this year, and the problem has gained the attention of local officials who want to reform the home appraisal process.
Cheryl Johnson, the elected tax-assessor collector for Galveston County, said she is working alongside Galveston County Judge Mark Henry and state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, among others, to convince lawmakers to provide property tax relief to Texans in the upcoming legislative session, which will begin in January. As tax-assessor collector, Johnson helps determine and collect taxes.
Food banks see growing demand during inflation
As prices for grocery store items, gasoline and other necessities rise and businesses struggle with supply chain issues, food banks near the Pearland and Friendswood area said they are seeing high demand and dealing with other challenges in how they provide meals to those who need food assistance.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, 10.9% of residents in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area reported being food scarce at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic between April 23-May 5, 2020. Between Oct. 28-Nov. 9, 2020, local food scarcity peaked at 21.4% and has since fluctuated, dropping to 11.3% between March 30-April 11 this year.
August:
School districts focus on safety in coming year
Pearland, Alvin and Friendswood ISDs are reassessing security protocols at their campuses in response to the May shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
The three school districts, along with those across the state, are undergoing several measures, including safety audits, updating lockdown protocols and upgrading security equipment in an effort to make their campuses safer in advance of the 2022-23 school year.
Pearland ISD looks to correct declining student attendance, enrollment caused by pandemic
As enrollment declines, Pearland ISD and districts across the state aim to increase the percentage of students who show up to class by focusing on teacher retention and other strategies.
The Texas Education Agency has seen declining enrollment and attendance rates across school districts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to TEA officials, in a written statement provided in an email.
September:
Drought, extreme heat ease, but effects could linger across counties
Pearland and Friendswood are two of many communities across Texas that have been hit with an intense drought and record-breaking heat this summer.
Due to a lack of rain and persistently high temperatures, parts of Brazoria and Galveston counties have been in a D3, or extreme, drought since mid-June, according to standards set by the U.S. Drought Monitor, run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other groups. This is affecting everyone from residents to cities, some of which had to enact drought contingency plans to conserve water.
Pearland officials hope 32/30 ending puts water issues in past
After nearly four years, the city of Pearland is looking to put the water billing issues that necessitated the 32/30 plan in the rearview mirror.
Pearland City Council at its July 11 meeting adopted the option to move away from the 32/30 plan—a system by which the city’s water customers are billed every 30 days for 32 days of water use—and instead make water customers catch up to the missing payments sooner to end the latency in water billing revenue two months ahead of schedule.
October:
Pearland, Friendswood budgets address challenges during time of inflation
With another fiscal year behind them, both Pearland and Friendswood’s city councils in September passed their respective fiscal year 2022-23 budgets.
Pearland’s budget includes increases to both water rates and trash pickup rates along with raises for employees and funds to hire new personnel, including firefighters. It also includes a tax rate decrease compared to FY 2021-22.
New guidelines cause unprecedented surge in rejected mail-in ballots
Mail-in ballot rejections have greatly increased across the state since Senate Bill 1 went into effect Dec. 2, 2021, jumping from 0.08% mail-in ballots rejected in the 2020 presidential election to 12.4%, or 24,636 ballots, in the March 1, 2022, primary elections, according to Texas secretary of state data.
In south Houston counties during the primaries, Brazoria County rejected 5.71% of mail-in ballots, or 135 ballots, and Galveston County rejected 12.37%, or 435 ballots.
November: Short-term relief on the horizon for federal student loan borrowers as tuition costs rise
As the cost of higher education continues to rise with more students relying on federal loans to pay for their degrees, short-term relief may be on the way for former college students struggling to get out of debt, while questions remain surrounding a long-term solution.
Adjusted for inflation, the average annual cost of attending a four-year college full time—including tuition, fees, room and board—in the U.S. has risen from $10,231 in 1980 to $28,775 in the 2019-20 school year, a roughly 180% increase, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
December: City of Pearland raises water rates to fund sweeping improvements to infrastructure
Pearland residents will see increases in their water bills in 2023 and likely the following years as the city moves to spend $535 million to upgrade its water and wastewater infrastructure.
The water projects, which will be completed over the next one to two years, are some of the largest construction projects in Pearland history. They include a new surface water treatment plant and expanding the John Hargrove Environmental Complex Water Reclamation Facility, or JHEC.
