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VOL 6 No. 42
FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Traditional and virtual public meetings on parks bond election A public presentation on Sugar Land’s $50 million parks bond election will be held Oct. 30, from 6:30-8 p.m., at Sugar Land City Hall, 2700 Town Center Boulevard North. The presentation will provide an overview of the three propositions for parks and trails that Sugar Land voters will consider during a general election on Nov. 5. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. For those unable to attend, the meeting will air live on the City’s cable television channel and at www.sugarlandtx.gov. Vi e w e r s w a t c h i n g t h e television or online broadcast may submit questions in advance or during the meeting by tweeting to #SLParksBond or posting to the City’s Facebook page at www. facebook.com/SugarLand.TX. A bond committee comprising more than 100 citizens met from March through May to prioritize proposed projects, consider phasing opportunities and make funding recommendations. The initiative was prompted by a lack of progress and reliable funding for new parks and recreation projects included in the City’s Master Plans and years of input from citizens asking for more recreational opportunities, high-quality parks and public spaces for special events and festivals. The Citizens’ Bond Committee recommended three propositions. •Proposition one totals $18.5 million for a major
60-acre regional park at the intersection of Chatham and Easton that will include trails, playgrounds, picnic areas and a pavilion. The park would feature a tennis center and several sports fields where residents will be able to participate in activities such as cricket, soccer, lacrosse, rugby and flag football. The park is easily accessible from U.S. Highways 59, 90A and State Highway 6. •Proposition two totals $21.3 million for phase two of Brazos River Park and an adjacent festival site. The Brazos River Park enhancements would include clearing the land to create open spaces and natural areas that could be used for picnicking, large group gatherings, field games or for passive, non-structured recreation activities. A multi-purpose lake would be used for canoeing, kayaking, dragon boat races and fishing. The park would also have meadows, shelters, extensive trails and opportunities to explore the natural setting along the Brazos River. Adjacent to this park would be the City’s new festival ground, a facility that could accommodate large community gatherings such as the City’s popular Fourth of July festivities. The addition of trails would offer an opportunity to connect the University of Houston Sugar Land and nearby neighborhoods to many different destinations. •Proposition three totals
$10.2 million for a network of approximately ten miles of hike and bike trails and bridges that would connect neighborhoods and the community with existing trails. The City’s current tax rate structure can support existing parks, streets, drainage and utilities; however, the property tax rate does not have the capacity for new parks projects. Depending on economic conditions, the projects could result in a maximum of 5 cents on the tax rate phased over five years. The cumulative tax impact for the average homeowner would be $128 over the five years or 1 cent on the tax rate per year – which represents $26.60 per year per homeowner. The City will continue to try to absorb as much of the tax impact as possible into future growth of the tax base. But, even with the maximum increase of 1 cent per year or 5 cents over five years, Sugar Land would still have the third lowest tax rate among 63 Texas cities within its population range. Sugar Land’s last bond election was in 1999. At that time, the City expected to implement the projects without increasing the tax rate. Since 1999, the tax rate has been reduced by 5 cents and all projects completed. The current bond election proposal would increase the tax to no more than the rate was in 1999. R e a d m o r e a t w w w. sugarlandtx.gov/bondelection.
Two groups organize opposition to park bonds By SESHADRI KUMAR At least two groups under the banner Sustainable Sugar Land and Fort Bend GOP Conservatives have announced their opposition to the Sugar Land parks bond election. Sustainable Sugar Land spokeswoman Diana Miller, says “While the proposed projects are certainly, quality of life enhancing, Sustainable Sugar Land’s position is that the projects should be undertaken through private development opportunities and not at taxpayer expense. “It appears the City’s Bond Advisory Committee, comprised of handpicked citizens, evaluated superficial information with unsubstantiated cost estimates provided by the City and the committee did not assess any actual operating cost data,” Miller says. “Unfortunately, in my opinion, private developers have found they can spend taxpayer money to build developments that, in the past, would have been borne by these private entities. While
the required tax rate increase appears minimal, with our rapidly rising property tax values, this can be a devastating tax burden to much of our population, particularly, those on a fixed income,” she says. The proposed park community would be located within one of Sugar Land’s most successful master planned communities, Telfair. It has long been the tradition for planned communities to develop and pay for park development located within their communities. “While the City has already purchased this land at a significant discount, possibly as a result of it being located under an airport flight path, communities such as First Colony and New Territory have developed Little League fields, soccer fields and tennis courts that were not paid with taxpayer funds. These facilities are often used by residents from outside their community during community wide sporting events,” Miller says. The Brazos River Park development encompasses a
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variety of environmental issues that have not been studied including the abundant wildlife of alligators, snakes and feral hogs. While this proposal has been cited as a project that would serve Boy Scouts and Dragon Boat races, there is the existing Oyster Creek Boat House located in Lake Pointe that can certainly serve these needs, according to Miller. “The “Cultural Entertainment District” approved by voters in 2008, suffered from bait and switch development. While the City used carefully worded language in the 2008 ballot to justify building Constellation Field at another location, this change appears to be the catalyst for the now proposed Festival Site and Bike Trail. “Had Constellation Field been built in the location presented to the public in 2008, it could likely have served as the festival site. “Ten miles of Bike Trails designed to connect First Colony to Constellation Field…the ballpark location again appears to be the ‘necessary evil.’ Fewer than 400 Sugar Land residents responded to the online City survey regarding interest in City proposed hike and bike trails following an extensive outreach program. “Meanwhile, private apartment developers refused to widen sidewalks around their development in Telfair to accommodate bike riders,” Miller said. Teresea Raia, spokeswoman for the Fort Bend GOP Conservatives, cited the potential tax hike as a major reason to oppose the bonds. (See the group’s ad on Page 13.)
Lasting summer color
Caladiums produce lasting summer color. For six years the Quail Valley Garden Club has been documenting caladiums late summer to fall with pictures and growing conditions. Findings: caladiums produce and last through summer in drought, heat and record temperatures. Photo shows 3 varieties of the 5 Quail Valley Garden Club offers in our pre-sale. Other varieties are pink and white. http://traction.typepad.com/QVGC. The Quail Valley Garden Club has been working on a demonstration of caladium bulbs for six years. The summer of 2013 has been a humdinger. Record temperature and number of days over 95◦ F as
well as over 100◦ F with high humidity and low rainfall has been tough on the gardens; but the pictures demonstrate that caladiums perform in heat, drought, and heavy rain. How well do bulbs last for more than one growing season? In general, first-season growth is more lush. Supplementing bulbs works well if winters are mild and not too wet. A Fall Caladium Garden? Member Joan Fox has been having great success supplementing caladiums past the normal spring planting season. Because of the warmth, the bulbs come up quickly and last until frost. Joan sets aside some bulbs and plants where she needs color. Fall is an excellent time to inventory for next summer’s
color needs. Consider caladiums in areas you may have had trouble finding color plants to grow such as under trees. The club offers five varieties including a new red strap that is smaller and great for borders. You can save money by pre-ordering. Volume discounts available if ordered by Oct. 31. Contact Nancy Lindsay at 281 4992047. Order now, pay during March delivery. You can see pictures and learn our full results by visiting our full demonstration story. The club also has planting information, how to store for winter, and guides for inground and containers. http:// traction.typepad.com/qvgc/ plant-sale.html
SLPD puts up stout defense for RLCs By SESHADRI KUMAR Sugar Land Police Department officials put up an elaborate presentation to dispute every point raised by the Red Light Camera opponents and steadfastly stuck to their story that the RLCs are for safety, revenue is not a consideration at all, and fine tuning the system in any way is unacceptable. The presentation was made before the task force set up by the City of Sugar Land to review the Red Light Camera program at a public meeting on Oct. 10. SLPD sought to rebut the points raised by the anti-camera enforcement group, headed by Helwig F. Van Der Grinten, Founder, Houston Coalition Against Red Light Cameras. While admitting an error in accident data reporting at the Lexington Blvd. and Highway 6 intersection, the police department corrected the mistake as caused by human error, but maintained that the revised data did not impugn the red light cameras in any way, according to Assistant City Manager Steve Griffith. Griffith disputed the claim that less than half of those who got tickets paid the penalty. “It is not at all about money. It is not about revenue. Yet we are seeing a shift in collection rate,” he said. The total revenue collected from red light camera violations in one year was $1,058,400 and the city incurred expenditures totalling $558,410. Of the remaining amount, the city and state each received $279,905. The city’s argument is that the revenue from RLCs is very insignificant compared to the total city budget of $207 million and city’s overall revenue of $72 million. The duration of yellow lighting has been another point of contention. The SLPD
changed the yellow light period after realizing that the speed on the westbound side was 40 miles per hour and 30 miles per hour on the eastbound side. The duration varied from 3 seconds to 5 seconds depending on the speed limit. On the eastbound side the SLPD increased the speed limit to 40 and maintained the 3 to 5 second duration as stipulated by engineers. Asked why not set a 5 second duration for the amber light at all intersections, Griffith said though SLPD has the legal authority to set the duration, they do not fix it arbitrarily. Strictly, they follow the engineering recommendation to avoid any liability. Increasing the yellow light duration even by a second would hamper the traffic flow and increase traffic bottleneck, he said. Griffith also refused to
characterize the right turn on red without stopping fully at the intersection as a lesser offense than running through the red light. Pedestrians and bikers on the sidewalk will be at high risk, he said. Griffith declined the suggestion from a task force member to reduce the rate of penalty for turning right on red without stopping. The SLPD says the penalty is forcing the drivers to change their behavior. The $75 penalty cannot be reduced to those who turn right on the red light without stopping, he said. It is not clear if a 10 percent lesser penalty would help alter the behavior of erring drivers. Griffith also refused to excuse those who cross the intersection within a second after the signal turns red. See CAMERA, Page 4
An evening with David Limbaugh
Spirit of Freedom Republican Women’s Club of Fort Bend County hosted a fundraiser, “An evening with David Limbaugh,” at Safari Texas Ranch on Oct. 11. Above, Club President Debbie Fancher, right, with Limbaugh, an attorney, author and conservative political commentator, who is the younger brother of the noted radio talkshow host Rush Limbaugh. “David does not do events anymore, except for news shows which made it that much more special for us. He follows my political tweets about the comparisons of the Venezuelan regime and the Obama Administration and that is how I convinced him to come,” says Fancher. Photo by Mary Favre. See story on Page 3.