Fort Bend Lifestyles and Homes Magazine Jul 2009: Fort Bend County & Sugar Land News 2

Missouri City to Create Recreation and Leisure Local Government Corporation

The Missouri City City Council approved a resolution at its May 4 meeting to create the Missouri City Recreation and Leisure Local Government Corporation, a nonprofit entity, to aid the city in the acquisition, improvement, maintenance and operation of certain public parks and public recreation facilities, including the Quail Valley Golf Course.

All revenue and expenditures at the golf course will be maintained through the new, non-stock corporation. State law provides a mechanism for local governments, including cities, to create such nonprofit associations, called local government corporations.

“It is the city’s intent that the Quail Valley Golf Course be a self-sustaining enterprise,” said City Manager Frank Simpson. “Forming this local government corporation is a big step toward being able to accomplish that. The corporation will have its own set of accounts, allowing for separate tracking of revenues and expenditures for all its operations and maintenance. The corporation will then be able to benchmark those accounts against others in the industry. ”

Simpson said setting up this new corporation will also allow for flexibility in meeting the golf course's needs for outsourcing certain aspects of operations and maintenance, as well as for a work force that includes more part-time employees than other city operations.

The city will maintain ownership of all 400 acres of green space that comprise the Quail Valley Parks project, including the golf course. Members of the city council will serve as the corporation ’s board of directors and will consider agreements for the corporation to operate and maintain the Quail Valley Golf Course. The corporation is being set up so other possible future city facilities, such as a tennis center or community center, could also be operated and maintained by the corporation.

U.S. Highway 90A
Beautification Project

Sugar Land City Council approved a $1.3 million contract with Bio Landscape and Maintenance for landscaping improvements along U.S. Highway 90A and State Highway 6. The improvements will include trees and shrubs that are similar to plantings along U.S. Highway 59.

The Highway 6 project will include areas from Brooks Street to Sugar Land Regional Airport, and the U.S. 90A landscaping will extend from U.S. 59 to just west of Highway 6.The project will also include irrigation and an additional $36,600 for the widening of a pedestrian sidewalk from 6 to 8 feet from Lombardy to Dairy Ashford.

All work is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Residents Urged to be Prepared for Hurricane Season

There’s no certainty what storms may hit the Gulf Coast region, but no matter what the future holds, there ’s surely one question every Missouri City resident should tackle now: Are you ready?

If citizens cannot purchase all emergency supplies at once because of the current economic climate, the city ’s Office of Emergency Management encourages residents to buy supplies over a period of time and build up an emergency kit throughout the season.

Fort Bend County is designated by the state as a pass-through county for evacuees who live immediately along the Gulf Coast. As a municipality in Fort Bend County, Missouri City would not be under a mandatory evacuation if a hurricane were to hit the region —so it is imperative that residents be prepared to shelter in place if a storm arrives.

Last summer, the city completed construction of a new Emergency Operations Center at the Public Safety Headquarters on Cartwright Road. With this state-of-the-art facility, Missouri City is equipped to coordinate the response and recovery efforts for any emergency situation, including hurricanes. During Hurricane Ike, the EOC was the critical center of operation for city staff who worked around the clock to protect residents ’ lives and safety. After the storm, the recovery efforts were also coordinated from the EOC.

To get ready for the 2009 hurricane season, Missouri City’s Office of Emergency Management suggests taking these steps: build an emergency supply kit that includes a three-day supply of non-perishable food, a manual can opener and one gallon of bottled water per person per day; coolers for food and ice storage; flashlights, a batter-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries; and important documents and records, photo IDs, proof of residence and information to process insurance claims; credit cards and cash (with power out, banks and ATMs may not be available).

It is also important to monitor the local media to keep updated on developing hurricanes —even those that do not directly strike the Houston region.For tips on regional disaster preparedness, go to www.readyhoustontx.gov.

Missouri City Steps Up Code Enforcement Program

Missouri City property owners are reminded that they may be cited directly to court if they violate any of six certain housing codes.

Inspectors with the city’s Code Enforcement Division have begun issuing citations to court when they observe homes with: grass or weeds higher than 9 inches; junked or abandoned vehicles, including those that have been inoperable for 72 consecutive hours and those with expired license plates or inspection stickers; trash or debris piled in the yard or street, trash containers left out before or after designated times for trash collection, or trash containers that are left visible from a public or private roadway (outside of times for trash pick up); vehicles parked on grass; storm-damaged structures, including downed fences; and pools that have not been properly maintained.

Homeowners with damaged roofs or other major storm-damaged structures still in disrepair will be cited directly to court, unless they provide documentation outlining sufficient reasons why repairs have not been completed.

In addition, property owners who are found to have repeated a code violation of any kind within a 12-month period can also receive a direct citation to court for those violations.

The maximum fine for a code violation is $500 per occurrence of each violation. A code violation that has not been corrected can be issued a citation to court daily.

To report a code violation, call the Code Enforcement Hotline at 281-403-8560. For questions about the ongoing code sweeps, call 281-403-8500 and ask for Code Enforcement.

Project to Improve Drainage in Sugar Land

Sugar Land City Council approved $1.3 million toward a $2.7 million project with the Fort Bend County Drainage District to improve drainage along Oyster Creek and surrounding areas.

The funds will be used to construct a railroad bridge over Ditch H, the first phase of a project extending the drainage ditch north of U.S. 90A to connect and divert water from Oyster Creek. Ditch H currently conveys stormwater from south of U.S. 90A to the Brazos River.

Phase II will include the construction of a “control structure” just north of the railroad to divert floodwater from Oyster Creek to Ditch H when the creek rises and to maintain normal levels in the creek when it ’s not raining. When complete, the Ditch H extension is expected to lower 100-year surface elevations in Oyster Creek by as much as two feet in some areas, as well as improve overall drainage along Oyster Creek.

Phases I and II of the Ditch H extension project total approximately $6 million; Sugar Land has agreed to pay for half of the project. Phase I construction is expected to begin this fall.

The extension of the drainage ditch was recommended in the Upper Oyster Creek and Ditch “H” Drainage Study and Improvement Plan.