Remember The Bridge! ...or... Marc Edleman versus Reality

For those who don't know the story, a few years ago the city of League City reneged on its promise to allow TxDOT to repair the bridge that connected the two parts of the Glen Cove neighborhood. This action was taken solely for the benefit of a developer with connections to key figures in city government. It was done in a deliberately disguised manner without informing the affected residents and in a legally questionable manner that has resulted in a lawsuit against the city.

As a classic and particularly egregious example of abusive and untrustworthy government, it has become one among many points of embarrasment for the city in recent years and therefore a point of discussion in local political matters, such as the upcoming city council races.

Because P&Z board member Marc Edelman seems to wish to direct all recent discussion on this blog to the topic of the bridge in a vain effort to defend the inexcusable actions of the city in this affair, this thread has been started with the stated purpose of being entirely dedicated to the topic of the Glen Cove bridge. All such discussion is welcome here. Anybody who is bored by this topic is welcome to ignore this and move on to other threads.

For the sake of continuity, here are the recent threads which diverged into discussion of the bridge:

Marc's myths 2
Marc's myths 1

Remember The Bridge!

Jeff Hagen

City Candidate Forum in Glen Cove Park

The residents of Glen Cove will be hosting a forum for the candidates in the upcoming city council elections to introduce themselves and meet the residents of our neighborhood. This will be an informal gathering in our neighborhood park starting at 6:00 PM on Monday, March 9th. All currently announced council candidates have agreed to participate and hopefully all other candidates who may yet come forward will also do so. Each candidate will be given an equal opportunity to speak and to take questions from the residents and other candidates. We will also attempt to make a recording of the event available on the internet for all interested voters.

We held a similar forum last year which helped to considerably increase the voter participation from our neighborhood. Hopefully other neighborhoods will also have similar opportunities, but we would like to invited any interested residents from across the city to join us for this event and share in the opportunity to get to know more about the candidates before going to the polls. (It would help to have some idea of the level of participation to expect, so an indication of your intention to attend would be beneficial.)

The park is located at:
Glen Cove park

Jeff Hagen

One step forward, two steps back?

Last Thursday at 5 PM a workshop was held to discuss the possibility of placing items researched by the 2007 Charter review committee on a ballot so that the citizens could vote on them. This is an item that was discussed during several council meetings and it was decided that it would be best to get the input of the committee (Considering it sat on the shelf for one year before anything was done with it)and how they came to the conclusions they did. Even though the meeting was placed on the board outside city hall to meet basic requirements of law some of the members were not informed of this meeting until 11:55 AM on Thursday by email. This gave some members 5 hours and 5 minutes to prepare and arrange their schedules for the meeting. However some of the members were not notified at all. (Kind of like scheduling a baseball game and notifying one team and the umpires but not notifying the other team of the date or time.)

But the bottom line here is why is there such a rush to place these items on a May ballot? Why don’t some of the council members want to give the voters of our city an opportunity to understand the meaning and impact that each revision will have on our city? The consultant even stated that if single member districts passed it would not be until after the 2010 census that such an action could take place. So why not spend the time by taking each proposed amendment and setting a public meeting every month or so to allow the citizens an opportunity to ask questions and better understand what they will be voting on? Isn’t that what open and transparent government is all about? Why not record those meetings and play them back on channel 16 as well as placing them on the city web site? Why force the citizens to have to make a snap decision that will effect our city for a long time?

From emails I have received some believe that it is to distract the voters from learning about the new candidates that are running for office. Others believe that it is just the good old boys trying to shove something else down the throats of the citizens.

What are your thoughts?

Upcoming NASA Rd. 1 Closure

MEMORANDUM TO: Wayne Sabo, City Manager
CC: David Glasco, Manager Engineering & Construction
FROM: Shannon Hicks, Director of Public Works
DATE: February 18, 2009
SUBJECT: NASA Parkway Bridge Demolition
Texas Sterling, the general contractor for the current I-45 expansion project informed the City that starting Wednesday, March 4th, the NASA Parkway Bridge over I-45 will be closed. The contractor will begin milling up the asphalt on both approaches.
On Thursday, March 5th, the contractor will begin demolition of the bridge. Demolition is scheduled for March 5th through March 9th. The contractor stated that the interstate highway should be open by 5:00 AM on Monday, March 9th.
NASA Parkway will remain closed for up to 70 days (Approximate date of May 14th). Please note that the contractor has major incentives to complete this work early and will probably finish earlier than the May 14th date.
Alternate routes for the Webster area are:
FM 518
Bay Area Boulevard
El Dorado Boulevard
FM 2351 / Clear City Boulevard
The traveling public should expect major delays in the Webster area for the next 3 to 4 months.

Link to City of Webster info

Setting the record straight

This was in today’s guest column Of the Galveston County Daily News. Many thanks to former Mayor Frankovich who tells it the way it is. The title “Baron’s law can’t rob mayor of charter job” says it all. Once again thank you former Mayor Frankovich for doing what is correct and in the best interest of our city.

Below is the Mayor's recap of the last council meeting.



Hello everyone,

I promised you my State of our Community Address, which I made to the League City Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting this past Friday.

Thank you for inviting me to report the State of League City to you!

In the few months since becoming your Mayor, two major events have happened. Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas coast and caused a lot of damage in League City and the communities around us. Our Emergency Management, Fire, Police, Public Works and the entire staff worked around the clock to get services back online, and they helped neighboring communities get their own services back up and running.

The 2009 Budget was reduced by 9.3 million dollars but not at the expense of good service to our residents. I requested freezing 13 positions in City government and Council agreed to all but two of those. The tax rate had to be increased, but only for capital improvement projects.

We are continuing with the improvements at the Dallas Salmon wastewater treatment facility, expanding our animal shelter, and helping residents dispose of materials like anti-freeze and used motor oil.

Our finance and accounting processes are receiving awards for excellence.

Then the national economy took one of the largest drops since World War II. This hit every business and citizen of League City! Fortunately League City's economy is better than most of America.

As we rebuild after two of the biggest storms in decades, we are moving ahead and growing as a city. Our police vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient. Some are hybrids, and others use only part of the motor when idling. All are more brightly lighted for safety.

We are working more closely with the Houston-Galveston Area Council. I have just been appointed to the Technical Advisory Committee at H-GAC. This will enhance our position for federal funds and at the perfect time, with the stimulus package being discussed in congress.

Last week I was in Washington and met with Senators Cornyn, Hutchison, and Congressmen Paul, Olson, Lee, and others. This trip was to make our presence known in the national Capitol. Senator Hutchison is especially interested in commuter rail and will help with legislation for 10 million dollars to fund the engineering phase which is the next step toward putting the rail line into operation.

Another transportation problem is the highway 518-270 area, sometimes called the '5-points nightmare.' We are working to design and build the best possible solution for this intersection. I wish it could be done quickly, but it takes time to correct a traffic problem that has been there for years and getting worse.

Next is the I-45/Hwy 518 intersection. When the Nasa Road Bypass is completed, we hope it will relieve some of our congestion! The Hwy 96/I-45 interchange and the widening of 646 will also help improve traffic, but we still need to work on improving the traffic flow through League City and onto I-45. Unfortunately when you correct a highway problem, it means construction and more traffic delays.

These connectors with I-45 are vital to League City and to Galveston County. We are the Gateway to Galveston County.

H-GAC and TxDot estimate that commuter rail between Houston and Galveston will be equal to one additional lane on interstate 45. We need to stop trying to pave over the entire country! Trees just don't grow well on asphalt!

Traffic delays are another reason I advocate more commercial business being encouraged to locate in League City. Then League City residents won't have to travel as far to work or shop and their sales tax dollars stay here!Residential growth is not good for League City if we must go outside the City to purchase what we need and take sales tax dollars to those other cities. We need more centers of commercial growth providing services for League City residents.

These are happening! Ask the Chamber of Commerce where these new developments are being built or look at the League City website or just drive around League City. The developments at 646 are still growing and this is especially good because one of our long-term problems has been the lack of sales tax income to offset property taxes. As we increase sales tax, the load is lightened on property tax.

UTMB is another tremendous asset to League City, and as much as it helps us to have them here, it also gives UTMB the protection they need from future hurricane damage.

Target, Walmart, Home Depot, HEB, Lowes and the restaurants and shops that make up the 646 intersection are all contributing to the positive growth of the city and the services that League City residents want. On the other side of the equation, League City residents are spending more of their disposable income here at home, not in other cities!

In addition to streets, we need to improve utilities. This is an expensive item-the wastewater system must be improved and water services need expanding. Our utilities were stretched before Hurricane Ike, and now with the additional residents moving here from the island and other storm impacted communities, these utilties are even more stressed.

While in Washington last week, this was one of my most important issues and with the economic stimulus package working it's way through Congress, timing was just right to put League City's needs before our national leaders.

It's NOT impossible to keep our streets in good repair and the utilities working while providing for new and expanding growth, but the businesses of League City require the constant attention of you, me, and all the citizens of our city.

We must all remember: we are "one of the best 100 cities in America" We have a rich historical heritage. We have some of the brightest children in Texas-and our schools are some of the best in America! We have parks, lakes, and creeks, and the beautiful oaks on Main Street. These trees will become the backdrop for a new downtown redevelopment district that is in its early stages.

Our library, parks, schools, and government are watched over by volunteers, employees, and elected officials, who help make us a city with open government, involved citizens, and natural assets unrivaled by any city in America.

Let me finish by saying "We have many opportunities for improvements, and many challenges. But we live and work in the largest city in Galveston County and one of the greatest cities in America, with more possibilities than problems.

League City will grow and prosper and all of us will make it happen!

Thank you.

Mayor Toni Randall

10th annual Clear Creek Clean up

There are many great things about League City and one is the Clear Creek Cleanup. Started in 1999, by Mr. Rex Ward, the clean up under his direction has collected over 102 tons of trash. Mr. Ward is a remarkable man who has contributed to our city and help save our creek. We should all take a few hours out on February 21st from 8 AM till 2 PM to assist with this worthwhile project.

Last year well over a thousand volunteers collected 12 tons of trash, 100 tires, 24 refrigerators, freezers and appliances. To view last year's video click here and follow the link marked "2008 clean up video"
To get the Clear Creek Environmental Foundation web site click here. To get a map and the schedule for the clean up (including preparation meetings and what to wear to be prepared) click here.

February 21, 2009 8:00 AM to 2 PM.FM 270 Boat Ramp

The FM 270 Boat Ramp is located under the Clear Creek Bridge on Hwy 270 between Nasa Parkway and Hwy 518.

Students may receive community service hours for their participation in all Clear Creek Environmental Foundation activities.

Shallow draft boat owners are invited to help ferry participants to locations on Clear Creek for trash collection.

On completion ot loading the dumpsters, volunteers will be treated to lunch.

Let us know if you plan on participating by emailing deb.3336@yahoo.com so we can make this a successful and rewarding experience for all.

True Leadership

I am sure most people have heard news by now of Mayor Randall's trip to Washington DC to discuss hurricane Ike issues with our national leaders.

I have heard whispers behind the scenes that Mayor Randall actually paid for this trip out of her own personal funds. I found that so surprising that I asked the mayor herself if these rumors were true and she has confirmed that it is true.

I am stunned! I have never heard of such a selfless act on the part of an elected official on behalf of their constituents. Clearly the typical powers-that-be have failed to instruct Mayor Randall in the art of conventional behavior for politicians. Or else she just ignored them. Bravo and Thank You Toni! I know this may look like a small thing, but it is in the small things that one's true character is revealed. Only an ordinary citizen who has accepted the call for public service as a leader would act in such a selfless fashion. A typical politician seeking positions of power for personal gain would never do such a thing as this.

I have not had the opportunity to attend a council meeting for some time, but I have heard that there is considerable friction between the mayor and certain elements of city council. Well, now I can see why! Obviously those members of council who are conventional political animals just don't know how to understand and respond to true selfless leadership when they see it.

Too bad Toni couldn't stay in DC and show those clowns a thing or two about how to be a real representative of the people.

Jeff Hagen

Public Hearing: Township

Notice of Public Hearing
Re: HDC-09-01 (21.5 acres, zoned RSF-7-RNC, Township, 600 N. Kansas Avenue, LC) -
Change acceptable elevations for conformity to section 56-4(8) of Historic District ordinance and Architectural guidelines.

Notice does not state if flood abatement, environmental impact or other concerns of any other jurisdictions apply. The HDC of the city will hold a public hearing "to provide all interested parties the right to appear and request information."
Does not state that these hearings have preset agendas that do NOT include recognizing persons on the floor who may wish to ask questions or submit concerns. Prepare to be muzzled. Notice was sent to property owners within 200 feet of the subject development.

Hearing date: February 19, 2009, 6PM, Council Chambers, 200 W.Walker, LC.
For more, contact P&Z at 281-554-1080 or Marck.Linenschmidt@LeagueCity.com; reference case no. HDC-09-01.

P. Moratto

Promises Kept

This article was in today’s Galveston County daily news and states the Mayor is on her way to Washington D.C. to take action on our traffic situation. While others waste seven years and do nothing (except claim projects that were already planned to be done) and yet others try to play Perry Mason , cross examining our H R director while asking the city staff if they know what he “does for a living”, it is very impressive to see a politician do what they said they would do. The mayor has kept her campaign promise of economic development by hiring Mr. Jerry Grooms, who was the EDC Director in La Marque. Mr. Grooms lives in League City and will bring to our city administration his 25 years of municipal experience. Mr. Grooms will be working with the mayor as well as Doug Frazier to continue to add commercial development to our tax base.

The Mayor's Report, January 27, 2009

I am delighted to report that my new HOA visitation program is proving to be a big hit. Last week we attended a meeting in Lakeside along with Phyllis Sanborn, Neal Baron, Jack Murphy and Tim Paulissen. Monday night we were invited to a large meeting in Clear Creek Village. We were represented by myself, Chris Reed, Mike Jez, Larry Herbert, Ken Clark, Phyllis Sanborn, and Tim Paulissen. We were glad to hear the citizens comments and are already working on their issues. If your HOA would like a visit by City officials, just call the Mayor's office.

January went out with a bang, for us in League City. Last night's Council meeting had a very diversified agenda, with some of the items simply not acted upon or voted down as not being pertinent. I will hit the highlights of the meeting for you.

The meeting opened with a FULL audience, which is great for us up on the dais to see! We really like it when so many chairs are filled! Councilmen Mike Barber and Chris Samuelson were absent.

Regarding proclamations, I was delighted to present a Certificate of Excellence to our staff who worked on Financial Reporting for the period ending September 30, 2007. We also heard an excellent presentation by Earth and Space Science Homeschoolers, called "Climate Connections: The Need for Green Roofs" urging the City to enact ordinances to guarantee that we all benefit from "going Green" by enacting green laws in League City.

Interestingly, and along this same "green" theme, Item 5.D. was a Public Hearing and Take Action to change.1 acres of Open Space in Cypress Bay to RSF-7 for homes. The vote was 4-1, with Paulissen being the negative vote.

Many of the folks in the audience were there for the agenda item 5.F which would move more lots at the Wharf into their PUD. The motion was made by Paulissen, seconded by Sanborn, and passed 5-0.

Renee Bennett told us about our proposed Boundless Special Needs Playground which was later in the agenda. Chien Wei explained to Council that, with their approval, we would be fundraising for the park and accepting donations made to Patrons of the Park, especially earmarked for this park. The equipment is proposed to be located just north of the Station Masters House in League Park, replacing equipment there that is scheduled for replacement anyway. Motion was made by Cones, seconded by Paulissen, passed 5-0.

We have now been re-branded with a new logo created by a 15-member Committee which considered all the possibilities for two months. Their goal was to keep our attachment to our beautiful oaks, and take us into the 21st Century at the same time. Members of the Committee were in the audience and a report was made by Ton Linklater and Peggy Zaylor. The cost to change everything on which the logo appears at the same time, for more impact, is $17,000. Council approved 5-0. So watch for the new look!

Our Director of Public Safety, Jamie Galloway, proposed Council consider a new Emergency Notification System. During Ike, we were offered to piggy-back on the County's notification system (which broke down). The proposed new system would preclude situations like that, and has the capability to send information by phone, text message, email, etc. It could be used for emergency information, plus any other special announcements that citizens need to know. Jamie proposed an 18-month contract, which would give us some cost savings by entering mid-year. Council passed 5-0

There was a great deal of discussion about how difficult it is to find a time that all of Council can meet for special workshops. Council did pass, 4-1 (Sanborn was against,) a first reading of an ordinance to establish a schedule of workshop meetings, which the City Attorney said are not mandatory and cannot be enforced.

There was also a long discussion about having a summer Council dress code, and after much back and forth, Nelson's motion was defeated 1-4.

An Executive session item had to do with clearing up the drainage problems in Lakeside, and Council voted to do whatever it takes to get this problem corrected as soon as possible. So, we're working on the problem, going out for bids, etc.

One of the items that was listed in Executive Session deserves my explanation to you as a citizen of League City. Councilmen Cones, Baron, and Nelson questioned Chris Reed, City Administrator, and HR Director Alison Smith for more than an hour about my hiring of Mr. Jerry Grooms back in December. When I took office, the office of Assistant to the Mayor was held by a very smart young woman, who though she is extremely alert and efficient, she does not have have experience along economic development lines. Because Chris Reed and I did not want to lose her, we found a good position for her in the City Secretary's office. Her duties were changed accordingly, plus being named Assistant to Chris Reed. Because I campaigned on economic development, I wanted to hire Mr. Jerry Grooms, who was at the time the EDC Director in LaMarque. I was delighted that he was interested in making the change (because he lives in League City,) because of his 25 years of municipal experience. With this arrangement, Mr. Grooms will be working not only with me, but also with Doug Frazier, which will keep the Mayor's office abreast of our economic development progress. Consequently, I met with Reed and Smith, so that all of the steps of this hiring would be strictly by the book. We three are satisfied with the way the hiring was handled.

Cones made a motion to cancel the position, with Nelson seconding. However, Mr. Baron said that while he shared the same feelings of Cones and Nelson, he was not going to vote for their motion because two wrongs don't make a right. Seeing that he did not have enough votes, Cones withdrew his motion, Nelson withdrew his second, and the issue died for lack of a motion.

For more than two hours, our paid staff and Council were kept on duty by this issue, the dress code discussion, and the workshop meetings first reading (which cannot be enforced.)

We are moving forward, folks, and things are looking good. I will be making my State of the Community speech in a couple of weeks, and will send it to you by email.

Mayor Toni Randall

One final thought by Mayor Randall

On Monday night P&Z passed an application for a Master Plan Revision to a Planned Unit Development by Tuscan Lakes. Their approval, required by the verbiage in the PUD Document, means that we will have almost 600 new apartments on both sides of 96 from Dickinson Avenue to SSH Blvd on the north, and 1266 on the south!!

The document said that refusal to pass the application would result in a lawsuit to the City, with the City paying all of the legal expenses. This document is similar to at least 20 others that were written and passed by Council during 2005-2006, and it is obvious that the fine print was not read thoroughly by the City.

You cannot blame the developer, as he is following his chosen profession as we all have a right to do to earn our living. He only did what he was allowed, but was paying more attention than the City was at the time.

But as a City, it is utterly incomprehensible that we who are supposed to be taking care of our citizens could have let this happen! I am simply astounded!

Our roads are beyond capacity, our infrastructure is straining at the seams, and we are all scrambling just to keep up, and here come another 600 units with their school age children, and several cars per household.

Under my leadership I will do everything in my power to be sure that all due diligence is done so that no such thing will happen in the future! The City Administrator and I will be working with the Director of Land Management to ensure that upcoming PUD and other development documents should not be allowed to contain this kind of verbiage.

Again, I am utterly astounded!

Lone Star Flight Museum reopen now

The Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston reopened to the pubic on Friday, January 30, 2009 following hurricane Ike recovery operations.

Complete recovery will take quite some time, but a large portion of the museum is now open and the most significant aircraft in the collection are now operating. 

LSFM web site

It is good to see another Galveston landmark recover. The museum still needs lots of help, but now you can also help by just going to visit and by getting the word out that it is reopen.

I have also posted links to pictures that I've taken during the recovery process. They aren't very good because I'm not a good photographer, but at least you can see what the mess was like and how far the museum has come.

LSFM recovery pics

Jeff Hagen