Department: County Engineer
Department Head/Elected Official: Milton Rahman, PhD., P.E., PMP, CFM, County Engineer
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of the County Engineer for approval of a schedule of public meetings to be held in September and October 2022 for the purpose of receiving public input and communicating information relevant to Harris County Bond Program propositions on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot, with provisions for notifying each Court office in the event of a necessary schedule or location change, Countywide.
end
Background and Discussion:
On August 18, Commissioners Court voted to place three bond authorization propositions on the November 8 ballot. At their August 23 meeting, Court authorized contracting with communications firms to assist with the development of a public outreach and communications program, which will include public meetings as a key component.
Planning for those meetings has progressed. This action requests Court’s approval of the attached schedule of proposed in-person and virtual meetings throughout the County during the coming weeks. The typical in-person meeting will be held between 6 and 8 pm, virtual meetings will be held at both midday and evening times.
At the time of submitting this request, final commitments by the venue host have not been confirmed for every meeting. A description of the available location and preferred date has been provided so that the Court may review the total number of meetings and the proposed geographic coverage across the county.
Should circumstances require a change in venue or schedule, each Court office, the County Attorney and the County Clerk will be notified promptly.
Expected Impact:
The meetings are proposed to start very soon and must proceed on a tight schedule.
Approval of the number of proposed meetings - and each particular meeting’s location and time - will allow staff, venue hosts and our consultant team to proceed with greater certainty. Court’s approval of the schedule will also allow the County Attorney and the County Clerk to schedule any required public notices related to Court member attendance at the meetings.
Alternative Options:
The Court could choose to not approve or authorize the proposed meetings, eliminating that component of the Bond Program public outreach effort.
Delaying approval of a meeting schedule until the Court’s next meeting in two weeks is technically possible, but will have a ripple effect. Delaying the first group of meetings reduces the available time between the first meeting and election day. This could necessitate scheduling fewer meetings or incurring added costs from holding concurrent meetings on a single date. Also chosen locations for meetings shown early in the schedule may not be available at a later date, requiring a location change.
Alignment with Goal(s):
X Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
X Transportation
X Flooding
X Environment
X Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
8/18/22 |
22-4934 |
Approval of orders to increase the bond authority available to Harris County. |
Location:
Address (if applicable): Various. See attachment.
Precinct(s): Countywide
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
SFY 22 |
FY 23 |
Next 3 FYs |
|
Incremental Expenditures (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
|
Labor Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Non-Labor Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Incremental Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Funding Sources (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
|
Existing Budget |
|
1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
1070 - Mobility Fund |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Requested |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Requested |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Requested |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: September 13, 2022
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Milton Rahman, PhD., County Engineer, Office of County Engineer
Attachments (if applicable): List and map of proposed meetings