Admitting that a citizen petition to ban the use of red light cameras was disqualified because of a technicality, the Sugar Land City Council has backed the creation of a citizen task force that will study the issue and make a recommendation on whether the program should continue.

The petition, which was spearheaded by H.F. Van Der Grinten, a long time opponent of the City’s red light camera program, was submitted to the city secretary on April 19 with 3,074 signatures. Van Der Grinten had hoped the petition would ultimately put the issue to a vote in November.

After a review, the City determined that the petition did not meet certain legal requirements and was invalidated. The information was presented at the June 4 city council meeting.

Due to the number of signatures on the petition, City Manager Allen Bogard recommended the creation of a 7-10 member task force that will spend three months studying the effectiveness of red light cameras.

“The task force will conduct an independent review of the red light camera program and recommend elimination, modification or to continue the program in its current form,” Bogard said.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Van Der Grinten issued a press release urging those that signed the petition to contact their city council members and demand action.

“The petty technicalities raised by the City Secretary do not change the fact that the people clearly want to vote on this issue and such a vote should be allowed”, Van Der Grinten wrote. “The only task this task force is handling is pushing the issue beyond election day.”

Byron Schirmbeck, an attorney with Texas Campaign for Liberty, who claims to have been involved in every red light camera petition and election in Texas, said that city councils will often employ “delaying and bullying” tactics.

“This isn’t about red light cameras anymore. It is about a government denying its citizens their right to vote.” Schirmbeck said. “Sugar Land knows that no election in Texas has ever approved of these automatic ticket cameras and they get tossed out by as much as 77% every time the people get a say.”

Bogard and Mayor James Thompson mentioned continued support for the program from the Sugar Land Police Department and their hope that the citizens can learn the facts about the red light camera program.

“I’ve heard people mention tonight that there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. That is absolutely not true. There is no statistical data to prove that there are more rear-end collisions nor were yellow lights shortened so we could collect more fines,” Mayor Thompson said.

After program expenses are paid and half of the net income is given to the State of Texas, Sugar Land will clear about $210,000 this year from fines collected from red light cameras, Bogard told the council. He reiterated that those funds represent .3% of the city’s general fund budget and must be used for traffic enforcement purposes.

The red light camera program was approved in 2007 as a way for Sugar Land to become one of the safest cities in America. There are currently four intersections with red light cameras: Eldridge and West Airport; 90A and Dairy Ashford; Highway 6 and SW Freeway and Highway 6 and Lexington. The city has a contract with American Traffic Solutions to install and operate the red light cameras.

Bogard recommended that the task force conduct its meetings in accordance with the Open Meetings Act and provide an opportunity for extensive public input. City Council is expected to take action on the appointment of the task force on June 18.

At the June 5 Stafford City Council meeting, Mayor Leonard Scarcella took time to acknowledge his sincere condolences for the “horrific event” that took place on May 31 at the Southwestern Inn Motel. Normally, the Mayor opens each council meeting with a quick story or update that somehow relates to the City of Stafford, unfortunately this opening statement was tragic, but well deserving of the extended time he dedicated to the fallen heroes and “what these men and women are willing to do for our safety.” A moment of silence was taken in their honor.

As you most likely know by now, firefighter Anne Sullivan trained and volunteered at Stafford’s fire station #3 for over three years and had a “can-do attitude.” You could see the heartache on all of the Councilmembers’ faces as they nodded in agreement with the Mayor’s words. Assistant Fire Chief Effrem Burns spoke at the council meeting and said that although “the last few days have been tough,” and that losing their long-time volunteer, Anne Sullivan, “shook them to the core” he assured the Mayor, Council, and the City of Stafford that, “you can be proud of our group of volunteers because they are holding it together…and they are going to make it.” He thanked everyone for their prayers.

Stafford’s Fire Chief, Larry DiCamillo, was also at that horrific fire, but fortunately escaped the building without injury. Chief DiCamillo spoke at the memorial held at Reliant Stadium for the firefighters and the funeral for Anne Sullivan. Councilman Cecil Willis spoke of the immediate support the City of Stafford received from the Cities of Richmond and Missouri City fire departments. Of Firefighter Sullivan, he said she, “Developed her love and her desire with the encouragement of her fellow firefighters in Stafford to become a firefighter. And so that’s why it’s particularly hard on our department because they encouraged her so much to follow her dreams and her desires, because she was a first-class firefighter.” Councilman Willis also asked that citizens stop by and visit the fire stations to show their support.

Early voting in the runoff election for the District A seat in Missouri City is underway. Incumbent councilman Bobby Marshall is facing urban planner and architectural designer Yolanda Ford. The runoff election will be held on June 15.

Ford and Marshall beat out Rodney Griffin in the May election but because neither candidate was able to obtain 50 percent of the vote, a run-off election was needed.

The May 11 election had extremely low voter turnout with just 3.72 percent of registered Fort Bend County voters coming out to the polls. In that election, Ford got 44% of the vote to Marshall’s 39%.

If elected, Ford, 39, who has a planning degree from the University of Houston and a masters in architecture from Prairie View A & M will become the only woman currently serving on the council. Ford has lived in Missouri City for 35 years and has 14 years working in community development and urban planning.

“I believe the inability for leadership to collectively grow the city is the most pressing issue for Missouri City,” she said. “My intent is to propose a substantial economic development plan that will improve property values, increase sales tax revenue, create jobs, businesses and retail locations along major corridors so that our city is a safe, vivacious community for everyone to enjoy.”

Marshall was first elected to the city council in 2009 after the retirement of long-time District A councilwoman Eunice Reiter. Marshall, who is seeking his third term, owns an office supply and printing business, has served on Missouri City’s Planning and Zoning Commission, is active on his HOA board and with Little League.

“Public safety and smart economic development are two important issues for Missouri City,” said Marshall. “I want to make sure we are bringing the services that people need to the residential areas but also attracting large companies to our business parks so that we can ease the tax burden on our residents. We also have aging infrastructure like drainage, streets and sidewalks that need attention in some of our older areas.”

District A has had close races in the last four election cycles with Reiter beating Rodney Griffin by just three votes in 2007. In 2009, Marshall beat Griffin by just 60 votes and by just 33 votes when the two faced off again in 2011.

Shown are employees of R. Stahl Inc.; Stafford City Council; and Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce.

R. Stahl Inc, the world-wide manufacturer of explosion-protection equipment, may not have moved far–just from Houston–but after outgrowing their prior space, did their research on where to move. “We looked at all of the nearby counties and decided that Fort Bend looked like a good partner,” said Craig Yoss, Director of Marketing and Business Development.

In addition to leasing 40,000 square feet in the business park on N. Promenade and Cash Rd, R. Stahl is anticipating a 50% growth, providing a need for up to 105 new jobs in many areas such as: clerical, management, assembly line, sales, shipping and receiving, and engineering. President and CEO of the Stafford location, Jim Campbell, said he likes being in Stafford because “some of our customers are now our neighbors.” Customers like National Oilwell Varco and Schlumberger. R. Stahl offers a three prong service for their customers: designing, building, and certifying, to meet the specific requirements needed for the particular region of the world the components are going to.

During a tour of their new facility, one of the products the company manufactures, circuit breakers, was on display. If a company works in an area that has hazardous materials, and that circuit breaker were to trip, there could be a spark, and that spark could trigger an explosion. R. Stahl manufactures the equipment to prevent these gasses from igniting. Rather than encasing the breaker in a cement box, the technology was invented to make the individual breakers explosion-proof in case of an electrical event.

Martin Schomaker, CEO of the Waldenburg, Germany, headquarters, flew in for the open house and said that R. Stahl has seen “double-digit figures in growth” and that the Stafford location “is the fastest growing subsidiary world-wide.” R. Stahl is a publicly traded stock. When it first appeared on the stock exchange, shares traded at 5 Euros each. Now their shares trade at 35 Euros each. The Stafford location handles all of the orders for their United States customers.

Seniors need to realize that: 1) Medicare will NEVER call you on the phone; and 2) Medicare nor Social Security do not need your banking information, but the crooks do so they can steal your money.

Even the most knowledgeable seniors can fall prey to this scam.  The callers are convincing.

They often have some of your banking information to make themselves sound legit.  Then they use a little information to get more out of you.

What can you do?  First is to never answer your phone!  Use your answering machine to screen all your calls.

If you do get a call, report it to the Texas Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-888-341-6187.

Photo by Andrew Wolf
Fireman and police respond to explosion that happened at Sugar Creek subdivision Saturday night after reported gas leak.

Flames shot into the night after a gas line erupted in a Sugar Creek back yard.

Shortly after 9pm, Saturday night Sugar Land fire and police responded to a call in the 800 block of Merrick Drive near Longview Drive in the Sugar Creek subdivision after a reported gas leak. According to witnesses flames could be seen shooting up to 70 feet in the air. Eventually it was determined that a gas pipeline feeding several decorative fountains had failed and caused the problem. The gas was turned off and the fire was extinguished. The homeowner John Newman told an onlooker, ” Thank God for protecting his children and his home, one of his sons had to run under the flames to escape.” At the time of the incident the children were in the back yard in the pool and roasting marshmallows.

Although there was a thunderous explosion, heaving ground and a fireball toward the sky, no one was injured and no property damage was reported. Sugar Land police secured the area while the fire department got the flames under control. The neighborhood was returned to calm within hours.

The Missouri City City Council is trying to determine whether putting up to 600 multi-family units in a prime location off of the Fort Bend Toll Road is in the city’s long term best interest or whether the land would be better served by commercial development.

In the end, the council voted 5 to 2 to approve re-zoning the 30-acre tract of land from retail use to multi-family. The ordinance also calls for amending the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The measure has one more public hearing and one more reading before it is formally approved. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission has already approved the ordinance.

The rectangular shaped piece of land is west of Hightower High School and bounded by Trammel-Fresno Road, the Fort Bend Parkway and Highway 6. Plans also call for a retail development to go in adjacent to the multi-family units.

The city has talked about creating a “town center” concept in the area which would include high density housing. A new Kroger store and park and ride facility as well as expansion plans at the Medical Center have some city council members convinced that now is the time to move forward with putting multi-family housing in that area.

“I’m concerned that if we don’t get some people utilizing that shopping center where Kroger is, we’re gong to end up with empty boxes over there,” Mayor Allen Owen said. “We have an opportunity to get something done with Trammel-Fresno and to get a first class development that will hopefully bring some retail development to that corner.”

The gated multi-family community will be marketed to young professionals who are shown to be an under served population in city surveys, Councilman Don Smith said.

But Councilman Robin Elackatt questioned whether apartments mesh with the “town center” concept that the city is working toward and proposed that the city consider leaving the property zoned for retail use.

“I’m asking you to consider whether putting apartments on this great piece of land the direction we want to go?”, Elackatt said. “It might not ever be a 59 and Highway 6 corridor but it would allow people one-stop shopping that will bring in new revenues.”

Gary Smith, Missouri City’s Director of Developmental Services told the council that the land is part of the Tax Reinvestment Zone #2 and that, no matter what is put on the property, the city will not see any tax revenues until the zone is dissolved in another 15 years.

Missouri City is also working through safety concerns in relation to where the entrance to the development would be. There are concerns that the entrance needs to be moved further north to alleviate possible “stacking” of cars exiting off of the Fort Bend Toll Road.

Telling the Stafford Story: Zero Property Tax, Eliminating Debt, Development of the Texas Instruments Property, Enhancement of the US 90A and Murphy Road Corridors, Transformation of the Stafford Municipal School District and Elevating the Stafford Centre. Mayor Leonard Scarcella was first elected Mayor in 1969. For 44 years, he led the City of Stafford on one of the most successful—and storied—journeys of any city in Texas.

The Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce Governmental Relations Division continues to provide Chamber members with access to local and state government officials and to provide the business community with an opportunity for access on these issues. Details of upcoming seminars can be found at FortBendChamber.com.

Event Presenter Sponsorships available for $1,000 – Corporate Tables of 8 available for $400 – Individual Member Reservations available for $30 – Individual Non-Member Reservations available for $35. Register and pay online at www.FortBendChamber.com or contact Matthew Ferraro at 281-491-0277 or Matthew@fortbendcc.org.

Contract deputy makes two different dope busts in Pecan Grove neighborhood.

Last week contract deputy constable Mark Williams made a couple of dope busts during routine patrol. In the first incident he was responding to a disturbance at the apartment complex on Old South. When he arrived at the call he noticed that several males bolted from the area where the disturbance was reported and went into a nearby apartment.

Deputy Williams made contact with those men and while standing at the open door, he could smell the odor of marijuana wafting from inside. While still standing at the door, he could see several bongs and other drug paraphernalia inside the apartment. One man was arrested, one is wanted for evading and several citations were issued. Inside the apartment deputies found pills, liquid pcp, marijuana, and distribution items. The apartment was reported to be a one stop dope shop.

Then in the same week, deputy constable Williams was working a traffic complaint on Mayweather when a speeding car passed him. Williams stopped the car. When the driver lowered his window to talk to the deputy, the smell of marijuana was wafted out. That driver, David Dunn, claimed to have not smoked weed since the day before. During a search of the vehicle Williams discovered two bricks of marijuana in the trunk; weighing about a pound each. The driver, David Dunn, 31, a longtime resident of Pecan Grove was arrested and booked into the County jail. By press time Dunn had bonded out of jail.

Deputy Constable Mark Williams is part of the team hired by Precinct 3 Constable Rob Cook to patrol Pecan Grove in a law enforcement contract program.

What do people from this area generally know about Kendleton? That it used to be a speed trap at one time is probably what most will say. Today, it’s on the verge of moving towards accomplishing the initial goals set out in a 20-year growth plan which Pct. 1 Commissioner Richard Morrison said has short, medium and long term goals.

During last week’s Fort Bend County Commissioners Court regular meeting, action was taken to authorize spending $27,000 for a contractor to implement the short term goals for the City of Kendleton. The amount on the agenda was listed as $37,000, however, Commissioner Morrison motion which was approved called for $27,000 instead as a budget transfer.

Commissioner Morrison explained that the city adopted the growth study “but they have no wherewithall to be able to carry out those short term goals.” A contractor will be paid to initiate and implement some 13 short term goals with Community Development Block Grant or what is commonly referred to as CDBG grant funds.

According to the growth study, the City of Kendleton with city limits accounting for 1.4 miles with an additional 4.1 miles in its extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ), is in western Fort Bend County at U.S. 59 and FM 2919, and it borders the San Bernard River, the boundary between Fort Bend and Wharton counties. The latest census data in 2010 shows a population of 380 in the city limits and 587 in the ETJ and surrounding area.

The city’s growth study was intended to address current and future needs of the Kendleton community in keeping with development impacting the area. A future balance between its existing rural character, desired growth and transportation-based new developments were cited as aims of the study.