Gulf Coast E-news

Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough reported that Duffey-Wrobleski said that she wants to spend more time with her family; and that she may do some consulting for area emergency management offices. Listen

"I think she just kind of burned out, to be honest with you," Yarbrough said. "She has done us a great job, as you know. We have made so many strides in the last eight or nine years on coordination of communications, on facility progress. She has done a great job of getting grant money for beaches, grant money for homeland security and radio upgrades and various things that help all jurisdictions in the county."

Yarbrough named John Simsen as interim emergency management coordinator. The position will be posted to seek applicants, and he hopes that a new director can be in place in time for Hurricane Season.

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Galveston County Commissioners Court

Galveston County Commissioners Court this morning voted unanimously to authorize Information Technology Director Robert Canterbury to explore "options and offers for replacement of the current county telephone system".

Canterbury proposes that the county move completely off of current technology by converting to a converged Cisco Voice Over Internet Protocol system as county offices are moved into the new Justice Center.

"This change in the IT tactical plan would not only drastically simplify upcoming department moves, in addition to providing financial benefits such as eliminating the decommissioning cost for the old telephones as moves are made," Canterbury said. "The change would also enable IT to assume more direct responsibility for day-to-day desktop level telephone issues currently handled by a third party, thereby reducing the associated expenses."

The commissioners court approved a $15,000 professional engineering contract with Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation to assist in the development of a "pass-thru toll agreement" with the Texas Department of Transportation to finish the development of FM 646 between FM 517 and SH 6 as a five-lane urban section. Listen

"This pass through toll is a relatively new way of trying to secure TxDOT dollars, funding for projects and reimbursements for projects, in Galveston County. "It is not going to be where people have to pay a toll."

"It was a poor selection of terms," agreed Paul Celauro of Dannenbaum, explaining that the state will reimburse the county for the cost of the project, based on the number of vehicles that use it.

The commissioners court deferred action on a request by Harold Thomas for a refund of $35.92 in penalty and interest for the delinquent payment of taxes. The appeal had been scheduled for the previous meeting, but Thomas did not show up. Thus it was rescheduled for today. Today Thomas was late, so discussion was delayed until the end of the meeting. Although Tax Assessor Collector Cheryl Johnson assured the commissioners court that the tax bill had been properly mailed, Yarbrough moved to have the issue deferred for consideration at the next meeting.

The commissioners court authorized special commissioner Paul Selman to move forward on three transactions to facilitate the development of the old Jack Tar property by 500 Seawall Ltd. The commissioners court approved a license to use a portion of the property, the sale of another parcel and an option to purchase another.

All other agenda items were approved. All votes were unanimous.

The commissioners court met in workshop with Purchasing Agent Bruce Hughes to discuss specifications for the lease of the existing city jail that will be vacated when it is moved to the new Justice Center. Listen

Yarbrough said that community meetings will be scheduled so that the neighbors of the facility can have input into its next use.

"While that facility has been a jail for 40-plus years, it is going to be a different type of arrangement," Yarbrough said. "It ought to be a better arrangement because you are not going to have near the in and out traffic, bonding and booking and all of the things that we do at the facility now."

The commissioners court had a workshop discussion with Community Services Director Curtiss Brown concerning the county's legislative agenda. Listen

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Galveston Independent School District

The Galveston Independent School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted unanimously to renew Superintendent Lynn Hale’s contract.

"Under Mrs. Hale’s leadership the district has progressed a great deal in the last year and a half," said Trustee David O’Neal.

The school board voted to authorize Hale to move forward in the hiring of a new GISD Police Chief.

The school board approved the installation of a historical marker on the site of a historic cemetery where the Crenshaw Elementary and Middle School are under construction on the Bolivar Peninsula. Listen

All other items were approved unanimously.

Hale presented the 2003-2004 Academic Excellence Indicator System Report, noting that the percentages of minority student-teacher ratios were "not dramatic," and issuing a call to improve.

“It is critical to us to improve the ratio of our ethnic groups because we know that the children learn best with teachers they can relate to,” Hale said.

Sonya Smith updated the board on the Central Middle School Juvenile Intervention Program. The 7 year-old program provides academic support through the TAAS, TAKS, and TEKS objectives.

Lynne Cleveland, co-chair of the School Zone and Facilities Usage Committee, provided an update of the group’s activities.

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Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission

Jefferson County Commissioner Mark Domingue was installed as president of the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission at the group's annual meeting Wednesday night in Beaumont.

"This is really a night of celebration," Domingue said, praising the staff and the past officers of the commission for developing a regional approach, giving special appreciation to the Sabine-Neches Chief's Association.

"This organization is made up of first responders from both the public and private sector, who work as a team, and have for many years, to make Southeast Texas a safer place to live, by protecting us and or petrochemical industry, our waterways and our transportation systems," Domingue said.

The meeting honored former Congressman Nick Lampson and his wife Susan. Listen

The Frances K. Monk Regional Leadership Award was presented to Beaumont Mayor Evelyn Lord. Listen

Lord reported that she had just attended the mid-winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C., where her peers were complaining about regional issues.

"To listen to the various mayors from all over the country complaining about how they are not treated right and how things are not happening the way they should, and then I sit there thinking, 'How strange am I?'," Lord said. "Because things are working here. They are working here because we have the Sabine Chiefs, we have the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission; we have them. They put together this regional plan which is almost a pilot plan for the nation, not just for our state. We have so much to be proud of."

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Photos and Audio

Houston Downtown Management District

The board of directors of the Houston Downtown Management District on Thursday unanimously approved spending up to $25,000 through the Coalition for the Homeless as part of a collaborative outreach and relocation effort to assist the chronically homeless on the streets of downtown Houston.

The project is a trial program of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness and of CORE, the Coordinated Outreach Response Effort, which is based on a mid 1990s effort undertaken by the district and key service providers that proved surprisingly successful, according to Bob Eury, district executive director. Listen Download

"The "Wet and Cold" program, I think, astounded those in the homeless service providers in that area with how effective it was," Eury said. "It actually had some hard-core chronically homeless people on the street exit homelessness and move into the regular, housed population."

Eury said he believes the primary reason for the success of the old program was that it gave homeless persons a variety of choices, not simply the choice of going to a shelter.

"Our experience then was, you could even get a bus ticket to another city," Eury said. "Unfortunately, we keep talking about it; we know it’s a huge issue out there and rarely can we find things where we really make a difference. And I think our experience ten years ago was (that) it made a difference."

The board also voted to authorize a $25,000 expenditure for energy costs related to the operations of the downtown irrigation system, kiosks, banner poles, electrical receptacles, way finding system, the Texas Avenue clock and the Louisiana Street Gateway; a $55,000 expenditure for energy costs related to the operations of Main Street Square; and a $200,000 annual payment for the incremental cost increase for improved street lighting.

The board voted to authorize its third season expenditure under the holiday decorations agreement with Central Houston Civic Improvement, Inc. in the amount of $105,000. The third season ends on January 10, 2006.

All other items were approved. All votes were unanimous.

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Galveston Intermodal Transportation

The Galveston Intermodal Transportation Committee has scheduled a public meeting on Monday, January 24, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers to invite comment on hike and bike trails in Galveston.

"The purpose of the meeting is to generate public comment so that all entities concerned about these trails are on the same page," said a news release. "Council members Patricia Bolton-Legg and Jackie Cole, as ex-officio members of the Intermodal Transportation Committee, hope that this meeting will result in a unified scope on how the city will move forward on hike and bike trails."

“Collaboration is one of the keys," the council members said in a joint statement. "If all interested parties work together toward a common goal, the city has a better opportunity to attract funding from state and federal sources for this type of project.”

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University of Houston-Clear Lake

University of Houston-Clear Lake faculty, staff and students are coordinating a Community-Wide Garage Sale to support victims of the Tsunami Disaster on Saturday, January 29 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UH-Clear Lake, Parking Lot G (between the Delta and Arbor Buildings).

Proceeds from the garage sale will be contributed to the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund.

The UHCL Alumni Association and UHCL Office of University Advancement are helping to underwrite the event.

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On The Webio

Several items of interest to Southeast Texas are posted on The Online News Station.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Skip Wagner announced that Joel Cowley will assume the duties of executive director, agricultural exhibits, for the show beginning in February. Photo and Release

Rajan Koshy reports that the response to the “Galveston House” project initiated by Galveston-Trivandrum Sister City Society and the Galveston Chamber of Commerce was overwhelming. Photos and Release

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Scheduled Meetings
Meetings will be held in the regular meeting place of the city council or other governmental body, unless otherwise specified.

Today, January 20
4:00 Galveston Golf Course Ad Hoc Committee
6:30 American Business Women's Association League City Charter Chapter, South Shore Harbour Country Club
7:00 Clear Creek Independent School District Public Hearing on School Boundary Changes, Clear Creek High School Cafeteria
7:30 Santa Fe Independent School District Board of Trustees
7:30 "Grease," Clear Creek High School. The Senior Class provided the cast.

Friday, January 21
8:30 Galveston Commission for the Arts, City Hall Room 100
12:00 Galveston Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 12, City Hall Room 100
8:00 "The Vagina Monologues," etc. Theatre, Galveston
8:00 Smokey Joe's Cafe, The Grand 1894 Opera House, Galveston

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Gulf Coast E-news, published by Guidry News Service, provides comprehensive coverage of posted public meetings in Galveston, Harris and Jefferson Counties as well as regional news impacting the Upper Texas Gulf Coast.

Jim and Lynda Guidry are publishers of Gulf Coast E-news and The Online News Station.

Jim Young is Houston City Correspondent. Dana Patricia Burke is the Bay Area Houston Correspondent. Chuck Lawrence is Galveston City Correspondent. Carl Guidry covers events in Jefferson County. Anita Donatto covers the education beat in Galveston.

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