HOUSTON – It’s the first Tuesday of March, and it is time for our weekly segment, ‘Pop-Off Politics.’
We know you’re busy at home and work. Keeping up with how the City of Houston and its elected officials are spending your tax dollars is a full-time job.
That’s why every week, the KPRC 2 Investigates team looks at the agenda items for the city and tells you what we need to know.
This is the largest agenda list of the new administration, with 55 items to consider from the Airport System to the Police Department.
Agenda Item #20
You’ll remember last week, the new Airport Director, Jim Szczesniak, was put in place and is taking over the Houston Airport System.
In one of his first steps as director, he’s asking to move $150 million from the “Airport System Consolidated 2011 Construction Fund” for a memorandum agreement between the City and United Airlines. This is a part of the $2.5 billion project expanding their operations in Terminal B.
We’re expecting 40 new gates and the amenities to go with it. The terminal will have better security, not to mention a new baggage claim and ticketing counter.
Director Szczesniak believes it’s going to be a modern state-of-the-art terminal with all the technology to match.
United Airlines will pony up $1.9 billion, and the city will fund $624 million.
Officials believe we’re looking at more than 3,000 new jobs.
Agenda Item #21
Ellington Airport is closer to expansion. The City Council will vote for a $16 million contract.
After receiving requests from several companies, the city wants to move forward with Texas Sterling-Banicki JV for a completely new design and construction of a runway, the taxiway, and its connectors to the runway.
This effort will give Ellington Airport direct access to the Houston Spaceport Program.
Remember, Houston can host a lunch and be a landing site for suborbital spacecrafts.
Agenda Item #30
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner is asking for an ordinance allowing more than $1.1 million in funding from TXDOT.
The city does have to match some of the funds, but what this will do is give officers overtime to go after speeders, folks who text and drive, DWIs, and the many crashes on our roadways.
If approved, that funding will begin in October and run through September 2025.
Houston City Council is expected to vote on these items and more on the 6th of March 2024.