HOUSTON – Residents of the North Side subdivision, Ella Crossing, have voiced concerns over inadequate street lighting, posing safety risks and causing frustration.
Despite paying nearly $18,000 to CenterPoint for 17 streetlights almost a year ago, residents say the neighborhood remains in darkness.
Yvonne Morales, a long-time resident, expressed her worries about safety and the lack of communication from CenterPoint.
“We do a lot of the stuff we can do in the day time because at night it’s very hard to see out here,” she said.
Residents say the homeowners association installed concrete pads for benches, which were vandalized shortly after installation, highlighting the area’s vulnerability.
“One of our basic necessities and priorities that we came to terms that we needed, was more street lights,” said the HOA president who did not want to be identified.
The HOA president said a $18,000 check was given to CenterPoint for street lights to be installed, but after that, they never heard back.
“I followed up because some months had passed wanted to know what was going on and so they said they received a check that was not really good. So like a bounced check,” the HOA president said. “We went to the management company and saw that CenterPoint tried to cash the check twice.”
The president explained the attempt to cash the check twice appears to be the reason it bounced.
“It was disheartening you know, and then we still don’t have street lights and it’s almost a year later,” the HOA president said. “We have residents trying to put up their own LED lights because they are in the dark.”
CenterPoint did respond to KPRC 2′s request for comment and said the lighting project is scheduled to be completed before the end of the month. They are also reaching out to the customer directly.
