Harish Jajoo believes in listening Harish Jajoo will: ELECT to the people. He respects people’s right to petition the • Run the City of Sugar Land more like a business city government. He wants the • Focus on the bottom line, streamline services, become more people to vote on the installation efficient, and improve customer service for Sugar Land residents of Red Light Cameras. As mayor, he will do everything within • Enhance city services through innovation, technology, and a his power to ensure Sugar Land dose of common sense in government citizens decide this issue in a referendum vote. JajooForSugarLand.com f facebook.com/HarishJajoo t @harishjajoo VOL 9 No. 23
Phone: 281-980-6745
www.fbindependent.com
email: editor@fbindependent.com
FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016
P.O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Missouri City Juneteenth Celebration Foundation hosts cultural festivities
Photos courtesy of Missouri City. Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen, Mayor Pro Tem Don Smith, District 27 State Representative Ron Reynolds and District D Councilmember Floyd Emery at the 2015 VIP “Kick-Off” Reception at Freedom Tree Park. From June 9-18, the Missouri Park, 4303 Freedom Tree Drive, at 7 p.m. City Juneteenth Celebration MCJCF will host the VIP “Kick*Family Fun Day in the Park: Foundation (MCJCF) will cel- Off” Reception (by invitation At 6 p.m. on Friday, June 17, the ebrate the 15th annual event with only). Beverages and delicacies annual Family Fun Day will be a week of activities including the will be served. Artwork by local held at Hunters Glen Park, 1340 annual gala, scholarship fundrais- and regional artists will be dis- Independence with plenty of famer, family events and the popular played under the Freedom Tree. ily-friendly activities and games. “Mile of Smiles” parade. June*Annual Scholarship Golf A movie will shown at dusk. teenth is celebrated each year to Tournament and Luncheon: On There will be a DJ, face painting commemorate the announcement Monday, June 13, the annual and games. Admission is free and of the abolition of slavery in Tex- Scholarship Golf Tournament open to the general public. as in June, 1865. The partnership and Luncheon will be held at the * Juneteenth Annual “One between the City and the Foun- Quail Valley Golf Course, 2880 Mile of Smiles” Parade: On dation allows for all citizens to La Quinta Dr. Registration will Saturday, June 18 at 7 p.m., the participate in fun activities, hon- begin at 7 a.m., and shotgun start parade will begin on Texas Parkor community leaders and raise at 8 a.m. way (FM 2234) and Court Road scholarship funds for deserving *Annual Community Service and end at Hunters Glen Park, Fort Bend County students. Awards Gala: On Thursday, June 1340 Independence Blvd. Texas “The Foundation was origi- 16, this year’s Community Ser- Parkway will be closed from 5 – nated to bring scholarships and vice Awards Gala will be held at 8 p.m. support to the community,” said the City Centre at Quail Valley, There will be marching bands, MCJCF Board Chairman, Mayor 2880 La Quinta Dr. The reception floats and VIP’s. Awards will be Pro Tem Don Smith. “We have beginning at 6 p.m., and dinner given to the Best Theme, Best raised $200,000 for scholarships at 7 p.m. The Keynote Speaker Float and Best Marching Group. in the last six years by hosting the will be the Honorable Derrick The event is open to the general annual MCJCF Golf Tournament. Mitchell, Texas Southern Univer- public. Interested participants The Foundation has brought posi- sity Board of Regents. Fort Bend can find more information at tive attention to African-Amer- Independent School District stu- www.mcjcf.com. icans in the Missouri City/Fort dents and students enrolled in *Battle of the Bands: FollowBend area by recognizing leaders nation-wide colleges and uni- ing the parade, the annual Battle within the community for their versities will be presented with will take place at Hunters Glen scholarships from earnings in the Park, 1340 Independence, Satgreat service.” For the second year in a row, annual Scholarship Golf Tourna- urday, June 18. Each year, the Battle of the Bands hosts local this year’s celebration will in- ment. clude an art exhibit and cultural *“It Takes A Village” Art Ex- youth in high school bands from performances that will feature hibit and Cultural Performances: the surrounding area to compete internationally known artist Car- On Friday, June 17, this year’s for prizes and musical accolades. olyn Crump, regional and local art exhibit and cultural perforResidents interested in volunmances will be held at the newly teering for this year’s Juneteenth artists and local choirs. This year’s full list of events renovated Missouri City Commu- events may contact Missouri City nity Center located at 1522 Texas Media Relations Specialist Cory includes: *VIP Kick-Off Reception: Parkway in the City Hall Com- Stottlemyer at 281.403.8532 or From 6 – 8:30 p.m. on Thurs- plex. The reception will begin at 6 at cstottlemyer@missouricitytx. day, June 9, at Freedom Tree p.m. and the art exhibit will begin gov.
Brazos River flooding impacts numerous Missouri City streets
By Barbara Fulenwider It seemed as if the sky was falling and wasn’t going to ever stop. A slow moving storm system brought rounds of showers and thunderstorms to the Fort Bend area for six days. Heavy rain resulted in flooding and numerous road closures. Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 31 South Texas counties that included Fort Bend and the Brazos River crested at 54.51 feet at Richmond after overflowing and swamping residences in that town. It was the highest the river crested since 1913. As of this past Thursday there had been 756 rescues due to flooding and on the weekend the National Weather Service predicted thundershowers to continue on Monday, June 6, and possibly on Tuesday. The only good news is there have been no injuries or fatalities reported since the heavy rain began this past week. While the Brazos River continues to move massive amounts of water downstream, no further flooding is expected in Fort Bend. Flood waters were expected to recede slowly so remained high this week. Residents are urged not to drive or venture close to flood waters due to potentially swift currents, exposure to waterborne bacteria and flood debris and displaced wildlife including alligators and venomous snakes. A press release from County Judge Bob Hebert said all levees in the county’s 20 levee improvement districts are intact and functioning as they should. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Program is working as intended, according to the Corps of Engineers Chief of Water Resources, Fort Worth District, where the heavy rain began to impact the Brazos. The press spokesman also said, “We regulate 78 percent of the Brazos River. All projects are functioning as designed. There is still significant flood storage capacity in the corps’ reservoirs.” He continued, saying the significant flooding along the Brazos “is primarily the result of rainfall on the unregulated portion of the basin below our reservoirs.” Hebert said the county’s Office of Emergency Management, over the weekend, was expected to change from its mission of response to recovery. “As water levels recede we will be able to get into these inundated areas and assess the damage,” Hebert said. Flood recovery efforts will include debris removal, environmental issues
and assessing the structural integrity of all residential and commercial buildings. Both Missouri City and Sugar Land were impacted by the Brazos flooding but Missouri City got the king’s share of the water. Numerous roads were closed and remained so thanks to the saturated land that could not hold any more water. Missouri City crews monitored storm drains on an hourly basis. Mayor Allen Owen said, “This has been some of the worst flooding the city has received in some years. Initial high river levels in the Brazos impacted all area waterways in Missouri City and the additional rain caused these waterways to stay elevated. They are expected to do so through the weekend of June 4-5.” The good news is Missouri City did not receive any reports of water getting into homes and no home rescues were reported. “This is the highest river level that the city has dealt with,” Owen said. “The last major flooding event was in 1994, and while this week’s event has a higher river level, it has not affected as great a land area or as many structures as the 1994 flood did. “This is primarily due to the construction of levees that protects a lot of the previously unprotected area. What is different about this year’s flood is it affected different areas of the city than the previous flood, but to a lesser extent. In terms of concerns with flood waters, we have seen localized street flooding.” The mayor also said his city now has four separate levee systems: Sienna Plantation, Riverstone, MUD 46 and First Colony. “Since 1995, city council has allocated approximately $37 million in drainage improvement funds, of which $6,514,000 has been spent in the past five years. The next fiscal year has an additional $2 million allocated for regional drainage improvements.” Like Houston, Missouri City streets are designed “as positive overflow pathways to carry water away from structures,” Owen
said. “The effects of water on streets are due to many variables, such as duration of the flooding, street age and condition, and traffic volumes on the streets. “In general, inundation of short-term duration is not a major impact on the streets. While it is not a hard and fast rule, our experience has shown that in general concrete curb and gutter streets fare somewhat better in major events.” Since mosquitoes will be a huge problem, Owen said, “We will be performing additional spraying starting next week, as we do with any significant water event. Spraying has not started yet due to the weather.” Street closings in Sugar Land were minimal compared to Missouri City’s. Stafford had none. Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella said, “We have a little bit of street flooding when we get an inch of rain or more. We’ve been exceedingly fortunate that we did a lot of rain planning. “We are high and dry when everyone else is flooding,” but a big reason for that is Stafford isn’t nearly as close to the Brazos as parts of Sugar Land and Missouri City are. We are seeing the results today of all the money we spent on surveys and tests. We did so much more than anybody, especially Harris County.” He explained that “in order for this to run its course, all of that flood water coming from North and East Texas will come down the Brazos and through Fort Bend County. And the river, all the way back to Waco, has to get within its banks before it can give the relief people here want.” He too said Stafford will do as much mosquito spraying as possible. It will always be done at night, he said, because it “doesn’t do any good to spray during the day.” Red Cross shelters are at First Baptist Church in Richmond and at Bible Fellowship Baptist Church in Brookshire. Displaced pets and livestock are being cared for by the SPCA, Texas Animal Health Commission and a Texas A&M University vetenarian team.
Fort Bend Independent on its website fbindependent.com conducted an online poll. The poll question was: Sugar Land’s P& Z Commission is expected to reject city council’s resolution, recommending a 200 unit cap on apartments in Planned Developments in the city of Sugar Land. There were 107 responses as of 8.30 p.m., Monday, June 6. The responses were:
34 City Council should accept the P & Z recommendation. 73 City Council should implement its own resolution, despite P & Z’s negative recommendation.
The survey is not scientific, but indicates the trending public opinion.
Fort Bend Education Foundation funds $460,000 to FBISD Since its inception in 1992, the Fort Bend Education Foundation has awarded 32 million in grants to FBISD teachers and schools. This year, the Education Foundation awarded 185 grants for $288,772 to support the Grants to Teachers and Schools program. Additionally, the Foundation awarded $38,755 for two Founders Grants, 311 New Teacher Gifts for $24,803, $25,000 in Professional Development Grants and $82,036 in pass thru for a total of $459,366 this year. Presenting a check to Fort Bend ISD at its 24th awards ceremony is L to R; Frank Petras, President, Fort Ben Education Foundation; Dr. Christie Whitbeck, Deputy Superintendent, Fort Bend ISD; FBEF Board Members, Chris Hill, Pat Houck, Peggy Jackson, Lina Sabouni, Mary Marth, Brenna Cosby, FBEF Executive Director; 2nd Row L to R; Terri Wang, Ron Bailey, John Wantuch, Dr. Dennis Halford, and Dustin Fessler