KEVIN NEWMAN for Bellaire City Council 2023

The other day I discussed the ad hoc committee meeting on the location of the new police and court buildings.  Today I want to think out loud and hear your thoughts,  Email me – kevin@politician.com

So, Jeff Gerber is the architect behind this project and has worked hard on these designs. I am new to the whole site selection and just from the numbering of the diagram you can see there has been MANY different designs.  One thing that is still in my head was Jeff Gerber’s plans and allocation of funds to cover the police department’s relocation during rebuilding.  For those that do not know consider a police station like a bank, instead of guarding money they guard people.  He mentioned how West University and Hedwig Village relocated the police station and made it seem like it was just camping in your backyard for a few nights.  He also didn’t mention the much lighter the call volume these smaller cities have on a daily basis either.  The new construction will take at least a year to complete if all goes well, but we really need to factor if it doesn’t.  I did try to go to www.rentajail.com to see about renting a temporary jail, but seems that is not a real option.  His other idea on relocation was to find a favorable location, code for a local business with extra land and offices who want to do good for the city, and use that location for the police station.  He compared it to the Fire Station relocation to the old Texaco building that has since been torn down. The police station is an apple and the fire station is an orange.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people don’t compare apples to apples and somehow think that just because they have a red-orange it is an apple.  Last time I checked the Fire Department houses equipment and the Police station would house accused criminals.  I am pretty sure no one would want a bank placed in a temporarily building.  On the most basic level it makes no sense.  To find a location that is suitable is nearly impossible and to retrofit an existing location might be expensive.  It was mentioned that the HPD Beechnut substation is closing and that might be a great location to use, but depending on when HPD leaves could determine the build start time.

My point of this post is that we need to take into account RELOCATION of the police station while building the new one.  We need to rebuild the police station in a vacant location so we can use the current location while the new police station is being built.  There is no relocation expenses and I am sure we would save money and headaches in the long run.

If you look at the diagram above, one of many designs proposed, you can see the empty parking lot across from the police station and next to the fire station.  What is so wrong about making that whole side of the street the complex, with all the buildings matching in design?  Now there would be the Fire station, then Police, then Courts, and the Library.  Parking is now where the old police station is.  No relocation costs.

OK so there is the Aspen residents who hate that idea who created a petition from residents opposed to the idea. On a side note, I am truly impressed that 5 homes have the power to make the council rethink the design.  Their desire to fight for what they believe in is what makes Bellaire so great.  In the large-scale, the overall picture and for the next 50 years I feel that 5 homes shouldn’t have the power to prevent something that would benefit the ENTIRE City of Bellaire.  I do value the opinions and feelings of the Aspen residents, but it is being selfish.  I truly find it hard to believe that because your backyard is against a Police station the property values will go down.  I actually feel its pretty close to impossible that any property with a 77401 zip code will ever decrease in value.  Even the properties on Lafayette backing up to the recycling center values compare to the surrounding streets north.

It seems that drainage is an issue and will be an issue when any new construction goes up near non raised buildings.  I flood every time it rains from the giant house next door and the raised ground that sits as an empty lot next door.

I also read there is a concern about safety and noise.  I will put in an official request to confirm, but I have never heard of an inmate escaping.  I am amazed how few homes in Bellaire are well lit at night.  Most are dark and easy targets for burglars so I would think the added lighting from the police station could only help, not hurt.

I do understand about noise, but the noise would only be slightly greater than what they currently experience now.  I live on Newcastle and at night I can hear the motorcycles racing on 610.  Noise is a part of life and I am sure the residents on the train tracks can tell you after a while you just do not notice it anymore.  If the police station was built backing up to Aspen I would want to consider the location of the sally port to minimize the noise as much as possible.

When I bought my house on Newcastle everyone I knew said what are you doing, that street has so much traffic.  It was 2 lanes and I had no kids so thinking about them running around the front yard was not a concern to me.  While at the City Permit office one day I look at the city map on the wall and it shows plans to make Newcastle a 4 lane road on an old map hanging on the wall.  I had no clue when I bought the house, but if it was 4 lanes there would be major traffic, worse than it is now. It was something I just had to accept.  There was nothing I could do to change it and luckily they never went ahead and made it 4 lanes.  I only mention this to illustrate, Stuff happens.  Make the best of the situation and if possible when it benefits more than just you let the greater good win.

I feel that City Council needs to look at the greater good for the city as a whole in this matter.  I feel relocation costs and viability should be the number one deciding factor.  Then the choice of available locations. I have said before I like the idea Councilman McLaughlin had of maybe moving to the commercial district. I also like the idea of moving the police station and courts to another city owned piece of property.  I am guessing when the ad hoc committee mentioned this, they meant the old recycling center on Edith.

The culture of Bellaire has always been to listen to EVERY residents views and comments and to take that information into account when formulating a decision.  If this continues to happen with the locations I do not think a choice will ever be made. We need to choose based on criteria that benefits the entire population for the next 50 years and not what will make some happy now.  I think there is a time when the losing plan group will have to accept the choices made on this controversial decision.  In the end we will end up with state of the art facilities that should last us another 50 years.