Hausman halts Woodlands township board meeting in objection to traffic study presentation related to road bond

From Conroe Courier By Catherine Dominguez | Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 9:52 pm

The Woodlands Township Board member Peggy Hausman stopped the board’s meeting in its tracks Wednesday evening when she objected to a comparison study presentation on the impact the Woodlands Parkway extension from FM 2978 to Texas 249 would have on The Woodlands community.

The extension is one of the 77 projects on the $350 million bond referendum scheduled to go to the voters May 9. That one project has divided voters across the county.

Hausman abruptly left the meeting after questioning representatives with The Woodland-based Jones and Carter, whose political action committee donated $2,500 to the Keep Montgomery County Moving Political Action Committee, which is supporting the bond, leaving the board without a quorum. Board Chairman Bruce Tough halted the meeting until he could bring Hausman back. Board members Gordy Bunch, John McMullan and Jeff Long were no-shows at the meeting.

As Rob Maxwell, senior vice president with Jones and Carter, started his presentation of his firm’s comparison of the two studies done on the traffic impact, Hausman interrupted and asked the purpose of the presentation.

“Who paid for this presentation and why are you here tonight when we just now got the report,” Hausman asked.

Maxwell said his firm was hired by Jonathan Roach, a Houston-based attorney, to determine whether the study commissioned by Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack and the study commissioned by Montgomery County were consistent in scope and conclusions on the effect the Woodlands Parkway extension would have on Woodlands Parkway through The Woodlands.

“We were hired … to give a lay person’s perspective, independent engineering analysis for both studies …” Maxwell said.

Hausman continued to ask what the purpose was of the presentation, prompting board member Mike Bass to remind the board that during its Feb. 25 meeting, directors agreed to refer the two traffic studies to the county for analysis. However, Bass said, the County Engineer’s Office did not want to offer an opinion on the studies.

“In this case, Jonathan Roach engaged Jones and Carter to do analysis we asked the (County Engineer’s Office) to do, and I agreed to sponsor it on the agenda,” Bass said. “There is no action on this; it is just simply information on what the two reports say and try and clarify.”

Hausman objected.

“I would have to say this has absolutely nothing to do with the township and I take offense to the fact that just because somebody disputes (the studies) now we are having an independent report,” she said before announcing she was stepping out of the room.

Hausman eventually returned to the meeting, but the board did not revisit the agenda item.

Maxwell left the meeting but told The Courier his firm was contacted by Roach for the study. According to Maxwell, both firms used the same data provided by the Houston Galveston Area Council.

Maxwell said the Brown and Gay study calculated the daily volumes on the road over a 24-hour period but did not narrow that down to when those cars were traveling on Woodlands Parkway. The Arcadis study, he said, looked at peak hours, including morning and evening commutes.

“There is never an issue between FM 2978 and Branch Crossing,” he said. “It is always acceptable condition with or without the extension. There is never an issue.”

The Woodland Parkway extension has been a hot-button issue for residents in the community. Bunch has spearheaded the opposition to the project that is part of the $350 million road bond referendum on the May 9 ballot. Bunch contends the project would have a dramatic negative effect on the community.

Bunch, who was a part of the county’s road bond committee that helped pair down the list of projects from more than 100 to the 77, resigned from the committee Feb. 20 in protest to the Woodlands Parkway extension project being included on the list. On Feb. 23, Montgomery County Commissioners Court unanimously agreed to call the bond for $350 million, which included the extension, but opted not to allow Precinct 3 an additional $15 million to widen Woodlands Parkway to accommodate the expected increase in traffic.

Early voting begins April 27 and continues through May 5. Election day is May 9.