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Residents urge action on downtown buildings they call ‘dangerous’; merchants ask council to consider electric subsidies
Summary
At the Sept. 2 meeting, residents urged the council to secure two downtown buildings they described as dangerous and asked for electric subsidies for downtown merchants; Alderman Don Romines said the city’s utilities rate study will consider subsidy requests.
At the Sept. 2 Houston City Council meeting, public commenters raised safety and economic concerns for downtown Houston.
Resident John Sheehan told the council that buildings at 109 and 111 S. Grand Ave pose a danger to the community and asked the council to take further action to take possession and secure those structures. The minutes record Sheehan’s request as public comment; the council did not record a follow-up motion on the item in the minutes.
Kathy Richardson asked the council to consider electric subsidies for downtown merchants. Alderman Don Romines responded that the city is conducting a utilities rate study and will consider the subsidy requests as part of that study’s recommended actions.
Separately, Ed McLiney, Senior Managing Director of McLiney and Company, presented a potential lease-purchase option for a future quadplex facility; the presentation was recorded in the minutes but no decision was made at the meeting. Parks and Recreation Director Robbie Mortensen also presented proposed playground upgrades for Emmett Kelly Park, and the council verbally agreed to budget $100,000 in 2026 for those upgrades.
The minutes record these comments and presentations as part of the public-comment and presentation portions of the meeting; any formal next steps (code enforcement action on the downtown buildings or a council policy on subsidies) are not recorded in these minutes.
