More Fifth Street History - Infrastructure Justice

Houston Chronicle Press Clippings 

Fifth Street tackles Third World problem in lack of clean water

PATTI MUCK Staff

SUN 08/17/1986 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section 3, Page 1, 2 STAR Edition

STAFFORD - For most of the 1,700 people living in the unincorporated Fifth Street neighborhood, water comes from gallon jugs and untreated sewage flows freely into front yard ditches.

With no central water or sewage system, some people compare life here to living in the Third World.

"But even uncivilized countries have clean water," said Conchita Jalomo, a 13-year resident of the 400-home community between Stafford and Missouri City. "Here in the United States, we don't have decent water. It makes us sad.

"What is it going to take?" she asked.

For the third consecutive year, residents are trying to get a $400,000 federal grant to install a central water system. The application lost out by only a few points last year.

Competition is fierce for the federal funds, which are distributed by the state of Texas. In the 13-county region that includes Fort Bend County, approximately 36 applications are pending and only $3.1 million is available.

"If everybody came in with the maximum request ($400,000), about eight can be funded, or one out of four," said Bruce Spitzengel, a grants consultant retained by Fort Bend County to help the Fifth Street neighborhood.

"It is a competitive program," he said. "But I feel like they have a very good chance for funding based on the changes made in the state's scoring criteria."

He said the Regional Review Committee that sorts through the applications has always put emphasis on the Fifth Street project, but it lost later at the state level.

The $400,000 would provide a central water supply for 290 of the 400 homes in the area, and it's the first step in a long line of needed improvements, said the Rev. Tim Matovina, a priest from Holy Family Catholic Church.

"The water is horrible," he said. In a survey of the neighborhood, 83 percent of the residents cited water as the greatest need.

A Texas Department of Health report in 1984 concurred. It called the neighborhood "a potential health hazard" because of the raw sewage in ditches and several contaminated water supplies.

The health department counted 628 children exposed to the raw sewage. The report said ditches were an ideal breeding area for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Along with its water application, the Fifth Street neighborhood also applied for $1.2 million from Fort Bend County's George Foundation to install a sewer system.

"In most instances you build a sewer before the water system, but you don't drink sewage," explained Matovina. Several residents - both children and adults - report stomach disorders and other illnesses.

Most doctors advise them not to drink water from their shallow wells, but none have directly linked the water to health problems, said the priest.

In a letter supporting the $1.2 million request, Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella told George Foundation trustees that his city is in no position to annex the Fifth Street neighborhood and provide it with city services.

For one thing, a general law city cannot annex on its own initiative, he said.

And since the city and the Stafford Municipal School District share the same boundaries, any annexation would need approval from the Stafford school district and the Fort Bend Independent School District, which Fifth Street children now attend.

"The very low tax base of this area and the significant amount of streets and other capital facilities which are needed would make it politically impractical to consider annexation of the area at this time," said Scarcella. He estimates it could be up to 15 years before Stafford could consider annexation.

Scarcella urged George Foundation trustees to award the grant as "a major step in eliminating one of the most glaring examples of blight in our county."

Trustees are considering the application but have not yet made any decisions. Fifth Street residents won't hear about the federal grant application for their water system until late October or early November.

"I don't care how long it takes," said Jalomo, a housekeeper and a member of the Fifth Street Water Supply Corp., formed to maintain the water system after it is built.

"I don't know how many foundations there are, but we're going to try all of them," she said.

Jalomo said she and her ill 80-year-old mother use about 21 gallons of bottled water a week. Relatives supply a lot of it, but they often have to purchase water for 60 cents or more a gallon.

"It's worse in other places," she said. "In some homes, they can't even use their water to bathe."

If the $400,000 is granted, Matovina said, negotiations will begin with the nearby Water Control and Improvement District No. 2. If it agrees to sell water to the Fifth Street Water Supply Corp., it will save residents the $175,000 cost of putting in their own well.

"Every dollar we save can be put toward more pipes," said Matovina.

Each pipe will link another home to a pure water supply. The improvement process is slow, but the people are determined, he said.

With help from Matovina and his church, neighborhood residents earlier this year won their battle to acquire rights-of-way and pave a treacherous lane called Mud Road.

Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Alton Pressley's crews are now grading the road and digging drainage ditches.

Residents named it Guadalupe Road after their symbol of faith, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Fifth Street/Water, sewage woes plague unincorporated neighborhood

PATTI MUCK Staff

SUN 08/17/1986 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section 3, Page 1, 3 STAR Edition

STAFFORD - For most of the 1,700 people living in the unincorporated Fifth Street neighborhood, water comes from gallon jugs and untreated sewage flows freely into front yard ditches.

With no central water or sewage system, some people compare life here to living in the Third World.

"But even uncivilized countries have clean water," said Conchita Jalomo, a 13-year resident of the 400-home community between Stafford and Missouri City. "Here in the United States, we don't have decent water. It makes us sad.

"What is it going to take?" she asked.

For the third consecutive year, residents are trying to get a $400,000 federal grant to install a central water system. The application lost out by only a few points last year.

Competition is fierce for the federal funds, which are distributed by the state of Texas. In the 13-county region that includes Fort Bend County, about 36 applications are pending and only $3.1 million is available.

"If everybody came in with the maximum request ($400,000), about eight can be funded, or one out of four," said Bruce Spitzengel, a grants consultant retained by Fort Bend County to help the Fifth Street neighborhood.

"It is a competitive program," he said. "But I feel like they have a very good chance for funding based on the changes made in the state's scoring criteria."

He said the Regional Review Committee that sorts through the applications has always put emphasis on the Fifth Street project, but it lost later at the state level.

The $400,000 would provide a central water supply for 290 of the 400 homes in the area, and it's the first step in a long line of needed improvements, said the Rev. Tim Matovina, a priest from Holy Family Catholic Church.

"The water is horrible," he said. In a survey of the neighborhood, 83 percent of the residents cited water as the greatest need.

A Texas Department of Health report in 1984 concurred. It called the neighborhood "a potential health hazard" because of the raw sewage in ditches and several contaminated water supplies.

The health department counted 628 children exposed to the raw sewage. The report said ditches were an ideal breeding area for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Along with its water application, the Fifth Street neighborhood also applied for $1.2 million from Fort Bend County's George Foundation to install a sewer system.

"In most instances you build a sewer before the water system, but you don't drink sewage," explained Matovina. Several residents - both children and adults - report stomach disorders and other illnesses.

Most doctors advise them not to drink water from their shallow wells, but none have directly linked the water to health problems, said the priest.

In a letter supporting the $1.2 million request, Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella told George Foundation trustees that his city is in no position to annex the Fifth Street neighborhood and provide it with city services. A general law city cannot annex on its own initiative, he said.

And since the city and the Stafford Municipal School District share the same boundaries, any annexation would need approval from the Stafford school district and the Fort Bend Independent School District, which Fifth Street children now attend.

"The very low tax base of this area and the significant amount of streets and other capital facilities which are needed would make it politically impractical to consider annexation of the area at this time," said Scarcella. He estimates it could be up to 15 years before Stafford could consider annexation.

Scarcella urged George Foundation trustees to award the grant as "a major step in eliminating one of the most glaring examples of blight in our county." Trustees are considering the application but have not yet made any decisions. Fifth Street residents won't hear about the federal grant application for their water system until late October or early November.

"I don't care how long it takes," said Jalomo, a housekeeper and a member of the Fifth Street Water Supply Corp., formed to maintain the water system after it is built. "I don't know how many foundations there are, but we're going to try all of them," she said.

Jalomo said she and her ill 80-year-old mother use about 21 gallons of bottled water a week. They often have to purchase water for 60 cents or more a gallon.

If the $400,000 is granted, Matovina said, negotiations will begin with the nearby Water Control and Improvement District No. 2. If it agrees to sell water to the Fifth Street Water Supply Corp., it will save residents the $175,000 cost of putting in their own well.

With help from Matovina and his church, neighborhood residents earlier this year won their battle to acquire rights-of-way and pave a treacherous lane called Mud Road.

Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Alton Pressley's crews are now grading the road and digging drainage ditches. Residents named it Guadalupe Road after their symbol of faith, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Fifth Street residents to get water

PATTI MUCK Staff

WED 11/05/1986 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section 1, Page 21, NO STAR Edition

STAFFORD - The unincorporated Fifth Street neighborhood in Fort Bend County won a $400,000 federal grant to install a central water system in the poor, mainly Hispanic community.

"After three years of hard work, we're delighted we've got a bit of success," said the Rev. Tim Matovina, a priest at Holy Family Catholic Church. "The people are beside themselves. They want to know if they'll get water next week."

A no-man's land located between Stafford and Missouri City, the 1,700-person community has no sewer or water system. A Texas Department of Health report in 1984 called it a potential health hazard because of its contaminated water supplies and raw sewage in front of homes.

Fort Bend County Judge Jodie Stavinoha said he and other county judges worked to change the way applications for the funds are scored, helping to get the Fifth Street grant after two unsuccessful attempts.

In the past, scores were based on per capita income for the entire county. The Fifth Street neighborhood is surrounded by affluent and middle-class subdivisions with a much higher per capita income, knocking it down in priority for federal funding.

Stavinoha said per capita income is now being considered in the application area rather than countywide. The $400,000 technically is awarded to the county, he said.

"Hopefully, these folks will have clean water in the near future," Stavinoha said.

The Fifth Street project scored third in a competitive race with 35 other area projects, said Carl Masterson, senior environmental planner with the Houston-Galveston Area Council. The federal grants are distributed by the state of Texas after selection by a Regional Review Committee and the Texas Department of Community Affairs.

Negotiations are under way with the nearby Water Control and Improvement District No. 2 to sell water to the Fifth Street Water Supply Corp., which was formed to maintain the system after construction.

The grant will provide hook-ups to approximately 250 households in the 400-home community. Matovina said residents will continue efforts to get funds for the remaining hook-ups as well as a central sewer system.

Matovina and the Holy Family Church earlier this year worked with Fifth Street neighbors to obtain rights-of-way and to pave a soggy lane called Mud Road. Repairs are ongoing, and the road was renamed Guadalupe Road after Our Lady of Guadalupe, the symbol of faith.

New asphalt blankets mire on `Mud Road'/Relieved residents change street's name to Guadalupe

PATTI MUCK Staff

THU 03/05/1987 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section 1, Page 16, 2 STAR Edition

STAFFORD - Twenty years' worth of ruts and muddy mounds disappeared Wednesday as work crews paved what used to be called "Mud Road."

Many of the 100 residents of the poor, mainly Hispanic neighborhood watched with relief as a contractor for Fort Bend County Precinct 3 surfaced the renamed Guadalupe Road, named after Our Lady of Guadalupe, the symbol of Hispanic Catholicism.

After heavy rains, children here sometimes missed school because they couldn't walk to the buses. Ambulances and fire trucks had to park at the entrance of the 1,100-foot, dead-end road.

"I'm glad they're finally fixing it," said Mike Morales. "It got nasty here when it rained." Morales said he lost two cars in four years after driving up and down the soggy street.

With the help of the Rev. Tim Matovina, a priest at Holy Family Catholic Church, residents here worked for months to earn enough money to buy privately owned right-of-way.

A walk-a-thon and a Mexican dance helped raise $7,800 to purchase the private land, which then was turned over to Fort Bend County for maintenance and repair.

"We really think it's a miracle to have the road done after so many years," said Matovina.

A dedication ceremony is set for April 11, and Matovina said another walk-a-thon is being planned to raise money for rehabilitation of other nearby roads.

Located in an unincorporated no-man's land between Missouri City and Stafford, the Fifth Street neighborhood has suffered water, sewer and road problems for several years. The neighborhood won a $400,000 federal grant late last year to install a central water system.

Precinct 3 Administrative Assistant Arne Danove said Wednesday's paving of Guadalupe Road cost approximately $10,000 and is part of an overall Fifth Street road improvement package totaling $40,000.

New water system makes big splash in Fifth Street area

SUN 11/12/1989 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section C, Page 1W, 2 STAR Edition

A new water system for a 400-family neighborhood wedged between Stafford and Missouri City was formally dedicated Saturday.

For years, the Fifth Street area - an unincorporated neighborhood plagued with rough, impassible roads and undrinkable water - was a virtual no man's land with no financial resources for change.

But a lengthy effort by Fifth Street residents and churches resulted in new roads, road repairs and Saturday's dedication of the Fifth Street Water System, built with the help of Fort Bend County and the Fifth Street Water Supply Corp.

Several area residents and members of the Fort Bend Interfaith Council, a group of 15 congregations that works on community problems, celebrated the new system with county officials, representatives of the George Foundation and Water Control and Improvement District 2.

The system brings clean, potable water to homes that formerly relied on bottled water or water brought from friends' and relatives' homes.