Has “Greasy” Chris Harrison finally pulled one scam too many? Between the Brodie Estates detention pond scam and the “price of diesel went up so the skate park cost doubled” scam – and who knows what else. It might be time to start digging a little deeper on these greasy/sketchy activities. You know all about digging, right Greasy? Considering you own the dirt works company that did the work on these schemes you hatched.
Brodie Estates was a $185,000 black hole for City money – and nobody has yet explained what happened. Why is Brodie Estates NOT being held to the terms of their agreement? It has been well over the “four years” promised and only 8 of the promised 22 houses are built. Several OTHER projects were started AFTER Brodie Estates and THOSE projects are long-since finished!Most notably Hidden Oaks.
You know what else I remembered?? Greasy Chris was the one who (while on City council) made the motion to award the inflated City Hall renovation elevator bid to RKJ Construction because “they are local” – maybe THAT was some more back scratching as well! That idiotic decision ultimately cost the City close to $50,000since the elevator was FAR more expensive AND it was of such poor construction, they had to buy an expensive service contract on it!
Time to start asking more questions about Paul Christopher Harrison (Garcia) and his S2M2 paychecks. For starters. We might even delve into assault accusations as well. I hear there are several.
“The council candidate [Harrison] said he opposes tax abatements and other financial incentives to prospective businesses. He also said he was against city officials’ economic-development trips to California and a subsequent incentive agreement for a company that moved from California to Lampasas. “To me, it’s not the government’s place to fund private business,” Harrison said.
“The candidate said he learned from a grant program the City Council offered briefly in 2011. Under the program, which Harrison initially supported but later voted to repeal, small businesses that opened in Lampasas after a specified date were eligible for a grant of $5,000 from the city. Harrison said council members had good intentions but learned quickly there were problems with offering taxpayer money to businesses“
So Greasy Chris Harrison was opposed to $5,000 grants but he and S2M2 gladly pilfer the taxpayer for $185,000. Lovely.
Here is a brief timeline of how the geniuses on City council went from DENYING S2M2 a $105,000 check as “too expensive” in May of 2019 to then handing over $185,000 last month – links to Dispatch articles are in brackets in case some moron accuses me of ‘slander’ again:
5/31/19 [page 5]: “The pond is estimated to cost $135,000, and McDonald said if he has it built, he will forego $75,000 he could have made had he turned the pond site into three residential lots. As a result, he asked the city to spend $105,000 on the pond – half of what he said it would cost S2M2 if the company sacrifices potential buildable space to create a drainage pond.Council members, however, said that cost is too high to justify for what they said would be minimal drainage improvements in the area. The council’s motion called for no city payment toward a detention pond.”
[McDonald failed to get the free stuff…so he sends in Greasy Christhree months later. Greasy used to sit on City council with the other Goldfish]
8/30/19 [page A4]: Lampasas company S2M2 Inc., represented at Monday’s meeting by Chris Harrison, is seeking city cost-sharing for the detention pond, which would occupy three lots the company otherwise could have used to build houses in its proposed Brodie Estates subdivision. S2M2 is asking the city to spend $125,000 toward the detention pond, Harrison said. That amount, he told city officials, is about half what the water detention structure will cost the company — when factoring in pond development expenses, the value of the three buildable lots the company will sacrifice and the profit that the sale of three houses could have generated. The pond is not required for Brodie Estates.
“The mayor said city officials need to think again about a detention pond“
[Now that former council buddy Harrison is asking, Mayor Talbert thinks they need to “think again”. Notice the cost has already jumped from $105,000 to $125,000. These wormy shits do this all the time.]
9/20/19 [page 4]: “the City committed to pay S2M2 a maximum of $150,000 for the company’s actual costs of surveying, engineering and building a rainwater detention pond in the subdivision. Council members have said the detention pond is not required to develop Brodie Estates.”
“Harrison said developers requested city cost sharing because adding the detention pond will cause S2M2 to sacrifice three lots it otherwise could have used to build houses. On another item, the amended development agreement specifies that the city will reimburse S2M2 a maximum of $40,000 for engineering, easement acquisition, construction and materials for a water line loop.”
Incredible!!
The Seven Goldfish went from “NO, we won’t spend $105,000” to “we should rethink this” at $125,000 to “here is $150,000PLUS another $40,000 for some water line stuff”
Genius negotiating on the part of Mayor Talbert and the other Goldfish. I guess the taxpaying saps should be thankful that they only got clipped for $185,000 when the maximum possible reimbursement was $190,000.
Gee thanks, S2M2 and Greasy Chris Harrison for leaving a few crumbs! Maybe they can take that $5,000 they “saved” and give it out to Wool & Vine as one of those business grants that Councilman Harrison was opposed toback in 2015. It would be a final bit of irony!
Here is a video of local developers looting City coffers with help from the wizards on City council:
The entire property looks like a tornado hit it – splintered oak tree remnants everywhere. They DID leave that one single tree standing in the back ground there…so there’s that.
This one below kinda looks like a future water detention pond to me…the one the City handed S2M2 $150,000 for, after their former Council member ‘Greasy’ Chris Harrison was hired to beg them for it. Note the massive amounts of roots and splintered wood – this likely indicates destroyed trees, by my estimation:
Don’t even get me started on Deorald Finney and Stone Valley. I don’t think he left more than a tree or two standing – remember, the City gave him over $70,000 in ‘free’ electrical hookups, plus a bunch of dough for other stuff:
Just another example of ‘Goldfish Economics’: subsidize certain behavior and then get confused when that behavior increases.
Amazing what you can find in the archives. Like this little nugget from the Lampasas Dispatch Record (archives April 10th, 2015 – page 11). The Dispatch was interviewing then-candidate Chris Harrison as he ran for City Council a second time (he resigned with a year left in his term the first time around):
“The council candidate said he opposes tax abatements and other financial incentives to prospective businesses. He also said he was against city officials’ economic-development trips to California and a subsequent incentive agreement for a company that moved from California to Lampasas. “To me, it’s not the government’s place to fund private business,” Harrison said.
“The candidate said he learned from a grant program the City Council offered briefly in 2011. Under the program, which Harrison initially supported but later voted to repeal, small businesses that opened in Lampasas after a specified date were eligible for a grant of $5,000 from the city. Harrison said council members had good intentions but learned quickly there were problems with offering taxpayer money to businesses. “
Wow. Harrison sounds reasonable and intelligent here. He is 100% correct on those points. However, here we are about 4.5 years later and Harrison is singing a completely different tune.
BONUS SCUMBAGGERY: The Dispatch archives also mention that Harrison owns a dirt contracting company he started in 2002. I wonder who will get the big, fat $250,000 contract for BUILDING this detention pond? Is that the deal, Chris? You go beg to your former Council chums for a $125,000 check to S2M2 Inc and then Steven McDonald (owner of S2M2) hands you the dirt contract? Sure looks that way from where I’m standing.
What an absolutely disgusting display of hypocrisy and wasteful spending all wrapped up in a big pile of dog shit. Will The Seven Goldfish look into this? I highly doubt it.
