Government
BY ANGELA BONILLA, MELISSA ENAJE & VANESSA HOLT
Oak Ridge North increases police pay
Bear Branch project secures funding An additional $500,000 needed for a drainage improvement project at the Bear Branch dam will be provided by municipal utility districts in The Woodlands, The Woodlands Water Agency told township o cials Sept. 18. The WWA manages 10 municipal utility districts in The Woodlands. “The full scope will be moving forward and moving as quickly as we can,” WWA General Manager Erich Peterson said. O cials also agreed to submit a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for federal support. A goal is to reduce water levels around the Research Forest area, particu- larly for the passage of emergency vehicles, Director of Intergovernmental Relations Todd Stephens said. More details The original engineering costs were esti- mated at about $700,000, and preliminary work revealed the need to expand the scope of the project, Peterson said.
Police pay increases
$61,500 former starting police salary
Oak Ridge North Police Department began increasing police salaries Oct. 1 after City Council members on Sept. 22 voted 4-1 to raise the starting salary to $71,000. What to know Ken Foulch, police chief in Oak Ridge North, presented a plan for pay adjustments to the city based on the Montgomery County Sheri ’s O ce pay scale, which was adopted during the county budget workshops in August. Under the adjust- ments, the department will eliminate two vacant positions. “[We will] take that money and plug it into the current o cer salaries,” Foulch said. “... We did not want to burden the citizens of Oak Ridge North with new taxes. The budget has already been approved, and so this is what we’ve come up with to meet that need and to retain our o cers.” The pay increase is based on years served with an emphasis on retaining o cers and recruiting new o cers in the future, Foulch said. The pay for existing o cers’ salary increase would be paid in yearly increments from 2027-29, Harris County judge won’t seek third term Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo formally announced she will not seek reelection for a third term as judge of Texas’ largest county. Hidalgo said in a Sept. 15 news release that she is keeping her promise not to serve more than two terms. “I ran for o ce as a change maker to chal- lenge the establishment and bring a fresh perspective to a Harris County government. I never ran for o ce to build an empire, which is why I am keeping my promise not to serve more than two terms,” Hidalgo said. Zooming out Hidalgo has served as county judge since 2019 and was reelected after winning the county seat during the November 2022 general election. Her current four-year term ends Dec. 31, 2026.
$71,000 new starting police salary
$3,000 to $5,000 increase for current o cers
2027 29 rollout for current o cer raises
SOURCE: OAK RIDGE NORTH COMMUNITY IMPACT
during which it would be approved each year during city budget discussions. How we got here On Sept. 5, Montgomery County commissioners approved a scal year 2025-26 budget that prior- itizes o cer pay through a $9 million pay parity plan, as reported by Community Impact. The Montgomery County pay parity plan came in response to the city of Houston’s decision in May to increase base police pay by more than a third over a ve-year period. The increases to Montgomery County base salaries each year exceed those in Houston for the next four years. Shenandoah creates new tourism advisory board The Shenandoah City Council approved estab- lishing a tourism advisory board in a 3-2 vote at its Sept. 24 meeting, with council members Ron Raymaker and Charlie Bradt against the motion. What to know The tourism advisory board will recommenda- tions to Convention & Visitors Bureau Director John Mayner about promotional opportunities, per the agenda packet. The board will consist of nine voting members, of whom two will be City Council members and four will be nonvoting members, according to the bylaws approved by City Attorney William Ferebee. The members will be appointed by the City Council for two-year terms. Digging deeper The CVB is funded by the municipal hotel
"We need a plan; a tourism
For
advisory board would give our hotel partners a seat at the table." JIM POLLARD, COUNCIL MEMBER
"I’m against having too
Against
many committees for anything." RON RAYMAKER, COUNCIL MEMBER
occupancy taxes that bring the city revenue, which must be used for promoting tourism, according to the Texas Comptroller’s o ce. The 2025-26 budget for the CVB is estimated at $2.11 million, compared to $1.39 million in 2024-25, an increase of $720,000.
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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