CITY & COUNTY
News from Montgomery County, Oak Ridge North, Shenandoah & The Woodlands
HIGHLIGHTS THE WOODLANDS CenterPoint Energy provided an update at The Woodlands Township board of directors meeting Jan. 19 regarding repeated outages and the preventive measures that will be taken moving forward. Service consultant Marcus Williams said additional outages will occur while CenterPoint is working, as crews temporarily disconnect power to work safely, but residents will receive a two-week notice from CenterPoint before it occurs. Williams stated the work should be completed by the end of March.
Oak Ridge North approves water, sewer rate fees
Drought management plan to get second look
Montgomery County approves morgue transfer
Shenandoah eyes new I-45 monument signs
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
township is not able to pump water into ponds unless they are below 50% capacity and present a water health issue to the environment. “That means if your pond is ... at 10 feet it’s got to go down to five [feet] before we really start looking at if we need to fill this with another source,” Nunes said. The other available sources include well water and surface water. However, the township is limited through pumping permits to 9.5 million gallons to refill ponds. The township sought ideas from Bleyl Engi- neering on potential solutions to Kayak Pond in particular, which has no access to stormwater runoff and typically suffers from low levels due to evaporation. To help with flow to Kayak, Bleyl recommended installing inlets to collect more stormwater, a project which could cost around $100,000. Installing aquifer wells to directly refill Kayak were also looked at; however, the cost to install a single well approached $30,000. The board unanimously agreed to take another look at the drought management plan and see what alternatives were available to help keep the ponds at capacity for residents while also not causing extreme water consumption.
BY KYLEE HAUETER
THE WOODLANDS After discussion at its Jan. 25 meeting, The Woodlands Township board of directors agreed to seek a second study to redo the community’s drought management plan. Following approval of a lake and pond man- agement plan in 2013, The Woodlands has seen water usage decrease. Water conservation efforts over the past 10 years have led to a 43% decline in per-person, per-day water usage, which sits at 91 gallons per day on average, according to the township. However, Chief Operating Officer Chris Nunes said residents are starting to draw attention to low water levels in the roughly 68 ponds around The Woodlands following last year’s drought. Based on the drought management plan, the
MONTGOMERY COUNTY During its Jan. 24 meeting, the Montgomery County Commis- sioners Court approved a motion transferring a portable morgue from the Montgomery County Hospital District to the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Man- agement, and spending $5,000 to relocate it to the county’s forensics facility on North Parkway in Conroe. During the discussion of this agenda item, Precinct 2 Commis- sioner Charlie Riley and Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack initially expressed concern about having the portable morgue at the facility. “I don’t want to get rid of it, but I don’t want it at the new forensics [facility],” Riley said. Dr. Kathryn Pinneri, the Mont- gomery County Forensic Service Center’s director, said the portable morgue is an asset for the county. During discussion, Jason Millsaps, director of emergency management
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
SHENANDOAH The City Council in Shenandoah reviewed three potential design options for new city mon- uments to be placed on the north- bound and southbound I-45 feeders at its Jan. 25 regular meeting. Each design features a 20-foot-tall tower. Members of the council leaned toward the design labeled Option No. 3 as the preferred design and mentioned the city’s upcoming 50th anniversary as a factor to consider when designing the signs. “[We] definitely want to use more verticals, big letters; ... maybe we start thinking about the fact that we were incorporated in 1974. We’ve got our 50th coming up; ... that’s something I’m tossing out there,” Council Member Michael McLeod said regarding the option. The signs are being designed by Landology and must be approved by the Texas Department of Transporta- tion before being implemented.
CARL PICKERING MEMORIAL DR.
OAK RIDGE NORTH A new fee schedule that included the first water and sewer rate increases since 2015 was approved at the Jan. 23 Oak Ridge North City Council meeting. The council agreed to increase the base residential rate for water to $15 for up to 3,000 gallons of usage and increase the tiered rate by $1.01 per 1,000 gallons. Commercial water usage increased from a base rate of $34.49 to $50. The city also switched from a tiered sewer fee to a flat fee of $30 for customers using zero to 7,000 gallons of sewer, and $45 for anything over that.
N
Montgomery County Forensic Services 5101 North Parkway, Conroe
in the county, said moving the por- table morgue would require trailers. He also said if it is moved somewhere else besides the forensics facility, a new agenda item regarding electrical power would need to be brought to the commissioners. When commissioners expressed concern about how the facility looks, Pinneri said the portable morgue would be located in the back of the forensics facility. “You can’t see it from the main entrance,” Pinneri said. Following discussion, commission- ers voted unanimously to approve the motion.
MEETINGS WE COVER
The Woodlands Township board of directors will meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 at
2802 Technology Forest Blvd., The Woodlands. 281-210-3800. www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov Shenandoah City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 and March 8 at 29955 I-45 N., Shenandoah. 281-298-5522.www.shenandoahtx.us Oak Ridge North City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 and March 13 at 27424 Robinson Road, Oak Ridge North. 281-292-4648. www.oakridgenorth.com
RATES RISING Water and sewer rates in Oak Ridge North are increasing in 2023 for the first time since 2015.
CONTAINING CONSUMPTION The Woodlands has seen a reduction in per-person water usage in the past decade.
2023 rates: Water:
Sewer:
$30 flat fee per month up to 7,000 gallons $45 above 7,000 gallons
Tiered rate (per month above base rate) $1.01 increase per 1,000 gallons Base residential rate (per month) $15 for up to 3,000 gallons of usage
Since 2013: 43% less water usage per person, per day
91 gallons per day used on average in The Woodlands
SOURCE: THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: CITY OF OAK RIDGE NORTH/COMMUNITY IMPACT
THE WOODLANDS 10491 Kuykendahl (281) 681-9110 FM 1488 3588 FM 1488 (936) 271-9606
RAYFORD SAWDUST 25044 IH 45 (281) 362-9131 OAK RIDGE NORTH 27490 IH 45 N (281) 296-6000
GOSLING ROAD SPRING 24527 Gosling Rd (281) 516-9404
Powered by FlippingBook