Government
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
County approves $3M for debris removal In a 3-2 vote, Montgomery County commissioners on Sept. 24 authorized an additional $3 million for debris pickup in The Woodlands area and River Plantation community to allow contractor CrowderGulf to make a nal pass for storm debris. The breakdown Jason Millsaps, executive director of Mont- gomery County Oce of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the additional funds will go toward picking up vegetative debris from Hurricane Beryl along the county right of way in The Woodlands Township and for roughly 300 residents who did not originally register for pickup in the eastern portion of the county. “In the last four weeks, I’ve received dozens of calls from The Woodlands Township as well as The Woodlands residents,” Millsaps said. “This [fund- ing] would still allow us to pick up the identied debris in the township.” Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack disagreed with the inclusion of The Woodlands in the
Bus contract extended 5 years
Managing debris removal July 8: Hurricane Beryl makes landfall July 16: Montgomery County authorizes $14.6M for debris removal Aug. 27: CrowderGulf requests additional $10M Aug. 27: County halts pickup over cost dispute Sept. 3: County resumes pickup with $24M limit Sept. 24: County increases limit to $27M
The Woodlands Township board of directors voted on Sept. 25 to approve a contract with First Class Transportation to continue operating The Woodlands Express bus service for the next ve years. What you need to know The ve-year contract was approved for the operations of The Woodlands Express, the township’s commuter bus service into Houston, following a bid process. First Class Transportation has been the main operator of the township’s bus service since 2015, and it runs routes to and from: • Downtown Houston • The Texas Medical Center • Greenway Plaza • The Energy Corridor The township previously allocated $5.8 million in the scal year 2025 budget for the commuter bus service.
SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT
county’s new debris removal authorization, stating he had established an agreement with the township in order to pick up debris in the right of way. “We are very hopeful that the action being considered today will provide the court the funds and authorization it needs to clearly direct debris removal throughout the county,” said Ann Snyder, chair of The Woodlands board of directors. What’s next? The authorization increases the total cost of debris pickup to not exceed $27 million. However, Millsaps said he does not expect the county to use the entirety of the additional $3 million due to the debris collections now being targeted to specic areas. Railroad crossing to close at Robinson Road Oak Ridge North City Council ocials approved an agreement with the Union Pacic Railroad on Sept. 23 to close the existing railroad crossing at the intersection of Robinson Road and Hanna Road as part of the Robinson Road realignment project. Why it matters The realignment project began construction in February, allowing the city to begin negotiations with the UPRR to allow for the closure and recon- struction of the railroad crossing. “This will be the next step in the railroad process,” Public Works Director James Corn said. “This will make this an operation agreement that will lay out the guidelines of the annual fees, the cost of construction, etc.” The details Under the agreement, the UPRR will deconstruct the current railroad crossing and reestablish it once the realignment project nears completion. The con- tract states the relocation of the railroad crossing
Oak Ridge North adopts tax rate
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
Area to be closed
The new tax rate for the city of Oak Ridge North went into e¢ect on Oct. 1 following adoption of the scal year 2024-25 budget. Residents of Oak Ridge North will see a $0.0365 per $100 valuation increase in the city’s tax rate in FY 2024-25, following nal approval of the budget on Aug. 26. What else? The main budgetary increase comes from increased emergency management needs for the city, ocials said. Mayor Paul Bond said he would like to see a $500,000 emergency response fund to allow the city to assist residents following disasters.
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will cost $2 million, but the city will only be responsible for paying $134,000 for the agreement and a yearly maintenance fee of $19,478 due to the cost of rewiring and operating the new crossing. Corn said current estimates project the crossing construction will take one to three months once work begins. There is not a start time nalized for work to begin as of press time.
Tax rate increases Tax rate per $100 valuation: 2023-24: $0.4043 2024-25: $0.4408
Increase per $100,000 valuation: $35.30
SOURCE: CITY OF OAK RIDGE NORTHCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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