During their March 8 meeting, Katy City Council members heard an update from Police Chief Noe Diaz regarding improvements to operations at Katy Animal Control, as well as an update on the progress in the development of the Katy Downtown Plaza. Councilmembers also voted to approve the sale of $3 million in bonds as well as a contract for more drainage improvements in the Riceland Terrace subdivision.

The bond sale was approved by voters during the May 2018 elections as part of the city’s response to Hurricane Harvey – the first voter-approved bond measure made as a result of that historic storm. Money from the bonds will be used to make water and sewer improvements and will be sold at a 1.47% interest rate with a 15-year term through First National Bank of Texas, said Loren Morales of RBC Capital Markets who is helping the city with the bond sale.

“This is a very low rate, certainly reflective of the city’s triple-A bond rating,” Morales said.

City Administrator Byron Hebert, who has served as the city’s finance director or administrator since 2000, said the rate for a 15-year term was the best he has seen during his time with the city.

City documents from the Feb. 8 Katy City Council meeting indicate that the funds will be used for improvements to Patna and Fortuna drives and related expenses.

Improvements to Katy Downtown Plaza are getting close to completion said Chris LeBlanc of LJA Engineering who is overseeing the project, though he added that the project had seen some minor delays due to Winter Storm Uri.

Concrete work is completed at the site and foundations for a large trellis which will cover some portions of the outdoor walkways is installed along with anchor bolts for the trellis. The trellis is being constructed by a subcontractor and is expected to be delivered the week of May 21. Landscaping is almost complete with all the grading done and sod installed. The contractor is performing final checks on the irrigation system, LeBlanc said, and bed mulching is complete so flower and plant beds are ready for plants. However, many of the plants the city has selected are on backorder because of the storm, so final planting may be a few weeks, he said.

Diaz said work is continuing on improvements to Katy Animal Control’s practices but did not give an update regarding the investigation into alleged misconduct by some department employees. However, he did say both full-time staff in the department are now current on their training. Some trainings had been canceled during 2020 due to COVID-19.

The new manual promised in his last update has been drafted and mirrors that of Harris County Animal Control, Diaz said. He said healthy animals are now kept for up to seven days and are then transferred to the Humane Society rather than being euthanized as had been done in the past, per Mayor Bill Hastings’ directive. Those animals that must be euthanized due to severe health issues or traumatic injuries are now being euthanized by a veterinarian, he said, and all animal remains are being disposed of by The Bridge Pet Memorial, Pet Aftercare Services to ensure the department complies with state laws.

An animal control committee made up of residents and subject matter experts is expected to begin meeting soon, Diaz said.