The highlights of Monday night’s Katy city council meeting came at the beginning of the night….and the end.

At the beginning of the meeting, following public comments, departing Katy Police Department J. Noe Diaz was presented a certificate of appreciation by Mayor Dusty Thiele and council members. Diaz is leaving the department to become the chief of the Houston Police Department effective August 14.

“When opportunity knocks, it is essential that we answer,” said Thiele, who thanked Diaz for his years of service before presenting him with the certificate. Councilmembers each expressed their thanks as well, with Councilmember Gina Hicks calling Diaz “a good steward of the business you’ve been given and a good leader.” Councilmember Rory Robertson called Diaz’ departure “a big loss for the city.”

Diaz responded by thanking city officials for their partnership in making improvements to KPD. “No other department in Texas is as modern,” he said. “I love you all, thank you for being so kind. I’ll see you at the football games.”

At the end of the evening, the mayor and councilmembers returned from a 30-minute closed meeting in which they discussed the appointment of an interim police chief. Mayor Thiele then asked council to consider an ordinance appointing Bryon Woytek, a KPD patrol captain, as interim chief. The ordinance was approved unanimously. Woytek’s LinkedIn profile shows that he has been with the Katy Police Department since 1994, starting as a patrolman and later advancing to a K-9 officer, patrol sergeant and then to patrol captain.

In other actions, council:

· Updated the plan for street closures in the historic downtown area for the Katy Champions on the Square event to be held August 26, due to an updated attendance estimate.

· Approved multiple plans for design, construction, rehabilitation and repair of three city water wells with total expenditures of $643,067.00. A new well to be located at the northeast corner of Pitts Road and Morton Road is a large capacity well that City Engineer David Kaspar said would help avoid going into emergency conditions during future droughts.

· Approved design and construction services for improvements to the Municipal Court parking lot at 5432 Franz Road and to a parking lot at Second Street and Avenue A, which will be increased to 72 spaces.

· Authorized the mayor to sign a $61,825.00 agreement with COBAN Technologies to update inoperable interview room equipment at the Katy Police Department.

· Voted to approve an ordinance appointing Steve Anthony Ho Lun and Fredda Anne Doder as members of the Social Services board.

The next meeting of Katy’s city council is August 26 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 901 Avenue C in Katy.