A sold-out crowd gathered at the Community Rooms at Legacy Stadium, 1830 Katyland Drive in Katy, on September 11 to hear progress reports from county officials representing Harris, Fort Bend and Waller Counties at the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual “State of the Counties” luncheon.

Emceed by the chamber’s chair for government relations, Charles Stein of AT&T, the program included updates from each of the county commissioners serving the greater Katy area: Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales and Waller County Precinct 4 Commissioner Justin Beckendorff.

In her opening remarks Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones called Katy “a model for the country” and then reviewed recent progress in the precinct, citing budget town halls and the recent budget survey as progress toward her goal of “good government” and an immunization program at Peckham Community Center as progress in the area of health.

Infrastructure developments listed by Briones included:

· Partnership with Waller County to upgrade Clay Road from two to four lanes with underground drainage

· Phase two of Sidewalks 4 Precinct 4, which will devote $16 million to build new sidewalks connecting neighborhoods to schools, grocery stores and places of worship

· Katy Managed Lanes project, in partnership with the Harris County Toll Road Authority

· Katy Fort Bend Rd. expansion design, in partnership with the City of Katy

· Cane Island Branch drainage study to mitigate flood hazard conditions

· A TxDOT grant application for Clay Road sidewalks and school access, with an announcement anticipated on October 25

· Mason Road corridor study, kicking off in fall 2025

· Katy East Safe Crossings study, developing conceptual design for intersections with high rates of fatalities and injuries

Vincent Morales, commissioner for Fort Bend County’s Precinct 1, noted the explosive growth in the county, which he said is surging toward one million residents. The county is projected to have 1.1 million people by 2030 and more than two million by 2050, he said. Growth must be managed to maintain the county’s current high quality of life, which includes a high median household income of $113,409 and a strong housing market where the median home price is $410,000, he said. Morales spoke about development opportunities in the county, where 60

percent of the county remains undeveloped land. He said that 7,700 homes were added in 2024 and that there will soon be 10,000 acres developed in Precinct 1 alone. This includes:

· Amandara, a 4,750-acre development with 6,500 homes and 1,296 new multi-family units, adding about 21,000 residents

· Heritage Bend: a 2,951-acre development with 7,000 homes and about 22,400 residents

· Evergrove: over 950 acres with 1,642 homes and 4,460 potential residents

Morales listed current challenges to economic diversification in the county, including reliance on a tax base that is 76 percent residential, saying that more commercial and industrial diversification is needed. Barriers to this diversification include the lack of “shovel ready” sites for immediate commercial development and a lack of an adequate electricity infrastructure.

In the area of mobility, Morales said that the county’s current focus is to address growing transportation and recreation needs through road maintenance, traffic signals and comprehensive safety improvements. The county is conducting a study on intersection and pedestrian safety, he said, as well as looking at bicycle infrastructure. The county is also working with TxDOT on several infrastructure projects:

· FM 1489/FM 1093 is currently in design for complete intersection reconstruction, including a possible roundabout

· FM 723 expansion, expected to be completed in 2028

· FM 1463, anticipated to be completed in December 2026

· SH 99/Grand Parkway main lanes and frontage roads to be completed by December 2025

· I-10 expansion from FM 359 to the Harris County line, expected to be completed in May 2029

· FM 359 from FM 1093 to Fort Bend-Waller County Line, which is “actively moving forward”

There are also toll road improvements underway, Morales said, with an extension in progress from FM 723 to west of Katy-Fulshear Road. Morales also touched on parks improvements, noting the creation of the all-abilities park, the completion of a baseball complex as well as a planned addition of a disc golf course to Daily Park and drainage improvements at Jones Creek Ranch Park.

Waller County Precinct 4 Commissioner Justin Beckendorff began with an update on the new county courthouse and then spoke about the county’s successful $280 million mobility bond approved by voters in 2023. Of this, $40 million is set aside for partnership projects with local governments or TxDOT, he said, adding that the county is moving quickly on some of the easier projects. Projects in Precinct 4 include work on Clay, Morton, Schlipf and Bartlett Roads, he said.

Turning to development, Beckendorff said that six development agreements have been approved by commissioners court year to date and two more are slated for September, bringing the total to over 30 development agreements now approved or in negotiation. Beckendorff said that he estimated that the new developments would add more than 200,000 new residents to Waller County, with more expected as other developers start to focus on the area. Beckendorff said that the county budget and tax rate would be voted on before the end of September, with the new budget adding 40 new full-time and eight part-time employees and providing a three per cent COLA for all employees. The budget includes a continued focus on law enforcement and engineering, he said.

Beckendorff said that Waller County received a $25 million allocation from the state for regional stormwater control, which he said was being used to purchase about 1400 acres from the City of Houston – land north of the existing Houston Executive Airport which was originally intended to be used for a third major Houston airport. The land will be used as a detention basin and a county park.