After three declarations honoring National Police Week, National Emergency Medical Services Week and National Public Works Week instituted by Katy Mayor Bill Hastings, the Katy City Council approved the acceptance of more than $10,000 in grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as contracts for disaster debris removal and moving forward with the Texas Heritage Parkway and Katy Boardwalk projects at their May 11 meeting.

The grant funding will repay the city for EMS transport of COVID-19 patients as authorized under the CARES Act according to city staff. The funding will not have to be repaid by the city, staff said.

A contract was awarded to SAFEbuilt for building inspection services with a maximum value of $50,000 that will be paid for in lieu of four vacant positions according to documentation provided by the city.

“The supplemental inspections provided by SAFEbuilt will help keep a high level of service to our (building) permit applicants,” said a memo from City Administrator Byron Hebert and Public Works Director Elaine Lutringer.

“This is a great idea. I’m glad we’re able to move forward with this. This’ll help in that heavy workload and it’s very customer oriented. I’m glad we’re moving forward with this idea,” said Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris.

Council also voted unanimously to approve a one-year renewal of three contracts for disaster debris removal. The contracts are assigned to Ceres Environmental Services, Inc. as the primary contractor and to TRF Enterprises, Inc. as the secondary contractor. Tetra Tech, Inc. is the monitoring contractor. Debris removal services would only be utilized in the event of a disaster such as Hurricane Harvey, Hebert said.

The contracts will now expire in June of 2021 according to documentation provided by the city of Katy.

An interlocal agreement between several regional entities was also approved that will allow the construction of the Texas Heritage Parkway to move forward. The roadway will start at FM 1093 near Fulshear and intersect I-10 at Pedersen Road according to city documents. A new shopping center, Texas Heritage Marketplace, will be located in the southeastern corner of the parkway’s intersection with I-10.

The Katy Development Authority will dip into funding from the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to pull $6 million to pay for the project which should take about 14 months, Hebert said. This satisfies the city’s 11% funding requirement for the project which is also paid for in part by landowners in the area, Fort Bend County, the city of Fulshear and other investors according to project documentation.

“It releases METRO funds that can only be used for mobility projects that Katy is awarded and that money is being utilized for that project,” Harris said.

Finally, the city amended its agreement with the Katy Development Authority and Katy Boardwalk, LLC. in regard to setting the outside closing date for the hotel project associated with the Katy Boardwalk Project, a commercial development near Katy Mills, to allow for delays caused by COVID-19.

“The agreement’s exactly the same, it just extends the contract by about a month,” Harris said.