Katy City Council approved an agreement with Gravitek Engineering Services, PLLC to provide on-call structural engineering services. Council members also approved an amendment to the city’s budget which will facilitate the hiring of a parks director and additional repairs for Katy Fire Department’s Fire Station 1.

“The original approved budget (for fire station repairs) was $600,000 in December, but this is in addition to that,” said City of Katy Finance Director Andrew Vasquez.

The adjustment to the project includes almost $134,000 to SKE Construction out of Cypress to address mold issues; nearly $176,000 to the Gordion Group for upgrades to the facility; slightly more than $19,000 to Graco Mechanical for HVAC upgrades; about $113,000 to Datacom & Security Solutions, Inc. for various building upgrades; and about $8,000 to The Gordion Group for project management services as the lead contractor on the project.

The city is hoping to replenish its capital improvement fund budget via an $800,000 bond proposal, Proposition A, which will be on the May 1 ballot for Katy voters to consider.

Funds were transferred from the city’s general fund into the capital fund by council after the repair and improvement items were approved. The budget was also modified to add $57,000 in funding to the Parks Department for the city to hire a parks director.

“I’m just very happy that we’re able to be hiring a parks director,” Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris said. “We’ve made a real effort the last few years in expanding our park facilities.”

Last year, the city purchased land across the street from Katy City Hall to expand Thomas Park. The city also is proposing a parks bond that will allow the Parks Department to set up trails from Thomas Park north to the newly-monikered Leyendecker Landing – formerly known as the Pitts Road Detention Pond. If the parks bond, known as Proposition B, is approved by voters it will allow that plan to come to fruition more quickly, including converting the drainage pond project into a city park.

Gravitek was hired to fill the gap left by the passing of former City Engineer David Leyendecker, for whom Leyendecker Landing is named.

Councilmembers also:

• Authorized the issuance of about $2.9 million by Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District 161 which serves The Reserve at Katy subdivision. The mostly-procedural vote was needed because the city’s boundaries overlap the MUD’s.
• Approved a change order to the Patna Drive drainage improvement project.
• Renewed a contract between Acid Remap, LLC, and the city for EMS protocol and mobile data services to support Katy Fire Department staff.
• Approved the closure of Fourth Street from Avenue A to Avenue B for the Katy First United Methodist Church’s sunrise service.
• Approved the use of hotel occupancy tax proceeds to replace the HVAC at The Stockdick House and repair HVAC at the Featherston Home for a total cost of about $16,000. HOT funds may only be used for items that promote tourism, such as maintaining these two historic homes which the city uses as museums.
• Approved almost $6,000 in funding for the Katy Heritage Society to digitally and physically preserve historic newspapers left in their care.