Monday night’s City of Katy council meeting began with Mayor Dusty Thiele’s moving tribute to 9/11 and a moment of silence, following his thanks to all first responders.  “We will never forget,” said the mayor.

The mayor also declared September 17-23^rd as Constitution Week and presented that proclamation to the Star of Destiny Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Thiele urged students to read and study the Constitution.

Council members unanimously authorized the purchase of new fleet vehicles and equipment, funded through a surplus of funds in the FY2023 budget.  Councilmember Dan Smith noted that some of the current city vehicles were as old as 2004 and 2011.  Planned purchases include:

• Four new police patrol cars
• One new stormwater vacuum truck
• Replacement bus for seniors at Fussell Senior Center
• Twelve other pieces of equipment for the Street/Public Works/Wastewater Department

Additionally, a public hearing was set for Tax Rate Reduction, to be held on Monday, September 25 at 630 p.m. at City Hall, 901 Avenue C.

In other action, council:

• Authorized the issuance of unlimited tax road bonds by Fort Bend-Waller Counties MUD No. 3, not to exceed $9,500,000.00 (Young Ranch area)
• Authorized the mayor to sign and LED street light installation agreement with CenterPoint to purchase and install LED luminaires and new photoelectric relays for all streetlights within the city. Kevin Browne of the city’s parks department, along with Keep Katy Beautiful, will work with CenterPoint in determining which lights and how many will be replaced.  Browne said that he would also work with the utility to keep the same aesthetics as the current lights and to monitor the “warmth” of the new lights to keep them as close to the “warmth” of the current lights as possible.

Council member reports:

• Chris Harris noted that September 12^th is National Policewomen’s Day and commended the 18 female officers working for the City of Katy.
• Janet Corte described the 9/11 ceremony she attended at the VFW along with Thiele and Harris; she also called for volunteers to help with the Rice Harvest Festival in October.
• Gina Hicks reminded attendees that the Rice Harvest Festival Parade will be October 7^th.
• Dan Smith announced that the Katy Police Department would be holding “National Night Out” on October 3^rd from 5 to 8 p.m. He also said that the city parks department would be holding a series of fall camps.
• Rory Robertson noted that Katy Market Day would be held in downtown Katy on September 18^th.

The next regular meeting of city council will be October 9^th at 6:30 at city hall.