Rosenberg council approves $248,000 planning contract, citing $250,000 CDBG‑MIT grant for comprehensive plan update

The Rosenberg City Council voted to authorize the city manager to execute a professional planning services contract with Ardura Group Inc. to update the city’s comprehensive plan and make related updates to the unified development code.

Council members and staff said the work will be paid by a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant — Mitigation (CDBG‑MIT) award administered by the Texas General Land Office (GLO). City staff told the council the grant was submitted under previous council resolutions and the city has executed a subrecipient agreement with the GLO.

City staff described the comprehensive plan update as a charter requirement and a 20‑month project that will incorporate hazard‑mitigation planning, public engagement and GIS‑based mapping. “This will help the city update the comprehensive plan that we have that was originally adopted back in 02/2015,” City staff member Mohammed said, noting the charter requires periodic updates. Lata Krishnara, an Ardura representative, told the council the firm will “base [the plan] on real data” and use GIS and AutoCAD where available.

Council members pressed staff on how the plan is used and whether the city had relied on previous plans. Staff answered that the comprehensive plan is a long‑range vision used to align the unified development code and that Ardura will include implementation steps and identify potential grant sources to fund projects that arise from the plan. Ardura said its implementation chapters typically include an actionable funding section and steering‑committee public engagement process.

The council debated whether the charter requirement should remain but ultimately voted in favor. The resolution authorizing staff to negotiate and execute the contract with Ardura was adopted by roll call; the council recorded the item as passed 7‑0.

The contract amount discussed for Ardura was $248,000. City staff said the full $250,000 grant will cover the work and that a budget adjustment to add the grant revenue and related expenses will be considered as a separate line item on the agenda.

The council also directed staff and consultants to include a clear implementation and funding section as part of the plan, and Ardura said it would identify grant programs that typically use a completed master plan as supporting documentation.

City action: resolution R‑3863 (authorize professional planning services contract with Ardura Group Inc.). Outcome: approved.