Katy council approves banner program and multiple infrastructure contracts, tables three interlocal agreements

The City of Katy Council on April 14 approved a hometown heroes banner program with the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce and awarded several infrastructure contracts and change orders while tabling three interlocal agreements for further review.

Council unanimously approved a proposal with the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce to run a Hometown Heroes banner program on George Bush Drive between Avenue D and the VFW hall, with city parks staff responsible for hanging banners and a policy prohibiting logos, staff said. The motion to accept the proposal was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris and seconded by Council Member Dan Smith; the motion carried by voice vote.

The council also awarded a contract for striping improvements to Stripes and Stops Company LLC of Houston. The agenda listed a bid amount of $99,702 and — as printed in the meeting materials — a total project cost figure that appears inconsistent in the agenda text; the item description said the total project cost includes the bid amount, 20% contingencies, and engineering and construction-phase services. The motion to award the striping project was made by Council Member Janet Court and seconded by Council Member Gina Hicks; the motion carried by voice vote.

Council approved a contract with CFG Industries LLC of Pinehurst, Texas for the Lilac Lift Station Rehabilitation Project with a bid amount listed in the agenda as $479,827.50 and a total project cost listed as $548,939.50. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Harris and seconded by Council Member Koretz.

The council approved an adjustment to the scope of the Area Water and Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project tied to a Texas General Land Office (GLO) contract (listed as GLO contract number 2406510E167 in the agenda materials). Staff said the change shifts one pipe from being cleaned and televised to a pipe-burst method while remaining within the project scope and not affecting grant funds. The motion was made by Council Member Koretz (listed in the meeting as Kortz in one place) and seconded by Council Member Smith.

A construction change order for the Pitts Road at Morton Road Detention Pond Improvements Project with North Houston Tandem Inc. reduced the contract by $5,470. The agenda listed the original contract amount as $1,620,933.70 and the total with Change Order No. 1 as $1,615,463.70; the GLO contract number listed in the agenda was 20-065137C503. The motion to approve the change order was made by Council Member Koretz and seconded by Council Member Smith.

Council voted to table three interlocal agreements related to an external municipal utility district (MUD) and trail construction after members raised concerns about a changed trail alignment that would cross Franz Road farther from the creek and place the trail closer to houses. The mayor and multiple council members said they had not seen the change presented to homeowners' associations and asked staff to return with detailed trail layouts; Council Member Gina Hicks moved to table all three items and the motion carried.

Separately, the council approved an ordinance amending the employee classification and compensation plan to add job descriptions for senior systems engineer and systems engineer, deleting job descriptions for IT manager and systems administrator. The motion carried by voice vote.

Most motions were approved by voice vote with no roll-call tally recorded in the meeting transcript. No dissenting roll-call votes were read into the record for the items announced as "motion carries."