City to Sign Agreement for Boardwalk Development

By George Slaughter

The Katy City Council Monday night authorized a master development agreement for the construction of the Katy Boardwalk hotel, conference center, and parking facilities.

Mayor Chuck Brawner said construction is expected to begin within the next 25 days.

The city, through its Katy Development Authority, will contribute $18 million, or approximately 18 percent, of the $98 million cost for the hotel, conference center, and parking facilities. Money from the city will be used for the conference center and parking.

KBH Ventures will build and own the hotel, to be a Hyatt Regency. The city will own the conference center and lease it to KBH Ventures, which will manage it along with the hotel.

“The hotel owner and operator are required to maintain the hotel and conference center to the top-tier standard, with an annual checklist of requirements,” wrote Byron Hebert, city administrator, and Kayce Reyna, tourism director, wrote in a memorandum to the council urging approval of the agreement. “We’re very pleased to have KBH as the owner of the hotel. The selected operator of the hotel and conference center is benchmark, a top-tier global hotel and conference center operator.”

City Reestablishes Curfew for Children Under Age 17

The council Monday reestablished an already-existing curfew for children under age figure may hold have 17.

Curfew is at 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday until 6 a.m. on the following day, and 12:01 a.m. until 6 a.m. on any Saturday or Sunday. The curfew also runs from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on school days for school-age children. Home-schooled children are exempt because they are with their parents.

City Attorney Art Pertile said the curfew must be renewed or reestablished on a regular basis. Police Chief Bill Hastings described the curfew as a tool that enables officers to approach someone of school age, ask what’s going on, and help them get home as the situation requires.

“We can’t arbitrarily stop people on the street and ask them for their ID,” Hastings said. “That’s unconstitutional.”

Hastings said the curfew went into effect in 2004, when the Katy Mills Mall was relatively new and people were hanging out there at all hours.

“You had a lot of kids coming out of Houston and west Houston and the surrounding areas who would skip school,” Hastings said. “Where would you hang out? At the mall.”

Hastings said he could recall only one instance which officers used the curfew to investigate and evaluate a potential situation.

Curfew violation is a misdemeanor with punishment by fine, up to $500.

Other Actions Taken

Mayor Chuck Brawner, second from left, honors Robert Hughes, Priscilla Gonzalez, and Chris Mohr of the Katy Police Department – George Slaughter photo

In other action, the council:

  • Recognized police officers Robert Hughes, Chris Mohr, Matt Newport, and Priscilla Gonzalez, police administrative assistant, for their help with the PetSmart Plush Toy Drive.
  • Recognized Hastings, who is retiring as police chief Tuesday. The council appointed Assistant Chief Tim Tyler as interim police chief.
  • Listened to a brief presentation by Sam Schultze, vice chairman of the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce.
  • Passed an ordinance enabling Crossings Community Church to use 9,942 square feet of space at 1016 FM 1463, in an industrial district, for church purposes.
  • Approved the Annabelle’s 5K Run/1 Mile Walk benefit, scheduled for April 13.
  • Approved a $2,500 Convention and Tourism Bureau hotel occupancy tax grant application for the University of Southern Mississippi/NCS4 National Interscholastic Athletics Safety and Security Summit, scheduled for April 3-5 at Legacy Stadium.
  • Approved a $15,000 Convention and Tourism Bureau hotel occupancy tax grant application for the Ainslie’s Angels of America 2019 Katy Half Marathon, scheduled for February 2 at Katy Mills Mall and the surrounding area.
  • Approved a $10,000 Convention and Tourism Bureau hotel occupancy tax grant application for the Ainslie’s Angels-Typhoon Texas Kids Triathlon, scheduled for May 5 at Katy Mills Mall and Texas Typhoon Texas Waterpark.
  • Approved a $60,000 Convention and Tourism Bureau hotel occupancy tax grant application for the Champion Gymnastics Foundation’s 2019 RD 761 Junior International Team Cup and Men’s and Women’s Invitational Gymnastics Competition, scheduled for January 15-20 at the Merrill Center.
  • Approved a $150,000 Convention and Tourism Bureau hotel occupancy tax grant application for the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament, scheduled for March 13-17 at the Merrill Center.
  • Tim Tyler – Katy News photo

    Approved a $120,000 Convention and Tourism Bureau hotel occupancy tax grant application for the Wild West Brew fest, scheduled for April 26 27 at Katy Mills Mall.

  • Accepted $1,875 in donations to Keep Katy Beautiful for a memorial in honor of Grant Carroll.
  • Approved streetlight layouts for section 6 of the Young Ranch Subdivision.
  • Approved a final plat of approximately three acres for Fastenal Company in Waller County.
  • Approved a final plat of approximately 18 acres for the Cane Island Detention Pond. The plat falls in both Waller and Harris counties.
  • Adopted a resolution appointing former Mayor Doyle Callender to serve as the city’s representative to the governing board of Katy Management District No. 1. Callender served as mayor from 2001-07.
  • Adopted resolutions authorizing the selection of Public Management as service provider for grant administration services, and Costello Engineering as service provider for engineering services, for both the disaster recovery block grants for both the 2016 Tax Day Flood and Hurricane Harvey.
  • Adopted a resolution authorizing the use of 2018 debt drainage bond funds for the city’s portion of the Harris County Community Development Block Grant allocation for the drainage project on Patna Drive.
  • Adopted a resolution authorizing Brawner to sign an agreement with Costello Engineering & Surveying for additional engineering and surveying work associated with the Pine Forest Subdivision.
  • Adopted a resolution authorizing Brawner to sign an equipment rental agreement with Marlin Business Bank for the city’s telephone system.
  • Adopted a resolution authorizing Brawner to sign a new monitoring agreement with American Fire Protection Group, Inc., for the new Katy fire station.
  • Passed an ordinance declaring the city’s intention to remove certain land annexed by the city from the Waller–Harris Emergency Service District and for the city to be sole provider of emergency services to that property.