Katy City Council voted to approve the results of the May 1 election and swore in its newest members, Dan Smith of Ward A and Gina Hicks of Ward B in a brief meeting last week. During this week’s regular meeting, they also moved forward with the sale of $2.5 million in bonds approved by voters during that same election.

After clarifications from City Administrator Byron Hebert, council members unanimously approved the sale of $2.5 million in bonds for the city which were approved by voters on May 1. Hebert said the bonds would be used for parks and other improvements.

“So what we’ve done is we’ve basically bonded $700,000 of the … $2.5 million - $700,000 is going to go to the parks side of it. In that parks side of it, $200,000 will go to the new Parks Administration building, leaving $500,0000 of that money.”

Hebert said the remaining $500,000 will go toward planning efforts including engineering and other related tasks for parks improvements. Once the parks building and planning expenditures approved Monday afternoon are completed, about $3.5 million will be left to complete any approved parks projects, which Hebert said would need to be approved by council prior to any work being completed.

The remaining $1.8 million approved Monday, Hebert said, would go towards the safety efforts established in the May 1 ballot’s Proposition A. Proposition A was set up to reimburse the city for repairs and renovations to Katy’s Fire Station 1 at 1417 Ave. D in downtown Katy which has a long history of mold contamination and roofing issues that the city has been repairing using its capital improvement fund. Additional improvements include expansion of the city’s fleet maintenance facility and improvements to Katy Police Department Facilities.

Council also approved a bid by G.A.M. Construction, Inc. – a firm based in The Woodlands – for about $118,000 to remodel the third floor of Katy City Hall to better accommodate operations for city staff. The project is expected to start in the next few weeks and take 60-90 days to complete according to Hebert.

A grounds maintenance contract for about $2,600 will provide five months of maintenance for the newly landscaped Katy Downtown Plaza near Katy City Hall and was approved unanimously by the council.

Former Councilmember Dusty Thiele was also reappointed to the city’s Convention and Tourism Bureau, City Planning and Zoning Commission and Village at Katy Development District boards during the Monday night meeting. Thiele had served as councilmember after the resignation of Frank Carroll III last fall.

During the prior, special city council meeting the week before, Hicks and Smith were sworn in after the canvassing of the election and former council members Jenifer Stockdick and Thiele were thanked for their service to the community by Katy Mayor Bill Hastings.

In his comments to the assembled staff and councilmen, Smith thanked his opponent, Diane Walker, for a clean race and said he looked forward to working with his fellow councilmembers.

“To my fellow council members, I am excited to serve with you. While each of us brings something unique to the table, I know we share a common love for our city. When Ronald Reagan was in the White House, he kept a little plaque on his desk that read, ‘There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he does not mind who gets the credit.’ That’s my challenge for each of us, to imagine what good we can do in the city of Katy if none of us cares who gets the credit. Let Katy benefit from each of our best efforts and history will sort out the rest.”