A capacity crowd attended the annual “State of the Counties” luncheon on October 1, held at the Community Rooms at Legacy Stadium, 1830 Katyland Drive in Katy. The event, hosted in partnership by the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce and the Katy Area Economic Development Council, featured individual presentations from each of the area’s three county commissioners, as well as a panel discussion moderated by emcee Charles Stein.

Justin Beckendorff, who currently serves as commissioner for Waller County Precinct 4 but who will step into the Waller County judge’s position following his unopposed race in November, kicked off the individual presentations. Beckendorff noted that Waller County is the second-fastest growing county in the country and that, as the county grows, so do its needs. He addressed mobility first, describing the successful passage of the county’s first mobility bond; the $280 million investment was approved by voters in November 2025. Of that amount, $40 million has been set aside for partnership projects with TxDOT or with other local governments. “We’re doing a better job of working together as a team,” he said. For example, Beckendorff said that Waller County is partnering with Fort Bend County to expand FM 359 from I-10 to FM 1093, and with Harris County Precinct 4 for projects along Pitts, Clay, Morton, Schlipf and Bartlett Roads, in order to get people to I-10 without going through downtown Katy. Waller County is also collaborating with the City of Katy on various mobility projects, Beckendorff said.

Beckendorff said that eight development agreements have been approved by Waller County since September 2025, representing 5,400 lots and bringing the total number of lots under development to over 80,000 homes. The county now has a population of only 80,000, so these new homes will more than double the number of residents in the county. Commercial developments are finally arriving in Waller County, he said, with the development of Texas Heritage Marketplace at I-10 and Pedersen Road.

Waller County has received a $25 million allocation from the state legislature which was used to purchase 1,500 acres of land from the Houston Airport System. Phase I of that project will create a detention basin to be named the Charles A. Kalkomey Regional Water Basin; a groundbreaking will be held on November 16, Beckendorff said. Waller County has also joined with Harris County Precincts 3 and 4, along with the Brookshire-Katy Drainage District, to form the Regional Flood Resiliency Coalition which will establish consistent standards throughout the area and will work together on projects that cross jurisdictional lines.

Beckendorff said that Waller County’s legislative priorities include asking for a new district court and more judges and that it is is planning to build a new $100 million “justice tower.” Waller County will also ask for additional funding for the regional stormwater facility.

Fort Bend Commissioner Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales said that, like Waller County, Fort Bend County is also growing at a rapid rate. The county is now at over 975,000 people and by 2030 the

county will be at one million people – and at two million people by 2050. “That’s why we have to stay ahead of the growth with infrastructure,” Morales said. For years the county has primarily been a “rooftop community,” but now the county is trying to push more large industrial and commercial growth, he said. That will help offset the tax burden for residents – 76 percent of the tax base is now residential, Morales said. Now the county has a designated area to try to get the industrial growth, he said. Transportation is also critical to growth, Morales said and having partnerships like the one with Waller County will help leverage tax dollars. “That’s how we get things done,” he said. Morales said that he brought concerns about FM 359 as a two-lane road – not on TxDOT’s radar – to Fulshear Mayor Don McCoy, who spearheaded a resolution to support the project. Morales described a safety improvement partnership with Harris County Precinct 4 along Westheimer Parkway between the two major parks, where there had previously been a fatality. Fort Bend County Precinct 1 is also partnering with the City of Katy on a mobility project. One of the county’s biggest partnerships is with TxDOT on the widening of SH 99, Morales said. The construction of frontage roads is up to the county, he said, and seven different projects are being addressed in order to have continuous frontage roads to I-10, he said. The county is looking at another mobility bond in 2027, Morales said. “When we improve roadways, it also improves drainage throughout the county as well, he said.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones also detailed the Regional Flood Resiliency Coalition which she said would protect nearly one million shared residents across three separate watersheds. There are more than 100 infrastructure projects now underway in the precinct, she said. Briones highlighted the “Sidewalks 4 Precinct 4” initiative which has built 82 miles of sidewalks in her precinct in just two years, she said, with 32 miles of sidewalks in Katy ISD alone. She also described other road widening efforts along Porter Road and Peek Road from two to four lanes and adding storm sewers. By the end of 2027, 30 projects totaling $105 million dollars will be completed just in the Katy ISD area, Briones said.

Briones also spotlighted mobility partnerships with Waller County and with the City of Katy, first mentioning the work at the intersection of Pitts Road and Clay Road in cooperation with Waller County, which will widen the road and will add a traffic signal, and also a study focusing on design for the expansion of Katy Fort Bend Road, which is being undertaken with the City of Katy. That project will study the expansion of a portion of the road from Kingsland Blvd. to I-10 from two to three lanes in each direction and which will add sidewalks, upgrade traffic signals and add underground storm sewers.

During the panel discussion moderator Stein reminded the panelists that the future of the Katy area depends on decisions that reach across county lines. Briones said that counties needed to “lean in and work thoughtfully” with developers, making the platting and permitting process easier, and invited developers to reach out to the county at the very beginning with “bold big ideas” such as the Toro District. Beckendorff said that Waller County is working with the Waller County EDP and with the KAEDC to “incentivize good business where we want it.” Waller County is looking for manufacturing jobs, not just warehouse jobs, he said. Highway 36A will also be vital to the region, Beckendorff said, for freight movement and for hurricane evacuation. A regional approach to detention is going to be important moving forward, Morales said, and it will take federal and state dollars as well as local partnerships.

Morales called on state legislators to “stay out of our business,” a sentiment that was echoed by both Briones and Beckendorff.