Then in late February or early March, the township and PSA will meet with stakeholders in the community, such as representatives from the retail and hospitality industry, local major employers and service providers to obtain their feedback in the governance process.
Also during that period, governance representatives will attend Village Association meetings and host two community forums to communicate the results of the studies and efforts and obtain feedback from the residents. Tough said meeting dates will be announced via the township’s website and community magazine.
“It will be in every form of media available to us,” Tough said.
Results of incorporation
One of the key areas of focus during the governance process has been evaluating what services the township currently provides, what services The Woodlands as a city would provide, and a cost analysis of a potential shift to a municipality.
“There’s a price tag in making the selection in going from a township to a municipality,” Tough said. “When you become a municipality there is a lot of municipal services provided to the residents that are now being provided by the county.”
Among the services provided by Montgomery County to The Woodlands Township are traffic control and road maintenance, animal control and health and safety services. As a municipality, The Woodlands would be responsible for providing those services on its own, although those services could be contracted with county agencies.
But the most significant, and one of the costliest, differences would be in policing. As a township, The Woodlands contracts with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Harris County Constable’s Office to provide police protection to the township.
According to a study conducted by Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. and announced in October, as a municipality the township would be required to establish its own police department and hire an additional 55 full-time employees.
2014 vote
In 2007, residents of The Woodlands voted in favor of transitioning to a township form of government. Part of that transition included entering into regional participation agreements with the cities of Conroe and Houston so that they would not annex The Woodlands. A requirement of the RPA is that The Woodlands conduct an election at some point in the next 50 years. The first opportunity to have that election is May 29, 2014.
Whether or not that election will, in fact, be held has yet to be determined.
“That is going to be the single largest issue that The Woodlands Township board of directors will be faced with,” Tough said. “There could be a cost issue involved, a practicality issue involved, or a legal issue involved. We want to make sure the process includes all of those considerations.”
Comparison chart of City vs. Township
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