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WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 1, 2023 JEANNE GREGORY REALTOR®, CRS, GRI, ABR
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 48 • No. 18 • $1.00
Char House redevelopment drawing resident concern By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
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FBISD gearing up for May bond election By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Fort Bend ISD trustees are preparing to go to voters with a new bond referendum, the first since 2018 and coming off the failure last fall to pass a tax rate proposition aimed at stemming the district's budget deficit. When that proposition to keep the then tax rate in place was rejected, Superintendent Christie Whitbeck's administration committed to making $23 million in budget cuts during the 2023-24 fiscal year. At its January 23 meeting, the FBISD board heard updates from Whitbeck and other district officials on how those reductions are proceeding. But with the district's enrollment again growing coming out of the pandemic (in fact, the district recently passed the 80,000 mark for the first time in its history), the administration believes now is the time to ask voters to pass a bond referendum that would construct new buildings and address long-deferred maintenance issues at older ones. At the meeting, emphasis was placed on the maintenance issues, including things like aging roofs and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Board members stressed the need to make the bond referendum proposal easily understood by the public, something many felt was lacking during last fall's tax rate election. From the successful 2018 bond, there remains $99 million in uncommitted funds from the successful 2018 bond, including $66 million in anticipated commitments and $33 million unallocated, Carolina Fuzetti, the distric's executive director of design and construction, told the board. Replacement bond items have been priorities through a facilities assessment based on how soon they are expected to fail, Fuzetti said. SEE BOND PAGE 5
The proposed redevelopment of the Imperial Char House and the surrounding area has drawn the concern of some residents. (Photo by Ken Fountain)
With rumors swirling over the proposed redevelopment of the Imperial Char House and the surrounding area, the Sugar Land City Council and the city's Planning and Zoning Commission held a joint meeting January 24 to try to allay the public's concerns. Earlier in January, the council approved a $5 million package to assist Houston-based PUMA Development in the longsought redevelopment of the char house, perhaps the
most iconic building in the city, which took its name from the Imperial Sugar Company. That would be the first step in redeveloping the entire surround area into a mixed-use development, anchored by the conversion of the char house into an office and retail building. Since the redevelopment plan was first announced in December, residents on social media have expressed concerns that the possibility of multi-family housing would violate already existing codes for the redevelopment of the long-
disused Imperial property. Black residents have also expressed concerns that the redevelopment would not properly acknowledge the contributions African-Americans made to the area's sugar industry, which was the economic backbone of Sugar Land for nearly a century. At the January 24 meeting, many residents spoke about their concerns, particularly over multi-family housing. Those concerns include an increase in population density, increased SEE CONCERN PAGE 5
Enhancing security
This is one of four license plate reader cameras temporarily placed at The Grid retail complex. Stafford officials are considering creating a "geo-fence" around the entire city.. (Photo by Ken Fountain)
Stafford considering installing 'geo-fence' around city By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
After initiating the project last year, Stafford officials are considering surrounding the city with special cameras that would read and capture images of the license plates of every vehicle that enters the city in order to prevent and solve crimes. The idea, referred to as creating a "geo-fence" around the city, was one of the primary subjects on the agenda of the Janu-
ary 24 meeting of the city's Economic Development Corporation board, chaired by City Council member Wen Guerra. Last year, the police department rolled out the initial phase of the project, placing 13 cameras at two undisclosed business centers in Stafford. Four of those cameras were later moved temporarily to The Grid, the retail district at the site of former Texas Instruments complex, as a way to induce the property's owners to participate, said Capt. Patrick
Herman, who oversees the program. The cameras are already paying off in terms of cleared cases and arrests, Herman and Police Chief Richard Ramirez said. In particular, they cited the rescue of a 12-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in early January in Del Rio, on the Mexican border, at a house in Stafford as the car pulled into the driveway. Del Rio police had captured the license plate on camera and the car was tracked all the way to Stafford.
The cameras, which are owned and operated by a company called Flock Safety, transmit data to a web-based server and are retained by 30 days for use by the police department's detectives. All of the hardware and software is owned by the company, said Dale Anzalone, the company's Houston territory manager. Herman laid out three proposed new phases of the program, breaking them down by the number of cameras and their respective costs for instal-
lation and maintenance. The phases would encompass the northeast, northwest, and southern sides of the city But rather than a phased approach, Herman recommended that the board combine all the phases into one "project." The entire project would include 26 additional cameras with a one-time installation cost of $16,000 and a maintenance cost of $92,500 per year, he said. That would SEE GEO-FENCE PAGE 5
Annual Stafford Town Hall hosts mayoral candidates By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
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The City of Stafford held its annual Town Hall meeting January 25, giving residents an opportunity to hear directly from officials on a host of issues. The event at
the Stafford Civil Center also served as an official kick-off of sorts for the upcoming municipal election campaign, with the two declared candidates for mayor laying out their respective philosophies. In what is perhaps an entirely unique format, Stafford's annual report
includes the State of the City address from the mayor as well as brief commentary by each member of the City Council who wishes to speak. In most such events, it is only the top official who gives a presentation. Earlier, the council had voted to change the for-
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mat somewhat so that each member had only one five-minute opportunity to speak following Mayor Cecil Willis's presentation. Willis, who took office after winning a special election to fill the unexSEE STAFFORD PAGE 5