Waller County residents fret about project

By KIMBERLY PIÑA
Chronicle Correspondent

While some Waller County residents worry that private property west of Katy could be taken for the Trans-Texas Corridor, proponents such as West Houston Association president Roger Hord point to a study indicating the highway would bring economic growth.

A recent economic-impact study by Ray Perryman and the Perryman Group of Waco indicates that TTC-69, the corridor segment that would parallel U.S. 59 from northeast Texas through part of Waller County to Mexico, would garner more than $3.2 billion in additional annual state revenue.

The report also projects that TTC-35, the corridor portion that would run from Oklahoma to the Texas/Mexico border, could have a $1.4 trillion economic impact over 25 years.

“I think we have to recognize as a community the potential for new development that would occur in proximity to these major corridors,” said Hord, who is a member of the advisory committee for the project. “(The Trans-Texas Corridor) is a massive visionary project It’s designed to address the growth that we seeing coming.”

The entire project is expected to generate approximately 3.7 million permanent jobs and boost personal income in Texas by $376 billion, according to the report. …more…

Nov. 9, 2006, 8:57AM
Improvements include new playground equipment, lighting

By JUDITH HINDMAN
Chronicle Correspondent

Kids, parents and even dogs should be pleased with the transformation under way in the city’s parks.

Katy’s new budget, which began Oct. 1, includes $250,000 for new playground equipment and picnic areas, fall-absorbing play surfaces and the city’s first dog park.

Parks Director Jennifer Archer said work started about three months ago on some of the remodeling projects. Within the next two years, she plans to upgrade and improve all the city’s parks.

“We have some very exciting things coming up that I think will really change the way a lot of our parks work,” she said. “We’re starting a renovation process in all of our major parks, which are Thomas Park, VFW Park, Katy City Park, Katy City Police Park, what we call the jogging trail and Woodsland.”

The changes are long overdue, Archer said, because the parks haven’t changed since she was a child growing up in Katy.

“We’ve taken it bit by bit,” she said. “First, we addressed the major issues and now we’re into updating, bringing our playground equipment up to federal standards and doing some cosmetic stuff.”

Work has already started on Thomas Park and should be finished by Dec. 1, Archer said. The updating will reflect that the small park at Third Street and Avenue D is an historic site with the tri-county marker where Harris, Waller and Fort Bend counties meet.

The improvements include new pavement, picnic benches and fencing plus a playground. She said the existing gazebo already has been rebuilt.

VFW Park
The VFW park is next in line to get improvements. …more…

KISD start date would be Aug. 27

By HELEN ERIKSEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Katy school district trustees will vote Monday on a proposed instructional calendar for the 2007-08 school year that would reflect adjusted attendance days to accommodate a late August school start required under a new state law.

Under the proposed calendar, the first day of school in the district would start next year on Aug. 27 and instruction would end May 30.
The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the district’s Education Support Complex, 6301 S. Stadium Lane.

The new state law stipulates that Texas school districts cannot begin classes before the fourth Monday in August, unless the district operates under a year-round system.

The first semester in Katy would include 82 instructional days and end Dec. 21. Pupils would then have a winter break that would extend from Dec. 24 to Jan. 4, 2008, and the second semester would run from Jan. 7 through May 30. The second semester would include 95 instructional days.

For Thanksgiving in 2007, an early dismissal day is proposed for Wednesday, Nov. 21, and pupils would have the following Thursday and Friday off.

Spring break would run March 17-24. …more...