In 2015 the city of Oak Ridge North will look to build on the momentum of recent economic success and to continue advancing long-term development plans in the community.

Oak Ridge North has experienced an increase in sales tax revenue in recent years. The city has already seen an increase in sales tax revenue in 2014 with about $2.4 million in sales tax revenue to date, compared with $1.9 million in 2013. Still, the city continues to lay the foundation for future commercial growth in the area, City Manager Vicky Rudy said.

With the creation of a new Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, city branding initiatives and a thoroughfare plan under development, the city is moving forward with several of its long-term economic, identity and mobility initiatives that Rudy said should improve the quality of life of residents and help businesses thrive.

Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone

The TIRZ is a taxing district created by the ORN City Council to attract new investment in the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The TIRZ will help finance the cost of development in areas that would otherwise not attract sufficient market development.

"All of the revenue that we generate from the TIRZ is going to help keep our taxes low for a long time," Mayor James Kuykendall said. "It will help the businesses by bringing more people. People will come in and stop in Oak Ridge North rather than going through [the city]. I think we have a lot to offer here. We are still one of the best-kept secrets north of Houston."

The TIRZ caps property values at the value when the TIRZ is established, then any city property taxes collected on the increased property values, known as a tax increment, are put into the TIRZ fund. Those proceeds can only be used to fund improvements, such as roads and other infrastructure projects, in the TIRZ boundaries.

"[The TIRZ fund] is a savings account that we can use to build large projects, projects that are beyond the scope of what a city of our size could do independently, such as infrastructure, roads and drainage," Economic Development Coordinator Susan Cates said.

The city aims to capitalize on the demand for medium manufacturing facilities in the area, along with drawing other high sales tax-yielding businesses to the city, Rudy said.

"There is a lot of demand right now for light to medium manufacturing in this area, spurred for many reasons, but primarily because ExxonMobil moved to this area," Rudy said. "We have one of the few areas available in south Montgomery County close to the I-45—and very close to ExxonMobil—for this kind of development. A prime example is the Oak Ridge North Business Park."

Now that the TIRZ has been established by City Council, the city is seeking a partnership with Montgomery County to utilize county tax increments as well, Rudy said.

"We have to sell this project and show the benefit of it to the county because it is not something the county does every day. It is a big decision on their part and our part," Rudy said. "It is a big deal for the city because it is one of the few ways we can help the area develop in a positive manner for us and for the county."

The city expects a partnership proposal for the TIRZ to be brought to Montgomery County Commissioners Court in early 2015, Rudy said. Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack declined to comment on the proposal.

Branding initiatives

The city will also continue branding its identity in an effort to create a sense of community, which could in turn appeal to future businesses and residents, Rudy said. The branding signs could include the city name, a new logo and other design elements.

The city partnered with Burditt Consultants LLC in November to create its branding program and will implement the designs over a course of about five years as projects are completed over time, Rudy said.

"I believe before next fall we will have the first of those signs start to show up in the city. That is going to be really exciting—you will know you are in Oak Ridge North," Rudy said.

Creating a sense of place and identity can also be an economic development tool for the city, Rudy said.

"It impacts who opens a business, it impacts who lives there and what the home values are," Rudy said. "It is an economic development tool in many, many ways."

Thoroughfare plan

The city will also begin to develop a thoroughfare plan once the Houston-Galveston Area Council mobility study—which was commissioned by Montgomery County to study and recommend mobility improvements in south Montgomery County—is completed and approved.

The H-GAC mobility study will be used as a foundation for mobility projects within the city, Kuykendall said, and is necessary to coordinate with other Montgomery County mobility improvement projects and plans in the area.

"Mobility issues are something that we are going to have to continue working on with the county to ensure that we can help the bond issue pass and improve our roads and also have Robinson Road improvements taken care of," Kuykendall said. "Mobility is a big issue for us."

The thoroughfare plan would be the first for the city and would help future business owners strategically purchase tracts of land along planned roads, Rudy said.

"We haven't had [a thoroughfare plan] in the past," she said. "So this is a wonderful vehicle for us to do some real forward thinking and planning for this vast amount of property out here that has no access."

Once future roads from the thoroughfare plan are constructed, Cates said, business owners could benefit from improved mobility throughout the city because the approximately 3,100-resident base in Oak Ridge North alone is not enough to support city businesses.

"Having a thoroughfare plan that makes sure that we are holistically looking at the best mobility issues for our community into the future is absolutely going to be a positive," Cates said.

She said a thoroughfare plan could allow trucks to more easily make deliveries to local businesses and allow retail establishments to get customers in and out on a regular basis.

Water delivery projects

While the San Jacinto River Authority began water delivery pipeline construction in Oak Ridge North in 2014, city residents living in the Maplewood Drive area will begin to see construction in their neighborhood beginning in 2015. The pipelines will deliver Lake Conroe surface water to the city in order to comply with Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District groundwater use reduction mandates.

The project is a part of the SJRA Groundwater Reduction Plan project that has been ongoing through much of the county, and it is expected to be complete in time to begin delivering water to residents in the summer, SJRA spokeswoman Ronda Trow said.

"It should take us from January approximately six months to complete the project," Trow said. "Once the pipeline is laid, there could be some restoration that needs to be complete."

While the SJRA seeks to minimize the effect the construction has on area residents, some disruptions to Maplewood Drive residents, Robinson Road traffic, and other nearby roads may occur, Trow said.