Take a look at what projects and ordinances were approved or changed in West University Place in 2024, along with a glimpse of what's planned for the year ahead.

FY 2024-25 budget

The city approved a $26.2 million budget for fiscal year 2024-25 in September. General fund revenues increased by around $1.7 million from FY 2024, including a $200,000 increase in sales tax revenue.

At the Sept. 23 City Council meeting, Finance Director Marie Kalka said the city is projected to end FY 2025 with a general fund reserve around $7.8 million, roughly the same as how it will start the year.

The budget includes a 7% increase in water rates, a 3% increase in sewer rates and a 3% increase in solid waste rates, according to the Sept. 23 presentation. City officials plan to embark on a fee study in 2025 to look at water and sewer service rates before coming back to council to determine if new rates should be set ahead of the 2026 fiscal year, City Manager Dave Beach said.

The budget funds:

• A $1.7 million increase in personnel costs, including $228,100 for up to 3% merit increases for employees on their anniversary dates
• The mid-year hiring of a police support services manager for $57,900
• The hiring of a public planning and zoning administrator for $143,200

Capital projects to be tackled in some capacity in 2025 include:

• $480,000 to replace the city's enterprise resource planning software
• $12.1 million for Phase 2 of the city's Facilities Master Plan, which involves building a new library/community center/senior center and recreation building
• $3 million for urban planning around the new master plan facilities

Pedestrian Mobility EnhancementsThe Texas Department of Transportation completed a project along the Buffalo Bayou Speedway in September 2023 that included replacing the entire road surface, improving the drainage system and creating visual enhancements for the entrances at four major intersections between Bissonnet Street and Holcombe Boulevard.

The entire TxDOT project included creating 13 crosswalks and installing three West U logos in the center of those intersections. However, only a year after installation, West U officials said several of the newly placed concrete pavers at the intersections started shifting, posing safety hazards for pedestrians using the crosswalks.

This led to West U officials hiring Gulf Coast Pavers in October to repair the uneven crosswalks. The $427,750 project will include removing all existing pavers to investigate the concrete slab underneath to create a level surface before reinstalling the pavers.

Looking ahead, West University officials started discussions in November about making citywide enhancements to create a more pedestrian and bike-friendly town—specifically corridors that are frequently used by children on their way to school.

Council members are also considering implementing crossing guards or "traffic calming improvements" at major intersections along Weslayan Street and Buffalo Speedway, including:

• University Boulevard
• Rice Boulevard
• Sunset Boulevard

Mayor Pro Tem John Montgomery said the future process will include gathering resident feedback and doing a traffic study before bringing a potential solution to the council at a future date.

Park improvements

A few parks at West U received improvements to their infrastructure and the way they look.

West U officials announced in January 2024 that improvements at Colonial Park were made, including an expansion of the park's Byron deck, found at 4130 Byron St. The Byron Street deck was demolished and rebuilt for long-term use, aside from several structural supports that didn't need to be replaced.

Other improvements included:

• Installing a concrete path from the park's swimming pool to the deck, replacing what was previously a wood path, which officials said will reduce maintenance costs
• Adding more structural support and framing to the park's Case Street deck
• Adding seating around trees and both decks

A few weeks after, West U officials approved a roughly $1 million project to make upgrades at Wier Park. The project included $107,400 in design work and just over $33,000 for city-supervised work, such as painting playground equipment and resurfacing sports courts.

Improvements at the park included:

• Increasing the park's usable area by 6,500 square feet
• Installing new fencing and bollard lighting at gate entries
• Replacing artificial turf
• Removing decomposed granite and adding new connective pathways and shade structures
• Expanding play areas, including adding play mounds and a swing

Work began in February and finished in June, reopening on June 29.

Water system improvementsWest U officials continued to work on its water system improvement plans, with a $1.89 million design service contracts approved in February, for improvements to four of the city's existing water system infrastructures that will be projected to begin on 2025-2026.

According to the documents, here's how the improvements will work:

• Wakeforest distribution line improvements: The project will improve the water pressure and flow throughout the city's water system. Total project cost is estimated to be $8.48 million.
• Wakeforest Water Plant improvements: This facility lacks sufficient room to upgrade pump capacity without taking the pump station offline, which impacts water service delivery to residents. This project will improve water pressure and flow to support future water service demand. Total project cost is estimated to be $2.83 million.
• Milton Water Plant improvements: This facility also lacks sufficient room to upgrade pump capacity without taking the pump station offline, which impacts water service delivery to residents. It currently fails to meet compliance standards with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Total project cost is estimated to be $5.77 million.
• New water well: The new 1,500-gallon-per-minute groundwater site will help with water supply during peak water demand in the summer. Total project cost is estimated to be $6.53 million.

Facilities Master PlanThe Facilities Master Plan was approved in 2022 to make improvements to different facilities found throughout the city.

The plan originally consisted of four phases:

• Phase 1: New public works facility
• Phase 2: New senior center, library and community building
• Phase 3: New fire station
• Phase 4: Municipal building renovation and police station expansion

However, in November, city officials looked at the plan and discussed alternative options to phases 3 and 4.

The proposed alternative scraps the new fire station and instead constructs a new city hall in the current location of the library, community building and senior center, and repurposes the current municipal building into a public safety building.

The new city hall would house city administration, public works administration, community development, municipal courts, finance and human resources in a two-story building at the corner of Rice Boulevard and Auden Street.

The public safety building would host both the reconstructed fire station and the expanded police department along with the emergency operations center and IT department. This alternative would allow both departments to remain onsite and fully operational during the construction, according to the agenda.

City officials also discussed the design plans for phase two's civic center in October—which includes the new library, community center and senior center.

The six options for the civic center include:

• Two options that prioritize green space over parking availability, with each including 49 parking spaces and either 27,300 square feet or 29,600 square feet of green space.
• Two options that prioritize parking availability over green space by adding approximately 40 on-site parking options more than the existing amount and green space totaling either 15,000 square feet or 16,600 square feet.
• Two options that prioritize parking availability with 84 parking spaces, as well as maximizing green space with either 19,400 square feet or 22,600 square feet, which would be achieved by modifying Milton Street.

No actions have taken place for the civic center design and the Facilities Master Plan alternatives, as of Jan. 3.

Drainage improvements

West U officials took this year to prepare for a number of major drainage projects, what Mayor Susan Sample calls the "most significant infrastructure investment in the city’s history."

In 2019, two years after Hurricane Harvey flooded 116 West U homes, city officials completed a drainage modeling study that found existing conditions in the majority of the city had limited drainage capacity. Various parts of the drainage system could not maintain what is needed for a rainfall that occurs once every two years on average. The results prompted city leaders to seek improvements.

The projects include:

• West Side Drainage Project
  • Details: The multiyear, multiphase project will install a new storm sewer trunkline along the west side of the city that would help more efficiently carry water from existing storm sewers to Brays Bayou.
  • Timeline: Design for the Phase 1 began spring 2024; construction anticipated for 2025 and set to last for six-plus years
• East Side Drainage Project
  • Details:
    • Phase 1: Paving and drainage upgrades along University Boulevard from Buffalo Speedway to Kirby Drive.
    • Phase 2: Paving and drainage upgrades along portions of Wakeforest Avenue (Plumb Street to Pemberton Street), Rice Boulevard (Wakeforest Avenue to Kirby Drive) and Duke Street (Buffalo Speedway to Wakeforest Avenue).
  • Timeline:
    • The first phase was completed in June, as previously reported in Community Impact.
    • Phase 2 began in May, as previously reported in Community Impact.
• Poor Farm Ditch
  • Details: Harris County Flood Control is overseeing construction that involves West U and Southside Place officials. The project will rehabilitate Poor Farm Ditch’s watershed between Bellaire and University Boulevard to address its failing concrete lining.
  • Timeline: Construction anticipated in early 2025.