The Fort Bend County Commissioners Court at its Aug. 19 meeting unanimously approved to place a $98.6 million facilities bond initiative on the November ballot. If approved by voters, the bond initiative will fund renovations and expansions of Fort Bend County buildings and facilities to keep up with the rapid population growth and rising property values in the county. “If we don’t have a [bond] election in November, we are going to have to wait at least a year to get anything done,” Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert said. The largest project in the bond is a $29.2 million, 105,600 square-foot expansion of the Justice Center in Richmond, which includes the construction of 400 additional parking spaces. Hebert said the future expansion of the Justice Center is also designed to accommodate larger jury pools. “That’s just a function of population growth,” he said. “We’re going to have to have these facilities in place.” The commissioners also added $8 million to the bond intended to fund renovations to the former Houston Community College facility in Sienna Plantation. The Sienna Plantation facility will be renovated into a county annex building once HCC completes its relocation to Texas Parkway in Missouri City. In addition, the bond calls for $4.7 million to demolish and rebuild the George Barn at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds. The project will upgrade the facility and add additional space for livestock. “You’ve got way too many animals under this barn during the fair,” Precinct 4 County Commissioner James Patterson said. “We’re actually having animals die because they are too close and too hot.”