Kiko, a 2-year-old German shepherd, will help monitor Katy ISD and will be present at sports events, including football, volleyball and basketball games.
“Kiko is eager to work,” Diaz said. “We’re ready to go.”
Obtaining Kiko did not cost anything to the city, he said. Kiko was donated by K9s4Cops after the city submitted an application.
Kiko only understands Dutch, the native language of the Netherlands, Diaz said.
“Thank you for allowing us to have him,” Diaz said. “We’re excited to have Kiko as a new addition. Hopefully he will have a long life here.”
Additionally, Katy City Council authorized the purchase of vehicles and equipment for KPD at roughly $316,000.
Recycling numbers update
David Aguilar, the municipal services manager at Republic Services, which is the city’s solid waste and recycling provider, gave a brief presentation at the Nov. 21 meeting to inform the council on recycling trends in the city of Katy.
For city of Katy residents, trash is picked up once per week. Recycling and bulk trash are picked up twice per month, Aguilar said. Katy increased its monthly recycling service rate from $3.57 to $4.44, about a 24% increase, effective Nov. 30. The change was in response to a request from Aguilar, who said it was due to international policy changes at the July 22 Katy City Council meeting.
Republic Services is making roughly 25,000 trash pickup trips per month and between 50,000-60,000 drive-by trips for recycling and bulk, Aguilar said.
In October, Republic Services received 416 calls in the city of Katy, Aguilar said. About a quarter of the calls were from drivers with Republic Services reporting an issue in getting to the bins, such as vehicles blocking their way.
Other calls were from customers, related to general inquiries, requests for new containers due to damage and reporting a missed trash collection, which are then verified by Republic Services through cameras and GPS systems.
Aguilar said if a missed trash collection is verified, Republic Services returns within 24 hours.
He said the number for these calls is based on calls made directly to Republic Services’ call center. Sometimes, residents call the city for inquires, and the city’s utility and billing department will send an email to Republic Services to reach a resolution.
But for recording purposes, Aguilar said it is best to reach out directly to Republic Services.
