Sugar Land City Council members during a June 25 workshop meeting were unanimously in favor of moving forward with steps to place a $90 million general obligation bond on the Nov. 5 ballot. At Large Position 1 City Council Member Himesh Gandhi was absent. A detailed review of the project list and schedule will take place during the July 23 workshop meeting, and City Council will then have until Aug. 19 to officially call for the bond to be placed on the November ballot. “Staff has designed the projects, and not only do they address the needs, but individually they touch each [district],” Mayor Joe Zimmerman said during the workshop. “The goal was to make sure that it was not unbalanced.” The bond funds would go toward drainage improvements, mobility improvements, facilities projects, an animal shelter, reinvestment into aging infrastructure and project readiness. “These are all needs,” said Chris Steubing, the Sugar Land assistant city manager, during the workshop. “These are all projects that have been in front of the City Council at some point. Some of these projects have been in existence for years, and staff has done a tremendous amount of work on them.” Drainage improvements carry the most weight in the projected bond total with $47 million designated. “Drainage improvements, of course, are near and dear to all of us after [Hurricane] Harvey but also May 7 [flooding],” Steubing said. All of these projects have been presented to residents before, either in the form of the annual citizen satisfaction survey or other city efforts, Steubing said. The bond would require a maximum tax rate increase of $0.03 to support the $90 million bond. This would be approximately a 9% increase to tax bills with an increased payment of about $106 per year for the average taxpayer, based on the average home value in Sugar Land of about $375,000. Below is a list of proposed projects: Proposed drainage projects: $47 million
  • Sugar Creek Montclair Drive drainage improvements ($8.8 million)
  • Riverbend inlets and pipes replacement ($3.5 million)
  • Dam III flood control improvements ($0.8 million)
  • Chimneystone drainage channel and Acacia Trunk Line ($16.5 million)
  • Greatwood Village drainage improvement ($3 million)
  • Lake control structure modification at Commonwealth Boulevard and Elkins Boulevard ($1.1 million)
  • Elkins Road drainage improvements ($7.3 million)
  • New Territory Boulevard at Chatham Avenue drainage improvements ($3 million)
  • Covington West and Imperial Woods drainage improvements ($3 million)
Proposed public safety/public facility projects: $32.9 million
  • Emergency Operations Center/Dispatch/311 ($11.5 million)
  • Public safety training facility ($10 million)
  • Animal Shelter ($6.6 million)
  • Public facility rehabilitation ($3 million)
  • Fire equipment purchase ($1.8 million)
Proposed streets projects: $9.86 million
  • Country Club from Sugar Creek to Chesterfield ($1.7 million)
  • University Boulevard expansion ($1.7 million)
  • Soldiers Field extension and roundabout at First Colony and Brooks Street ($2.46 million)
  • Major street rehabilitation ($4 million)