After months of research, funding for a study on what it would take to incorporate The Woodlands Township has been approved.
The township board of directors approved an expenditure of no more than $632,000 to be awarded to firms Matrix Consulting Group and HR Green to conduct the study during a special township board meeting Feb. 22.
The study is slated to begin in March and will include extensive research on road conditions, law enforcement, tax rates, municipal utility districts and public input, township General Manager Don Norrell said during the meeting.
“We recognize that there will be a significant effort required to develop the research necessary for the study,” he said. “This research and feedback will involve the township board of directors, township staff, legal counsel as well as community engagement.”
The township approved the selection of Matrix and HR Green following a request for proposals late last year. In addition to Matrix and HR Green, the township board selected another consulting firm, The Novak Consulting Group, to complete an independent financial analysis and peer review.
“The purpose of a second independent analysis is to assure that all options have been evaluated and validated in the incorporation planning process, as it will be vital for the community to have the most comprehensive and reliable information available if an incorporation election is held,” Norrell said.
Funding for the study will be provided through the township’s incorporation reserve, using about 13 percent of the $4.8 million set aside during the township’s past budget cycles in 2016 and 2017. The proposed timeline for the study from Matrix Consulting Group is approximately 11 months.
Township Chairman Gordy Bunch said there will be a number of planning meetings and board workshops in the coming months that will be open to the public.
“It’s very important for us that it is acknowledged that the public is invited to every single meeting we have,” Bunch said. “Some of the meetings will be workshop-oriented where we’re on task to identify board direction to the consultants, and there will be separate public input meetings where the public is directly providing feedback from their perspective.”
A new website for the community to learn more about incorporation is expected to developed in the coming months. A combined project calendar and timeline for the study is expected to be presented to the board of directors during the
March 22 meeting.
