[0:16] Good afternoon everyone. So good to see you all, thank you for coming. Today is thursday june 11th
[0:23] 2026, it is now 1:00 p.m. And I call to order the regular
[0:28] meeting of the fort bend county commissioners court. Please be advised we have the presence of a quorum.
[0:36] vincent morales, lead us in prayer and allegiance to our
[0:42] flag of. >> welcome everybody to commissioners court. If you would all pause for a
[0:50] moment for reflection period grace as spirit of unity and hope, as we gather at the threshold summit to give thanks
[0:58] for the season ahead, for the warmth that draws us our lord,
[1:03] for the longer days that invite connection and for the
[1:07] opportunities to work together for the good of our community.
[1:12] bless this commissioners court meeting with clarity of thought,
[1:18] respect and dialog and wisdom in decision making. May our efforts today plant seeds that will grow into
[1:27] lasting benefits for all. Let this summer be a season of
[1:33] safety, kindness and shared purpose. With gratitude, for each person here, and those joining us
[1:42] online, we will begin our work together for the betterment of
[1:48] fort bend county, amen. If you will join me in honoring our nation's flag and that of the great state of texas.
[2:01] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[2:10] I honor the texas flag, one state under god.
[2:18] >> thank you. Please be seated. Good afternoon everyone, before we begin work on today's agenda,
[2:24] I want to take a moment to recognize several important
[2:29] observance and other community events taking place here in fort bend county and of course our nation, we are serving
[2:37] national flag week, culminating on june 14th, the american flag
[2:44] remains one of our nation's most enduring symbols of freedom,
[2:49] unity, sacrifice and opportunity. As we approach the flag day we are reminded of the generation
[2:55] of americans who have served, sacrificed and work to preserve
[3:01] ideals represented by our estate. Occurring next week I would also like to invite residents to
[3:08] participate in two very important community events. First, fort bend county will host thursday june 18th at
[3:21] 12:15 p.m. Outside of the historic courthouse. Second I also encourage everyone to attend the city, I will be
[3:28] there. Join the parade on june 20th this event provides an opportunity to reflect on our
[3:34] shared history and celebrate freedom, perseverance and unity.
[3:41] today, fort bend county residents will see what can
[3:45] happen when community judge and commissioners court work together on behalf of the people we serve.
[3:52] before us today, residents across every stage of life,
[3:58] these values are reflected in today's agenda as the court will
[4:02] consider items to support youth education, assist victims of
[4:08] violence, expand mental health services, provide resources for
[4:13] seniors and strengthen our emergency preparedness efforts, as hurricane season begins. Although this initiative
[4:21] addresses different needs they share a common purpose.
[4:25] first, improving quality of life and second, protecting our residents and ensuring fort bend county remain a safe,
[4:33] strong and resilient community. With that, if there is no other
[4:37] announcements we will move to today's agenda. >> I have a couple of announcements.
[4:43] first and foremost I want to make a special recognition, we
[4:47] have a couple. First is to mr. Carlos guzman,
[4:53] sorry I lost my notes, who has been recognized as one of the
[4:59] top economic development directors in the country.
[5:04] this is a great -- [applause] point of distinguishment. Congratulations to you.
[5:14] sara, bear with me for a moment. I also would like to recognize
[5:22] -- I also want to congratulate our county attorney, miss
[5:29] bridget smith lawson, now the recipient of the gerald
[5:34] summerford civil practitioner of the year award awarded to her by the texas district and county attorneys association.
[5:42] representing attorneys from all 254 counties in texas, and
[5:47] collects only one civil practitioner for this award each year. This means that we are
[5:54] represented well by one of the best legal minds in the state,
[5:59] according not to dexter mccoy but to all of the other lawyers and electives across the state of texas.
[6:05] so to our county attorney congratulations on this great
[6:09] point of distinction. [applause]
[6:16] I also want to acknowledge the presence of summer interns in
[6:21] the county, we are really excited to have interns that started working through the youth employment program this
[6:27] week. I believe we have about 250 interns working in departments all across the county these are
[6:34] young people in high school, college, those who have
[6:38] graduated and are entering the workforce. We are really appreciative of their time and would like to
[6:45] welcome them if there is any program interns in the room can you stand and be recognized? [applause]
[6:57] and I believe we also -- there may be an overflow right now,
[7:02] have interns from state representatives doctor solomon
[7:06] office who spent the day learning about fort bend county and county operations. We also welcome them in the
[7:13] room? I think they are in overflow, ie welcome them as well. We are celebrating juneteenth,
[7:21] we would like to invite members of the community to join
[7:25] constable patrick quincy as he presents the party in the park at the fort bend county fairgrounds on friday june 19th,
[7:32] from 1:00 p.m. Until 8:00 p.m., featuring some local artists,
[7:37] there also is the city of stafford will be celebrating their annual juneteenth freedom celebration on friday june 18th
[7:47] from 6:30 until 11:00 and we invite you all to join them in
[7:51] celebration. Thank you that is all I have. >> thank you commissioner, anybody else?
[7:56] we will now proceed to item number 3, council approval of
[8:00] minutes as presented. Any second?
[8:07] >> second. >> any discussion? All in favor please raise your hand?
[8:14] motion passes unanimously. We now proceed to item number 4
[8:22] public comments regarding the agenda and announcements period any members of the court have announcements or comments?
[8:29] hearing none at this time we will take public comments regarding agenda items, and announcements.
[8:34] do we have any public speaker? >> we don't. >> hearing none, it is now 1:08 p.m., we will move on to
[8:40] the agenda item number 5 public hearing, conduct public hearings
[8:44] and take all appropriate action on the following matters.
[8:51] now I open the public hearing segment for agenda item five a,
[8:56] subsection a through g. 5b and 5c as posted and
[9:04] published on the agenda. >> I don't believe we have any
[9:11] speakers today but if you would like to call for any more this is the time. >> okay.
[9:16] I would like to ask again is anybody here today would like to speak on this public hearing? Again?
[9:23] hearing none I would like to close this public hearing, I have been informed agenda item 5a, section a through g, 5b and
[9:33] 5c are ready for action. Do I have a motion to approve
[9:39] those items? Any second? >> second. >> I have a motion and a second
[9:43] any discussion all in favor please raise your hand.
[9:48] motion passes unanimously. Consent agenda items six through
[9:56] 21. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items six through 21?
[10:03] >> move to approve. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in
[10:09] favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously.
[10:14] now we go to section three, discussion item. Beginning with agenda item 22 a through d presented under
[10:21] the county judge office, we will take this item beginning with
[10:25] agenda item 22 a. >> move to approval of 22 a.
[10:31] >> any second? >> second. >> I have a motion and a second any discussion?
[10:38] hearing none all in favor please raise your hand. Motion passes unanimously. Now I will present agenda item
[10:50] 22b, I already provide cord members a summary of 22b and c
[11:02] and d, so there will be a reference. I would like to ask the court to consider agenda item 22b.
[11:10] >> move to approval of 22b. >> any second?
[11:14] >> second. >> any discussion? >> yes. Interim judge wong, what is the
[11:19] problem we are seeking to address?
[11:25] >> I have provided the summary, our current rules were adopted
[11:34] in 2014. So we just attend some of the minor things as you see in the summary, it is updating our
[11:42] current policy. Besides, I want to make sure that everybody understands policies not set in stone, it is
[11:50] a moving document. I would like to invite the court to continue to look at the policy as time goes, if you see
[11:58] anything that needs to be revised, in addition to that or
[12:04] modifications, please bring it to the court and we will consider that. Right now we're just updating a
[12:10] 2014 policy. >> in particular it looks like there are two sections that are being updated in a particular,
[12:17] which is regarding proclamations and the other one regarding
[12:21] public comment. Was there a particular issue that precipitated that change? >> we would like to make these
[12:30] changes, to make it more effective and improve effi
[12:37] efficiency. >> is it that it is taking too long? >> no, I'm not saying taking too
[12:44] long. I'm saying with this policy, I think it will make the court meeting more smooth.
[12:50] >> there is a couple of concerns here because in particular we are making changes to the process of recognizing members
[12:58] of the public. We saw a very unfortunate
[13:02] situation last commissioners court in recognizing a very
[13:07] distinguished and accomplished young woman, and now the
[13:11] immediate court following that we have a complete change in the rules and how this governing body is to recognize citizens of
[13:22] great honor. One I think we did get some feedback from our county attorney on this that there are
[13:28] several items of concern that are -- that may operate outside
[13:33] of the law. Where in the local government code does it give us the authority to limit any member of
[13:41] this court in recognizing members of the public?
[13:48] >> this policy has been set by the county judge attorney, and
[13:55] we feel like it is standing on legal grounds. >> this that the county judge office?
[14:01] do you have a separate attorney from the county attorney's
[14:06] office? >> you know, yes, we do have a county judge office attorney to help us out.
[14:13] >> who is the county attorney? >> just my consultant, nothing
[14:22] to worry -- >> does he talk to you personally? Is he faithful to the county?
[14:29] >> he is a consultant. >> and so that is news, I don't
[14:36] recall us authorizing engagement of outside legal services beyond
[14:41] that of our county attorney's office, that's number 1. Number 1 that is a duplication of services that is already
[14:48] rendered by our county attorney's office. But again, I am curious as to where in the local government
[14:56] code it gives one member of this body or this body as a whole the
[15:02] authority to overstep what is the local government code in our
[15:07] ability to recognize members of the public. Here's the area of concern that I believe was flagged for your
[15:13] office by our county attorney's office, what are your calling
[15:18] for is unanimous consent for any proclamation to be presented on
[15:26] commissioners court. We were told that is not appropriate because it would violate the open meetings act.
[15:34] how have you addressed that particular concern?
[15:38] >> we were told, the policy is on solid ground so thank you for
[15:44] your comment. >> I believe the elected county attorney's office told you that you indeed cannot.
[15:52] that is essentially for those of you who may not be familiar, we have the open meetings act which governs how we are to operate as
[16:00] a body, to ensure transparency, the work of the government
[16:05] happens in the open, and we are not supposed to have what is
[16:10] called a walking quorum, where we meet with three or more of us outside of this meeting discussing county business or
[16:18] pull the members of the court on any particular item.
[16:22] so again I don't know -- >> I am aware of that
[16:26] commissioner. >> so the question is what is -- it's really simple, please show us what is the grounds for
[16:36] allowing us to pull members of the court in order to allow or
[16:40] disallow a member of court putting a recognition on commissioners court. It's a simple question.
[16:47] >> I understand. We have a legal opinion, that's
[16:52] okay. >> again county attorney can you advise us here. I believe that what you provided
[16:59] to the court services manager and was provided to all members
[17:04] of commissioners court is that the local government code actually does not allow for polling members of commissioners
[17:11] court for any agenda item prior to that item going forward is
[17:16] that correct? >> that would suggest there is a discussion as to what should be discussed prior to court, and
[17:24] just for clarification, section 551.0415 of the government code
[17:32] allows each member of the court to bring items of public
[17:38] interest once approved congratulations, announcements,
[17:43] et cetera, to the court. And that is the right that each one of you will have. So this policy would entertain
[17:51] the opportunity to conclude that by allowing for any
[17:57] prescreening. And I would just ask, if you
[18:01] have questions about the analysis that we did on this
[18:07] proposed policy, that you all just refer to the notes and we are happy to take this into closed to expand upon it
[18:14] further. >> okay. I am happy to have that discussion because I feel like we have to have a robust discussion about that.
[18:21] but in the section that was quoted, section 551.0515, it
[18:27] actually lays out the authority of members of this governing
[18:34] body and other local governing bodies to recognize members of
[18:39] the public. In fact it says that we have the
[18:43] ability in section three to recognize any sort of honorary
[18:49] or salute, salutory recognition of public official employee or
[18:56] citizen, except that a discussion regarding a change in the status of a person public office or public employment,
[19:04] that can be recognized by any one, it does not require posting
[19:08] on the agenda, it doesn't require a vote. I am just failing to see why we are now after again the office
[19:19] put forward a recognition, the immediate response of the next
[19:23] court to say we don't do that. We over the past eight years
[19:28] have had over 170 proclamations that were presented by this
[19:34] court. 140 of them were done so unanimously, and just over 20 of them were not unanimous,
[19:42] presentations of proclamations. It is what happens in any government body. You go to school board meeting,
[19:50] you go to where they recognize folks in the same fashion, a city council meeting, for any of our local governments, there is
[19:57] not something that is a member of the body cannot recognize a
[20:01] member of the public unless all members agree to be recognized. So on its face this does not conform with the law.
[20:09] again the elected county attorney has provided advice, and I'm failing to see how we are okay sidestepping that, are
[20:17] you saying today that you are comfortable violating the open meetings act by following what you have presented here?
[20:26] that was a question. >> thank you. The court member has the ability to do proclamations, so do you.
[20:36] I have proclamations. So we recognize achievements
[20:41] through our county every single day, all the time.
[20:45] as a proclamation, like I said, I engage our court, our judge
[20:51] office lawyer, and I would like to call randall, would you please come up and give us expert witness on that?
[21:03] please. >> okay so on your website you
[21:08] have procedures for ceremonial documents policies and
[21:13] procedures. Nobody is talking about that. You already have a procedure board.
[21:18] it's on the website, it has been there I don't know, it's not even dated how long it is. Anybody, any commissioner has
[21:25] the right to put anything on the agenda subject to the majority vote of the commissioners court tabling it or postponing it to a
[21:34] certain date. You have a right, under the
[21:38] government code and under the local public -- not the public
[21:45] information act but the. >> open meetings act. >> sorry I froze there a second. The open meetings act, on the
[21:53] one hand, one opinion is this is not official court business.
[21:58] if it's not official court business why is it even under the open meetings act? So you have a right to control
[22:05] your agenda as a group, and you have a right to table something
[22:11] when the commissioner does. If you want to have a rule that
[22:16] says all non-substantive work it takes unanimous consent to put
[22:20] it on there, you are certainly within your rights under the
[22:25] government code. >> the point was it would
[22:31] precede polling of members prior to it going on the agenda. The process that we have is one that is pretty administrative.
[22:38] a member of the public wants a proclamation, they submitted a. Something the commissioner court member can put it on or not,
[22:46] okay? Now we are talking you cannot put it on there unless there is a majority that is unanimous,"
[22:54] the policy says? Unanimous consent under the commissioners court, which means how do you know if you have
[22:59] unanimous consent of commissioners court without getting an indication that they are in favor or not?
[23:07] >> your policy has on your website says that the county
[23:12] judge controls the proclamations that go on the agenda because that is what it says. >> that is not the law.
[23:18] that is not the law. >>   what you are suggesting right now, to council, as we forget about the
[23:24] law, do it the way we want to do it. Do you agree or disagree that polling members about agenda
[23:33] items violates open meetings act? >> if it is an action item, if it is part of the open meetings
[23:40] act yes. >> I'm okay if you talk about the football game, if you have three people on the
[23:45] commissioners court that conspire to make any decision that involves county business, isn't that a violation?
[23:53] >> as you stated yes, but this is not county business. It's a proclamation. >> it would not be in the
[24:00] government code it would not be under that section regarding open meetings. Let me just remind the court in
[24:05] the agenda to assume randall does not represent you and I
[24:10] would refer you back to the aging opinion that allowed for the hiring of outside counsel, specific for legislative action
[24:18] for the court. Not one member of the court, the
[24:22] court. I'm really concerned as to how we have an outside lawyer advising this body and I am the
[24:30] seated elected official, elected, duly elected, twice, by
[24:35] the people to do this job. Mr. Randall if you have any questions you can reach out to me and we can have a discussion,
[24:40] but I really feel like this conversation is over.
[24:45] >> madam council can I there is --
[24:49] >> sir, I have already stated -- respectfully. >> you are interrupting me, I project.
[24:56] >> I after the break -- I object to this violation of my
[25:03] authority to hold this seat. >> thank you. >> and again, the county attorney's point is well taken.
[25:11] commissioner myers, you are the one that sort it. This specifically is regarding legislative matters.
[25:17] this is not a legislative matter and yet outside counsel has been
[25:21] acquired to advise a member of court over the county attorney's
[25:28] authority. That is what --
[25:33] >> the statute is very clear and the attorney general's opinion is absolutely clear, the county attorney's authority revolves
[25:42] around civil litigation period. There is no other authority
[25:47] assigned to the county attorney's office. >> that is not what it says. >> that's exactly what it says.
[25:55] >> so again I think that that is one item is that this action
[26:02] would suggest some level of polling of members of commissioners court prior to commissioners court meeting
[26:09] happening on whether or not members of this body have the ability to submit or recognize a proclamation.
[26:17] again I pointed out that we have done this for as long as this court has existed, and only now is this a problem where
[26:25] restrictions are being placed on members of this court,
[26:30] recognizing members in our community. It was not a problem where we recognized several months ago it
[26:36] wasn't a problem where we recognized a young woman who was
[26:41] afforded the opportunity to be part of the national u.s.
[26:45] cricket team it wasn't a problem when we recognized the little
[26:50] league baseball team, when they won great distinction and going
[26:55] on to the little league world series. However, all of a sudden now, this is a problem that we see
[27:05] deserves greater urgency, and overstepping of the legal review
[27:11] of our county attorney's office and to rush through?
[27:15] I don't think this is appropriate, I don't think this is in the best interest of our community.
[27:22] again I don't see what we are aiming to solve for, if this is
[27:27] efficiency then I would urge the court to consider that moving
[27:33] forward, we have a further review of ways we can indeed make commissioners court more efficient for the communities
[27:41] that engage with us, not restricting from engaging with us which this policy seeks to do.
[27:47] >> thank you so much for your opinion. Any further questions and comments?
[27:52] I have a motion and second -- >> just to be clear you're
[27:56] saying you're disregarding the advice of our county attorney in
[28:01] proceeding with this action? >> that's the opinion --
[28:06] >> it is a question. The county attorney just gave
[28:12] this entire body an opinion, it's not my opinion, she just
[28:17] gave us a recitation of what the law is and are you seeking to proceed rather than tabling this item for further consideration
[28:26] by her office or pulling it to closed session above and beyond
[28:30] her opinion? Yes or no? >> can we proceed? >> I'm asking you.
[28:37] >> can we proceed? >> it's a simple question. >> any further question? I will call for a vote.
[28:44] all in favor please raise your hand.
[28:50] motion passes 3-2. Let's go to agenda item 22 b. --
[29:06] 22c. The ai policy. One thing I want to make sure the ai policy has been around
[29:12] for almost two years, and I think a lot of pundits want to
[29:18] have our ai policy. I said again and again it is not set in stone, it's not viable. I welcome everybody to continue
[29:26] to review the policy for artificial intelligence.
[29:33] technology has been evolving. It will have revision in the
[29:40] future but we do need a policy to provide some guardrails so
[29:45] our department can continue this ai tool for efficiency and
[29:50] effectiveness. That is why we are talking about this ai policy. As a summary right here, I
[29:56] present to you agenda item number 22c.
[30:03] any second? Any discussion? >> I am a bit unclear. I think we were sent multiple
[30:11] versions of a policy and I did not see any items posted as
[30:15] backup for the official agenda, what are we considering here? >> we are considering the original version that we sent to
[30:23] the court. You and the county attorney's office. You have the version the
[30:29] original version. >> we are not taking up the version that was sent to us at 5:00 yesterday morning?
[30:34] >> we will take up all your comments and revisions that were sent to my office in the future that we will look into that to
[30:40] see if we can make any revisions and changes. Like I said it is a moving document I appreciate everyone
[30:47] to chip in to provide ideas in terms of revisions --
[30:52] >> mr. Wong in your opening statement, you said a statement
[30:56] about the quorum and respect. I think patients should have
[31:03] been in there. You can't just rush through folks that have questions. That is poor leadership.
[31:11] if there's questions on items you put on there, that is part of the job. You have to stand here and take
[31:16] the questions. You can't rush and disrespect court members because they have a question.
[31:21] it's a legitimate question right now. There is competing version sent to us.
[31:26] the question is which one is it? >> the original version
[31:31] circulating among you guys. First of all I respect you guys so much. As you address me, I address you
[31:41] commissioner. And I am dressed wong. And what kind of respect -- we're talking about decorum?
[31:49] thank you. >> you are my neighbor, and I always call you daniel wong. Judge wong, same question can I
[32:02] do you respect the fact that his competing versions?
[32:07] and you said it's the first one. >> I sent it to you, to your
[32:14] office. >> referee: if there are
[32:23] modifications, I have a couple that I may be suggesting, we
[32:29] certainly have an opportunity in the future to make modifications
[32:34] to policies. >> commissioner meyers, would
[32:42] you consider where we can get a clean version without edits in
[32:48] time for the first review to prepare for the vote period for that all the time. Every time a day before or the
[32:54] day before the agenda comes on you ask for it every time you ask for it we give it to you. I am saying would you -- would
[33:03] you be willing to wait -- >> there is no so-called clean
[33:09] version period it's been circling among you guys for two
[33:15] years. >> I would like to call robin to come up here. >> may I answer the question? Again I think we need something
[33:22] in place we can always modify, it may be necessary --
[33:29] >> robin can you come up? >> if we have to modify we can do so. >> commissioner can you hear
[33:36] what robin says about this policy?
[33:41] please. >> high good afternoon. I believe the policy that is being referred to is the one
[33:48] from december 2025. Presented it a couple of times I
[33:52] know there are some changes that have been requested in
[33:57] modifications, at this time I'm unaware of those changes have been incorporated into it. I know there were two other
[34:01] versions that have been presented as well, but my understanding is this is the version from december 2025.
[34:11] >> we are making some changes already in the last two years. I wasn't here. Thank you robin I appreciate
[34:19] that. >> look, the fact remains, the law changed, we need an updated ai policy that conforms with the
[34:28] state law. There's no argument here, it's a simple question about which version we are considering, if
[34:33] there are competing versions why aren't we reconciling that before taking action? I think the version that is here
[34:41] before us now, is this the version that has been edited
[34:46] since december? We had tabled it so the committee could work through items.
[34:52] >> I'm not sure. >> commissioner if I may, so the
[35:00] version that was circulated to our court is the version
[35:06] presented to the county attorney's office.
[35:10] miss landers is not here, should have spoke on it that is the same version that he was referring to.
[35:17] the reason why it's not attached to anything except given to you all is because we were informed by the county attorney's office
[35:24] that that was privilege and we could not attach it.
[35:29] however, after our meeting on wednesday, we understand --
[35:35] again I wish miss landers was here, is that the version that
[35:42] she provided court -- and I will ask if you will allow robin to
[35:46] come up with me she is the expert in this, is that the
[35:53] version that was prepared and sent to you late this week was a
[36:01] piece of the whole policy. That is my understanding.
[36:05] as a normal user. Robin is the expert and she can go into detail but that's why that is not attached, and that
[36:12] is the version that you all received. >> and let me just add before you, there was an executive
[36:19] order regarding artificial intelligence as well as a legislative update last september regarding the use of
[36:26] ai by texas government entities. So the policy two years ago would not be reflective of those changes, and we made sure in the
[36:36] general counsel has been working with robin to update the policy. We have sent to you regarding the same.
[36:46] >> so I did receive a copy of, I have not had a chance to fully review it, my team reviewed and provided comments.
[36:54] the biggest concern that I had was the title of the document
[36:58] being generative ai because as we know it's a subset of ai, and a very broad topic. My recommendation is that we
[37:04] change that version to reflect ai policy versus generative ai.
[37:13] >> can we do it in two weeks? >> robin do you think there will
[37:19] be any delay in any operational situation in terms of delaying
[37:24] this policy for two weeks? >> I don't think so.
[37:28] we do have a few offices that are waiting this policy to be
[37:33] reviewed and approved, so we can have some kick off meetings and to begin some projects we have on hold.
[37:41] I will leave it up to the court on the decision that you guys want to make I just know that I do have individuals that are
[37:48] waiting. >> I do want the court to really
[37:52] take two weeks, not two years, to approve anything that is really necessary for our county operation.
[38:01] >> I think we have taken two I don't think.
[38:06] >> has been waiting for your approval! >> you said we had a policy two years ago and now we are
[38:13] updating -- >> that's not the one I'm talking about. That's the one you have not
[38:18] approved. For two years.
[38:23] >> has it been in for two years? >> I presented in december 2025, we have been working on it prior to that.
[38:29] >> it has not taken us two years, let's not make statements like that. It has not taken this court two
[38:34] years to pass this policy. Thank you so much. >> close to two years. >> judge this is not adversary.
[38:43] >> it's not it's not! I really want to -- >> let's move on with the po policy.
[38:51] >> as you see fit. >> if I could make one request of court services and team members can we make sure this
[38:57] gets put up as backup? I get the red line version cannot be shared because it's confidential, but it's the
[39:04] actual policy itself, as we have with every other item should be
[39:09] put for public view as per our typical procedures.
[39:15] >> again, I will defer to the county attorney but I was specifically asked not to. She said no.
[39:23] I am not allowed to. >> we will allow for the policy
[39:27] to be shared in a draft form, in a way that is not red line.
[39:32] because obviously the red line would have the notes that we feel are appropriate to advise the court on from a legal
[39:39] perspective. >> just a clean copy. Thank you. >> we will act on this item
[39:44] today and ask the court member county attorney office --
[39:51] >> I want to go on the record asking we delayed until the
[39:55] 25th. >> I understand. It is not going to help from my perspective.
[40:00] it's my personal opinion, two years, two days, two weeks.
[40:05] hopefully we can bring in a revision, like I said in two weeks, we modified, revised, whatever you like.
[40:12] we will do it. Motion has been made and second
[40:16] any further discussion? >> I say it be tabled for two
[40:22] weeks. >> I have a motion on the table.
[40:26] if you fail I will consider the motion. Now the motion is approved -- >> I have a motion to table it.
[40:35] >> I already have a motion in front of you. >> we have to vote on his motion.
[40:43] >> that's fine. Any second? >> second. >> we have a motion to table it.
[40:49] all in favor please raise your hand? Any opposed? Three?
[40:54] we will go back to the original motion to pass this policy.
[41:01] second? All in favor please raise your hand? Any opposed?
[41:09] any abstaining? That will be three years, one
[41:14] opposed, one abstain. Motion passes. Now let's go to item -- agenda item 22d.
[41:24] another policy which I provide a summary to all the court members. >> approval of item 22d as
[41:32] presented. >> second? Any discussion? >> yes, same concerned.
[41:39] we had several versions that were sent to us. Which one are we considering here today?
[41:46] >> there's a quick summary -- >> sorry, this was put here on
[41:51] our table when we walked up. I'm just asking is it the one that was sent around originally? I think a couple of days ago, or
[42:00] the one that was there was another version I think shared late tuesday evening that I have not had a chance yet.
[42:08] >> I'm so sorry I'm only aware of this version, which is the
[42:12] one that you have. I don't know the second version.
[42:17] >> okay, I believe we have received some other version kayaker was like a some sort of edit from commissioner meyers
[42:28] office. >> I think that was his
[42:32] concerns. >> got it. Okay. And I think the county
[42:36] attorney's office has shared with all the members of the court some concerns about the legal exposure with this policy
[42:43] as it exists today? Have we taken that into account?
[42:49] have we taken it into account the county attorney's feedback that they gave regarding the risk of legal exposure with this
[42:56] policy as it exists? >> we will have revisions coming
[43:02] back if we pass this today -- like I said it is not set in
[43:06] stone, we appreciate it continuing sending us your
[43:11] ideas, opinions and revisions, and I will bring it up to the court. >> all due respect, if you're
[43:16] going to pass a policy that is in stone.
[43:20] >> it is not in stone. >> it is in stone in that the day we pass it, and you fix your signature, it becomes a policy
[43:27] of this court. If it is something we are going to perform actions on that our county attorney has advised us
[43:33] opens us up to the risk of legal exposure, and there was some
[43:38] very clear areas where that was the case, it is something that
[43:42] probably should be taken back and suggested revisions made.
[43:49] this particular policy has not been -- it is not conformed with
[43:55] what the county attorney which has to represent us in any litigation has suggested would be sound.
[44:02] I don't want to get into particulars, not to openly deliberate that particular device, but there are several
[44:09] areas of concern, one in particular that was very serious regarding our employees and how this could be a huge risk.
[44:17] >> like I said thank you for your opinion.
[44:22] >> it's not an opinion! It's not an opinion. It is not my personal opinion. It is again what our county
[44:30] attorney has shared, there was a question, not an opinion.
[44:35] why are we implementing a policy that again opens us up to risks
[44:40] of legal exposure? >> can I repeat myself that all policy has been reviewed by the county judge attorney on
[44:48] solid ground. >> I'm sorry I'm trying to keep my cool here, if we are trying to do the best work in the best
[44:53] interest of the public, why in the world are we trying to present a half baked cake and suggest to everybody else, hey,
[45:00] suggest revisions later but we will pass this. I can see the reminder things like, hey, can we add this
[45:05] section or can we change this, to here for clarification purpose that's not what we're talking about.
[45:11] what we are talking about is what it opens us up to the risk
[45:15] of when it comes to reporting of sexual assault in this county.
[45:20] what we are talking about is the risk of exposure that this policy as it exists today opens us up to as it pertains to
[45:29] retaliation of a manager who happens to see someone driving a nicer car and then decides to say to the auditor, hey, I think
[45:37] you should investigate how that person procured that, not taking into account they may have multiple jobs or multiple
[45:44] sources of income in their home, but because I perceive something here, this policy now has holes in it that allow for something
[45:50] like that to happen. How does that help the culture of our organization? There are legitimate cases of
[45:58] fraud that we even learned about of late that have impacted the operations of this court. We need to have a policy, we
[46:04] need to have a stronger ability to take care of anything that is
[46:09] wasteful because I can tell you right now, with what I read in this policy I would report the use of outside legal counsel
[46:16] which is a duplication of already paid for interest of the
[46:23] county, and now you're duplicating? That is waste. There are edits and revisions --
[46:30] so table it. The suggestion from the general counsel's office of the county attorney's office was to put
[46:35] together a working group and a committee on this to be able to thoroughly vet this policy, and make sure it conforms with all
[46:43] the letter of the law and does not open us up to I don't
[46:48] understand and nobody is giving me an answer except for thank you for the opinion and move on.
[46:53] is there something I'm missing here? Help educate me. I don't think it's a hard
[46:57] request. >> let me say that to the public also, we have our current policy, adopted 2013, this
[47:04] policy is making some changes yes, but the summary is provided
[47:09] to all court members, and describes it nicely as a half
[47:16] baked cake it's a personal opinion. Just like my personal opinion is it's a full size cake.
[47:21] that's my opinion. Anyway. Any other comment? Motion has been made and second
[47:29] any further discussion? All in favor please raise your hand? Any opposed?
[47:35] 3-2 passes, thank you very much. Agenda item 23a and b presented
[47:44] by the county attorney will require a recorded vote thus we will take this individually. To have a motion on agenda item
[47:54] 23 a? >> yes.
[47:58] >> yes, I move that fort bend county record a vote authorize the use of power of eminent domain required all
[48:06] needed right of way for the traffic signals and safety
[48:11] improvements of project number 23102, precinct one, to
[48:16] be situated on lands constituting the entirety of the
[48:24] intersections of exhibit a to this motion and incorporated
[48:30] herein by reference all existing and various locations in
[48:35] precinct one, fort bend county texas, by adoption of the
[48:40] resolution in order the acquisition of property, be a
[48:46] public necessity and authorizing the acquisition of compensation
[48:53] for the public purpose of location, improvement,
[48:58] alignment, construction, operation and maintenance for the traffic signals and safety improvement, project num
[49:12] number 23102. Including, drainage and attention required to set project.
[49:16] this motion applies to any and all parcels of land and
[49:22] associated improvements, it must be condemned or examined for
[49:30] potential other [unclear] adjacent to the designated intersections. >> thank you for commissioner,
[49:37] any second? Please proceed. >> commissioner how do you vote? >> yes.
[49:46] >> commissioner meyers? >> yes. >> commissioner mccoy? >> yes.
[49:52] >> judge wong? >> yes. >> motion passes. >> wonderful, 23b do I have a
[49:59] motion? >> I move that fort bend county by record vote authorize the use of the power of eminent domain
[50:06] to acquire all needed right of way for the clodine road segment
[50:11] project number 23407, precinct four, generally on land beginning from west bellfort boulevard to fort bend county
[50:19] texas by adoption of the resolution in order to create the acquisition of property to be a public necessity and
[50:24] authorizing the acquisition and payment compensation for the public purpose of location improvement, alignment
[50:31] construction operation and maintenance for the road section
[50:38] 23407 including apartment drainage and attention required for said project this applies to any and all presence of land and
[50:43] associated improvements and must be condemned or examined for potential condemnation along clodine road segment one project
[50:54] number 23407. >> thank you second?
[51:00] please proceed. >> commissioner morales. >> yes. >> commissioner prestage.
[51:06] >> yes. >> commissioner meyers? >> yes. >> commissioner mccoy. >> yes. >> judge wong.
[51:12] >> yes. >> motion passes. >> thank you. Agenda item 24 presented by the
[51:16] court administrator. Any motion?
[51:23] >> I move for approval. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion?
[51:29] all in favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously agenda item 25, presented by economic
[51:38] development. >> move 25 as presented. >> second? Any discussion.
[51:43] >> and desperate clarification this is not a new abatement but
[51:47] just an owner change. Just changing the paperwork.
[51:52] >> wonderful, correct. All in favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously.
[51:59] agenda item 26 a through j presented by engineering.
[52:04] >> moved to approve. >> second.
[52:11] >> motion has been made and second, any discussions? All in favor please raise your hand?
[52:17] motion passes unanimously. Agenda item 27a through e
[52:23] presented by grants administration. >> move to approval of 27 a through e as presented.
[52:32] >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion? All in favor please raise your
[52:38] hand? Motion passes unanimously. Agenda item 28 presented by health and human services.
[52:46] >> move approval. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in favor please raise your hand. Motion passes unanimously.
[52:55] agenda item 29 -- >> sorry I have a note, I wanted to make sure that the public was aware we have been getting a lot
[53:01] of calls, we had an abnormally active mosquito season in this
[53:07] particular item is to help us to be able to get out and do aerial
[53:12] sprays to tackle some of these issues more holistically so thanks to our environmental health department for this
[53:18] action, I am sure a lot of our community members and especially my little girls who see me have a lot of mosquito bites
[53:28] appreciated. >> agenda items 29a through d, we will consider this item individually.
[53:34] beginning with agenda item 29 a. >>
[53:40] any motion? >> move for approval of agenda item 29 a as presented new any second motion has been made and
[53:48] seconded any discussion? All in favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously.
[53:54] now next we present agenda item 29b.
[54:00] >> move for approval of agenda item 29b as presented.
[54:04] >> motion has been made and seconded any discussion all in favor please raise your hand. Motion passes unanimously.
[54:11] agenda item 29c and d will be tabled until after the
[54:15] conclusion of the closed session. Now we go to agenda item 30, presented by information
[54:21] technology. >> move approval of agenda item 30 as presented. >> second motion has been made
[54:27] and second any discussion all in favor please raise your hand?
[54:31] motion passes unanimously agenda item 31, presented by the
[54:36] library. >> move for approval of agenda item number 31 as presented. >> second.
[54:40] >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in favor please raise your hand. Motion passes unanimously.
[54:47] agenda item 32a and b presented by parks and recreation.
[54:52] >> move approval of 32a and b. >> second?
[54:56] >> second motion has been made and second any discussion? All in favor please raise your hand.
[55:01] motion passes unanimously. Agenda item 33, a through y,
[55:07] presented by purchasing. I have been informed that agenda item 33 has been closed -- >> 33h.
[55:15] >> 33h, I'm sorry. >> move approval of 33a through
[55:22] y excluding h. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in
[55:28] favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously.
[55:35] >> sorry I just wanted to know that we have gotten quite a
[55:40] number of complaints and concerns about safety of our --
[55:47] of the roadway and the justice center complex, so we will be seeing what this action item m does, we will start that and the
[55:57] road improvements, so you should be seeing in the next couple of
[56:01] months more action to make it safer for pedestrians to cross, we have a lot of folks coming in and out of the justice center
[56:08] complex. We will make sure to update everybody on what those closures look like, want to give
[56:14] everybody a heads-up. >> fantastic thank you. Agenda item 34 presented by road and bridge.
[56:19] >> move approval of 34 as presented. >> second? >> second.
[56:23] >> motion has been made and seconded any discussion all in favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously agenda
[56:31] items 35, a through c presented by the sheriff's department. >> move approval of item 35a through c as presented new
[56:39] mexican. >> motion has been made and second any discussion? All in favor please raise your
[56:43] hand? Motion passes unanimously. Agenda item 36 a and b, presented by the tax assessor
[56:53] collector. >> a move approval of 36 a and b
[56:58] as presented. >> second. >> motion has been tabled and second all in favor please raise
[57:03] your hand? Motion passes unanimously.
[57:08] thank you. Let's go to agenda items -- is there a motion to approve agenda item 36 -- no, sorry, now I
[57:17] present agenda item 37, 38 and 39.
[57:24] approval of bills and other time disbursements.
[57:29] >> along with the time sensitive disbursements made, court
[57:40] approval $31,014,010.92, increasing disbursements of
[57:46] 5,456,388 and $0.39. >> moved to approve 37, 38 and
[57:51] 39. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in favor please raise your hand?
[57:57] motion passes unanimously. Agenda item 40a, please proceed
[58:02] olga. >> conduct a workshop to receive an update from information technology on the completion of
[58:08] the fy 2026 cybersecurity awareness training.
[58:14] and robin will come up and brief you on that.
[58:21] >> okay. >> hello again. We had a successfully completed cybersecurity awareness
[58:27] training, we are 100% compliant. I know you guys are probably --
[58:32] the whole county is probably tired of us of all the calls the
[58:37] emails, but it is worth it, we are required. And we reported this -- reporting date deadline is
[58:45] june 14th we reported on on june ninth, we received the
[58:49] certification badge that we are in compliance with cybersecurity in ai training, and with sections government 2063 .103
[59:02] and 2063 .104. If allowable I would send an email to have this inserted into the record as well, if not I
[59:09] will bring it back next court to have the certification recorded.
[59:17] >> any questions? >> I promise we will not contact
[59:22] you guys about security training, maybe january we will reach out back out to you guys. [laughter]
[59:30] thank you! >> wonderful, wonderful. Agenda item 40b, please proceed. >> conduct workshops to receive
[59:38] a presentation from the fort bend regional partnership regarding the fort bend 2050 report from its author, dr.
[59:47] jeronimo cortina from the university of houston.
[59:52] >> all right. >> thank you very much
[59:56] commissioner george it is a pleasure to be here. Let me get on it because I know my time is limited.
[1:00:02] so this started as a project from the fort bend regional
[1:00:07] partnership that started to commission this study for the
[1:00:13] population collaborating from the university of houston. It is a document that outlines a success, a strategic blueprint
[1:00:22] of what we think the county is going to face in the next couple
[1:00:29] of years. First of all, the main idea of this report is for areas, these areas tackle issues that our
[1:00:38] community face every single day. Mobility, economy, utility and
[1:00:45] governance. The first of these issues in terms of mobility, we face in the weekdays in fort
[1:00:57] bend county, extra tasks for mobility are not up to par for the growth that we have had in the past years.
[1:01:04] it is a tax round up of $150 million per year, per week
[1:01:12] of traffic. The economy obviously has been very strong in the county, very strong business community, very
[1:01:19] strong governance in terms of county, and also city
[1:01:24] municipalities and so forth. Utilities, really important cog
[1:01:28] those are going to be the dates that we confront in the county,
[1:01:33] if there is no power, if there is no water, if there is no
[1:01:38] ready infrastructure to welcome industry, the industry will go somewhere else. And finally, issues regarding
[1:01:46] governance that refers to how the county conducts business. Let me just go very quickly through these small slides.
[1:01:54] first of all the county is going to have a 1 million influx of
[1:02:03] residents in the next couple of years by 2050 we are projecting the county will grow by 2 million people.
[1:02:10] all of these projections come from a methodology that uses a
[1:02:16] wide number of data sources. Data from the united states
[1:02:21] postal service, from experience, from the housing -- american
[1:02:28] housing service, so on and so forth. This map shows where the pressures will be experimented
[1:02:34] in the next couple of years. We have as you know very diverse
[1:02:40] community. We have a very significant
[1:02:46] higher education attainment. We highlighted the huge potential that human capital has in the county.
[1:02:53] we also have a projected median age, we are a young county, by
[1:02:59] any means, and that just opens the door for more opportunities.
[1:03:04] affordability in terms of housing, there is a tipping point because of affordability is slipping out of control from
[1:03:14] housing. This map just shows the census
[1:03:19] blocks in the county where affordability has some
[1:03:25] pressures. Around of 24% in the county have
[1:03:34] affordability lower than [unclear] meaning 100% of affordability means the average or the median household income
[1:03:42] would be able to purchase an average home in the county.
[1:03:47] anything that is below 100% means that the money that
[1:03:51] families in the county are making is not going to be enough
[1:03:57] to purchase the home, the average home and obviously you
[1:04:02] have the whole cash. The county also conforms and
[1:04:07] confronts excuse me, vulnerability period this map
[1:04:12] shows the interaction between. [inaudible]
[1:04:18] and physical health. That is also an extremely
[1:04:23] important situation that the county has to pay account, having a healthy population is good for business, having a
[1:04:30] healthy population means that families are not going to spend
[1:04:36] any money on health care. These vulnerabilities are
[1:04:41] divided in the report that you will have access and we focus on
[1:04:47] households with disability, residents, 65 plus, so on and so
[1:04:52] forth. It is also extremely important because that could also potentially be translated into
[1:04:59] an extra task. The systems of growth, when we talk about infrastructure and power, we know the issues that
[1:05:07] we face with power, solar is upon us there is a peak demand
[1:05:13] in terms of how we use power, it will increase. We know everything about our grid in texas, but we have to be
[1:05:21] prepared. We have to be prepared with new technologies, thinking about public-private partnerships and
[1:05:26] thinking about how we can be more efficient. In terms of water we know what has happened in other counties
[1:05:33] in the state of texas, we don't want that to happen here. We need to start thinking outside of the box, there was
[1:05:41] adjustments that were made in this report the one water
[1:05:45] strategy, thinking about reuse, to think about conservation and
[1:05:50] supply diversification. Finally, as I said, traffic
[1:05:55] congestion projection, that is a headache everybody has when
[1:06:00] driving around 5:30 p.m. That is something we have to think about, but it's not just that, it's thinking corridor
[1:06:08] performance, increasing bus and park rides and thinking about
[1:06:15] [unclear]. We are thinking ahead, not the next five years but the next 50. Finally common safety in terms
[1:06:22] of public safety, we are doing quite well compared to other
[1:06:28] counties, just improving the terms of how we can implement public safety in terms of the public policies that this body
[1:06:36] approves. Finally in terms of project expenditure, the purchasing power in terms of the residents
[1:06:44] that has been included over and over.
[1:06:50] however a very small number of groups, around 20% of all
[1:06:55] spending in the county. So we need to be cognizant of that. The more people we have that can
[1:07:01] spend money the better for the economy of the county. And finally, the point that I really want to highlight here,
[1:07:09] while doing these reports can I call myself and my team, we were
[1:07:13] thinking that the county is in a very good position to take
[1:07:18] advantage in business and create opportunities. There is a great opportunity to take the reins in terms of how
[1:07:26] we think and making the right policy suggestions, and be the
[1:07:31] leaders in the state of texas. So we do have to do a couple of
[1:07:38] things that include the report. First, we have to have a shared
[1:07:45] operating system period the right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing, as well as health and human services
[1:07:54] needs to know. That means revamping the way and how we think the county conducts government.
[1:08:01] we need to be ready for growth. We need to have drainage, water,
[1:08:07] emergency service, et cetera et cetera, going before growth.
[1:08:16] when growth comes this all has to be here for the next ten
[1:08:20] years. Again we have to organize operations. We have to get permitting,
[1:08:25] realtime tracking so anybody that wants to do business with the county, know exactly where the issue is.
[1:08:31] know exactly how long the permit will take.
[1:08:37] the means that every. [inaudible]
[1:08:44] have to be on the same boat. We're not suggesting the cities are going to adopt how the county conducts business but at
[1:08:53] least everybody needs to be on the same page, everybody needs to be sharing data, all the data can function in such a way that
[1:09:00] the highway is clean and empty of debris so everybody can make
[1:09:06] the same description. Institutional capacity is extremely important to retain and recruit skilled staff in the
[1:09:13] county, high capacity government requires high capacity individuals and high recru recruitment, very competitive
[1:09:23] strategy not only in terms of overhead or retaining people with the county. And finally, we cannot forget
[1:09:32] agriculture agriculture is extremely important, it helps the ecological footprint it helps a lot.
[1:09:40] but also it may change the diversification of our economy
[1:09:46] and also planned storages. I will stop right there.
[1:09:52] I will be more than happy to answer any questions that this court has. >> first of all thank you for
[1:09:58] coming, I wanted to recognize you for doing this study, I
[1:10:04] recognize the chairman who is right here, thank you for
[1:10:08] coming. Our county will embark on a five year strategic plan. I thank you for a lot of good
[1:10:16] data. Our plan will be very comprehensive by the time we consider this all the way to
[1:10:22] organization. Your data will provide something for us to build on thank you so much for this study.
[1:10:35] >> question. I'm sure that you are aware in excess of 75% of fort bend county property tax
[1:10:42] revenue, a great majority of our revenue that we operate the county on, comes from residential properties.
[1:10:48] that is my opinion and the opinion of a lot of people, this
[1:10:52] structure is not a viable long term. One of the things fort bend county has tried to do is
[1:10:58] try to create legislation that allows the county to create
[1:11:03] districts which we will be able to prepare and build sites ahead
[1:11:08] of time, so to speak, legislation we are seeking would
[1:11:14] be essentially a local build that would only apply to fort
[1:11:19] bend county. Do you see this as an advantage
[1:11:23] of fort bend county to exploit to hopefully attract some industry here that we definitely need for good paying jobs and
[1:11:30] the broader tax base to help us with providing services to our
[1:11:35] residents? >> absolutely, I think that it is a priority of the county. When we think about [unclear]
[1:11:46] it's also having the site ready, meeting with, transportation, so
[1:11:50] on and so forth. But is having the human capital,
[1:11:56] residents ready to participate in the economic activity.
[1:12:00] that means that health and human services, that means health services have to be ready for that population, that means that
[1:12:07] schools have to be ready for that population, that means that
[1:12:12] my institution and building institutions of higher education in the county need to be ready. So when you look at everything
[1:12:20] t,it has to be holistic. Those industries that this
[1:12:25] county wants to attract know exactly what they are expecting. Know exactly what is going to be the permitting process, know
[1:12:33] exactly where they can get human capital. Industry comes for three reasons in my humble opinion, the first
[1:12:40] one is do we have the right things? Do we have power, yes, will it be reliable?
[1:12:48] yes. Do we have water? Yes. Is it reliable or not? Do we have transportation? Can we move our product or the
[1:12:55] services that we provide from point a to point b in an efficient way? And more importantly do we have
[1:13:02] the human capital. And for that human capital is
[1:13:08] holistic, do I have enough child so I can send my kids there or
[1:13:12] not so I can go and work or whatnot. Do I have health services that are affordable, do I have
[1:13:19] everything so when you have that mix, I'm very sure that our
[1:13:24] industry will come because industry likes to have healthy employees so they don't call in sick and stuff like that.
[1:13:32] I truly think that thinking outside of the box in terms of
[1:13:37] these policies will be very beneficial for the county in attracting industry as you suggest.
[1:13:44] >> thank you. >> questions? >> I want to say thanks again to the fort bend business
[1:13:49] partnership for putting this together, and the fort bend regional partnership for your efforts in helping to convene
[1:13:56] all of these stakeholders. I know this has been a very long
[1:14:01] painstaking process for you all, and I think you put together a very thorough report for us to be able to use as a basis for
[1:14:08] all of the work that has to happen here. I am in particularly thrilled about the recognition on the
[1:14:18] need to innovate the space of transportation. I will always say we won't be able to pave our way out of
[1:14:26] congestion, that if we are going to truly be able to be -- we
[1:14:31] have to think of other modes of transportation. One it is an equity issue, not everybody can afford to have a
[1:14:37] car to get around. If you don't have a car in fort bend county good luck at driving.
[1:14:42] but also, if you look at all the other major regional
[1:14:51] powerhouses, transportation is a critical part of infrastructure. We do have to think seriously about what that looks like and
[1:14:57] what we have been working on, transit.
[1:15:03] interested to see real, the prevailing thought of that would be unfeasible for us cost wise. I would love to see what that
[1:15:11] could possibly look like in the future. But the biggest point, where do we go from here in getting
[1:15:19] alignment with all of our regional stakeholders so we do
[1:15:23] have a solid plan to move forward?
[1:15:30] >> commissioner mccoy, we have to think about transportation. When you look at regional development in this region,
[1:15:39] everything is moving west. It is as, then as austin county.
[1:15:46] so when we start thinking about for example transportation, when we start thinking about rail, it's not only in the county, it
[1:15:54] will move that way. So the issue is, is it going to
[1:15:59] be us or is it going to be another county? Is it going to be a county that takes the initiative and becomes
[1:16:07] the next node of growth? What do we have to become in this county is a node that connects to the coast.
[1:16:20] that also connects to the other parts of the city. We have some of that infrastructure ready, we have
[1:16:27] that part. So for all of those things to have -- we have to be working together in terms of these ideas
[1:16:34] but also bringing our regional partners and also bringing the
[1:16:41] fort bend regional partnerships in terms of what the community
[1:16:45] wants, incorporating the community voices.
[1:16:52] two heads is better than one head.
[1:16:57] having that I think is a great opportunity for the county, and I get extremely excited when I think about these things because
[1:17:05] the opportunity -- these reports at the beginning -- is to have a
[1:17:13] quality of life. It's not just about bringing
[1:17:18] industry, but how do we bring in industry that will increase quality of life and generate profit for the capital but also
[1:17:25] increase quality of life for our fort bend residents including myself because I'm a resident of the county.
[1:17:33] >> but other parts, where do we go from here? >> I mean, that's -- that's a discussion we are still having
[1:17:42] with the regional partners. We already started I would say
[1:17:47] documenting in terms of how we can do this, the implementation part is the hard part. The implementation part means
[1:17:56] bringing together not only this body but bringing together
[1:18:05] [unclear] so on and so forth. I don't know!
[1:18:11] [laughter] thank you very much for your attention. It has been an honor.
[1:18:17] >> thank you very much for letting us present today we really appreciate it. Our plan is to put together
[1:18:22] working groups, public and private sector working groups to get going on each of these areas and we welcome your
[1:18:30] collaboration. Thank you. >> all right wonderful. Thank you so much for coming.
[1:18:35] now let's move to agenda item 41, olga please proceed.
[1:18:40] >> 41, meeting in closed session to deliberate the following matters as authorized by the texas government code, a,
[1:18:48] 551.071 consultation with attorney. Commissioner tenmac agenda item 41 a and two both have been
[1:18:55] pulled, regulations for oriented businesses in unincorporated
[1:19:00] area of fort bend county. For, homeland security and
[1:19:04] emergency management, number 5, dvl versus fort bend county
[1:19:08] texas. Six, cause number 26-ccv-079254:
[1:19:14] , seven, cause number 26-ccv-078930, number 8, cause
[1:19:25] number 26-ccv-079159. >> thank you olga, fort
[1:19:30] bend county meeting is in recess for closed session session we
[1:19:34] will turn our attention to the district board of directors meeting. Now it is 2:19 and I call to
[1:19:40] order this meeting of the fort bend county board of directors.
[1:19:45] today is thursday june 11th, 2026.
[1:19:49] agenda item number 2, consider approval of the minutes as
[1:19:54] presented. >> move to approval of the minutes. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in
[1:20:01] favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously agenda
[1:20:05] item number 3. >> move to approve.
[1:20:12] >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in favor please raise your hand?
[1:20:17] motion passes unanimously. I will now go to item number 4.
[1:20:23] >> move to approve. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion?
[1:20:29] all in favor please raise your hand if you make a motion passes unanimously. Do I have a motion to adjourn?
[1:20:34] at this time the fort bend county board of directors
[1:20:39] meeting seeks adjournment we now turn our attention to the joint
[1:20:44] board of directors meeting, number 2, 4 and 5.
[1:20:50] I call to order this joint board of directors meeting of fort bend county assistant district number 2, 4 and 5.
[1:20:57] it is now 2:20 p.m. Today is thursday june 11th
[1:21:04] 2026. Item number 2, consider approval of the minutes of the meetings held as presented.
[1:21:10] >> move to approve. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion all in
[1:21:15] favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously now I
[1:21:19] present the agenda item number 3. >> move to approve item number 3 as presented.
[1:21:25] >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion? All in favor please raise your
[1:21:30] hand? Motion passes unanimously. Agenda item number 4. >> move to approve item number 4
[1:21:37] as presented. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion?
[1:21:41] all in favor please raise your hand? Motion passes unanimously. Agenda item number 5.
[1:21:48] >> approve item number 5. >> second. >> motion has been made and second any discussion?
[1:21:55] >> I do. >> yes please. >> how does this benefit five? >> while this individual is an
[1:22:09] urban planner, and essentially providing services to the fresno
[1:22:16] community, of about 20,000 people that will forever be
[1:22:23] unincorporated. It will never be annexed into
[1:22:27] houston. It has every problem imaginable.
[1:22:42] national counties. He is one of my staff paid by the county assistance district. So please learn to understand
[1:22:50] how counties function. There are great platforms --
[1:22:56] >> is the compensation out of [unclear]
[1:23:01] >> yes. >> any further discussion? All in favor please raise your hand?
[1:23:06] motion passes unanimously. Do I have a motion to adjourn? >> move approval to adjourn. >> at this point the joint board
[1:23:12] of director meeting of fort bend county assistant district 24 and five is adjourned. Commissioner general session
[1:23:19] meeting remain in recess. Thank you we are going into
[1:23:25] closed session. I have
[1:23:40] we are back in session at 3:49 p.m. Let's go back to agenda item 29 c and 29 b there will be no
[1:23:50] action for cn d. Now back to the second section
[1:23:59] items one and two. Item number three number four,
[1:24:12] homeland security and purchasin management. No action great. >> it's main.
[1:24:22] >> I moved to approve and accep the full and final settlement
[1:24:26] and mutual release agreement an the amount of $134,664.
[1:24:36] consisting of the release of 35,664 and 86 over $100 in
[1:24:45] retained niche and an additiona $99,000 to be paid for dbl
[1:24:51] enterprises inconsistent for settlement relating to project
[1:24:58] number two, 0232138 pavement rehab.
[1:25:04] to close the project as discussed in closed session in
[1:25:08] recommended by the county attorney in to approve such terms and provisions for the full and final settlement of al
[1:25:16] claims asserted by dbl enterprises arising from or
[1:25:22] relating to project number 203 to one pavement rehab and that
[1:25:28] the county engineer be authorized to pay all amounts set forth in this motion from the funds allocated pavement
[1:25:39] rehab. >> second. To get motion has been made and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand.
[1:25:48] motion passes unanimously. Item number six for it. >> I move that in the cause action referenced in agenda ite
[1:25:55] 428626 test ccb-079 to four, norbert in deferred bowser road
[1:26:11] project number 2306 parcel r 38 239 underscored 27.
[1:26:20] precinct one, smith lassen county attorney, be authorized
[1:26:27] to incur litigation expenses fo any in all costs of pretrial,
[1:26:32] trial, appeal, and incidental costs including potential the
[1:26:41] citation by publication fees an other expenses in an amount not
[1:26:46] to exceed $15,000 and that mobility bonds as designated as
[1:26:51] the funding source. >> second. >> emotion has been made in the second.
[1:26:56] any discussion? All in favor, raise frazier him.
[1:27:01] the motion passes unanimously. >> a move a cause of action referenced in the agenda item 4 to a dash seven 26 test test
[1:27:12] 008937 the state of texas versu john bv2025-00307, at all, 521
[1:27:21] south project number 17111 parcel number 19, precinct two
[1:27:25] and the county attorney be authorized to incur litigation
[1:27:31] expenses for any in all cost of pretrial, trial appeal and
[1:27:37] incidental costs associated including potential citation by
[1:27:41] publication fees, and other expenses did in the amount not to exceed $25,000. In the mobility bonds be
[1:27:48] designated as the funding sourc for it. >> second. >> emotion has been made and th
[1:27:54] second. Any discussion? All in favor, please raise your hand.
[1:27:59] item passes unanimously. Item number eight.
[1:28:04] >> niche unum item 428826 dash ccb-79154 fort bend county,
[1:28:14] texas versus carol bentley belzer road project, number 20,
[1:28:19] 306 parcel r 38, underscore precinct one, smith lawson,
[1:28:31] county attorney, be authorized to accept on behalf of the
[1:28:36] county, the conditional settlement agreement negotiated between counsel dated may 26 of 2026 to resolve and settle the
[1:28:45] suit and fund and close the acquisition for the total sum o
[1:28:51] $145,000 and on the basis of th other terms and conditions set
[1:29:01] out in the conditional settlement agreement.
[1:29:05] taking such other actions and connections with thereof deemed
[1:29:11] to be prudent or necessary in accordance with that close
[1:29:17] session. And that mobility bonds be designated as the funding source .
[1:29:26] to keep the motion passes unanimously to a have a motion
[1:29:31] to adjourn this meeting.