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Suburban Houston’s Montgomery County has challenges as it enjoys dramatic growth, but county leaders say they are working on improving and keeping up its infrastructure, business friendliness and safety.
A new study by Rice University’s Kinder Institute focuses on the county.
It points out the county’s rapid influx of new residents as the Houston area sees historic growth, second in the nation only to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
“The county is doing great,” exclaimed County Judge Mark Keogh. “It is exponentially growing. We’re now at about 750,000 people.”
The county’s growth has not come without growing pains. Inadequacies in its water system have hampered development projects and traffic remains an issue.
In the Kinder study, 28 percent of Montgomery County residents rated its infrastructure as “poor.”
Keogh declares the county is listening.
“We’ve got issues with transportation. There’s no question,” he said. “So, we recently passed a $480 million road bond. We’ve got so many road projects going on right now.It’s unbelievable.”
Keogh says improvements are in the works to increase the capacity of water systems so they don’t impede development projects.
Keogh points out public safety is another priority, which he says keeps the county inviting for families who may be fleeing from Houston area crime. “We have a culture of deterrence,” he said. “We’re dealing with what Harris County is sending over the line towards us. But with our DA and our sheriff’s office, if a person is going to commit a crime, if they get caught, they’re going to be punished.”
To maintain that deterrence, Keogh says the county is already looking at plans for a new, larger, jail to accommodate an expected increase in criminal cases.
But he says the county’s most important asset may be its maintenance of a government that is stable and business-friendly.