2019 has been another memorable year in the “Show Me City”. Residents, stakeholders, partners and staff celebrated a prosperous year in MCTX as economic development soared, local subdivisions remained among the safest communities in the nation, fiscal stewardship set high standards of excellence, events held citywide hosted a record number of attendees, and strategic initiatives set the City up for long-term success.
“The success stories from this past year show why Missouri City is highly-regarded across the region,” said City Manager Anthony J. Snipes, who was recognized in November by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) with the “Credentialed Manager” designation for his extensive public administration service and expertise including leadership initiatives in the “Show Me City”. “We are very proud to serve our residents and we want them to have the best quality-of-life as possible,” added Snipes, who was also inducted into the 2018 Class of Fellows for the National Academy of Public Administration.
2019 was also the first full year of City Council leadership for Mayor Yolanda Ford. Her role included presiding over Special and Regular Meetings, Serving as Chair of the 14-city Metro Coalition, building new partnerships to help drive growth and development, and working with an array of community leaders and partners to expand the City’s brand.
“Moving the City forward continues to be the priority with an emphasis on strategic initiatives that will generate new revenue sources, create new partnership opportunities and expand our reputation as a safe, scenic municipality to potential new homeowners and business owners,” Ford said. “As we continue to grow, balance will be important to ensure we make the best decisions in the interest of our engaged citizenry.”
Other Councilmembers who are striving to achieve these goals with Mayor Ford include Cheryl Sterling (District A), Jeffrey Boney (District B), Anthony Maroulis (District C), Floyd Emery (District D), Vashaundra Edwards (At-Large Position #1), and Mayor Pro Tem Chris Preston (At-Large Position #2).
“Through our working relationship with Council, staff has successfully executed business plan projects throughout the year,” Snipes said. “We look forward to working with the Members in the coming year as we strive to improve efficiencies across all operations.”
Take a look back at some 2019 MCTX highlights below:
Recognitions
The City received news of being:
- Ranked as No. 30 in a list of 136 Texas cities rated by Alarms.org, the official site of the National Council for Home Safety and Security—an association of licensed alarm companies, installers, contractors and trade groups. Learn more
- Listed at No. 42 among all cities rated and at No. 5 among cities with a population of 50,000 or more by Home Security Advisor, an online resource website. Learn more
- Named to the list of “Greenest Cities in Texas” by Just Energy, a multinational energy and gas company with its U.S. headquarters based in Houston. MCTX came in at number 17 on the list, which is the fourth-highest ranking in the region. Learn more
- Named to the list of the “Best Cities to Live in Texas, 2019” by Chamber of Commerce, an online organization that assists with the longevity of small businesses. Missouri City came in at number 13 on the list, which is the third-highest ranking in the region. Learn more
- Named as one of the “Lone Star State’s safest communities” in a comprehensive study conducted by Background Checks.org, using recent FBI crime statistics. MCTX is one of only two Fort Bend County municipalities to be featured by the online resource, earning the No. 53 spot on the list of 141 Texas cities rated. Learn more
- Earning its 31st consecutive Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for preparing and presenting a budget of the highest quality for Fiscal Year 2019. Learn more
- Earning the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the GFOA for the 37th consecutive year in relation to the comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2018. Learn more
Public Safety Highlights
Elected officials, police officers, firefighters and other team members once again participated in the National Night Out initiative on Tuesday, Oct. 1 as residents’ citywide hosted block parties to showcase their support of our first responders.
About 20 citizens graduated from the 2019 Citizens’ Police & Fire Academy. Learn more
The Missouri City Police Department launched the Police Explorers program, which was created to teach teenagers from local high schools the what, why’s and how’s police officers perform in public safety careers. Currently, there are 11 participants.
The DDACTS initiative, used by MCPD to combat Part I crimes and crashes, is still being utilized and is showing success in reducing crime and crashes.
Saluted honorary Police Officer Abigail Arias who waged a brave fight against cancer and inspired thousands with her courage and determination.
Code Enforcement staff collaborated with WCA Waste Corp. and the Nuisance Abatement Committee to facilitate the Barker Street neighborhood cleanup. They successfully solicited donations of paint, cleaning supplies and minor tools from area businesses to be utilized in neighborhood clean-ups and distributed to citizens in need.
The Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) program is in place and has assisted in several search, rescue and recovery missions in the area. MCPD is currently the only police agency in Fort Bend County that has a program of this type. Learn more
The Missouri City Fire & Rescue Services maintained its ISO 1 rating, and is among 67 out of 2,852 cities in Texas and among 348 out of 41,177 cities nationwide to attain the rate. Also in FY19, Fire responded to 6,933 calls, hosted two fire station open houses with more than 400 attendees, coordinated safety presentations for 20 schools/daycares reaching more than 1,700 students, maintained collaborations with numerous organizations and renovated facility areas in Fire Stations 1, 3 and 4. View photos
In addition, MCFRS established a new Smoke Detector (Blitz) Program in partnership with the Red Cross, to provide fire safety checks and free smoke detector installations. The team conducted three blitz campaigns and installed more than 100 smoke detectors. And, the team initiated the design phase of the future Fire Station 6.
Key Projects
The new MCTX Skatepark opened to the public on Saturday, March 30 at Community Park, 1700 Glenn Lakes Lane. View photos
The City hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase II construction of the Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant on Monday, May 13. The facility is the City’s largest Capital Improvement Project to-date. The team successfully completed a Reuse Pilot Filter project in March 2019, and as such a new re‐use filter is being added to the RSWTP as part of the expansion. Upon completion, this will result in re‐using up to one (1) million gallons per day of water for potential irrigation use. View photos
The City Manager’s Office, working with Parks & Recreation, rolled out a new “Show Me City” initiative—#PlayItForward—that is in place to not only celebrate the outdoors, but to also build the future of outdoor life. Learn more
The Public Works Department launched a new travel map in August, 2019 that shares a view of traffic patterns on the City’s website. View map
As part of the City’s Energy Saving’s initiative project, NORESCO is currently in the process of retrofitting street lights citywide to allow the conversion from traditional High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting fixtures to LED fixtures.
The City, in partnership with the Missouri City Parks Foundation, hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for the MCTX Veterans Memorial on Monday, Nov. 11. Learn more
Events
Hosted the 5th annual Black History Month Celebration featuring a Youth Poetry Slam moderated by Self the Poet, Artists Ted Ellis & Amy Cassidy, Comedians Ali Siddiq & Se7en, cultural food and music, painters Ted Ellis and Amy Cassidy and historian Sam Collins III on Feb. 13, 15 and 16. View photos
Hosted the 23rd annual Dad & Daughter Dance on Feb. 9 for a Hollywood-themed night of fun. View photos
Hosted four Council District Community meetings to share key operational updates within the respective communities in those areas.
Held the 12th annual Tree Planting Competition at Buffalo Run Park on Feb. 9 in partnership with the Houston Area Urban Forestry Council, CenterPoint Energy, Trees for Houston, Texas A&M Forest Service and Living Earth.
Hosted the first annual Mother Son Challenge on April 13. View photos
Hosted the inaugural MCTX Family Fest on May 4. View photos
Hosted the third annual Mother’s Day Cake Decorating event on May 12 and an inaugural Veterans Salute on Dec. 10 as part of the Leadership Luncheon Series. View photos
Hosted the annual 4th of July celebration at Buffalo Run Park on July 4 with entertainment, activities, food and a spectacular firework show.
Launched the successful #ClearTheShelters adoption event and received regional coverage.
Held the 2019 MCTX Symposium on Aug. 21, which was a public input workshop and over 200 residents and stakeholders visited with staff about municipal programs/services and provided feedback on operations. View photos
Hosted the annual Oktoberfest on Sep. 21 in partnership with Texas Biergarten and Texas Leaguer Brewery.
Hosted the annual MCTX Job Fair, as part of the Leadership Luncheon Series, on Sept. 24; more than 30 organizations participated in the annual event, and the diversity of industries included Finance, Banking, Education, Restaurant, Transportation, Law Enforcement and more.
Hosted the annual “Doing Business with the City” workshop, as part of the Leadership Luncheon Series on Sep. 24, which allowed businesses to learn about the registration process to become a City vendor and also learned how to place bids for City projects.
Celebrated Public Administration Day on Oct. 2 by hosting Fort Bend Independent School District high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. They shadowed staff to learn about various civil service careers.
Welcomed professionals from across the country at the Fourth Annual Leadership NOW Symposium to provide ethics training and leadership seminars for municipal employees and managers.
Welcomed the community on Oct. 5 for the Fourth Annual Community Night Out festival. View photos
Milestones
Quail Valley Golf Course broke its record for most golfers in one day by having play from 411 registered golfers on April 19, breaking the previous record (410) which was set in 2018.
MCTX resident Richard Brown III became the first African-American to earn the PGA Master Professional designation. He is 1 of only 372 golfers to achieve this level since the program began in 1969. Learn more
The 2018-2019 Citizens’ University program ended with another success. Graduation took place on May 21 when students received their customized #MCTX street signs and shared fond memories and experiences from the program. Learn more
Communications rebranded the bi-weekly video series “In The News” featuring key updates in the community. The first was published on June. Watch videos
Through the HOA (homeowners’ association) Liaison program, Communications also attended 60 meetings, and 41 community events. The team also handled more than 82 reservations for City facilities and helped to mitigate more than 600 issues/concerns during the year.
The City hosted a celebration for the new “Pursue Your Passion” sculpture on Oct. 6, located on Independence Boulevard between FM 1092 and Fifth Street.
The Junior Team Tennis that represents the United States Tennis Association Texas section won second place in the Intermediate division at the 2019 USTA Junior Team Tennis 14U National Championship in San Antonio.
Monthly memberships at the Recreation & Tennis Center reached a total of 1,505 in October 2019, breaking the previous September 2018 record of 1,361.
The Tennis program, within the Recreation Division, obtained 3 grants: a $10,000 grant from USTA to resurface the tennis courts at the Recreation & Tennis Center, a $200 Adult Social Play grant to cover cost of food and drinks for tennis players and a $600 grant for the Adaptive Tennis program.
Glen Martel took flight in “Show Me City” as the new Assistant City Manager and he oversees Public Works, Development Services, and Parks & Recreation. Learn more
In the Community
The “Show Me City” gained international attention after Billy By, the namesake of Billy’s Donuts, tweeted a picture of his dad, Satharith, who is the owner, being sad because no one initially came to the shop’s grand opening. As a result, thousands of people came to support the local business. Learn more
The official re-opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the outstanding state-of-the-art Fort Bend County library was held in June.
Through the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Board #1, the City partnered with Fort Bend County on the historic Missouri City Middle School revitalization project for a reimbursement amount of $1,000,000.
Quail Valley Fund turned 50 years old on Nov. 5 and the community celebrated the milestone in style on Nov. 15.
Glenn Lakes Pharmacy celebrated 25 years of business in Missouri City, and La Escondida Mexican Grill celebrated more than two decades in the “Show Me City”.
Fairfield Inn & Suites opened its doors to visitors on Friday, Aug. 9, making it the fourth hotel in Missouri City.
In addition, Harvest Market, Bernie’s Burger Bus, Sharp Minds Academy, The Learning Experience, Trill Taco, Wellcare Senior Center, Sacred Leaf, and Fleur De Licious Catering are just some of the many businesses that settled into the Scenic City.
For updates, please watch the City website: www.missouricitytx.gov, like us on Facebook—fb/MissouriCityTX, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat—@MissouriCityTX and Nextdoor, watch Missouri City Television (Ch. 16 on Comcast and Ch. 99 on AT&T U-verse) or download the MCTX Mobile app (available for free in Google Play and the Apple app store).