Welcome to the not-quite-a-city of The Woodlands

On January 1, a unique experiment in city-like governance will commence in The Woodlands.

A new government body, approved by residents two years ago and called The Woodlands Township, will take control of the Montgomery County community 30 miles north of Houston.

“We’re transitioning from community associations that predominately provided services to a central government unit,” said Don Norrell, serving in the new role as president of the Township. “The key is centralized government.”

The change is historic because no other community in Texas has ever had legislation written to create such a unique government entity and to enable it to enter into an agreement with a city to avoid annexation.

The township is a special-purpose district that, in some ways, will look and act like a municipality when it really isn’t.

The township, for example, can collect property and sales taxes to provide services, but it can’t adopt ordinances. It can maintain parks and trails, but it can’t fix potholes or build new streets.

The township board will be responsible for making important decisions about the community just like a city council. It will be made up of seven board members, including a chairman who is similar to a mayor. Daily operations of the government will be overseen by a president whose duties are similar to a city manager.

It doesn’t say in this story, but according to this archived Chron story, the Town Center Improvement District board “would transition from an 11-member body, consisting of appointed and elected directors, to a seven-member communitywide elected board by 2010.” It also says that five of those seats were up for election in 2008, but I can’t find any evidence of that in the Montgomery County election returns. I guess they held the election, and will hold another one in 2010, but I’ll have to take someone’s word for it. As for the setup they’ve chosen, I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other, I’m just sort of fascinated by it. There will likely never be anything else like it.

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