The Woodlands Township Meeting Recap; Mounted Patrol & Cell Towers
On September 17th 2026, The Woodlands Township Board of Directors met to discuss various topics within the community. The Township solidified their decision to end the thirty-year mounted patrol by the privately-held Alpha & Omega Security Patrol. The board approved a new deal with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office that will bring a mounted unit to the area. Also in the meeting, the board heard from a cell-tower contractor on planned construction of cell towers within The Woodlands parks.
The Woodlands Township Board of Directors met at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 17th, at the Township offices on Technology Forest Boulevard. Chairman Brad Bailey was absent, and Vice Chairman Craig Eissler ran the meeting in his place.
The topic of The Woodlands' mounted patrol was listed by name this time on the agenda. Previously, it had not been there. Thursday night it was item 8, with a staff recommendation to approve the Montgomery County Sheriff's proposal.
Alpha & Omega Services, Inc. has run the patrol as a courtesy service under the current contract that took effect in January 2021, and the company has been working The Woodlands for more than thirty years, but now that contract expires December 31st, 2026.
The Quick Highlights
--The board unanimously approved a Montgomery County Sheriff's Office mounted patrol unit for 2027. The unit includes one sergeant and six deputies.
--The first year will cost $2,326,230, including $954,876 in one-time startup.
--Alpha & Omega's contract, which includes up to 387 hours a week of patrol, expires December 31st, 2026.
--There was no date given for when the Sheriff's mounted patrol will be up and running.
--The board approved the first three of ten proposed cell tower sites from Diamond Communications, over one resident's objection to towers near elementary schools.
Board Moves Forward with Montgomery County Sheriff's Plan for Mounted Patrol in The Woodlands
Monique Sharp, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Woodlands Township, presented on the mounted patrol topic during the meeting. She detailed the current issues they identified with the current patrol contract with Alpha & Omega, and her recommendation for moving to a law enforcement model through the Sheriff's Office.
The Township's Findings: License Agreements, No Arrest Powers, and Increasing Costs
Alpha & Omega's agreement took effect January 6th, 2021, and was amended in May 2023. Under it, the troopers on the horses are neither law enforcement nor security guards; the contract says they "function only as mounted civilian courtesy and information personnel." The contract includes a no-show, no-pay clause for the weekly maximum of 387 hours of patrol.
With a private patrol, the biggest issue Sharp presented was liability. For most of the patrol areas, other entities own the land, like the mall, Market Street, and the Pavilion. The Waterway is the only Township-controlled area within the patrol limits.
The 2023 amended contract created license agreements meant to be signed by the Township, Alpha & Omega and each major property owner. Those were never executed, because the property owners never signed them.
Alpha & Omega carries the insurance the contract requires, Sharp said, and the Township has "no issues whatsoever" with it. The problem is a private company patrolling private property on the Township's authority with nothing signed underneath it to prevent direct liability to the Township.
The other major reason given for her recommendation was that a Sheriff's mounted patrol unit has direct law enforcement authority, which Alpha & Omega does not.
Additionally, the new patrol would have access to law enforcement communications, and the Sheriff's Office could absorb management and clerical work that currently goes to fund Alpha & Omega's mounted patrol.
The Details of the Sheriff's Mounted Patrol Plan
The Township asked the Sheriff's Office for a proposal that kept the courtesy patrol feel, but added the ability to make arrests and directly stop crime.
"The Township did not issue a Request for Proposal to Alpha & Omega or any other private security firm," Sharp said, "because private security firms are unable to provide a law enforcement model."
The full proposal from the Sheriff's Office detailed the plan for the mounted patrol, including a dollar amount.
The plan includes a six-deputy patrol unit with one sergeant, accompanied by seven horses, two trucks and trailers, and 2,000 supplemental overtime hours a year.
There is no weekly hours figure on the Sheriff's proposal, since, as stated in the presentation, the service "is not defined by minimum and maximum hours/week."
The new law enforcement patrol is expected to cost $1,371,354 a year, once up and running. The first year has additional costs of $954,876, which includes all equipment and start-up costs for the patrol.
Sharp told the board the switch saves about $133,000 a year, comparing Alpha & Omega's 2027 cost at today's hours against the Sheriff's recurring annual amount.
That savings figure does not include what it costs to stand up the new patrol unit. Using the figures given during the presentation, a savings of $133,000 a year would mean a little over seven years before the Sheriff's unit pays off its own start-up cost.
Board Approves Proposal, With Thanks to Alpha & Omega
Director Shelley Sekula-Gibbs supported the new proposal. "We're proud to be the first mounted patrol that Montgomery County will have," she said, calling it a chance to be frugal; "here we have an opportunity for savings of $130,000 a year."
Director Cindy Heiser said she spent last year asking partners across the community whether they would split the cost of the private mounted patrol from Alpha & Omega. "They appreciate the service being provided, but they were not willing to fund it themselves," she said.
Craig Eissler added to the conversation. "It's part of our image. We love the horses. The residents love the horses. The visitors love the horses." He also thanked Alpha & Omega for their service, "30 years, I mean, it's a long time that is not taken for granted."
Eissler called for a motion and it passed unanimously. The motion authorized Sharp to negotiate and enter into a final agreement with Montgomery County. There is no signed contract yet, and no start date on the record. However, Alpha & Omega's current contract runs out December 31st.
New Cell Towers Coming to The Woodlands on Township-Controlled Land
The board approved leases for cell towers at Terramont Park, Cattail Park and Rob Fleming Recreation Center. Each location will take about a 50-by-50 foot piece of land, with a 120-foot cell tower disguised as a pine tree.
The Township awarded the contract to Diamond Communications in April for ten sites, but only three were ready to be approved during the meeting. Katie Harms, the company's site acquisition manager, said carriers are ready on those three and the rest will follow as carriers commit.
Harms said the first three should be running by the third quarter of next year.
A Public Comment Speaker Asked the Board to Drop Four Sites Near Elementary Schools
Tom Schwarzkopf was the only person to speak at the public hearing. He opened by saying he wants cell towers as much as anyone, but he went on to argue against what Katie Harms had just presented.
She had told the board that cell towers put out non-ionizing radiation, the same kind as a wi-fi router or a baby monitor, and that no credible evidence ties them to cancer.
However, he said the federal safety standards behind that are thirty years old, that the agency has never shown how it arrived at them, and that the research says otherwise.
Schwarzkopf got to his specific ask for the board.
Four of the proposed ten cell tower sites sat next to elementary schools: Cattail Park by Galatas Elementary, Tamarac Park by Lamar Elementary, Shadowbend Park by David Elementary, and Lakeside Park by Buckalew Elementary.
He proposed that the board drop those locations from the list of eligible sites, including Cattail, which was moving toward approval during the meeting.
The Board Discusses Action on Cell Towers and Approves Them
After the public comment was finished, the board began to discuss the agenda item in depth. Director Adam Lamb spoke directly to Schwarzkopf.
"Tom, I'm with you. I hear you on this stuff," Lamb said. "But how I look at it generally is you can't escape it. I don't even drink tap water."
Sekula-Gibbs said the school near Cattail was a reason to build there, not a reason to skip it. "The school may need help really quickly," she said. "I'd hate to have that school not be able to call somebody because of the cell towers." She moved to approve; Director Linda Nelson seconded, and it passed unanimously.
