🏘️ Seven Builders, a 55-Plus Village, and a Town Green on FM 1488

🏛️ A $300 Million Courthouse Question Could Land on Your November Ballot

🎓 Conroe ISD Wants to Hear From You Before It Talks to Austin

⛳ A 144-Yard Ace on the Palmer Course Hole They Call King

Oxland Group opened homesite sales on July 20 for a 156-acre second phase at Two Step Farm, the master-planned community north of FM 1488 between I-45 and Highway 249. Seven builders are joining the project. Homesites go to those builders starting in December, with construction beginning shortly after.

What makes this phase different is the mix. Oxland says three of the housing types are new to the Houston market entirely. Drees Custom Homes is bringing detached townhomes, McKinley Homes is bringing townhomes, David Weekley Homes is doing patio homes, and William David Homes is building cottages alongside houses on 70 and 90-foot lots. Autograph Homes and Partners In Building round out the lineup. Trilogy by Shea Homes, first announced back in October, is developing a 55-plus village with resort-style amenities built around wellness, recreation, and social life.

Several of the homes sit on smaller lots on purpose. The developer says that is meant to open up more attainable price points and give options to buyers who do not fit the standard suburban mold, including single residents without children. Phase 2 homes are expected to run from the mid-$300,000s to more than $1 million.

"By introducing new builders and product types, many of which are not currently available elsewhere in this market, we're able to offer homebuyers more choice, more flexibility and more ways to experience this community," said Oxland Group co-President and founder Tom Woliver.

The phase also brings a walkable village center with a central town green, dining, an event space, and a community wellness center. Meanwhile the second phase of Two Step Boulevard is under construction and will connect Superior Road directly to FM 1488, with the road expected to open by the end of 2026. At full build-out, the 1,800-acre community is planned for more than 4,000 homes.

Why it matters: a development putting cottages, detached townhomes, and a 55-plus village on the same 156 acres is betting that not everyone moving here wants the same house, and that is a different bet than this stretch of Montgomery County usually sees.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

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🌤️ Partly cloudy with showers · 98°F / 76°F

💧 Humidity up to 92% · 💨 Wind up to 7 mph · 🌧️ Rain chance 10%

Ninety-eight and heavy air. Get the outdoor stuff done early and keep an umbrella in the car.

Source: Vaisala Xweather

Montgomery County commissioners have until August 6 to decide whether to put a bond for a new justice center in front of voters, and as of their latest meeting they still had not agreed on the number. Budget Officer Amanda Carter told the court the preliminary figure should land somewhere between $300 million and $400 million.

The tax impact depends on where they land. A $300 million bond would raise the debt service tax rate by $0.0137. At $400 million it would be $0.0180, taking the rate from $0.0445 in 2026 and 2027 to $0.0625 in 2028. A $350 million package would mean a $0.0160 increase by 2029, according to county financial advisor John Robuck of BOK Financial Securities.

The disagreement is about pace. County Judge Mark Keough wants to move. "I'm convinced that the courthouse is our first step here, we're able to do it, we can move forward on it," he said. Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley wants everything bundled into a single vote instead: "We need to put all this together as one bond package and go out one time." Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler raised a different worry, pointing to the last road bond, when 4% of registered voters and 1.8% of the population turned out. "I just can't believe that we are straddling our taxpayers with that much debt on that little input."

The current courthouse dates to 1936, and judges have flagged both a shortage of space and structural problems. Commissioners approved Dallas-based BSW Architects for the project on July 9. Separately, they are weighing a jail bond that Sheriff Wesley Doolittle estimates at $750 million to $1 billion, after a hired firm put the figure as high as $1.2 billion.

To make the November ballot, the court has to call the election between August 5 and 17. Miss that and the next window is January 31 to February 12, for a May 2027 vote.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

Conroe ISD's board reviewed a draft of the district's legislative priorities on July 21, six months ahead of the 90th Texas Legislative Session. The report came from Hedith Sauceda-Upshaw, the district's Assistant Superintendent of Governance and Leadership Programs, and her reasoning for starting this early was blunt: "If they wait until the lawmakers show up in Austin, then they are already behind."

Five priorities came out of conversations with administrators and teachers. Employee pay and retention sits near the top, after the district approved a compensation plan without across-the-board teacher raises because the money was not there. The others are school funding "buckets," student discipline, accountability subgroups, and local school facilities impact fees.

On funding, the district is not simply asking for more. It wants the allotment model changed so it can point at specific gaps. It also wants local discretion restored on student discipline decisions, and it wants school ratings to weigh student growth rather than, as Sauceda-Upshaw put it, "oversimplifying complex school systems." Conroe ISD currently holds a "B" accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency.

Four public meetings are open to residents at the CISD administration building, starting tomorrow, July 28 at 9 a.m., then August 5 at 1 p.m., August 24 at 5 p.m., and August 25 at 1 p.m. "We are inviting our constituents and our community to participate with us and have their voice heard," Sauceda-Upshaw said. The district prefiles its requests in November.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

Mark Seibert holed out from 144 yards on Wednesday, July 22, at The Woodlands Country Club's Palmer Course. The shot came on Hole #2, the one the club calls "King." The club announced it on social media and invited members and followers to congratulate him.

At 144 yards, that hole asks for enough accuracy to find the green and hold it close enough to the pin, which means getting distance and alignment right in a single swing. It is one of the rarest results in the sport.

The Palmer Course is one of five the club operates across The Woodlands, spread among four clubhouses at four locations. Two of the five carry a national profile: the Tournament Course, co-designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge, currently hosts the PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational, and the Player Course, designed by Gary Player, is considered the most demanding of the group.

Source/Credits: Golf Post

🤝 Hurricane season runs through November 30. The Township is pushing residents to sign up for Township Alerts, noting that a quiet Atlantic season with only a couple of named storms is not a finished one, and that Tropical Storm Bertha was the reminder. Read more at The Woodlands Township

🌱 You can help protect the Spring Creek watershed in about thirty minutes. The Township's Storm Drain Survey Program asks residents to walk, bike, or drive their own neighborhood checking for "No Dumping, Drains to Waterways" markers, with no registration, supplies, or training required. Read more at The Woodlands Township

🎓 The Township publishes a new Earthwise article every Thursday. The Environmental Services library covers recycling questions, water conservation, native plants, and cutting down mosquitoes around the house. Read more at The Woodlands Township

🗓️ 3D Printer Orientation | Kevin Brady Library, 2250 Buckthorne Place | 1 to 2 p.m. | Free | More info

🗓️ National Scotch Day | The Refuge Steakhouse & Bourbon Bar, 8540 Creekside Forest Drive Suite C800 | 4 to 10 p.m. | More info

🗓️ Teen Craft: Shrinky Dinks | George & Cynthia Mitchell Library, 8125 Ashlane Way | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Free | More info

🗓️ Family Storytime | George & Cynthia Mitchell Library | 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. | Free | More info

🗓️ Internet Safety | George & Cynthia Mitchell Library | 10 to 11 a.m. | Free | More info

🗓️ Tropical Beach Paint Party | Sawyer Park Icehouse, 314 Pruitt Road, Spring | More info

🗓️ Houston Grand Opera's Meet an Opera Singer | 11 a.m. | More info

🗓️ Casual Carats Trunk Show | Robichau's Jewelry Panther Creek, 4775 W Panther Creek Ste 245 | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | More info

🗓️ Workshop Wednesday, Pencil & Apple Bath Bomb | Magnolia Ritual Texas Apothecary, 6318 FM 1488 Suite 110, Magnolia | More info

🗓️ Shadow Puppet Theatre, Llama Llama and the Bully Goat | 11 a.m. | More info

🗓️ Rock the Row | Hughes Landing, 1900 Hughes Landing Blvd | 7 to 9 p.m. | More info

🗓️ Community Blood Drive | Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, 17201 Interstate 45 South | More info

🗓️ The Pussycat Dolls with Lil' Kim and Mya | The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Dr | 7 p.m. | More info

🗓️ Teen Career Seminar | George & Cynthia Mitchell Library | 3 to 4:30 p.m. | Free | More info

🗓️ Lost In Hollywood, System of a Down Tribute | Sawyer Park Icehouse, 314 Pruitt Road, Spring | 8:30 p.m. | Free | More info

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Lamar Elementary opened in 1971, which means the first public school here was taking attendance three full years before The Woodlands had its grand opening. The classrooms arrived ahead of the community they were built for.

"That's close enough for government work." Translation: quit fiddling with it, it's fine.

Everybody has a favorite spoon in their kitchen drawer, and almost nobody has ever said so out loud.

What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.