The Woodlands Board Asked to Pause Vote on $954,876 Startup Plan for Replacement Mounted Patrol

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The Woodlands Township Board is scheduled to consider September 17 whether to approve MCSO's $2,326,230 first-year mounted-patrol proposal and authorize Township President and CEO Monique Sharp to negotiate and execute the final agreement. The total includes $954,876 in one-time costs to create a new unit, even though Alpha & Omega's horses, facilities, vehicles, trailers, equipment and trained personnel are already operating. Continuing Alpha & Omega's existing operation would require no comparable startup investment. No final agreement is attached to the agenda packet for Board or public review, and the public proposal carries a September 10 document-creation date.

The proposal became public September 11—three weeks after the Board moved funding toward MCSO on August 20 and the Township told the Houston Chronicle that the Sheriff's Office had provided a proposal. At stake are 35 Alpha & Omega positions, including 32 held by Montgomery County residents, and a mounted-patrol service record dating to 1994.

The Information Before the Board Has Changed

On August 20, the Board heard a preliminary outline of approximately $1.3 million in annual operating costs, $700,000 in startup costs and roughly $200,000 in annual savings. The public proposal now lists $1,371,354 in recurring costs, $954,876 in one-time costs, and $2,326,230 in first-year total costs.

Compared with Alpha & Omega's current-rate annual program total of $1,446,440, the published MCSO recurring estimate is $75,086 lower. The projected annual savings have fallen by $124,914—from approximately $200,000 to only $75,086. MCSO's first-year total is $879,790, or 60.8 percent higher than Alpha & Omega's current-rate total.

The timeline raises a direct question: What written proposal did the Board rely on August 20? If an earlier version existed, Alpha & Omega asks that the Board release it and every material revision. If it did not, the public record should be corrected before the vote.

“We recognize that the Board must rely on the information developed and presented by Township staff, and we respect the Board's stated commitment to public safety,” said Frank P. Keller, founder, president and CEO of Alpha & Omega. “Our concern is that the information presented in August has changed materially, while Township staff has said another Alpha & Omega proposal was not needed. We are not asking directors to defend what they were told in August. We are asking them to examine what is known now.” The Published Price Is Not the Complete Taxpayer Picture

• The $1,106,736 salary-and-benefits line does not say whether it funds new positions, reimburses existing county personnel, or requires other county positions to be backfilled.

• The proposal does not separately identify command and supervision above the unit, dispatch, recruiting and training, technology and records systems, legal and administrative support, insurance and liability, or fleet management and maintenance. It does not say whether these necessary costs are included, absorbed elsewhere, or additional.

• The proposal labels $15,000 for fuel as “in-kind” while also counting it within the recurring total. The promise of up to 400 hours also does not guarantee mounted-patrol hours delivered in the community or explain how nonpatrol duties count toward that ceiling.

“Moving a cost from the Township's ledger to the county's ledger does not make it disappear,” Keller said. “Most Woodlands residents live in Montgomery County and help fund both public budgets. Before anyone calls this a savings, the public deserves to know the complete cost across both public budgets.”

A Fair Process Is Still Possible

The Board acted on preliminary information presented through Township staff. Since then, the figures have changed materially, and no final agreement is attached to the agenda packet. Alpha & Omega asks the Board to table Item 8 until any August proposal, the current proposal, a draft or final agreement, and a like for-like cost-and-service comparison are public.

If the Board will not postpone action, Alpha & Omega asks it to authorize negotiations only and require the final agreement to return for a separate public vote before execution. The company remains willing to discuss a continuity bridge, preferably for one year, or a measurable Alpha & Omega-MCSO hybrid that protects coverage while MCSO establishes readiness. A one-year bridge would preserve uninterrupted coverage while giving 35 employees—32 of them Montgomery County residents—time to find replacement work and make responsible decisions about the horses they own and care for.

More Than Thirty-One Years Deserve a Fair Hearing

Alpha & Omega is contracted to provide 387 mounted hours each week—20,124 annually—with trained personnel, horses, supervision, relief staffing, vehicles, equipment, facilities, communications and insurance already in place. Alpha & Omega's review has located no notice declaring the company in breach or directing it to cure a performance failure.

“We did not fail The Woodlands,” Keller said. “Our people deserve to hear that plainly. We will keep meeting every obligation, caring for our horses and serving this community through the last hour of our contract. We ask only that the Board slow down long enough to decide from the complete record.”

About Alpha & Omega

Alpha & Omega Services, Inc. is a licensed Texas security company with 35 years of operating experience. Its mounted patrol program has served The Woodlands since 1994.