The Woodlands Township board members approved a ground lease agreement with Forest Capital Partners, LP for a new golf course during a July 23 meeting.

The board voted 5-0 to move forward on the agreement. The golf complex and amenities will be located in the South Gosling area.

In a nutshell: Golf was identified by the township as an unmet publicly available recreational use and need within the township, according to a presentation by Chief Operating Officer Chris Nunes. The partnership with Forest Capital Partners will create a minimum capital investment of $12 million to design, construct, operate and maintain the facility, according to a township release.

The township will invest $2.5 million to support the infrastructure of the project and maintain ownership of the improvements after the lease is up.

Latest Update: The township must go through a request for proposal process, or RFP, to complete the project.

What’s next: The construction of the improvements is estimated to be completed within 30 months and the facility has an anticipated opening date of early 2029.

Gymboree Play & Music, a global franchise that specializes in childhood development classes with a focus on music and games, opened a new franchise location in The Woodlands area. The business will celebrate its official opening Aug. 21.

How it happened: The new franchise location is owned and operated by Tosin Fatusin alongside Amber Harris. As the parents of two young children, Fatusin and Harris first discovered Gymboree Play & Music at a birthday party in the Post Oak location. After Gymboree had left The Woodlands area, the pair decided to apply to operate their own franchise location.

“When we later realized there was no longer a Gymboree serving The Woodlands area, we were excited to bring that experience back for other families,” Fatusin said. “Our hope has always been to create more than a children's enrichment center—we wanted to create a place where children discover their potential through play while parents find encouragement, friendship and community.”

• 26435 Kuykendahl Road, Ste. 150, The Woodlands

Montgomery County Commissioners remained conflicted on how much funding to go for in a potential bond for the construction of a new justice center as the Aug. 6 deadline to call the election approaches.

By the numbers: Out of several scenarios, Budget Officer Amanda Carter said the preliminary bond number should fall between $300 million-$400 million. One option for a $300 million bond election in November 2026, would cause a $0.0137 increase in the debt service tax rate. For the $400 million scenario, the rate increase would be $0.0180; going from $0.0445 cents in 2026 and 2027 to $0.0625 in 2028.

A $350 million bond would be a $0.0160 tax rate increase by 2029, John Robuck, financial advisor for the county, BOK Financial Securities, Inc. said. Tax rates are also being evaluated and compared for different home values ranging from $100,000-$600,000.

The timeline: The two bond election timelines available are for November 2026 and May 2027.

Texas’ power grid operator and regulator have laid out their plans to regulate data centers that connect to the state grid and ensure data center companies, not residents, pay for the industry’s growth.

What's happening: To shield Texans from the negative impacts of data center growth, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are:

• Prohibiting data centers from taking existing power resources off the grid
• Launching a new process to evaluate large projects looking to connect to the grid
• Creating standards that large consumers must meet before joining the grid
• Developing incentives for large consumers to reduce their energy use ahead of a grid emergency
• Requiring large companies to pay for the grid infrastructure needed to serve them
• Improving ERCOT’s process for projecting future demand