Katy City Council Debate at Cardiff Rice Dryer April 7 2026

Key Points

• Seven Katy City Council candidates will debate at The Dryer, the historic Cardiff Rice Dryer complex, on April 7 in what organisers describe as the first-ever candidate forum held at the landmark venue.
• The event will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will feature candidates running for Ward A, Ward B and the at‑large seat.
• Confirmed participants include Johnston Dietz and J.R. Richardson (Ward A), Michael Meihls, Lyn Sullivan and Michael Payne (Ward B), plus Paul Follis and AJ Bailey competing for the at‑large position.
• Questions will be collected from residents on index cards during opening introductions, with a 30‑second limit per question and up to two minutes per candidate response; questioning will end by 7:20 p.m., followed by closing statements.
• The Cardiff Rice Dryer, originally built by J.V. Cardiff & Sons in 1966, stands 177 feet high and remains the tallest structure in Katy and the surrounding area, having once been the tallest rice dryer in the United States.
• Developer and owner Hadi “Andrew” Nurcahya is redeveloping the site as “The Dryer,” a mixed‑use, community‑centric project that includes the Katy Beer Garden, a food hall, co‑working space and future museum and event areas.

Cardiff (Cardiff Daily) March 29, 2026 – Seven Katy City Council candidates will take the stage at The Dryer, the redeveloped Cardiff Rice Dryer complex, on April 7 in what organisers are calling the first candidate forum held at the city’s most visible historic landmark, in a bid to boost civic engagement ahead of the upcoming election cycle. The evening‑long town‑hall‑style event will feature contenders for Ward A, Ward B and the at‑large seat, with residents allowed to submit questions on index cards and every candidate given equal time to respond under a tightly structured format.

Why is this forum being held at The Dryer?

The choice of venue itself is being framed as symbolic, tying modern local‑government politics to Katy’s agricultural past and ongoing redevelopment.

The Cardiff Rice Dryer, located at 5321 First Street, was constructed in 1966 by the Cardiff family and once stood as the tallest rice dryer in the United States, rising 177 feet above the surrounding landscape. As noted by local historians and preservationists, the site has functioned as a visual anchor for the city for eight decades, helping to define Katy’s identity even as farmland has given way to suburban growth.

Developer Hadi “Andrew” Nurcahya, who purchased the property in 2020 from an Austin‑based investor, has described the site’s transformation into “The Dryer” as a community‑centric project that blends historic preservation with commercial activity.

In a presentation shared with the Katy Heritage Society that has been covered by Katy Economic Development Corporation and local outlets, Nurcahya said his aim is to create

“a gathering space that encourages local economic growth in alignment with historical preservation,”

a line that has been repeated in reports by Community Impact and My Neighborhood News.

How will the candidate forum be structured?

The event, scheduled from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 7, will be hosted on the grounds of The Dryer, near the 177‑foot silo structure and the newly opened Katy Beer Garden. According to instructions distributed by the organising committee and paraphrased in coverage by Covering Katy News and Community Impact, residents who wish to ask questions must sign up between 5:30 p.m. and 5:55 p.m. on site before the forum begins.

As reported by staff writers at Covering Katy News, questions will be written on index cards, which will be collected during the candidates’ opening introductions; each question is to be phrased within a 30‑second limit, and each candidate will then have up to two minutes to respond. Questioning will conclude by 7:20 p.m., after which the event will move into a closing‑statement round that will run until the scheduled 7:30 p.m. end time.

Organisers have stated that all seven confirmed candidates will be given equal opportunity to participate, in line with typical nonpartisan forum rules emphasised by local civic groups.

Who are the candidates appearing on stage?

Seven candidates have formally committed to attend the forum, representing three contested seats on Katy City Council. As detailed in listings compiled by Covering Katy News and cross‑checked with local‑government coverage on Community Impact, the field includes:

• Ward A: Johnston Dietz and J.R. Richardson, both seeking to represent the district that covers parts of central and northern Katy.
• Ward B: Michael Meihls, Lyn Sullivan and Michael Payne, all vying for the ward that includes areas closer to the city’s eastern and southern edges.
• At‑large: Paul Follis and AJ Bailey, who are running for the council‑wide seat that carries no geographical restriction but is expected to influence city‑wide policy and long‑range planning.

Although individual campaign platforms have not yet been fully detailed in the invitation materials, earlier coverage in Community Impact and Katy‑focused election previews suggests that the candidates are expected to address a common set of issues, including infrastructure upgrades, traffic congestion tied to rapid population growth, and the balance between economic development and historic preservation.

What does hosting the debate at The Dryer signify for Katy residents?

The decision to hold the debate at The Dryer, rather than a city hall meeting room or a standard civic centre, has been interpreted by local commentators as an attempt to connect government‑level decision‑making with the tangible history residents see every day along Highway 90.

In a feature published by Katy Heritage Society‑linked outlets, the preservation of the Cardiff Rice Dryer has been described as “a victory for community identity,” with the silo often cited as a rare surviving symbol of the area’s agricultural roots.

As reported by CultureMap Houston and repeated in Community Impact’s development‑focused pieces, the broader “The Dryer” project includes a 25,000‑square‑foot Katy Beer Garden, a multi‑vendor food hall, co‑working and meeting spaces, and plans for a heritage museum and outdoor event lawn.

Organisers of the April 7 forum have implied, without explicit policy claims, that hosting the debate at this evolving mixed‑use site underscores the intersection of heritage, commerce and governance—all themes likely to surface in residents’ questions about zoning, signage, traffic and historic‑preservation ordinances.

How does the Cardiff Rice Dryer’s history shape this event?

The J.V. Cardiff & Sons Rice Dryer’s backstory supplies much of the subtext for the April 7 forum. As outlined in historical summaries by the Katy Economic Development Corporation and the Katy Heritage Society, the complex includes three groups of silos built and expanded between the 1940s and 1960s, with the tallest structure completed in 1966.

In operation between 1944 and 1996, the facility was capable of storing up to 100,000 barrels of rice and drying about 1,800 barrels per hour, a scale that underscores how central rice‑processing once was to the local economy.

In a 2022 feature carried by Community Impact, Katy Heritage Director Davitz was quoted as saying the Cardiff Rice Dryer

“was once the crux of the town—driving the local economy, real estate and lifestyles,”

a line that has since been echoed in later preservation‑focused pieces across local outlets. The fact that the silo remains the tallest structure not only in Katy but also in nearby Fulshear, Richmond and Rosenberg, as noted by Nurcahya in multiple interviews reprised by the Katy EDC and My Neighborhood News, adds to its status as a visual shorthand for the city itself.

What role does developer Nurcahya play in this debate venue?

Hadi “Andrew” Nurcahya, the developer behind the ongoing revitalisation of The Dryer, has positioned himself less as a political figure and more as a bridge between the city’s past and its future economic direction. As reported by Katy Economic Development Corporation and Community Impact, Nurcahya purchased the property in 2020 from an Austin‑based investor after several earlier redevelopment attempts had failed to move forward.

In a 2022 Katy EDC article, Nurcahya was quoted as saying he aims to create “a community‑centric gathering space that aims to encourage local economic growth in alignment with historical preservation,” a statement that has since been republished or paraphrased in multiple outlets covering the project.

Recent coverage in Community Impact notes that phase‑one work has already yielded the Katy Beer Garden and other public spaces, while phase‑two elements—such as a multi‑story food hall and event centre—have encountered delays owing to modern building‑code hurdles, a detail Nurcahya has openly discussed with local reporters.

By hosting the April 7 candidate forum on his property, Nurcahya is effectively placing the political conversation about growth, infrastructure and zoning within the very complex that has become a test case for how historical structures can be adapted to 21st‑century use.

As covered by Secret Houston and WhatNow Houston, the Katy Beer Garden’s opening in 2024 already drew attention from regional publications that framed The Dryer as a “revitalised landmark” where beer‑garden culture meets industrial heritage, a framing that gives extra symbolic weight to the decision to host a city‑council debate there.

What can residents expect from the April 7 debate?

For Katy residents, the April 7 forum at The Dryer offers a rare opportunity to see all seven council candidates in a single evening, with questions originating directly from the community rather than pre‑screened by a newsroom or party‑affiliated group. As outlined in the event instructions carried by Covering Katy News and Community Impact, the 30‑second/2‑minute question‑and‑response format is intended to keep the discussion focused and prevent any single candidate from dominating the floor.

Residents who arrive between 5:30 p.m. and 5:55 p.m. will be able to sign up, submit their questions on index cards, and watch as moderators distribute those cards to the panel, a procedure that has been standardised in similar nonpartisan forums hosted elsewhere in the Houston region, as noted in voter‑engagement guides cited by local civic organisations.