BLINN BOARD APPROVES NEW DESIGN FOR HOUSING FACILITY
The Blinn College Board of Trustees approved a new design for a planned student housing facility located on the College’s Brenham campus during a special meeting held today (Friday).
The board approved financing for parking lot and site improvements adjacent to the student housing project, and authorized Blinn administrators to negotiate and award a professional services agreement with Strand Associates, Inc. for the design and construction phase services related to the parking lot project. Blinn also was authorized to seek construction bids for the parking lot project.
In August 2015, the board authorized Blinn administrators to engage in a public/private partnership for the construction of a new student housing facility on the Brenham campus. The project, located at the corner of Saeger Street and Old Mill Creek Road, will be funded by National Campus and Community Development (NCCD)-Blinn College Properties, LLC, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established to provide tax-exempt financing specifically for this project. Blinn and NCCD-Blinn College Properties will enter into a 40-year ground lease, and upon repayment by NCCD, the facility will revert to Blinn.
In March 2016, the College became aware that a 0.2346-acre portion of the design site would be designated as a wetland. To preserve the favorable interest rate available from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Community Development Initiative Grant and to expedite construction for occupancy by Fall 2018, an alternative design was developed.
As part of the new design, Blinn will finance the estimated $1 million in parking lot and site improvements taking place on the wetland area with existing bond funds. The remaining $32 million development cost will be funded by NCCD.
The new design is expected to increase the facility’s capacity from 453 to 465 students and increase the total square footage from 159,000 to 162,000.
The Blinn-Brenham campus currently houses 1,326 students, more than any other community college in the state. Despite this, approximately 925 students were placed on the housing waiting list this fall. The addition of 465 students would generate approximately $3 million in annual tuition, fees and state reimbursement.
I am a current Blinn student focusing on urban planning, and even I can see that Old Mill Creek Rd. is not wide enough to accommodate the additional traffic that will result from the additional student housing. Why not widen the road to the same width it is between Blinn Blvd. and Saeger St.?
Mr. Winkelmann, I understand your complaint, but let’s hope a mailbox is the worst thing that gets hit instead of a car or a Blinn student.
If this was a planning project I completed for class, I would have FAILED! Let’s hope the city planner didn’t get an accommodation for this poor piece of planning. If one day I am fortunate enough to come back to Brenham to do planning or development work, I will not make this type of elementary mistake.
Blinn Student,
I would like to extend an invite to you to come to City Hall and allow me the opportunity to work with you on your studies as a future Urban Planner. I think it is great you are considering this field of work and remember being a student myself and if there is an opportunity to help a local Brenham resident in their future career in this field of study it would be my pleasure to expose you to an environment outside of the classroom. If you are interested in learning day to day practicality of urban planning and community development please call me on my office line at 979-337-7269 and we can work out some times for you to come in and meet with us.
Erik Smith
Development Services Manager
esmith@cityofbrenham.org
Thank you, Erik, for your response. I will definitely keep your invitation in mind, and will hold on to your contact information. When it comes time for my internship/field experience, I will give you a call or come by your office.
Nevertheless, from your response it is my understanding that the road will be widened in the future to accommodate the new developments. Is that correct? Thanks again.
Why the Cul de Sacs in the first place? What have they accomplished other than new houses can be built and instead of using Old Mill Creek Road as the front to their house, they can now face the Cul de Sacs! Since when did the City own that property? And how does Blinn go about building on a designated Wet Land?
And who cares if it is Glenn or Glen, he has a valid point
Damaged Mailbox:
My mailbox has been hit again by a vehicle. Each time I reinstall a new one, I go by the US POSTAL SERVICE SPECFICATIONS. Old Mill Creek Rd. inside the city limits is not wide enough for the amount of traffic, size of vehicles, and vehicle speeds. When will someone listen?
What impact will this have on downstream drainage
Wow, more traffic on less road. The city of Brenham planner should have never, never, allowed the construction of the tiny cul de sacs designed abutting Old Mill Creek Road.
This has always been a busy road and now it will be even busier on this existing narrow strip of road and of course even more dangerous. Why did the planner not plan to widen Old Mill Creek Road instead ??? The planner allowed the construction of cul de sacs that was already city owned property. Property that could have been better allocated to widen Old Mill Creek Road to make it safe in a major area of development. The city planner allowed single lot zoning changes too for commercial uses instead of residential uses (I believe this is called spot zoning). And now the student housing that was always been foreseeable, since Blinn is right there, is being built there too. This will make conditions go from bad planned by the city to worse planned by the city. All recently created, and all what should have been avoided with good planning. Poor Planning Produces Poor Products. This is what has been delivered to the community on this project.
“Tiny cul de sacs?” Are they a smaller diameter than required by the muni-code?
A road should have been widened and it was not. When mistakes are made that could have been prevented. Taxpayers need to know about it. I never have read the money code. This must be how taxes are increased to pay for bad planning.
It’s Pecan Glen.
Bait and switch, eh? What are you really upset about, ‘Pecan Glenn”? Since it’s not the ‘tiny’ cul de sacs…