THREE BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS GIVEN OATH OF OFFICE
Three Brenham City Council members were administered the oath of office Thursday afternoon, including Milton Y Tate, Jr, Mayor, for Place 2, Weldon C Williams, Jr., and for Place 4,Danny H Goss.
Former County Judge Dorothy Morgan administered the oath of office to Tate and Williams, with Municipal Judge Robert Wright administering the oath to Danny Goss.
The Council approved the purchase of body cameras for the police department from Special Revenue Funds.
The police department has been testing and evaluating the possibility of purchasing the cameras, which would be used for recording documentation of police interaction with the community. They would be to protect both the officer and community member during law enforcement encounters
To purchase the cameras from Safety Vision will cost a total of $21,035.00. An additional $13,550 will be used to purchase a server for storage. The total cost for the body camera system will be approximately $34,585. Money to purchase the cameras will come from a special revenue source that is funded through private donations.
The council also approved a temporary license agreement and discussed the possible construction of a parklet on Baylor Street in downtown Brenham. The parket is a space in front of a proposed restaurant which would become an outside seating area for the restaurant. The construction of the parklet would involve losing three parking spacing downtown, but would hopefully promote more foot traffic downtown.
The project was first discussed at the April 16, 2015 Council meeting. The staff was then instructed to begin to the process of drafting procedures and technical specification for the program. They have now been established.
Wende Ragnonis mentioned that they were not sure that all the necessary ordinances can be completed during the time frame requested by Ninety Six West, the name of the restaurant requesting the parklet, which would be located at 103 S. Baylor St.
Council temporarily approved a 12 month license to encroach into the City’s Right of Way, which is located at 103 S Baylor St. This will give the staff time to complete all the necessary ordinances for this program.
Ninety Six West was given no assurances that the license would be granted, despite the fact that the restaurant owners are making a considerable investment. The city has a right to revoke the license, which the restaurant would then have to remove the parklet
City Manager Terry Roberts to the Council and the public in attendance that the demolition of the interior of the Nancy Carol Roberts Library is set to begin on May 27th, and that the work would be visible from the outside once the reconstruction of the inside began.
