BRENHAM CITIZENS FILL LIBRARY TO DISCUSS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Thursday night’s town hall meeting in Brenham had a very sizable group of citizens come to weigh in on the city’s comprehensive plan.
Officials from Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) hosted the town hall meeting at the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library, saying the crowds in Brenham far surpassed those seen at similar meetings in Amarillo, Killeen, and College Station.
Gary Mitchell and Meredith Dang, respective President and Senior Associate of KKC, asked those in attendance what their top priorities were for the city, and what needed to be addressed in a plan update.
Results of a survey compiled at the meeting showed that Brenham residents care most about downtown investment and enhancement.
This was followed by more shopping and services, improved traffic flow, recreational activities, upkeep of existing housing, and police, fire, and EMS.
Also on the questionnaire was a list of statements people were asked to agree or disagree with.
The statements that drew the most “strongly agree” answers were those calling for a continued focus on Downtown Brenham and maintaining Brenham’s physical appearance and image.
People also came up with several priorities for city improvement, in small-group sessions held throughout the meeting. Some of the most mentioned topics included affordable housing, more retail options with better diversity, job opportunities with good pay, better traffic patterns and roadways, downtown parking, and safe sidewalks and neighborhoods.
In addition, KKC presented an overhead map of the city and asked citizens to mark where they thought traffic flow and connectivity could be improved. By far, most people cited the cloverleaf interchange of US Highway 290 and State Highway 36 as needing improvement. Dang said the firm would look at accident records and use this information for the city’s thoroughfare plan.
The consultant also discussed several city statistics. According to KKC, 60-percent of Brenham residents work outside the city.
In addition, the city has experienced 14.4-percent population growth from 2000 to 2018. 84-percent of the city’s housing was built before 2000.
The city and KKC are looking as far as 2040 for this plan. Another meeting will be held February 28th.
Assistant Development Services Director Stephanie Doland said the city couldn’t have asked for a better turnout, and she hopes to better accommodate the crowds at the next meeting, which will be held at a larger venue.
I showed up to the meeting. So did a lot of other average unknown citizens that took off of work to be at the meeting and to be heard. Us the average citizens that have worked for Brenham industry and enjoy our small town. I left the meeting others left too. There was not emough room for the meeting. It shows that the meeting was meant for only the chosen few. The city staff and city politicians and consultants occupied half the room. The information collected at the meeting is inaccurate since we the people could not attend. If the city cannot plan for a meeting how can they plan for our city? Appears planning motives are already decided.
Thank goodness there were news reporters there to give the facts. Yes, there was a standing room only overflow crowd at the library. I was shocked and thrilled by the large number of people who came. If you had stayed for the meeting, you would have heard the consultants apologize for not having enough room. They said the crowds were not this large in Amarillo, a city of 200,000 people, or in Killeen or College Station. There were lots of City staff there to help with the meeting, and they all stood along the walls. And…the crowd was thanked at the beginning and told that there were more meetings planned if anyone wanted to come back for those. No conspiracy there…