BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO MULL ADJUSTMENTS TO CONTRACT FOR SHOPPING CENTER

  

A pair of changes to an agreement for a new shopping center heads a packed agenda for the Brenham City Council Thursday.

The economic development agreement, which the city entered into in January and Washington County in March, will reimburse developer Baker Katz $6 million in sales taxes from its planned shopping center on Highway 290 and Chappell Hill Street.

The first change states that complete construction of the building to be occupied by the first tenant in the project will happen no later than July 1, 2021. The original agreement called for the first tenant by January 2021.  City Manager James Fisher said the developer asked for this change to allow them more flexibility.

 

The second change deals with the city agreeing to the design and construction of Chappell Hill Road widening improvements, from the Highway 290 Eastbound service road to the southern property line of the Baker Katz property. The change says that will now be dependent on a traffic analysis report being performed by the city.

 

Fisher said the traffic report is in final draft, and the final version should be available for review within the next 30 to 60 days.

The council will also act on a change order to the agreement with Strand Associates, Inc. for Fiscal Year 2019 water main replacements. The change order will add the city’s water main projects into one of the existing contracts of Barclay’s Premier Utility Services, LLC.

The city currently has an agreement with Washington County for the county to fund the extension of a 12-inch water main to the new Road and Bridge building. Staff say the change order will allow the project to begin sooner than if the city were to go through a separate bid process.

This will bring the new contract amount to $1.69 million, up $334,000 from the previous amount. The city will be reimbursed by the county for the change.

Councilmembers will also give final payment to Thielemann Construction for the public restrooms project at Fireman’s park. The restrooms at Fireman’s Park are complete after several delays in construction, becoming active in late March.  The total amount for final payment is $42,416, bringing the total amount paid to Thielemann to $282,587.

The council will also:

• Issue first reading on an ordinance amending the city’s sign ordinance, along with an ordinance allowing signs placed by school or government entities for public facilities in the B-1 (Local Business/Residential Mixed Use) District.
• Consider an agreement to move to the second phase of improvements at Henderson Park.  Phase II consists of restroom/concession stand improvements, along with major renovation work to the baseball field and new lighting.
• Issue first reading of an ordinance establishing an Ad Valorem tax freeze for residential homestead property owners of the City of Brenham who are disabled or 65 or older.
• Consider authorizing the transportation of public safety radios to the Brazos Valley Wide Area Communications System (BVWACS).
• Act on an agreement with TxDOT to temporarily close state right-of-way for the Hot Nights, Cool Tunes summer concert series in downtown Brenham.
• Consider final payment to Progressive Commercial Aquatics, Inc. for repairs to the outdoor leisure pool at the Blue Bell Aquatic Center.

The council will then adjourn into executive session to further discuss the Baker Katz project, regarding the potential offer of financial or other incentives to a business prospect looking to come to Brenham. It will also discuss security needs of City Hall and other city facilities.

The city council will meet Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m., at City Hall.

You can view the packet for Thursday's meeting, including details on the sign ordinance, here.