BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER NEW SCHOOL ZONE ON WEST TOM GREEN STREET

  

School zones will be a topic of discussion for the Brenham City Council at its meeting Thursday.

The council will consider amending the city’s Code of Ordinances regulating speed limits in designated school crossing zones to establish a school zone on West Tom Green Street between South Market and South Austin Streets, near Alton Elementary School.

According to Public Works Director Dane Rau, this section of roadway was not on the school zone list established by the city in 2009.  He said this may be been due to the school being dormant or in another use during this time period, when the ordinance was established or modified.  Since 2009, the campus has been reactivated and is fully functioning as Alton Elementary School.

The city recommends adding the section of roadway to the school zone list, which would drop the speed limit to 20 mph during the hours of 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 2:45 to 4 p.m., the same as all other campuses.  If approved, the city will move forward with erecting signs and enforcing the school zone.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, councilmembers will consider appointing members to serve on the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance Committee.  An ordinance, if created and approved, would authorize the city to protect and preserve places and areas of historical importance, and allow it to regulate activities on designated areas of significance.  The city began looking into the creation of a historic preservation ordinance in February, but progress on the project stalled after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city is considering appointing 11 members to the committee: councilmembers Susan Cantey and Clint Kolby; Planning and Zoning Commissioners Deanna Alfred and Cayte Neil; Main Street Board members Jim Moser and John Hermann; and public representatives Mary Thornhill, Katie Burch, Tina Henderson, Ed Owens, and Tami Redshaw.

The council will also consider:

• An ordinance on its first reading granting a variance to Section 23-21(3)(a) and (3)(c) of the city’s Code of Ordinances, Chapter 23, Subdivisions. The item, which was discussed and approved at Monday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, would allow a subdivision located in the city’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) to allow Tract One to have a lot size of 0.75 acres instead of the required 1 acre, and to allow Tract Two to have a front lot width of 25 feet at the road instead of the required 125 feet for property at 1093 South Berlin Road.
• A professional services agreement between the city and Infrastructure Management Services related to the 2020 Pavement Data Collection and Analysis Services.
• A noise variance for the city’s Community Picnic, scheduled for November 1^st from 4 to 6 p.m. at Henderson Park.

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