BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL APPROVES LEASE AGREEMENT FOR SKYDIVING AT AIRPORT
(courtesy City of Brenham)
Skydiving is coming to the Brenham Municipal Airport.
At today’s (Thursday) Brenham City Council meeting, councilmembers agreed to enter into a land lease agreement with Skydive Freedom for a parachute landing zone at the airport.
The lease will be located east of Aviation Way on 3.59 acres of land in a floodplain that cannot be developed. The initial term is for one year, with a five-year option to renew.
Development Services Director Stephanie Doland addressed a series of concerns presented during the council’s previous discussion on the matter on November 18th, one of those being communication protocols between pilots and the skydiving aircraft. She said the city is looking into hiring a full-time airport manager to handle that role.
In the meantime, Doland said enforcement would be a joint effort between her and multiple city staff members. She assured that they would not be “taking a backseat to enforcement” and would have a “very active presence.”
The agreement states that Skydive Freedom will be required to maintain the lease area in a clean and orderly manner at its own expense. Public Works Director Dane Rau said it costs the city roughly $600 a year in time, equipment and fuel to maintain that area each year. Doland added that the airport in Castroville charges an annual rate of $660 for its parachute landing area, although she was not certain if the area was also in a floodplain or if the lessee was required to maintain the land.
Doland explained that the lease agreement states there is cause for termination if there is interference with standard airport operations. However, she called back to the previous council meeting where Chuck Akers of the United States Parachute Association said the safest place for parachute operations is within the flight pattern of the airport. She also noted that skydiving is an aeronautical activity recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration, and as such has rights to utilize a public airport.
Doland also spoke on concerns about the safety of a proposed secondary landing zone, which would have been located between the taxiway and runway. She said the secondary zone has been removed from all lease documents, and would need to be brought forth in a separate land lease agreement if a secondary zone is later deemed necessary.
Skydive Freedom Managing Partner Tony Cascino said he plans to put out word soon about a grand opening.
Also at today’s meeting, the council:
- Commemorated the 125th anniversary of the Fortnightly Club of Brenham. The club will host a celebration on Wednesday beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library.
- Recognized Alex Saenz for five years of service with the Brenham Police Department.
- Took no action on a resolution adopting new policies and procedures for city boards and commissions. Proposed changes included the removal of the Airport Advisory Board from the policy; reducing the number of members on the Animal Services Board from seven to five and the number of citizen members from three to one; adding descriptions for the new Tourism Advisory Board and Historic Preservation Board; amending attendance requirements to allow for only three consecutive, unexcused absences; and adding the requirement that all agendas, packets and minutes of advisory boards and committees be posted to the city’s website. Councilmember Atwood Kenjura said he felt giving board members three straight, unexcused absences was “too liberal,” and wished to add a requirement for board members to attend a certain percentage of meetings or reduce the amount of unexcused absences allowed. The council will revisit the attendance portion of the policy at its next meeting.
- Repealed a resolution giving notice of the city’s intent to issue certificates of obligation and approved a second resolution authorizing the publication of notice of intent. According to Interim City Manager Carolyn Miller, the first notice, which was authorized in September, did not meet the requirements of being posted on the city’s website. The certificates of obligation for the 2021-22 Fiscal Year budget, not to exceed $10 million, cover general government, wastewater and water system utility projects. The general government projects total $4.25 million and include $845,000 for fire apparatus, $350,000 for improvements to city hall, $744,000 for street equipment, $619,000 for in-house street reconstruction/rebuild and $1.7 million for contractor street and drainage improvements. Wastewater utility improvements of $2.24 million include two new lift stations and sewer force main improvements. The $3 million in water utility improvements are for the Lake Somerville intake structure.
- Approved a specific use permit for a garage apartment at 405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway, on the condition that a variance be granted by the Board of Adjustment for the east side yard setback. The city’s current accessory dwelling unit (ADU) standards require that an ADU be 10 feet from the side property line. The existing concrete slab from a prior garage that was removed sits approximately 6.5 feet from the property line, and will require a variance to the east side setback.
- Approved a resolution regarding the election of members to the Washington County Appraisal District Board of Directors. The city will split its 540 votes evenly between board candidates Joe Antkowiak, Leslie Boehnemann, Charles Gaskamp and John Schaer. The appraisal district will vote at a later time to fill the vacancy created by Johanna Fatheree, who is resigning from the board effective January 1, 2022.
- Approved a change order and final payment to Lindsey Construction, Inc. for the raw water intake repair project at Lake Somerville. Cost savings in the $4.99 million project resulted in a change order credit to the city in the amount of $104,175. The final payment for the project amounts to $244,790.
Click here to read the agenda packet for Thursday's meeting.