BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES FUTURE OF PARKLETS IN DOWNTOWN

  

Brenham City Councilmembers met today (Thursday) to debate the possibility of adding more parklets to downtown Brenham.

The council heard a presentation from Tourism and Marketing Director Jennifer Eckermann, who went over the positives and negatives of parklets and gauged the opinion of the council on whether more should be allowed in downtown.

Through discussion, the council’s overall consensus was that the city’s one parklet, created in 2015 and located at 96 West on Baylor Street, has been beneficial for the local community and economy, and that it would not be opposed to adding more parklets, but work needs to be done to ensure they are in a good location, provide a benefit to downtown and pose no safety concerns.

One of the common issues associated with parklets is the loss of parking spaces, but Eckermann said while it can be a parking problem, it can also be a walking problem.

 

Eckermann said Main Street Brenham has been looking at the issue of parking in downtown, and one potential solution could come with the public parking included with the St. Charles Station food truck park project.  She acknowledged, however, that as downtown grows, additional parking lots will be needed.

Eckermann also asked the question of whether only certain types of businesses should be allowed to have parklets.

 

Eckermann pointed out that parklets are not possible along TxDOT right-of-way on Main and Alamo Streets, only on side streets.

Eckermann said city staff plan to come back to the council at its second meeting in February with a recommendation or proposal about how parklets can be accommodated in downtown in the future.

In related business, the council approved the renewal of the city’s parklet agreement with 96 West.  The agreement is for one year, with automatic renewal for the next four years.

Also at today’s meeting, the council:

• Approved an agreement between the city and Avocette Technologies, Inc. and Carahsoft Technology Corporation for online planning and permitting software, called Accela and DigEplan. Development Services Director Stephanie Doland said Accela will allow the development services department to increase efficiency and streamline the approval process for applications and services, while DigEplan is a separate add-on that provides a customer facing platform.  The software will come with a one-time implementation cost of $80,200 to Avocette, along with an annual fee charged by Accela for multiple users of the building and planning modules ($44,883 for year one) and by DigEplan for use by the plan review committee ($9,462 for year one).
• Adopted new policies and procedures for city boards and commissions, and approved recommendations for appointments and reappointments to various boards and commissions. After questions from Councilmember Atwood Kenjura at the council’s previous meeting, the attendance portion of the policy was amended to state that board and commission members can miss no more than two consecutive meetings and must attend at least 75 percent of all meetings.
• Passed a resolution adopting a new fee schedule for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Public Works Director Dane Rau said the lone change is an increase for private rentals of the Blue Bell Aquatic Center’s outdoor leisure pool from $300 to $350, while a separate charge of $50 for renters bringing in their own food is being removed.
• Approved a professional services agreement between the city and Strand Associates, Inc. related to 2022 sanitary sewer improvements.
• Approved an ordinance granting a specific use permit to allow an accessory dwelling unit on property at 405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway.
• Approved service orders to the master services agreement with AARC Environmental, Inc. for tier II reporting, spill prevention control and countermeasures and a Texas Pollution Discharge Elimination System for the Brenham Municipal Airport. Planning Technician Kim Hodde said the three-year renewal of these services will keep the prices as they were under the last renewal, locking in the current rates until 2026.
• Approved a Cisco Enterprise user agreement between the city and Cisco Systems, Inc. related to the city’s Voice-Over-IP phone system, along with a payment agreement with Presidio Technology Capital related to the city’s critical network hardware and VOIP phone system. The three-year agreement will cost $76,154 and will be paid in three annual installments.