BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS REDISTRICTING

  

Redistricting for the City of Brenham’s four council wards will be among Thursday’s topics of discussion for the Brenham City Council.

Councilmembers will meet in a work session to discuss the initial assessment of Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, LLP regarding the need to redistrict.  After work session, the council will look to adopt criteria for use in the redistricting process and establish guidelines to be followed when submitting redistricting proposals.

The city’s initial redistricting assessment shows that Brenham’s total population on April 1, 2020 was 17,369, up 10.5 percent from a population of 15,716 on April 1, 2010.

Currently, Ward 2, represented by Albert Wright, has the smallest population of 3,950, which is 9.03 percent below the size of the ideal ward population of 4,342.  Meanwhile, Ward 3, under Atwood Kenjura, has the largest population at 4,708, which is 8.42 percent above the ideal ward size.

The total maximum deviation between the four existing council wards for the city is 17.46 percent, which exceeds the standard of 10 percent.  Therefore, the city will need to redistrict to bring its wards within the 10 percent range permitted by law.

In other action Thursday, the council will consider amendments to city code pertaining to limitations on home occupations, specifically disallowing commercial cryptocurrency mining and server farms as a residential occupation or hobby.  The Brenham Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the amendments at its meeting on March 28^th.

Also on Thursday, the council will:

• Receive a presentation from Brenham ISD Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin on the upcoming Brenham ISD bond election.
• Discuss a request from BVR Waste and Recycling to reduce Saturday’s operating hours at the Brenham Collection Station from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.  BVR says traffic at the Collection Station is greatly diminished after 1 p.m., and that the change would be beneficial for operational efficiency.
• Consider the purchase of a Kubota M6-111 tractor and a 15-foot Bush Hog Shredder from WC Tractor for the city’s street department for $102,988.
• Act upon a change order and final payment to Brazos Paving, Inc. for improvements to Old Chappell Hill Road.
• Consider renewing the Microsoft Enterprise agreement with Microsoft Corporation affiliate SHI Government Solutions.
• Meet in executive session to discuss utility competitive matters regarding the city’s electric utility system, power supply and associated competitive matters. The council will also hold executive session discussion with legal counsel regarding the city’s redistricting obligations.

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

Click here to view the agenda packet for Thursday's meeting.