BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO ACT ON ENGINEERING AGREEMENTS FOR WATER PLANT REHAB, GROUNDWATER SUPPLY

  

The Brenham City Council will meet Tuesday to take steps in expanding the city's water capacity.

The council will vote on engineering service agreements with Strand Associates, Inc. to rehabilitate and expand the city's surface water treatment plant and to begin the first phase of augmenting the Lake Somerville water source with a second groundwater supply.

Representatives from Strand Associates met with the council last month to go over ways the city could improve its water treatment capabilities and find new water sources. Those options included adding groundwater wells and upgrading the water plant.

Per the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting, the project to expand the water plant will increase its treated water capacity from 6.984 million gallons per day to 8.35 million gallons per day.

The entire project is expected to conclude in mid-summer of 2027, and engineering service costs will total up to $2.52 million.

For the groundwater supply, the project would involve wells at Loesch Street, including the cleaning and testing of one active well in the Jasper Aquifer and the construction and testing of a second well into the Catahoula Aquifer. Test results will be used to initiate the second phase, which includes the design and building of treatment facilities, pumps, distribution piping and water storage.

The first phase of the project is estimated to take 18 months, and the cost for engineering services is $160,000.

In work session, councilmembers will receive an update on the airport master plan for the Brenham Municipal Airport.

A second and final public workshop for the plan will be held at the airport on August 29th at 5:30 p.m., after which the plan will be brought to the council for consideration on September 7th.

If accepted, then the plan will proceed for review and approval by TxDOT Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration. Following their approval, the plan will come back to the council for formal adoption via a resolution.

The council will also hold a public hearing and potentially approve an ordinance for the creation of a reinvestment zone for commercial tax phase-in at 209 South Market Street. The location is being modernized to become The Southern Folly, an entertainment and meeting venue and bar in downtown Brenham. The total capital investment is estimated at $185,000.

Following that, councilmembers will consider adopting a commercial tax phase-in agreement with MIC Group, LLC, a precision manufacturing and electromechanical assembly manufacturing company that is looking to expand operations and add new equipment. The company plans to add 45 employees to its workforce and estimates a total capital investment of $6 million.

In other business, the council will:

• Take up resolutions to authorize acceptance of public improvements in the Liberty Village subdivision, phase 3 and the Brenham Market Square subdivision, phase 1.
• Consider whether to reject all bids received regarding lime for the city's wastewater treatment plant, due to the bids received coming in at a much higher annual rate than the city's last cost.
• Hold an executive session to consult with an attorney regarding Aviators Plus, LLC v. City of Brenham; Cause No. 37896; 21st Judicial District Court, Washington County.

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

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