BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL HOLDS BUDGET WORKSHOP

  

The Brenham City Council held their first budget meeting Monday.    The meeting was designed to gauge the Council’s direction for the budget. It went over the next 5 years of expenditures.  Many of the items listed are funded by grants or the BCDC.

Primary on the agenda is the new fire station.  Design drawings of the new station have been completed and it is scheduled to go out for bids in September.  The new station is to be built on property in the industrial park next to the Saddle Shop.  The Fire Department is planning on hiring 3 new firefighters per year over the next 2 years to man the station. No new equipment is needed for the station, but the Fire Department is looking at replacing two ladder trucks in 2028.  Council was reminded that the lead time is 48 months for firetrucks, so City Manager Carolyn Miller said she would get with the city attorney and see if they can order the trucks with a letter of intent.  The Fire Department is also requesting new emergency software for dispatching.  Their old software will be obsolete in January of 2025. 

Also primary on the agenda is new body and dash cameras for the Police Department.  Their old cameras have reached the end of their operational life.  Lloyd Powell, Brenham’s Interim Police Chief, said that grants are available for the body cameras and that they have already applied for them.  He is also planning on hiring two new officers each of the next 5 years to add to the force.

The next Budget Workshop is scheduled for the end of July.  In the only other item on the agenda for the meeting, the Council approved purchasing a Freightliner Slinger Truck for the Wastewater Treatment Department. The Council also approved the financing proposal from Bank of Brenham for the purchase.