BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TALKS 2025 ELECTIONS

  

The Brenham City Council learned more today (Thursday) about the city’s elections coming up in the spring.

The city plans to hold two elections simultaneously on May 3^rd, one for four council seats and the other for a special charter amendment election – the city’s first since 2015 – that will present voters with a series of proposed updates to the city’s charter document.  

The four council seats up for election include the Ward 1 position of Shannan Canales, first elected in 2021; the Ward 3 seat of Dr. Paul LaRoche III, who won a special election in 2023 after Atwood Kenjura declared a run for mayor; the At-Large Position 5 seat of Clint Kolby, first appointed in 2018 and winning election in 2021; and the At-Large Position 6 seat of Leah Cook, first elected in 2021.

City Secretary Jeana Bellinger said prospective candidates for city council can pick up candidate packets from the city beginning January 6^th.  Filing opens on January 15^th and runs through February 14^th. 

As for the charter amendment election, state law requires any changes to the city charter be approved by voters.  Bellinger expects there will be 11 propositions that will go on the ballot to consider.  She said she will go into greater detail on each individual proposition at the council’s next meeting on December 5^th, but previous discussions on proposed charter amendments revolved around topics such as council term limits and how much serving councilmembers receive in compensation.

Following the December 5^th council meeting, an ordinance will be presented to councilmembers in January to officially call the charter election should they choose to.  Bellinger said the city plans to hold at least one town hall, possibly multiple, to educate the public about the charter propositions.

Early voting for both the council election and charter election is scheduled for April 21-29. 

Also at today’s meeting, the council accepted a bid package from JTM Construction LLC of Rosenberg for water main and sanitary sewer replacements, to be paid with $2,379,611 in Fiscal Year 2024 bond proceeds.  JTM Construction was the lowest bidder out of five bid packages submitted.  

The list of streets to address for the water main replacements includes Heritage Drive, Carriage Lane, Century Circle, West Mansfield Street from South Austin Street to South Market Street, and Church Street from West Stone Street to West Mansfield Street.  The sanitary sewer replacements are scheduled to take place on South Blue Bell Road along the Blue Bell Creameries frontage, a small portion of Heritage Drive near the cul-de-sac, Century Circle, and Church Street from West Stone Street to West Mansfield Street.

Public Utilities Project Manager Shawn Bolenbarr estimates the project will start next month.  The contract calls for completion in 240 days. 

In other business, the council:

• Approved an airport project participation agreement through TxDOT for the installation of a new automated weather observing system at the Brenham Municipal Airport.  The design and construction costs are estimated at $200,000, with the city’s share at $20,000.
• Rejected bids submitted in relation to the Brenham Municipal Airport terminal building HVAC replacement project.  Development Services Director Stephanie Doland said only one bid was submitted for the project, and the business who bid has since notified the city of its plans to close.  Doland said the city is coordinating across its internal departments to complete the HVAC replacement in-house.
• Approved an ordinance on its first reading to amend the 2023-24 adopted budget.  The amendment was to close out the budget and financial statements by cleaning up expense anomalies.
• Held an executive session to discuss the appointment of a Brenham Municipal Court presiding judge.  The current presiding judge, John D. Winkelmann, was elected as the 335^th District Court Judge and will take office in January.  No action was slated to be taken.

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