BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL APPROVES FLIGHT SCHOOL WITH NEW LEASE AT AIRPORT, PLUS INFO ON NEW RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PROJECTS

  

Brenham City Councilmembers learned last week about a new flight training school that will be coming to the Brenham Municipal Airport and about city-wide development trends spurred by continued growth.

The flight school will come as part of a new lease for the city-owned hangar, formerly the old terminal building at 3101 Aviation Way, awarded by the council on Thursday to Brenham AeroTech.  Development Services Director Stephanie Doland said the lease agreement is for five years, with the option to renew for two additional two-year terms.

According to Doland, the lease has a tiered structure that ties the monthly lease payment to how many gallons of fuel are purchased, plus a $250 fee for utilities.  She said at the end of the five-year term, the city’s hope is to bring the hangar’s monthly rent up to a market rate of $2,025 per month, or equivalent in fuel purchases. 

Brenham AeroTech will accept the lease space as is and will be responsible for the cost of routine maintenance for the hangar.  It will also submit annual economic development reporting, including total flight hours by aircraft, the number of operations at the airport, estimated gross revenue and fuel consumption, the number of employees, and how many students are trained.

The lease agreement may be terminated by either Brenham AeroTech, at any time after the initial six months of the lease, or the city, after providing 180 days’ notice.

Click here to view the city's lease agreement with Brenham AeroTech.

During Doland’s update for development services, she said the city is “staying on track” with the goals outlined in its comprehensive plan, as 86 of its 105 strategic action priorities have either been completed or are in progress.  Those cover the categories of land use and development, growth capacity, economic opportunity, transportation, and parks and recreation.  Highlights include the creation of a housing task force, downtown life safety grant program, tourism strategic action and economic development action plans, and a formal capital improvement process.

Doland said the city’s growth has in some ways exceeded what was projected during future planning.

Doland pointed to approximately 973 vacant or planned residential lots coming with new residential construction, both through expansion of existing subdivisions like Vintage Farms and new projects altogether, like the cluster housing development recently approved by the council, “The Cottages Downtown”.

As for commercial projects, Doland stated that Walmart is looking to expand for curbside, a new Home2Suites hotel is planned between Denny’s and Goodwill, and a new convenience store is in the works in front of Academy.  Additionally, in the Brenham Market Square development, a pre-development meeting was recently held for a 72-unit townhome project, and Baylor Scott & White Health is working on a 50,000-square-foot clinic.  Elsewhere, a Frost Bank and a Toasted Yolk are slated for the Brenham Crossing shopping center.

With numerous projects in the pipeline, Doland said the city’s priorities with development are to achieve responsible, intentional growth; maintain quality customer service; ensure consistency in code application and voluntary compliance; and “keep Brenham Brenham”.

Click here to view the development services update presented to the council.

In other business, the council:

• Performed the second reading to amend the city’s zoning map, providing for planned development district classification for “The Cottages Downtown” project at 708 Seelhorst Street.
• Authorized the acceptance of a $14,000 grant through the Office of the Governor’s State Homeland Security Program for the purchase of three gas monitors and the funding of the first year of a three-year maintenance service contract.
• Received the city’s second quarter financial report for Fiscal Year 2025-26.

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