BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL HOLDS OFF ON RECOMMENDATION OF 290/36 INTERCHANGE CONCEPT
A decision from the Brenham City Council on which of the five concepts it prefers for TxDOT’s proposed redesign of the Highway 290 cloverleaf will have to wait a little longer.
The council took no action on the item at its meeting today (Thursday) after City Manager James Fisher suggested waiting until its next meeting on December 17th to make any sort of recommendation.
Fisher acknowledged that there is “still a lot of homework to be done” on the cloverleaf plans, and said this additional time will let the city see how they would interact with the city’s thoroughfare plan. He said it will also allow for additional consideration of the costs involved with the project.
The public has through tomorrow (Friday) to provide comments on each of the concepts showcased by TxDOT in a virtual public hearing. While public comments are due tomorrow, Fisher said TxDOT is allowing the city to submit a recommendation afterwards.
At a workshop this morning that included the council and Washington County Commissioners, most in attendance favored the second concept shown: a direct connection placing new lanes for Highway 290 just south of the current interchange.
Councilmember Clint Kolby said there are pros and cons with each design shown, but feels Concept B “does the most amount of good while doing the least amount of bad.” He, along with Councilmember Keith Herring, were in favor of creating an overpass at North Berlin Road to help with increasing traffic. Herring said based on input at the workshop that he feels Concept E—a southern connection moving both lanes of Highway 290 to the south—can be removed from consideration, as it would “raise the biggest firestorm” for homes and businesses in the area.
Fisher said an overpass on Berlin Road is important, but it is “imperative” to get the frontage roads within the city limits connected and one-way. He said the topic will likely be one taken up with the county as plans further develop.
Kolby said the city should coordinate its response with the county in order to ensure the two are on a “united front” with its presentation to TxDOT. Commissioners are scheduled to take up discussion on the item at their meeting Tuesday.
TxDOT plans to begin construction of the new design in 2026.
Also at today’s meeting, the council approved:
- Recognized the Brenham Police Department’s Billy Rich and Robert “Bob” Lawrence, who are now retired officers after serving as reserve officers. The two will continue to serve with the city as code compliance officers.
- Rezoning 20 properties on approximately 12.1 acres of land located on or next to Clinton Street, Seelhorst Street, South Chappell Hill Street, Dark Street, and Mills Street. This changes the zoning for the properties from a Commercial Research and Technology Use (B-2) District to a Local Business/Residential Mixed Use (B-1) District.
- A water supply resale agreement between the city and Dow Chemical Company. In September 2019, the city agreed to purchase 774 acre-feet of raw water per fiscal year from the Brazos River Authority (BRA) to sustain long-term future growth for the city. The city currently uses about 2,777 acre-feet of the 4,200 acre-feet available to it through the city’s primary water availability agreement. This agreement allows Dow Chemical Company to purchase the city’s excess water on a temporary basis for $61,146, or $79 per acre-foot. The agreement is effective upon the BRA’s approval of the temporary resale amendment and terminates when Dow Chemical has withdrawn 774 acre-feet of water or August 31, 2021, whichever comes first. Councilmember Clint Kolby was the lone vote against, saying he would prefer for the city to wait until sometime next year to see whether it might need that water in case of a drought.
- A variance to the city’s flood damage prevention ordinance allowing the Ralston Creek Lift Station to be elevated above the 500-year floodplain.
- An agreement for construction of public improvement between the city and Ranier and Son Development Company, LLC (Stylecraft) regarding construction costs related to oversizing a water main for the Vintage Farms subdivision. Actual costs will be considered at the time of construction, but the agreement will not exceed $79,000 for the construction costs to the city.
- A resolution related to procurement procedures for expenditures in connection with purchases by the city’s gas and electric utility departments. The resolution pertains to Brenham owning its own gas and electric utilities, and lays out how the council can determine there is a critical business need to make a purchase that does not need to go through the competitive bidding process.