BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TABLES TALKS ON METAL HOUSING

  

Brenham City Councilmembers made no secret of their thoughts on metal housing within city limits at Thursday’s meeting.

Ultimately, however, no action was taken. The council tabled discussion on the matter until a future meeting.

The council considered an ordinance amendment outlining a required percentage of non-metal exteriors for homes in certain zoning districts.

The Planning and Zoning Commission previously recommended the amendment with changes to the percentages, after feedback from the public.  However, a majority of the council expressed disapproval of the amendment altogether.

Councilmember Susan Cantey condemned the amendment, calling it “the camel’s nose under the tent”, or “the beginning of what could be an awful, awful event happening in our beloved town”. Councilmember Keith Herring said he still wanted to work on the amendment, saying he wasn’t happy with it.

Councilmember Clint Kolby said he was in favor of the Planning and Zoning recommendation, calling it “a good compromise”. Councilmember Andrew Ebel promptly followed up with his disapproval, followed by Councilmember Albert Wright.

Councilmember Danny Goss said these metal homes look nothing like residential buildings, but rather like commercial buildings. He added he was not in favor of the percentages given by Planning and Zoning, stating any part of the building that faces a street needs to look as much like a home as possible.  He said these buildings need to blend in some fashion with the rest of the residential area around them.

Mayor Milton Tate said there has to be some sort of way to “soften the look” of these homes, saying they look stark and stand out. He proposed that some sort of landscaping be done to complement, though he wasn’t sure if that could be done.  Cantey responded that these homes simply are not compatible with what people want Brenham to be and the reason they move to the city.

Samantha Medve, the builder of many of the metal homes recently built in Brenham, said these homes help with the growing need of affordable housing in the city. She said by not allowing these homes, the city is “missing out on a huge opportunity of keeping people in Brenham and them spending their money in Brenham”.

Several city residents also gave their thoughts on the homes. Sally Clinton and Anthony Smith, who live on South Dixie Street where some of the metal homes have been built, expressed their contempt for them.  Clinton believes she has failed to receive her services and protections as a city resident due to the building of these “offensive structures”.  Smith said he feels “personally insulted and damaged” that the city allowed this to happen.

When the motion came to a vote, Tate recommended the item be referred back to staff and tabled. City Manager James Fisher said it will be back up for discussion no later than the second council meeting in April.

Also in session, the council accepted a bid for storm damage repairs to Schulte Boulevard. The council approved a base bid of $75,612 from Solid Bridge Construction of Huntsville, the same contractor being used for repairs to erosion near the city’s wastewater treatment plant.  The bid was one of five the council received, ranging from $75,000 to $130,000.

Schulte Boulevard experienced severe erosion at two culvert crossings, during May 2016’s flooding. The erosion undermined the safety end treatments and headwalls, and continues to weaken the culverts.

The project is being reimbursed by FEMA at a 75-percent to 25-percent cost share, with the city using general fund reserves to pick up the 25-percent.

Councilmembers also began setup for the new Cool Nights, Hot Tunes concert to be held April 13th.  The council approved a noise variance from 2:30 p.m. to midnight, as well as an agreement with TxDOT to close state right-of-way.

New Main Street Manager Caz Muske said the city is not opposed to expanding the concert series into different parts of the year, depending on feedback for the spring concert. City Manager James Fisher added the city received a lot of requests at last year’s Hot Nights, Cool Tunes, regarding the creation of spring and fall events similar to the popular concert series.

One lane of Alamo Street, between Park and St. Charles Streets, will close at 2:30 p.m. for stage setup. This will be followed by both lanes of Alamo closing between Austin and Market Streets from 4:30 p.m. to midnight, or until the stage is removed.  Estimated attendance is 1,500 people.  Public Works Director Dane Rau said this will be the first time the city will be able to use the removable bollard system recently installed for downtown streets.

The council then adjourned into executive session regarding the possible acquisition of property in the downtown area. No action was taken.

The council also:

  • Approved the termination and release of a right-of-way easement, dated November 5, 1997, from Blinn College to the city.  The vote passed 5-2, with Councilmembers Danny Goss and Keith Herring opposing.  The city received a request from the Brenham Cemetery Association in January to release the easement across their property that was granted to the city back in 1997 for the possible future extension of Saeger Street, and expansion of the cemetery.
  • Approved a ground-space lease agreement with RIGA Aviation, LLC, for a new 60x60 hangar at the Brenham Municipal Airport.
  • Held work session on the renewal of the Microsoft Enterprise agreement between the city and Microsoft Corporation.  IT Manager Kevin Schmidt said the agreement is a three-year contract allowing the city to maintain usage of Microsoft software and licenses.  This would be the 4th renewal of the original agreement, signed in 2007.  The final cost of this agreement is being finalized, but Schmidt said it was previously an annual cost of $74,392.
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11 Comments

  1. I drove by those barn looking buildings yesterday. They look out of place.

    1. Socialism believes in Idealistic Conformity.
      Democracy allows individual freedom of choice. The developer had the freedom of choice to set design standards. Democracy would admit a mistake and move on. Socialism doesn’t admit their own mistakes and writes a law to blame their mistake on others. Democracy hopefully will prevail over socialism.

  2. All the fuss about these houses…there are much less attractive trailer houses parked in some neighborhoods no one is fussing about.

    1. Exactly. Not only trailer houses but traditionally built homes too. There are storage buildings falling apart, homes falling apart, overgrown yards and landscaping and the list goes on. Before we try to add even more restrictions and city codes, work on enforcing the ones you have. We do not have enough affordable housing in Brenham and property taxes are through the roof. Instead of denying those in Brenham the opportunity for more affordable housing, let’s clean up our town and fix our roads. There has to be a happy medium.

  3. I agree with Danny Goss on these work shop looking houses.

    1. I agree that Danny Goss, and City Council, and Mayor, and City Engineer, and City Planner, and City Management, should have had Deed Restrictions on the properties when they sold this City Owned Property to the Builder. At least One of them should have given Deed Restrictions consideration. It is too late now. City should have widen road instead.

      1. For what I sincerely hope is the last time, for Pete’s sake, there’s still plenty more right-of-way to widen the street in the future. Plenty. Ask the surveyors to show you the right-of-way line along that section of OMC the next time you see them working there.

        1. Yep, Pistal, you are right. That was a design flaw approved by a previous city planner. It is time to let go.

          1. Yeah, this whole metal housing issue should be bygone also. Just allow them as is and let developers decide what they want.

          2. If there was additional right of way dedicated when thoses homes were platted where’s the design flaw? You don’t build new wider roads when you plat land you do it when the traffic counts are there. Seems like everything is right.

    2. If the residents of Brenham are so concerned about the looks of our town, why hasn’t anyone brought up the Dixie Motel? Which is in the same area of these metal building homes and how it brings down property values? Also what about Top Shop in Historic Downtown and how that looks? Should I keep going?

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