BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO HOLD BUDGET WORKSHOP, DISCUSS WATER LINE REPAIR AT LAKE SOMERVILLE

  

The Brenham City Council will take up budget talks and discuss an advancing line of credit for a water line repair project at Lake Somerville at a pair of meetings Thursday.

The council will first hold a special meeting from 9 a.m. to noon to go over the proposed 2020-21 Fiscal Year budget, before convening again at 1 p.m. for its regular meeting.

At the second meeting, councilmembers will consider a $5 million advancing line of credit from Bank of Brenham for interim financing for the raw water intake repair project at Lake Somerville.  The infrastructure sustained significant damage during the May 2016 flooding event.

After a lengthy procurement, review, and approval process, the city on February 13^th received a letter from FEMA in support of the competitive bid process and the higher competitive bid amounts compared to the engineer’s estimate of probable costs.  On February 20^th, the city awarded the construction bid to Lindsey Construction for $4,999,991.

The city is also awaiting approval from FEMA for a cost increase from the amended subgrant amount of $1.17 million to the original bid award.  The city is responsible for 25 percent of the final construction cost.

The loan from Bank of Brenham, which is being set up as an advancing line of credit for one year, will carry an interest rate of 2.6 percent with interest payable monthly.  If necessary, the bank is willing to renew the loan for an additional one year period, subject to satisfactory performance on the initial loan over the next year.

Also at Thursday’s regular meeting, the council will consider:

• Authorizing the mayor to execute and deliver a certificate related to the issuance of student housing revenue bonds by the New Hope Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation to finance the construction of the new student housing facility on the Blinn College campus on West Fifth Street. The certificate acts as acknowledgment that the financing entity held a public hearing for the project.
• Awarding a Request for Qualification (RFQ) related to grant administration and/or planning services for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Mitigation Program, concerning possible drainage projects.
• An update on the city’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

The council’s budget workshop will begin at 9 a.m. at the Barnhill Center, with the regular meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. at Brenham City Hall.  If needed, the council will reconvene the budget workshop at the Barnhill Center after the regular meeting.