By Colin Killian, Public Communications Director
Welcome to our live blog from the College Station City Council meeting on Thursday, July 25. It’s not the official minutes.
The meeting starts after 6 p.m. and is streamed live on Optimum Channel 19 and cstx.gov/cstv19. You can participate online through Microsoft Teams by entering Meeting ID 223 427 023 174 and Passcode MvPmTr. You can also call 469-480-7460 and enter Conference 952 310 468#.
6:01 p.m.
The meeting has started. The council took no action after its executive session. Pastor Jason DeVerna gave the invocation.
Councilman Mark Smith is absent tonight.
6:07 p.m.
Hear Visitors
One person spoke during Hear Visitors, when citizens may address the council on any item not on the posted agenda.
- Joe Hegwood asked the council to provide more pickleball courts in College Station.
6:15 p.m.
Consent Agenda
The council voted unanimously to approve the entire consent agenda:
- An ordinance ordering a general election for Nov. 5 to elect four members of the College Station City Council (Places 3, 4, 5, and 6). The ordinance also establishes early voting locations and polling places. T
- An interlocal agreement for Brazos County to manage the Nov. 5 general election. The estimated $95,000 cost will be split among the entities on the ballot.
- The second reading of a franchise agreement with Organix Recycling for collecting recyclables from commercial businesses and multi-family locations.
- A $225,000 bid award to Greenville Transformer Company for annual transformer repair and rebuild services and capacitor disposal.
- Authorized the police chief to execute documents to release the Homeland Security grant funds for bomb squad x-ray equipment.
- The Brazos County interjurisdictional Emergency Management Basic Plan.
- The $142,792 purchase from the Personal Computer Store of replacement network switches for water and wastewater infrastructure.
- The renewal of a $75,000 sponsorship agreement with Santa’s Wonderland.
- A $252,970.54 contract with The PlayWell Group and PlayWorks for playground equipment for the Fun for All Playground enhancement project.
- A resolution accepting $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds from the Texas General Land Office through the Brazos Valley Council of Governments and committing $8.175 in general funds and $54,365 in CDBG Entitlement funds.
- The application for a Local Parks Grant of up to $750,000 from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to dedicate Texas Independence Park for permanent public park and recreational purposes. The City will match the grant through an assigned fund balance in the FY 25 budget.
6:25 p.m.
BVSWMA Budget
The council unanimously accepted and approved the FY 25 BVSWMA, Inc. budget, which reduces the tipping fees from $9 to $0 per ton, saving the City about $500,000 annually. College Station will save $2.2 million from what outside entities pay ($30/ton) at the Twin Oaks Landfill. Combined, College Station and the City of Bryan are saving $5.9 million from the state average ($41.88/ton) for tipping fees.
BVSMWA’s total revenue is $13.34 million, with total expenses of $9.36 million and capital expenses of $5.46 million. The BVSWMA Board of Directors approved the budget in June, and the City of Bryan approved it on July 9.
7:36 p.m.
Parks and Recreation User Fees
The council discussed the Parks and Recreation Cost Recovery Policy and user fees. Staff provided an updated cost model, benchmark data, and residential price differentiation.
8:16 p.m.
FY 25 Budget Public Hearing
The council conducted a public hearing and discussed the city’s $540.5 million FY 25 proposed budget. The operations and maintenance part of the budget is $366.1 million, a less-than-inflation 2.5% increase from FY 24. The proposed property tax rate is unchanged.
Two people spoke during the public hearing. The council reviewed the budget during 12 hours of workshops on July 15-16. Budget adoption is set for Aug. 22.
8:50 p.m.
GO/CO Bond Issuance
The council unanimously authorized up to $30.3 million in voter-approved general obligation bonds and voted 5-1 to authorize $43.3 million in certificates of obligation for FY 24. Councilwoman Elizabeth Cunha voted against the CO authorization.
The GO bonds include $13.2 million in principal for four park improvement projects approved by voters in 2022 and $17.1 million in principal for re-funding certificates of obligation issued in 2014, saving the City nearly $1.2 million.
The COs include $16.5 million in utility projects and $26.8 million in governmental projects. Texas law permits COs to fund public works as part of standard local government operations.
Moody’s Ratings recently assigned a stable Aa1 rating to the City of College Station’s FY 24 GOs and COs. The stable rating reflects an expectation that the local economy will continue to grow and the City’s financial operations will remain strong thanks to prudent fiscal management and conservative budgeting.
“The City’s financial profile will continue to benefit from management’s commitment to healthy reserves and conservative budgeting practices that typically result in favorable operating variances,” Moody’s report said. Despite recent issuances to address growth and infrastructure needs, the City’s debt and fixed costs are below national peers.
8:52 p.m.
UDO Certification Amendment
After a public hearing, the council unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance regarding certifications.
City staff recently identified rights-of-way acquired in fee simple instead of by easement since 2011. The dedication of rights-of-way by fee simple means the City owns it outright versus having a right-of-way easement giving the City the right to use the property for the described purposes.
Owning right-of-way in fee simple means abandoning the areas requires the City to participate in a land transaction to transfer property ownership, versus processing a standard right-of-way abandonment application and hosting a public hearing in which the City’s easement can be relinquished. Owning right-of-way in fee simple is not a common practice in other cities.
8:59 p.m.
Mayor Nichols adjourned the meeting after the council discussed its calendar, items of community interest, committee and board reports, and future agenda items.
The council meets again on Thursday, Aug. 8.
About the Blogger
Colin Killian has been with the City of College Station since 2010 after serving 23 years as the associate media relations director for the Texas A&M Athletics Department. He has also worked as a reporter and editor for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and Lewisville News. A native of Hobbs, N.M., Killian graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/political science.
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