Bryan City Council Pursues Two Federal Infrastructure Grants

Screen shot from a city of Bryan document explaining the scope and area of a federal grant application.
Screen shot from a city of Bryan document explaining the scope and area of a federal grant application.

The Bryan city council is pursuing two federal infrastructure grants.

The council, acting as the city’s commerce and development board, agreed during a special meeting on February 22 to give the Brazos Transit District (BTD) two acres of land as part of BTD’s application to build a parking garage to serve the city’s Legends events center. The proposed garage at South College and Rountree would also contain retail space. A city of Bryan spokeswoman told WTAW News February 24 that BTD was still estimating the cost of the project. On February 28, after the original webstory was posted, a BTD spokeswoman told WTAW News that the district will own the garage for 40 years, then the city take over ownership. During the council meeting, the council was told that the city would own the building. The BTD spokeswoman also said they will not make a financial contribution to their grant application towards the $24.85 million dollar building.

Click HERE to read and download background information from the February 22, 2023 Bryan commerce and development board meeting about the proposed BTD parking garage grant.

Click HERE to read and download the memorandum of understanding that was approved during the February 22, 2023 Bryan commerce and development board meeting about the proposed BTD parking garage grant.

The council then approved applying for a $44 million dollar grant from the same federal program to replace streets and utilities. The location is the last section of downtown Bryan where replacement has yet to be done.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the February 22, 2023 Bryan city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download additional information from the February 22, 2023 Bryan city council meeting.

The council agreed that local funding for the downtown grant application would be limited to cost overruns. That is after learning that this grant does not require a local match.

The council also learned that the grant rules will use Bryan’s 2010 census population, which allows Bryan to be eligible.

And the maximum amount of money in this grant program was raised from $25 million to $45 million.

Click below to hear comments from a WTAW News visit with Bryan city councilman Paul Torres and comments from the February 22, 2023 Bryan city council meeting.

 

Screen shot from a city of Bryan document showing the location of a proposed parking garage at Midtown Park along with other features.
Screen shot from a city of Bryan document showing the location of a proposed parking garage at Midtown Park along with other features.

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