College Station City Council Approves Spending Another $104,000 On The Nearly $5 Million Dollar Visitor’s Center And Economic Development Office

Candidate Filing Is Underway For College Station And Bryan City Council And School Board Elections

The filing period is officially underway for candidates in November’s College Station and Bryan city council and school board elections. As of Monday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m. Four people have filed for the College Station city council. Seeking the place three seat are David White and Valen Cepak. Linda Harvell is not eligible to run again for the place three seat due to term limits. Running for re-election in place five is incumbent Bob Yancy. And seeking the place six position is Tre Watson. Dennis Maloney is not eligible to run again for the place six seat due to term limits. Click HERE to be directed to the city of College Station elections webpage. Three incumbent Bryan city council members have filed for re-election. Jared Salvato filed for single member district three. James Edge has filed for single member district four. Marca Ewers-Shurtleff has filed for single member district five. WTAW News has asked the city of Bryan for the online location to find council candidate information. There are no filings on the College Station ISD elections webpage. Click HERE to be directed to the College Station ISD elections website. Two people have filed for Bryan ISD school board. David Stennis has filed for the district wide at large seat. Ruthie Waller is seeking her fourth term representing BISD’s single member district four. Click HERE to be directed to the Bryan ISD elections website. The filing period continues through August 19th.

College Station City Council Discusses Replacing Its Public Works Building

The College Station city council spent almost 12 hours over two days last week (July 15-16) reviewing the staff’s proposal for the fiscal year 2025 budget. More than 40 minutes was taken on a proposal to build a new public works facility that is currently estimated to cost $40 million dollars. Funding is divided over three fiscal years, $5 million is in the FY 2025 budget, $17.5 million in FY 2027, and $17.5 million in FY 2028. Councilman Mark Smith said he attempted to replace the 46 year old building when he was public works director. City manager Bryan Woods joined Smith and a council majority in supporting a new facility. Councilman Bob Yancy, who initiated the conversation by asking the council to reconsider the project, finished the discussion by withdrawing his request. Click below to hear comments from the July 16, 2024 College Station city council budget workshop meeting. Listen to “College Station city council discusses replacing the city's public works building” on Spreaker.

Bryan City Council Establishes New Regulations For Future Locations Of Battery Energy Storage Systems

The Bryan city council adds to the city’s zoning regulations, where battery energy storage systems (BESS) can be located. After an explanation from councilman James Edge and Benjamin Johnson of the city’s planning department, the council unanimously approved restricting sites to industrial areas. In addition to being restricted to industrial areas, an applicant must also get a conditional use permit to build and operate sites that collects then discharges power during demand peaks. The Bryan fire department sought to keep battery storage sites away from commercial and residential areas in part because of the difficulty of extinguishing battery fires and how that could result in discharging waste runoff. Click HERE to read and download background information from the city of Bryan. Click HERE to read and download the ordinance and the city of Bryan staff report. Click below to hear comments from the July 9, 2024 Bryan city council meeting. Listen to “The Bryan city council adds to the city's zoning regulations, where battery energy storage systems can be located” on Spreaker.