The College Station City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night. The meeting lasted four hours and 25 minutes.
The meeting opened with a Proclamation designating July 23, 2026 as Texas A&M Women’s Tennis Day, in honor of their recent 2026 National Championship.
The hear visitors portion of the meeting allows speakers to voice concerns on items that are not on the agenda. Robert Rose, owner of Cycles, Etc. asked the council to provide an avenue to have our state legislators be more serious when it comes to cyclist safety and penalties for those that strike riders along highways…in reference to the recent killing of 26-year-old Hannah Rapp as she rode along FM159 on Saturday.
The Consent Agenda passed in full, approving nearly $9-million in spending. This spending include just over $7-million in funding for amenities at Texas Independence Park such as a bike track, a playground, picnic areas, a disc golf course, fishing, and trails.
The Workshop Agenda was spent mostly on a presentation by College Station Police Chief Billy Couch in support of the use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR’s). He confirmed there are currently 75 cameras within the City of College Station. He presented statistics gathered between January 1, 2026 through July 17, 2026 that showed Flock cameras in College Station identified 293 vehicles known to be associated with someone with outstanding warrants, 67 stolen vehicles, and pinged on 9 known missing persons.
The majority of citizens spoke out against the use of the cameras, claiming they are an invasion of privacy and worry that the company behind the cameras will utilize the information captured in questionable manner.
Charles Fleeger, the Executive Director of the Amber Alert Network of the Brazos Valley, expressed his support. He said that had these cameras existed in 1996, the assailant in the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman may have been brought to justice. Hagerman is the namesake of the Amber Alert system founded in October 1996. Her murderer still has not been found.
Many referenced the viral picture of a camera facing the pool at The Woodlands apartments on Harvey Mitchell Pkwy South in College Station. Council advised that particular camera is privately owned by the complex and not part of their system, specifying that all their cameras are on roadways.
Even though the camera discussion took up a large portion of the evening, it was a non-action item. The idea was only to hear a presentation from the Police Chief, hear resident concerns, and have a Q&A with representatives from Flock.
The first item on the regular agenda was the public hearing on the proposed budget. Two residents signed up to speak. One questioned if the boost to our economy from the current Big 6 construction project and the upcoming Terafab factory had any impact on the budget. Mayor Nichols explained that the City can only go off the numbers currently available.
There was no action on the budget itself. Only a motion that the budget will be adopted at the August 27, 2026 regular council meeting. Mary Ellen Leonard, Director or Fiscal Services for the City of College Station, says she expects to have the final numbers from the Brazos County Appraisal District by the end of business tomorrow. Those numbers will be presented to the council at the August 13th meeting.
The final order of business was whether or not to institute eminent domain on the final piece of land required to proceed with the Rock Prairie East widening project. Jennifer Cain, Director of Capital Projects, said the current landowners have not responded to requests from the city via email, telephone, and Certified Mail. Council voted unanimously to move forward with eminent domain proceedings.
The following is more detailed information on all agenda items:
CONSENT AGENDA ($8,888,600.00): ALL ITEMS PASSED
7.2. Construction Manager at Risk contract amendment with Skanska USA Building Inc. for GMP #1 for Texas Independence Park at Midtown, in the amount of $6,852,842 plus the City’s contingency in the amount of $200,000 for a total appropriation of $7,052,842.
Project involves the design and construction of Texas Independence Park at Midtown, located at 6904 Rock Prairie Road East. Amenities to Texas Independence Park include Bike Hub/Track, Playground, Picnic Areas, Disc Golf, Fishing, and Trails.
7.3. Solid Waste Container Lease agreement with Brannon Industrial Group, LLC for an annual expenditure of $543,300.
This item is consideration of an annual lease agreement for the rental of 1,391 front-end
loading refuse containers used by the Public Works Solid Waste division’s commercial collection
operations. City ordinances require commercial entities to use city-issued containers for solid waste
collection. While the city purchases and owns certain types of containers for collection use, front-end
loading containers are leased by the city. The fee for the use of these containers is included in the
solid waste rate.
The breakdown of monthly rental costs included in the agreement is as follows:
- 158 four-yard containers at $29.00
- Five (5) six-yard containers at $31.00
- 1,221 eight-yard containers at $33.00
- Seven (7) eight-yard containers with side sliding doors at $35.00
7.4. Franchise Ordinance with United Site Solutions, LLC For Recyclables (Second Reading).
Ordinance granting United Site Solutions, LLC a non-exclusive franchise for the use of public streets, alleys, and public rights-of-ways within the city for the purpose of providing collection of demolition and construction debris, recyclables, and organic waste from commercial, industrial, and multi-family sites. Counting United Site Solutions, LLC, the city has a total of nineteen (19) franchised haulers. This list can be found on the city’s website under Public Works.
7.5. Interlocal Agreement with Texas A&M University Health Science Center.
The interlocal agreement with the Texas A&M University Health Science Center would allow the College Station Police Department to work with the center to coordinate and interview adult sexual assault victims with a forensic interviewer. This setup works similar to how Scotty’s House handles forensic interviews with children. The interview process is trauma-informed and prevents victims from being re-victimized multiple times through police interaction. There is no cost to the city.
7.6. FY 2027 (Y2026) Annual Action Plan and the FY 2027 Community Development Budget.
The City is required to submit a one-year Annual Action Plan describing projects, activities, and budget to be funded with the community development grants received.
7.7. Change order to the Design Contract with Colliers Engineering & Design for the Citywide Sidewalks and Shared-use paths Project in the amount of $64,988.
Change order includes additional design fee to include an arborist and tree preservation services during design and construction for the city-wide sidewalk extension/connections of high priority sidewalks near CSISD schools and Texas A&M University Campus as well as Bee Creek Tributary B shared use path extension, Bee Creek Trail shared use path extension, and Spring Creek Trail Phase 4 shared use path.
This change order also includes additional services for construction administration for the Welsh
Crosswalk improvements at AMCHS that were pulled out as a separate construction bid from the rest
of the sidewalks and shared use paths projects and is currently under construction
7.8. Approval of a change order to the professional service contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., in the amount of $50,000, for the College Heights Utility Rehabilitation Project.
The change order is for design team efforts to evaluate options to minimize disruption to
land owners, which involves shifting scope from the Northeast Trunkline Phase 4 project to College
Heights Utility Rehab. This requires modifications to the College Heights Utility Rehab plans and the
Northeast Trunkline Phase 4 plans and impact analysis. The College Heights project includes the
rehabilitation of water and wastewater lines in the northside area, in the vicinity of Hensel,
Eisenhower Street, University Drive, Jane Street, and Nimitz Street.
7.9. Design contract with Dunham Engineering, LLC for the Dowling Road Pump Station storage tanks recoating and disinfection improvements project, not to exceed $680,200.
The City owns and operates two ground storage tanks at the DRPS, with capacities of 3-million and 5-million gallons. The protective coatings on these tanks have reached the end of their expected service life; therefore, this project will address necessary repairs and recoating to preserve the assets and avoid more costly structural damage. Additionally, this project incorporates disinfection improvements to enhance water quality, ensure regulatory compliance, and increase operational efficiency. This contract provides the professional design services required for this rehabilitation project
7.10. Design contract with Freese and Nichols, Inc. for the Well 9 Rehabilitation Project not to exceed $497,270.
The City of College Station’s water supply is provided by ten City-owned groundwater
wells, which undergo routine rehabilitation to maintain optimal production capacity, reliability, and
efficiency. To sustain these performance standards, this project includes essential facility
improvements alongside necessary electrical upgrades to support the well’s long-term operation.
This contract provides the professional design and construction administration services required for
this rehabilitation project.
7.11. The fourth amendment to the lease agreement with CEO, Etc. increasing the use of City dark fiber optic cable.
On March 26, 2015, Council approved an Ordinance permitting the lease of City Fiber
Optic Cable Facilities. As one of the companies currently leasing city spare (or dark) fiber, CEO Etc.
has requested an amendment to the lease agreement to add the use of additional fibers.
WORKSHOP AGENDA:
8.1. Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding the Fiscal Year 2027 BVSWMA, Inc. budget. (PASSED)
The FY2027 BVSWMA, Inc. Budget Total Revenue is $15,696,400.
The Total Expenses are $10,808,133 and Capital Expenses are $7,197,000.
8.2. Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding city use of Automated License Plate Readers. (DISCUSSION ONLY)
This is a presentation on FLOCK style cameras. Objective is to reduce crime and the fear of crime.
8.3. Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding strategic regional water utility collaboration and mutual support initiatives. (DISCUSSION ONLY)
No action is required, as this item is presented for informational purposes.
Summary: The Water Services Department will present an update on our strategic collaboration with
adjacent water systems. The presentation will highlight our commitment to regional resiliency,
focusing on mutual support initiatives such as the implementation of emergency interconnects.
8.4. Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding Big 6 community branding signage. (AGREE TO FORM JOINT PLANNING COMMITTEE)
This item was requested as a future agenda item by Councilmember Yancy at the March 26th, 2026 meeting. Steve Beachy and Manjit Yadav will present a proposal for a coordinated, community-wide signage and public-art strategy deployed along the full twelve-mile Highway 6 corridor to present a unified narrative: Welcome to Aggieland.
This is a citizen-initiated proposal. If council should decide to move forward with the proposed concepts, staff will gather cost estimates and present them to council at a future date.
REGULAR AGENDA:
9.1. Public Hearing, presentation, discussion, and possible action on the City of College Station FY 2026-2027 Proposed Budget. (MOTION TO ADOPT BUDGET ON 8/27)
The City Charter requires that the City Council call and hold a public hearing on the
proposed budget; and that after such public hearing, the Council may insert or decrease items so
long as the total of any increases and insertions do not increase the total budget by more than 3%.
Subtotal Operation and Maintenance: $394,752,006
Subtotal Capital: $181,594,937
Total Proposed Budget: $576,346,943
9.2. Ordinance authorizing the issuance of certificates of obligation; delegating the authority to certain city officials to execute certain documents relating to the sale of the certificates; approving and authorizing an official statement and instruments and procedures relating to said certificates; and enacting other provisions relating to the subject. (APPROVED)
The ordinance authorizes the issuance of up to $37,250,000 for paying all or a portion of the City’s contractual obligations to be incurred in connection with constructing, improving, acquiring and equipping the following projects: (i) improvements and extensions to the City’s waterworks system including water wells, distribution, transmission and system lines and (ii) the payment of fiscal, engineering and legal fees incurred in connection therewith.
9.3. 2014 GOB Defeasance. Ordinance authorizing the redemption of a portion of the City of College Station General Obligation Improvement & Refunding Bonds, Series 2014 and approving a related escrow agreement. (APPROVED)
This planned defeasance was forecasted in our 5-year Debt Service Fund forecast during the FY26 budget.
9.4. Eminent Domain: Pompa – Rock Prairie Road East Widening Project. (APPROVED)
Resolution of the City Council of the City of College Station, Texas, determining that Right of Way is needed and needs to be acquired from the landowner for the Rock Prairie East widening project for the City of College Station, Texas; and authorizing the institution of eminent domain proceedings.
The Pompa tract was appraised by Allen, Williford & Seale, Inc. for $11,366 for the fee simple interest for right of way. The City has not received a response to its previous offer letters or its current letter. A budget of $26,600,000 is available in the Streets Capital Improvement Projects Fund. A total of $1,922,741 has been expended or committed to date leaving a balance of $24,677,259 for this item and remaining project expenses.
