The Bryan city council has approved a contract with the Downtown Bryan Association (DBA) to manage the Texas Reds Festival.
Debate lasted more than 40 minutes before the 4-2 vote.
Supporting the $110,000 contract were Mayor Jason Bienski and councilmen Art Hughes, Chuck Konderla, and Al Saenz.
Voting no were Mike Southerland and Rafael Pena.
Most of the time was taken by comments made by Pena and responses from DBA executive director Sandy Farris.
Pena repeated his call for the DBA to go through the convention and visitor bureau’s application process for hotel occupancy tax (HOT) money, which is the festival’s funding source.
Pena wanted HOT money to be spent expanding the Bryan Regional Athletic Complex instead of the festival.
Farris says their budget reflects the size of the event the council expects. She says expenses are budgeted to rise $75,000 to meet requests that includes the return of steak dinners and recruiting higher profile entertainment.
This year’s Texas Reds Festival is September 26-27.
Click below for comments from Rafael Pena and Sandy Farris, narrated by WTAW’s Bill Oliver:
Click HERE to read the background and contract information.
Click HERE to read additional information presented to the council.