Kevin O’Connor Kommentary February 24

Bryan City Council Agrees To Start The Tax Abatement Process For An Expanding Local Manufacturer

The Bryan city council is working on another economic development project associated with the semiconductor industry. The council without public discussion at its August 13th meeting, agreed to compose a tax abatement agreement for the Honeywell electronic chemicals plant on Mumford Road. The tax abatement would come from the creation of a reinvestment zone. The only details from city documents is that “the purpose of this designation is to facilitate a major expansion of Honeywell in Bryan related to the semiconductor industry.” To be composed, according to the agreement unanimously approved by the council, are “written agreements with property owner(s) located within the Zone shall provide identical terms regarding duration of exemption and share of taxable real property value and tangible personal property.” The future written agreements will contain “(a) Duration of Exemption: includes number of consecutive tax years beginning with and including the January 1 assessment date” and “(b) Share of taxes abated: (i) includes number years of abatement, and (ii) annual percentage for each abatement year (i.e. percentage of the value of the taxable property in each year covered by the agreement only to the extent its value for that year exceeds its value for the Base Year.” WTAW News sent an e-mail to Honeywell’s corporate office requesting more information. The Honeywell expansion comes as officials from the city of Bryan, Brazos County, Bryan ISD, and the Texas A&M system continues to wait for a decision whether a $10 billion dollar high tech manufacturing facility will be built on the RELLIS campus that is supposed to eventually employ 1,800. Click HERE to read and download background information presented for the August 13, 2024 Bryan city council meeting. Click HERE to read and download the agreement approved by the Bryan city council at its August 13, 2024 meeting. Click HERE to read and download the map showing the location of Bryan’s Honeywell electronic chemicals plant.

Rockdale Man Admits To Sexual Assaults Of Two Teenaged Girls In College Station

A 21 year old Milam County man admits to sexual assaults of a 14 and a 15 year old girl in a College Station hotel. A spokeswoman at the Brazos County district attorney’s office tells WTAW News that the 20 year prison sentence given to Jamarr Zamora also includes at least one human trafficking case in Milam County. Zamora is also required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. And both victims received lifetime protection orders. Brazos County jail records show Zamora was also being held for three sexual assaults and three cases of human trafficking in Milam County. News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office: Last week, Jamarr Zamora, 22, of Rockdale, pled guilty and was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in prison for two counts of Sexual Assault of a Child. On November 27, 2022, the Robertson County Sheriff’s Department was contacted by the mother of one of Zamora’s victims. This mother reported that her daughter was missing and could not be located. The fifteen-year-old returned the next day and outcried that the Defendant had engaged in sexual acts with her. The Robertson County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation and determined that the Defendant took the fifteen-year-old victim to a hotel in College Station where he committed the offense. As part of their investigation, law enforcement discovered another victim who was fourteen-years old. Detective Joshua Street with the College Station Police Department took over the investigation. As a result of his investigation, Detective Street interviewed the Defendant, who admitted that picked the victims up at their residences on multiple occasions and took them to hotels in College Station where he performed sexual acts. This case was investigated by the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office, the College Station Police Department, and Tiffany Graves with the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office. Special assistance in this case was provided by the Baylor Scott and White Forensic Unit, Scotty’s House Child Advocacy Center, Chuck Fleeger with the Amber Alert Network Brazos Valley, and Unbound Now. This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jessica Escue. Statement from Brazos County assistant district attorney Jessica Escue: “This Defendant manipulated and sexually abused vulnerable teenagers. Our office will strongly respond to anyone who seeks to harm a child in this community.”

Bryan ISD School Board Extends The Superintendent’s Contract

The end of Monday night’s (August 19) Bryan ISD school board meeting was a unanimous vote to extend superintendent Ginger Carrabine’s contract. There was no public comment before or after the motion by board member David Stasny. Click below to hear the end of the August 19, 2024 Bryan ISD school board meeting.   A BISD spokesman says more information about the contract will be released once terms have been finalized. Carrabine is in her third year as superintendent.