Kevin O’Connor Kommentary January 4

Bryan Police Arrest A Suspect In Multiple Burglaries And Thefts Of Unlocked Vehicles

Bryan police announces the recovery of 11 stolen guns and other property taken from at least 20 unlocked vehicles in Bryan and College Station dating back several months. A BPD news release says the property was recovered from the home of a Bryan man who was arrested Sunday (August 4) around 4:30 in the morning. BPD arrest reports say undercover officers arrested 22 year old Conner Zaragoza after he was identified as the suspect in two vehicle burglaries and theft of three guns east of the Brazos County Expo complex. One of three guns stolen from one of the vehicles was found in Zaragoza’s car. That led to the search of his home north of the expo, where a BPD news release said ten more stolen guns were found along with other unidentified property. Zaragoza, who was arrested for the two vehicle burglaries, three firearm thefts, and possessing a vape pen containing THC, remained in jail as of August 5 in lieu of bonds totaling $85,000 dollars.

Bryan ISD School Board Hires Two Economic Development Consultants At No Cost To The District

Bryan ISD school board members take the next step towards the possibility of offering property tax breaks to attract a $10 billion dollar high tech manufacturing facility to build on the RELLIS campus. Board members during Monday’s meeting (August 5) approved hiring two consultants. Assistant superintendent Kevin Beesaw and school board member Ruthie Waller said the $15,000 dollar cost for each consultant will be paid by the company looking to locate in Bryan. One consultant would provide legal services associated with tax abatements. The other would help prepare an application that is required by the state comptroller’s office so the district could offer the economic development incentive. Later in the meeting, the BISD board met in private for nearly 90 minutes, in part to discuss the tax abatement request identified in BISD documents as “America’s Foundry Bryan LLC” and “Project Gemini Power Phase One”. Click HERE to read and download BISD’s agreement with MoakCasey LLC. Click HERE to read and download BISD’s agreement with O’Hanlon, Demerath, & Castillo. Click below to hear comments from the August 5, 2024 Bryan ISD school board meeting.  

Texas A&M System Board Of Regents Approves RELLIS Campus Street And Utility Extensions After Asking About Getting Financial Assistance

More construction on the RELLIS campus is scheduled to start in September. That’s after the Texas A&M system board of regents during its quarterly business meeting on August 1st approved spending more than $13 million dollars to extend streets and utilities south and east of the runways. Click HERE to read and download project information that was approved during the August 1, 2024 board of regents meeting. Before the regents unanimous vote, came a unanimous recommendation from the board’s building committee. But before the committee’s vote, system administrators were asked about getting financial assistance from the city of Bryan and other third party utility providers. Regent Michael Plank of Houston said “We’ve got an awful lot going on at RELLIS. We’re gonna have an awful lot of utilities involved out there. A lot of money being invested. So the question is, what’s the benefit to the city and do we have any kind of reimbursement programs of any kind?” The system’s chief financial officer, Billy Hamilton, says the new streets and utilities are to benefit two system agencies. One involves keeping heavy truck traffic associated with a new Texas Department of Emergency Management building off RELLIS Parkway. And the extension will also serve a new AgriLife Research reproductive sciences building and eventually “the business end of (the) Rosenthal” meat center. Construction is scheduled one year to complete. The project location is Avenue D from Bryan Street to Goodson Bend Road, 7th Street from Flightline Road to Bryan Road, and Flightline Road from the Innovative Proving Grounds to the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service Training Props site. The project scope includes new concrete roadways, site drainage, domestic water, natural gas, sanitary sewer, street lighting, electrical, and communications utilities. In addition, a new campus entry will be constructed where Avenue D empties onto Goodson Bend Road, and a new Remote Switching Unit building will be installed near the intersection of Avenue D and 7th Street. Click below to hear comments from the July 31, 2024 Texas A&M system board of regents building committee meeting. Listen to “Texas A&M system board of regents approves RELLIS campus street & utility extensions after asking about getting financial assistance” on Spreaker.