Kevin O’Connor Kommentary November 20

College Station City Council Rejects Offer To Sell The Northgate Surface Parking Lot

The College Station city council votes 5-2 to reject an offer to sell the city’s Northgate district surface parking lot. Mark Smith made the motion, which was seconded by William Wright, to accept a $13 million dollar offer from an Alabama-based developer to build a more than 20 story student housing structure. But the final sales price would have been determined after a due diligence period where the council could have changed the size of the student high rise and other components. The developer met the city’s requirements of incorporating among other things, a plaza area, police substation, retail space, and a ride share pick up and drop off area. Voting against the sale were mayor John Nichols and council members Bob Yancy, David Wright, Melissa McIlhaney, and Scott Shafer. A three hour deliberation included comments from 21 public speakers, all but one who were opposed to the land sale. The council was also told of an online petition with more than 16,000 signatures opposed to the sale. Preceding the council’s vote against selling the parking lot, there was a unanimous vote to proceed with a study of the Northgate district that will include public input. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the city of College Station that were shown during the council’s January 9, 2025 meeting. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the proposed developer that were shown during the council’s January 9, 2025 meeting. Click below to hear comments from the January 9, 2025 College Station city council meeting. Listen to “College Station city council rejects selling the Northgate district surface parking lot to a private developer” on Spreaker.   Original story, January 6, 2025: Details are released of a proposed $209 million dollar Northgate district development if land is sold by the College Station city council. The agenda for Thursday’s (January 9) council meeting includes possible action on the land sale to a private developer. That follows a public hearing on future development in Northgate. Associated with the land sale, the agenda includes a 132 page document from the proposed developer. The proposal includes a multi-family high rise residential building which does not disclose the number of floors. There is also a building for retail, another building for a police substation, a ride share pickup and dropoff area, a public plaza with restrooms, space to store trash containers, and a parking garage containing 878 spaces with 100 for city use and revenue would be split between the city and the developer. The proposal shows the developer will spend nearly $156 million dollars in direct construction costs, almost $41 million in soft costs, and the $13 million dollar cost to buy the land. Breaking down the overall direct construction costs, $151 million is direct costs, $3.7 million is for the city’s 100 parking spaces, $525,000 is towards the police substation, and $450,000 is towards public restrooms. Breaking down the overall soft costs, the developer will pay $3.9 million to the city of College Station for permits and other fees, $1.1 million will be paid in property taxes during construction, and the remainder will go towards other soft costs. Before the council considers the sale, the governing body will receive an update from city staff and take public comment regarding planning efforts for the entire Northgate district. Click HERE to read and download the proposed land sale contract. Click HERE to read and download pages 1-44 of the development proposal. Click HERE to read and download pages 45-88 of the development proposal. Click HERE to read and download pages 89-132 of the development proposal.

New Brazos County Commissioners Question Awarding Brazos Center Floor Repair Contract To An Out Of Town Company

New Brazos County commissioners questioned awarding a $36,100 dollar contract to repair floors at the Brazos Center to a San Marcos company. The conversation at Tuesday’s meeting (January 7) took place when considering a budget amendment to correct the amount that is going to be spent. Click HERE to read and download the budget amendment and associated contract for the Brazos Center floor repair. The county’s purchasing office used a statewide bidding cooperative to obtain the San Marcos contract. Commissioner Bentley Nettles asked that the purchasing office in the future, consider creating a cooperative of Brazos County companies. Commissioner Fred Brown initially wanted to table a vote in order to allow local companies to bid on the contract. Brown said “It just seems wrong to me that we should take Brazos County taxpayer money and send it to San Marcos when we can get a local company to do it, probably for a lot less”. Commissioners were told if this repair contract was not awarded, repairs would not start until the next fiscal year. That’s due to the current reservations for the meeting facility. Brown, who withdrew his motion to table action, asked Payne to consider local companies in the future. Click below to hear comments from the January 7, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting. Listen to “New Brazos County commissioners question awarding Brazos Center floor repair contract to an out of town company” on Spreaker.

Bryan Man Headed To Prison For The Fifth Time

A Bryan man is headed to prison for the fifth time. That’s after a Brazos County district court jury convicted then sentenced 59 year old Milton Rederick Miller for unlawful possession of a gun by a felon. Due to his criminal history, the jury sentenced Miller to 45 years in prison. A news release from the district attorney’s office says due to Miller’s criminal history, he faced a sentence of between 25 and 99 years. The news release also said Miller represented himself and the jury returned a verdict in 30 minutes. This case involved an incident on New Year’s Eve in 2021 when Miller was in possession of a handgun and an airsoft pistol when he entered a Bryan home without permission. WTAW News added Miller’s middle name because he is one of four men in Brazos County district court records with the same first and last name. District court records also show a Milton Miller Jr., a Milton Marquis Miller, and a Milton Lewis Miller. Additionally, Brazos County jail records show a Milton Miller who also goes by Darrell Leon Bishop. News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office: On January 8, 2025, a Brazos County jury sentenced Milton Miller to 45 years in prison after finding him guilty of Unlawful Possession of Firearm by a Felon the previous day. On December 31, 2021, police received a call from a Bryan resident, who reported that he had encountered a man inside his house who did not have consent to be there. The caller al-so reported that the man, who had left the residence after being asked to do so several times, had a firearm. Officers with the Bryan Police Department responded to the area and located a man matching the description given by the caller. The man, who was later identified as Milton Miller, had a .22 caliber revolver and a black airsoft pistol in the waistband of the back of his pants. After learning that Miller had been previously convicted of a felony, officers arrested him for the offense of Unlawful Possession of Firearm by a Felon. Just before jury selection began, the defendant decided to represent himself, rather than be represented by an attorney. During the guilt stage of trial, the jury heard from the resident who witnessed Miller inside his home with a firearm, the officers who located the firearm and arrested Miller, and Miller’s parole officer, who testified that he was a convicted felon. The jury convict-ed the defendant in less than 30 minutes. At the punishment stage of trial, the defendant elected to have a Brazos County jury assess his punishment. The jury heard that the defendant had been sentenced to prison on four prior occasions, for a variety of crimes including Sexual Assault. The defendant was sentenced to 50 years out of Dallas County for Burglary of a motor Vehicle. Because of his non compliance in prison the defendant spent 25 years in prison on his Burglary of a Motor Vehicle case before he was released on parole. Because of his prior prison trips the defendant’s punishment range was increased by law to 25-99 years in prison. Statement from assistant district attorneys Ryan Golden & Mark Stahman: “It is against the law for a person who has been convicted of a felony to possess a firearm in public, much less to possess a firearm in some-one else’s home. This jury’s verdict sends a clear message that this conduct will not be tolerated in Brazos County.”