WTAW - Interviews

The state senator representing Brazos County, Charles Schwertner, visited on the opening day of the legislative session with WTAW's Scott DeLucia. This interview aired January 15, 2025.

WTAW's United Way of the Brazos Valley (UWBV) update, recorded January 13 2025, begins with a visit with the director of UWBV partner agency Family Promise, Phebe Simmons.

UWBV president Peggi Ondrasek has a reminder of applications being accepted for the next two year cycle of community impact grants.

And Ondrasek has an invitation for representatives of non-profit agencies to participate in a human resources forum that is co-sponsored by the Bryan/College Station chamber of commerce and Workforce Solutions on January 17.

This podcast is a visit with College Station ISD assistant superintendent Josh Symank and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Students and staff returned to Pebble Creek elementary school from the holidays seeing little evidence of last month's flooding that cancelled two days of classes.

College Station ISD assistant superintendent Josh Symank says "you can't tell anything happened."

With the exception of Christmas Day and New Years Day, Symank says CSISD's outside contractor worked 12 hour shifts to replace drywall and conduct other repairs.

Symank also says photos were taken before repairs began, which assisted in returning furniture, library stacks, and other equipment that was moved to do repair work.

Symank says there was enough damage that CSISD met its insurance deductible, and administrators continue to work with adjusters on the financial loss from the flooding.

This podcast contains comments provided by Texas A&M's Mays business school of the dedication of their education complex gateway building.

Texas A&M's Mays business school dedicates the gateway building to its new education complex.

The description of the four story Roberts Building includes innovative learning studios, collaboration rooms, and huddle spaces that extends A&M's commitment to interactive learning beyond traditional classrooms.

More than $14 million dollars in gifts was part of the $84 million dollar project.

Click HERE to read and download the dedication program of the Roberts Building.

News release courtesy of the Mays business school:

Marking a significant step on Mays Business School’s path to preeminence among the top public business schools in the nation, Texas A&M University leaders dedicated the state-of-the-art Wayne Roberts ’85 Building on Thursday, Jan. 9. 

The 81,400-square-foot building will welcome students, faculty, former students, corporate partners and visitors starting in the spring 2025 semester.The Roberts Building serves as the business school’s “front porch” and significantly expands the footprint of the Mays Business Education Complex, which also includes the new ConocoPhillips Collaboration Plaza that connects the Roberts Building and the business school’s longtime home, the E.L. Wehner Building.

Another new building that will serve the school’s graduate programs has received a $25 million funding commitment from the Mays Family Foundation and is in the design phase.

The Roberts Building’s innovative design promotes dynamic learning through connection, collaboration and creativity.

“At Mays Business School, our vision is building a better future through business. We are focused on a mission of developing leaders of character who make a positive difference in the communities where they live, work and serve,” Mays Business School Dean Nate Y. Sharp said. “Even at a time when the business world is changing rapidly, the ability to build relationships, collaborate with diverse groups of stakeholders and creatively innovate to solve problems remain pillars of success. We designed the Roberts Building to facilitate the learning of the future, and to provide our students, faculty, former students, and corporate partners meaningful ways to connect with and learn from each other, while staying grounded in the Aggie Spirit and the Aggie Core Values.”

The opening of the Roberts Building underscores Mays’ commitment to educational excellence. In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Mays Business School’s undergraduate program No. 17 among all U.S. public business schools. In addition, three of the five undergraduate majors at Mays — management, accounting and marketing — ranked in the top 10 nationally in the same ranking. Many of the school’s graduate programs, including MS Analytics, Executive MBA, and Full-Time MBA, are regularly ranked in the top 10 nationally.

“I was inspired to give back to the Mays Business School by the vision to become the preeminent public business school in the nation,” said Wayne Roberts ’85, the retired president and CEO of Abrigo who is the building’s lead donor. “This new building is yet another step in that journey, and we are well on our way to achieving this bold vision.”

The new facility creates an environment where Mays students, faculty, staff and visitors can learn and connect in ways that will transform the future of business education. “The Wayne Roberts ’85 Building reflects how modern business, learning and classroom instruction are evolving,” said Kirksey Architecture Partner and Managing Director of Design Gary Machicek.“By changing the way students and faculty inhabit and engage with the campus itself, Texas A&M is creating environments that more closely resemble modern offices, changing the traditional business school model by bringing education and commerce into closer alignment, and providing spaces where alumni and current students can learn from each other, truly embodying the concept of lifelong learning.

”The agile design of the Roberts Building’s learning studios provides flexibility for individual educators to implement innovative teaching strategies. With glass walls that will showcase “learning on display,” the studios are also equipped with high levels of advanced audio and video technology and high-touch instructional tools.“The opportunities for innovation are only limited by the imagination of the educator,” said Mays Executive Director of Learning Environments William Peel.

These state-of-the-art instructional features are being enthusiastically embraced by Mays faculty members. “The Roberts Building represents a big step forward in educational space design,” said Tara Blasor, assistant department head in the James Benjamin Department of Accounting at Mays and a senior lecturer who served on the faculty task force for the new building. “I'm particularly excited to teach my team-based internal auditing course in these new spaces. The configuration of the learning studios will allow students to work effectively in their teams on projects and daily activities, while I can easily move around to provide guidance and support. This setup will create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment, while also better reflecting how the students will work with internal audit colleagues in the real world.”

Features of the building include:The Kay ’02 & Jerry Cox ’72 Atrium, a multipurpose area that can be used for large events and meetings as well as smaller gatherings and study groups, anchored by The Valero Connection, a three-story media wall, which will serve as a showcase for Mays’ work and commitment to the Aggie Core Values.The full-service Reynolds and Reynolds Café, which will serve hot and cold beverages with seating inside on the ground floor of the building, as well as on an outdoor patio.Eight learning studios, where up to 48 students per class will gather for courses beginning this spring semester.18 collaboration rooms designed for small group projects, meetings, and study sessions.A multifunctional conference room that can seat up to 160.More than 220 seats in open huddle spaces.

The building also will be home to Mays’ preeminent Center for Executive Development, which provides leading-edge training to organizational leaders around the globe. The center will be housed on the building’s fourth floor and includes two learning studios, one online studio, 10 breakout rooms, a food service area and rooftop terrace.

“The opening of the Roberts Building marks the start of an important new chapter in our history at Mays Business School,” Sharp said. “Since our school’s earliest days in the 1960s, we have had an uncompromising commitment to excellence. Today, the quality and innovation of our programs and the impact and reputation of our faculty scholars and their research, are leading to recognition at the highest levels. Now with the opening of the Roberts Building, we are embracing new opportunities and exciting possibilities that will position Mays Business School as the preeminent public business school in the nation.”

This podcast contains comments from the January 9, 2025 College Staiton city council meeting.

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.

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.

This podcast contains comments from the January 7, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

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.

Jeff Capps, Deputy City Manager, visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about capital improvement projects, the new fire station, the upcoming state legislature, police presence in the Northgate district, pedestrian and vehicular traffic around Northgate, online petitions, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the January 7, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

Brazos County commissioners unanimously approve its first subsidy to the Brazos Transit District (BTD).

Click HERE to read and download the contract that was approved at the January 7, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

The $316,667 dollar payment, which is also being made by the cities of Bryan and College Station, is to make up for the loss of federal funding to maintain the current level of BTD service.

While the vote was unanimous, new commissioner Fred Brown said he's been "ragging on these people for the last four years", adding " When I see these big ol' buses running all over College Station with one or two people, I can't get excited about it" (the BTD).

After Brown was told there are times when there are more passengers, Brown said "If you ever see a full load, let me know. I'd like to take a picture."

he contract requires the transit district to give ridership reports twice per year. That was something of interest to another new commissioner, Bentley Nettles, who said "I think that would be important to know what we're paying for."

Ashley Bennett, Recreation Manager, visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about new programs, an intro to pickleball class, park space for activities, senior programs and activities, and more during her appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast is a visit with Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller and WTAW's Bill Oliver on January 7, 2025. 

Topics include the work at the Texas department of agriculture, the impact of winter weather on agriculture producers, and agriculture issues before the state legislature and Congress.