WTAW - Interviews

This podcast is a visit with United Way of the Brazos Valley president Peggi Goss Ondrasek, CEO of UWBV partner agency Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Center Alina Fifer, and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

This podcast contains comments from Bryan police officer Seth Waller, visiting with WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Bryan police thank a concerned citizen for contacting 9-1-1 after seeing something suspicious and out of the norm. 

Officer Seth Waller says multiple officers responded Wednesday night (April 3) around eight p.m. to the Travis Field ballparks on the report of someone who was armed and acting suspicious.

Waller says a juvenile was found with a fake gun that placed citizens in fear of imminent danger or harm. That led to an arrest on a charge of deadly conduct. 

The juvenile, whose age and gender were not released, was also charged with evading and resisting arrest and a minor being in possession of a tobacco product.  

This podcast is a sampling of more than one hour of comments from the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting regarding the requests by six landowners to be released from requirements of the city's extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) regulations.

A new state law allowing landowners outside city limits to submit a petition to be released from requirements imposed in a city's extra territorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, is being challenged in court.

A College Station city council majority at their March 28th meeting overrode Senate Bill 2038 with their vote to deny petitions submitted by six landowners to be removed from the city's ETJ authority.

The council majority believed an old state law is still in effect and gives the authority to deny the petitions.

The council's vote came after city staff approved petitions from three of the six landowners. 

The city's chief development officer, Michael Ostrowski, explained why staff was now reversing that decision.

Ostrowski also said city staff did not notify the six landowners about the March 28th council meeting.

One of the three landowners who had received city staff approval of his ETJ removal request, Steve Pittman, considered the reversal "shady and behind the scenes at best."

Ostrowski said the importance of the city of College Station protecting its interests in their five mile ETJ would impact emergency services and what was described as "the orderly subdivision and development of land".
Mayor John Nichols says ETJ landowners can still contact city staff about development opportunities.

Click HERE to read and download Senate Bill 2038, which passed the Senate on a 20-11 vote and the House on a 127-18 vote. Voting yes were Brazos County senator Charles Schwertner and Brazos County state representatives John Raney and Kyle Kacal. Kacal was listed as a House co-sponsor.

Click HERE to read and download pages 1-33 containing background information from the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting regarding ETJ petitions.

Click HERE to read and download pages 34-72 containing background information from the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting regarding ETJ petitions.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting regarding ETJ petitions.

Caroline Ask, Solid Waste Division Manager, visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about student move out, disposal options, the upcoming Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event, and more during her appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast is a visit with Caden Jones of the Destination Bryan tourism office and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Topics includes April's First Friday schedule, a special event on April 7, promoting their solar eclipse event on April 8, previewing the downtown Bryan street and art fair on April 13, and a reminder of the Big Barn Dance music festival the first weekend in May.

This podcast contains comments with the director of the U.S. Paralympic bicycle races at the RELLIS campus, Lisa Colvin, and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Texas A&M University and the city of Bryan will host the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road Open this weekend (April 6-7) at the RELLIS campus.

The race will serve as the selection event for the nation’s top paracyclists to qualify for the European leg of the 2024 UCI ParaCycling World Cup season, which is one of the most important factors for qualification for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 this summer.The event is free, family friendly and open to the public.

Click HERE to be directed to the city of Bryan's website with more information.

This podcast contains comments with the city of Bryan's Cathy Capps and race director Lisa Colvin, visiting with WTAW's Scott DeLucia on The Infomaniacs on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

Texas A&M University and the city of Bryan will host the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road Open this weekend (April 6-7) at the RELLIS campus.

The race will serve as the selection event for the nation’s top paracyclists to qualify for the European leg of the 2024 UCI Para-Cycling World Cup season, which is one of the most important factors for qualification for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 this summer.

The event is free, family friendly and open to the public.

Click HERE to be directed to the city of Bryan's website with more information.

This podcast contains comments from the March 26, 2024 Brazos County commission meeting.

The Brazos County commission's yearly appointments to the Brazos Valley homeland security committee came with a discussion about what the committee does.

Commissioner Steve Aldrich, who was one of 18 people who were reappointed, said the commission is "about how we will address different types of threats and incidents and how we're going to respond to them."

Aldrich compares their work to "sitting down and meeting with a room full of people who are cats in a room full of rocking chairs, because potential threats that are addressed in these and the responses are really just all kinds of possible things that can happen."

Brazos County emergency management director Michele Meade, who recently finished a one year stint as chairwoman, said the regional group is broken down into committees addressing cybersecurity, communications, and strategic documents; which goes to "identifying worse case scenarios for the region, what our capabilities currently are with the resources and the staffing that we currently have, and then what are our holes, what are our gaps."

Commissioners also appointed two new members to the group.

College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about extra territorial jurisdictions, the city's capital improvement plan program, future baseball field development, tax numbers, affordable housing, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting.

The College Station city council and Habitat For Humanity agree to terminate a contract from July 2017 to build five homes for low income families.

Community services director Debbie Eller told the council that there was a mutual agreement to end the contract.

Councilmembers were told the average construction price more than doubled, from $187,000 to $448,000 dollars.

Habitat, which received a $794,000 dollar grant, will return to the city whatever they receive for selling the land on Renee Lane about three blocks north of College Station High School.

Eller said the city will be reimbursing the federal government $65,000 dollars because the project was not completed. 

When councilwoman Elizabeth Cunha learned the $65,000 will come from the sale of the land, she said "You do know how many non profits would have loved this money?"

Councilman Dennis Maloney called on Habitat and other providers of housing for low income families to consider changing their business model from building single family homes on lots that are "escalating in value constantly in College Station" to "vertical" housing.The council did not hear from Habitat representatives. 

WTAW News invited a Habitat spokesman to provide a statement about the contract termination.

Click HERE to read and download the contract termination and background information that was presented at the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the March 28, 2024 College Station city council meeting.