WTAW - Interviews

This podcast contains comments from the December 9, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.

New Bryan city manager and former mayor Andrew Nelson presented his first report at a city council meeting.

Nelson finished his report with a summary of his work since starting the new job and thanking the council for their confidence in him.

Bullet points of the December Bryan city manager's report is courtesy of the city of Bryan:

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

• Mumford Road is complete from FM 2818 up to the Thompsons Creek bridge.

• The South College construction contractor has poured the concrete for the roundabout at Carson, and the roadway should be open before Christmas.

• The Old Hearne Road extension from Indian Trail to the Highway 6 Feeder Road is complete and open.

• The Bryan Regional Athletic Complex (BRAC) roadway work near BTU, which will replace several sections of concrete in the area, is underway.

• The contractor for Wells 20 and 21 has mobilized for drilling, and should mobilize drilling for Wells 22 and 23 soon.

• All customer services for the 18-inch waterline along Silver Hill Road have been completed.

• The Woodville Road Widening Project, with limits from Texas Avenue to Old Hearne Road, should bid early next year.

• The Chick Lane Elevated Storage tank should be filled and tested by the end of the month, and completed in early 2026.

• Staff continues to work on the design for Leonard Road, Old Hearne Road Project Phases 3 & 5, the East 29th Street Shared Use Path, and the Hardy Weedon Road Widening Projects.

PARKS AND POOLS UPDATES

• The Development and Engineering Services Departments will be closed to walk-in customers this Friday, December 12th, in the afternoon, to allow for the relocation across the parking lot from Bryan City Hall to the former BTU Administration Building. Development Services will reopen to the public in their new location on Monday, December 15th. The Community Development Department has also relocated, and Destination Bryan is in the process of moving, to this location. A grand opening is planned for spring 2026.

• Information about many holiday-centered activities, including Senior Socials, Reindeer on the Run, Eastside Historic District’s Holiday Porch Stroll, and others, can be found on “The Calendar” at bryantx.gov.

IN OTHER NEWS…

• The City of Bryan’s redesigned website (still bryantx.gov) goes live on Wednesday, December 10th, around 10 a.m. The redesigned website introduces a modern layout, and is intended to help users locate services with fewer steps.

• Destination Bryan is hosting the Downtown Bryan Holiday Stroll & Lighted Parade this Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., with the Lighted Parade beginning at 7:00 p.m. For more information about this and many other holiday-themed events, visit destinationbryan.com.

• Last but not least, Mayor Bobby Gutierrez will face off against College Station Mayor John Nichols in the Salvation Army’s annual Mayor Ring-Off on Saturday, December 13th from Noon to 5:00 p.m., with Mayor Gutierrez at the Briarcrest Walmart, and Mayor Nichols at the College Station Walmart. Money raised during the friendly competition will be used to provide community essential services through The Salvation Army Bryan/College Station.

Sergeant Scott Jones visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about the need for more police officers, requirements to apply, the police academy training, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the December 9, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.

A Mexico based manufacturer who expanded to Bryan in 2013 is now the city's largest property taxpayer.

And the Bryan city council at its December regular meeting unanimously approved giving Axis Pipe and Tube city owned land and property tax breaks for a $110 million dollar expansion that will add $4 million dollars a year to its payroll.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the December 9, 2025 Bryan council meeting which provides an overview of the project and the incentives.

Axis has 18 months to start construction and five years to complete the project.

The incentive package was explained by the senior advisor in the city's economic development office, Todd McDaniel.

Representing Axis at the council meeting was engineering manager Jesus Soberon.

Current employment is 350, and in 2025 the nearly $277 million dollar facility generated city property tax revenue of over $1.7 million dollars.

This podcast contains comments from Brazos County district attorney Jarvis Parsons at the December 9, 2025 county commission meeting.

Brazos County's district attorney shares with county commissioners about a College Station man who recently pleaded guilty to sex crimes against children that took place in 2017 and in 2022.

As part of Jarvis Parsons's monthly report, he told commissioners about the investigation done by his office and read part of the victim's impact statement which Parsons said moved everyone in the courtroom.

Appearing in court last Friday (December 5), 50 year old Omar Valenzuela of College Station was sentenced to a total of 30 years for three felonies and a misdemeanor charge of violating a protection order. 

As part of a plea agreement with the DA's office, Valenzuela is also required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Valenzuela was sentenced to 20 years for indecent sexual contact with a child that took place in January and June of 2022.

After completing that punishment, Valenzuela will start a 10 year sentence for indecent exposure with a child that took place in September of 2017.

College Station Mayor Pro Tem Mark Smith visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about funding the Brazos Transit District, new baseball fields near Costco, soil testing, improvements to William D. Fitch, applying for boards and commissions, and more during his visit on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast is a visit with Brazos County county clerk Karen McQueen and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Brazos County's county clerk decides to retire after 45 years in the office.Karen McQueen said her decision to withdraw her re-election bid on the last day of the filing period followed "family considerations and a lot of thought and prayer".

When she finishes her current term at the end of 2026, that will complete more than 25 years as county clerk.She was appointed March 1, 2001 after starting with the office on May 8, 1981.

The chairman of the Brazos County Republican party notified WTAW News that because McQueen withdrew on the last day of the filing period and at the time she was the only candidate, by state law the filing period for Brazos County county clerk was extended until December 15th.

Click HERE to read and download the public notice extending the deadline to file for Brazos County county clerk.

After McQueen withdrew, her chief deputy, Ashlie Peters-Bowman, filed for the position.

According to the Brazos County website, the county clerk's office is the record keeper of the county, which include birth certificates, brand registrations, DD-214 military discharge forms, death certificates, marriage licenses, probate and civil filings, and real estate property records.

This podcast contains comments from the December 1, 2025 Bryan ISD school board meeting.

A plan by Bryan ISD administrators to collect more state money from students at the district's alternative campus gets unanimous support from the school board.

Associate superintendent Barbara Ybarra says currently, if a student at M.C. Harris is not in the building by 10 a.m., the district doesn't get state money.

If the state approves BISD's application to implement what is called an Optional Flexible School Day Program, then the district gets state money after students at M.C. Harris complete their courses.

The program would allow those students to take courses in person and/or online and on different days and times.

Dr. Ybarra said another goal of the program is to improve graduation rates for students who are at risk of dropping out of school, have already dropped out, or are falling behind in core subject courses.

BISD board members were told the four year graduation rate for the class of 2023 at M.C. Harris was 78.7 percent, compared with the district wide rate of 92.6 percent.

And the dropout rate during the 2022-2023 school year at M.C. Harris was 8.5 percent, compared with the district wide rate of 1.3 percent.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the December 1, 2025 Bryan ISD school board meeting.

This podcast contains comments from the November 24, 2025 College Station city council meeting.

One item from the nearly five hour College Station city council meeting on November 24th took less than four minutes.

That was the annual economic development compliance report involving the city's largest private employer.

There were no council questions directed to a consultant whose firm is monitoring the activity at FUJIFILM Biotechnologies.

Nick LaColla brought up the agreement that was amended in June 2025 by the College Station council and Brazos County commission.

As a part of paying reduced property taxes, FUJI is required by the end of 2028 to complete its $30 million dollar, 138,000 square foot expansion which will create 150 additional jobs with an average annual salary of $80,000 dollars.FUJI is also required to maintain 600 jobs from an original agreement. 

The consultant reported FUJI currently has 778 employees.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the November 24, 2025 College Station city council meeting.

This week's United Way of the Brazos Valley update features partner agency Health For All.

This podcast contains comments from the November 24, 2025 College Station city council meeting.

The College Station city council takes almost one hour at its last meeting to redefine family in the city's ordinance governing the designation of shared housing.

That had to be done to comply with a new state law that restricts the mention of familial status.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the November 24, 2025 College Station city council meeting.

A draft definition that the council approved on a 5-2 vote, which will be finalized at a future meeting, defines a family for housing purposes as "any number of persons occupying a single dwelling unit, including but not limited to those related by blood, marriage, adoption, guardianship or dependency.”

Supporting the motion made by Bob Yancy and seconded by Melissa McIlhaney were William Wright, David White, and Scott Shafer.

Voting no were Mayor John Nichols and councilman Mark Smith.