College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about impact fees, housing density, a master plan steering committee, increasing bicyclist and pedestrian traffic, considering the extension of an economic development agreement that gives FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies more time on an expansion, Thursday night's council meeting, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the June 3, 2025 Bryan city council workshop meeting.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Bryan city council agrees to pay a private company to provide school crossing guards at 20 sites around Bryan ISD.

The unanimous vote at the June 4th meeting came after councilman Ray Arrington questioned city manager Kean Register about the status of a decision made three years ago to start transferring that cost to the school district.

Register and mayor Bobby Gutierrez said they are working with BISD officials.

Councilwoman Marca Ewers-Shurtleff, who is a member of the city-BISD joint committee, said the city's contribution helps the district deal with funding shortfalls from the state.

The Bryan police department selected the company that was awarded the $198,000 dollar contract.

Click HERE to read and download background information from the June 4, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download the contract that was approved at the June 4, 2025 council meeting.

This podcast contains comments from the June 3, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

Brazos County commissioners pause on pursuing the construction of a new central warehouse and office building.

Three commissioners attending the June 3rd meeting accepted staff recommendations to not solicit proposals from potential architects and construction managers for the complex that would be built on county owned land south of downtown Bryan off Finfeather Road on Ashford Hills Drive.

Commissioner Fred Brown said he was glad to see this go away because money had not been budgeted for the construction. The commission's chief of staff, Ed Bull, said commissioners will be asked to approve construction funding in next year's budget.

Bull said the decision was made to place a priority at this time on remodeling the county's administration and road and bridge buildings.

This podcast contains comments from the May 29, 2025 Texas A&M system board of regents meeting.

The May meeting of the Texas A&M system board of regents was the last one of the academic year for the one member who does not get to vote. 

But the student regent for the 2024-2025 academic year says his input was welcomed.

Cage Sawyers of Van Alstyne, north of Dallas, thanked the board for allowing him to contribute.

Sawyers, who graduated last month from the Texas A&M law school, said his A&M story goes back to 2003 when at five years old he attended an Aggie football game.

Sawyers says during visits at 11 system universities, students wanted the system to embrace Hispanics, go all in on rural Texas, and do more tangible things to prepare graduates for the workforce.

The student regent is appointed by the governor to represent 165,000 attending A&M system universities.

The student regent for the 2025-2026 year is Prairie View A&M student Jaquavous Doucette of Fort Worth.

And the governor appointed a Texas A&M student, Lisa Cantu of Mission, to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

This podcast contains comments from the June 2, 2025 Bryan ISD school board meeting and the June 6, 2025 College Station ISD school board meeting.

Bryan and College Station ISD school board members and administrators continue their criticism of state lawmakers for not giving enough money to public education.

At the Bryan ISD board meeting last Monday (June 2), the district's departing chief financial officer Kevin Beesaw said "It's going to be difficult with this bill as passed to get much better than last year. There's going to be some major cuts." Beesaw also said "you're going to have to start looking at schools, programs, class sizes", adding "We've already done some of those tweaks and things, but we maybe have to start looking at more drastic" things. BISD's incoming chief financial officer, Norma Friddle, said "The thing we're all shocked in every single school district is the amount of people excluded from the compensation package." Friddle said state funded pay raises left out among others, teachers with less than three years experience and all registered nurses and certified counselors.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the June 2, 2025 Bryan ISD school board meeting.

During a special meeting of the CSISD board last Friday (June 6), board members shared their opinion that the governor and a majority of lawmakers favor private schools. Joshua Benn said "The governor has become a master at the concept of lies, damn lies, and statistics." Darin Paine added "What our governor pushed and what these legislators have done has not favored public education. And I think it's a complete disservice and a disgrace to try and present it as such." 

There was no opposition among CSISD board members to what superintendent Tim Harkrider recommended was an aggressive pay raise to retain employees, and to give comparable pay raises to CSISD employees were who state lawmakers left out during the recently completed legislative session.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the June 6, 2025 College Station ISD school board meeting.

This podcast contains comments from the May 29, 2025 Texas A&M system board of regents meeting.

The third phase of renovating Texas A&M's Heldenfels building was approved at the last board of regents meeting.

The A&M system's chief facilities officer, Brett McCully, the $12 million dollar project on the fourth floor will provide 12 labs, a help desk, and some office space for multiple departments.

Construction will take place this summer and fall, with substantial completion scheduled for next January.

Click HERE to read and download what was approved at the May 29, 2025 Texas A&M system board of regents meeting.

This podcast includes comments from the June 3, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

Brazos County commissioners decide to postpone a vote to extend a contract with its consultant that is managing the bond issue for road projects that voters approved in November 2022.

Before three commissioners attending Tuesday's meeting (June 3) made that decision, new commissioner Fred Brown said he was ready to vote against the extension because he has not seen the original contract and he is opposed to the east loop highway that is one of the bond projects.

Brown was not present at the commission's May 27th meeting when the consulting company owner presented an update on seven projects, one of which was the east loop.

Seven public speakers who oppose the east loop also spoke against the contract extension.

County engineer Prathana Banerji asked for the contract extension. She said the consultant was hired because county staff does not have the expertise to work on bond funded projects associated with the Texas department of transportation...which includes the future widening of Harvey Road and Leonard Road.

Brown agreed with Chuck Konderla's request to table a decision. Also voting to table was Wanda Watson.

Click HERE to read and download the contract extension that was tabled at the June 3, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

This podcast is a visit with WTAW's Scott DeLucia and state representative Trey Wharton, whose district includes Brazos, Walker, Madison, Robertson, Grimes, and Washington counties.

This podcast is an interview with Patrick McIntyre of the College Station Utilities electric division and WTAW's Scott DeLucia.

This podcast contains comments from the June 4, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.

The Bryan city council hears a proposal to remove sections of the Texas Avenue median.

Public works director Jayson Barfknecht says the proposal, which was developed in talks with the district engineer of the Texas department of transportation (TxDOT) office in Bryan, targets seven locations.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the June 4, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.

Barfknecht said he is now working with a consultant hired by the city to confirm the locations can have medians removed without negatively impacting traffic.

Barfknecht also says the consultant has been asked to determine if a median crossing Texas at the intersection of Brookside and Garden Acres can be removed without adding traffic signals.

The other proposed locations are Texas at Hensel, the intersection with Broadmoor and North Avenue, and the intersections with Mary Lake, Wayside, Dodge, and 32nd Street.

The proposal comes at a time when TxDOT is preparing to do the fourth phase of the median project, which involves landscaping on the medians. That drew concerns from two councilmembers. Jared Salvato wondered if landscaping could survive in the medians. And Marca Ewers-Shurtleff said the city is under pressure to conserve water due to the proposal to export water outside the Brazos Valley.

The fifth and final phase of the median project is scheduled to start in 2027. That includes turnarounds at intersections called loons and a shared use path. Barfknecht said TxDOT is still acquiring right of way.

And a member of a citizen group opposed to medians, Karen Hall, told councilmembers that she was very encouraged by the update.