A new building is under construction which will soon be the new home of the AT&T store. According to Brownwood city officials, the building site is the previous location of Burger King and will share the driveway with Walgreens. An additional driveway will be located at the intersection of Looney Street and McCulley Street.
Brownwood City Council unanimously passed an ordinance on first reading Tuesday, which prohibits parking along the east side of Looney Street between McCulley Street and W. Commerce. This “no parking” area was necessary due to curb alignment along Looney Street to the intersection of W. Commerce where the area will become a lane of travel through the property.
In other matters on Tuesday’s City Council agenda:
*Mayor Stephen Haynes recognized Flood Awareness Week, March 14-18, by a proclamation encouraging citizens to learn how to prepare for a flood during the week.
Mayor Haynes noted that although we are currently in a time of drought, flooding conditions can develop in short notice; and that following safety measures and being aware of the risks of flooding can help save lives.
*Council unanimously approved to authorize the city manager to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Oncor for the 2011 “Take a Load Off Texas” (TALOT) Governmental Facility Program (GFP).
This is a no-cost program that helps reduce energy bills and is a voluntary collaboration between the TALOT GFP and the City of Brownwood. It will provide the following:
- Benchmarking of City facilities, which compares like buildings utility usage to identify savings opportunities.
- Facilitate an Energy Master Planning Workshop
- Develop and adopt an Energy Master Plan that outlines administrative and financial decision making criteria for energy efficiency improvements, installation of energy efficiency measures, and maintenance and operation procedures.
- Implement energy efficient operations and maintenance practices identified during walk-through energy assessments of specific facilities.
- Locate funding sources to enable cities to complete capital projects.
- Utilize Oncor Cash Incentives and Grants to buy down the capital cost of energy efficient systems.
The “Oncor City Matching Grant Program” has a maximum grant amount of $50,000 or 50% of the project cost, whichever is less. The grant application is scored based on the projected reduction of peak kW and kWh.
In 2010 the City of Brownwood received $33,000 through this program for the roof and lighting at City Hall.
*Council unanimously passed an ordinance on first reading to prohibit parking along both sides of Malone Street between Greenleaf Street and Washington Street. Malone Street has a pavement width of 20 feet or less and two way traffic requires a minimum of 20 feet with an additional 8 feet on each side for street parking. Increased use of the Senior Center and the RV Park has created additional traffic, which creates an unsafe condition if on-street parking is allowed.
*Council unanimously passed an ordinance on second and third/final readings to close and abandon the undeveloped section of Brazos Street. Paul Waldrop has petitioned the closure and abandonment of this section of Brazos Street and is the property owner along all sides of this undeveloped street. This petition came after survey work performed discovered a dedicated portion of Brazos Street is undeveloped and lies within the 100-year floodplain.
*A resolution establishing guidelines and policies for naming of City of Brownwood parks and facilities was adopted by the council.
