2008 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE MEMBERS ANNOUNCED

On December 13, 2007 the College Station City Council appointed 30 citizens to the ad hoc Capital Improvements Citizen Advisory Committee known as the CIP Committee. Members of that committee are: Lindsey Bacon; Mike Ball; Jere Blackwelder; Brian Bochner; Jerry Cooper; Derek Dictson; George Dresser; David Hart; Anne Hazen; Don Hellriegel; Laura Holmes; Kathleen Ireland; George Jessup; Edsel Jones; Ronald Kaiser; Jean Marie Linhart; Dennis Maloney; William Mather; Robert Meyer; Steven O'Neal; Raymond Reed; Larry Ringer; Julie Schultz; Scott Schafer; Ron Silvia; Douglas Slack; Gary Thomas; Parvis Vessali; Henry Wittner; and Tom Woodfin.

On January 10, the City Council appointed Brian Bochner as chairman and Derek Dictson as vice-chairman for the committee and on January 24, they approved the job description and responsibilities for the committee. They will officially begin their meetings in February.

The charge of the Capital Improvements Program Citizen Advisory Committee is to recommend a prioritized list of projects that can be funded with General Obligation Bond funds to the College Station City Council.

The CIP Citizen Advisory Committee Members will work with the city staff and other committee members to evaluate the City's capital needs and then develop a prioritized list of projects. That list will be reviewed by the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) and will be presented to the City Council. The City Council will use that list along with P&Z's comments and financial information provided by the staff to develop ballot language for a General Obligation (GO) Bond election that will be voted on by the Citizen's of College Station. Committee members will provide public support for and will promote the proposed bond issue in the time leading up to the election. The result of that vote will determine which projects will be funded for construction with GO bonds over the next five years.

Through a series of January public meetings the committee members and staff have been able to seek opinions of the general public before they begin their official deliberations and prioritization beginning on February 5, 2008.

The city has created a web site specifically dedicated to the 2008 Bond Election to allow residents to keep up with the process through reports, meetings, and an on-line survey for those unable to attend one of the meetings. To access the web site go to ../home/index.asp?page=2764.

Till Next Time,

Matt Ratcliffe
Team Leader
KWRBV