Published Wednesday, September 08, 2010 12:03 AM

City of Bryan's ban on K2, salvia is official

By CASSIE SMITH
cassie.smith@theeagle.com

The city of Bryan's ban of K2 and salvia will go into effect Saturday after the City Council voted unanimously to outlaw the substances.

A city ordinance approved Tuesday makes it a misdemeanor to use, buy, sell, offer for sale, possess, inhale, ingest or otherwise introduce the marijuana-like substances into the body.

Though the first reading of the ordinance last month drew protesters and a group of people who spoke against the measure, Tuesday's meeting included no visible opposition.

College Station city leaders have enacted a similar ban on both substances.

Officials with both cities have said the two substances pose a risk to public health, safety and welfare. Both city ordinances may be eclipsed by state or federal regulation.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, the City Council:

* Approved the first reading of the fiscal year 2011 budget and tax rate.

The proposed tax rate is 63.64 cents per $100 property valuation, which means an owner of a Bryan home assessed at $100,000 will pay $636.40 in annual city taxes. The rate has been the same for the past nine years.

Officials have said the budget includes revenues of more than $41.6 million and more than $52.7 million in expenditures. The difference comes from a separate category that includes almost $11.5 million in funding transfers from revenue-generating departments and right-of-way permits, leaving a net of almost $400,000.

The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

"This was a very tough budget process," Mayor Jason Bienski said, adding that he was proud of city staff members and elected officials for maintaining the same tax rate.

* Approved an extension of an existing agreement for a Dublin, Ohio-based company to provide medical and pharmaceutical supplies to the city.

City officials said they determined the bid from Bound Tree LLC to be the best value of five offers to supply emergency medical supplies to the fire department. The one-year extension was worth $388,000.

* Decided to allow Bryan Commerce and Development, the economic development arm of the City Council, to extend its agreement with Compass Bank for up to three years to pay off a loan worth almost $1.9 million.

City officials said the loan is for property owned by Bryan Commerce and Development that is being held for future development on the west side of the city near the Health Science Center. Extending the loan gives the city more time to identify an appropriate use or uses for the property, officials said.

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