Small Town News

ACC will bring economic boost

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OF CABBAGES AND KINGS

ln just five weeks, local voters will I decide whether they want to build A a community college within a few miles of Buda and Kyle. It's time to engage in some serious talk about the merits of the proposal.

In a letter to the editor last week, former Hays CISD Board President Bryce Bales outlined his opposition to joining the Austin Community College District and the construction of a branch school on FM 1626 to serve the needs of citizens who reside in our county's largest school district.

Bryce was a hard working, energetic and thoughtful leader on our school board during the formative years while the HCISD was doubling and tripling in enrollment.

I strongly disagree with Bryce and others, though, who oppose the inclusion of our fast growing school district into the ACC system. The new ACC school which opened in Round Rock this year has attracted more than 4,000 students - considerably more than anticipated. It's already an economic boost to that community. Voters there embraced the merger by nearly a 60-40 percent margin.

A "yes" vote for joining Hays with the ACC district will bring a college campus to FM 1626 about half-way between our towns. And, ACC has purchased nearly 100 acres at the intersection on Kohler's Crossing.

Motivation for the election is the result of petitions signed by thousands who like the idea of having a respected community college built in our midst. Led by a group of community leaders, including banker Terry Mazurek of Buda and businessman Vince Collier of Kyle, scores of Hays parents and voting age college students signed petitions seeking consolidation of the Kyle-Buda area into the ACC district. Chamber of Commerce support has been virtually unanimous and scores of families, whose children now attend one of the Austin campuses, support the consolidation.

A big influence in support for ACC is the location of Seton Hospital in Kyle, a spectacular addition to the quality of life here. We've now got the best hospital in Hays County no ifs, ands or buts.

After almost a year of operation, Seton has proven to be the biggest asset to our area since Kyle and Buda folks decided 40 plus years ago to bury their animosities and consolidate two struggling school districts into a top notch system.

In the last year we have welcomed the addition of many new doctors with many different specialties. An extra bonus has been technicians, nurses and support staff who have added depth and talent to our communities.

Through the past year we have discovered that these new citizens are generally well paid and great assets to our area, particular those who bought or rented homes and became part of our inner core. Their talent and commitment to this area have provided an added, unexpected economic boost to both Buda and Kyle.

A surprising number of these newcomers are graduates of community colleges; their income level is considerably higher than that of many of our younger citizens who have entered honorable but less well paid trades.

Quite frankly, they are icing on the cake that is already pretty tasty.

Local folks who specialize in the dispensation of gloom warn that the Travis County college district folks want to engulf us solely for economic gain. That's not true. A good "deal" is, of course, beneficial to both sides, perhaps, but I am convinced our communities will be the biggest winners if this merger is approved.

Economically, this area has had a good 10 year run of growth in population and new businesses, before the recent downturn. The county road bond that passed two years ago, largely on the votes of residents of the IH-35 corridor, have greatly improved our traffic problems and as soon as the state gets its act together, large improvements on FM 1626 will be enacted.

We have, through close cooperation with county and state government, decreased our mobility problems. A broader spectrum of folks, including an overwhelming majority of chamber of commerce members and business leaders, see similar educational improvements on our part in this merger, plus lower tuition rates for attending a locally based community college.

If we vote yes on this matter we will get a branch of the college located in all of our backyards. Senior citizens will pay little or no taxes for the school, since the first $105,000 of a home will be exempt from the community college tax, which will be slightly more than 9 cents (the same as we all pay for the separate fire and EMS district).

A campus within a few miles of our population center will be a bigger economic boost than a dozen big box stores can provide. Commercial and residential areas within a sizeable radius will see boosts in the valuation of their properties, and that sort of activity raises all ships.

There are some folks among us who have given up on our collective ability to continue to improve the quality of life for our citizens. I am convinced a majority of us in this minute section of the globe don't subscribe to that viewpoint.

It's a win-win situation. Vote YES on the proposal to build a community college within Hays CISD.



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© 2010 The Free Press Buda, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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