The Lone Star College System is planning to build a new campus in the Village of Creekside Park in The Woodlands even though plans for the campus were seemingly scrapped after a May bond election failed.
The LSCS board of trustees voted in July to approve a $317 million budget for the 2013-14 year, a budget that includes $36.3 million for the new Creekside campus.
Laura Morris, associate vice chancellor for market and communication for LSCS, said the new 85,000-square-foot campus will be on West New Harmony Trail, west of Kuykendahl Road. She said construction could begin next fall.
The Creekside campus was initially part of a $497 million bond package brought to voters in a May bond election. Voters rejected the bond proposal, with 55.6 percent opposing the plan.
According to LSCS, the new Creekside campus will be funded by revenue bonds. Revenue bonds are bonds paid for by the revenue a facility or program generates through its user fees.
Kyle Scott, who opposed the bond and was voted into Position 2 on the LSCS board in May, also voted against the 2013-14 budget.
"I voted against the budget in its entirety because it did contain the revenue bonds," Scott said. "The argument is, if the voters had approved that project, and other projects, this would be nothing more than going against the will of the voters in May."
Scott said he did not know enough details regarding the demand for the facility or what types of classes will be offered.
"What we don't know is if there is a need for [the campus] or a demand for it," Scott said. "So while I understand the intuition that we need it, without hard data, I have a really tough time approving something that's not substantiated by hard data."
Trustee David Vogt voted in favor of the bond, and he said there is an increased demand for a campus in Creekside.
"We expect to see a lot of demand there," he said. "That is an area of growth for The Woodlands and also an area of growth for all of those other communities, and [the location of the campus] is real close to the ExxonMobil campus."
Vogt said the revenue generated will come from higher fees for business training. He said student fees will not be increased to pay for the bond.
According to LSCS, a higher demand for workforce training programs is also driving the need for the Creekside center.
"We do training for a lot of businesses," Vogt said. "We offer technical training for laboratories, and there is still a huge demand for welders."
Vogt said the costs incurred by corporate training will be used to pay down the bond money used to fund the campus.
"Specific programming for the Creekside Center has not been completed yet, and initial project funding will determine space design requirements based on programming needs, which are anticipated to be a mix of general academics and workforce programs," Morris said.
