Monthly meetings for Lone Star College’s board of trustees will now be held earlier in the day and move from The Woodlands to north Houston—with about $987,500 in renovations planned for the new meeting room—after the board approved the changes Sept. 5.

Long story short

Hurricane Beryl—which swept through the Greater Houston area on July 8—left the LSC board of trustees’ regular meeting room at the LSC College System Office in The Woodlands with tree damage, Chancellor Mario Castillo said during an Aug. 1 meeting. On Sept. 5, trustees approved a maximum of about $987,500 in work for revamping a new meeting room at LSC-University Park.

“We have to be mindful and think about not just the college ... I guarantee we have more community here in Harris County,” trustee Iesheia Wilson said. “This location is a centralized location.”

According to Sept. 5 meeting documents, the LSC-UP board room project will include:

• Additional furniture and technology
• Modifications—including a stage—that allow the room to also be used for community events, meetings or performances

Trustees were also presented project options priced at a maximum of $697,986 or a maximum of $1.62 million, but these options were not selected.

Those opposed

Multiple trustees opposed the renovation of the LSC-UP board room, including board Chair Michael Stoma.

“I had to put my trustee hat on and ask myself, ‘Is this good ... for the students, for the taxpayers, for the faculty, for the staff, for the institution as a whole, to take ... this money and spend it on this effort, which gives no benefits to anyone but the board?,’ and I just couldn't get past that,” Stoma said.

Related highlights

Trustees also voted to hold the board’s future monthly meetings at 10:30 a.m. instead of 5 p.m.