After a failed 2016 bond proposal, Alvin Community College officials have presented a $48.5 million bond to be voted on in the Nov. 7 election. The ACC board of regents created a panel made up of taxpayers to discuss what 2017 bond should include. In the final proposal, the 2017 bond would increase the college’s tax rate by $0.03 per $100 valuation, Albrecht said. “We spoke with the voters who told us they would support a bond only if it made improvements and additions to the Alvin campus,” ACC President Dr. Christal Albrecht said. Once an item is added to the ballot, it cannot be removed. The ACC 2017 bond was added to a ballot before Hurricane Harvey hit, meaning that even the college would be unable to remove it, regardless of the circumstances, said John Tomkins, communications coordinator at ACC. “Once an issue is on the ballot, it cannot be changed,” Tompkins said. “We have a plan we put together. It was put on the [ballot] before Harvey. We are certainly being very sensitive to the needs of the community.” The 2016 bond featured the creation of a west campus near Hwy. 288 to accommodate the portion of the student population the college serves near there. However, the west campus is not included in the 2017 bond. “The population growth is on the [Hwy.] 288 corridor, and there is a need to service students there, so what we did instead is [offer classes] at Shadow Creek High School,” Albrecht said. The 2017 bond focuses on three things: improvements to safety, updated infrastructure and the creation of a new career-focused technical center. “To protect our students and staff, the bond will fund card access for our facilities, improve lighting around campus and install emergency phones,” Albrecht said. “It will also overhaul our infrastructure, replacing aging pipes and electrical systems, HVAC, repairing deteriorating sidewalks and more. The career-focused technical and academic building will also enable us to offer more job training.” The technical and academic building will replace the campus’s existing Building G, which will be demolished as part of the bond as well. “Part of the reason is that the building was built 55 years ago and does not support the technology that we are using in today’s classrooms,” Albrecht said. “For example, it cannot get a phone signal [and] has asbestos floors … it would just cost less to start over.” The new career and technical center will host the classes that were housed in Building G, including the college’s process tech program, welding, pipe fitting, industrial design and truck driving. “We would also have space to allow us to offer new programs that are high demand, high wage jobs, including cyber security, logistics and supply chain,” Albrecht said. “We have done research that [shows] these would be great jobs for our area.” Voter registration ends on October 10. Early voting is from October 23 through November 3.