Lone Star College System bond projects

After the Nov. 4 passage of the $485 million bond referendum, Lone Star College officials are moving forward with plans to carry out several enhancements at system campuses and are setting the stage to debut a new Magnolia Center within the next few years.



Ray Laughter, LSCS vice chancellor for external affairs, said the system has seen an estimated 68 percent enrollment increase—from 49,253 students to 82,818 students—since 2007. The substantial surge in the student population required a need for systemwide improvements to renovate existing facilities and construct new workforce, instructional and student services buildings as well as improve technology and security features, he said.



"One of the things that we really keep an eye on is to make sure that we've got a square footage projection that will keep in line with our enrollment projection," Laughter said. "If you get enrollment growing so much more rapidly than facilities can accommodate, we'll get behind schedule. We think this [bond package] will get us ahead a little bit, so we don't have to go out for another bond [for at least] six or seven years."



LSC–Tomball improvements



With the passage of the bond election, six new projects totaling $35.4 million are on the horizon for LSC–Tomball to be carried out in three phases over the next five years, said Ronnie Pickard, executive director of college relations for LSC–Tomball.



From January 2015 to December 2016, Phase 1 of the bond project rollout consists of the planning, design and construction periods for a 20,000-square-foot third floor build-out of the health and science building, Pickard said.



The build-out of the health and science building is expected to add new classrooms and labs and enable more students to enroll in popular programs, Pickard said. Slots for the limited-size course offerings, such as nursing as well as pharmacy technician and veterinary technician programs tend to fill quickly, and wait lists are often maintained, he said.



"The physical aspect has been the limitation [of students per program] and the frequency of course offerings," Pickard said. "[The build-out] will be a tremendous enhancement to nursing and science programs in that respect."



In addition, Phase 1 includes the construction of a new 15,000-square-foot drilling rig training center to be located off-site in the Tomball area and serve as a shared resource throughout the system for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and engineering technology, Pickard said.



No projects are slated for construction in Phase 2 from July 2016–June 2018.



"Student enrollment increases [across the system] are projected somewhere between 4–6 percent in the next two years. It's kind of the chicken and the egg [scenario]—if you build it, they will come." —Ronnie Pickard, executive director of college relations for LSC–Tomball



In Phase 3 from January 2018–December 2019, construction is scheduled to begin on the remaining Tomball campus bond projects, Pickard said. These improvements include a 40,000-square-foot student services building, 21,000-square-foot existing facilities renovation project, 3,000-square-foot central plant expansion and the addition of 300 parking spaces, he said.



The student services building is expected to create a centralized location for financial aid, advising, recruiting, registration and other functions, and the existing facilities renovation will create new computer areas, labs and research facilities, Pickard said.



"Student enrollment increases [across the system] are projected somewhere between 4–6 percent in the next two years," Pickard said. "It's kind of the chicken and the egg [scenario]—if you build it, they will come. With the statistics and the way some of the data is projecting, there is a present-day need to build these facilities so that we can accommodate [a student enrollment increase] in the next year and years following after."



Magnolia Center plans



Steve Scheffler, dean of college relations for LSC–Montgomery, helped assemble a community advisory group in December of about 20 Magnolia officials and business leaders from a variety of entities, such as Magnolia ISD and the city's two chamber of commerce organizations. The group will meet periodically this spring to offer input and develop plans for the course offerings and workforce programs at the new Magnolia Center, he said.



"We have a short list of sites, and we are finalizing that location to find the perfect site for our Magnolia Center," said Deborah Rose Miller, MISD president and member of the advisory group. "Basically what we're looking for is a spot that is centrally located for Magnolia residents and accessible off of one of our major arteries, including the FM 1774, FM 1488 or FM 1486 [corridors]."



The bond accounts for an estimated $23 million–$25 million in construction costs for the 65,000-square-foot Magnolia Center, Scheffler said. Overseen by the LSC-Montgomery campus, the high-priority Magnolia Center is expected to be modeled after the 3,200-student capacity Conroe Center on a smaller scale and will hold about 2,500–2,800 students, he said.



"When we created the new Conroe Center, we formed a community advisory group," Scheffler said. "We'll use input from [the community survey] as well as the advisory group and our own data as far as occupational or workforce training needs. We'll put together what kinds of classes and programs the center will offer."



Construction began on the Conroe Center in 2010, and the center opened to students in January 2011. Scheffler said he anticipates a similar timeline for the construction of the Magnolia Center. A final site for the new facility is likely to be selected by March, design plans could be ironed out this fall or winter, and the target opening date of the center could be as early as fall 2016, Miller said.



"This is a game changer. [The Magnolia Center is] going to impact our students and our programs that we're offering and take them to a higher level," Miller said. "It's going to have so many different aspects for our businesses, our residents and our community as a whole."



As the first higher education facility in Magnolia, the construction of the center will attract businesses to the area, create new jobs and positively affect the local economy, Magnolia City Councilwoman Anne Sundquist said. Sundquist is also a board member with the Magnolia Economic Development Corporation, an entity that helps recruit businesses and jobs to the area.



"I think we are continuing to see the demographics constantly changing right now in our area," Sundquist said. "We have so much going on, and we have more than doubled the size of the city's square mileage in the area [since 2011]. Certainly having a Magnolia Center here will continue to make that [a positive addition to] the community."



Bond election turnout



Laughter said the system was able to draw voter support for the Nov. 4 bond package with an emphasis on workforce training programs, ramped-up outreach efforts and more than 100 community presentations over a three-month period last fall.



"I think we were able to really put together a package with the bond that resonated with the voters to get a huge turnout with the [Nov. 4] election." —Ray Laughter, LSCS vice chancellor for external affairs



An estimated 65 percent of voters in Harris, Montgomery and San Jacinto counties supported the Nov. 4 bond package. In May 2013, the system's $497.7 million bond referendum failed to garner enough support with just 44.4 percent of the overall vote. The May 2013 bond was approved by 53 percent of Harris County voters but was denied by 71 percent of Montgomery County voters.



"I think we were able to really put together a package with the bond that resonated with the voters to get a huge turnout with the [Nov. 4] election," Laughter said. "Every election is different. With the May [2013] election, 19,000 voters is so different than the November election with 270,000 voters. It was a good election for us."



Laughter said system officials made a more concerted effort to meet with a variety of community leaders and residents, including Texas Patriots political action committee officials, who did not support the previous referendum, to increase awareness of the bond.



Rather than raising the property tax rate, Laughter said LSCS officials are committed to financing the bond projects through overall property tax revenue increases and bond sales. The LSCS board of trustees approved a 6.8 percent decrease in the property tax rate Sept. 4 from 11.6 cents per $100 valuation to 10.81 cents.



"We happen to be in a very rapidly growing area [with] highway projects and construction projects—people [are] moving in by the hundreds every day in our area," Laughter said. "We have to keep up with that demand. We've added over 30,000 students in seven years. Access is the key in this particular bond."