TEEX-CS 8911234A
~ovembe¢ 23, 1989
The Metrc rest News
1430 Valwood Parkway Suite 125 243-0194
Established 1948
E: Rodger trainer
di
Judy Terry
GENERAL MANAGER
Kirk Yancey
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Texas A&M project
just be too big
Major educational institu-
tions are among a handful of
the most inflation-proof and re-
cession-proof economic bases a
community can hope to attract.
That's why Coppell has tried
so hard to set up a package --
land and capital to build -- for
Texas A&M University's pro-
posed extension program in en-
gineering for North Texas.
To gain that site in its midst
w0~uld assure that Coppell
wc~uld also attract hotels and.
restaurants to house and feed
th~ continuing education cli-
ents of thc university as they
rotaLe through course cycles on
the campus. Fluctuations in the
re~ional and state economies
would have little effect on the
prosperity of those parts of the
community with good ties to
the A&M program.
For all its merit, however,
the TEEX project cannot be al-
lowed to hold the community
hostage to a commitment it
simply can't afford. So far,
about $500,000 has been eom-
mitted to the community's $1.9
million share ot the TEEX pro-
ect. That doesn't count tax
concessions from city and
school authorities for the land
~round the proposed TEE~C site
.- concessions given in partial
repayment to Baptist Founda-
tion of Texas for providing land
lot the campus. The remaining
$1~4 million the community
mfist raise in order to get Tex-
ss 'A&M to agree to use the site
has been tough to find. After an
lniiial flurry of success finding
gifts and pledges for the A&M
)roject, fundralsers have had a
long spell of small progress.'
Mqney is tight and it's difficult
to identify and tap those donors
who would stand to benefit
most eventually from the Cop-
pell location.
In many respects, the project
is holding the city hostage. The
latest appeal is for a capital
bond investment by city tax-
payers to round out the com-
munity's total investment in
constructing the extension pro-
gram facility. The promise that
the city will get its investment
back is a good one, although
the burden of repayment will
be on residential taxpayers, for
the most part. That sector will
also be the one waiting longest
for any kind of payback from
the TEEX project.
Plenty of good ideas come
and go -- in life, business and
society -- for want of adequate
resources to give them sub-
stance. The Texas A&M project
may be one of those. It certain-
ly would be a boon for the com-
munity, but it must be a
feasible financial undertaking
for the community, also. Most
people have seen great invest-
ment opportunities slip away
simply because they lacked the
means to get involved. That
may be what the extension pro-
ject really offers Coppell: a big-
ger investment than the
community can manage.
More good opportunities are
turning Up all the time, and the
fact that Coppell has been a se-
rious bidder in the Texas A&M
deal suggests that new pros-
pects will be found and that
achievable projects will be
had. '
If this one gets away, It won't
be for tack of trying. But it
takes the same kind of courage
to acknowledge our limitations
as it requires to meet our big-
gest challenges.