CDC board OKs move to Northside
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

L-N File Photo New Tenants The City Development Corp. of El Campo has accepted an offer to move into the Northside Education Center, shown here. In exchange for free rent, the CDC will ensure doors are open during weekday business hours and answer and route NEC phone calls.

The City Development Corp. of El Campo has made it official: As of Nov. 1, if all goes as planned, it will move into the Northside Education Center.

During Tuesday's special meeting, CDC directors accepted an agreement with the center to move in for six months starting Nov. 1, and renew that contract if things go well.

CDC and the Northside have complimentary missions - one creating jobs and the other training workers. Moving to the center rent-free comes in exchange for CDC staff answering phones and opening the building during regular weekday hours.

The distance-learning center, opened on the refurbished grounds of the original El Campo High School at 707 Fahrenthold, is home to several adult education programs. The CDC gives $30,000 per year to the center to help workers land good jobs, hone their office and customer service skills, and brush up on computer programs.

The CDC currently shares space with the El Campo Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture in a city-owned building at Washington and East Jackson streets. That costs the CDC an average of $682 per month for its share of utilities.

Chamber President Becca Socha told the board the Chamber "can't afford to go six months without that income."

But CDC board members, who want to be able to move back into their Chamber offices should things not work out at Northside, were willing to pay to have that option, a move that also helps the Chamber.

"I don't want to put the Chamber in a bind," said CDC director Bobby Perez. "That's the last thing I want to do."

Director J.J. Croix moved to pay the Chamber $600 per month for an option to hold the CDC's space for six months. That motion, and the motion agreeing to move to Northside both passed unanimously with director Randy Collins absent.

Socha and CDC trustees agreed the Chamber can begin to try to rent out the CDC's space immediately, and should a tenant arise, all felt the CDC would know by then if things were going to work out at the CDC's new home.

"I think we've shown, Becca, that we want to be good neighbors," Croix said.

The board then tabled a request by the Chamber for the CDC to assume some of the costs of remodeling going on at Chamber headquarters. The exterior of the building has already been repainted, but upgrades are planned for the boardroom, which had been used regularly by both the CDC and the Chamber.

The CDC is a city-created entity funded by a quarter cent of the city's sales tax dollars to promote economic development.