Council not ready to sign lease with Chamber
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

An El Campo Chamber of Commerce request to sublease its office space was stalled Monday night when the City Council tabled a discussion on whether it would formalize a lease on the East Jackson street building.

Although the Chamber has called the city-owned building home for decades, no formal lease agreement exists.

The Chamber had been proposing a 20-year lease for $1 based on its non-profit status and efforts to promote the city. With that lease, the chamber is still asking the city to handle all major building repairs.

Currently the building has an issue with a leaky roof, Chamber President Becca Socha said, adding about three years ago the city spent $23,000 on roof repairs.

"Anytime you have a flat roof you are going to have issues," she told Council.

Instead Councilwoman Gloria Harris called for the city to get out of the leasing business, calling for the building to be sold.

Since a possible sale was not on Monday's agenda, Mayor Phillip Spenrath called for the creation of a committee to review the merits of a lease or sale of the property.

Spenrath along with councilmen Ed Erwin and Anthony Collins will review the situation with City Manager John Steelman and City Attorney Ronny Collins.

The goal is to bring the item back before Council as quickly as possible - possibly on the second January meeting.

The city needs to act quickly, Attorney Collins said, to let the Chamber know if they can proceed with a sub-lease, consider buying the facility or start looking for a new home.

The Chamber's home is the former clinic of Dr. E.A. Weinheimer, given to the city to house his collection of trophy mounts.

The Chamber, formerly located where the police department stands, moved in to front the museum.

Later, the museum moved to the El Campo Civic Center shortly after it opened in 1989.

In 1993, El Campo City Council created the City Development Corp., its industrial development arm.

The CDC moved into the East Jackson building with the Chamber, sharing a portion of the cost for utilities, copier lease and the like.

Late last year, the CDC relocated to the Northside Center leaving the Chamber essentially on its own.

Since the trophy mounts are now housed at the museum, the city is free to sell the building should it choose to, Collins said, adding he would research whether any measures could be taken to assist the Chamber.