Breckenridge Texan

Breckenridge City Commissioners voted during their meeting Tuesday evening to allow City Manager Andy McCuistion to put out bids to sell the YMCA building in downtown Breckenridge, which the city owns.

In June, McCuistion took a group of people on a tour of the building. They were interested in purchasing the building and may have the ability to find or provide the funding and the resources to restore the building for historical purposes, he said. Some of them were also interested in putting a business inside the building, and McCuistion said he felt it would be good for the building to have a tenant in it.

During the tour, Breckenridge Fire Chief Calvin Chaney, who is the city building inspector, took the group through the building and showed them what problems the building has and what it will take to rehab building.

“He showed them all the warts on the building, all the problems with it and everything, so they would know it was going to cost a lot of money, a money pit,” McCuistion said. “But, if the community wanted to save it, this is what it would take to save it.”

He said that after the tour, one of the interested buyers dropped out but that Mike and Cassie Griffith said they would be willing to take the project on, find some partners and work with people in the community to restore the building.

Because the building is owned by the city, McCuistion said, they can’t just sell the building outright to anybody; they have to go through a bid process. He said he explained to the Griffiths that the city is going to advertise the building but is going to try and word the advertising so that whoever purchases it knows they have to restore it because that’s what the community wants.

“When we advertise that building, there may be other folks bid, but we’ll make sure everybody understands and knows what the requirement is,” McCuistion said. “They can’t just scrape the building off; they can’t just use part of it and leave the rest of it alone. We’ll try to word it so that if they buy it, this is what’s required of them.”

Communities in School Project
Commissioners also held the first reading of a resolution allowing the Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation to spend up to $27,500 for a project with the Breckenridge Independent School District and the Communities in Schools of the Big Country, a Texas non-profit corporation.

Virgil Moore, Executive Director of the Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation, discusses proposed funding for the Communities in Schools of the Big Country Project for a BISD Student Success Coach with Breckenridge city commissioners during their meeting, Tuesday, July 3. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The money would be used to partially fund a program provided by CIS to the BISD to provide a school-based Student Success Coach to help high school students improve school performance in the areas of attendance, academics and behavior.

According to Virgil Moore, Executive Director of the BEDC, the goal of the project is to graduate students who will either learn a trade or join the local workforce with the skillset and work ethic to make a difference to the well-being of Breckenridge.

Moore told commissioners that the students the program would target would be at-risk students who are less likely to have a support system at home or less likely to have anyone they can talk to who can help them solve problems they need to solve in order to successfully work their way through the high school program.

“The EDC looked at this really as a opportunity. among other things. to help develop a skilled work force that are able to get jobs and be gainfully employed here in Breckenridge,” Moore said.

Anytime the BEDC spends more than $10,000, they are required to have permission from the city after two readings of the resolution. Commissioners will have a second reading of the resolution at a future commission meeting. The BEDC also will hold a Public Hearing on July 17.

Moore said the school district plans to raise the other half of the funds for the program. Also, he said if the school tax election scheduled for August passes, the district will be able to raise enough funds to pay for the entire program and will not need the funds from the BEDC. The BEDC funds will be used as backup funds in case the election does not pass.

Texas Gas Service rate increase suspended
Commissioners also voted to suspend a rate request by Texas Gas Service Company, giving the City of Breckenridge an additional 90 days to act on the rate request. TGS is requesting an increase, which will net an additional $1,042,179, raising the normal customer’s bill by $6.03 per month.

McCuistion told commissioners that the City of Breckenridge normally follows the lead of Mineral Wells and Weatherford because they are located in the same area and they have the resources, staff and expertise to evaluate the rates. He said those cities suspended the rate increase.

“The folks over at Mineral Wells and Weatherford will look at that and look at the kind of expenditures they are, and if they’re reasonable and there for infrastructural improvements and construction, they probably won’t have a problem with it,” McCuiston said. “They (TGS) probably are due some rate increase. Whether this is the right amount or not, we going to wait and see what Weatherford and Mineral Wells do.”

Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge City Commissioners voted during their meeting on Tuesday night to take bids for the sale of the YMCA building. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The YMCA building, located in downtown Breckenridge, is owned by the City of Breckenridge. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)