The Brownwood High School Future Farmers of America Ag Issues Team gave a presentation at the Brownwood City Council which discussed the issues of the Willis Creek Channelization project. The presentation served as practice for upcoming competition and gave the team points toward their portfolio score in the competition.
Pros and cons of the project were addressed by students James Nash, Jon Tobias, Marissa Blincoe, Cooper Donathan and Caden Judkins.Blincoe served as a narrator, introducing the presentation and summarizing what each of the speakers presented.
Nash and Tobias represented the pros of the projects. They discussed how the channelization project would help all but 60 of the 400 plus homes in the flood plain after the recent remapping by FEMA to be removed from the flood plain, which would in turn protect resale-ability and values of the homes in the current designated flood plain area, valued at approximately $87 million. This in turn would help the economy and local families. They also spoke of the federal grant monies the community would gain through the construction of the project.
Donathan and Judkins represented the cons of the project. They spoke of the destruction of the natural environment around the creek, the negative return on investment when considering the approximately $12.5 cost of the project verses tax revenue and property value losses.
Both sides of the controversial project were represented in a balanced manner, leaving the audience to draw their own conclusion while being left much more informed of the project.
The Ag Issues Team is led by Brownwood High School Ag teacher Chelsea Wilson. The team will compete at district on Monday, November 17th. Advancing teams will compete at area on Saturday, November 15th and at state in December.
