The Brownwood City Council met on Tuesday morning to consider giving economic development incentives to Ranger College which opened a campus in Brown County earlier this year.
The request was approved late last month through the Brownwood Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) and was presented to council members in today’s meeting looking for ratification.
BEDC Executive Director James Campbell presented city council with the request which would be a two part incentive. The first part is for $10,000 per month to be paid to Ranger College for administrative support in the first year of operations. This incentive would be in effect from September 1st, 2009 until August 31st, 2010. The second incentive is for an additional $35,152.74 to pay for online registration software.
Some concerns about such an incentive were quickly voiced from some members of the city council related to conflicts with Howard Payne University.
Councilman Carl McMillan said, “I have been a part of meetings and listened to the dialogue, but I can’t see how this does not conflict with Howard Payne and their possible program offering.”
Campbell said, “We know that many of our students who graduate from our Brown County High Schools attend community colleges after they graduate. There was not a community college presence of any significance in Brown County up until this year.”
Campbell went on to say that many of these potential students seeking a community college environment would have to travel out of the area to further their education.
McMillan replied, “I am dubious to anything that conflicts with an institution that means so much to Brownwood.”
Councilman Jerry DeHay expressed the importance of an articulation agreement between Ranger College and Howard Payne University. Campbell indicated that Ranger had submitted a proposed agreement to Howard Payne, but he did not know the status of it.
DeHay also said, “The existence of Howard Payne is a very valuable asset that we need to be sure and protect.”
To contrast, Councilman Darrell Haynes said, “I am a big supporter of Howard Payne, but I think there is another group that we have to address here, and that is the students and citizens of Brown County who have not been afforded the opportunity to use a junior college.”
Howard Payne University’s President Bill Ellis was in attendance and was asked by Mayor Bert Massey to chime in with his comments.
“I am not in favor of this. The question that I think needs to be understood is that this is a way of funding Ranger until they can be in a position to make Brown County a taxing district,” Ellis said. “They are inescapably a direct competitor with Howard Payne.”
Mayor Bert Massey made his opinion known as well. “I believe they (Ranger) want to genuinely be a partner in higher education,” Massey said. “I think we need what Ranger can bring to the community and I think if it is handled properly, it could be a benefit to Howard Payne.”
With no more discussion, the council’s vote was a 2 to 2 tie with Mayor Massey casting the deciding vote in favor of the incentives. Councilman Dave Fair was absent.
Ranger College opened its doors in Brown County earlier this year so it could provide educational services to the county. By legislation, Brown County is in Ranger College’s service area along with Comanche, Erath, Young, and part of Eastland County. Ranger is remodeling 16,000 sq. ft, of space in Heartland Mall where it is conducting its classes.
