Voters Will Get Their Say On Proposed Expo Center

Editor

In a surprising turn of events, the Canton City Council unanimously voted in favor of giving registered voters of the city a voice in whether or not they want the proposed expo center.

People were standing outside city hall and the streets were even blocked as the special called meeting got under way Tuesday afternoon to hear a presentation by mayor Rusty Wilson and to voice their opinions on the expo center project.

Wilson gave a PowerPoint presentation about the expo center and explained it would be a heated/cooled 2,000 seat arena, with a second covered arena available outside, 400 stalls available, food service rooms and meeting rooms, as well as RV hookups.

He explained it would be used for multiple activities including rodeos, equestrian events, concerts, high level sales, cattle sales, community events, etc.

Estimated cost is $6 million and the estimated interest rate is 4.25 percent over a 30 year period.

"That is an estimate of about $400,000 annually to pay the debt service off," Wilson explained.

"The CEDC (Canton Economic Development Corporation) will be the ones paying this. It will be an intergovernmental agreement, where the CEDC will be making these payments," Wilson said.

He further explained the CEDC money must be used for economic infrastructure.

"If we don’t do some things to separate ourselves from First Monday a little bit…we are going to find ourselves in a world of hurt as we go forward," Wilson said.

He explained the city recently had a study done by TEEX (Texas Extension Education Service) and were given a low level and high level of attendance.

Wilson said on the lowest attendance level the biggest number where the city will make the money is in hotel and motel tax.

"That number is going to be $373,402 on the hotel/motel tax which is 13 percent which we get seven percent of," Wilson said. "The total retail sales are an additional $56,000….So if you are looking at the bottom end number, you are looking at $429,000 of additional revenue coming into the city."

Wilson said the estimated high attendance number would have to be built four or five years down the road, with additional motels.

The projected income was estimated to be approximately $955,000; operational expense was estimated at approximately $1.1 or $1.2 million with a shortfall of $225,000.

As many as 12 people signed up to speak both for and against the proposed project, many people asked questions, and among those signed up to address the council was Ron Perkins who presented them with a petition.

Van resident Gary Bonner an equestrian drill team leader and events organizer said if the proposed expo center is built, he has proposed to hold at least 25 events per year in the facility.

Those events, Bonner explained, includes livestock and educational events, youth rodeos, open livestock shows, 4-H shows, barrel racing, bull riding, religious events, etc.

"These and other events will make an economic impact of millions of dollars on an annual basis and bring more jobs to Canton and that is what it’s all about," Bonner said.

Glenn Thompson, a Canton resident since 1983, also spoke in favor of the center.

"I feel like something like this is needed," Thompson said. "…In many ways I feel First Monday has deteriorated and we’ve got to do something…Certainly there are two opinions…But I believe we have to move forward."

Cary Hilliard spoke in opposition of the center.

"I started talking to my neighbors…overall I collected almost 160 signatures asking for an election, five people told me no, and almost 155 signed the petition. The petition simply asks for an election," Cary Hilliard said. "If this is as good as you say it is then it ought to pass, once you educate the people about the issue, but it ought to be placed before the people."

Lou Ann Everett also expressed her concerns to the council asking questions about the contractor and would he be using illegal aliens, and would he be using local suppliers?

"This is a long term indebtedness, 30 years, let’s face it most of us will be dead by the time it is paid off. This is a very serious thing to pass on to our grandchildren, and that scares me that this has come down to five people," Everett said.

Resident Candice Benson said, "I have nothing against the city of Canton making money, I just don’t believe the information available shows the expo center as a feasible concept."

Benson then pointed out other well established centers and asked how Canton’s center could compare.

"What kind of events are we going to have come to Canton?" Benson asked.

She pointed out that because Van Zandt County is a "dry county" that is a major factor that could hold people back from attending events.

Johnny Blevins, owner of Splash Kingdom Water Park, said about 100,000 people come through the water park annually and many are visitors from outside the county.

Blevins said that is about a $20 million impact for the city.

"Growth is where Canton is going," Blevins said. "…You can’t run that size of a facility off of just Canton people. We would expect a huge percent of dollars to come out of other counties and those people are coming out enjoying our facility and spending their money in our town and going back to where they came from."

Resident Jaime Anders expressed her concerns as to the low number of jobs it would produce, and the fact that the 30 year mortgage would plague the future residents.

Perkins then presented the council with a 560-signature petition, which he said 17 people were in charge of getting names for in two weeks.

Perkins said 48 people called him on the telephone to discuss their concerns about the city, and that many people said they didn’t attend council meetings because they couldn’t hear and because of the seating.

The other issue brought up was notifying the public of upcoming meetings.

Cary Hilliard asked what the opinion was of each council member on the issue after hearing from the concerned citizens who signed up to speak.

"If your petition is valid and I suspect that it is, and you have the proper number of signatures, then I feel like we should have an election," council member Ron Sanford said.

Council member Elaine Seymore thanked everyone for coming and said she wished they had the same attendance at their regular monthly meetings.

"This has been going on for over a year, and my concern is why are we just now hearing this in this magnitude from you," Gothard said. "It is your responsibility as a citizen to come up here, and of course express your opinion and ask questions."

"I still think Canton needs to grow. I am a supporter of the expo center," Gothard said.

Jim Fuller said, "This situation has become so toxic. Everybody is looking at everybody like we are a bunch of criminals up here, we certainly are not."

Council member Fuller said he didn’t know if he changed his mind or not on the decision, but appreciated the interest of the citizens.

"As a business owner in town I see the most hesitant thing in people is the risk factor," council member Kevin Deibert said. "Risk is a part of everyday life of a business owner."

Deibert said the council have poured over numbers and even decided to get one more study by an outside source to make sure they were making the right decision for the city.

"To say am I for it, do I want to see the citizens vote? My problem with that is there was so much misinformation from what I gathered, when people went talking to people," Deibert said.

Perkins said he went out with some of the people who were collecting signatures and that was not true.

"At this point I prefer something like a hospital," council member William F. Hilliard said. "But we need to unify this community and we need to learn to agree to disagree."

In a press release from the city following the meeting Tuesday night it states that, "…Before accepting public input, Mayor Rusty Wilson reviewed the process and information gathered over the past year by the expo committee, the Canton Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) and the city council. Following visits to multiple existing arenas around Texas and internal efforts to determine feasibility, the CEDC and the city council engaged TEEX, a research organization associated with the Texas A&M University, to complete a feasibility study. The results of the study indicated the following:

-The equestrian industry is a growing industry. Tapping into this industry provides the host community (Canton) opportunity to create a substantial financial impact on the community. The Canton Expo Center can accommodate cattle and other livestock, and can be used for entertainment and community events as well.

-Equestrian based facilities are uniquely qualified to allow for the greatest economic impact of any publicly owned event facility due primarily to the length of time the participants spend in the community. Some events last up to seven days with an average stay of three days.

-Based on research and analysis, Canton can conservatively expect between 82,000 and 138,000 people to utilize the expo facility annually. This traffic in the community can be expected to generate between $15,000,000 and $25,000,000 in economic impact each year.

-Canton can expect to experience an annual operating loss on the facility, but the revenue generated by the economic impact will more than offset any losses."

The press release went on to state that, "funding for the construction of the Canton Expo Center will be provided by CEDC sales taxes, not property taxes. CEDC funds can only be used for economic development, not for normal maintenance of streets, water lines or sewer lines."

According to a press release from the city, "Prior to tonight’s (Tuesday’s) meeting, only two people over the past year had expressed opposition to the project."

Wilson explained according to documentation from the secretary of state, in order for the petition to be valid the city has to have 90 legitimate signatures of registered voters in the city limits of Canton and they have to have their signature and either their date of birth or voter registration number to make the petition stick.

However, the petition was determined to be invalid.

Among individual items for consideration was the adoption of ordinance authorizing the issuance of city of Canton combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation, series 2008, and other matters related thereto.

Council member William F. Hilliard made the motion against accepting the ordinance, and Sanford seconded the motion to deny the authorization. All members voted in favor of denying the ordinance.

"I’m going to tell everybody out here what these people just did," Wilson said. "They listened to you. This petition that was signed was not valid. By the laws of the state of the Texas it was not a valid petition, but we listened to you."

Wilson challenged everyone to attend future council meetings.

Following the meeting Wilson said, "I think our democratic process works. It does exactly what it is supposed to do and this is what happens."