Trustees, awaiting buy offer,
by Nick Nance, managing editor

    Contract approval was the primary act of business in last month’s TCC Board of Trustees meeting.

   However, the recent developments in the sale of the May Owen Center were the real question.

   The board approved contracts for re-roofing projects on NW Campus.

   Also approved was a contract for the building of a new pool on South Campus.

   After these approvals, the board went into a closed meeting to discuss real estate.

   “There is no memo of understanding at this time,” Dr. David Wells, Provost Community Campus, said.

   “However there has been an agreement in principal reached between the district and the city,” he said.

   Fort Worth plans to build a 600-room convention hotel on the land that currently houses the district’s central offices.

   The agreement establishes the price of the sale.

   “This is a beginning agreement between the City of Fort Worth and the TCC District,” Bill Lace, executive assistant to the chancellor, said.

   The indications are the City of Fort Worth is extremely interested in purchasing the May Owen Center, Lace said.

   The proposal is not a contract but is intended to set forth the terms of any future contracts between the college district and the city.

   According to sources, the district could possibly receive the formal proposal this month.

   The board has authorized Dr Leonardo de La Garza, chancellor, and Dr. Ardis Bell, board president, to approve and/or sign any agreements with the city involving the sale of the May Owen Center.

   There is no timetable for when a sale date may take place. However, the process is reportedly moving along quickly.

   “We would move no earlier than March,” Lace said.

   “If we do not move in March we would move after the semester was over in June. When we move will depend on the workload of the accounting, human resources and records departments,” he said.

   However, a group of Fort Worth citizens could delay the move by a few months.

   The Let Us Vote community action group has less than a week to collect the remaining signatures required to force a vote on spending the money for the hotel.

   At press time, the group had collected just over 10,000 of the 12,000 signatures needed.

   Anyone wanting additional information about the petition can call Citizens for Taxpayer Rights at 817-335-5773. One can also visit the group’s Web site at www.letusvoteftworth.org.

   The requested election would let voters decide the future of the proposed $160 million convention center hotel project.

   Also, no action involving the hotel occurred at the most recent Fort Worth City Council meeting.

   The next board meeting will be Thursday, Dec. 12, for a special session to receive the outside audit report.