JUDGE’S COMMENTS
Talks have been ongoing for several months to trade 7 buildings in downtown Cameron for the former Central Texas Hospital building and convent.
This issue has been discussed in great detail at three separate commissioner court hearings in the past 30 days or so.
Last year Little River Health Care filed for bankruptcy and the property reverted to the banks in the county due to an outstanding debt owed to them.
The county owns several buildings in downtown Cameron that are used for office space, but the buildings are in need of extensive repairs.
So the trade/exchange makes a lot of sense.
The banks own a building they don’t need and the county is in need of building. I brought this up again during my talk show, but due to time constraints we didn’t get to take all the caller questions, so below are responses to some of the concerns I’ve heard:
Comment—If the county moves into the old hospital building, Cameron will never get another hospital.
Response—Cameron will probably never get another hospital regardless.
Little River filed for bankruptcy because the rural hospital business is not profitable.
At least 23 rural hospitals have recently closed in Texas, due in large part because Texas has not expanded Medicaid coverage.
Cameron is within 30 minutes of one of the best medical facilities in Texas.
Comment—If the county moves out of downtown Cameron, it will die.
Response—There is not much going on in downtown now.
The hope is that new businesses will come to downtown to buy the buildings. The banks plan to actively market the buildings.
There are substantial tax credits for new investors who want to put a new business in the old buildings.
So long as the county occupies the buildings there will be little growth in downtown.
Comment—Our taxes will go up to pay for the move.
Respose—No. No new county taxes will be levied for the move.
The plan is to borrow the money and it will be repaid in seven years.
This can be done as the jail and voting machine loans will soon be paid off and some of the debt service money will be used to pay for the renovation.
There are many obvious benefits for moving such as having all county offices under one roof.
Utility, IT and phone savings and employee security. are a few.
If you would like to see all of the details, enter the address below to view the power point presentation that was made during commissioners court last week.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z217cmsbrv3skh2/ A A ArMWpTabY5zvO4kL6aaPlUa?dl=0.
Also see story on page 2A of this week’s Reporter.
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