Friday, August 29, 1997
Hamlin to seek $19 million TYC center
By BOB BRUCE / Abilene Reporter-News
HAMLIN -- Hamlin is trying to get a $19.5 million facility
from the Texas Youth Commission and is backed by a four-county
joint venture, Hamlin Mayor Earl Gregory said Thursday.
The facility would provide about 600 jobs ranging from $14,000
to $68,000, or an estimated $20 million annual payroll. It would
house juvenile offenders ranging in ages from 10 to 17.
Hamlin's plan calls for a 330-bed training center on 120 acres
east of Moore Elevator on the Stamford highway.
"We don't even know who our competition is going to be,
but we're going ahead with optimism," Gregory said. "We
feel our chances are excellent."
The mayor said state Rep. David Counts, D-Knox City, will present
an overview of the project at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Hamlin High
School cafeteria. The meeting will be sponsored by the city of
Hamlin, he said.
Gregory said West Texas towns in four counties -- Jones, Haskell,
Fisher and Stonewall -- have agreed to work together on the proposal.
That decision came Monday afternoon at the V.I.P. Building in
Stamford.
No name was chosen for the joint venture, but the undertaking
basically represents the Rolling Plains area, the mayor said.
The TYC is the state agency which disciplines juvenile offenders
in Texas. It has sent requests for proposals to 168 towns and
organizations.
The $19.5 million facility would take about 18 months to build.
After completion, utility sales will total about $766,000 a year.
Gregory said he is confident Hamlin will have plenty of water
to meet such needs. Stamford officials have assured him that Lake
Stamford contains a five-year supply of water, he said.
Gregory also anticipates that water will be available for purchase
from Abilene, pending approval of a grant.
"We have ample water," he said.
Stamford businessman Fareed Hassen also expressed optimism
over the project.
"You have to be positive when you go after this kind of
thing or you're defeating your purpose," Hassen said.
Hassen also said the state needs to recognize that the area
could use some help.
"This is an economically depressed area. It should receive
consideration," Hassen said.
Without some measure of revitalization it is going to "blow
away," he said.
Gregory and Hassen described Monday's meeting in Stamford as
harmonious, as did Kent Sharp, director of the Stamford Economic
Development Corp.
The meeting was followed Monday night by a vote by the Hamlin
City Council to provide the land and pursue the project.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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