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VOL 7 No. 3
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2014
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Birds of Fort Bend: American White Pelican
Graceful by air or water, this big bird wattles on land with its large body, webbed feet. White Pelicans are commonly seen on lakes, lagoons, and in the air. Many winter in Fort Bend. Unlike its brown cousin which dives for food, the White Pelican dips its head in the water and scoops up fish. Before the 1970’s White Pelicans’ breeding colonies were mostly north of 40° N Latitude. They now have large and small breeding colonies on the Texas Gulf Coast. So they are both migratory and year round for our area and great fun to watch. Photo by International Birder Margaret Sloan. Janice Scanlan, who writes this feature, will speak and show Margaret’s photos at Brightwater Garden Club, January 27, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. Details on talk and to see more photos visit http://traction.typepad.com/birds .
Renee Butler named Business Person of the Year
Central Fort Bend Chamber Chair Barry Beard, left, 2013 Business Person of the Year Renee Butler, and Chamber President/CEO Shanta Kuhl. For 103 years, the Central Fort Bend Chamber has been the voice of business and growth in Fort Bend County. In 2013, that voice remained strong in large part because of the volunteer efforts and commitments made by many of its almost 800 members. The Chamber proudly recognized 13 of those members at its 2013 Annual Awards Luncheon Friday at Cindy’s Palace, 1102 FM 2977, Richmond. The event, which was presented by Allegiance Roofing, also thanked the Chamber’s outgoing Board Directors for their dedication and service. Renee Butler, of Another Time Soda Fountain, was named the 2013 Business Person of the Year for her efforts in helping form the Historic Downtown Rosenberg Division of the Chamber and in Historic Downtown Rosenberg’s success in earning the prestigious Cultural Arts District designation from the Texas Commission on the Arts. Butler was also named the Historic Downtown Rosenberg Division Member of the Year. “It wasn’t me,” Butler said after receiving the award. “It was every one of the downtown
businesses that made these things happen.” Corporate Partner of the Year was OakBend Medical Center. Raymond Saage Volunteer of the Year was Chuck Bucek of Chuck Bucek, CPA, PC. Ambassador of the Year was Tom Wilson of Reading Road Self Storage. Board member of the Year was Kevin Kohl of Silver Eagle Distributors. Committee Member of the Year was Jim Russ of EHRA. Young Professionals Division Member of the Year was Derek Finley of WJ Interests. Hispanic Business Division Member of the Year was Gilbert Limones of Prosperity Bank. The Chamber also recognized each of its stakeholder cities (Fulshear, Richmond and Rosenberg) with Achievements in Economic Development Awards. Johnson Development Corporation (Cross Creek Ranch) won the award for Fulshear. The Richmond City Commission was honored for Richmond. The Rosenberg Police Department won the award for Rosenberg. For more information, call 281-342-5464 or visit www. cfbca.org.
FBISD needs $450 million to improve existing buildings By SESHADRI KUMAR Over the next five years, Fort Bend ISD will need about $450 million to fix deficiencies in existing school buildings and improve them, according to a draft report on the state of school facilities. The first ever, comprehensive facilities assessment, commissioned by the school district and conducted by Jacobs revealed $321.2 million of total need – this includes $66.2 million of educational adequacy deficiencies and $255 million related to the physical condition of the facilities. These figures exclude any expansion for classroom additions or new construction for additional enrollment growth or program expansion. A final report will be presented to the school board in February and the Facilities Master Plan will direct the district’s strategic planning for the future. Over 30 percent of building condition needs are related to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The projected 5-year life cycle renewal needs for FBISD’s facilities are estimated to be $127.6 million. Over 50 percent of estimated costs are related to the interior finishes. The Facility Condition Index (FCI) is a recognized formula that provides a general indicator of a building’s health. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of repair into the total replacement cost. The majority of FBISD’s campus and building FCIs are less than 20 percent, indicating that the majority of the district is in average to good health. The functional capacity of FBISD’s facilities was determined by performing an inventory of the current use of spaces across all campuses. Overall, it was found that elementary schools are near their maximum capacity and middle and high schools are over capacity. In contrast, alternative education campuses are significantly under-utilized, which is
a common occurrence in districts similar to FBISD. FBISD currently manages more than 11 million square feet of permanent educational and administrative facilities, and nearly 250,000 sf of temporary buildings on 92 campuses, including support and administration buildings. With a student enrollment of more than 71,000 located in 10.5 million sf of permanent instructional space, the gross square feet per student for FBISD’s campuses is 148. When FBISD information is compared to the national medians, the district’s elementary schools are typically under the average (116 sf/student), and middle schools are over the national average (171 sf/ student), and high schools are under (167 sf/student). Thirty-one percent of the FBISD’s school buildings were constructed between 1997 and 2006 indicating that the general FBISD building population is in the middle of its design life. Elementary schools have the most deficiencies, totaling $27 million. During the past thirty years, programs in a public school system and the manner in which they are delivered have changed significantly. Repeated arguments are heard that “This school was able to accommodate 600 students 30 years ago and now you are saying it can only accommodate 400 students today. How can this be the case?” People making these statements often do not realize that when the building was originally constructed, the average class size was 30 students, the music program was being held on the stage, the teacher provided art on a cart, there were no computer labs, the Kindergarten program went from half day to full day, and students with severe challenges and special education needs were in separate facilities and not attending mainstream schools, according to the draft report.
The overall utilization of FBISD is 100 percent, which is over standard industry utilization of 85 percent. Elementary schools are at industrystandard capacity, with 85 percent utilization and just 5,410 total empty seats. Middle and high schools are currently overutilized at 110 and 104 percent, respectively. The Facility Condition Index (FCI) is a widely used indicator that provides a relative scale of the overall condition of a given facility or group of facilities within a portfolio. Industry standards state that FCIs over 65 percent represent the point where facilities should be considered for replacement. The majority of FBISD buildings have an FCI less than 30 percent with a few buildings reaching higher FCIs. If temporary buildings are excluded, more than half of FBISD buildings have FCI’s less than 20 percent, indicating that the overall health of the The major exception is the Missouri City Old Gym building with an FCI of 77 percent. The majority of the campus FCI’s are less than 19 percent, indicating that the overall health of the district is good.
Correction In a news report “Nalco confirms plans to build new headquarters in Sugar Land” published in these columns last week, there was a reference to the economic development incentive agreement between the city of Sugar Land and Nalco. The said agreement was on the agenda of the Sugar Land Development Corporation’s October 2012 meeting, but the item was tabled and not approved. That the agreement was approved is an incorrect statement and the error is regretted. —Editor
AccessHealth prepares for Community Challenge
The committee members working diligently to organize an exciting day for AccessHealth’s 2014 Community Challenge are. from left, Priscilla Salas, Eloise Lucas, Jo Ann Burditt, Pat Vitek, Marilyn Long and Sharonda DeBose. The Event Committee is put- sors include Legacy Ford, TW souri City. “The event was so ting together a one of a kind, Davis Family YMCA and the much fun last year. We are excited to have the opportunity to family style event to support City of Missouri City. The event will be held on open the tournament to another AccessHealth in providing quality healthcare in the com- Saturday, March 8, 2014 with portion of our service area this the soft ball tournament be- year and hope to grow every munities it serves. The day will include softball ing played on the T. W. Davis year! “ This is an event that anyone and volleyball tournaments, Family Y fields in Richmond, with separate brackets based Travis Park fields in Rosenberg in the community can particion skill level. Presenting spon- and Community Park in Mis- pate in. It is a fun, healthy way
to raise funds that will assist in meeting the health care needs of our community,” said Carol Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of AccessHealth. Last year’s inaugural event was completely filled with 16 softball teams and 8 volleyball teams. “With the addition of the fields in Missouri City we will be able to accommodate additional softball teams this year. The event was fun for both participants and spectators”, said Cindy Reaves, Director of Marketing and Development. AccessHealth is a private, not-for-profit community health center that serves Fort Bend, Waller, Wharton, Austin and Colorado Counties. AccessHealth is dedicated to excellence in providing integrated health care services to improve the quality of life in the communities it serves without regard to income or circumstance. AccessHealth is a United Way agency. For additional information regarding the tournament or the services of AccessHealth contact Sharonda DeBose, Community Relations Specialist at (281) 633-3144.