Say “Yes” to the Move

Marilyn renovated an historic house to open the Central Avenue Bistro. Renovating the old hospital for the county government makes just as much sense. Photo by Steve Young

We all support the renovation and move. Photo by Steve Young

No medical provider is interested in using the old hospital. In fact, given its legal history, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get the campus relicensed as a hospital. Redeveloping the buildings for the county government is the best use of this property.

This post originally appeared on the Hermit Haus Redevelopment blog on 2020-03-20.

You’re gonna ease my mind, put me there on time

And keep rollin’ on

— Hank Snow

The other day, a group of business leaders and government officials gathered at the Central Avenue Bistro to support Judge Steve Young’s project to move the county government out of several buildings in downtown Cameron and into the old hospital after it’s renovated.

This move will be good for Cameron and Milam County for a number of reasons.

It saves the old hospital, giving it new life. Since there are currently no other redevelopment plans for the old hospital in place, the banks that own the property were going to tear it down. There are no other plans on the table. The county can renovate and move into the facility, or the banks will tear it down. I tried to find investors to repurpose the building for other purposes. Nobody was interested.

Renovating the old hospital gives the county a fresh new set of offices at a fraction of the price of new construction. It also gives us the opportunity to redevelop the downtown buildings the county currently occupies. Finding investors and capital to redevelop individual buildings is much easier than finding investors who are willing to watch millions of dollars sit idly for at least a year or two—or more—while we redevelop and repurpose the old hospital for other use. The risk to each investor is lower because the individual projects are more manageable, both financially and logistically.

Finally, getting the county out of downtown gives the city the opportunity to plan how to redevelop the area. We’ve all seen the results of unplanned growth. It’s usually ugly and often unsustainable. The county’s dominance of downtown real estate has actually stifled Cameron’s development. By removing that impediment and enabling the city to decide how we want Cameron to grow, we can gently nudge investment in the way that provides the most benefit to the community.

I urge everyone to support Judge Young in moving Milam County and Cameron forward with this project. It will be good for everyone.

See, I was there with my Moving Milam Forward pin on my hat, even if I didn’t get the plaid memo. Photo by Steve Young

To that point, I want to address a misconception I have heard raised to this project. Some people in other parts of the county have asked why they should pay to improve Cameron. Although tax money will be used to renovate the old hospital for the county’s use and Cameron will benefit from that renovation, so will all parts of the county. From the numbers I’ve seen, the hospital renovation is much less expensive that the cost of bringing all the buildings the county currently occupies into compliance with state codes. Part of that saving arises from the fact that it is always less expensive to renovate an empty building than an occupied one.

And the funds to renovate the buildings downtown will come from individual investors, not from tax funds. That means county money is only going to county use, just as it would if the county offices stayed where they are. We are just spending less money for better, healthier facilities. Please say yes to helping Judge Young move Milam County forward.

Again?

Businesses close, especially in small towns. It’s not usually that big a deal. Unless it’s your business or your employer. But all closures affect the community at large.

This post originally appeared on the Hermit Haus Redevelopment website on 2020-01-14.

In the past month or so, two chain restaurants in Cameron closed their doors: Bush’s Chicken and the Sonic (again). When businesses close, the fault usually rests with the management, not an elected official no matter how much he promotes himself as a problem solver, as has been suggested on Rantbook. The management issues at both of these restaurants were obvious. My opinion: both closed because management failed to manage their personnel.

Both Bush’s and the Sonic have a reputation for good, fast food. Bush’s is my favorite chicken house by far, and I have a loving relationship with Sonic that goes back to the 1970s. My first job was at a Sonic, and my first entrepreneurial ambition was to own a Sonic. If I went out for chicken or burgers, it was to a Bush’s (since I discovered them a decade ago) or to Sonic (since I was 14). So, I was saddened to find both of these restaurants in Cameron were the worst, in my experience, of their respective chains. I mean, how many of you Cameronians ate at either one regularly?

Bush’s built a new building. If they don’t reopen in the same location, that’s a lot of money to just walk away from.

The last four times I went to Bush’s, they were out of chicken. That happens occasionally with chicken places—but four times in a row? The staff was always friendly, new, and basically clueless. They seemed more interested in gossiping in the kitchen than taking care of business. The food was edible, but not up to Bush’s standards. The management failure here was in instilling a culture of customer service.

When I went to the Sonic, the service had improved dramatically since it closed and reopened. I had hope at first, but the quality of the kitchen remained well below Sonic standards even as the speed of delivery improved. Over the last year, I seldom got cold, stale food, but neither did I get food of the quality the Mayfield Dairy Queen down the street provides with a smile. Although service there was still slow and seemed to be reluctant—as if I were bothering them by wanting to eat something.

The Sonic looks even more desolate than the last time it closed.

It’s no wonder the parking lot was often (and now permanently) empty. Sonic has even removed the signage, which did not happen the last time this location closed. Again, the management failure was in personnel.

I don’t think the Sonic is coming back this time. They even took all the signs.

In fact, the Department of Labor published a study showing more than 80% of jobs created by tax-incentivised businesses went to people who moved to the area to take the jobs, not to the people who were already there. The new businesses increased the tax base of their new communities, and those communities grew as a result of the economic infusions. But the people who already lived in those communities failed to reap the benefits and were sometimes pushed out to even fringier areas.

The solution of to this problem is neither within my area of control nor Judge Young’s. But it is within the collective control of the community. Rather than ranting about the closings, we should be asking what we can do to promote the success of the businesses we rely on. Little things—like buying a shirt from the Bling Box instead of Land’s End or buying chicken feed from Cameron Farm and Ranch instead of Tractor Supply or Chew.com—help build our community and keep jobs in Cameron. Rather than griping about a stagnant economy, let’s ask how our small decisions contribute to stagnation or growth. What can we do to make our jobs better? How can we do more to help local businesses, especially the ones we work for.

In the mean time, it’s time to ask a question I’ve asked before. What would you do to repurpose a closed Sonic?