Opinion: An Opinion on the Opinions

On Sunday the MNM ran an article on the proposed industrial park. The title of the article on the website read “Opinions concerning possibility of locating industry on former Army plant differ”. Perhaps a couple of words got left off. I think the title should be “Opinions concerning possibility of locating industry on former Army plant differ very little”.

Being an old engineer I often resort to a spreadsheet when comparing things. That is what I did here. All the text in the spreadsheet, with the exception of the questions, is taken directly from the text of the MNM article. Please review the spreadsheet found at the bottom of the page.

After reviewing the spreadsheet, I think that the composite answer to the question “Can an industrial park be developed at Caddo Lake? “ can be constructed from the answers of the three experts.

It would go like this:

“The lake site presents some difficult challenges to any industry considering the area. It would cost so much for industrialists to construct what they need in the way of infrastructure they would not be able to afford the project without funding assistance from both local and federal government.

Some plants require isolation for example -- A hydrochloric acid plant was built on the north edge of Bryan. Plant officials needed isolation so badly they built a buffer between the plant and more populated areas. A San Antonio Toyota plant also wanted a site with a huge buffer because the plant produces paint fumes.

It's hard to say it's a bad site for all business. It might be suitable for a unique user. But the trouble with developing for a unique user is that it's a long time between opportunities.”

With the exception of connector word every word in this answer if from one of the three experts and includes almost everthing at Mr. Mower ans Morgan said. I think they differ very little.

After hearing what we can expect from an industrial park, I thinks Fuzzy Harmon’s idea building a prison on the site is sounding pretty good!

Please review the spread sheet:

 

Opinions concerning possibility of locating industry on former Army plant
Question	Dr. W. Lee Guice, Ph.D., P.E., owner of Guice Engineering Sciences	Raymond Mower, president and CEO of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation	Craig Morgan, who does site selection for Carter and Burgess, of Fort Worth
How good is the site? How easy would it be to develop?	It would cost so much for industrialists to construct what they need in the way of infrastructure they would not be able to afford the project	the lake site has "some pretty significant challenges	"probably agree" the lake site presents some difficult challenges to any industry considering the area
What type of business would want to locate there?	It would cost so much for industrialists to construct what they need in the way of infrastructure they would not be able to afford the project	some plants require isolation -- A hydrochloric acid plant was built on the north edge of Bryan, he said, and plant officials needed isolation so badly they built a buffer between the plant and more populated areas. --- A San Antonio Toyota plant also wanted a site with a huge buffer because the plant produces paint fumes, he said.	"If they were to put a small manufacturing facility or light assembly plant there, transportation is not that crucial, but it would not work for a industry that needs a lot of truck traffic,"
How could you fund the rebuilding of the infrastructure? Can tax payer funds be used?	It would cost so much for industrialists to construct what they need in the way of infrastructure they would not be able to afford the project	not in response	the federal Economic Development Administration offers economic development grants to qualified applicants and those grants could possibly be used to build infrastructure. --- "I've looked at several sites across the United States that are in the same situation, with no infrastructure, and within five years they have been fully developed with federal and local funds," he said.
What would be the cost of building the infastructure required for an industrial park?	From eight to 10 miles of electricity lines would have to be constructed, Guice said, which could cost $5,000 a mile. --- So you would have to build a treatment plant --- A sewage system would have to be constructed, and that costs at least $50,000, he said, adding by now all the profit from having obtained free land would be gone --- As if that wasn't enough, Guice said Texas limits weight on its farm-to-market roads to 54,280 pounds while most 18-wheelers weigh about 80,000 pounds --- So FM 2198 would have to be rebuilt to state highway standards all the way to State Highway 43, about a mile, Guice said, adding the improvement would cost about $500,000 --- it would cost more to bring goods to any plant because it's so far from the interstate	not in response	not in response