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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/06/1987 - Special Minutes City Council MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1987 4:00 P.M. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: VISITORS PRESENT: Mayor Ringer, Councilmen Boughton, Jones, Brown, Haddox, Tongco Councilman James Bond City Manager Cole, City Secretary Jones, Utilities Office Manager Piwonka, Administrative Assistant Magoon, Public Information Officer Calliham, Parks and Recreation Director Beachy, Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Cisneros, Council Coordinator Hooks See guest register. Agenda Item No. 1 - Hear Presentation by Brazos Valley Supercon- ducting Super Collider Foundation. North Bardell, president of Municipal Development Group, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Brazos Valley Supercon- ducting Super Collider Foundation addressed the Council and audience on the organizational structure of the Commission and its goal to obtain the Superconducting Super Collider Project. Pointing to a map on the wall depicting the possible Burleson County site, Mr. Bardell reported that the collider will involve a 52 mile circumference, approximately 16 miles across the cen- ter. The tunnel must be located 40 feet minimum underground. Mr. Bardell pointed out that the 300' wide easement is equivalent to 1890 acres. Adjacent to the path of the collider, there would be a campus of 1100 acres, to include the laboratories, offices, workspace for the super collider and employ 2500 employees. This project would include many scientists from around the world. 06107 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1987 PAGE 2 He explained that 3000 acres is required to accommodate this pro- ject, although 1800 acres would be obtained by easement. Mr. Bardell stated that the collider would bring $282,000,000 a year in operational expenses. This would be a monumental im- pact. Also, between 4.5 billion dollars and 6.9 billion dollars would be spent in the construction of the mechanism. He em- phasized that this facility will make the chosen site the ab- solute center of high energy particle research in the world and will be the single most expensive research project attempted by the U.S. Government in the next twenty years. Mr. Bardell described the organization of the committee. He stated that the engineering firm of Stone and Webster of Houston was contacted as engineering consultants for this project. Stone and Webster were asked by the Committee to develop a methodology needed to obtain the right criteria for the State Superconducting Committee and the National Department of Energy. Mr. Bardell explained that Stone and Webster furnished a proposal of development activities and participation. The following is a summary of the proposal: Site selection; geological, topograph- ical, geohydrological, seismological, meterological data to gather and present in a comprehensive form. Land Acquisition; right-of-way, purchase easement, long-term lease, and community acceptance. Construction Costs; tunnel methods, open-cut and labor rates. Infrastructure; examine and present data relating to the airports, roads, schools, universities, housing, rail- roads, hospitals, and recreational facilities. Socio-economic impact; Present population density; industrial resources, and technical support the community could provide. Ecological im- pact; Data relating to the wildlife, air, water, historical and archaeological and radiation factors. Data must be gathered on the utilities sources and service costs. Mr. Bardell noted that when the Superconducting Super Collider is in operation, the power it uses everyday will be 4 and 1/2 times the power the City of College Station presently uses. Mr. Bardell emphasized that May 15th is the deadline. The committee is comprised of the Board of Directors, consisting of persons from the surrounding counties and the Brazos Valley. The political advisory group consists of the Mayors, and the County Judges of the seven affected counties; and, the technical n06 08 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1987 PAGE 3 advisory group consists of persons who are expertise in the field of high energy physics, transporation, planning, etc. Lynn Stuart, Chairman of the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce, addressed the audience. He noted that Bryan/College Station and Brazos County will benefit greatly from the economic development. Mr. Stuart described the organizational structure. On March 17th,the group was organized and chartered in the State of Texas as a non-profit organization; Randall Pritchett is the Executive Director. Mr. Stuart introduced Dr. Neil Schilmoeller of Stone and Webster. Mr. Schilmoeller briefly summarized their interest in the project. He stated that the Central Design Committee, de- veloped from the Department of Energy's association of univer- sities and laboratories, was responsible for engineering and de- sign of the SSC project. Stone and Webster provided an estimate for the SSC project in 1983. He further explained that Stone and Webster provided services for Dr. Peter McIntyre of A&M and Dr. Russell Huson of the Texas Accelerator Center. These persons de- veloped a magnet design to be included with the final design of the SSC facility. The hi-field magnet will be placed in the 52- mile tunnel. He stated that the Department of Energy will re- ceive proposals from the participating states on August 3rd. Mr. Bardell stated that coordinating efforts are being combined with other state agencies, mainly the Lower Colorado River Authority. He added that 10,000 brochures will be distributed to citizens informing them of the facts regarding the super collider. Councilman Brown asked how the commission felt about the Brazos Valley rating statewide. Mr. Bardell replied that this area has good geographical sites, and is the only site which lies between the two major state universities, Texas A&M University and Uni- versity of Texas, with support therefrom. Also, an advantage is the availability of water and utilities. One disadvantage is transportation; however, Mr. Bardell pointed out that this problem is not an insurmountable one. Councilman Haddox asked how much the Commission is requesting from the City of College Station. Mr. Bardell replied that the Commission had previously requested $19,000.00. 06 09 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1987 PAGE 4 Mr. Bardell summarized the work plan and budget proposal; He pointed out that other agencies are working on the geological studies, such as Shell Oil, Texas A&M, University of Texas and LCRS. Mayor Ringer asked if other sites near the University of Texas are participating. Mr. Bardell replied that the North Austin site is working on a proposal, but their site has environmental problems. Other potential sites are: Midland-Odessa, Dallas, Beaumont, and North Houston. Councilman Haddox asked if the City of Austin is supportive of our site. Mr. Bardell replied that, at this time, Austin has not come forward to completely support it. The interest from other areas should become larger as the knowledge and benefits of this site are known. City Manager Cole asked Mr. Bardell what led to the decision to attempt this and what have scientists said to determine the foundation's belief. Mr. Bardell replied that he spoke with a reporter from TIME Magazine detailing the reasons why the Brazos Valley is a good site. Texas A&M University and University of Texas together make up one the five largest resource centers in the world; there is the availability of water, energy, geograph- ical features, geotechnical advantages, climate advantages, etc. He added that scientists from the hi-energy physics field feel that in California, someday, there may be a super linear accel- erator, and if they received the collider, there would not be an opportunity to receive the super linear accelerator. The scien- tists pointed out that Illinois has the present collider and if the super collider were placed over the present collider, this would take the smaller collider out of operation. He further predicted that the Department of Energy will recognize these fac- tors, thus not locate in either site. Mr. Bardell reported that the City of Brenham and the Brenham Industrial Foundation contributed $20,000.00. The City of Caldwell contributed $10,000.00 and Somerville donated $5,000. He pointed out that the charter of the Foundation is designed so that when the efforts cease, the Foundation will be dissolved and remaining dollars will be returned to the entities on a percent- age basis. no611o CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1987 PAGE 5 Mr. Bardell thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and invited everyone to attend the meeting Tuesday night at the Brazes Center. Agenda Item No. 2 - Adjourn. Mayor Ringer adjourned the meeting at 4:40 p.m. ATTEST: Dian Jone~ity Secretary APPROVED: 06111 GUEST REGISTER CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1987 4:00 P.M. 16. 17. 18. 19. e 20. 21. 22. 0 23. 24. 10. 25. 11. 26. 12. 27. 13. 28. 14. 29. 15. 30. 006112