Bill would give TexAmericas more power

Center could create nonprofit corporations, support economic development off its property

A public hearing was held in Austin last week on a proposed piece of legislation that would give TexAmericas Center more power for economic development and job creation outside its boundaries.

House Bill 967, filed in January by state Rep. Gary VanDeaver, also gives TexAmericas the ability to create nonprofit corporations for special projects to protect business assets.

During the last legislative session, TexAmericas was 501(c)(25) nonprofit status, which is used for land-holding and does not allow for the operation of a business.

VanDeaver and Scott Norton, TexAmericas executive director/CEO, said the goal of the bill is to promote economic development and protect the redevelopment authority.

“The nonprofit is important because it allows them to provide the services they need to provide to businesses on their footprint and to not incur liability to their assets,” VanDeaver said. “We don’t want to put the entire assets of TexAmericas at risk.”

Norton testified at the bill’s public hearing Thursday, telling the committee that the Army will soon give TexAmericas the landfill on the property, and they would create a nonprofit company to operate it. Norton said they could also use a nonprofit company to run a natural gas business, as CenterPoint Energy will not supply gas to the center because of an indemnity clause.

He added that the ability to operate outside its footprint will be used to promote economic development to businesses seeking to set up shop in the area.

“We want to be able support economic development on and off our property,” Norton said. “That means if we have a business … or a major manufacturer come in, and we want to help them locate a vendor nearby, we can do that.”

TexAmericas has eminent domain for utilities including water, natural gas and sewer, Norton said, but they have never used it, and that power would not be used outside the boundaries. He said the nonprofit companies set up under the bill would be subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act.

The broad scope of power the bill gives to TexAmericas would allow it to run any type of company anywhere. When asked about the possibility of them getting

involved in land bank mitigation—through which protected land is bought by groups seeking to compensate for adverse effects on similar land—Norton said TexAmericas did have some wetlands set aside, but they wouldn’t be mitigating property outside their footprint.

“Our west end property we have set that aside for possible wetlands banking in the future on other parts of our property,” Norton said. “It’s a potential use within our property, not somewhere else.”

The responsibility for other environmental effects on the 12,000 acres TexAmericas operates falls to the Army, he said. TexAmericas was created in 2010 when Red River Redevelopment Authority rebranded to use surplus property following the closure of Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant.

Now, almost 30 businesses are at the center, some of them vendors for the adjacent Red River Army Depot.

TexAmericas’ 15 board members are appointed by officials in Bowie County, including the judge, the commissioner’s court and mayors in the county. Norton said any decisions made regarding their use of power outside their campuses or creating nonprofit companies would be made by the board, which represents business interests in the county.

“Our board members would have to approve anything,” he said.

House Bill 967 was left pending in committee. State Sen. Bryan Hughes filed a bill with the same wording in the state Senate, and it has not yet had a public hearing.

If the bill passes, it would go into effect Sept. 1, 2017.