After hours of input from all view points on the Arts of Collin County (ACC) Project the council decided that they would meet Monday for further discussion and action concerning the item. The ACC project is in limbo at least until Monday when the Frisco City Council gives a direction they will go.
The Arts of Collin County was originally was a project presented to voters in 2002 as a four city partnership between McKinney, Plano, Frisco and Allen to build a joint arts project. It was an arts complex that would cost roughly $86 million. ACC asked the four cities to each pledge $19 to make this dream of joint arts complex a reality. Plano had previous funds set aside for the arts from a bond election in the late 1990s; they took the ACC project before their voters who decided that ACC was a good project to spend their art funds on. The other three cities held bond elections to get the funds.
The City of Frisco voted on and passed a $200 million bond package in September 2002 with $19 million dedicated to the ACC project. In November 2002 Allen and McKinney went to the polls to pass bond packages for the project. McKinney failed to pass the package and was forced to withdraw from the project. The four city proposed project was then three. ACC stepped up and said they would take on the challenge of raising the money that was supposed to come from McKinney and that they still only needed $19 million from the remaining three cities.
The city held numerous public meetings after the election results to let citizens know that the four city partnership project that they were presented and voted on was no longer the case. Council voted 4-2 in November 2003 to continue their partnership and support of the ACC project.
Now in 2010 ACC is encouraging cities to sell those bonds so that they can break ground on the project.
“We saw that there was a reduction in cost so we put out a bid,” said Executive Director for the Arts of Collin County Mike Simpson. “We recovered a guaranteed maximum price that came in 23 percent below the original cost.”
ACC moved forward in November of 2009 with sending out bid packages to get cost estimates for Phase I of the project. Simpson said they received 265 bid replies. In March 2009 the project was estimated to cost approximately $86 million and in February 2010 they secured a maximum bid of $68.9 million.ACC has raised 10.4 million in pledges and private funding, with $2.3 million of that in cash on hand right now. Simpson said that 82% of those pledges are from the business community so he doesn’t think that collecting will be a problem.Most recently the City of Allen has taken the next step in moving the project along. “During the City of Allen City Council meeting on February 23, the Council voted to proceed as the guarantor of a line of credit from a financial institution to support the gap in fundraising related to pledges not to exceed $5M.” (
http://news.cityofallen.org/2010/02/groundbreaking-in-sight-for-arts-of.html
)“This is what I say will be the most significant cultural development in Collin County’s history and we will be part of it,” Simpson saidDespite Simpson’s enthusiasm for the project there was mixed feelings from both the council and the residents of Frisco. Resident Jim Minyard is in support of the project moving forward. He acknowledges that although the economy has been now that right now is the time to build because improvements have been seen and right now is the lowest possible project cost there is. “Texas and Frisco have suffered far less than the rest of the country and we are very very well positioned to move forward
So I would just caution as city and as a council, we govern not looking in the rear view mirror but looking forward and embracing that vision and leadership that has made this city so successful in the past,” Jim Minyard said.
“We believe that in the future this will define not only the character and desirability of not only this city but the region in the future.”Other residents felt the opposite of Minyard. They don’t see the reduction in cost as an immediate reason to move forward. They think that a revote would be more appropriate considering not only the changes in the economy but also the people who may have moved in or out of the city.
“I am against this measure. I am not against the project. I am simply against this issue at hand that we are trying to sell bonds for this project when an economy is so different now than it was eight plus years ago when this initiative began,” said resident Donnie McKifer. “I would much rather Frisco be a city that’s a leader when it comes to Fiscal responsibility, not always trying to catch up to the Jones not always trying to be the biggest and the best. We have done amazing things in this city. I just think with the economic situation of the country, nationally, regionally that it maybe is appropriate to take moment, breath and put the issue back before the citizens and let them vote.”
Citizens stated the supporting the opposing opinions for hours before council took their turn to take sides on the project. The citizens opposed to ACC brought up everything from the rise in operating cost, to the promise that was made to voters in 2002 and to the issue this is bad timing due to the economy. Those in support said it is a good time to build because cost are down, the vote was taking in 2002 and should be stuck too and this would offer amazing opportunities to youth and residents in Frisco and Collin County.
The council had mixed feelings about the project. Some, like David Prince, are in favor of the project but think that the timing is poor.
“To me the arts moves the soul and I think if we try and take that out of our community it would be a very big mistake,” Prince said. “I believe in this project and I think this project ought to go forward. I will continue to support this project with my money but I don’t think it’s time for pushed through right this minute, I don’t think it is economically viable. I have great amount of respect for Mr. Simpson and this ACC committee. They have done a tremendous amount of work and that work is not in vain. It is a good project I just don’t see how it can financially go through right now."
Council member Patrick Fallon was concerned that going forward with the project would not be keeping the promise that was made to the citizens back in 2002 when it was passed as a four city project. He said he is a supporter of the arts but “I think we should put this back to the voters because we gave out word.”
Scott Johnson and were also in favor of it going to public vote.Bob Allen was not. He was a part of the group that worked on this project in 2002 and feels what was true then is still true now and the project should move forward.
“I believe the project was of value in 2000 and I believe it makes sense today,” he said. “I think we should continue with the process…the arts are worth more than the potential tax burden.”
Ultimately the council will reconvene in a meeting Monday at 2 p.m. to make a decision for what to do next. They have a couple of different things they can do; they can decide they want to sell the bonds now and keep the project moving, they can put the item on the May ballot, they can decide to terminate their associate with ACC all together, or they can decide not sell the binds right now and wait to see if the economy improves.
"Clearly what I have heard tonight is the city is not ready to move forward and from what I heard tonight I am not sure when the city will be ready to move forward,” Mayor Maher Maso said.
The Primary Election is taking place today all over the state. To make your voice heard vote. Today registered voters are required to voted in their designated precinct areas. To find out where that is in Collin County see