by DICK SCHNEIDER
Buda Chamber of Commerce
It has been quite a while since my last communication with y’all but I am back and we are still going strong at the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce.
Since we are no longer handling tourism activities for the city, I am now sharing this column with Alisha Burrow, the new tourism director for the city of Buda. So, you will hear from me less frequently but I hope that you will continue to enjoy my stories.
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The item highest on our agenda these days is our work to help bring Austin Community College to North Hays County. The Buda Area Chamber of Commerce has been working on this project for the past five years. With the recent help of our friends at the Kyle Chamber, the Hays CISD and the staff of Austin Community College, it looks like we have succeeded in securing an adequate number of petition signatures to get the proposition on the ballot for the November 2010 election.
If the proposition passes, we will become “in district” for ACC. What that means is that our students who attend ACC will pay $39 per credit hour rather than $137 per credit hour. Those credits will transfer to four-year colleges if the student is planning on getting a bachelors degree. The students will have an opportunity to take specialized courses leading to associate degrees or certificates to vocational professions. Whatever approach the student chooses toward higher education, being in district is a major money saver to students and their families.
If the proposition passes in November, the lower tuition rates will take effect immediately. Also, ACC will build a campus in the North Hays County area. Since my wife and I are both products of a similar system in Chicago during the 1950s, we know and appreciate that community college is a great way to begin your college career.
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Now that Mother Nature has blessed us with lots of water, it is exciting to see things beginning to green up in our area. Once I got rid of my bumper crop of winter weeds, I am anxious for the Bermuda grass to start turning green. Just think, soon we will be out in the yard with our mowers going full speed ahead.
I recently read that because of our wet winter, we should expect a great crop of wildflowers this year. If current sightings are any indication, we should have bluebonnets galore. I am getting excited for what we have in store. I hope you are as well.
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Our next chamber luncheon meeting will be held on April 14, 2010 at Good Shepherd Ministries Church, 401 FM 967, Buda, at noon. Our guest speaker will be Dean Richard Cheatham of Texas State University, who will talk about “Swimming Rapidly in a Changing World.” Lunch is $10. Please call the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce at 295-9999 for reservations.
