Residents voice disapproval of ag barn

SANTA FE — Questions fielded from the school district’s project manager and a county health department official did little to quell disapproval from residents who oppose the building of an agriculture center near R.J. Wollam Elementary. 

Lloyd Gilliam, a leading opponent of the $3.6 million facility, begged the school board Tuesday to reconsider its decision to build the center near Wollam, about 130 yards from his house. 

“Please slow down a bit here,” Gilliam said. “Let’s don’t just build it here because we already have the property.”  

Gilliam repeatedly said Santa Fe needs an ag center and supports students pursuing an education in the area but said the facility is too close to a residential area. 

Voters approved the ag center’s construction in 2008 in a bond election. The location of the proposed center never was specified on the bond, Bob Atkins, Santa Fe Independent School District project manager, said. 

Several opponents said they wanted the school board to consider moving the center’s location to land near the high school. 

District officials looked into purchasing about 20 acres there, but it would have cost about $10 million for the land because the owner did not want to sell, Atkins said. The district already owned property near Wollam. 

A major complaint from residents at Tuesday’s public hearing was that nothing could be done to prevent the smell of livestock from wafting toward their homes. 

Galveston County Health District receives about 300 odor complaints a year, Ronnie Schultz, director of environmental health programs, said. Action may only be taken against a company or organization if proven health effects arise from the odor, he said. 

The department has never received odor complaints from residents who live near ag centers in Clear Creek or Dickinson school districts, Schultz said. 

Plans for the center’s sanitation system have not been finalized, but waste either would be processed internally at the building or taken to a water treatment facility, Atkins said. The county still is negotiating the cost of opening a water and sewer line with the county water control and improvement district, Atkins said. 

“Part of the program is cleanliness and learning to take care of animals,” Atkins said. “If students don’t keep their animals or pens clean, their grade will be affected.” 

Finalized plans of the ag center will be released early next week and will go out for contracting bids. Construction is scheduled to begin Feb. 16.
 

Kurt Koopmann

Public Information Officer

Galveston County Health District

(409) 938-2211 or (409) 392-0007

kkoopman@gchd.org