County economy, campuses could feel slight impact of Hood growth
"Hearing that there are 3,500 new troops coming in is welcome news. I think it's the same thing as an industry or company adding 3,500 jobs." -- John Bowen Custom homebuilder
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

F ort Hood will add almost

3,300 new troops within four years, but Lampasas business and school leaders say predicting the effect -- if any -- on Lampasas County's economy and population will be difficult.

The U.S. Army has announced it will add 3,273 new soldiers and Department of Defense civilians to Fort Hood by the end of 2011, bringing the installation's total population to near capacity at 49,632.

The troop increase represents part of the U.S. Army's plan to add 74,000 new active-duty, Army National Guard and Army reserve soldiers. The addition of 65,000 active-duty troops will bring the Army's total active-duty force to 547,000.

Population projections released before the December announcement of the troop build-up indicate continuing growth for Lampasas County. A report by the Texas State Data Center and the Office of the State Demographer suggests the county's population may reach 24,266 by 2010 if the 2000-2004 growth rate continues.

Using the 2000-2004 growth rate, the report predicts a county population of 27,890 by 2015, increasing to 31,535 by 2020 and as high as 43,756 by 2040. The two state offices produced the report in conjuction with the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

While Lampasas likely will continue growing, the troop increase at Fort Hood may not have much effect, some business leaders say.

Lampasas Wal-Mart manager Louise Beam predicted the arrival of new troops will attract a minimal number of additional outof town shoppers. While she estimated 10 percent of patrons at the Lampasas store come from around Brownwood, Killeen/Fort Hood-area residents rarely shop at the Lampasas Wal-Mart, she said.

"Those tend to stick with the Killeen area, unless they really have a big need" when they are in Lampasas, Ms. Beam said.

Lampasas County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jill Jones said it is difficult to predict the effect of troop increases on retail sales. With additional soldiers coming to Fort Hood, though, the local chamber hopes to attract more visitors -- and their dollars -- to Lampasas, Ms. Jones said.

The chamber sends out specialevent advertising, beginning each year with the Bloomin' Fest, to draw out-of-town visitors to Lampasas. The chamber particularly tries to bring in visitors from the Killeen/Fort Hood area, Ms. Jones said.

"A lot of our advertising we do is specifically geared toward the Killeen area," she said. "We have always been really supported by that area."

Lampasas Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Brant Myers said local campuses may see slight increases in student population, but the effect of troop increases will be difficult to predict.

"There's really no way to calculate it," Myers said. "I would think we'd get a slight increase, but not much at all."

Students from military families, defined as those with a parent on active duty or working for Fort Hood as a civilian, constitute about 20 percent of the LISD population, said the superintendent.

The new elementary school off Big Divide Road near Kempner will be designed to hold 650 students, and Myers expects the campus to meet the district's population needs in east Lampasas County for several years.

LISD saw a large spike in enrollment when Myers began as superintendent about two years ago, he said. Since then, however, growth has returned to the historical average of 2.5 to 3 percent per year. Just before the Christmas break LISD counted 3,441 students, he said.

"Our growth has leveled off," the superintendent said.

Realtor Harold Harton expects any increase in home sales to center primarily in Coryell and Bell counties. The city of Killeen issued $10.8 million in building permits for duplex or singlefamily construction for the week ending Jan. 3, the Killeen Daily Herald reported in its Jan. 6 edition. Building permits in Copperas Cove and Harker Heights have averaged about $1 million a week recently, Harton added.

"There will be a slight increase here," the realtor said of Lampasas County sales. "We'll get a little tinge of it, but not much."

John Bowen, president of John D. Bowen Construction and 2 JB Corp., said he is not sure how many new customers will result from the troop increase. Because of deployments, some of the new troops may balance out soldiers moving overseas, Bowen said.

"I'm not completely convinced as to what the total number of additional troops is," once deployments are factored in, Bowen said.

Nevertheless, with the home market slightly weak for the last year -- and possibly just now entering a true "soft" phase, Bowen said -- Fort Hood's growth bodes well for builders, he said. A custom home builder, Bowen estimated he does 40 percent of his work in Lampasas County and 60 percent in Coryell, Bell and Williamson counties.

"Hearing that there are 3,500 new troops coming in is welcome news," Bowen said. "I do think it's a positive. I think it's the same thing as an industry or company adding 3,500 jobs."

Growth in the Temple-area civilian job force should help home builders, too, Bowen said, noting plans there for a new power plant and a Toyota assembly plant.

As population increases, jails tend to fill up, Sheriff Gordon Morris said. Both the troop increase and the building of housing developments around Lampasas will bring more people -- and likely more crime -- into the county, Morris said.

"Population growth is going to impact our jail," he said. "I don't foresee our population going down."

Chief Deputy David Whitis said the current Lampasas County jail will remain inadequate to house inmates as long as Central Texas' growth continues.

"We're never going to go back to the day when we don't house out of county," Whitis said.