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A $48 million convention center could be open for business by late 2015, according to College Station city officials.
There's still much to complete though, including educating the public about the project and having conversations with potential stakeholders, which is key, City Council members said at Monday's meeting.
Several council members said bad information was circulating about the project and residents didn't have a good understanding of the center.
Mayor Ben White said he's heard from two groups of people regarding the project -- those who don't want to see it completed because they aren't interested in the city growing, and people who like the idea of a convention center, but are wary because they've only heard limited information.
"There's so much misinformation out on the street today," White said, adding that he was in full support of the project but wanted to be able to explain the pros and cons.
For about two decades, city leaders have discussed building a convention center. The city spent $9.6 million last year to buy the Chimney Hill shopping center on University Drive, where officials plan to build the facility. It's expected to include an exhibition hall, meeting and banquet space and 667 parking spaces. The long-term plans include a hotel.
In July, the council approved a financing plan for the 50,000-square-foot center that called for about 86 percent of the overall funding to come from the hotel occupancy tax, meaning visitors would pay for the bulk of construction costs, officials said.
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Kersten said Monday that the rest of the project could be paid for through a 3/4-percent additional hotel occupancy tax, parking fees, interest earnings and lease revenues from Chimney Hill. The city also could use a tax increment finance zone, he said, adding it would not be a significant revenue stream. The zone designation allows the city to use tax increment financing to pay off projects within that area.
Kersten said they will delay the project a year from previously planned, allowing the city to set aside an estimated $2 million in funds from the hotel occupancy tax.
The project's debt would be issued at $45.4 million over 30 years with an interest rate of 5.5 percent, he said. The city already has issued $3.2 million worth of debt for the project, officials said.
David Gwin, director of economic and community development, said they were working to find answers to questions, including learning more about what a convention center would do for the local economy and identifying further who the stakeholders will be in the project.
"It's not about what the convention center will do -- it's about what the convention center will lead to," Gwin said.
Also at Monday's meeting, the City Council created an exception to its smoking ordinance for smoking hookah, which is flavored tobacco from a water pipe.
Hookah Station in the Northgate district requested the exclusion from the ordinance that was revised early this year to prohibit smoking in workplaces, bars and bar areas. Exceptions to the ordinance also include specialty tobacco stores, along with actors participating in a theatrical performance.
Mayor Pro Tem Dave Ruesink and council members James Massey and John Crompton voted against the exception.
Massey and Crompton said there was research to prove smoking hookah is just as dangerous as other types of tobacco and they were working to protect residents' health, safety and welfare.
Council member Dennis Maloney said drinking alcohol does more harm in society than tobacco.
"If it turns out that this is abused by others, I think I would have to go back and find a way to handle that," he said about the idea that other bars in the entertainment district may start offering hookahs.
The City Council voted Oct. 8 not to make an exception to the city's smoking ordinance for a hookah bar, with Katy-Marie Lyles as the sole council member in support of the exemption.
Monday's vote defines the hookah bar as a business that receives at least 30 percent of its revenues from the sale or rental of hookah tobacco products, therefore allowing it. Smoking cigarettes is still prohibited.
