Bay City Community Development prioritizes aquatic center and local job growth in 2027 business plan

Melanie Townsend, speaking for Bay City Community Development, walked council through accomplishments since her April start and outlined goals for 2027 focused heavily on the aquatic center capital program. She highlighted a WCJC (Wharton County Junior College) $9,000,000 grant supporting expanded trade-education classes and said the CDC plans to oversee capital-campaign work, permitting and donor engagement for the aquatic center.

Melanie noted outreach and business-retention work—hands-on support rather than direct financial grants—and cited one confirmed tenant and future hiring goals (an initial 17 local hires with plans to expand to 50–100 manufacturing jobs over time). She also presented a budget line related to the aquatic center (shown in the packet as roughly $14,000,000), which staff said will be adjusted as funds arrive and accounting is finalized.