News

  Published : Friday December 12th,2003

Chemical Depot advisers organizing to prevent boom from becoming bust

Advisory committee seeks to prevent boom from becoming bust The initial groundwork was put down Thursday for a decade-long effort to keep Pueblo's Bechtel boom from becoming a bust.

The Citizens' Advisory Commission's Public Involvement Working Group set up a steering committee and agreed to stage a public forum next spring to begin work on a plan for sustainable development.

While many contractors, vendors and potential employees see a major economic benefit from the destruction of mustard-agent weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, the community faces a negative long-term impact if it doesn't have jobs for those people when the weapons destruction job is done.

"We are going to have a highly-skilled and well-trained work force," said County Commission John Klomp, who along with City Councilman Randy Thurston led Thursday's meeting.

But the Army's own economic analysis of the $1.5 billion program shows a net loss for Pueblo if it has to absorb a sudden surge in unemployment.

Members of the working group offered a number of suggestions for including nonprofit groups, schools and youth-oriented groups serving the people who will be of working age when the project's done. They also urged that the group work with existing agencies already involved with economic development and shaping a vision for Pueblo over the next decade.