Officials with St. Charles Community College (SCC) have begun reaching out to community members and leaders in Warren County to promote passage of Proposition J, which would levy a tax on many county residents to pay for a new technical school and other programs.Todd Galbierz, SCC’s vice president for administrative services and chief operating officer, spoke to the Warrenton Board of Aldermen Oct. 1 to provide information about the proposition. He said becoming part of SCC’s taxing district would cost the average Warren County homeowner less than $1 per week.“The cost of the new tax . . . on the average home value of $160,000 in Warren County (equates) to about 98 cents per week, $4.25 per month, or $51 per year,” Galbierz said.That number does not include taxes on personal property, such as vehicles.Prop J would bring residents within the boundaries of the Warren County R-III and Wright City R-II school districts into SCC’s taxing area. In exchange, the ballot proposition promises to use the funding to establish a “Warren County Regional Technical Education Center,” provide other programs for county residents, and allow local students to pay in-district tuition for SCC classes.Galbierz said initial training programs at a Warren County facility would be focused on the areas of advanced manufacturing, transportation and logistics, agriculture technology, and industrial maintenance and controls.Prop J will be the only issue on upcoming local election ballots Nov. 5. County residents who live within the Washington School District, including much of the Marthasville area, will not vote on or be directly affected by Prop J.SCC is already participating in limited educational partnerships with local schools and businesses that are part of the college’s “extended service area.” SCC expanded its involvement in Warren County in 2018.“This was at the request of area leadership, who asked the college to aid in their efforts to support employers and attract quality businesses to Warren County,” Galbierz said.The tech school also would benefit adults who want to learn a trade, thanks to a state program started this year, he added.The Missouri Fast Track grant program will provide scholarships for certain people 25 and older to learn and become certified in high-demand trades. Those scholarships would be usable for programs at the tech school.Former teacher is leading advocateLeon Busdieker is one of the local advocates leading efforts to plan for a tech school, and a retired agriculture and industrial tech teacher. He told the board of aldermen that opportunities for trade or technical training haven’t been accessible to local students.That became apparent to him after students were visited by recruiters for tech schools in Missouri and other states.“On a good year, maybe two or three or four of the students, out of 75 or 80 that I had in class, would choose that route,” Busdieker said. “I realized . . . that there were probably 12 to 15 in every graduating class that would have been ideal candidates for technical training. But because of the distance to travel, the cost and expense, they just chose to go another route.”Busdieker said investment in a technical school would benefit the entire community by spurring economic growth.Advocates for technical training in Warren County have contended for several years now that a local tech school would bring new money to the area economy. It would support local manufacturers that sell products nationwide, and attract new employers that want to locate where they have access to skilled labor, according to the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council.Busdieker is co-chair of a committee organized by the GWCEDC, which for almost two years has been studying what is necessary to bring a tech school to Warren County and what programs such a school should provide.No location determinedOne major detail advocates and SCC haven’t determined for a technical school is where exactly it would be located. It would be within the boundaries of the Warren County R-III and Wright City R-II school districts, and likely close to Interstate 70.But more details than that won’t be determined until after Prop J is approved by voters, advocates said.Galbierz explained that once the ballot issue is passed, SCC will work with an advisory committee of Warren County stakeholders to determine the best location for a tech school that will serve the entire region. The college will also seek an initial location, possibly a storefront or something similar, to begin providing some programs as early as spring 2020, Galbierz said.Vote