Updates on Copperas Cove VA Clinic

Copperas Cove editor Erik Walsh joins the Inside Killeen podcast to talk about the upcoming massive VA clinic being built it Copperas Cove, and what that could mean for the city.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_02 0:26

Welcome to the Inside Clean podcast brought to you by KDH News. My name is Kevin Limity. I'm one of the hosts and the city government reporter for KDH News. And today I'm joined by Eric Walsh, who is the Coppers Cove editor. How are you doing, sir? Hey, I'm doing great. All right. So the reason why we have Eric on today is to talk about the VA clinic that's going to be open in Coppers Cove in a couple of years, I think. Now it's his latest article is real about this, it was released on August 9th, I believe. And it's a $151 million facility. And it's look it's considered considered to be a pretty big deal for the area, although there was some like speculation on whether Kleene or Coppers Cove would ultimately get it. But, anyways, Eric, can you talk to me a little bit about what's new with that facility and anything else that you've learned? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah. Well, I've been in some communication with the EDC director of Coppers Cove. That's Fred Welsh. And Mr. Welsh has been part of this process since the beginning. He's uh been integral in the whole thing. He's helped arrange all kinds of things behind the scene, gone to Washington, has been a big advocate for it, and has, you know, they figured it out. And so what's new? Well, the things that are new is that the land that it's on has been purchased. And so that means that it's ready to begin building. You know, they they hammered out the the numbers for the money, and it was sold for over a hundred million dollars. I'm sorry, for over one million dollars. And that's it's a two two-acre parcel of land. It's on Robert Griffin, the third drive boulevard. It's in the and that's the narrows business and technology park in Coppers Cove. So they got that figured out, and so they're they're gonna get ready to build. And there's a tentative groundbreaking ceremony date coming up, and so they're shooting for October 8th, but it's not set in stone yet. But that's that's the uh the current uh projected, you know, the date that they're they're going for right now is to do the groundbreaking.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Okay, so groundbreaking in October. So I'm guessing you would start to see something being built around that time after that.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah, hopefully pretty, pretty soon after that. They they'd they'd begin building, and then you know, it could take a I think it would take about a year to get going, you know, to get everything done. And then, you know, so that so this is 2026, it would probably take a full 2027, maybe by the end of 2027, they can have it finished building and then early, and or maybe it'd be early the next year in 2028.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Yeah, and I remember when this was first announced, both me and you actually covered it uh because it was kind of a thing that impacted both the city of Kaleen, which I covered the city government here, and Copper's Co. for you. And you know, I think that when it happened, there was it was a pretty, pretty big deal for a lot of reasons. I mean, maybe you could talk a little bit about why it's so important for the people in this area and that and so on.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Sure. Well, yeah, the some people, if you know, if you don't know, and you know, what is a VA clinic? Why is it important? Well, the part of Texas we're in obviously is right next to one of the largest military facilities in the country. And a lot of people, a lot of veterans, a lot of people are uh retire after being stationed around Fort Hood. And uh so many people just stay around here. You know, they they move to the surrounding cities, Coppers Cove, Clean, Harker Heights, and so forth. And and so we have a huge veteran community here, and lots of people need to be served. So what do they have to do? You know, they have to find to get some of the care they need. You know, there's smaller clinics here right now, but to get some of some of the larger things they need to take care of, there is a big drive involved. So they'd have to drive to temples, a lot of times the closest place for some of these bigger things. Maybe sometimes Waco, you know, it's quite a bit.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Yeah. And one of the things I saw in your article was that 30% of clinical space was going to be designated for mental health services. I mean, that's very important, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, absolutely. There's definitely definitely things that need to be done there. People need uh to be taken care of all kinds of ways. And so I'm looking at at some notes from some previous articles I wrote on it. And there's there's a uh lots of different different things that that that's good it's going to serve. Now, when do we when did we we we we went to a something together? We covered this.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Yeah, it was at CTC. I remember there was a whole bunch of different like city officials there. I saw the former mayor Scott Cosper, I saw the former mayor Debbie Nash King, who is now a councilwoman Nash King for the Clean City Council. So and um and you had people there that I'm sure that you were uh more familiar with from Coppers Cove. And yeah, I don't know. I think it was interesting because there was a little bit of like I wouldn't say tension, but like maybe some like some trepidation over Coppers Cove being given the nod for a place to have the VA clinic over the city of K the of over Killean.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah, there was. It was up in the air because the because no one knew where it was gonna go. So in January or so, the the VA put out these put out some uh some ads basically, and it it was an announcement saying that they're that the finalists had they announced the finalists. It was like either Kaleen and they announced a place in Kaleen, and then they announced the play the cur the place they're building in Cove. Yeah, and and they said you know, one of these one of these two places are or is going to be built there. So it was about a month, maybe a little bit less than a month, that you know, we knew it was coming, we knew something was gonna happen, but we didn't know where it was gonna be. Yeah. And so we went to the press conference, it was February 13th, and you and I covered it, and that's when they revealed Coppers Cove location. And as you said, you saw some of the representatives from Clean there, but there were tons of Coppers Cove people there, like almost the entire city council showed up. This most uh many members of the school board showed up. The superintendent was there, a lot of people from the EDC were there. You know, they they basically had a party, you know. They it was like the best news these people have ever heard in their life. You know what I mean? Yeah, like it was that important to them. It would have been important for Clean, but it was like probably 10 times like more important for Cove, just depending on because they have never had something this large come to that, come to their area, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

And I think I'll be remiss in not mentioning that Congressman uh John Carter was the one that made the announcement. And I think if I recall correctly, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that there was some confusion because when it was released when the press release was sent out, it said something, it mentioned Kleene as being the area that was going to get so when so you know I don't know or maybe it said the Kleen area.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I'm not sure Yeah, I I don't remember the press release you're talking about, so I can't really speak about that one because I don't I don't quite recall, but it was a little weird because when they announced it that day, they showed like almost like a Google Earth image of the area where they where they picked, you know, on Robert Griffin Boulevard. And they they showed they gave the address, but it didn't say Copper's Cove in the address anywhere. Like they never they never like mentioned the word Copper's Cove, they just mentioned Central Texas, you know, Fort Hood area, that kind of thing. They they it I think it was a very strategic thing for them to just not say that and just mention the whole area that they're serving, because that's the whole point, really, is to serve the area, yeah, and that's just the location they decided would best serve the whole area.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, and maybe that was where the confusion was. Well, I mean, it I do think that it's a very good thing for Copper's Cove to have, and I think you're absolutely right that that Copper's Cove, to my knowledge, hasn't had something like this in the past. Can you talk a little bit about like what Copper's Cove is like compared to like like Kleen, for example, like in terms of like how yeah, like it's like EDC and that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Well, Coppers Cove, you know, it's not very far away. You know, you know, I work here in Kleene, but it's uh it's an 18-minute drive from where I live to when I'm pulling up here at at the Kleene Daily Herald. And uh, you know, I just hop or hop on the highway and I'm here in no time. But although we're so close, the town it feels like a small town. You know, it's it's not a small town, it's got a pretty a large school district, but it it has that kind of the small town feel. And and I think that's maybe one of the biggest differences between Killeen and Coppers Cove is it it feels like a rural place, even though it's really it's really not, but it it kind of has that feel, and you know, the people that live there and move there, that's kind of the kind of person that is attracted to that place.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Sure, yeah. You know, but I always kind of felt like Colleen felt like a small town.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Do you?

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Yeah, I mean, I know like that obviously it isn't, but like, and maybe it's just because like within the circles that I kind of like deal with every day.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

I mean, you lived in Brooklyn. I did, I lived in Brooklyn, and that yeah, yeah, that's it's a whole different ball game when it comes in Dallas. You lived in Dallas, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

But I grew up in the suburbs, you know. So, you know, I'm I mean, but always kind of close to the city, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

Um, but I don't know. I just always felt like Killeen was very small townish as well. So Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Well, people it kind of has that impression that Cove is just getting more rural, you know, and then and just keeps more and more as you get into Coral County. Yeah. Which, you know, that is brings a big point of the people that are going to be served by this clinic. Sure. Is that the fact that it's a little closer to that side, that it's gonna give access to care for a lot more uh rural vets. So you've got a lot of people that live out in Kipner, live out in Lampasas and beyond. And you know, and those folks have a much longer drive if they have to drive to Temple or Waco. It but the fact that it's there in Cove, it's going to shorten the commute times and give them uh access to care, you know, and that's really what the whole thing is about. It's about access. Hi, this is Eric Walsh. I'm a reporter for the Clean Daily Herald, and I focus on community reporting in the Coppers Cove area. Now, independent reporting, it takes real work. If you love staying connected to what's going on around Clean and the forehead area through this podcast, please consider purchasing a digital subscription to KDH News. By purchasing a digital subscription, you don't just unlock full access to the stories on our website. You become an integral part in keeping boots on the ground as we deliver the in-depth reporting that you care about the most. For less than $4 a month, you can help us keep bringing you the news you rely on. Visit kdhnews.com and begin your digital subscription today. That's kdhnews.com slash subscriptions. And thank you for supporting local journalism. And man, this place is gonna have everything. You know, every it basically, if it as long as it doesn't, it's not a major surgery, it's gonna people are gonna be able to go there. And so I found I found this list. I I was trying to find it earlier, but I spotted it. It's gonna have primary care services, it's gonna have a woman's health clinic, it's gonna have uh audiology services, optometry services, oncology. It's gonna have everything. So as long as you're not getting a major surgery, you're gonna be able to go, if you're a veteran, to the VA clinic there in Coppers Cove and get whatever care you need. It's gonna be it's gonna be really it's gonna be great. It's gonna be great for all the people that need it.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

And what did what do people who need services for the VA have to do now that would make it different?

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Well, so there's smaller clinics around that they can go to things, but if they need something a little bigger, they you know, the temple is the place they have to go. Yeah, that's where the current, the biggest one is.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah, so it's basically saving them from taking a trip to temple.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Correct. Yeah, and if you live out rurally, like further out towards like Lampasis and Kempner and all that, that's you know, it's it's it's a lot further drive than if you live in Kleene. You know, that's another 45 minutes longer, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Well, I mean, all that is really interesting, especially like considering like that Copper's Cove was chosen. I was wondering, and maybe this might be a little bit speculative on speculative question, but do you can you think of a reason why Copper's Cove might might have been chosen for the site?

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Well, I I think I think we've kind of already talked about it a little bit, the reason why. And I I really think the reason is well, I think that I think the two spots is the exit is is pretty good. Like there's a close exit to uh where the narrows is. You're gonna get right off the highway and just drive right in. I think just access from the highway is really good. But I think the biggest reason is the fact that it's it's gonna have access to more people that live further out. And it's still close enough for people here, and it's about spacing, I think. You know, where it's currently at, the the numbers say that if you if between the place in Temple and where it's being built now in Coppers Cove, that anybody is gonna have like a 30-minute drive that live in central Texas.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

So if you live in central Texas and you're a veteran, it's only gonna take you 30 minutes to get to a place for care. Yeah. And I think that was a big part of the location.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Right. And like you mentioned, it's a nice feather in the cap for Copper's co.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

It is, it is, man. Those every everybody is so excited about it. The mayor mentioned it at the state of the city. You know, every year they do state of the city, they basically, you know, uh talk about their accomplishments over the past year, let's say. And they basically led off with the fact that the VA clinic is coming to Copper's Cove. I've got the quote that the mayor Yancey said.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Oh, feel free to read it.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

He said, Not only will it serve the community with over 500 jobs and are that are going to come with the facility, but you have a lot of veterans that live here, as well as Kipner in Lampasas, and it's a long way to have to travel to the VA and Temple. That is a different person. That is not the mayor. That is not the mayor. Uh, so that was not Mayor Danny Anse. Who was it? It's it's a it's from a different article, but it's all true. But that is not what Mayor Yancey said. But he did talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

I apologize to Mayor Yancey.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Yeah, but he was super excited about it, and so was everybody in Cove. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Well, you know, I mean, I mean, uh I do actually see that like Fred Welch, the uh EDC for Copper's Cove, was talking about this and you know, how it expand the tax base, how it would quote provide expanded healthcare services for the veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country. So I mean, I like you said, I mean, it that I think all of like Copper's Cove has been praising this, and and rightly so. I mean, I remember when we went there to cover it on like it in February, I don't even know how many months ago that was now, but it was you could tell that it was a victory lap for Copper Scove.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They they hung around afterwards for like 20, 30 minutes taking photos, they were so excited.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Yeah. And I was wondering on the subject of the EDC in Copper Scove, do you've have what else have they been able to do or are trying to currently do to bring like businesses and stuff like that to the to the city?

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Well, I I know they're they're always looking, they're always trying to expand things. Um, you know, getting downtown revitalized is something that I know the chamber is working on. The the EDC uh though, I think this is just the start of what's going to be a lot more. I mean, they they got that area set up for businesses to move in years ago. You know, it's you know, they it's it's there and it's just waiting for businesses to come. Yeah. You know, it's pre-built, it's ready, it's got access, it's got highway access, it's got roads leading up, they've got signs, you know, saying, you know, this is the narrows, is what they're calling it. It's ready, but they just needed a catalyst. They needed something to like start it. Yeah. And I think this is it. So I think after this clinic comes in, we're gonna see just businesses come. You know, you know, the Field of James movie, you build it, they will come. Sure. Well, I think this is what's happening here. You're gonna this facility is gonna come in and it's gonna spring up a bunch of new businesses that are helped, you know, it's going to serve the people that come. So there's gonna be new restaurants, service places. I think they're all gonna open up all in that area in the in the narrows, and it's gonna bring a lot more business there and the tax base.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

And are there any uh particular businesses that are on your wish list that you'd like to see come to Gabriel Scho?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Hmm. Well, I I you put me on the spot here. I haven't really thought about it. Oh, you know, I mean Yeah, that's okay. What I would like to see, I feel like it has most everything I want, honestly. Like between I mean, I have to go to Harker Heights, go to Barnes and Noble. I there is a bookstore in Coppers Cove, but it's not, it's you know, I you know Barnes and Noble's like a really nice store. Uh and so I think I would like maybe something like that. You know Barnes Noble? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Honestly, Half Christ books would be great, like either in Kaleen Coppers Cove or anywhere near here.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Yeah. There's a pretty good used bookstore in Cove. They have a lot of stuff. First edition, it's downtown.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Do they sell mostly like rare books or is it like just tons of like I would I wouldn't know if they had rare books, but there's lots of uh just everything you could imagine, like all the different genres. Yeah. Huh. Well, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

All right. Well, I mean, any final thoughts, Eric?

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Well, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna follow this. You know, as they start groundbreaking, I'll be there when they do the ribbon cutting. Groundbreaking. I'm gonna keep it. I'm gonna keep everybody updated. I'm gonna keep updated. I'll have a lot of pictures, you know, as they start building, you know, I'm gonna be there for the whole thing. And we'll see how this, we'll see how this goes and how it affects the area. I know I know somebody that lives out there, he he's actually not excited about it, but it's kind of for selfish reasons. You know, he's not a veteran, right? And he's just he knows that that's going to increase the traffic. Sure. But he his house is just a neighborhood away, basically. So he's like, dang, you know, because he doesn't want to deal with the traffic, but that's a kind of a selfish reason, but that is something that people think about. But I think, you know, obviously it's gonna be a big plus for uh a huge amount of people.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Yeah, overall net positive.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Yeah, huge net positive, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

All right, well, Eric Copper's cove editor, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, and this has been the Inside Clean podcast brought to you by KDH News. Amida Botwe is producer, and my name is Kevin Limity. Uh, please go to kdhnews.com for any and all info about local news. Thank you and have a great day.