El Paso -- The influx of new soldiers at Fort Bliss through Base Realignment and Closure will have a tremendous impact on El Paso's schools, roadways and housing as more military families will help push the area's population to just under 1 million residents by 2015, city and post officials said Tuesday during a community meeting in Northeast El Paso.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated El Paso County's population at 736,310 for 2006.

Fort Bliss, which is being transformed from an Air Defense Artillery Center to a Forces Command Installation, will have 37,000 soldiers by the time BRAC is complete in 2011, said Col. Tim White, Fort Bliss' Deputy Garrison Commander for Transformation.

"We do expect a lot of family members to come up here also, which totals up to 53,000," he said. "So just by virtue of population growth, that's running close to 100,000 (people) and that doesn't include all the contractors and civilians that, day to day, run Fort Bliss."

Understanding how the post's expansion will play out in the larger community was the focus of Tuesday's sparsely attended meeting at the El Paso Community College Transmountain campus.

Mathew McElroy, deputy director for El Paso's Development Services Department Planning Division, said the unprecedented growth at Fort Bliss will translate into unprecedented growth for the city.

"We have not had an opportunity like this in El Paso's economic history and we are not going to have another one and so getting all of the input,

getting all of the plan done right now is critical if we are going to leverage everything that comes with the growth at Fort Bliss," he said.

Though few people attended Tuesday's meeting, gatherings about the impact of a growing Fort Bliss also occurred Wednesday and Thursday. McElroy said more public meetings are planned in February to collect input from the community.

Northeast resident Sandra Hesch asked city and post officials whether the forecasted economic activity from Fort Bliss growth would yield a better selection of stores and restaurants in her neighborhood.

Strip centers and fast food chains make up the majority of commercial properties in Northeast El Paso, Hesch said, adding after the meeting that she also is concerned about whether schools are ready for new families.

"Our schools are going to be overcrowded and that will be terrible," she said. "And when they develop East Fort Bliss, are they going to consider putting new schools in Fort Bliss or are they going to bus these kids at $4 a gallon over to the East Side or to Northeast?"

Carlos Olmedo, of the University of Texas at El Paso's Institute for Policy and Economic Development, said several school districts are slated to continue to build more campuses from bond revenue approved by voters.

He added that additional soldiers and families at Fort Bliss in the past three years have contributed to a rise in economic activity and in jobs not related to the military.

Still, Olmedo pointed to challenges from growth that could include strains on child care and social services as well as the need to bolster El Paso's work force for education and medicine.

McElroy said people can still comment about the growth from Fort Bliss by sending an e-mail to the Development Services Department at: fortblissexpansion@elpasotexas.gov.

Michael D. Hernandez may be reached at mhernandez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6151.