New armory clears another hurdle
By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Thursday, March 15, 2007 1:12 PM PDT
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| Larry Meyer | Argus Observer
A student walks across the Treasure Valley Community College campus in the vicinity of where college officials are considering putting a new classroom building if funding is approved by the Legislature. One caveat is that the college will have to come up with a 50 percent funding match. |
ONTARIO - The papers have been signed and the Oregon National Guard now has the necessary documents to secure funding from Congress to pay the lion’s share of a new armory in Ontario.
“We have finally signed the legal documents to secure funding from Washington, D.C.,” Treasure Valley Community College Dean of Administrative Services Randy Griffin said during his report to the TVCC board Tuesday.
The documents include a ground lease and a purchase and sales agreement with the Guard.
Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in 2008.
“The Guard must now finalize a new contract with the architect, which they hope to have accomplished this week,” Griffin said. “They will then really move the design of this project forward through completion.”
One of the required items to complete the process will be a survey for the property partition — at the Guard’s expense.
TVCC’s other building venture will be on the Oregon Legislature’s agenda next week as community college officials present their cases for capital projects before a subcommittee of lawmakers.
TVCC President Jim Sorensen told the board that the 12 capital spending projects proposed in the governor’s budget are scheduled to be reviewed, and there will probably be an attempt to present three additional projects. TVCC is still No. 9 on the capital expenditure list.
TVCC is proposing the concept of a Community College and University Center — which would be shared with Eastern Oregon University — with science labs and classrooms as major components.
“They are significantly needed on campus,” Sorensen said.
The science labs would take up about half of the building, and he said the rest would be mostly general classrooms. The college would have to match the state money by 50 percent. Officials are still hopeful about community college funding, even though the community college request is seen as unlikely to be approved. The governor’s budget calls for $483 million to go to the colleges’ general fund budget, with community colleges asking for $529 million, Sorensen said. If the governor’s proposal holds up, Sorensen said it will be the first year the community colleges were funded more than what they were funded in 2000 when he arrived at Ontario’s community college.
“It’s very favorable,” he said. “We can hold the line on tuition. I think most (community college) presidents around the state are trying to hold the line.”
