Funding approved for Guard center
By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Thursday, June 21, 2007 11:12 AM PDT
ONTARIO - Federal funding for the proposed National Guard Readiness Center in Ontario has been approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now on its way to a vote by the full Senate, according to an announcement Tuesday from the offices of U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
The Oregon Legislature is in the process of approving funds for the state’s share of the project.
The announcement from the senators’ offices said more than $15 million has been included in the fiscal year 2008 Military Construction appropriations bill for various construction projects in Oregon.
If approved, the bill provides approximately $11 million for the Ontario Readiness Center, which will replace the aging Ontario Armory. Besides being the headquarters of the local National Guard unit, the facility will be designed as a community center as well as provide additional classroom space for Treasure Valley Community College.
After a vote by the full Senate, which is the next step that can come anytime, the Senate version, if passed, will have to go to a conference committee to reconcile it with the House version of the Military Construction bill, Geoff Stuckart, Wyden press spokesperson in Portland, said.
“It’s a positive step,” Jennifer Hoelzer, a press spokesperson in Wyden’s Washington D.C. office, said of the Senate committee action.
However, there was no word yet if the House bill includes money for the Ontario facility.
“We’re planning on moving forward,” Randy Griffin, TVCC dean of administrative services, said.
Griffin, who had been the college’s lead person in working with the Oregon National Guard in siting the center near the TVCC Campus, said there are still some zoning issues being worked out with the city.
He has also learned the Guard has hired a surveyor to do the partitioning of Guard property off the 15 acres owned by college on the eastside of Southwest Fourth Avenue, across from the sports complex.
The Military Construction bill also includes funds to design an Armed Forces reserve center in Klamath Falls, funds to design a readiness center in The Dalles and funds for the relocation of two Navy reserve units from their current location at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Portland to the Portland Air National Guard base.
In the meantime, the Oregon Legislature is also nearing passage of the state share of funding for the Ontario facility. John Bordon, analyst with Legislative Fiscal Office, said in a memo to state Rep. Tom Butler, the Joint Way and Means Committee has recommended approval of about $2.23 million for the Ontario Readiness Center.
Num wrote on Jun 3, 2008 10:41 AM: