PHOTO COURTESY OF BMCC
The Board of Education for Blue Mountain Community College has decided to move toward placing a capital improvement bond on the May 2015 ballot for voter consideration.
The board passed a motion to proceed on a capital improvement bond and to adopt the following policy priorities for the proposed bond: 1) Workforce development and jobs; 2) Provide a safe and secure learning environment; 3) Protect the community’s investment.
BMCC will place the bond on the May 2015 ballot in Umatilla and Morrow counties. The proposed tax rate would generate $23 million over 15 years. The tax rate would be 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value – 6 cents lower than taxpayers paid on the previous bond that expired earlier this year, as well as the bond measure that failed in the November 2013 election. In that election, 57.4 percent of voters rejected the measure.
After voters rejected the bond measure a year ago, BMCC President Dam Preus sought feedback from the community in an effort to put together a bond package more palatable to voters. This included “listening sessions’ throughout the two-county area in the late fall and early winter of 2013, a public opinion phone survey, a Citizen’s Review Panel of community members who reviewed the feedback to make recommendations for a future bond. More recently, the college has held community meetings throughout the region to inform the public and gain more feedback on recommended projects. BMCC students and faculty were included in the process.
The recommendations include three workforce development projects – a mechatronics and workforce center in Boardman, a precision irrigated agriculture center in Hermiston, and an “ag center of excellence” in Pendleton.
The bond measure, if passed, will also include equipment upgrades for diesel technician, dental and nursing programs. Building maintenance and infrastructure upgrades are also included in the recommendations.
