CREDIT
Blue Mountain Community College held a public input meeting Tuesday at the Eastern Oregon Higher Education Center in Hermiston to offer information and seek feedback on a possible future bond proposal.
BMCC brought forward a bond proposal last November, but the bond failed due to a lack of public support. Over the past several months the college has worked to learn from last year’s taxpayer response as well as several phone polls and public “listening sessions” to produce a new, more appealing proposal.
The college also formed a Citizens Review Panel (CRP), a group of about 35 people from across Umatilla and Morrow counties who met over the course of several months and gave feedback regarding which components of the possible bond would be important to local taxpayers.
“We broke it all down, looked at the costs, looked at what inflation might be, looked all the results and feedback and asked our Citizens Review Panel (CRP) to narrow it down to a smaller set of recommendations that the board can consider,” said Casey White-Zollman, director of communications for the InterMountain Education Service District.
White-Zollman explained the priority bond components that BMCC has pulled together thus far. Each of these proposed projects meets at least one of the following criteria: 1) protecting taxpayers’ community investments in the college; 2) safety and security; and 3) workforce development/jobs.
The BMCC Board of Education has not yet voted on any of the following projects, which are listed in a Proposed Bond Project Overview produced by the school. Project contents and order were established by the CRP and are subject to change.
Priority number one is upgraded campus safety and security, including updated security lighting, replacement of sidewalks and handrails, replacement landscaping tied to safety and security, and installation of a second major access road at the Pendleton campus. These projects would total an estimated $1,125,000.
Priority number two concerns workforce development through BMCC’s planned precision irrigated agriculture program in Hermiston. Estimated construction bond and equipment costs currently total $3,100,000.
White-Zollman explained that BMCC is working to fine tune the program.
“[BMCC President Camille Preus] has been doing a ton of work talking with some industry leaders and business partners to see where they might be able to contribute to help make this program a reality without it costing the taxpayers too much money,” she said.
Priority number three is upgraded information technology in each building on each BMCC campus. This would include administrative information systems, communication infrastructure, data center infrastructure, instructional technology, phone system infrastructure, desktop workstations and surveillance systems, totaling about $3,510,000.
Through this project, White-Zollman says BMCC hopes to “keep up with [changing technology] and make sure our students are connected, make sure that they have what they need to have the best learning experience and prepare them for work outside of the classroom.”
Priorities four and five concern deferred maintenance projects on building exteriors and interiors. Exterior deferred maintenance would involve utility management system improvement and replacement of deteriorated mansards on the Emigrant building, totaling around $1,085,000.
Interior deferred maintenance would include refurbishing the M100 lecture hall, replacing selected carpeting and tiles, repairing selected classrooms and instructional offices, abating asbestos, improving HVAC systems, and electrical improvements in buildings constructed prior to 1989. These projects would total about $6,300,000.
“One of the things that we heard from citizens along the way was, ‘You’ve got deferred maintenance as part of this bond, and you had it as part of the previous bond. Why haven’t you just budgeted for it?’ The college does,” said White-Zollman. “There are limited resources, and there are a lot of things that have to be covered by that budget. The things that aren’t met by the budget are being included in the bond recommendations.”
Priority number six is the planned mechatronics food processing program in Boardman. White-Zollman said that BMCC has also fine-tuned this program in the hope that, with public support, it will provide a trained workforce for the area’s food processing centers. According to the Proposed Bond Project Overview, construction and equipment costs will total about $4,700,000. Priority number seven is the college’s planned applied animal science program.
“We’re now referring to it as the Center for Agricultural Excellence,” said White-Zollman. “It’s not just applied animal science. There’s a whole group of ag programs that the college already has, and things that we can tap into in the future that would fall into that.”
As part of last year’s proposed bond, the college wanted to construct a new building on the Pendleton campus for this program. After some re-evaluation, the school is now looking to renovate the existing agricultural center in order to drive down expenses. Estimated construction bond and equipment costs, minus a state match and lottery funds, are $5,491,000.
Priority number eight is partial renovation of the indoor swimming pool at the Pendleton campus, including a new drain, new circulation pipe, a new sanitation system, lighting and decking, which would total $875,000.
Priority nine is renovation of Bob Clapp Theater, including new seats and carpet, new sound and lighting systems, and a new HVAC system, totaling $870,000.
The proposed projects on the pool and theater were the most hotly contested among members of the CRP, said White-Zollman.
“It is the only indoor pool in the region,” said Hermiston Mayor Dave Drotzmann. “There is no access to any other indoor pool facility. If nobody else is going to have one, BMCC has got to continue to maintain theirs.”
White-Zollman explained that BMCC is looking into alternative funding options for the pool and theater projects.
“Five to 7 percent of your bond campaign will be allocated toward these two ancillary items,” said Hermiston School District Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith, “so I think, from a pie chart standpoint, it’s not going to look like a significant chunk of [the bond] going toward those facilities.”
BMCC hopes to spread more awareness and more excitement about these proposed projects in Umatilla and Morrow counties – particularly among its own students, as well as those in the surrounding communities who are currently uninterested because they feel they have no connection to the school.
“[Investment in education] comes right back to your local economy,” said White-Zollman. “People are staying here and have a livable wage, and they’re spending money in your community. Everyone in our communities has a connection to BMCC whether they realize it or not.”
Smith added, “Every community from Pendleton to Hermiston wants growth. If we’re growing the college in students and faculty – and just namesake as a growing community college across the state, I think we’ll really resonate pretty well.”
The Proposed Bond Project Overview is a working document, and BMCC continues to look for alternate funding for several of the other projects listed.
“We know that times are still tough for taxpayers,” said White-Zollman. “There’s a lot of entities out there pulling taxpayers’ wallets in all different directions. The college recognizes that and wants to make sure whatever it puts out in front of the voters is going to give them the best bang for their buck and is really based on what they’re going to support.”
BMCC is working to bring the tax rate of this possible bond lower than that of last year’s. Instead of 31 cents per $1,000, the school is aiming for about 24 cents per $1,000 over 15 years, which it predicts would bring in $23-24 million.
The BMCC Board of Education has not yet voted to put a bond on a future ballot. Tuesday evening marked the culmination of the formal citizen review process, but BMCC still welcomes public input on the proposed bond projects as well as the timeline.
“Just because the board is going to provide some guidance during a board meeting tomorrow night doesn’t mean that’s the be-all end-all of this conversation,” said White-Zollman. “We’re going to continue to fine-tune and hone in on what’s most important and what will be supported.
We invite all the feedback we can get at this point.”
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