Lane Community College’s Board of Education and Budget Committee met on May 4 to discuss various issues concerning the college. The meeting was split into two sections: the Budget Committee meeting and the regular board meeting.
The Budget Committee meeting began with the committee electing their chair and vice-chair. Hillary Kittleson was appointed as the chair, and Ian Winbrock was appointed as the vice-chair.
The meeting then proceeded with Associate Vice President Zach Evans, who read and discussed the proposed budget document for 2022-23. The proposed annual budget is $327,775,248, and the proposed general fund budget is $95,807,043.
[Here is the presentation of the PowerPoint that was shared during the meeting, where the budget document is explained in its entirety. Here is the link to LCC’s FY 2022-23 proposed budget, and here is the link to the brief version.]
LCC is in the process of constructing a new Health Professions Building. The contract for the pre-construction work was awarded to Fortis Construction which totals $61,000 for the design work. There is a proposed amendment to this amount since there was a change in the scope of work that was originally intended. The new contract is valued at $4,767,186. This amount will fund the mechanical equipment and all other items needed for construction.
According to Mike Eyster, one of the board members, “supply chain issues and all kinds of problems are making costs only go up.” As a result, locking in the contract is “going to be to our advantage.”
Tom Goodhew, the bond project manager, mentioned that the team has been “working with the academic leaders” to “achieve the goals to make sure that they can teach [in the building].” Goodhew also stated that “there’s no point in investing if it’s not going to achieve the programs.”
Additionally, Building 12 has a lot of structural issues, and a portion of the building needs to be demolished. A new Industry and Trades Education Center will be constructed on Lot M. There are two proposed phases: one for the post-construction of the ITEC facility for $2,544,055 and the other for demolition, building stabilization, and work on the Central Utilities Plant for $658,755. This means that the original amount of a $766,360 contract would be changed to $3,969,170.
Another one of the board members, Austin Folnagy, said that “maintaining building 12 and keeping building 12 is the most financially frugal and financially prudent way to move forward with that building, as opposed to demolition or complete demolition.”
Six out of the seven board members voted in favor of the increase for both of the above contracts. Steve Mital, one of the board members, was not present at the time of voting.
