August 20, 2009
Green Institute concept is good, but more details are needed
When someone asks you for a favor, it is a good idea to lock down the details before you agree to it.
A few months ago, Lori Weyers, president of Northcentral Technical College, came to the county board seeking a pretty big favor and offered a good sales pitch and plenty of promises in return, but few details.
At the time the idea was to make the Medford campus into a transportation center of excellence. To make it happen the college needed the county to give them the campus building. In concept, a promise to bring at least $1 million in new investment to the campus here and the potential for continued long-term viability of its programs and services to Taylor County sounded like a good thing and it still does. However, as they say, the devil is in the details and with precious few details to work with, there were plenty of questions.
Last week Weyers was back before a county committee asking for their support, in concept, of a new idea. The college still wants the county to give them the buildings but in the time between the two presentations, the idea had morphed from a transportation-focused effort to a Green Institute with emphasis on green technology. Transportation is still in there, but so are a lot of green programs and renewable energy technology education efforts.
The goal is to get some green in the form of grant partnerships at the federal and state level to pay for the $4 to $6 million in upgrades proposed. Changing the packaging on the box and the course emphasis to make the college more likely to get federal grant money for long-term upgrades makes a lot of sense. However, the devil still is in the details.
What we know is that NTC wants to own the campus it currently rents from Taylor County and plans to make major investments. We know they are interested in both buildings. We know that in concept, the plan for Medford being the anchor of the western corridor with an emphasis in emerging technologies is a good idea.
What we don’t know is what this will mean for the continuation of the Ag Service Station concept with the federal, regional and county services for farmers under one roof. It is also unclear as to what the college wants to do with both buildings and their grounds. What will this mean for the community gardens or the mini-park with playground equipment between the two buildings? What will it mean for the wooded green space and the Campus Trail which are parts of the community recreation assets? Where is a draft site plan? Or for that matter even a wish list of what the college would like to do with the facilities?
The documents presented to the county so far have a heavy amount of sales pitch and not a lot of concrete information.
NTC wants to be first in line for money that will become available by the beginning of the year and has promised to come back with more details to the full county board at their October meeting. This does not leave much time for the board to make a long-term decision for the county.
In concept, continued investment in educational offerings to serve existing and emerging industries is a good idea. However, the county board needs to be shown all the details and given time to review them before they sign on the dotted line.
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