LTCC eager to spend $55 mil. on improvements
By Kathryn Reed
While it could take 18 to 24 months before Lake Tahoe Community College begins construction on a new building, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more immediate changes to the South Lake Tahoe campus.
The passage of the $55 million facilities bond in November means plenty of improvements are coming. Remodeling the commons area – the main building – could occur this summer and be ready when students arrive fall quarter.
Technology improvements will also be noticeable.
“The goal is from everyplace on campus you will be able to quickly get on the Internet without delay,” President Kindred Murillo told Lake Tahoe News.
Technology – or the lack thereof – has been a consternation at the college for years. Until recently people could not get cell service throughout most of the campus. It’s still sketchy. The same goes for connecting to the Internet.
This also means classrooms are lacking what is now a basic teaching tool – Internet.
“They should be able to connect to the Internet like that. It should be easy for them and not frustrating,” Murillo said.
A big piece of the tech improvements will come in the science labs, which are sorely outdated.
Students and staff also have to deal with rooms that are frigid or unbearably hot. While heating and air conditioning systems aren’t sexy, they are a necessity. A temperate room is also more conducive to learning.
The big-ticket items are going to require an environmental impact statement and an environmental impact report. The college expects by the end of the month to release the request for proposal for an environmental consultant.
While it’s likely to take 10 to 12 years for the college to complete the project list that the bond will fund, there is a facility’s master plan that encompasses 20 to 25 years. The desire is to have the EIS/EIR look at the bigger picture as much as possible. The environmental process could take 18 to 24 months.
The college is getting appointments on the book with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency officials as well. The Division of State Architect office will also play an integral role when it comes to the integrity of the facilities that are built.
“We are making sure everything we do is well thought out. We make up time by making sure we plan well,” Murillo said.
LTCC officials are in the process of prioritizing what gets done when. This in turn dictates how much the college will seek with each bond issuance. Murillo said likely there will be three issuances, four at the most. Financial advisors and attorneys help with those decisions.
Another consideration when deciding what to focus on is the fact the state has not issued a facilities bond and likely won’t in 2016. That means no shared costs as had been hoped.
“The governor’s budget will be critical. It will come out (today),” Murillo said.
She said what Gov. Jerry Brown proposes for community college funding will play a key role in how LTCC structures its priority list.
“We get the sense Gov. Brown will not do any statewide facilities bond. He has made it clear if communities want to make an investment in K-12 or a community college, it will be the responsibility of the local community,” Murillo said. “Part of the reason we did the bond is because we thought the facilities would continue to deteriorate while we waited for the state to do something.”
Not having the state matching dollars may mean some of the original plans are scaled back. But the college also has an additional $825,000 to spend that was going toward the university center. Lisa Maloff has agreed to donate the entire nearly $6 million needed for that facility. She wants to be at the ribbon cutting, so that project will be accelerated in any way possible.
I’m still amazed this town was duped into buying this platinum bond package.
LTCC, Has a leaking roof, rooms that are too hot or cold, slow internet, poor cell phone service and an outdated science lab and plans for remodeling the commons area then build another building for a campus that’s at about at half capacity.
They are in the process of bringing in a enviournmental consultant, financial adviors, attorneys, the TRPA, and a host of others. Everybody with their hand out for taxpayer money.
Speaking of money, watch where it goes. Who gets the most? Follow the money! Hopefully it’s well documented and the numbers are released to the public. OLS
OLS if you really are interested in seeing that the money is being spent properly, there is a oversite committee and the college is looking for community members interested in sitting on it.
Bad cell service maybe a good thing at a school esp if the kids cant text, as there maybe less distraction during class.
Not having internet in a school is questionable. Smart screens (huge touchscreen computer that all students can see)that some LTUSD K-12 schools have are not available at the college.
The high school has better facilities in more than 1 department than the college. Doesn’t make sense to me that kids who excelled in high school have huge bills because they left SLT to compliment their high school education that LTCC most likely should be providing.
I hope that 55 million for LTCC improvevements will go to LOCAL roofing contractors, heating and cooling businesses, as well as the construction projects.
Please keep the massive amount of money in town!!! OLS
If anyone is interested, LTCC is convening a Citizens’ Oversight Committee that will monitor how bond funds are spent, ensure that dollars are spent as outlined in the bond resolution, and report consistently to the public about their findings. For more info and a PDF of the application, head to: http://www.ltcc.edu/measuref
a large football stadium for Snoglobe that’s what we need.
Keystone Cops training center with the rest of the money.
How about a bond measure for Whiskey Dick’s. Replace that old roof, upgrade the plumbing, new bar stools, the works. Something to be proud of. It will help attract visitors and aid the local economy.
Excellent idea, Steve. However, I have a home that has a leaking roof, bad plumbing, slow internet and bad cell service.
I will help attract visitors and aid the local economy, too.
I won’t even require an EIR…
On whose watch did all this deterioration happen?
The college has had only a handful of executives, and the Board has just about never changed.
How much sense does it make to let most of the same people who presided over the last 25 years of supposed
deterioration design and build a new facility?
Many voters really were duped. If you build it they will come only works in fantasy movies.
I keep hearing the mantra about how outdated the science labs are. I would love to see a list of those deficiencies, since I have been in those labs and don’t agree they need replacement.
i would have to agree w/cranky re: facilities upkeep, and add that maybe a change of the rulership at the college is in order. also, why not follow through with the promised sharing of h.s. facilities with the community, since we all paid for them?
All you people that are crying just join the oversight committee and bring your ideas. Fact is the bond passed and now is the time to be proactive, if you can get off your computer and really do something positive.
There are significant hurdles to “joining the oversight committee”. The hurdles have been put in place to ensure that they have a pliant oversight board. Broadly stated: the same people who organized this bond measure put staff raises at a higher priority than improvements and maintenance. The voters gave them the power to continue their strategy.
dumb: yup
In regards to bond measure F giving LTCC 55 million bucks. The voters, by a slim margin, voted “yes”. So we’re stuck with it. Your property taxes went up and there is a good chance, if your renting, your rent will go up as landlords (like me) can only be so generous for so long and eventualy pass on the cost to the tenants in higher rent payments. Wages have’nt gone up but your cost of living did!
I read the criteira for becoming a member of the oversight commitee of bond spending but because the way it’s written, I’m inelligable.
So on it goes. The city makes some progress, One step forward, then we take two steps backward. OLS
OLS. Without LTCC I would not be here in SLT making a living, raising a family, paying taxes, doing volunteer projects and generally contributing to society.
There are few countries on Earth where taxes are lower: India, Canada, China, Mexico, Russia, Britain and Netherlands. There are two countries that have a lower tax collection per GDP: Chile and Mexico.
We obviously disagree on steps forward and backward.
Steve, if Whiskey Dicks needs a bond measure, they need to get it on the ballot. LOL!
Dumbfounded is absolutely right….the committee rules are specifically crafted to only allow tame members who are the staples of all the organizations and committees already fully behind the bond issue and the crackpot plans. I was going to put my name in and rapidly discovered I haven’t volunteered enough AND have a close connection to the college staff.
Those guys really used gallons of the KY to pass this, and the execution will be interesting.
Note that there may be several opportunities to herd the actual project in some ways by truth telling at the various required hearings for all the permits they need and do not have. They are going to need to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, and perhaps some Federal hoops also.
The college bond was a no brainer.