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$40 million RCC bond sent to ballot Voters in May will decide on the college's plan to prepare for enrollment growth By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Racing to meet a tight deadline, the Rogue Community College board voted unanimously Tuesday to place a $40 million bond measure on the May 21 ballot to expand its Jackson County facilities. If passed, the bond measure would raise property taxes by 25 cents per $1,000 of valuation, or about $38 a year on a $150,000 house, for 20 years. The bond must meet the requirements of the so-called "double majority," in which at least 50 percent of voters must turn out for the election, and a majority of those must approve the bond. The $40 million will be used to pay for new facilities to accommodate enrollment that is projected to jump from the current 5,000 full-time students to as many as 8,000 by 2011. RCC wants to build a $22 million technical facility, possibly in the White City area, and to expand the downtown Medford campus with the remaining $18 million. By eliminating lease payments on downtown buildings and paying off the $2 million remaining on the Wards building, RCC expects to save $1.1 million a year, which would pay for operation costs on the new facilities. But exactly what the new facilities would look like still has not been decided. "There are still some questions that we need to have answered," said RCC President Rick Levine. RCC is considering building the technical facility at two sites. The first is on 28 acres of federal land leased from the Department of Veterans Affairs Domiciliary. For the second, school officials are negotiating purchase of a 109,000-square-foot building on seven acres, with 10 adjacent acres available. These facilities would be used for courses such as truck driver training, welding, electronics, diesel technology and construction. RCC also wants to create a more unified downtown campus, with the addition of 50,000 square feet of instructional and student service space, and a student parking lot. As part of the unification, the school could have a quad area and other open spaces to give the Medford facility more of a campus-like feel. RCC's buildings would be sandwiched between the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater and the new county library as part of a major renovation of the downtown area. Levine admits the board and other supporters have a lot of work ahead of them to convince voters by the May deadline. "It will take a lot of volunteer time for this to happen," he said. A recent poll conducted by RCC showed a majority of Jackson County voters would support a bond measure to expand the campus. Student leader Erica Rivero said she and others will hold forums and organize phone banks to help drum up support for the bond. "We need to point out to the students what we are currently missing and what we could potentially have at our school," she said. Tom Bradbeer, dean of human resources, said RCC explored the idea of creating one entire campus, but the costs - estimated at $100 million - made it impractical. RCC hasn't decided what properties it would purchase in the downtown area to expand the campus. "We have made a commitment in the downtown area, particularly in an area between Riverside and Front street and East Eighth and Tenth," said Bradbeer. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.