The Santa Clarita Community College District has a handful of projects on its wish list for College of the Canyons, but it doesn’t have the money for all of them, interim Superintendent David Andrus said Wednesday during an update on campus facilities.
Andrus said COC was several million dollars short of where it would like to be for facilities like the Advanced Technology Center. The problems included rising construction costs, flat state budget projections and problematic agreements made by “the previous administration,” which was referenced more than once Wednesday evening meeting inside the Dianne G. Van Hook University Center.
The ATC was called a “flagship” project for the college’s remaining plans, as it was vital to COC’s goals for student learning, meeting industry need and attracting full-time enrollments, the college’s main funding source.
Governing board member Edel Alonso said her one initial response to Andrus’ presentation was gratitude for “the most comprehensive and the most transparent presentation that I have ever seen” in 25 years of association with the college and 12 years of going to board meetings.
“It’s very hard as a board member to make decisions when you don’t receive information to rely on,” she added.
Alonso requested the facilities update in July amid the start of tumult at the college that preceded the departures of Van Hook, the college’s former chancellor, as well as a number of her senior staff, and later an audit.
Among the departures in the past year: Diane Fiero, deputy chancellor and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer; Sharlene Coleal, assistant superintendent/vice president of human resources; Omar Torres, chief instructional officer; Ryan Theule, assistant superintendent of the Canyon Country campus, institutional research and grants development; and Jim Schrage, vice president in charge of facilities planning, operations and construction.
There were also three new board members elected in November, creating a majority among the trio that ran together as a slate. Alonso retained her seat by a margin of 137 votes.
In the weeks after November’s election, Andrus announced COC was hiring an outside independent firm to look at approximately $12 million of the college’s money that may have been misused for 700 projects, potentially for personal gain.
The facilities discussion Wednesday evening focused on what was left for the relatively new administration.
The remaining facilities sum for the college from $244 million in Measure E bonds approved in 2016 was a $108 million balance, with another $16 million or so of that already encumbered. That leaves about $92 million for projects identified, Andrus said. The college could spend all that just on the planned Advanced Technology Center, he added, but that was not the best way to serve the interests of all students.
It also was pointed out Wednesday the college’s welcome center hadn’t been updated since 1990, and Andrus had identified about $8 million in improvements there. There were also costs identified for needed modernization efforts and technology upgrades on the Valencia campus.
It also looked like due to enrollment trends and identifying the other needs for the Canyon Country campus, the plans for a health and natural sciences building appeared on hold for now. Andrus said based on trends and other campus needs, that was not thought to be the best way to serve students. He also suggested the college’s enrollment might benefit from a sign that could increase the campus’ visibility from Sierra Highway and the freeway.
“If we used all of the bond money on this project alone, then we’d get everything we wanted out of this project,” Andrus said, putting the actual price tag at over $85 million, “and then other areas in the district would suffer.
“So, we have to ‘value-engineer,’” he said, “and we also have to make programmatic decisions about what we’re not going to include in the ATC.”
The college spent $10 million to get out of the deal made for the previous ATC, which was described as a “very bad deal for the college” during the meeting. The deal would have guaranteed a $5 million profit for Intertex over the college’s construction costs. Officials said Wednesday they considered themselves lucky to get out of that deal with what they had to pay.
The previous facility was set to go off-site on land COC now owns off Golden Valley Road through the purchase. The new use for that land has not yet been determined by the college. But the new facility is expected to be larger and be built on parking lot 6 within the existing Valencia campus, which was the previous site discussed for a now-dead affordable-housing project. The college also officially severed ties with that plan Wednesday in a separate motion.
The plan is also to use other sources, so that all $70 million for the ATC does not come from the bond, Andrus said. He’s hopeful to get help from the nonprofit community, the college’s fundraising foundation, Congress and a partnership the college’s governing board approved Wednesday.
“My hope is that we can get down to the $50 million range and secure $20 million from other funding sources, perhaps the federal government,” Andrus said. “(COC spokesman) Eric (Harnish) and I had a chance to meet with Congressman (George) Whitesides, and he’s going to pick up where Congressman (Mike) Garcia left off with an earmark of requests of $8 million to $10 million in one aspect of the budget.”
In addition to seeking Whitesides’ help, COC also approved Thursday a $30,000 contract for Garcia, his immediate predecessor.
“Contractor will leverage its extensive network and experience to establish and strengthen connections between district and businesses and industries that have a particular focus on companies involved in national defense,” according to a copy of the district’s contract with Corner Speed, Garcia’s new firm. “This role will primarily support district’s work in the design, development, funding and programming of the ATC, while also addressing federal policy issues and other funding opportunities relevant to district.”
Andrus said Wednesday he’s looking forward to seeing Corner Speed and the McKeon Group, which is run by another former local congressman, Howard “Buck” McKeon, help the college’s funding efforts.
The new project timeline for the ATC facility is estimated to be more than four years, according to estimates given Wednesday, with the first step identified as moving the water line in parking lot 6, which is estimated to take 11 months. The relocation is expected to be completed as the rest of the project moves through the planning process, with a total timeline of 49 months.
