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Flathead Valley Community College $15.8 million bond wins in close election-College is ready to start building
Flathead County voters have approved a $15.8-million building request from Flathead Valley Community College.
With about 99 percent of the ballots counted on Monday night, preliminary numbers showed the issue passed with a majority of about 52 percent. The unofficial tally was 10,325-9,500 in favor of the issue.
By Chery Sabol
The Daily Inter Lake
Election judges who had started counting ballots at 4 p.m. were still tallying results six hours later. A simple majority was needed to decide the mail-ballot issue after 40-percent of registered voters responded.
"We’re excited about the possible opportunities," colle President Jane Karas said Monday night, describing her mood as "cautiously optimistic" until a final count can be declared. That should happen Tuesday, she said.
Passage of the bond will "enable the college to continue to meet and better meet the needs of the community."
The college board requested the money to renovate and expand its campus north of Kalispell on U.S. 93.
To deal with growing student numbers and enlarged offerings, the college put together a master plan for growth. It includes building a general classroom building with a 250-seat theater and lecture room, an occupational trade building, and a child development center for training child-care workers and providing day care to students.
The science and technology building would be renovated for lab and clinical education space and other buildings, roads, parking, and infrastructure would be improved.
The cost to property owners would be about $36 more a year on a $100,000 tax valuation.
Tax concerns were probably the biggest hurdle to passing the bond issue, Karas said Monday evening.
She also knows that some strapped homeowners would resist an increase in their taxes and might be worried about what the upcoming legislative session could impose on them.
But what was apparent to her in the last weeks of the mail-ballot election was "a lot of support for the college."
She noted that there has been a 59-percent increase in course offerings in the 10 years or so since FVCC replaced a ragtag bunch of downtown buildings with a comprehensive campus north of Kalispell.
Enrollment grew almost 30 percent during the same time, Karas said.
The college has been responsive to the community’s needs, she said. For example, it recently added technology programs in radiology and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
The community college also developed cooperative agreements with two universities to offer four-year teaching and nursing programs. Karas said students trained here keep their ties to the community and are less likely to leave the state for higher-paying jobs.
To house these programs, the college uses spaces constructed as library quiet areas, study halls and the board room for classes. The college also faces a shortage of computer lab space since classes crowded out independent student use.
Karas also points to the savings the community college offers residents on the first two years of a four-year degree. A student stands to save 50 percent on the cost of tuition and fees by attending Flathead Valley Community College for the first two years.
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College is ready to start building
By Chery Sabol
The Daily Inter Lake
With $15.8 million approved by voters, Flathead Valley Community College could break ground on new buildings by late spring or summer.
The college bond issue passed Monday by a margin of about 52-48 percent.
"We want to thank the Flathead County voters for their continued support of the college, and were pleased the voter turnout was over 46 percent," said FVCC President Jane Karas.
The projects proposed in the bond include additional classroom space; labs that emphasize growth areas of the college, such as sciences, allied health programs, the arts, occupational trades and high-tech careers; an instructional theater and high-tech lecture hall; a community room; expanded student study and resource areas; an early childhood development center and additional parking.
Karas said the college has worked with Missoula bond counsel Dorsey & Whitney through the election process and with Architects Northwest of Kalispell. Construction will be put out to bid.
Karas said preliminary plans place the new technical-arts center and child-development center to the east of the current buildings on U.S. 93 north of Kalispell.
The occupational program building is planned for an area west of the campus, south of the north entrance to the college on U.S. 93.
If construction goes flawlessly, the new buildings could be in use by 2004, Karas said.
Tuesday, she said she was gratified by the results of the election and committed to continuing the college’s mission of being "here to benefit the community."
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