The state’s two-year budget that the Legislature passed Wednesday will help pay for expansions of Peninsula College’s fitness center and Forks site and the construction of a sewer for Carlsborg.
In all, the state will allocate $12.8 million in loans to projects in Clallam County.
The lion’s share, $10 million, will go toward the Carlsborg sewer project.
Construction may begin late next year.
The project is expected to cost $15 million.
Peninsula College received $2 million to replace its Forks satellite building and $800,000 to expand its fitness center at its Port Angeles campus.
The funding will have to be paid back, likely with a 6 percent interest rate, said college administrative services Vice President Deb Frazier.
College President Tom Keegan said the new Forks building is expected to be open in fall 2013.
The fitness center expansion will be completed in 2012, he said.
Frazier said the new Forks building will be the same size and likely at the same location.
The current building at 71 S. Forks Ave. will be replaced because it is simply too old, she said.
“It’s not a square footage issue so much as it’s a really old building with some structural challenges,” Frazier said.
The state construction budget finalized this week also includes funding for the renovation of a dilapidated building at Ford Worden State Park into a satellite college campus.
Other decisions mean that some funding for classes and programs isn’t part of the final budget.
“I want to thank our legislators for coming through here. They really worked hard to get this funding,” Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval said.
“But even though we got the capital funding, support for higher education has been slashed.”
Sandoval said she hopes the economy improves and that education funding is restored.
If that doesn’t occur, the presence of a new building but no funding for educational programs is “a bittersweet victory,” Sandoval said.
But Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, called the inclusion of money to turn the now-empty Building 202 into a multiuse college center “darn near miraculous.”
Hargrove said he had pushed for the funding because of plans to eventually turn Fort Worden into a learning center that is no longer part of the state park system.
He said Sandoval’s presentation to legislators earlier in the session helped, in the end, to convince them to fund the project.
Hargrove — along with Reps. Steve Tharinger and Kevin Van De Wege, both Sequim Democrats — represents the 24th District, which covers Jefferson and Clallam counties and a part of Grays Harbor County.
The Building 202 renovation is projected to cost $6 million.
In addition to the legislative contribution, $500,000 has been allocated by the city of Port Townsend, with the remainder originating from Peninsula College.
The renovation will increase the college’s footprint at the park from 8,000 square feet to 19,000 square feet.
But it’s not expected to add to the college’s operating expenses since no new staff will be added and the space will be shared with Goddard College of Vermont, which has a program at the park, Frazier said.
“While it’s more square footage than we currently use at the fort today, we wouldn’t be the only people in the building,” she said.
The legislature’s allocation will become available in September, said Kate Burke, Fort Worden State Park manager.
Burke said planning and permitting will take about a year. Tack on another year or so for construction, and the fall of 2014 becomes a likely date for classes to begin.
The college has been looking to expand in Jefferson County since 2001 and has been working on this project since 2006, Keegan said.
“I’m very excited about the location, very thankful to our legislators for making this happen in a difficult time,” he said.
“From the college’s perspective, it allows us to reach further into east Jefferson County to provide more opportunities for students.”
The budget included funding for wastewater treatment facility construction projects in Port Hadlock and Carlsborg, which Tharinger said will provide a major economic boost to the area.
“The Carlsborg project alone sustains 1,100 jobs,” Tharinger said in a statement.
“The state provides $10 million through the Public Works Trust Fund, but over the life of the loan, it is expected to generate $440 million in economic activity. That’s a great return on investment.”
The total capital cost through 2015 for the Port Hadlock sewer project, which would serve the Tri-Area’s commercial district and residential sites in the Irondale-Port Hadlock Urban Growth Area, is estimated at $35,687,000.
Two Port Townsend-area projects that had been in the originally-proposed House Capital Budget did not survive.
Funding for a roof rehabilitation and seismic retrofit of the historic Jefferson County Courthouse and a seismic retrofit of the Port Townsend Carnegie Library building were both missing from the project list.
“We are disappointed,” said Port Townsend Library Director Theresa Percy.
“But our legislators have been very supportive, and we are talking to them about other funding alternatives.”
Percy said the library was “positioned for the next go-round” with regard to capital funding.
Van De Wege, co-chair of the Legislature’s Heritage Caucus, has said those projects would remain a priority for a possible supplemental capital budget next year.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
