The board in charge of stimulating the economy along the border has recalled funding for a pair of grants it awarded because projects are facing construction delays.
The Eastern Oregon Border Economic Development Board on Monday, Dec. 2, voted that the Treasure Valley Community College Foundation and the Ontario Recreation District need to return the money for now.
The border board awarded the college’s foundation $1 million a year ago to fund the construction of the college’s Nursing and Allied Health Professions Center.
The Ontario Recreation District was awarded $909,739 in May for the construction of the Ontario Aquatic Center.
Shawna Peterson, board executive director, said in a Friday, Dec. 6, email that the college’s foundation and the recreation district were out of compliance with grant conditions because the timelines on those organizations’ projects changed.
Peterson said that the border board action requires the two entities to return the money plus interest by Friday, Dec. 13.
According to the foundation’s application, the college had planned to start construction in the summer and anticipated completing the project in spring 2025. Anne-Marie Kelso, executive director of legal operations at TVCC, said the college now estimates the nursing building to be completed by February 2026.
She said the college is working through a lengthy review of potential historic properties on the campus. The review is holding up construction crews, according to Kelso.
The college hosted a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this year.
Kelso said an architect recently estimated the construction costs to be $10.2 million.
Darren Bell, a business instructor with the community college, told the border board on Monday that he knew where the border board funds plus interest were being held. He told the board he could calculate the interest the funds had accrued but did not share the figure with the board. Bell does not sit on the border board.
Kelso said Friday, Dec. 6 that the college foundation, the grant recipient, is working with the border board on the “logistics” of returning the funds.
In a Friday, Dec. 6 letter, the border board notified TVCC that the grant would be disbursed after its the foundation provided invoices or receipts for construction costs.
By March 1, 2026, should the project move forward, the foundation must provide an accounting of how the grant money has been spent. According to the letter, the foundation must detail all other funding sources, describe the project’s outcome and note the type of training and the number of students trained at the facility.
Andrew Maeda, the director of the Ontario Recreation District and a border board member, said the total construction costs for the pool would be around $3 million. Maeda has recused himself from border board decisions and discussions regarding the pool.
Maeda said bids for demolition came in higher than expected and pushed the timeline of the pool project out for another year.
Peterson said the district had earned about $26,000 in interest and she expected payment soon.
Like the college, the district must submit receipts or invoices to the border board for demolition and construction costs to receive the funds.
By Dec.1, 2025, the district must submit a written report to the border board detailing how the money was used, the sources of other funding, the project’s outcome, the economic impact and the number of people served by the project.
Peterson said on Friday that the border board has not previously seen such delayed timelines with projects it has funded. She said the board is taking steps to avoid funding projects that fall behind schedule. Now, she said, the board would disburse money based on receiving receipts and invoices as a condition of issuing reimbursement or based on the project hitting agreed-upon milestones.
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