REDMOND — The Central Oregon Community College board met for the first time in the school’s new Redmond Technology Education Center on Wednesday.

The ribbon cutting for the $12.5 million project, located just west of the Redmond Airport, isn’t until next week. But the board held a meeting on the building’s second floor to hear an overview of the construction process and the future of COCC’s Redmond campus. When it opens this fall, the center will have courses in automotive technology, entrepreneurship, ground transportation logistics and other fields, including applied sciences and general education.

Matt McCoy, vice president for administration, highlighted the center’s certification as an Earth Advantage Platinum building, the first such commercial building “not only in Central Oregon, but in all of Oregon.”

McCoy also outlined long-term plans for the college’s property holdings in Redmond, which extend north from the new building near the entrance of the airport to land beneath the flight path of planes taking off from the nearby runway. The college has three other buildings, some of which house outside tenants in addition to classrooms.

McCoy said the college hopes to build a 500-kilowatt solar panel system on the property, in part to meet state requirements that public bodies use part of any construction budget on green energy.

Further in the future, the college envisions more buildings and a comprehensive campus with student services, including a library and dining options.

“We know Central Oregon is growing, and we’ll need more space,” McCoy said.

In other business, the board approved a contract for the college’s nonteaching staff. The deal, which will last for three years, is based on what Dean of Student and Enrollment Services Alicia Moore called a “revenue sharing model.”

The contract includes raises over the next three years, but the size of those raises are tied to the amount of revenue the college receives from the state. Regardless of state money, however, employees will see a 3.5 percent raise this academic year. Over the next two school years, raises could be as high as 3.25 percent and as low as 2.25 percent, depending on funding.

As part of a separate deal, the board also approved a 3.5 percent raise for administrative staff, which will affect only the next fiscal year.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160,

tleeds@bendbulletin.com