Delta votes 'no' on buying land on Victor Road

Some on board say they are not abandoning a Lodi campus site
By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:30 AM PDT

Delta trustees decided not to make a $150,000 payment to extend its option to buy property in Lodi at Victor Road, where it originally intended to build a satellite campus.

At least a couple of board members and San Joaquin Delta College's President Raul Rodriguez say that doesn't mean they are abandoning Lodi — or even the Victor Road site — altogether, though.

Trustees Maria Elena Serna and Dan Parises, who objected to passing up the payment in a 5-2 vote, say they are still committed to a presence in Lodi.

However, Parises will only be committed, at least in the capacity of a trustee, for another few months.

He announced his decision not to run for re-election due to health reasons and to spend more time with his family. Parises' announcement will put an end to a 33-year career as a trustee at the college.

"Looking back, it's not always been an easy road, but through respectful collaboration during my tenure, many people working together have made outstanding things happen," Parises said in a prepared statement.

Rodriguez said the college's decision to not extend its option on the Victor Road property is an effort to conserve bond money. Delta has already spent $450,000 on options for the property.

"We're looking at all of our options," Rodriguez said. "Why make another payment if we're not sure?"

The college could still purchase the Victor Road property should it still be available in the future, Rodriguez said.

Other college officials have suggested that Delta look into another site, possibly an existing building, for its Lodi campus.

However, the board did approve of "augmenting" the budgets for several main campus projects deemed by the college's bond management team to be either too far along or critical.

"When we say augment, what we really mean is we don't have enough budgeted," said Lee Belarmino, the head of the management team.

Altogether, the augmentations totaled more than $27 million, most of which comes from the grossly underbudgeted Cunningham building. The building will provide a much needed expansion to the college's math and science departments and house two data centers.

Had the board decided not go forward with the project as planned, the bond management team said the college would lose $30 million in state funding.

By approving the Cunningham building as well as several other projects — including a student services center, portables to house the police department and infrastructure improvements — the board agreed to nix plans to build a $8.5 million district support services center.

That leaves approximately $64 million for the college's Mountain House, Lodi and Manteca projects, more than $31.6 million short of what was originally budgeted for those projects.

Still, Rodriguez and some board members insist that the college can complete projects at all three locations, just maybe not as originally planned.

"We still want to do all of them," Rodriguez said. "Instead of the Cadillac we might go with the Chevy."

Serna, especially, emphasized her intention to stick with the satellite projects.

"My concern is we keep our commitment to the voters," she said.

Trustee Ted Simas, on the other hand, apologized for Delta College's unfulfilled promises, but said when the college campaigned for the bond, it knew it had $250 million for $350 million worth of projects.

Rodriguez said the bond management team will present recommendations for board's decision about Mountain House, Lodi and Manteca projects near Labor Day.

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.

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