Campus delays have cost OSU-Cascades millions

University officials say delays to OSU-Cascades’ new westside campus have cost the school millions.

Legal fees, escalation of construction costs and another year of renting Central Oregon Community College’s Cascades Hall total about $3.8 million, according to public records requested by KTVZ.

Even as the university begins site prep on the land bordered by Mt. Washington and Century Drives and Chandler Ave, administrators are trying to figure out where they can cut costs.

“We don’t have more money, so those costs have to come out of taking away something from the site,” said Vice President Becky Johnson Monday. “It could be (cheaper) siding, maybe you scale down the size of faculty offices.”

The campus, which was originally expected to open this fall, has been delayed by more than a year as the university has endured rounds of land-use battles with Truth In Site, a group that opposes the campus location.

The school now plans to open the campus in the fall of 2016.

OSU legal staff told NewsChannel 21 in a letter, “The increases in construction costs as a result of delaying ground-breaking is estimated to be 3 to 5 percent.”

Records show the university so far has spent about $117,000 on legal fees fighting Truth In Site’s appeals to the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals.

Renting Cascades Hall from COCC costs OSU-Cascades about $45,000 a month.

“For OSU-Cascades it’s a lot of money,” Johnson said. “Especially the escalation in construction costs — I can’t even tell you how many faculty members we could hire for that, how many scholarships we could give to new students, how many degree programs we could start.”

NewsChannel 21 reached out to Truth In Site Spokesman Scott Morgan for comment on the expenses.

“I hate to say this, but I have no comment,” Morgan said. “This is a worthless waste of time.”

“I have zero confidence about anything that comes out of (OSU-Cascades) mouth, Morgan added. “They have lied through their teeth.”

Total development of the site and construction of the three buildings on 10-acre campus is roughly $63.5 million. The university spent another 10 million to purchase the land.

The land-use dispute now sits with the state court of appeals and could go as high as the Supreme Court.

University officials estimate it could take months before a final ruling is issued — they say they could not afford to wait that long.

“If we didn’t start now, we wouldn’t have any building until the fall of 2017,” Johnson said. “Add another year and more escalation costs — again we don’t have more money and we would have to find more things to cut.”

Johnson added the university will feel the sting for several years after the campus is complete.

“There’s no question that not having the campus ready to go had an impact on our enrollment,” Johnson said. “That enrollment impact carries through because if they’re not here as freshman they won’t be here as sophomores, juniors and seniors.”

The university originally hoped to recruit 100 new students for its first 2015 freshman class.

Johnson estimates only about 60 incoming freshman have currently enrolled.

Despite the on-going legal battle, Johnson said there’s not much risk moving forward with the campus.

“What’s being appealed is not whether a college can go on that site because a college is already an out-right use for that site,”Johnson said. “What being appealed is do you have enough parking? Have you estimated your traffic correctly — those are the kinds of things that could be remanded and those kind of things could be changed even though we’ve started building.”

OSU-Cascades so far has won multiple land-use appeals.