At their meeting next Tuesday, New Hanover County commissioners say they expect to take action on Cape Fear Community College’s request for a bond sale to fund the final increment of the school's  facilities expansion.

Because community colleges come under their county’s jurisdiction, the project cannot move ahead without the board of commissioners’ approval of the bond sale. That might be a tough sell, however, since at least one commissioner has been vocal in opposing the move because of concerns about growing county debt and the real need for more space.

If approved, the roughly $40 million in bond money would pay for a new Advanced and Emerging Technologies facility at CFCC’s North Campus. It would also fund renovations to several of CFCC’s downtown campus buildings used for tech programs. Some of those buildings, CFCC president Ted Spring said this week, are in “incredibly poor condition.”  

The proposed bond sale would be the last of a $164 million bond issue approved by 62 percent of county voters in 2008. Approximately $124 million was used to construct CFCC’s Union Station and the school's upcoming Humanities and Fine Arts Center, scheduled to open in the fall.  

This final increment of construction and renovations, Spring said, will address current demand for and future growth of tech programs ranging from auto mechanics and auto body repair to veterinary medical technology. The proposed Advanced and Emerging Technologies (AE&T) facility – consisting of three buildings – would house a veterinary medical technology program and the existing heavy equipment courses as well as provide flexible space for customized training programs.

“There is no vet tech this side of I-95. We expect that it will be a program that will attract students from many regions,” Spring said.  

To support the college’s case for the A&ET facilities, Spring cites current demand from students for these programs, employer demand for workforce training, and the college’s growing enrollment.

He points to figures from the N.C. Community College System showing that CFCC enrollment has grown 37 percent since the 2007-08 academic year, according to the system’s FTE budget method of calculating CFCC’s full-time-equivalent student population. The school's 2008 facilities master plan projected a 31 percent increase.

That measure of student enrollment growth was questioned by commissioner Woody White at the commissioners’ Jan. 5 meeting after Spring’s presentation in support of the bond sale.

White, who is the commissioners’ representative on the CFCC Board of Trustees and sits on the board’s facilities committee, has studied the 2008 facilities master plan as well as the community college system’s methods for calculating FTE enrollment.

White contends that his use of the annual FTE data presents a more accurate picture of the college’s enrollment. At a recent interview, he displayed a chart showing CFCC’s higher enrollment numbers during the recent recession and slight decline since the 2011-12 year. He asked why, if during those recession years the college handled a larger student population without new facilities, does it need additional facilities?

“Why not take existing space and renovate it? We can save $414 per square foot by renovating,” he said.

Referring to the facilities master plan, which projected a need for about 430,000 additional square feet of space, White said that amount of space is already available or in the pipeline, with the new Surf City campus, Union Station and the new Humanities and Fine Arts building.

White says he’s supportive of CFCC and thinks it’s one of the best community colleges in the state. His primary concern about another bond issue, he said, is increasing the amount of county debt.

“Since 1994, our population has grown 61 percent, but our debt has grown 700 percent, and that’s not including Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority,” he said. “That’s unsustainable. If we don’t take a scrutinized look at our expenditures, we’ll get a debt explosion.”

Spring disagrees with White’s choice to use annual FTE figures.

“When the college put the facilities master plan together in 2007, it got approval from the N.C. Community College System to use the [budgeted FTE] formula – the formula the state uses to fund colleges – to project its growth,” Spring said, adding that using the annual FTE figures at this point would be like comparing apples to oranges.

Following the enrollment measure exchange at the Jan. 5 meeting, NHC finance director Lisa Wurtzbacher said she would seek guidance from the community college system as to the relative accuracy of the two methods.

In a memo to county manager Chris Coudriet on Tuesday, Wurtzbacher communicated the essence of her conversation with state community college representatives about which method is preferable.

“Upon speaking with representatives from the NC Community College System about which FTE number would be more indicative of space needs, they directed us to view the FTEs from the NC Community College System’s Table 26,” Wurtzbacher wrote, referring to the document that shows annual FTE enrollment  for the system’s colleges. “This number represents the actual FTEs served, or the service level provided, for a given year. As such, although the budgeted FTE found in the state allocation worksheet appears to be a methodology the NCCCS supports in preparing the Master Facility Plan, they also suggested that Table 26 FTE is a better number to refer to when looking at specific space needs. 

“When looking at these Table 26 numbers from 2007-2008 through 2013-2014, there is an approximate 19% growth in the FTEs while growth from 2008-2009 through 2013-2014 is approximately 10%. 

“The remaining question is whether to include 2007-2008 in the calculation. The Master Facility Plan was created to plan for the growth CFCC expected to experience from 2007 through 2013. The 2007- 2008 FTEs were included in the growth projections for the facility planning.  As such, I believe those figures should be in our actual calculations,” Wurtzbacher wrote. 

In addition to approving or disapproving the bond sale, commissioners could decide to delay it for up to three years. Asked if putting it off to further gauge enrollment growth and program demand would be a viable option, Spring said it would be a “serious mistake.”

“The college has already committed $2 million to the [facility] design,” Spring continued. “If we wait, the state is telling us the cost would increase $7 million. We would have to scale back the buildings, so we’d be waiting three years to get less space. The opportunity to train students and [area company] employees [during that time] would be lost. Our ability to attract businesses here [during that time] would be lost.”

Spring said since the new Pender County Acme Fish plant is not ready yet, CFCC is holding training sessions for its new employees on its campus. Vertex Rail Technologies will conduct its initial training sessions on its site but has already alerted the college that, once it begins operations, it will need to hold training sessions on the CFCC campus, he added.

Reached for comment this week, several commissioners were cautious about saying what they plan to do Tuesday.

Board vice chairwoman Beth Dawson said she has a few more questions.

 “I’ve always been supportive of the community college and its need to look ahead to future – and probably not too distant future – needs,” she said, adding that high-quality community college programs are essential if New Hanover County is to attract new companies and encourage existing companies to expand or even stay in the area.

Dawson said she is trying to balance three factors: the will of the voters who overwhelmingly approved the bond and the apparent support of the business community for the new facilities; the needs of the college and the opportunities the college could realize through attractive new programs and enhanced job training capabilities; and the ability of the county to pay off the debt.

“I see the benefit of moving ahead but want to make sure we have looked at all sides,” she said. “I’m concerned about our county’s ability to repay the debt, [although] Lisa Wurtzbacher has said we are within our capacity to keep our [bond] rating.”

White was a bit more definite.

“At this time my vote would be 'no' because I  am unconvinced of the need,” he said, referring to the reasons he stated earlier for his opposition. “I reserve the right to reconsider my position after deliberations at the commissioners meeting.”

Commissioner Skip Watkins declined to comment, saying that he does not reveal his votes prior to meetings.

Commissioner Rob Zapple said he supports going forward with the bond sale, saying of the 2008 approval, "Voters approved a dollar amount - not an FTE amount or a square foot amount - for improved and new facilities at Cape Fear Community College. The value of that dollar amount has been greatly enhanced by good planning, good design and good management."

The Great Recession also benefited the facilities project by increasing bang for the buck, since contractors and vendors were competing in a buyer's market, Zapple said, adding, "For the dollar amount voters approved, the project was able to deliver more square footage than we ever thought possible, along with the renovation of four downtown buildings that are in miserable shape."

Citing the companies that look to CFCC for workforce training and skilled employees, and the number of nontraditional students who enroll to gain marketable skills or enhance their existing skills, Zapple said, "To me, [approving the bond sale] is part of smart planning for the county and offers tremendous value. We should all be proud."

Board of Commissioners chairman Jonathan Barfield had not responded by press time Thursday.