CC Regents approve contracts for Amarillo center

Clarendon College Regents last week approved contractor proposals totaling $129,337 as work continues on an Amarillo cosmetology center that is expected to open this fall.

During a called meeting August 1, the CC board approved bids from One Way Electric, 1-800-Plumbers, and a cabinet contractor to prepare the facility, which is being lease-purchased by the college.

CC Vice President Ray Jaramillo also reported that the building’s owner had filed an insurance claim from hail damage. That claim has resulted in an unexpected $70,000 worth of improvements to the building including replacing air-conditioning units as well as doing roof and exterior repairs.

Regents asked several questions about the cost of the facility compared to what was originally projected and asked college officials to keep careful tabulation of all the expenses – including employee salaries – related to the preparation of the Amarillo cosmetology center.

Jaramillo said he fully expects to have 70 students enrolled in the center when it opens in November.

In other college business, regents received an update on planned upgrades to the Livestock & Equine Center for which CC received an anonymous $275,000 gift. CC President Phil Shirley said this week that the college expects to have final drawings on the improvements this week and will know for sure what the project will cost after bids come in hopefully next month.

Also at last week’s meeting, it was reported that the college had received five completed applications for the job of president and the webpage with job information had received 283 unique visitors.

Regents again considered moving the college’s golf program from Division II to Division III in order to attract more international students. Regent Tex Selvidge said he didn’t see how this would help and noted that all the other athletic teams at CC operate in Division I of the NJCAA. Regent Jerry Woodard also asked that college officials keep careful oversight of the athletic program to make sure everything is done correctly. The board approved moving golf from DII to DIII on a 7-1 vote with Selvidge voting nay.

Regents were also brought up to date on several summer improvement projects and approved the hiring of Dr. Russell Killingsworth to teach chemistry, Scott Mills as director of the Childress Center, and Bonnie Burgoyne as financial aid director.

A budget workshop followed the public meeting last Thursday, and Shirley said this week that the workshop went very well with regents asking several questions and a focus on operating in a fiscally conservative manner and yet keeping an eye on student growth. Regents will hold a public hearing on the budget August 15.