PENDLETON — The state government has flipped the on-off switch on Blue Mountain Community College’s FARM II project multiple times over several years. Gov. Kate Brown is the latest to flick it back on.

According to Pendleton Mayor John Turner, Brown met virtually with representatives from the Pendleton Round-Up Association, the city of Pendleton, BMCC and others on Monday, Nov. 1. She told them she would allocate the final piece of funding for BMCC’s $13 million multi-purpose facility.

In a response to a request for comment, Charles Boyle, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, confirmed the governor gave the green light to finish funding the project.

“Our intent is to complete funding of the project with federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER II) dollars,” he wrote in an email. “GEER funds are reserved for allocations by governors through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA).”

Brown has been a longtime supporter of FARM II, including it in her proposed budget in 2018. The Legislature followed suit the following year and fully funded the project, and BMCC eventually made plans to start construction in 2021 once the state distributed its funds. But the COVID-19 pandemic tanked Oregon Lottery funds, where FARM II derived much of its revenue, and the project was put on hold. The governor and local legislators tried to get it funded again during the 2021 legislative session, but the Legislature ultimately cut its contribution from $6.5 million to $3 million.

The governor’s recent decision makes up for the lost funding, and combined with local matches and other stimulus funds, Turner, himself a former BMCC president, said FARM II is back on track.

Current Blue MountainPresident Mark Browning said FARM II’s funding is “concrete” and he doesn’t anticipate it falling through again. With the funding in place, Browning said BMCC will start soliciting bids for design work for the new facility with the goal of starting construction after the 2022 Round-Up and completing the building in 2023.

Turner said he was concerned that rising construction prices mean the $13 million approved by the Legislature back in 2019 might not cover all of FARM II’s costs. He added that he will recommend to the college that it use the “construction manager/general contractor” method for construction, a process that would require the college to hire a contractor during the design phase so that it could offer pricing feedback with the intent of preventing cost overruns once the building actually starts.

Browning said he was aware of the issue, but FARM II will come in under budget one way or another.

“We got $13 million for the project and we will spend $13 million,” he said.

Originally pitched as a facility that would house both an indoor arena for the BMCC rodeo team and classroom space, FARM II will be located west of the Round-Up Grounds on land leased by the rodeo association.

While the college still intends to use the facility for BMCC rodeo and other indoor events, the college is starting to reassess what classes it uses it for. In September, Connie Green, who filled in as interim president before Browning’s hiring, said staff had discussed using the space for unmanned aerial systems classes instead of veterinary science.

Browning said the academic uses for FARM II have not been finalized.