A new state laboratory has been proposed for construction at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center. The site topped a list of 19 potential locations around Vermont, including state-owned property and private land.
Construction costs are not known, and talks are still preliminary. VTC has offered a 50-year grounds lease to the state for $1 per year. The state would own the building and work out a management plan with the college, which hopes to benefit from the facility’s proximity. The lab would be shared by the agencies of Natural Resources and Agriculture.
“We don’t view this as a revenue generator in terms of the substance of the partnership,” VTC President Dan Smith told the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee on Friday. In a written statement, he said VTC students would benefit from access to educational opportunities.
The committee took testimony from Smith, as well as the House and Senate institutions committees, Agency of Natural Resources, Agency of Agriculture, and Department of Buildings and General Services, all of which supported VTC as a preferred site location.
The new lab would replace the two state labs that operated out of the Waterbury State Office Complex before flooding from Tropical Storm Irene scattered operations across central Vermont. Access to some of those temporary homes will expire in 2017.
Officials weighed the option of scrapping the lab altogether, instead contracting out lab needs, potentially out of state. The decision was made to rebuild one lab with a shared governance structure between the agencies of Agriculture and Natural Resources, which operated separately in Waterbury.
The Waterbury facility will be demolished as part of a comprehensive redevelopment plan for that site. The group in charge of recommending a site location considered rebuilding in Waterbury, but VTC’s benefits scored higher, they said.
Some lawmakers questioned the feasibility of staffing a lab located in Randolph, compared to Burlington at the University of Vermont, for example.
Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross suggested the long-term benefits of VTC’s location — including room to expand — outweighed a potential short-term staffing inconvenience. He acknowledged the site was not perfect, and said none of the sites were. All three agencies and two committees of jurisdiction were on board with the recommendation, he said.
JFC members voted unanimously to accept the recommendation, which allows the planning group to solicit more specific design plans and engage in more detailed management conversations with VTC.
The Legislature approved $300,000 from the capital bill in 2014 to fund the site location and preliminary design work. To date, $50,000 has been spent, officials said.
The planning group reported that, “with sustained effort,” construction could be completed by the end of 2017.
