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Stimulus bill from Legislature creates jobs at PCC

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Contractors dig a trench around the Sylvania Campus. The jobs were created thanks to an economic stimulus bill passes by the Oregon Legislature in February. (Photo by James Hill)

G Street, part of the ring-road that circles the PCC Sylvania Campus to the south, will be torn up through September and October as work crews install a new domestic water line, to replace a 40-year-old system.

The $1.35 million project is part of the Oregon Legislature’s deferred maintenance economic stimulus plan, passed in February. Lawmakers provided the funds in order to quickly create jobs throughout Oregon, in order to fight the recession. Half of the funds came from the Legislature, with PCC providing the other half through the bond measure passed by voters in November.

The water line project will stretch more than a mile in a circle around Sylvania. Ten-inch PV C pipe is being installed, along with new valves and one new fire hydrant.

On average, eight Oregonians are employed on the site daily, according to Keith Gregory, PCC manager of maintenance and grounds. The contractor is P. R. Worth. During the course of the project – scheduled for completion in mid to late October – the contractor will employ eight to 10 subcontractors.

“At this point, those include a landscaping firm, trucking firm, concrete cutting firm, concrete mixer/supplier, an environmental vacuum excavator and traffic control flaggers,” Gregory said.

All of the subcontractors are firms listed by the state as Minority, Women and Emerging Small Businesses, a key focus of the Legislature’s jobs-creating stimulus bill.

About James Hill

James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »