After nearly 30 years of service, John Miller tucked away his last Taft College Board of Trustees agenda packet last week.
Miller, whose term expires this year, decided to step down a bit early. He cited health issues as the primary reason.
His final meeting was last Thursday night. He and wife Betty were guests of honor at a reception preceding the board meeting.
At that event Miller presented a $2,500 check to the Taft College Foundation. It was the prize he won in a Taft Rotary Club reverse drawing fund-raiser. Miller is a longtime Rotarian.
Miller was first appointed to the board Dec. 3, 1977 to serve out the remaining 17 months of a term. He was appointed again March 3, 1982.
“We really do appreciate your service on the board,” Supt./Pres. Willy Duncan told Miller.
Duncan updated the trustees on construction projects.
The makeover of the campus courtyard continues to lag behind schedule. It was originally scheduled to be completed four and a half months ago. The latest completion date is the end of March, but it is apparent that won’t happen.
“One of the things that has impacted this is that we set our specifications high and are holding the contractor to that,” he said.
A scheduled remodeling of the technical arts building also is behind schedule.
“Tech arts is being held up at DSA (Department of State Architecture),” he said. “We have to go to the Department of Finance before DSA. We hope to go to bid in two weeks.”
A $20 million center for the college’s Transition to Independent Living (TIL) program will go to bid April 15, he said.
“We’ll have a 45-day bid process because it is a large project and is very complex,” Duncan said. “We should have the bid package at the June 4 meeting.”
He also acknowledged a $25,000 grant from Sempra Energy.
“This is pretty significant,” he said. “They named 10 colleges to received grants and we are the only one not in L.A. or San Diego.”
Duncan said a $5 million federal grant the college received from the U.S. Dept. of Education to promote science, technology, engineering and math was the catalyst.
“The STEM grant impressed them,” he said.
The money will go into an account that will provide $1,000 scholarships so students can continue their educations at TC.
Sherrie Horn-Bunk, who is heading up the drive to raise $108,000 that will be matched by a charitable organization to provide ongoing scholarship aid, said TC is close to its goal.
“We have $92,500 as of today, including the $25,000 from Sempra,” she told the board.
“We really need one more scholarship and we will make our match.”
