When area voters decide whether to vote in favor or against a Blue Mountain Community College facilities bond, we sincerely hope they will choose “yes.”

This year’s ballot measure, 130-06, which will come up for vote May 19, features many of the same proposals as last year’s defeated bond, but there are some things voters may find more appealing, such as a lower price tag.

Unlike the last BMCC bond, the proposed bond measure will cost $23 million, which equates to 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for 15 years. According to information provided by BMCC, the average Umatilla County Median home value is $145,000, and the estimated cost of the bond per year is $36.25. It should be noted that the asking price this go round is about $5 million less than the $28 million voters turned down last year.

BMCC officials have made it very clear they have heard area voters — Hermiston residents were largely not in favor of last year’s bond — and have tailored the new proposal accordingly. As BMCC President Cam Preus told the Hermiston Herald, the current bond voters are being asked to approve has a lot of the extras removed. The proposal does not include building a new facility in Pendleton — rather the current one will be renovated — nor will a pool be added or the theater renovated.

Still included in the proposal is a precision irrigated agriculture center in Hermiston, as well as a facility in Boardman. The project costs are also much better spelled out this time around: Construction bond costs for the facility in Hermiston, for example, is estimated at a little more than $3.2 million. The workforce training and early learning center in Boardman will cost about $4.7 million, and the renovation of the facility for agriculture resource management, equipment and road costs in Pendleton are approximately $4.2 million.

As well, unlike the previous bond proposal, the site locations for the Hermiston and Boardman projects have been identified, and land will not have to be purchased. The Port of Morrow has agreed to donate up to four acres of land for the Boardman facility. Residents of this area of Umatilla County, however, should be even more excited about the Hermiston Agriculture Research and Extension Center agreeing to allow BMCC to build the precision irrigated ag facility at its site at a cost of $1 per year.

As far as lease agreements go, you can’t do much better than that.

Not only does that partnership save taxpayers money, it will benefit both BMCC and HAREC. BMCC students will have a place to not only learn about precision irrigated agriculture, but they will get hands-on experience by participating in HAREC projects.

As HAREC Director Phil Hamm said recently, this is a win-win situation. We concur.

One of the biggest arguments in support of passing the BMCC bond is the college’s continued effort to educate the area’s young adults and provide them opportunities to find living-wage jobs in the area.

Building a precision irrigated agriculture facility at the Hermiston Agriculture Research and Extension Center will go a long way in accomplishing this. Agriculture remains the backbone of industry in the area, and precision irrigation agriculture helps make farm operations more efficient by allowing farmers to control and moderate all aspects of the irrigation process, including water and pesticide distribution.

Training agriculture students in the latest precision irrigation techniques and methods at a local site already dedicated to agriculture will not only ensure they receive the education they need, it will make hiring them that much more attractive to area agriculture operations.

We strongly support ballot measure 130-06 for all these reasons and encourage residents to vote yes on the proposal on May 19’s ballot.