The Board of Trustees approved a $60,000 contract agreement to support its capital outlay planning services through ALMA Strategies, LLC.

Announced during the Nov. 18 Board meeting, the contract includes a five-year construction plan, space inventory, as well as initial and final project proposals.

In addition, the agreement will keep El Camino College eligible for state funding for construction projects, ranging from general facility upgrades to science building replacements.

“ALMA Strategies have done a lot of things for El Camino,” President of the Board of Trustees Trisha Murakawa said. “They have the expertise on finding money and have also indeed helped us to get reimbursements when we didn’t apply for them.”

$30,000 will be used to fund the five-year capital construction plan, which includes the initial project proposals like the Science Building Replacement. The remaining funds will be used to pay for the space inventory, which will cost $20,000, and will be the final application for state funding detailing the project’s scope.

California Education Code Section 81821, a state requirement that requires records of all facilities and use of space, mandates the space inventory to be submitted annually.

Proposals submitted by colleges are part of the process to obtain funding under Proposition 2, as the state allocates money for improvement projects.

“The $60,000 is from a quote that was received by the service provider,” Director of Public Information and Government Relations Kerri Webb said.

ALMA Strategies has played a role to obtain state financing for capital projects for ECC, according to Vice President of Administrative Services Bob Suppelsa, who said $60,000 was an annual statement of work that the state expected.

“This is a yearly statement of work that the state requires for not only submitting new project proposals but also updating project proposals that may have changed in time,” Suppelsa said during the meeting.

Questions regarding whether ECC staff could manage the space inventory and proposals in-house were asked.

Suppelsa said the college lacks the necessary infrastructure and personnel to do necessary work of updating documentation for ECC to remain eligible for state funding.

Board member Nilo Vega Michelin voted against the contract’s approval.

“I would like it to be in-house rather than paying consultants to try and do it,” Michelin said.

With this contract approval, the college will continue to be eligible for state funding to assist with planning for long-term infrastructure planning, future building projects, and update space inventory.