There has been a lot of concern and discussion about the expansion of the Sierra College Nevada County Campus - both across our community and at meetings of the college's board of trustees. I appreciate the opportunity to share some of the challenges we are facing.

When Measure G was proposed on the Nov. 2004 ballot, it called for a laundry list of goals and objectives:

• Repair, upgrade, expand and equip classrooms, science and computer labs, campus center and instructional facilities; upgrade and increase classroom capacity for English, math, science, computer study, public safety, nursing, fine and performing arts, physical and health education.

• Expand computer technology and telecommunications systems and reconfigure, upgrade and increase the size of computer labs.

• Expand firefighting and police training grounds to improve fire/life safety training.

• Expand and upgrade student services center to include academic advisement center, study areas, counseling rooms, job and college transfer counseling, computer hook-ups and other student support.

The bottom line? Measure G was designed to double instructional space at NCC and better connect the college with the community at large. The total budget of $44.4 million dollars included a standard level of contingency funds to cover project cost overruns.

But our expansion of the NCC campus ran into a major problem affecting every community college construction project statewide - massive construction cost increases that were impossible to foresee.

Why did these costs increase so dramatically? Quite simply, the demand for construction materials has soared, sending prices sky-high. China is in the middle of a construction boom to support both its 9 percent annual economic growth and in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Iraq is in the midst of rebuilding much of its infrastructure. Closer to home, Hurricane Katrina has created similar conditions in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.

The net effect: Our project budget hasn't changed but what we can accomplish with it has shrunk dramatically. Community colleges across the state are dealing with this same issue and Sierra College was already forced to deal with it at our Tahoe-Truckee campus, reducing the new campus size by 7,000 square feet.

So as a community, we will have to make some difficult choices together. One thing is clear: not a one of our educational programs, from math, to computer science, to music and the performing arts, to physical health and education, is going to get 100 percent of what they want - and many won't even get what they truly need to grow and be more effective.

The challenge is going to be ensuring that the Nevada County campus is focused on addressing Nevada County's most significant needs.

It was only a few days ago that the Board of Supervisors received an economic development report calling for a sharper focus on attracting new businesses and jobs in Nevada County. We all want to make it possible for Nevada County's young people to stay here for their education and for a great job, rather than forcing them to leave the area to seek opportunities in life. The NCC expansion must support that effort by creating specific job training programs to generate a qualified work force for the new businesses we can attract.

Nevada County also has a long and storied history of supporting the arts - Music in the Mountains, the Foothill Theatre Company, the Nevada County Arts Council and so many more organizations that are doing great work. One of our key goals with the NCC expansion was to create a venue that could better connect the college with the community, and we must find a way to still achieve that.

I've asked Sierra College staff to schedule a town hall meeting for early February (when we will have more certainty on the precise shortfall we are facing), so that a broad cross-section of our community - including leaders in public office, the arts, business and economic development, philanthropy and health care - can come together and have a discussion about our needs as a community.

Whatever decisions we reach, our goal should be to shape NCC into an even more effective and dynamic force for creating opportunities in our community - both to get a great job with good wages and to be the well-rounded and dynamic people that music, literature and drama teach us how to be.

Together, we'll make the best decision possible and use the funds entrusted to us by the taxpayers for the maximum benefit of Nevada County's future.

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Aaron Klein has been a Sierra College trustee since December 2004. He resides in Colfax with his wife and son. He welcomes your input at ak@aaronklein.com.