By Online Editor

Published March 04, 2008

The Student Senate voted on Tuesday in increase funding for two major construction projects on the UW-River Falls campus.

The funds will be used to renovate Ramer field and construct a new Health and Human Performance (HHP) facility to replace the aging Karges center. The funding motions passed in the Student Senate with a vote of 16-3 and 19-2, respectively.

“After a long debate we approved the increase that was originally proposed,” Student Senate President Derek Brant said.

Students will pay for up to 15 percent of both projects through a yearly increase in segregated fees.

“What the students really did was expand their commitment to the project,” Brandt said. “They just reaffirmed what they have committed to in the past”

In 1999, the Student Senate committed to funding the HHP project, but since then the total estimated cost of the project has increased to $55.8 million as a result of rising building costs and inflation, according to the meeting’s agenda. The proposal that was approved Tuesday increases students’ contribution to this project by approximately $2.4 million. Senators approved the $38 increase in student fees over the next four years to cover the cost. This increase will bring total SEG fees to $72 by the 2011 academic year, Senator Craig Witte said.

“There will be no student fee increases that wasn’t already planned,” Brandt said. “The additional increases in costs will be primarily be covered by increases in the student body.”

The cost of the Ramer Field remodeling is estimated at $3.5 million. The Senate’s vote will increase fees by $8 over the next two years resulting in more than $525,000 in funding for the project, Brandt said.

“Its kind of a broad estimate,” Brandt said. “Its still an early project and a lot of work has to be done to determine the actual cost.”

Additional reporting by Phillip Bock/Student Voice