KLAMATH FALLS (Oregon) HERALD AND NEWS

April 7, 2006

Newell Migrant Center to get upgrade

By LEE JUILLERAT, H&N Regional Editor

NEWELL - Major improvements are planned at the Newell Migrant Center, a complex used to house seasonal Klamath Basin farm workers.

Mike Maxwell, Modoc County administrative officer, said the county will receive a $3-million grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development through the Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program.

Maxwell said the existing 448-square-foot two-bedroom units will be replaced with ten 600-square-foot, two-bedroom units and 24 725-square-foot three-bedroom units. Remaining will be three duplexes, which have six 725-square feet three-bedroom units.

“Everything is moving forward,” Maxwell said.

The state is responsible for preparing architectural plans, obtaining a contractor and actual construction. After the new units are built, the housing units will be turned over to Modoc County. Except for the duplexes, the existing housing units will be demolished.

Cassie Maxwell, who serves as the center's program manager, said construction is scheduled to begin in late summer or early fall with the new units ready by September or October 2007.

The existing 47 cabins were built in 1972. The compact units have two small bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and small living area. The camp provides a table, chairs, refrigerator, stoves, sink, beds and mattresses. The $5-a-day fee includes electricity, water, trash pickup, and landscaping. That charge is expected to be increased after the remodeling. Access to the complex is controlled by fences and gates.

The units are primarily intended for families. Day care is available. Up to five people can stay in each unit, with seven allowed in the three-bedroom units, which were added several years after the cabins.

The camp is open from May 1 to Oct. 31.

Temoc Azamar, who has worked at the camp 18 years, said the early arrivals help with planting potatoes, strawberry plants and other crops. The camp usually fills during the summer and fall with migrant workers hired to irrigate, harvest potatoes, alfalfa and other crops, and to harvest strawberry plants.

Strawberry growers, who ship plants to Southern California where the berries are actually grown, have asked the camp be kept open longer to accommodate thousands of seasonal workers.

“I do see a real need for the workforce,” said Supervisor Dave Bradshaw, whose district includes the Newell area. “I think the camp has been a real positive.”

Once the camp is turned over to Modoc County, Cassie Maxwell said the county will be able to adjust times when the camp is open and, possibly, use it for low-income housing. The complex will be eligible for rural development housing assistance.

“We think it can work,” she said about having the facility under full county management.

“It will allow us to have more flexibility in meeting the various demands of the ranching and farming communities,” Maxwell said. “We will have the flexibility to use the camp for low-income housing because as a migrant center, we'll have been operating primarily under the rules the state has set.”

Azamar said the majority of migrants come from the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. He said the camp used to be filled in summer and fall, but noted use has declined as many workers have become U.S. citizens and purchased their own property, often in the Tulelake or Malin areas.