A recently released survey indicates that Amador County residents are interested in the creation of the Amador Learning Center, one of the initial steps the county needs to take toward establishing a community college in the area.

Cosumnes River College, which is part of the Los Rios Community College District, spearheaded a survey that resulted in 70 percent of respondents stating they would be "likely" or "extremely likely" to attend classes at the Amador Learning Center. Eighty percent of those respondents also stated they would take one or two classes a semester at the center.

Surveys were sent to 2,000 homes out of 15,000 homes in the county and about 200 were returned, according to the college.

The results are good news to those in the county working to implement higher education centers in the community.

"The main gist at this point and time is to raise awareness and fund-raising," said Paul Molinelli Jr., president of the Amador Community College Foundation. "We want to get the ball rolling and that's where we're at right now. Building buildings and finding land is a ways off at this point."

Officials at the college stated that their next steps are to evaluate how many county residents are enrolled at Los Rios Colleges and to work with Amador County Unified School District officials to get input from graduating high school students.

A learning center is the first step in the sometimes long process of establishing a community college in a county, according to Kathy McLain, dean of planning and research at Cosumnes River College. In 1974, the Woodland Center, which is associated with Yuba College, was opened and next year, it will obtain college status. "This is pretty typical," McLain said in an e-mail to the Ledger Dispatch.

To formally establish a publicly-funded community college, the county would need to formally align with an existing community college district and this is accomplished through a public vote. The vote would include a tax agreement to support the college, McLain said.

"As far as what can and should be done now - my recommendation is that people should vote with their feet and attend the classes we will be offering in the coming semesters - as their attendance is an important component of demonstrating the need," McLain said. "It will also determine the scale and growth of what is offered in Amador County."

For Amador County, finding the funding and the land will remain top issues, according to District 4 Supervisor Louis Boitano. "A lot of things have to fall in place and the biggest is the money," Boitano said. "The other thing is if somebody has property available, that would be a big start."

In the meantime, the Amador Community College Foundation is working to promote the Amador Learning Center, which is located in two portables next to Independence High School. The foundation is raising money to provide materials such as desks, podiums and computers for the center, Molinelli Jr. said.

While the actual construction of a college may be years away, those involved agree that the survey is the first of many positive steps forward.

"It's not a question of if, it's just a question of when and I think we're headed in that direction," Boitano said.