Earth-moving in northwest McMinnville is for training only

Baker Technical Institute, a program that trains people to run heavy equipment, is conducting a course on the McMinnville School District’s Hill Road property this month.

The course involves earth-moving equipment. District officials said it is for training only; it doesn’t indicate the school district is starting to build on the site, which is earmarked for a future high school someday.

Baker Technical Institute offered summer courses for recent McMinnville High School graduates last year, using property near Grandhaven Elementary School.

This course will involve three instructors and 11 students from the Coffee Creek Correctional facility. The women are training to work in “heavy highway construction,” according to the Oregon Department of Transportation, which is partnering in the project.