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Craig — After two failed attempts, the Colorado Northwestern Community College board unanimously approved its 2007-08 budget audit.

The board's action came Monday at the CNCC building in Meeker during its monthly business meeting.

The board had met twice before to try to pass the audit, but mistakes were found both times, said Gene Bilodeau, CNCC vice president of administration.

Bilodeau said CPA Greg Hamilton had handled the auditing services for the college for a number of years, but when the college hired a new company, it struggled with the audit.

"When we moved from one company to another, they were lacking the historical background," Bilodeau said.

When the CNCC Board met in January, there was no action taken on the audit.

Missy Bonaker, of Bonaker & Associates in Craig, said the audit should not be approved because several numbers were incorrect.

The board had until March 31 to approve the audit and send it in to the state.

The board also met Wednesday to discuss the ongoing construction work at the college and progress that has been made.

Project management firm Diversified Consulting Services, of Westminster, which has been handling preliminary work for the college's construction, did not have much to present to the board, Bilodeau said.

"They've been doing plots and helping us with the layout of the project and helping us hire a civil engineer," Bilodeau said. "They're a Front Range company that's done some work for us in the past."

The planning of the new $3 million career and technical center is on schedule, Bilodeau said.

"We talked with the board about the design of the career and technical center," he said. "We should have designs for the project by July, when we will go out for construction bids."

Construction at the college, including the career and technical center, has been slowed by warmer weather.

"For the most part, there's really nothing new. : The weather has slowed construction down," said Bilodeau. "It is just mud right now."

Soon, Bilodeau said, there will be some digging when Chevron comes to drill a test well to see if geothermal heating and cooling is possible at the campus.

"Chevron should be coming within the next seven to 10 days so we can see about the possibility of geothermal heating and cooling," Bilodeau said.