![]() A city in western Colorado that has seen its population nearly double in the last two decades may soon have a new and larger police headquarters designed to respond to that growth. Voters in Montrose last year narrowly approved a 0.58 percent increase in the city’s sales tax, designed in part to fund the construction of a station that could cost anywhere from $16 million to $17.3 million to build. Montrose officials have long said that the current headquarters facility at 343 South 1st Street, which formerly served as the city’s public library, is too small for present-day needs. The Montrose Police Department moved into that one-story structure in 1991. Although earlier estimates predicted that it would cost between $9 million to $12 million to build the new station, the higher latest figures also includes the construction of an evidence storage facility. Work on the new headquarters could launch this summer with a rough completion date of sometime in 2020. Montrose’s current population is now nearing the 20,000 mark, up from 12,300 in the year 2000. By Garry Boulard
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![]() Noting that more than $441 billion has been spent at the federal, state, and local level on public-private infrastructure construction projects, a new report has been issued suggesting that in most cases those partnerships have proven cost effective. The report, Public-Private Partnerships for Transportation and Water Infrastructure, notes that such partnerships are generally designed to achieve project outcomes more efficiently, and in a way that “transfers risk to the private party.” Public-private partnerships centered on highway projects and done with private financing were notably up during the Great Recession, with a dollar worth increasing from less than $2 billion in 2006 to around $5 billion by 2013. The numbers have been significantly more modest for transit and rail, as well as water utility projects, although in those segments the number of public-private partnerships also significantly went up during the Great Recession, only to decrease as the economy rebounded. The highway partnerships, says the study, have generally “shortened design and building phases and lowered costs, albeit not in all cases and by small amounts on average.” In the area of water infrastructure projects, public-private partnerships have “lowered operation and maintenance costs and improved compliance with regulatory standards.” “Private financing has probably helped accelerate projects in some states by providing financing more quickly than under more traditional arrangement such as public debt offerings,” the report continues. But despite those efficiencies, continues the report, partnerships on the federal level can also result in new costs “when they draw on federally supported financing.” Although overall the report concludes that there are more plusses than minuses to public-private infrastructure projects, this cautionary note is added: “Highway partnerships have also resulted in bankruptcies, canceled projects, and delays.” By way of example, the report points to decreased highway toll revenues in the wake of the Great Recession that “led to a spate of bankruptcies among private partners that provided private financing.” By Garry Boulard ![]() A school that was built in the immediate post-World War II years in Flagstaff may soon be replaced by a new $19 million facility. Officials with the Flagstaff Unified School District have announced plans to build a new version of the Killip Elementary School, located at 2300 E. 6th Street on the northeast side of the city. The original and current one-story school has for years been plagued by a number of structural issues, including a faulty roof and outdated cooling, heating, and electrical systems. According to earlier reports, the hallways of the 72 year-old school are also not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act standards. A facilities study conducted for the district two years ago determined that it would cost as much as $9.5 million to bring the school up to date. Now the district has determined that it would be more cost-effective in the long run to build an entirely new school, a facility that will go up near the existing Killip Elementary School on its nearly 10-acre site. Funding for the project is coming from the passage of two proposals by area voters in the fall of 2018, providing up to $75 million for various facility construction and upgrade efforts. As planned, the district will host a series of public input meetings this spring on the project, before work begins early next year. It is thought that the new school will be completed in time for the fall 2022 semester. By Garry Boulard ![]() Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate asking for increased federal funding for a project that has been talked about for nearly a decade: a new interstate highway connecting Phoenix with Las Vegas, Nevada. Arizona Senators Martha McSally and Krysten Sinema are specifically seeking money to fund the required Tier II Environmental Impact Study needed for certain segments of the project. Arizona officials have long promoted the construction of what would be Interstate 11, noting that Phoenix and Las Vegas are the only adjacent metropolitan areas in the U.S. without a direct freeway link. If built, the highway, which would be the first new interstate built in the country in nearly three decades, is expected to cost anywhere from $3.1 billion to $7.6 billion to complete. In a statement, McSally remarked: “Cross-border and interstate commerce are a major driver for job creation in Arizona. In order to keep up with our state’s rapid growth, we most modernize our infrastructure.” Last year it was announced that the Arizona Department of Transportation was studying three separate routes for what would be a roughly 300-mile connection. An existing potion of the Interstate 11 currently exists as a 15-mile route between Henderson, Nevada and the state line between Arizona and Nevada. A nearly $5 million environmental assessment is already underway in Nevada for the project and expected to be completed sometime in 2022. By Garry Boulard ![]() The Bureau of Labor Statistics has issued a new report showing an increase in the employment cost index, which includes wages, salaries, and benefits. “Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 2.7 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2019, compared to 2.9 percent in December 2018,” the National Compensation Survey produced by the BLS says. Overall, wages and salaries were up by 2.9 percent for the total year, with benefit costs showing an increase during the 12-month period of 2.2 percent. At the same time, compensation costs showed a 2.7 percent rise in 2019, with overall wages and salaries up by 3.0 percent for the year. That latter statistic was a slight decline from the wages and salaries increase of 3.1 percent posted for 2018. In all industries, the BLS noted that total average employer costs for employee compensation came out to around $34 an hour, with the largest hourly rate noted in the utilities sector at more than $60 an hour. The construction industry recorded the sixth highest costs per hour at $40.45. That number took in the average $28.45 an hour in wages and salaries, combined with an average $12.40 in benefits. The lowest employer cost per industry were seen in the retail trade sector at $20 an hour, and the leisure and hospitality sector at $15 an hour. By Garry Boulard ![]() Later this year, construction could begin to build a bowling alley inside the annex of the New Mexico State Veterans Home in Truth or Consequences. A Request for Proposals has been issued by the New Mexico Department of Health describing the project as a “fully functional, turnkey, two-lane bowling alley.” The project must be built to American Bowling Congress and U.S. Bowling Congress standards, and will additionally include sub-lane foundation work, a ball rack and hood, automatic gutter bumper rails, a scoring system and all associated monitors, shoe rack and bowling ball rack. The 68,000 square foot annex, which cost $26 million to build, was opened two years ago and includes a theater and private rooms. The larger home itself, located at 992 S. Broadway Drive, was built in 1937, partially with funds from the Works Progress Administration. The building originally housed the Carrie Tingley Hospital for Crippled Children and was modeled on the Warm Springs Foundation for Infantile Paralysis at Warm Springs, developed and used by President Franklin Roosevelt. The Tingley hospital moved to Albuquerque in 1981. Two years later, the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services opened the veterans home, which is designed for the long term care of veterans. The deadline for the RFP is February 20. By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are well underway for the construction of a new neighborhood made up of single-family homes at the border dividing the Colorado cities of Aurora and Denver. What is being called High Point is envisioned as an 1,800-acre master planned community that will eventually include more than 3,000 residential units as well as up to 12 million square feet of commercial space. The plan additionally calls for the construction of a 500-room conference center, 1,000 new hotel rooms, and up to 300 acres of open spaces and parks. Last month members of the Aurora City Council gave their approval to rezoning a 98-acre parcel of the High Point site, allowing for the construction of homes roughly half a mile away from the Denver International Airport’s next planned runway. In response, the airport, along with the City of Denver, has now filed suit in the Adams County District Court asking to prohibit the building of any homes near the planned runway. The suit additionally charges that the Aurora City Council abused its authority in allowing for the zoning change. A statement issued by the airport said, in part, “Allowing single family housing next to the airport is a bad decision. It will harm both residents and the airport.” There has so far been no response from the Aurora City Council or the developer of the High Point project, Westside Investment Partners of Denver. By Garry Boulard ![]() In an effort to ward off advances made by foreign countries advancing 5G technology in the United States, a new bill has been introduced in Congress calling for more than $1.2 billion in federal funding for the same purpose. The Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecommunications Act, sponsored by North Carolina Senator Richard Burr and Virginia Senator Mark Warner, would, if passed, require the Federal Communications Commission to delegate $750 million to be used for research and development funding to advance the new technology. A separate $500 million will go into the Multilateral Telecommunications Security Fund inside the Treasury Department. That fund will be specifically used to facilitate the adoption of what is regarded as secure and trusted 5G equipment. Industries across the U.S., including construction companies, have expressed heightened interest in adapting 5G technology, generally regarded as being around twenty times faster than current wireless technology. Such technology can be used for everything from machine-to-machine connectivity, lighting smart cities, and reducing traffic congestion. The new Congressional legislation is spirited in part by concerns that the Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Company, which is operated by the Chinese government, may get a jumpstart on 5G development in the U.S. “The widespread adoption of 5G has the potential to transform the way we do business, but also carries significant national security risks,” Burr said in a statement, adding that “every month the U.S. does nothing, Huawei stands poised to become the cheapest, fastest, most ubiquitous global provider of 5G.” By Garry Boulard ![]() The small towns of Tornillo and Ysleta, to the south of the City of El Paso, are in line to receive funding for both the construction of new sidewalks as well as the installation of bike lanes. The money, officially approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is coming through two different federal programs: Transportation Alternatives and Safe Routes to Schools. Altogether, the commission gave a green light to thirty transportation infrastructure programs in the state with a total dollar value of $24.4 million. Of those projects, 27 will see the building of new sidewalks, five call for new shared-use paths, and two are centered on the creation of new bike lanes. The work in Tornillo, some 39 miles to the southeast of downtown El Paso, will see the building of just under 2 miles of new sidewalks. That funding is coming specifically from the Transportation Alternatives program. El Paso County is officially the project sponsor for the Transportation Alternatives funding. Ysleta, 15 miles southeast of El Paso, is getting funding through the Safe Routes to School program for the installation of new bicycle lanes, a shared path for bike-riders and pedestrians, and the installation of upgraded school flashers. The City of El Paso is the project sponsor for the Safe Routes to School funding. The Transportation Alternatives program is designed to target community-based programs building bicycle and pedestrian options, the conversion of abandoned railways into walking trails, and stormwater mitigation, among other efforts. The Safe Routes to Schools program promotes walking and cycling infrastructure for students coming and going to school. By Garry Boulard |
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