![]() One or two new elementary schools could be going up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in response to double-digit enrollment growth within that city’s school district. Officials with the Steamboat Springs School District say they have seen the number of students in the district increase by some 24 percent in the last decade, for a current total of just over 2,600. It has been projected that that number will jump to more than 3,000 in the next decade or so. In February, a district advisory committee said the need for a new school facility, or perhaps even two, could have a price tag of anywhere from $50 million to $120 million. That same committee also estimated that it would cost up to $147 million to pay for upgrades and renovations to the district’s existing schools to accommodate the enrollment growth. Where exactly any new school will be built has not yet been determined, although members of the Steamboat Springs School Board last November moved to purchase nearly 36 acres on the west side of the city. The district already owns more than 30 acres in the same area. Board members have said that they want to move cautiously in the direction of any new school construction, noting that in 2015 Steamboat Springs voters, by a nearly 80 percent to 20 percent margin, turned down a $92 million bond to build a build a new high school. Whether the school board votes in favor of building one or two schools, as well as renovating existing structures, the work will have to be funded by a bond that would go before voters in November. Known primarily as a winter ski resort destination, Steamboat Springs has seen its population more than double since the late 1990s, according to the U.S. Census, to an estimated 12,700 today. By Garry Boulard
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![]() Two bills, requiring greater workers’ compensation for employees hired by construction contractors and subcontractors, have been introduced in the Texas State Legislature. Under current state law, only a public employer in Texas is required to obtain workers’ compensation coverage. The introduced legislation would remove what has been an optional approach for all construction contractor and subcontractor work, making workers’ compensation a requirement. Currently around 28 percent of all employers in Texas do not carry workers’ compensation insurance, up from 22 percent in 2016. Texas is the only state in the country that allows employers to decide whether or not to carry workers’ compensation coverage. In addition, the legislation would require written verification of workers’ compensation coverage for all construction contractors and subcontractors working on public projects. The House version of the bill, introduced by representative Armando Walle, is currently under review in the House Business and Industry Committee; while the Senate legislation was introduced in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee by Senator Jose Rodriguez. The Texas Legislature is set to conclude its regular 2019 session on May 27, 2019. By Garry Boulard ![]() Projects that will see the upgrading of bathrooms, expansion of science classrooms, and general improvement to school grounds in Albuquerque have secured funding from the State of New Mexico. That funding is part of a massive $933 million capital outlay bill passed overwhelmingly by the state legislature and approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Among the larger appropriations for the Albuquerque Public Schools system is the $450,000 for improvements to the Rio Grande High School at 2300 Arenal Road SW; and $125,000 for grounds improvement work at the Dennis Chavez Elementary School at 7500 Barstow Street. An upgrade of the HVAC system at the East Mountain High School at 25 La Madera Road is receiving a $130,000 appropriation; while the Chamiza Elementary School at 5401 Homestead Circle NW will get $265,000 for outdoor track work. Nearly $142,000 is going for parking lot work at the Apache Elementary School at 12800 Copper Avenue NE; with another $106,000 targeting the fine arts facility improvements at the Del Norte High School at 5323 Montgomery Boulevard NE. The school projects, like all of the projects listed for funding in the capital outlay Senate Bill 280, were vetted for their worth before the legislation was introduced. According to an analysis of the bill compiled by the Legislative Finance Committee, the projects were based on “criteria, site visits, review of infrastructure capital improvement plans, monthly meetings with major departments, and testimony at hearings held in the interim.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Up to $1 million in state funding has been approved by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for the construction of a film studio in San Juan County. The funding was included in the much larger $900 million capital outlay bill funding a variety of projects across the state that were also given a green light by the Governor. Advocates of having a new studio in San Juan County have said that the facility could well prove appealing to Hollywood filmmakers simply because there are currently no large production studios in existence in the northwest corner of the state. In an interview with the Farmington Daily Times, filmmaker Brent Garcia said such a studio could spur up to $30 in annual spending from outside production companies coming in to use the new San Juan county facility. Where exactly the new studio will be located, and whether or not the facility will be newly constructed or carved out of an existing structure, remains to be determined. It is expected that San Juan County officials will decide those questions by the end of this year, with work on the new studio possibly beginning in early 2020. By Garry Boulard ![]() Although there are a vast number of issues upon which the Trump Administration and Democrats in Congress disagree, analysts have for some time now believed that an area of possible agreement could come in addressing the country’s infrastructure needs. Now, Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Charles Schumer, the Democrat Minority Leader in the Senate, have signaled that they are willing to sit down with the President and discuss infrastructure ideas. Speaker Pelosi earlier said that she wants to see passage of a bill that could provide as much as $2 trillion in funding for a variety of infrastructure needs, including repairing bridges and upgrading the nation’s highway system. “I think we can work together,” Pelosi said in a press conference during a House Democratic meeting in Virginia. “I’m optimistic.” But the Speaker also said that in order for any infrastructure legislation to be effective, it’s funding could not be any less than $1 trillion. A plan offered in early 2017 by the White House, which asked Congress to authorize $200 billion over the next decade in order to jumpstart over $1.5 trillion in projects, died for lack of support. Both Democrat and Republican leaders say the sticking point is not whether or not the country’s infrastructure needs work, but how to pay for that work. Inevitably, say analysts, the question will come down to whether or not the President or Congress will be willing to raise the country’s fuel tax to fund current and ongoing infrastructure needs. The upcoming meeting between the President and Congressional leaders comes in the wake of a report just issued by the Washington-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association saying that more than 47,000 of the country’s 616,000 bridges are now classified as “structurally deficient.” That same report also said that if every structurally deficient in America was placed end-to-end it would comprise a span of 1,100 miles—more the distance between Chicago and Denver. By Garry Boulard ![]() Work could begin later this year on a $1.2 million bioscience lab in Oro Valley, Arizona which will be part of a larger and evolving bioscience business park. The one-story 4,000 square-foot facility, with office space, will belong to the Oro Valley Innovation Labs. It has also been proposed that the facility may in the future be built out for a total of 10,000 square feet. Long in the planning stage, the facility will primarily be used to help medical diagnostics-centered bioscience startup efforts, and will also house mentorship and training programs. The bioscience business incubator campus is already the home to Icagen Incorporated, a pharmaceutical development company, and Roche Tissue Diagnostics, which provides cancer diagnostic solutions. Pima County officials earlier attempted to fund construction of the incubator, but that project was rejected by voters as part of a $815 million bond issue four years ago. Despite that defeat, University of Arizona President Robert Robbins last year unveiled a strategic plan that included a collaborative effort between the school and Oro Valley in the development of the biotech business park. By Garry Boulard ![]() Members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors have announced their location preference for the building of a new port of entry facility in Douglas, Arizona. The second largest such port in Arizona, officials have for years said that the overall facility needs to be greatly upgraded in order to efficiently serve an always-increasing flow of traffic to and from Mexico. The Raul H. Castro Port of Entry at 15 Pan American Avenue currently processes more than 64,000 commercial trucks on an annual basis between Douglas and the Mexican city of Agua Prieta, not to mention upwards of 3 million cars. Upgrading work on the overall port has included a $484,000 expansion project, adding a third lane to the pedestrian facility. But both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as local officials in Douglas, have also been promoting the idea of building an entirely new facility at the border which would center on commercial traffic. That move has now gained additional traction with the supervisors’ board delegating undeveloped land off of the James Ranch Road as an idea spot for that project. Cochise County officials expect to spend up to $200,000 on a development study looking at the potential for building a new port. Funding for construction of the separate port facility has not yet been identified. By Garry Boulard move underway to extend construction-friendly temporary protected status program to venezuelans4/12/2019 ![]() National Catholic leaders are urging Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to provide an 18-month designation for Venezuelan residents in the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status program. That initiative, first approved nearly two decades ago by Congress as part of the larger Immigration Act of 1990, provides temporary immigration status to residents of other countries in the U.S. who have left their native lands due to an ongoing armed conflict or environmental disaster, among other reasons. “At this time it is vital that Venezuelans in the United States have an opportunity to live with dignity, work lawfully, and provide for their families’ well-being until they can safely return home,” Bishop Joe Vasquez and Sean Callahan said in their letter to Pompeo. Bishop Vasquez is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration Committee, and Callahan is the chief executive officer of the Catholic Relief Services. In the last year the Trump Administration has moved to downsize the program, removing more than 300,000 people from its rolls. Residents from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti, among ten countries, have been the primary beneficiaries of the Temporary Protected Status program. Although exact numbers are not known, it is thought that tens of thousands of people who are currently in the Temporary Protected Status program work in the nation’s construction industry. For that reason, officials with the Associated General Contractors, National Association of Home Builders, and the Laborers’ International Union of North America, among other groups, have urged Congress to keep the program in place. According to a recent United Nations study more than 72,000 Venezuelans and their U.S.-born children could benefit from the Temporary Protected Status program. At least two dozen members of the U.S. Senate have now asked the Trump Administration to extend the Temporary Protected Status program to eligible Venezuelans, while legislation has also been introduced in both the House and Senate that would grant immediate coverage to Venezuelans under the program. ![]() Plans are now underway for the construction of the third phase of the sweeping Tierra Contenta master planned community in Santa Fe. That final phase work will take place on the south side of Santa Fe, and will not only include the eventual construction of up to 1,800 homes, and some commercial development, but also road infrastructure and parks. The project’s development team, which includes the Tierra Contenta Corporation and the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust, is currently in the process of seeking public input on the final phase work. Set to go up near the Capital High School, which is located at 4851 Paseo del Sol, the third phase work will also see the construction of affordable housing units. But the exact number of such units remains to be determined. Tierra Contenta currently includes more than 2,400 townhomes, multifamily and single family structures measuring both one and two stories in height. Out of the existing mix of Tierra Contenta properties, some 40 percent of the homes are defined as affordable. Other homes in the current development have generally been priced between $200,000 and $330,000. The first Tierra Contenta homes, in a project likened to a pedestrian-friendly village, were completed in the fall of 1995. By 2018 there were around 7,500 people calling Tierra Contenta home. By Garry Boulard ![]() The C. Cloyd Miller Library on the Silver City campus of Western New Mexico State University is a place of hundreds of thousands of books, meeting rooms, archives, and government documents. It is also the only structure on campus with its own bell tower. Now, the building is in store for an extensive exterior renovation as the result of the big $900 million capital outlay bill just approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. That legislation will provide $1.3 million in funding for both the library work as well as renovation work to the school’s Student Memorial Building. Western New Mexico University is also receiving $1.2 million for security enhancement projects; $400,000 for information technology infrastructure improvements; and another $50,000 for the planning and design of a veterans center. The capital outlay bill is additionally providing $1.2 million for the planning, design and construction of electrical infrastructure work on the Roswell branch campus of Eastern New Mexico University; along with $100,000 for the equipping of a virtual reality system for the branch’s health care education program. With its main campus in Portales, Eastern New Mexico University is also in line to receive $346,000 for infrastructure work at its Ruidoso campus, along with another $30,000 for the working on a retaining wall there. One of the largest appropriations at $650,000 is slated for the construction of a new president’s residence on the school’s Portales campus. That building, upon completion, will additionally serve as a public event venue for the school. Members of the Eastern New Mexico University’s board of regents in January voted in favor of building a new presidential residence as a result of asbestos and mold issues in the current president’s house. By Garry Boulard |
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