![]() In a move to relieve overcrowding at the Boulder County Jail, local officials are contemplating the construction of a new detention center that would house low-risk offenders only. The move comes in an effort to address lack of space issues at the 30 year-old jail, located at 3200 Airport Road. That facility, designed to hold no more than 287 inmates, has on occasion seen a population of around 400. In 2014, M.J. Martin Inc., a private consulting firm based in Lincoln, Nebraska, recommended that Boulder County should build what is described as an alternative sentencing facility that would free space up in the regular jail, which also houses both violent offenders and those awaiting trial. Now members of Boulder’s Board of County Commissioners say they are contemplating voting on a resolution that would put on this November’s ballot the question of extending a sales and use tax, revenues of which would go for the construction of the alternative sentencing building. The 0.185 percent tax was originally approved by county voters four years ago and used to fund a series of flood-recovery projects and programs. The tax extension would, as currently proposed, be in place for only 5 years, generating $10 million a year, beginning in 2020. Revenues from the tax would not only pay for the new alternative sentencing facility, most likely to be built next to the current county jail, but would also fund upgrades designed to provide more space at the jail. Commission members are expected to vote in August on whether or not to put the sales extension question on the fall ballot. By Garry Boulard
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Connecting Interstate 19 in Arizona with the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, State Route 189 is a major truck and car thoroughfare that services more than 7 million vehicles a year.
But because of the large number of trucks entering and exiting the port, connecting Arizona and Mexico, traffic congestions and back-ups have increasingly become the order of the day on what is also known as N. Mariposa Road. Now officials with the Arizona Department of Transportation have announced plans for an extensive $137 million rebuilding of the 3.7-mile route, which will also include intersection improvements and the construction of a bridge over the Frank Reed Road, just to the north of State Route 189. The project, with preliminary engineering and environmental studies beginning in 2011, is including as part of ADOT’s Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction program, and according to officials, will save Arizona $15 million by being done all at one time, rather than in phases. The project, which earlier this year also received a $25 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, is expected to see work begin early next year with a general completion date of 2021. In a statement, John Halikowski, the director of ADOT, remarked that a “State Route 189 that can better support international trade will make Nogales, Santa Cruz County, and Arizona better places to live and do business.” By Garry Boulard In response to news stories detailing federal construction projects that have gone over budget and over schedule, members of a Congressional committee have approved legislation calling for a greater monitoring of those projects.
H.R. 6194, otherwise known as the Real Estate Assets and Leasing (REAL) Reform Act of 2018, will more closely study General Service Administration facility projects with the goal, according to a press release from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, of enhancing “accountability over the agency’s construction program.” Introduced by Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta, the REAL Act primarily addresses itself to the manner in which the federal government handles its real property portfolio. The GSA currently has an inventory of more than 370 million square feet of work space. Barletta contends that up to $500 million a year could be saved through a more concerted effort to consolidate facilities and reduce overall office space. Any new GSA move to build new office space, according to the legislation, would have to be rigorously justified by the agency. GSA construction projects run the gamut from new courthouses, new ports of entry, and new Federal Bureau of Investigation field offices. With the approval of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the REAL bill is now on its way to the full House. By Garry Boulard ![]() A mostly one-story brick school building that has served three generations of students in the town of Buena Vista, Colorado is about to receive a long-anticipated redesign and rebuilding. Buena Vista voters last November, after earlier turning down a larger obligation bond to fund the renovation project, approved $29.5 million in funding to upgrade a school built in 1964. That ballot victory came after officials with the Buena Vista School District conducted a public information effort pointing out the structural deficiencies with the current school at 559 S. Railroad Street. Among those issues, according to Colorado Department of Education documents, is a fire system not up to code; out-of-date plumbing and mechanical systems; and a general lack of Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. The renovation project, as designed by the architectural firm Treanor HL, which has offices in Denver, is receiving additional funding from Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program. BEST, which is supported partly through marijuana sales excise taxes and proceeds from the Colorado Lottery, will be providing funding in the amount of $21.3 million. If all goes as planned, work renovating the Buena Vista school will launch by early next spring. Located in central Colorado, the combined Buena Vista High School and Middle School have a current enrollment of just under 300 students. By Garry Boulard A patch of urban land in downtown Phoenix, surrounded by gleaming skyscrapers, will soon see the construction of a 20-story hotel and office project.
Members of the Phoenix City Council have agreed to sell the 0.59-acre site to Berger Holdings of Phoenix for $2.8 million. City officials have for years wanted to see the 66,000 square foot property at the southeast corner of N. Central Avenue and E. Adams Street developed. Last year, the city issued a Request for Proposals noting that the site, which is currently used as a parking lot, is close to light rail transit, the Phoenix Convention Center, and other downtown amenities. In response, Berger Holdings, working jointly with the Scottsdale-based Sunbelt Holdings, has proposed building a structure measuring more than 200,000 square feet that would include 220 hotel rooms, 6,100 square feet of retail space on the structure’s ground floor, and two floors of office space. The project will also include a two-floor parking deck. With final details of the project still to be worked out, it is expected that work on the new mixed-use development will begin sometime next year. By Garry Boulard The American Institute for International Steel and two U.S. steel companies have announced that they are going to court in an effort to roll back increased steel and aluminum tariffs announced earlier this year by the Trump Administration.
In imposing those tariffs, President Trump said he was acting on a January report issued by the Department of Commerce that labelled the current levels of steels imports as a threat to national security. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S Court of International Trade, contends that in the passing of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which includes the controversial Section 232 allowing the President to impose such tariffs, Congress ceded power to the executive branch unconstitutionally. In a statement, Richard Chriss, AIIS President, said, “In addition to the totally open-ended choice of how to counter any threat that imports may present, Section 232 allows the President to consider virtually any effect on the U.S. economy as part of ‘national security.’” The AIIS has further contended the country’s construction and transportation industries are now suffering as a result of imported steel prices that have increased by better than 50 percent in the last month. The two other parties in the lawsuit are steel companies SIM-Tex of Waller, Texas; and Kurt Orban Partners of Burlingame, California. The Court of International Trade was established in 1980 with the task of hearing and settling international trade and customs law disputes. Although the focus in the tariff controversy has been the White House, Alan Morrison, an attorney for the AIIS, said in a statement that it is Congress which has proven to be the “violator of the Constitution,” in the matter. “The President simply took advantage of the opportunity to impose his views on international trade on the American people, with nothing in the law to stop him,” said Morrison. By Garry Boulard ![]() One of the most ambitious healthcare facility projects in Denver history has secured $45 million in funding coming out of the city’s gigantic $937 million general obligation bonds approved by voters last year. The proposed Outpatient Medical Center will be a part of the Denver Health Medical Center and is slated for construction at 660 Bannock Street in downtown Denver. First-round bond funding for the 7-story project amounts to $45 million, with an additional $75 million coming through future bond rounds. Altogether, the project is expected to cost $155 million to build. The new outpatient facility will belong to the Denver Health and Hospital Authority. In making its presentation to Denver’s General Obligation Bond Public Facilities Committee last year, the Authority said the new facility was needed simply due to demand: outpatients services currently offered by the center are expected next year to reach a capacity of 560,000 patient visits. “Without a new facility,” the Authority’s summary said, “the medical needs of thousands of Denver’s most vulnerable residents will go unmet.” Measuring 293,000 square feet, the new outpatient center will house a pharmacy department, surgery services, procedural areas, and up to 20 specialty clinics. Work on the facility is slated to begin later this year with an anticipated completion date of mid-2020. The Denver Health Medical Center was originally founded in 1860 and also serves as a teaching hospital. By Garry Boulard |
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