Members of the El Paso City Council have given their approval to a project that will see the replacement of a downtown bridge crossing over the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad. In a resolution, council members gave their stamp of approval to an agreement forged by the City and the State of Texas to tackle the bridge project under the auspices of the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program. The project, which will also see new pavement, concrete curbs, and gutters, comes with a price tag of $420,000. That cost will be shared by the federal and state government, with no expense borne by the city. According to the agreement, once the bridge work is completed, the City of El Paso "shall accept full ownership and operate and maintain the facilities." Those services will be performed "for the benefit of and at no charge of toll to the public." The bridge in question is located at North El Paso Street, between E. Franklin Avenue to the north and W. Main Drive to the south. The Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program is operated by the Federal Highway Administration and provides funding for the replacement, rehabilitation, and preservation of bridges either in poor condition, or in fair condition "at risk of declining into poor condition." By Garry Boulard
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Last week the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule designed to substantially reduce the level of air pollution known as particulate matter. In so doing, the agency was updating national air quality standards with reference to the negative impact of particulate matter exposure. In announcing the action, Michael Regan, EPA Administer, characterized the rule as a "critical step forward that will better protect workers, families, and communities from the dangerous and costly impacts of fine particle pollution." Added Regan: "The science is clear, soot pollution is one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution, and it’s linked to a range of serious and potentially deadly illnesses, including asthma and heart attacks." Particulate matter pollution typically comes from such sources as power plants, construction sites, and cars. An additional source of particulate matter is found in wildfire smoke. Projects that emanate particulate matter are now going to be reduced to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from the previous 12 micrograms per cubic meter. The EPA action has been scorned by a number of industry groups, including the American Forest & Paper Association and the American Wood Council. In a previous joint letter to President Biden, those groups said the rule "threatens U.S. competitiveness and modernization projects in the U.S. paper and wood products industry and in other manufacturing sectors across our country." Now Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican Chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has weighed in on the topic in a House hearing on February 15. Rodgers said the new rule "goes well beyond the original Congressional intent first laid out in the Clean Air Act, which stated goal was to promote 'reasonable actions' to limit or reduce emissions and pollution." Rodgers further charged that the "process to develop this latest rule was rushed, lacked transparency, and failed to incorporate feedback from stakeholders across the country who will be impacted the hardest." An analysis of the EPA rule just published by the Washington-based Institute for Energy Research notes that states and counties will now be tasked with reducing particulate matter from such sources as power plants and industrial sites. "If states do not comply by 2032, penalties could be levied," warned the report. By Garry Boulard A plan to build a roughly 2,000-acre tech park in Buckeye, Arizona, has taken a significant step forward with the approval of the city's planning and zoning board. What is envisioned as a technology and data center campus would go up to the west of the Buckeye Municipal Airport and will be capable of attracting local and out-of-state tenants. According to city documents, the project will "result in development that is compatible with the nearby Buckeye Municipal Airport," while also contributing to "the city's economic well-being." In addition, the campus will offer "a high-quality aesthetic from the perspective of adjacent streets," one that "does not negatively impact surrounding properties, now or in the future." The site for the campus was originally zoned for a master planned community by Cipriani Land Holdings to be called Cipriani, which was originally proposed in 2008. After that project, for various reasons never became reality, the property was sold for $40 million to the Phoenix-based Arizona Land Consulting. The proposal is now on its way to the Buckeye City Council for a final review and vote. For the better part of a decade, Buckeye has consistently been listed as one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, with a population of more than 105,000, up from the 4,000 or so who called the city home in the 1980s. By Garry Boulard The fate of a bill designed to fund new workforce housing development in New Mexico will soon be known as members of the state legislature meet in the final hours of the winter 2024 session. House Bill 195 has already been approved by the full House of Representatives on a strong vote of 50 to 16. As proposed, the measure would create a fund to be administered by the New Mexico Finance Authority that would help local communities in building and habilitating housing for working class residents of the state. As presented by Democrat Representative Linda Serrato, the measure would be supported by some $75 million in state funds that could also be used to acquire properties for development. An additional feature of the legislation calls for a special appropriation of $100 million for commercial enterprise development projects. With the approval of state lawmakers, the bill would expand the Opportunity Enterprise Act, which was signed into law two years ago and is designed to help communities acquire commercial spaces, while also supporting residential development. According to an analysis of the bill by the Legislative Finance Committee, the implementation of HB 195 would cost around $150,000 in its first year, which would “cover staffing for board administration, application system development, and rule and policy development.” In discussing the legislation, Serrato, as quoted in the Grant County Beat, remarked: “We know that New Mexico needs more than affordable housing to support our families and grow our workforce, we need housing that is affordable for all.” The measure has the support of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. By Garry Boulard After a roughly two-year pause engendered by the Covid 19 pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service is once again sending out collection notices to taxpayers. Known as a Letter LT38, the correspondence is officially called a 2024 Reminder of Notice Resumption whose function is to let recipients know collection procedures are now fully back in swing. The LT38 is not, reports the Detroit Free Press, “a letter to inform you of an audit.” It is instead, a reminder “providing an update on your outstanding balance and options to resolve the debt.” The IRS ceased sending out such notices in February of 2022 when the agency was plagued by staff shortages caused by the outbreak of the pandemic. “We’re resuming normal operations and providing you with an update on your outstanding balance to help you stay informed and offer you self-service options to resolve your account,” the IRS website is announcing. The LT38 comes with a deadline designed to compel taxpayers to pay off any existing balances with the agency, or to enter into some kind of agreement with the government to pay off a debt. Receipt of such correspondence, says the site Taxcure, “means you need to take action on your tax debt. The IRS is resuming collection actions.” “In short, that means that if you don’t pay your bill, the IRS may garnish your wages, seize your bank accounts, or take your assets,” Taxcure adds. When Covid 19 first made itself known in March of 2020, the IRS temporarily shut down its onsite operations as well as its mail processing facilities. Taxpayers, in return, were forced to wait longer for returns to be processed. Late last year the agency announced it was providing penalty relief for nearly 5 million people, as well as businesses and tax-exempt groups that had not been sent collection reminder notices during the pandemic. The vast majority of taxpayers receiving such relief, said the IRS, were making less than $400,000 a year. By Garry Boulard A collaborative effort involving several cities is now underway in northern Colorado that it is hoped will eventually result in the construction of a $150 million water pump station. The newly formed Cobb Lake Regional Water Treatment Authority is bringing together the cities of Eaton, Severance, and Windsor in a joint move to get the facility built. A fourth entity in the effort is the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District. In a statement, Scott Moser, the mayor of Eaton, said the new authority will allow "participating entities to share resources and infrastructure to meet year-around demands and increase water treatment resilience." Added Moser: "This will be a critical need for our community, and we are excited to be a part of the solution. The project is in many ways a response to population trends in the northern part of the state. In the last two decades, Eaton's population has more than doubled from 2,600 people to more to around 5,800; while Severance has gone from less than 1,000 during that same period of time to nearly 11,000 today; Windsor's population, meanwhile, has jumped from just under 10,000 people to more than 35,000. As envisioned, the new water treatment authority will not only see the construction of a water treatment facility, which will be located roughly 10 miles to the north of Windsor, but also the building of up to 20 miles of underground pipeline. Funding for the project will come partly via ratepayers in the three cities, with plans for work on the pipeline go begin in 2027. It is thought that the new facility will be operational by 2030. By Garry Boulard A suit has been filed in the U.S. District Court in Arizona to block an initiative announced last year by President Biden to preserve nearly 1 million acres of land near the Grand Canyon. In August, Biden sign a proclamation officially establishing the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni -Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and declaring that the acreage is sacred tribal land worthy of federal protection. In a statement issued from the White House at the time of the Biden announcement, Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, said the designation honored "the tribal connections to the surrounding lands and water and the value of tribal stewardship in protecting the waters that flow through the Grand Canyon down to our reservation." But now two Arizona legislative leaders are charging that Biden went beyond his legal authority in setting the land aside, while also noting the economic consequences of the decision. The Biden move, said Republican Arizona Senate President Warren Peterson in a statement, will effectively halt "all mining, ranching, and other local uses of federal lands that are critical to our energy independence from adversary foreign nations, our food supply, and the strength of our economy." The lawsuit filed by Peterson and Arizona Republican House Speaker Ben Toma has been joined by the Arizona cities of Colorado City and Fredonia, as well as larger Maricopa County. A core argument behind the litigation centers on the federal Antiquities Act, which Biden said gave him the authority to preserve the land in question. That act, the litigants contend, is only meant to be used in the protection of small historical landmarks on federal lands. The Antiquities Act, the suit asserts, which was signed into law in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt, was never meant to be applied to vast swaths of land. It is not known when the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona will make a ruling in the case. By Garry Boulard Construction industry officials are reviewing a new proposal put out by the Biden Administration regarding information pertaining to a worker's salary history. As printed in the Federal Register, the Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting rule would prohibit all federal contractors and subcontractors from requesting information pertaining to an job applicant's past salary history. The rule would additionally require those same contractors to post salaries in job listing advertisements. According to the Federal Register announcement, the proposed rule is animated by the theory that bans on compensation histories would promote the "economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Federal contractor workforce." Compensation history bans, the announcement continues, have had the effect of decreasing "gender, racial, and ethnic pay gaps by reducing pay secrecy and helping workers negotiate." Announcing the salaries being offered in job listings, meanwhile, could "help employers effectively lower recruiting costs, both in terms of direct expenses, such as job advertising costs, and indirect expenses, such as those related to the selection and negotiation process." The site Bloomberg Law has raised the possibility that the proposed rule could "present stumbling blocks for contractors when it comes to practical application," noting that attorneys for federal contractors are currently seeking clarity on the scope of the rule. In a brief press release, the Associated Builders and Contractors has announced that it will be "analyzing the proposed rule and participating in the regulatory process." Comments on the new rule proposal will be accepted by the Regulatory Secretariat Division until April l. By Garry Boulard The last original structure in the north central town of Valmont, Colorado has been placed on the state's Most Endangered Places list. Located at 3227 61st Street, the Valmont School was built in 1911 and operated as a educational facility for four decades until it was closed in 1951, owing to an area school consolidation effort. Subsequently privately owned, the building has sat empty since the 1980s and is today in somewhat of a dilapidated condition. The listing was announced by the group Colorado Preservation, which seeks to draw attention to some of the oldest and most historically significant structures in the Centennial State, and in so doing raise funds for their upgrading. The Valmont School housed two school rooms and was built of ornamental concrete blocks, a building material produced by inventor Harmon Palmer, who patented a concrete block machine in 1899. Preservationists have pointed out that the building, crowned by a wooden bell tower, has endured both roof and water damage, and will need significant funding to be completely restored. The larger town of Valmont, four miles to the northeast of Boulder, currently has a population just over 60 people. By Garry Boulard A bill that will set up a small agency tasked with developing a statewide housing plan is now working its way through the New Mexico State Legislature as that body nears the end of its winter session. As proposed by Senator Michael Padilla, Senate Bill 71 would see the creation of an Office of Housing that would be a part of the Department of Finance and Administration, taking on a holistic approach to a myriad of housing issues across the state. According to an analysis of the bill put together by the Legislative Finance Committee, the Office of Housing would study “housing issues and work with governments and private developers to plan projects and acquire funding to address housing needs.” The office would also coordinate its efforts with “regional housing authorities, local governments, tribal governments, and private housing stakeholders,” as well as any number of state agencies, to make up an annual state housing plan. While lawmakers have lauded the intent of the bill, some have wondered if in its work, the proposed Office of Housing will end up duplicating the work of the existing New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. Despite those reservations, the measure has won the support of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, along with the Northern New Mexico Builders Association, Santa Fe Home Builders Association, and Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. According to an estimate produced by the Office of the State Auditor, the proposed Office of Housing would require around $375,000 annually to support a four-person staff. The measure is currently under review in the Senate Finance Committee. By Garry Boulard |
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