A town in Arizona known for having one of the tallest man-made fountains in the world may soon be getting international attention for a second reason. Plans have now been announced for the construction of an $18 million combined observatory and planetarium in Fountain Hills, some 31 miles to the northeast of Phoenix, that will also include a theater and large telescope. What is being called the International Dark Skies Discovery Center will go up in downtown Fountain Hills on land donated by the town near the public Centennial Circle, which also includes a community center and museum. The 15,000 square foot center will also include an exhibit hall with interactive displays and exhibits. The planetarium will feature immersive digital technology, while the theater will have 150 tiered-seats, using 8K projection technology. Three years ago Fountain Hills was designated as a dark sky community by the Tucson-based International Dark Sky Association. That designation, now given to some 130 places around the world, recognizes localities that have made significant efforts to preserve the night sky through a reduction of light pollution. A fund-raising drive to build the Dark Skies Discovery Center, which has been in the talking stage for the last several years, has now been launched. While a timetable for the drive as not been revealed, it is expected that once the needed support is secured, it will take around 2 years to fully design and build the facility. By Garry Boulard
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President-elect Joe Biden has announced a plan for stimulating the economy that will include direct checks to Americans, a raise in the federal minimum wage, and funding for small businesses. “The crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight and there’s no time to waste,” Biden said in announcing what amounts to a $1.9 billion effort whose centerpiece is a $1,400 check for individuals making less than $75,000. “We have to act and we have to act now,” Biden continued, saying that what he calls his American Rescue Plan will “tackle the pandemic and get direct financial assistance and relief to Americans who need it the most.” Biden is also proposing enhanced unemployment benefits of $400 a week, up from the current $300, with an expiration date of next September, and a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour, up from the current $7.25 an hour, which has been in effect since the summer of 2009. Up to $15 billion in Biden’s plan will go directly to help small businesses impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak and economic shutdown. “I know what I just described does not come cheaply, but failure to do so will cost us dearly,” Biden continued. “The consensus among leading economists is, we simply cannot afford not to do what I’m proposing.” The plan will additionally include $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local, and territorial governments. Responding directly to the pandemic, Biden’s plan would see $20 billion spent for a national vaccination program, $50 billion for improved testing, and $40 billion targeting an increase in the nation’s stock of protective gear and supplies. A second piece of legislation, which is expected to include a comprehensive infrastructure construction funding proposal, will most likely be introduced by Biden early next month. By Garry Boulard Plans are underway for the construction of a new Nissan dealership location on the south side of Fort Collins. If approved by the city, the project would go up on a currently vacant site in the 5800 block of S. College Avenue, near a current Nissan dealership showroom. Once the new 40,000 square foot building is completed, the existing showroom structure will be repurposed as a Kia dealership facility. The new building, along with a lot large enough to display nearly 400 vehicles, will be built on 6 acres at the intersection of Crestridge Drive and South College Avenue. The idea behind the twin construction and renovation projects is to combine in one place the vehicle dealerships owned by the Valley Auto Group. Although an exact construction schedule has not yet been announced, it is thought that work building the new Nissan dealership structure could launch later this year, with a rough 2023 completion date. Besides allowing for the display of two different brand vehicles all at one site, the project will also provide for a staging area specific to the growing electric vehicle market. By Garry Boulard At least four public libraries located in Arizona will be receiving grants for a variety of building improvement initiatives. The funding is coming from the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records department, and will include $39,000 for the renovation of a children’s book and study area in the Snowflake-Taylor Public Library in the central Arizona town of Snowflake. The Cottonwood Public Library, also in central Arizona, is getting nearly $15,500 for a sidewalk improvement project; while the Parker Public Library, on the southeast side of the state, is hoping to build a new annex storage building, and is getting $7,500 in funding. The Camp Verde Community Library, 90 miles to the northeast of Phoenix, is in line for $5,000 for restrooms upgrades and new lighting. The funding is a result of the creation of a state grants-in-aid program established by the Arizona legislature and designed to provide funding for both cities and county library districts. Such grants are often used to pay for just a portion of a project, with additional funding coming from other sources. Last year more than $850,000 in grants were awarded for library facility projects ranging from the installation of xeriscape landscaping to creating Internet use areas, and building spaces for the visually impaired. By Garry Boulard Despite the pandemic economy and deepening partisan divisions in Washington, the chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks he has a way for everyone to move forward. In his annual State of American Business speech, Thomas Donohue is calling for a stepped-up investment in infrastructure projects nationally, as well as new workforce training, and trade reform. “Our lawmakers should enact a fiscally and environmentally responsible infrastructure package that focuses on urgent needs like roads and bridges, modernizes our critical networks, and upgrades and expands technology like broadband,” Donohue said. A comprehensive infrastructure proposed by a President Biden and approved by Congress, would not only raise productivity, but also “create jobs and drive up incomes in a hurry.” Donohue added that such legislation, if passed, could bring with it an unexpected benefit: “It might build some goodwill for bipartisan progress on other priorities.” The Chamber chief also wants to see more funding for training programs based partly on the theory that the pandemic economy has somewhat altered what jobs are needed and where. “Our lawmakers should fund rapid training programs to connect the unemployed with jobs in new sectors,” Donahue remarked. “Some of the best-paying sectors, such as health care or financial and professional services, have more job openings than available workers,” he continued. “If we can do this right and do it quickly, we will improve the living standard for millions of Americans and get our economy growing even faster.” Warning that Chamber members will go to battle against any Congressional attempts to raise taxes or pass new regulatory legislation, Donahue added that the country needed to “reengage with the world through a bold trade agenda.” Calling for an end to trade wars and new tariffs, which he said has hurt farmers and manufacturers, Donahue said the U.S. should take on a stronger role working with organizations like the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization. “At the same time, we also have to confront the unfair trade and industrial policies that China uses against U.S. companies,” Donahue added. “We must work with our allies to stand up to China, while also pursuing new negotiations with Beijing to protect our intellectual property.” The Chamber boasts a membership of more than 300,000 businesses, the vast majority of which are small businesses. It is thought to be one of the most powerful lobbying presences on Capitol Hill. By Garry Boulard Plans have advanced for the construction of a new fire and rescue station that will go up on the immediate west side of Boulder. To be located off the 2800 block of 30th Street, the new facility, officially called Station 3, will measure around 6,200 square feet and will house four drive-through bays on its first floor, an apparatus bay, a community room, and administrative offices. The second floor will contain living spaces for the firefighters, with a dozen bunk rooms, as well as a spacious roof patio. Also included in the project: the building of parking space and a rear public alleyway. The estimated $13 million facility will be going up roughly one mile to the north of the existing Station 3, which is located at Arapahoe and 30th Streets. That one-story structure, built in 1965, has for some time been regarded by department officials as out of date and undersized. Work on the new station will most likely begin later this spring. One of eight such facilities run by the city, Station 3 has also long been one of the busiest stations in Boulder. By Garry Boulard Partly due to uncertain funding, work on a project designed to remediate a one-time massive operative brine well in Carlsbad halted last summer. The well, located along U.S. Route 285, was closed more than a decade ago in the wake of fears that it might fall in on itself, creating in the process a massive sinkhole. Estimates of the total cost for completely remediating the well run as high as $54 million. But the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department is asking for $10 million for now from the New Mexico State Legislature just to re-start the work that stopped six months ago. The Carlsbad Brine Well operated for three decades providing salt water that was used in oil well drilling. The brine was the byproduct of pumped fresh water used to dissolve below the surface salt layers. But removal of the salt eventually led to the creation of an underground cavity increasingly at risk of collapse, a prospect that could, according to estimates, lead to a loss of life for those living or traveling near the well, not to mention an estimated more than $1 billion in litigation. A new challenge with the project centers on a solar analysis revealing that a portion of the well is much larger than previously thought, requiring at least three time more material to fill it. The two-month New Mexico 2021 state legislative session begins on January 19. By Garry Boulard Broadband infrastructure projects are expected to greatly accelerate this year as a result of the most recent coronavirus legislation. While providing hundreds of millions of stimulus checks to individuals, the new Covid-19 relief bill, otherwise known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, is also providing some $7 billion for broadband expansion projects. Those projects must be geared to either provide or expand broadband access for low-income households, with just over $3.2 billion available for efforts already approved by the Federal Communications Commission. In a statement, Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, said the legislation essentially leverages “private efforts to ensure low-income American families and veterans are connected, and will facilitate remote learning, funding connected drives for low-income American students.” The massive $900 billion bill, designed to provide immediate help for those economically impacted by the pandemic, is also providing $1.9 billion to remove and replace existing network equipment regarded as unsecure or a security risk. Another $1.3 billion is going for grants to be used for tribal government broadband deployment through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is a part of the Commerce Department. The NTIA is now seeing the creation of what is being called the Broadband Infrastructure Program which will award grants to public-private partnerships devoted to deploying broadband service to counties, towns or cities with fewer than 50,000 residents. Focusing on accelerating broadband construction in lower income areas of the country, the new legislation is also making available $285 million that will target neighborhoods surrounding any Historically Black College or University, otherwise known as an HBCU. In so doing, the legislation sets up an Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives facilitating grants that will go to the HBCUs for broadband development. A smaller $65 million is going for the long-planned implementation of the new Broadband DATA Act, which requires the FCC to create more accurate and up to date broadband data maps that will better pinpoint areas of the country still lacking broadband infrastructure. In a statement, Jessica Rosenworcel, a member of the FCC, described the broadband funding legislation as “only a start, but it’s important because it is the beginning of what needs to be a national effort to connect 100% of us to broadband.” By Garry Boulard On January 5, the Boulder City Council gave its ok to a site review document that will see the repurposing of a former Macy’s outlet. The project will also include the construction of some 12,000 square feet of new space. As planned, the former store space at the Twenty Ninth Street outdoor mall, located at 1900 28th Street, will house some 160,000 square feet of office and retail space. Of that total square footage, the vast majority, at just over 155,000 square feet, will be developed as Class A office space. Even more, a new story will be built on top of a section of the building, raising that part of the structure from two levels to three. What is being called Boulder 29 is being undertaken as a partnership that includes Macy’s and the Corum Real Estate Group of Denver. Part of the repurposing plan will also see an upgrading of an existing outdoor plaza adjacent to the mall structure, with the addition of new shade structures and benches, among other amenities. Also included as part of the project: the addition of photovoltaic features, and additional measures designed to allow for daylight in the center of the building. According to city documents, the adaptive reuse of the former Macy’s store will “add to the diverse mix of the area and help to revitalize and upgrade” the mall itself. A final approval of the project could be made by the city council in February. The structure housing the Macy’s store was built in 1982 and was for decades the principal anchor tenant for the Twenty Ninth Street mall. By Garry Boulard Plans are now underway for the construction of a long-anticipated public park on the northeast side of Las Cruces. The park will be built in the city’s Mesa Grande Road neighborhood, a part of the city that even though it has experienced great residential growth in the last several decades, remains underserved when it comes to public recreational spaces. Members of the Las Cruces City Council have given their approval to a resolution calling for the park to be built “within a one-mile radius of Mesa Grande Road and Central Road.” That area, according to the resolution, is generally regarded as economically depressed with a “high percentage of people of color.” But the larger area has also seen the creation of two new subdivisions since 2004, as well as the construction of up to 1,000 single-family homes. The project is expected to be built on at least two acres and will include a playground, picnic shelter, benches, and accessible features, among other amenities. A site selection process is now underway, the purpose of which is to determine not only an affordable place to build the new park, but one that will be conducive to the vast majority of Mesa Grand Road area residents. City documents estimate that it will cost around $190,000 for the land needed to build the new park, while the design and construction of it should come in at just under $500,000. The council resolution is additionally calling for the new park to be built within the next year. By Garry Boulard |
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