A move to put up a new regional command center for the El Paso Police Department is taking an important step forward in the acquisition of the land where it will be built.

Members of the El Paso Independent School District have now given their approval to selling a site on the northeast side of the city at 7024 Cielo Vista Drive that was once the campus of the Bonham Elementary School.

EPISD announced it was closing the more than 60-year-old Bonham in late 2021 as part of a district-wide consolidation effort, subsequently combining it with the MacArthur Middle School. The mostly one-story building has remained vacant ever since.

The new police station is being paid for out of a more than $413 million public safety bond that was approved by El Paso voters in 2019. Of that amount, just over $90 million is targeting construction of a new headquarters for the police department, while $24 million is set for the building of a new central regional command station.

This week the City of El Paso has closed on project design submissions for the building of what will be the new 100,000-square-foot police headquarters.

Police Department officials have noted that most of the projects funded by the 2019 bond are efforts to replace well-used and aging structures: the department’s headquarters at 911 N. Raynor Street is in a nearly 80-year-old building; while the Central Regional Command Center at 200 S. Campbell was originally built in 1894.
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An exact construction timeline for the station that will replace the Bonham school has not yet been announced.

​By Garry Boulard

Despite progress being made on the building and repairing of the nation’s highways, public infrastructure in more remote areas of the country remains dangerously outdated and badly maintained, witnesses appearing before a Congressional committee asserted this week.

“Transportation in rural areas is just as important as transit in big cities,” Todd Morrow, the executive director of the Community Transportation Association of America told members of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.

“People in rural areas, as in urban areas, need access to health care, places of employment, goods and services,” continued Morrow.

The importance of reliable transportation, added Morrow, is “especially true for vulnerable Americans: older adults, persons with disabilities, low-income individuals, and others.”

Not fully addressing the nation’s rural transportation needs is particularly important for the simple reason that so much of the nation is rural, said Washington Democrat Representative Rick Larsen.

“The Census Bureau estimates that 97% of the total land area in the United States is in rural areas,” remarked Larsen.

The Congressman additionally observed that rural areas are also the “first mile of supply chains that need infrastructure investment to efficiently get goods and products to markets.”

Speaking for the National Association of Towns and Townships, Mike Koles, former president of the group, remarked that “state highways function as the transportation system’s arteries and veins. And, like the human circulatory system, our local roads form the critical and vast majority of our capillaries that serve as the first and last mile of our economy.”

Continued Koles: “And I am here to tell you today that our capillaries have been neglected and are sick, and that sickness hinders our national economy and endangers our safety.”

A correction may be found in increased federal investment in rural transportation projects, suggested several speakers before the committee, particularly with a greater emphasis on tapping into an increasingly wide range of grant and funding opportunities currently coming out of Washington.

But for all of that, complaints were aired that federal funding is often made complicated by climate change policies, greenhouse gas performance measures, and what was called an over-emphasis on pedestrian and bike infrastructure projects.

Scott VanderWal, vice president of the American Farm Federation, pushed for an increase in Federal Highway Trust Fund fees, which he said could pay for the basic highway maintenance and road needs beyond those addressed in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

VanderWal urged lawmakers to fully fund the Trust Fund, to "ensure the continued viability of our transportation infrastructure and make sure all of those who use our highways pay into the Trust Fund."

Committee member Henry Johnson, a Democrat from Georgia, suggested that some rural transit issues could be holistically addressed in legislation he introduced earlier this year called the Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act.
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That legislation, creating a grant program designed to support the operational costs of transit for underserved and unserved rural communities, is under review in the House.

​By Garry Boulard

Input continues to be sought in Grand Junction for the redesign of one of the city's most famous public spaces: the historic 4.5-acre downtown Whitman Park, at the intersection of 4th Street and Pitkin Avenue.

Finding a new use for the park and creating new spaces and functions within its borders has been a priority for the city since the official adoption of what is called the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan in 2021.

The City has since engaged the services of the Boulder-based DTJ Design to create at least three park-wide design concepts with appropriate cost estimates.

That firm is now also conducting a series of community meetings, which, according to a city website, are intended to "gain an understanding from the community regarding their vision and preferences for the park."

One such input meeting is scheduled for April 1, with two more to follow in May.

In advertising for a consulting firm late last year, the City of Grand Junction said it was looking for a company responsible for providing "comprehensive services, including additional utility investigation and survey before the final design, as well as landscape, irrigation, and design plans, specifications, and construction costs estimates."

The more than century-old park was closed by city officials last fall due to a growing homeless encampment there complete with large numbers of tents and complaints from residents that the area was becoming dangerous.
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The park is surrounded on all sides by streets populated with both public and commercial buildings, less than one mile to the south of the Grand Junction City Hall.

​By Garry Boulard

A project renovating the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Cancer Center has secured a sizable $15 million capital outlay approved by both lawmakers and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The funding represents one of the largest single capital outlays for all of Bernalillo County, and a portion of a list of projects that UNM officials hoped to see approved this winter legislators.

The school is also receiving a $2.8 million outlay for the renovation of the three-story Tow Diehm Athletic Facility, at 1412 University Boulevard SE. Another $2 million will go towards the construction of the UNM Humanities and Social Sciences Complex.

Just over $1 million is going to a project seeing the renovation of the popular Popejoy Hall performing arts hall, which will include new lighting and the replacement of the original 1960s ceiling.

Some $945,000 is heading for improvements to the school's main football practice field; and another $675,000 is geared for improvements to the UNM women's sports facilities.

Smaller amounts are seeing $400,000 targeting the building of a ROTC training field; $250,000 for the renovation of the school's Indigenous Design + Planning Institute; and $190,000 going for lighting improvements throughout the campus.

The UNM cancer center project has been a three-phase effort, with work on the second phase launching late last year and expectations of mid-2025 completion date.
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Located at 1201 Camino de Salud NE, the center is the only one of its kind in the state to offer a wide range of treatment programs, including the use of theranostics.

​By Garry Boulard

A move by the Biden Administration to expand government-registered apprenticeship programs is meeting with strongly worded industry responses.
Issuing an executive order, Biden said such apprenticeship programs are a good means for expanding equitable training pathways to good paying jobs.

A White House statement said the programs, otherwise known as GRAPs, “will help ensure Americans have the skills and training they need for good jobs” created by the President’s Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, among other legislative initiatives.

In its essence, the GRAP effort encourages agencies to “provide preferences on projects to recipients that hire individuals who have participated in Registered Apprenticeship programs and increases worker voice for federal programs and contracts.”

But not everyone is crazy about the idea. The Associated Builders and Contractors is characterizing the GRAPs expansion as “illegal, unnecessarily costly, and burdensome.”

The group further charges that the Biden Administration move will more likely “restrict GRAP growth and exacerbate the industry’s labor shortage.”

The Laborers’ International Union of North America has charged that the effort is unrealistic: “Forcing all programs to utilize a ‘one size fits all’ training approach prevents programs from tailoring their training to the specific needs of a craft," it announced in a statement.

The expansion move will put in place a new kind of job training model, while altering how training providers measure the completion of their programs. The new approach, according to the Department of Labor, will provide greater clarity while also putting in place uniform expectations for how such programs should function.

Other issues: The proposal “incorporates dozens of new record keeping and administrative requirements,” charges Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs with Associated Builders and Contractors.

The Association of Union Constructors, however, has issued a statement hailing the proposed GRAP changes as “an industry-wide push to ensure not only that the workforce exists, but is as safe, efficient, and skilled as possible.”

Biden’s emphasis on such programs being offered by labor unions, asserts the AUC, is particularly vital: “Union apprenticeship programs have been shown to produce labor that regularly completes projects on time and under budget, while maintaining industry-leading safety records.”
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According to the Labor Department, nearly 650,000 apprentices were registered in a GRAP program last year, up from 360,000 in 2015.

​By Garry Boulard

In a region of the country that is already booming with data centers of varying size and scope, a proposal has been aired for the building of a data center complex campus in metro Phoenix that could cost as much as $14 million to complete.

The project, as presented by data center developer Tract, which is based in Denver, will be spread out over a swath of some 1,000 acres and will ultimately see the construction of 30 separate buildings.

A new player in the data center world, Tract specializes in what it calls “responsible data center growth” through the development of master planned data center parks. In the last several months the company has purchased more than 2,700 acres in metro Reno, Nevada for the ongoing development of a data center campus there.

Tract’s metro Phoenix project will ultimately encompass a building footprint of some 5.6 million square feet, with the structures themselves ranging in size between 149,000 square feet and 260,000 square feet.

To be called Project Range, the development will go up just to the north and south of Yuma Road, bordered by Perryville Road and Jackrabbit Trail.

Work on Project Range is expected to begin next year, with a rough completion date of sometime in late 2026 or early 2027.

Tract was launched in the fall of 2022 with the stated goal of building a portfolio of land for hyperscale and wholesale data centers.
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In January of this year, the company announced that it was entering an exclusive collaboration agreement with Nashville-based Silicon Ranch, an independent producer of solar energy, battery storage and carbon solutions to build green data center campuses.

​By Garry Boulard

Funding for the continued renovation of a courthouse in Taos County, partially built by the New Deal's Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, has won the approval of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Located at 121 N. Plaza, the Spanish Pueblo-style Taos County Courthouse is registered on the National Register of Historic Places and has been subject to a renovation effort begun two years ago designed to return it to its original floor plan and exterior.

The building is particularly valued by preservationists for housing a series of fresco murals with work described by New Mexico Magazine as "allegorical in nature and quite dramatic."

Just over $5.3 million was approved as a capital outlay earlier this year by New Mexico lawmakers to complete the courthouse's restoration work, making it the largest single appropriation for Taos County.

Altogether, around fifty individual projects based in Taos County have been approved, accounting for a total dollar amount of more than $19.3 million.

Other Taos County projects: the building of the Picuris Pueblo volunteer fire and emergency services station, with a $2.5 million capital outlay; and a new multi-purpose gymnasium for the Taos Municipal School District, at $1.5 million.
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An additional $1 million has been approved for the building of a senior day care facility in the Taos Pueblo, while $325,000 is going to the town of Red River to fund several bridge reconstruction projects.

​By Garry Boulard

Half a dozen bills providing funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services, among other agencies, have been signed into law by President Biden.

In what is an overall $1.2 trillion budget deal, members of Congress effectively held off the latest threat of a government shutdown, with Biden noting: "This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted."

A statement from the White House declared: "Because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked on a daily basis, agencies will not shut down and may continue their normal operations."

The Congressional action comes at the end of a months-long process of stopgap spending measures and intense debate. In the end, the House approved the final measure by a 286 to 134 vote. In the Senate, the 74 members approved the package, with 24 voting in the opposition.

Although a majority of the Republican caucus in the House voted against the measure, Speaker Mike Johnson described the measure as "the best achievable outcome in a divided government."

The bill approves an $824.5 billion budget for the Defense Department, above its current $796 billion.

Other details: the budget for the Department of Homeland Security was approved for $61.8 billion, while nearly $20 billion is heading to the Customs and Border Protection agency.

The new budget for the Internal Revenue Service will remain at the current $12.3 billion level. Nearly $240 million was approved for the National Flood Insurance Fund, thus keeping alive the National Flood Insurance Program.
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All of the Senate members from Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico voted in favor of the budget, with the exception of Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado. Bennet said he opposed the legislation "because it failed to include any financial support for Ukraine."

​By Garry Boulard

The City of El Paso has issued a Request for Statements of Qualifications for the eventual construction of a new police department headquarters.

The move comes more than four years after voters in November of 2019 approved a $413 million public safety bond designed to fund several police and fire department facility projects.

The largest project to be funded by the bond is the $90.6 million construction of a new police department headquarters, to replace the existing facility located at 911 N. Raynor Street.

According to public presentations made by city officials on the part of the bond, the new four-story police station will measure around 100,000 square feet and will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

The current two-story station was built as a Sears store in the late 1940s before becoming the renovated headquarters for the El Paso Police Department in late 1988.

That aging building has had a host of structural issues and is thought to not be up to modern police standards.

Now, according to the newly issued RFQ, El Paso is seeking consulting services for the facility programming, design, and construction of a new headquarters.

The chosen firm will be required to have a "proven track record in designing law enforcement facilities that are secure, technologically advanced, and community oriented."

An emphasis will especially be placed on a design that prioritizes functionality, security, and sustainability.
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It is expected that the City will evaluate project submissions by March 28, with a general target date for approval set for some time in May.

​By Garry Boulard

The ongoing allure of soccer throughout New Mexico was on particular display during the most recent session of the New Mexico State Legislature as lawmakers voted to approve funding for a new soccer facility in Santa Fe.

A capital outlay appropriation of $3.4 million was passed and subsequently signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for the expansion of the Municipal Recreation Complex Soccer Valley facility.

The facility, which opened in 1988, has long been well-used, but in recent years has experienced an explosion in attendance among youth sports teams playing what is arguably one of the state's most popular sports.

The $3.4 million was part of just over $135 million in capital outlay funding approved for around one hundred projects within the borders of Santa Fe County.

Additional big-ticket items include $5 million for the restoration of the Bataan Memorial Building, located at 400 Don Gaspar Avenue; another $5 million for improvements to the Center for Contemporary Arts, at 1050 Old Pecos Trail; and $4.5 million for the building of a new access road to the Santa Fe Regional Airport.

Some $2.2 million is targeting the renovation of the Department of Public Safety's Training Center at 4491 Cerrillos Road, also in Santa Fe.

Exactly $2 million has been approved for renovation work to the facilities of the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department at 1120 Paseo Del Peralta; with $1.6 million going for the construction of Santa Fe Paseo Real Wastewater Treatment facility.
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Governor Lujan Grisham this year vetoed only two capital outlay appropriations approved by lawmakers for Santa Fe County: $80,000 for road and walkway at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden; and $175,000 for facility work at the Santa Fe Indigenous Center.

​By Garry Boulard