Located in a primarily agricultural part of the state where bean, corn, and wheat crops are plentiful, the Holyoke School District has announced plans to take on security facility improvements at its combined junior and senior high school. That one-story, brick building is located at 545 E. Hale Street, and according to district officials, has long been in need of a better structural security system, which will include enhanced entryway security. The district, with an enrollment of around 600 students, also has an elementary school and alternative high school. If approved in the November elections, the $2.2 million bond would be added to $2.5 million in funding earlier approved by Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program, also for the facility security upgrades. The last time voters in the Holyoke District approved a school facility bond was more than two decades ago. That successful bond proposal ended up paying for an addition to the combined junior and senior high building. If this latest bond, appearing as Ballot Issue 5A, wins voter approval, work on the security upgrades could begin next spring. By Garry Boulard
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Large swaths of western New Mexico, and both east Arizona and Colorado, continue to lack access to broadband internet, a pattern all the more troubling during a time when students may need that access more than ever due to Covid-19 school closings. According to a study just conducted by the Wall Street Journal, there are currently some 21 million people lacking access to broadband. Using statistics supplied by the Federal Communications Commission, the study notes that when subscribers with unreliable or slow internet connections are factored into the equation, the number reaches 157 million people. Those either entirely lacking broadband service or enduring unreliable service are largely confined to the nation’s poorest rural counties, with the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana mostly impacted. Underserved areas also include Native American tribal lands in New Mexico and Arizona. In all, according to the non-profit, San Francisco-based Education Super Highway, nearly 10 million students currently lack broadband access. Because of the presence of Covid-19, many school districts across the country are this fall conducting classes only online, a prospect further burdening students in those underserved districts. For the present, West Virginia Senator John Manchin is hoping to secure federal support to fund remote learning broadband hotspots across the country. But in speaking to the Journal, Manchin says that unless the country begins to “treat access to broadband like the need for electricity was treated in the 1930s, our students will fall behind.” At the same time a group called the Rural Broadband Association has just announced that it is spearheading an effort to foster partnerships between rural broadband providers and school districts that will help make existing broadband service more affordable. The Manchin legislation, known as the ACCESS the Internet Act, is calling for up to $2 billion in dedicated funds to hasten broadband infrastructure construction. The measure is currently under review in the Senate Committee on Appropriations. By Garry Boulard In a move to spur the development of more downtown housing and infrastructure development, the City of Albuquerque is making a pitch to secure a $25 million grant from a Boston-based investment firm. Arctaris Impact Investors has announced that it is offering cities across the country grant support for projects built within defined Opportunity Zones. Those zones, as defined by the Treasury Department, are areas of a city, suburb, or rural community regarded as economically distressed. New construction and development projects, as well as start-up businesses launched within those zones, may be eligible for valuable capital gain tax incentives coming out of Washington. In responding to Arctaris’ Opportunity Zone Investment Initiative, the City of Albuquerque is pointing to a project known as the Rail Trail. That multimodal public art esplanade based in downtown Albuquerque will spur the city to “unlock redevelopment potential throughout the Downtown corridor, while bringing much needed infrastructure, housing, and jobs to the area,” Mayor Tim Keller said in his appeal to the Arctaris group. Keller also mentioned that Albuquerque wants to “build in smart community technologies to benefit residents and businesses.” Arctaris announced the formation of its Opportunity Zone fund last year, with the goal of eventually investing in more than 8,700 defined Opportunity Zones. Funded in 2009, Arctaris Impact Investors’ mission is to put money in business and community infrastructure projects located primarily in underserved communities. In announcing the $25 million grant program earlier this summer, Michael Nutter, who serves on Arctaris’ board of advisors, said the idea of the project was to invest in “affordable housing and public works infrastructure throughout the U.S.” As defined, Arctaris provides 80% of the capital for any given Opportunity Zone project, with pubic or private partners coming up with the remaining 20%. The Albuquerque Rail Trail project is centered on the construction of a foot and bike path running adjacent to a series of railroad tracks in the city’s downtown area, between Central Avenue and Lomas Boulevard. It is expected that Arctaris will announce its Opportunity Zone grant recipients by early next summer. By Garry Boulard A nearly 60 year-old brick building on the Las Vegas campus of New Mexico Highlands University may soon see significant upgrading. The Sininger Hall, located at 616 11th Street, was built in 1962 and originally served as a dormitory for the school’s male students. The building measures around 26,000 square feet. The facility was significantly upgraded and expanded some 20 years later, and now houses NMHU’s Department of Business Administration. School officials have long wanted to add modern energy-efficient upgrades to the building, and may soon get that chance if voters in November approve a $156.3 million general obligation bond. Of that amount, some $7 million will be dedicated to the upgrading of Sininger Hall, which is named in honor of long-time NMHU education professor Harlan Sininger. If passed, Bond C will fund a variety of higher education, public school, and native tribal facility construction and upgrade projects across New Mexico. By Garry Boulard An Executive Order signed in August by President Trump allowing employers to put off the collection of a tax used to fund Social Security has so far not been widely embraced by the private sector, according to reports. According to the order, the deferral would make it possible for employers, as of September 1, to suspend the 6.2% tax until the end of the year. The President said the deferral was directly applicable to any workers whose “pay period generally is less than $4,000.” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has described the payroll tax deferment as essentially a “gigantic wage increase,” explaining that it could leave the average worker with up to $1,200 more in pay between September and December. By the parameters of the executive order, all payroll taxes would be re-imposed in January and increased in order to make up for loss revenue from the deferral. A number of large companies, including Home Deport Incorporated, the Costco Wholesale Corporation, and CVS Health, have since announced that are declining to be a part of the deferral program. In an interview with the website SHRM Online, Caroline Harris, vice-president of tax policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, observed: “Given the numerous implementation challenges, remaining outstanding questions and the extremely short implementation period, employers are likely to continue withholding and remitting payroll taxes to the Treasury.” Adds Construction Dive: “The administrative burden for employers will be especially hard if some employees want to take the deferral and others don’t.” The executive order is mandatory for federal employees. Mike Rigas, acting deputy director with the Office of Management and Budget, has just issued a memo advising all federal agencies to “coordinate with its payroll provider to disseminate information to employees, and to answer questions they may have.” The federal payroll tax has been in existence since the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935. By Garry Boulard What was once a major urban landfill on the south side of Phoenix may soon see the construction of a unique food production and innovation facility. As proposed, the Arizona Fresh Agri-Food Innovation Center will go up at the site of a city-owned landfill running along the south bank of the Salt River between Seventh and 16th Streets. The company, Arizona Fresh Holdings LLC, says it wants to build a modern, one-story facility that would include a farmer’s market as well as a 210,000 square-foot food distribution center. A construction schedule for the project, which is currently in the environmental and feasibility assessment phase, has not yet been announced. The Phoenix-based company has said that it is willing to pay for all costs regarding an environmental assessment of the Del Rio Landfill site. That site is part of a larger Phoenix initiative designed to assist in the transformation of such sites into properties that can be used for food production. The 156-acre triangular-shaped landfill was closed in the 1981 by the city and eventually capped with imported soil. Securing funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, Phoenix subsequently put together the Del Rio Area Brownfield Plan, which served as a blueprint for the redevelopment of the site. In early 2018, Phoenix issued a Request for Proposals asking for ideas on how to redevelop the site. In January of this year Arizona Fresh Holding’s proposal for the property won the backing of the city. Officials with company have said that the food innovation center will be particularly geared to address the needs of south Phoenix residents lacking in grocery store options. By Garry Boulard In an effort to increase its affordable housing stock, the City of Fort Collins has issued a Request for Proposals for consultants to help formulate its newly adopted Housing Strategic Plan. Some 6 years ago the city announced the formulation of an initial housing initiative setting a goal of having at least 10% of the city’s housing inventory classified as affordable by the year 2040. That initial effort resulted in the construction or upgrading of nearly 100 affordable rental units, as well as 373 new homes. But, according to city documents, the “gap between median income and median home price is widening” in Fort Collins, making the need for more affordable housing more crucial than ever. To make matters worse, nearly a quarter of all homeowners in the city currently cannot afford their monthly mortgage notes, while those seeking to come into the market are inhibited by a median home sale price of at least $430,000. The consultant will be tasked with trying to align the city’s various affordable housing programs with the actual need, with an emphasis on trying to achieve what are called “more equitable outcomes” for members of the community. The timeframe for the work is between October of this year and next May. In an effort to see the construction of more affordable housing, Fort Collins officials have in recent months additionally considered requiring developers to build a certain percentage of affordable homes, as well as charging those developers a project fee that would go into a fund for the building of future affordable homes. By Garry Boulard States in the West may see a significant increase in the number of new electric vehicles charging stations, particularly along vast open desert roads. Leaders with the Denver-based Western Governors Association are currently involved in a process that will not only see the construction of more such stations, but stations that are built in a uniform manner. The effort comes in the wake of several studies looking at the challenge of what is known as “range anxiety.” That anxiety is centered on the fear that would-be electric vehicle owners have of running out of power on the road before making it to the next charging station. The wide and empty spaces of the West only exacerbate that fear. According to a Harris Poll survey released last year, nearly 60% of respondents pointed to range anxiety as the number one reason for not purchasing an electric vehicle. In announcing a regional approach to the construction of new stations, Oregon Governor Kate Brown told a working session of the Western Governors Association that the need for such infrastructure was “an issue that bolsters our current economics and creates a roadmap, both literally and figuratively, to the future.” The group’s Electric Vehicles Roadmap Initiative hopes to lay out a strategy for more charging stations, as well as the installation of strategically-placed signage alerting drivers to the existence of such stations. The roadmap initiative will also place an emphasis on the development of similar station standards and the sharing between the states of best practices. Plans now call for a series of workshops to be hosted by the governor’s association in the months to come with the goal of having an expanded regional agreement in place by next summer. By Garry Boulard One of the most prominent electroshock weapon manufacturers in the world has announced plans to build a production facility on the north side of Scottsdale. Axon Enterprises, Inc., which was founded in Scottsdale in 1993 and enjoys annual revenues in excess of $340 million, says the new facility will go up at the southwest corner of Loop 101 and Hayden Road. Axon put in a winning bid of $49.1 million for the site in an auction conducted by the Arizona’s State Land Trust. At the same time, the Scottsdale City Council voted to return to Axon around $9.4 million in costs it will take on for the construction of infrastructure at the site. By the terms of the council vote, that money will go back to Axon provided the company maintains a payroll of $130 million for at least a year. In a statement, Rick Smith, founder and chief executive officer of Axon, noted the equipment his company has produced for law enforcement over the years, remarking: “With the land we just purchased, we have the space we need to continue to build on that work for generations to come.” It is expected that the company will construct up to 250,000 square feet of new space. Besides its famous Taser gun, Axon also manufactures body cameras and a cloud-based digital evidence management system, among other software products. By Garry Boulard A school district that has seen its population marginally grow - with income levels significantly on the up side in recent years- is hoping area voters in November will approve a $6.1 million bond for facility upgrade work. The Tanque Verde Unified School District, with an enrollment of just over 2,100 students, serves the residents of the Tanque Verde Valley community just 14 miles to the northeast of Tucson. With a population of around 16,200 people, the larger town of Tanque Verde, according to a recent Census Bureau report, has one of the highest median household incomes in all of Arizona. It also has some of the most successful schools in the state. Earlier this year U.S. News & World Report listed the Tanque Verde High School as one Arizona’s best schools. Now district officials have succeeded in placing on the fall ballot Proposition 483, which is asking for the approval of what are being called “school improvement bonds.” Those bonds, if passed, would pay for general facility work at the district’s two elementary schools, one junior high, and one high school. Prospects for the bond question at this point are anyone’s guess. In 2018 district voters only narrowly approved a larger $15 million bond devoted to facility security upgrades and the replacement of portable classrooms with buildings. By Garry Boulard |
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