colorado funds to be made available for a variety of projects

Some $120 million in bonds for capital construction and maintenance projects throughout Colorado will be put on the market in September.

The bonds were earlier approved by the Colorado State Legislature and will fund everything from the installation of new elevators at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo; to cooling systems repairs at half a dozen warehouses operated by the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Colorado State Treasurer Walker Stapleton announced plans to sell the bonds after some lawmakers criticized his office for not having put the bonds out to market sooner.

Representative Daneya Esgar, the co-chair of the legislature’s Capital Project Committee, sent an open letter to Stapleton on July 18, arguing that any delay in the funding will only make the projects more expensive due to the likelihood of increased materials costs.

Esgar urged that the bonds be sold as soon as possible “in order to make the best use of public funds and get these critical projects started rapidly.”

The bonds will also fund a flood mitigation project at the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, as well as cooling system improvements to a number of state university facilities, and new sanitation infrastructure at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo.

By Garry Boulard

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