CIP!!

The Capital Improvement Projects Division is a subsidiary of the Public Works Department. The mission statement is:

The Capital Improvement Program Engineering Division is committed to continuously improving the infrastructure of our Town with the safe and efficient flow of vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic for the Town of Marana’s residents.

Capital Projects are non-recurring (long term) expenditures that are over $100,000 and will last at least 5 years. There have been quite a few in the past few years in the Town including the Twin Peaks Interchange and the expansion of Camino de Manana. Twin Peaks was a collaboration between the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Town and some other entities. I’m sure no one can say that it does not help their drive in some way if they live out here. It connects Dove Mountain and the Continental Ranch area, making Marana more cohesive and I-10 less obtrusive.

I went around in the morning with Scott Leska, an engineer and project manager. He oversees projects that are in construction making sure they are structurally sound. We went to a meeting in the morning about a new capital project investment for the Town. This was just in the simple beginning stages of development and the meeting was meant to be informational to the group could take the next steps towards determining funding and necessity. At this meeting were staff members from Finance, the Manger’s office, Engineering and, of course, CIP. It was just another example of how the different departments across the Town really do work together constantly. This was something that I really was excited to see, and makes me happy being an employee of the Town. Knowing projects bring the various aspects of the Town together so all viewpoints are understood is a great way to conduct government business. I was able to go to a lunch at the Operations Center and chat with some of the maintenance guys. They are the ones out there working on fixing roads and lights and other facilities type problems. They are some of the most important people in the Town. Keeping Marana beautiful (and functioning).

After the meeting, Scott took me on a tour of the large projects that the Town has recently completed. These included Twin Peaks/Camino de Manana, the Tangerine Farms/Road expansion, and the Marana and Sandario Road repaving. We talked about the process from inception (find your totem) to completion. He then took me to chat with Ryan Benavidez, the Assistant Public Works Director.

Ryan was able to give me a great in depth understanding of how a project comes to fruition. It all starts with the TIP, or the Transportation Improvement Plan. This is put together by the Pima Associations of Governments and the Regional Transit Authority. This is a 5-year development plan for all the jurisdictions in the region. This includes Pima County and the Tribes. Ryan will get a Call for Projects from PAG looking for things to include in the 5-year plan that they put out. He then collects projects from various departments and submits them. These projects have usually been discussed and are on the radar, the financing has been drafted and they are now looking to the RTA for assistance. In order to receive funding from the RTA, the project has to be on the TIP. Therefore, the Town can put something on the list and then not receive any funding if they cannot get the right votes. There is only a certain amount of money and it is a zero sum game with the other jurisdictions. Each is guaranteed a percentage, but there can always be something worked out. What I thought was interesting was that the Town (or other jurisdiction) has to put where they are going to get the money. Whether it is from local sources, or HURF (highway user revenue fund), bonds etc…are all included on the submitted project. Usually, some of the funding has to come from the local jurisdiction. There are very few that will be funded entirely by the RTA.

The projects are complied and then sent to several approval agencies, the Transportation Planning Committee and the Technical Management Committee. This review process even includes a public hearing. Here is a flow chart of how the process works.

Ryan and I also discussed how contractors are chosen and how the method changes for different projects. The main two ways are what is called Low-Bid or Construction Manager at Risk. The low-bid process means that the Town has to accept whichever company comes in with a reasonable bid that will complete the project. He said these tend to be used for something that is simple and will not require too many change orders. These change orders drive up the price and the contractor can point out items that require changes from the initial plans, which cost money. An example would be a long stretch of sidewalk would be done low-bid since there would be little chance that anything would need addressing.

The other method, CMAR, is founded on relationships and qualifications. The Town will put out a request for proposals and then review those that are submitted for the best contractor that can do the job. These contractors are usually brought on during the planning process starting at the 30% mark. This allows the engineer and designer to work with the contractor to see if the project can be completed successfully. These contractors and the Town negotiate a Guaranteed Maximum Price and anything that goes over, that is not initiated by the Town, is on the contractor or pay for. This reduces the liability from the Town’s perspective. Camino de Manana only had one change order and it was from the Town. That project was CMAR and was able to save the Town about $1.6 million!

The lesson I learned from the past few days is that it takes a lot to get something built in a jurisdiction. Even thought it seems like things are popping up like weeds, there is a lot that goes into the process for both private and public development. The Town has gotten really streamlined at how the process works and will continue to grow successfully once the economy starts up again.