136th Year... and
still
on the job!
Thursday December 08,
2005
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136th Year... and
still
on the job!
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Thursday December 08,
2005
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Next summer could see some initial construction work on auxiliary buildings around the site of a future weapons destruction plant as well as some long-awaited road construction in the city's airport industrial park.
In addition, members of the Colorado Citizens Advisory Commission on chemical demilitarization learned that one of the state's Washington lawmakers will play a critical role in getting more funding for next year's activities.
Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., will be one of three House members on a conference committee going over the fiscal 2006 Defense Authorization Bill that boosts spending for the weapons destruction program.
The bill has been amended to increase the cap on the project from about $30 million to just over $50 million. That money is allocated for the water-neutralization programs planned for the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot. It was intended to be spent on research and development but also could be used for construction at both sites.
Observers were glad to see Salazar named to the committee to represent the House because the Senate was inclined to support the bill but it wasn't clear that the House side would agree.
Gary Anderson, local manager for the program that eventually will destroy 2,600 tons of mustard agent at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, said that construction work could get under way by summer or fall with money already carried over from the previous year.
The Department of Defense isn't expected to give a full go-ahead to the project until after February when prime contractor Bechtel delivers its projected cost for the lifetime of the work, but Anderson said that support facilities like offices, warehouses and labs could be contracted for and get under way this year.
Pueblo County Public Works Director Greg Severance also said that work should start next summer or fall on the extension of William White Boulevard, part of the Defense Access Road project.
Severance said that county officials are still working on the environmental assessment, something that's taking longer than expected because the Colorado Department of Transportation has asked for a raptor survey to study the effects of the road work on birds of prey in the area.
Anderson said that the federal money for the project should be transferred soon from the Department of Defense military construction fund to the Federal Highway Administration and then to Pueblo.
The federal government is paying about $19 million of the cost of the work, the county $1.7 million and Colorado $500,000. The overall project includes the extension of William White Boulevard from the airport industrial park to Colorado 47, giving the park a second access point besides the existing one at U.S. 50 and Paul Harvey Boulevard. Other work includes improvements along William White and United Avenue through the eastern part of the park and the DOT road that leads to the Transportation Technology Center. In the meantime, the weapons destruction program is paying for a new entrance to the Pueblo Chemical Depot on the DOT road.
RBK Construction of Rye is the contractor for the 5.8-mile road and fencing from the DOT road to the weapons destruction site. Baxter Kirkland, who started the firm with his sister, said the job was the biggest one they've ever done close to home. Normally, RBK operates across a four-state region, he said.