Ignacio town trustees voted on July 1 to award a contract to replace a quarter mile of steel gas line, most of it on Goddard Avenue from the Highway 151 intersection south to the post office. The new line will be plastic.
The goal is to have it done before Colorado Department of Transportation starts work on the Highway 172-151 intersection stoplight project. The old gas line in the intersection will be abandoned.
The contract was awarded to Kave Construction. As of July 13, it was not yet determined when work would start.
The town's community development coordinator, Dan Naiman, reported that three bids were received on May 28 and are good for 90 days. The low bid of $214,393 was $98,538 above the project estimate of $115,855 that dated back to 2009.
In December the town was awarded a state Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant of $90,855 for the project, with a $25,000 match from the town, Naiman said. The town has applied for an additional $49,269 from DOLA, with an equal town match, to cover the actual bid amount.
The town got notice of approval on July 7. Naiman noted that along with the stoplight project, the town will have the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally and school starting.
He expects the stoplight project to start right after Labor Day. "My understanding is it's out for bid now. I can see it being a real nightmare for everybody if the gas line project is happening at the same time. The other (option) is do just half the project with the grant we do have. It won't get any less expensive," Naiman said. "Every time a contractor begins and ends a job, he's billing us for the mobilization cost."
He continued, "My understanding is we already have money set aside for 2016 for a full mile of gas line. Based on these bids, it won't be enough for that. It's enough for this project. There wouldn't be any money for next year."
Trustees opted to go ahead with the full quarter-mile project despite lack of assurance at that time that the town would get the additional grant money.
Naiman also reported, "I've been talking with Johnny Valdez about bike rally issues, how the town and rally can work together for mutual benefit." Valdez now owns the Labor Day weekend motorcycle rally that had been run since 2006 by the Ignacio Chamber of Commerce.
"I don't want the bike rally to cost the town money," Naiman said. "We aren't trying to compete with him" by allowing vendors downtown. Naiman handed trustees a proposal from Valdez to share a percentage of gate receipts at Sky Ute Event Center. He said Valdez wanted the town to charge higher vendor fees than those at the event center.
"I said no. The same fees," Naiman said. "I told him I won't restrict private property owners from renting space to vendors. All my friends from the Front Range associate the rally with the town."
Trustees also visited with Mark Garcia, who has provided interim town manager services in several small towns in the region and is interested in doing that for Ignacio. He is finishing a stint as interim manager in Silverton. He actually lives in Pagosa Springs and is on the La Plata Electric Asociation board of directors.
"Although I'm able to keep the ship afloat, there are a lot of things I can't do," said Police Chief Kirk Phillips, who is the acting manager. He said DOLA representative Ken Charles suggested hiring an interim manager.
"We haven't formally advertised the position," Phillips said. "There are only a couple people in the area who do this (interim manager). I've known Mark Garcia for a long time. I think he's an ideal candidate."
Trustees didn't take any action on this. However the agenda for the board's July 15 meeting included a vote on a contract with Garcia. He quoted a rate of $60 per hour to the board on July 1, with a desire to start after Labor Day.
