City hall paving the way to a new look

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It is taking on a new look that is more eye appealing, but will residents feel they got their money’s worth in the long run?

The paving project at city hall continues this week, along with the construction of Wilson Road south of Edison.

The project began on Oct. 1, with completion expected by Nov. 5, according to John Bemis, superintendent of public works for the City of Maricopa. Bemis added that the project is expected to come in on budget.

Back in August, city council members debated as to whether or not go ahead with the project.

Council discussed a request by then Public Works Director Bob Jackson to award a competitive bid contract to Achen-Gardner Inc. of Casa Grande in the amount of nearly $507,000 for the construction of Wilson Road south of Edison and paving the parking area at city hall.

In a 4-1 vote, (Councilman Joseph Estes opposed) council said the city should go forward and award the bid to Achen Gardner Inc. for construction of the road and paving of the city hall property.

Councilman Will Dunn was absent from that meeting, and Mayor Kelly Anderson had to recuse himself from the discussion since his family owns the property where city hall sits.

Councilman Edward Farrell questioned the idea of spending the money to pave the parking area at city hall back in August.

“We’d be spending money as a tenant and not a landowner,” Farrell said. “If we move city hall does the owner reimburse us for any enhancements we did to their land?”

Estes said at the time that his concerns were that the city will bear the costs of paving the parking lot when the lease for city hall is up in less than two years. Estes added there were and continue to be other priorities for the city right now and down the road than paving the parking area at city hall.

“I don’t see the need to spend that kind of money on a temporary parking lot,” Estes noted. Estes said he would rather see the city focus first on the library and city hall second.

According to Jackson at the time, when asked by Estes if work on the city hall area was not done, could the work planned for Wilson Road still be completed, Jackson said he didn’t think so.

So, temporary or not, workers began laying down the new surface at city hall this month, with no delays at this time seen in the schedule to complete the project.

According to Mike Mills of Achen-Gardner, the approximate cost to do the interim city hall paving is $370,000. The remainder of the figure ($507,000) mentioned above would go towards the Wilson Road portion of the project.

Asked if the project is moving along smoothly, Bemis noted, “There have been no major challenges thus far.”

According to Bemis, there are no other major city road projects planned at this time.

So as city hall gets a new look, taxpayers making the trip to the facility to pay bills will at least have a new surface to park their cars on.

Photo by Joyce Hollis