Council OKs $96,000-contract for lobbying service

The Maricopa City Council approved a $96,000 contract Tuesday night for Nexxus Consulting LLC for the fiscal year 2014-15.

Nexxus Consulting is a government relations and lobbying firm based in Washington D.C. that has a Phoenix office. The city has been working with Nexxus Consulting since 2009 to help get funding from the state and federal governments.

The firm has been hired to focus on getting funding for transportation and flood control issues for the city of Maricopa.

“Grade separation and the SR347 Overpass Project has been the number one priority since we hired them,” said Paul Jepson, intergovernmental affairs director.

“Through the good work of the mayor and city we were able to get $18.8 million in funding from the Arizona Department of Transportation for the SR347 Overpass Project,” said Bob Holmes, Nexxus Consulting owner. “We are in the process of trying to get an additional $40 million from public and private partners and the federal government for the project.”

Mayor Christian Price has attended more than 20 Arizona Department of Transportation meetings over the past year to help the cause in getting overpass funding approved.

“Nexxus Consulting helped us expedite the process of getting the environmental studies ready so ADOT felt comfortable putting us in the five-year plan,” Jepson said. “If we hadn’t gotten that fixed, the federal government wouldn’t have been confident in us being shovel-ready.”

Nexxus also has been a part of the progress in the Lower Santa Cruz Flood Control Project.

“We were one of nine projects that received a new start designation, which gave us $100,000 in funding for a reconnaissance study this year,” Holmes said. “We will also have $200,000 for a feasibility study next year to determine a federal need for this project.”

There are only nine new start projects like this nationally, and the government hasn’t done a single new-start program in the last five years, Price said.

In all, Holmes said he estimates the project will cost more than $100 million.

“Without having somebody who knows the system and has those connections and is working 24/7 on your behalf, you don’t get anything done in Washington.” Price said.

The new contract is for the same amount as the previous contract, and it will pay Nexxus $8,000 a month, with travel expenses included.