Will be paid for under $8 billion, 10-year T-WORKS transportation program

Deb Miller

More than $650 million in road and bridge projects have been scheduled over the next two years by the Kansas Department of Transportation. Officials say the projects include improvement of 1,404 miles of highways and replacement of 93 bridges. At least $8 million will be invested in each of the state's 105 counties for road, aviation, transit and rail projects.

 

In addition to the construction work, the Department of Transportation will also begin preliminary engineering on 22 projects that will be considered for future preservation work.

"By announcing two-year schedules on an annual basis, we can ensure that communities have an idea of what is coming and have ample time to plan accordingly," said Transportation Secretary Deb Miller.

 

The projects are funded under the transportation department's T-WORKS program that was passed by the State Legislature last year. The work will begin in FY 2012 and continue through FY 2013. Each year for the remainder of the 10-year T-WORKS program, the Department of Transportation will announce a two-year schedule of projects before the start of the new fiscal year.

 

Some of the projects are already under contract. Performance measures have been established on a Web site that will display performance targets in six areas and then measure the agency's progress in achieving those targets - in system condition, safety, project delivery, workforce, operations and non-highway modes. Miller said the performance measures Web site is aimed at increasing transparency and accountability. "It's one of the tools we need to make good, data-based decisions," she said.

 

Among the projects are a $4.435 million bridge replacement over the BNSF Railroad in Southeast Lawrence in Douglas County, a $31 million expansion project in Harvey County on U.S. 50 from one mile west of Anderson Avenue east to Old Main street and a $4.1 million modernization project in Geary County on U.S. 77 at Rucker Road in Junction City. The list of projects can be viewed in its entirety here and by county here.

 

To be used for essential community facilities for public use in rural areas

Tom Vilsack

From a $3.5 million direct loan that will allow for renovation of the Escambia County Health Care Authority in Alabama to a $36,000 grant for the city of Bruce, Mississippi, to renovate its library, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is making $46.8 million available to rural communities throughout the country. The funds come from the department's Community Facilities Program and are aimed at creating jobs and improving the quality of life in rural communities. The investments are being made in 33 states and one United States territory.

 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the projects not only provide needed infrastructure in rural communities, but they also "will help strengthen facilities and amenities in rural towns and small cities."

 

USDA Rural Development's Community Facilities Program helps finance essential community facilities for public use in rural areas. These projects include child care centers, hospitals, medical clinics, assisted-living facilities, fire and rescue stations, police stations, community centers, public buildings and transportation. Through this program, USDA ensures that such facilities are available to all rural residents.

 

Some of the projects funded include: 

• Rockbridge Area Community Services Board (Virginia) - $1.2 million direct loan to construct an adult day care facility;
• City of Charleston, Missouri - $49,950 grant to purchase base and hand-held communications equipment;
• Town of Fletcher, North Carolina - $5 million direct loan to construct a town hall /public safety building;
• North End Port Authority - $2.99 million direct loan to purchase a ferry vessel for public transportation in Southeast Alaska;
• City of Rice, Texas - $2.94 million direct loan and $50,000 grant to construct a new municipal/public safety building and emergency command center;
• Mobridge Regional Hospital (South Dakota) - $2.975 million to make accessibility improvements; and
• Round Valley (California) Unified School District - $50,000 to purchase kitchen equipment.  

To view the complete list of projects and funding, click here and look under "Recent Reports."

 

Thousands of new connections to improve water quality, increase efficiency

Jonathan Adelstein

Twenty-six states recently were announced as recipients of funding for rural water projects to improve rural water and wastewater systems. The announcement of the funding came from the U.S Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein. Adelstein said the $66.7 million in loans and $48.9 million in grants will be used to help rural communities build and upgrade water systems. The money will provide thousands of new connections to water and wastewater facilities and improve water quality and increase the efficiency of water use.

 

Among the projects, the Town of Marion, Miss., will receive $3.7 million to provide sewer treatment for residents of rural Lauderdale County. USDA funds will be used to install approximately 14 miles of sewer lines and three lift stations for sewer treatment at reasonable rates and terms. Among the other entities receiving funds for wastewater system improvements included:

• City of Bronson, Florida - a $1.596 million loan and a $1.269 million grant;
• City of Leola, South Dakota - a $1.327 million loan and a $1.201 million grant;
• Town of Denton, North Carolina - a $1.106 million loan and a $546,000 grant; and
• Town of Marion, Mississippi - a $1.351 million loan and a $2.350 million grant.

Some of the recipients of funds for water system improvements included:

• Wythe County, Virginia - a $1.358 million loan and a $1.5 million grant;
• City of Jenkins, Kentucky - a $445,000 loan and a $405,000 grant;
• City of Egg Harbor, New Jersey - a $3.974 million loan and a $3.124 million grant; and
• Williamsburg County, South Carolina - a $3.455 loan and a $1.351 million grant.

For a complete list of all the recipients and the amount of loans and grants received, click here and look under Recent Reports. 

 

Health system, city in Texas partner to develop critical care hospital

A large health delivery system is partnering with the City of Alvin, Texas, to develop a 27,000-square-foot critical care hospital in the city. The facility will sit on 10 acres of land and be completed in three phases. The first phase will include 10 medical surgical beds and 12 emergency department beds. The second and third phases will provide additional beds, services and infrastructure for the hospital. The city is providing $2.5 million through an economic reimbursement mechanism for development of the infrastructure necessary for the project. Officials plan to open the hospital, which will meet the needs of an underserved area of 125,000 people who live and work within 10 miles of Alvin, in 2013. Nearby Alvin Community College was a key factor in the decision to build the facility, said the health system officials. ACC boasts a number of allied health programs, including a successful AD Nursing program that has been commended for its graduates' outstanding pass rates on licensure exams. Alvin Mayor Gary Appelt said the medical community being established includes a hospital, medical office building and other medical services. 

University of Kentucky looking for P3s to meet $3 billion in construction needs

Bill Gatton

Maryland school district approves CIP that includes new high school

Mike Llewellyn

The Allegany County (Maryland) Board of Education is hoping the state will agree that the district is in need of a new Allegany High School, and will put some much-needed funding toward that new school. The board recently approved its Capital Improvement Plan and will now send a funding request to the Interagency Committee on School Construction, looking for a favorable comment. State funding would be added to local funding to ensure enough money for the project. Board President Mike Llewellyn said the new Allegany school is at the top of the board's wish list for construction. In a feasibility study done of the school, architects determined it would not be cost-effective to renovate the current building. The interagency committee will now likely issue its list of priority school projects in December. The county recently added school projects to its CIP, including Allegany at the top of the list for funding in 2015, followed by Washington Middle School in 2018 and the Braddock Middle School in 2020. For the next three years, the school funding formula allows for Allegany County to pay 7 percent of school construction costs, with the state paying 93 percent. That is only for construction of the physical building. 

University of Pittsburgh approves millions in construction, upgrades

The University of Pittsburgh will soon begin construction of a 10-story freshman dorm and a five-story addition that will accommodate the growth in the Graduate School of Public Health. A committee of the university's trustees recently authorized the projects as the major components of a $152 million construction and renovation program. The dorm, which carries a price tag of $59 million, will include 559 beds, with retail space on the first floor and a wellness center space for student health services and the counseling center on the second floor. The construction and renovation program also includes additions to Parran and Crabtree halls and $9.3 million in renovations for the Chevron Science Center. Other projects include:

• A $6.53 million renovation of the first four floors of Thackery Hall, resulting in new classrooms for the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, the registrar's office and related offices;
• A $5.9 million renovation of the A-Stem Laboratory in Scaife Hall for the School of Medicine's Department of Neurosurgery; and
• Program and infrastructure upgrades totaling $5 million at the Allen Hall and Old Engineering Hall.

Some branch projects also were approved, including a $7.5 million two-story building at Pitt-Greensburg for computer technology, faculty offices and support space, $1.4 million in infrastructure upgrades at Greensburg's Chambers Hall and $4.6 million worth of additions and renovations at Pitt-Titusville's McKinney Student Union food service facility that includes a food court renovation and food service space addition.

Austin Peay University planning to build three new residence halls

Three 45-year-old dormitories are being torn down this week to make way for more new housing at Austin Peay State University. Demolition of Killebrew, Rawlins and Cross halls is under way and the three will be replaced by three new facilities and additional green space. The trio of new dorms is expected to open in fall 2013 and will include 420 beds, slightly more than the current 390 in the three existing dorms. Parking lots will be moved to help create green space between the buildings. The project is being financed by student rents, with rent estimated at $3,000 per semester.

 

Utah Valley University completes land deal to help accommodate growth

Matthew Holland

Officials with Utah Valley University will acquire 100 acres at the site of the former Geneva Steel mill that the university plans to use for new intramural fields and for future building needs as the campus continues to expand. A major development company is reclaiming the 1,700-acree industrial site for a proposed residential and commercial development. The developer is convinced enough that UVU will be the anchor for the project that he donated $10 million toward the $20 million he says the property is worth. The university will pay $5 million of the costs and the rest will come from redevelopment agency reimbursements. UVU President Matthew S. Holland said that because of the increasing growth of the university, "we simply must expand to keep up with student demand and fulfill our state-mandated mission of open access." He said the agreement offers "great potential" for the campus. Officials say the Geneva location is likely to be used for student-life facilities and a 900-space parking lot.

 

Projects, equipment for four Oklahoma institutions approved by state council

Two universities and two colleges in Oklahoma had approximately $20 million in projects and equipment approved during the recent meeting of the Council of Bond Oversight. The Council gave its approval to the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority to seek an $18 million revenue bond issue for the state's higher education master equipment lease program. Of that amount, approximately $12.2 million will go to Oklahoma State University, with $10 million of it to increase the capacity of the university's cooling system. Two 4,000-ton chillers and associated equipment would be purchased. Another $4.3 million is slated for the University of Oklahoma, including a $2.5 million upgrade of its SoonerVision studio equipment and installation services at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Northeast Oklahoma A&M College will get nearly $537,000 for student housing furnishings and equipment and Oklahoma City Community College will get more than $662,000 for computers and other equipment. 

 

Winthrop University gets OK to build new four-story campus facility

Scott Strauss

A four-story, 893-acre research facility will be built by the Winthrop University Hospital. Winthrop will contribute $1 million to the village to make provisions for or improvements to public amenities, with $250,000 awarded to Mineola when construction permits and three payments of $250,000 are made in three-month increments. The facility will house research development into obesity and diabetes and cardiovascular pulmonary-related issues, Lou Gehrig's disease and neurological diseases, to name a few. The building will be 95,000 square feet, with some 80,000 square feet allocated and 15,000 yet to be determined. "I think this is going to be a great boost to that area," Mayor Scott Strauss said. "It will hopefully put an influx of workers in the construction phase and after it's occupied and create some much needed foot traffic." 

 

Bill will give New Mexico companies advantage on state contracts

Timothy Keller

A bill has been signed by the New Mexico governor that will give companies in that state a 5 percent advantage in bids on state contracts. The bill will create at least 3,000 jobs each year, according to bill co-sponsor Sen. Timothy Keller, who also said the bill also will keep more tax money from being sent to out-of-state companies. Keller said the legislation closes a loophole that allowed shell companies to receive a 5 percent bidding preference by saying they were based in New Mexico when they weren't. The law will also extend the bidding advantage from construction to state contracts for accounting, architecture, law and information technology. The bill does not prohibit out-of-state companies from bidding on New Mexico government contracts, but they will have to overcome the 5 percent preference for in-state businesses. More than 30 other states have similar bidding laws, said Keller, and in many cases it causes the bids to come in lower because out-of-state competitors know they will have to be competitive in their pricing to win an award. 

 

Numerous contracting opportunities identified in El Paso area

A variety of contracting opportunities are available in the El Paso, Texas, area. Some of the opportunities include:

• The Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command has issued a sources sought announcement for Army G-8 Force Development to procure technical, analytical and financial services;
• The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is requesting bids for water service to El Paso and San Antonio locations and vicinity;
• The Texas Department of Transportation is requesting bids for local-let maintenance contracts, El Paso County, crack sealing (hot pour);
• The University of Texas at El Paso is requesting bids for bio-diesel fuel FY 2011-2012;
• The Texas Department of Transportation is requesting bids for local-let maintenance contracts, El Paso County, crack sealing (hot pour); and
• The El Paso Independent School District is requesting proposals for catering services.

Michigan gets $196.5 million federal grant toward high-speed rail

Rick Snyder

A $196.5 million federal grant is headed to Michigan to be used for signal and track improvements on the rail line between Kalamazoo in western Michigan and Dearborn in suburban Detroit. The funds, and the acquisition of a 135-mile stretch of track, move the high-speed passenger train service between Chicago and Detroit one step closer to fruition. The state paid $140 million for the track between the two cities. The improvements are expected to allow the trains to travel up to 110 miles per hour on that segment of track. "A faster, reliable passenger rail system is a priority for younger generations and vital to Michigan's ability to compete globally as businesses look to locate or expand," said Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. The line runs through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan and served approximately 480,000 passengers in the last federal fiscal year. The rail improvements also will speed up freight transportation. State officials say that the acquisition of the line, combined with Amtrak's ownership of the segment from Porter, Ind., to Kalamazoo, puts about 80 percent of the Detroit-Chicago track under "passenger-friendly ownership." The state plans to build double track on the busiest freight segment of the line that will facilitate both freight and passenger operations.

  

Dams top capital infrastructure projects in Ruidosa for next five years

Two dams and their reservoirs sit atop the capital infrastructure projects list for the city of Ruidosa. The structures offer major storage for Ruidosa's water supply. The list approved recently by village councilors sets priorities for five years and will be a roadmap for the State Legislature. All of the projects on the list are more than $25,000, have a long life cycle of at least 10 years, are not part of the annual budget, are new systems or buildings or major renovations or repairs and are under control of the village through ownership or long-term lease. The top five include:

• Alto Dam - $22.25 million;
• Grindstone Dam - $3.125 million;
• Water and sewer infrastructure replacement and extensions - $3.175 million;
• Sewer line relocation - $1.86 million; and
• Mapping - $500,800.

Small southern Oregon airport to sell ad space on its tower

An airport in southern Oregon is seeking a corporate sponsor to place advertising on its control tower. The Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Medford, Oregon, hopes to make a 10-year deal that will bring in $300,000 per year by allowing a corporate logo on all four sides of the 100-foot control tower. Such a sign would be the biggest source of advertising income for the airport. That could help lower the landing fees airlines are charged and increase the chances of getting new carriers to use the airport. The decision will not involve the Federal Aviation Administration, as the airport owns the control tower. 

 

Mississippi courthouse plans nearly complete; construction may start in December

Chuck Bennett

Final plans and specifications for the renovation of the Lamar County (Mississippi) Circuit Courthouse should be completed by the end of October or early in November. At that time, officials will put the project out for bids. Given approximately 30 days to receive and analyze the bids, a contract could be awarded in time for construction to begin between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1, and could take approximately 18 months to complete. Administrator Chuck Bennett said he would ask the board to authorize a loan of $4 million to $4.5 million to cover costs of the final construction. Federal and state grants of about $700,000 will be used to help rebuild the courthouse. The county will pitch in $170,000 in matching funds. The original courthouse was built in 1905 and opened the following year. It was rebuilt in 1934 after a major fire and wings were added to the northern and southern sides of the building in 1956. The fire destroyed the original clock tower and the wings covered up two of the four entrances to the building. The tower will be reconstructed as part of the project and the two entrances reopened.

 

New Mexico has various contracting opportunities available

Several contracting opportunities are available in the state of New Mexico. Among them are:

• The Department of the Air Force has issued a sources sought announcement for Contractor Operated Civil Engineering Supply Store at Cannon AFB;
• Ruidoso Consolidated Schools is requesting proposals for reroofing at the Horton Complex Campus in Ruidoso;
• The Otero County Purchasing Agent is requesting bids for hydronic heating boiler Otero County/Building & Grounds;
• The Village of Cloudcroft Emergency Medical Services is requesting bids for an ambulance patient billing services contract; and
• The Village of Cloudcroft Contracting Agency is requesting bids for the village water and wastewater treatment facility. 

Pennsylvania township awaits final approval to begin constructing new water plant

The Municipal Authority of Buffalo Township (Pennsylvania) has received zoning board approval on a variance that allows a new water plant to be built. Now the township will wait for approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection to break ground on the new plant that will replace a plant that opened in 1919. The new plant, which is expected to cost about $6.6 million, will feature state-of-the-art filtration technology, replacing the old method of filtering water through layers of anthracite coal, sand and gravel. Of the total cost, $6.1 million will be financed through the Rural Utilities Service and $480,000 will be covered under a state grant. 

 

San Diego Convention Center expansion takes another step forward

Proposed San Diego Convention Center expansion

Following approval by the San Diego City Council of a method for raising most of the money needed, a $550 million expansion of the city's Convention Center has moved a step closer to startup. The city voted to begin steps to create a special district and tax on local hotel owners to help finance the project. Two-thirds of the owners must approve the plan and other funding sources must be found for the facility to open by 2016. The proposed expansion would increase the size of the facility to more than 2.2 million square feet, an increase of about 422,000 square feet. Exhibit space would increase from 525,000 square feet to 750,000 square feet, there would be more than 100,000 additional square feet of meeting space and an additional 80,000 square feet of ballroom space. A rooftop park and retail space at the ground level are also proposed. Officials are hopeful the expansion would mean up to 25 major new conventions per year, which would result in $121 million in revenue for hotel business, $700 million in economic impact and $15 million new city revenue. The center was last expanded in 2001. In addition to the hotel revenue, center expansion advocates have addressed the possibility of fees on taxis, restaurants and other businesses to help shoulder some of the costs. 

 

Want to know who your competition is? Who was awarded the contract on a particular project? Below are listed some recent winners of major government contracts:   

• Oscar Renda Contracting has been awarded a $39 million contract by the city of San Angelo to construct the 62.5-mile, 30-inch pipeline to the Hickory Aquifer, with the company's bid $19 million below the $58 million the city had budgeted for this phase of its paramount water supply project;
• S&R Construction Co. was awarded a $29 million contract by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to build a new Orange Line station at Assembly Square;
• Barletta Heavy Division was awarded a $27 million construction contract by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to rebuild one of the last outdated stations on the Blue Line;
• Forest City Military Communities was awarded a contract worth $308.1 million to provide new and renovated housing for 2,185 families at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee, Charleston and Saw Air Bases in South Carolina and Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi;

• IBM has been awarded a $240 million, 10-year contract by the National Archive and Records Administration to operate and maintain its massive digital archive of government records;

• KAI Texas has been chosen as the architect for major renovations and additions to Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, Texas, in the San Antonio Independent School District, which will receive a total of $16.9 million of major renovations funded by bond 2010;
• Mantech Sensor Technologies Inc., Belcamp, Md., won a $4,349,950 federal contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., for engineering technical services;
• Science Applications International Corporation was awarded a prime contract by the City of Memphis, Tenn., to provide comprehensive information technology (IT) services and solutions to the City's Division of Information Services with the single award contract having a five-year base period of performance, two one-year options, and a total contract value of $37 million if all options are exercised;
• BAE Systems received a $21.9 million contract award from the U.S. Marine Corps for ongoing maintenance, updates and repairs to Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles;
• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. is on the winning team, led by ICI Services Corporation, that was recently awarded a contract award for supporting the Navy Underway Replenishment Program through a three-year single award contract that has a total value over $9 million;
• Boeing Co., St. Louis, was awarded a $22 million federal contract modification by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., for providing non-recurring engineering in support of the F/A18E/F and EA-18G multi-year procurement;
• Noblis, Inc. announced that it has been awarded the prime contract to provide support services for the Federal Aviation Administration's Enterprise Communications Support Services contract to provide a wide-range of technology management support to the FAA's Air Traffic Control Communications Services organization. This 7-year contract has a potential value of $350 million; and
• Jordan Construction of El Paso has been awarded a $4.47 million contract for improvements to a major taxiway at Las Cruces International Airport.

 Are you a government official who has moved into a new position or to a new agency? Did you recently retire? Were you recently named to an executive-level position at a state-supported college, university or community college? Have you secured a new job as superintendent of a public school? If so, we'd like to hear from you - and so would your friends and colleagues - for our "Where Are They Now" column. Just drop us a line at editor@spartnerships.com and let us know about your previous job and where you are now. This week we feature Paul Castillo.

Paul Castillo

Paul Castillo is a Detroit native and graduate of Michigan State University. After college, his work history includes more than 10 years with the Arthur Andersen accounting firm. In the early 1990s, he became vice president of finance at Saint Vincent Health System in Erie, Pennsylvania. He later worked his way up the financial ranks in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Community Medicine physician group, UPMC Corporate Services and UPMC Mckeesport Hospital, which he helped become part of UPMC. Castillo most recently served as the chief financial officer and vice president of finance at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, the flagship hospital of the health system associated with the University of Pittsburgh. He played a key role in the merger of two top UPMC hospitals - Shadyside and Presbyterian - which created a clinical enterprise with a $1.9 billion operating budget. Castillo was recently tabbed to become the chief financial officer for Michigan's top health care institution, the University of Michigan Health System. If approved by the U-M Board of Regents, he will take over that spot Nov. 7. The longtime financial expert will oversee the U-M Health System's integrated financial operations, including the $2 billion operation budget of the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, the $1.2 billion budget of the Medical School, the clinical reserves of the U-M School of Nursing, a shared administrative services division and the Michigan Health Corporation, the entity that allows UMHS to enter partnerships.

 

Christa Slejko (top left), who has been with North Lake College in Irving, Texas, for the last 14 years and as Vice President of Business Services since 2002, has been named interim president, taking over for Dr. Herlinda Glasscock, who retired after serving nine years as president. West Palm Beach Police Chief Delsa Bush (top middle), who has been with the city since 1983 and named chief in 2003 by former Mayor Lois Frankel, has submitted her resignation. Mary Beth Senkewicz (top right), who has spent the last four years as Florida's top health insurance regulator in the Office of Insurance Regulation, has resigned her post. Mike Stark, who has worked as county projects manager for San Juan County (New Mexico) since 2006, has been promoted to county operations officer, the second-highest ranking official within the county's government. Tucumcari, New Mexico, city commissioners have fired City Manager Bobbye Rose, who has served as city manager since March 2009 and was one of four finalists for the city manager post in Lincoln County, and will be replaced by Community Development Director Doug Powers as interim city manager. Hobbs, New Mexico, police officer Jimmy Jones, who was one of more than 40 applicants, has been named chief of police in Eunice, New Mexico. Hans G. Tanzler, III (middle right), a former business executive and lead attorney for the St. Johns River Water Management District in Florida, has been named by the district board as the preferred candidate to run the district. Ted Lovett (middle center), former battalion chief for the Lufkin (Texas) Fire Department and who has been serving as interim chief for the last four months, has been named chief of the department, replacing Chief Danny Kistner, who accepted a job with the McKinney FD. Sharon Greenberger (middle left), New York Department of Education chief operating officer since last year after heading he School Construction Authority for four years, is leaving to become senior vice president at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and will be replaced by Veronica Conforme, DOE chief financial officer since 2003. Gary Martinez, finance director for the Central Consolidated School Board in Shiprock, New Mexico, who took over that slot in July after former director Byron Manning was fired, has resigned from the district, effective Oct. 26, to take a job in the Aztec Municipal School District. Robin Damschroder, who has led the University of Michigan Health Services financial services division since February and has served as controller since 2007, will become associate director of operations and clinical services. Margaret Katherine Banks (bottom left), head of the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University, has been named vice chancellor for engineering for the Texas A&M University System and dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, and will also serve as director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. Darryl Forte (bottom center), deputy chief with the Kansas City Police Department, has been chosen as the city's new police chief, succeeding former Police Chief Jim Corwin, who recently retired after 32 years with the department. The Littleton (Colorado) City Council has named Michael Penny (bottom right), who has spent the last seven years as town manager in Frisco, as the new city manager, replacing former City Manager Jim Woods, who retired after nearly three decades with the city. Dick Dublinski, development services team leader for the city of Naperville, Chicago, since 1998, has been selected as the city's new Public Works director, replacing Dave Van Vooren, who left for a position in Northern Cook County. Former Mesa, Arizona, city prosecutor John Pombier has been chosen as the city's new deputy city manager. Former Atwater (California) Assistant Police Chief Frank Pietro has been elevated to the chief's position and will serve in that capacity for a year, at which time the position will be open to recruitment.

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