Also supports public-private partnerships to bring resources, ingenuity to projects

A proposal aimed at repairing and maintaining the nation's roads while putting more Americans to work is part of President Barack Obama's "Fix-It-First" policy.

The Administration is pushing for an investment in the nation's infrastructure to first fix existing roads, bridges and public transportation systems before investing in construction of new facilities.

And one way of financing these numerous projects that is drawing the support of the Administration is tapping the resources and ingenuity of the private sector through public-private partnerships. His proposal calls for a "Rebuild America Partnership" that is aimed at bringing private capital to the table. 

Legislation also allows working with adjoining states on transportation projects

Kentucky could become the latest in a growing list of states to allow public-private partnerships (P3s) to finance road and bridge projects. A bill has been filed in the Kentucky General Assembly to permit these types of arrangements.

A summary of House Bill 456 notes, "There is a clear need for greater efficiency in which transportation projects may be delivered in Kentucky. Traditional delivery and contracting approaches typically separate silos of responsibility that, in practice, yield inefficiencies that increase project cost and reduce the overall availability of public funds." As a result, the legislation would allow Kentucky to work with adjoining states to develop and improve Kentucky's transportation projects through P3s.

The bill permits Kentucky to partner with a private entity to design, construct, finance, maintain and/or operate a project for a specific time period while the state maintains ownership of the project and has the right to oversight of the project during the design and construction phases.

Cited as possible P3 projects in Kentucky are:

• The I-69 highway and bridge project, a seven-state corridor that connects 2,000 miles of roadway, with the bridge as a connector;
• The highway widening on Mountain Parkway; and
• The $2.7 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project to rehabilitate the existing bridge and build a new one immediately west of it and remodel eight miles of highway and access ramps leading up to the bridge between Kentucky and Ohio.

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. has launched its blog - Strategic Partnering with State and Local Government. The blog will serve as a venue for sharing and discussing public sector contracting news, trends, public-private partnerships (P3s) and other innovative solutions for transforming government. The group includes business development, government affairs and marketing professionals as well as government contracting experts interested in discussing the state and local government marketplace.

Among the topics to be discussed are discussions on strategic approaches to selling to government, opportunity identification and other government contracting news and trends.

Join our blog! Check us out and see what we've got to say and tell us what you think!

Jason Simeroth

The Durant, Oklahoma, ISD has set a $5.8 million bond election for March 5, with some of the proceeds from a successful bond to be spent on school safety issues. Superintendent Dr. Jason Simeroth said some of the security projects would include enhancing security at school entrances, erecting fences around school playgrounds and adding surveillance cameras. Simeroth noted that the security measures in the high school are "phenomenal," adding, "We want to make it exactly the same way in the rest of our district." Simeroth also said the bond proceeds would be used to help maintain the district's fine arts program and pay for upgrades to textbooks and technology, particularly the district's efforts to provide a laptop for every middle school and high school student in the district. The technology program that provides the laptops was begun three years ago from bond proceeds. Simeroth said passage of the March bond election would help maintain the program to include additional students in the schools. Because the district spends 90 percent of its budget on staff and faculty salaries, the bond issue is needed to supplement other projects.

Plans for a $13.1 million construction and renovation of the East Rochester elementary school are moving forward. The district's building committee has approved the budget for the project. It will now have to be approved by the Finance Committee and then sent to the school board for approval. The new school will have more square footage in classrooms, an additional kindergarten classroom, larger music and art classrooms and three additional preschool rooms. Part of the project includes the demolition and construction costs as well as for incidentals such as furniture purchases. If approved by this summer, officials expect the project could be completed by summer 2015.

Robert Runcie

After years of financial woes in its transportation department, the Broward County, Florida, schools are considering outsourcing one of the district's bus terminals to a private company. Outsourcing was a last resort, according to Superintendent Robert Runcie. School officials said they were giving the internal management team the opportunity to propose a solution as well. Thus, a pilot program was born and the success of the one terminal that is being outsourced will be compared to costs and management provided by the private sector. "It's a wake-up call to management to get together and figure out how we can achieve lower cost operations," said Runcie. The action was the result of the department failing to meet a proposed $14 million savings goal. Instead, only $2.8 million was trimmed from last year's $84 million budget. The transportation department has done some work toward cutting costs, having installed a computerized payroll system and studying use of a GPS system and new management. But, school officials feel it is still important to look at alternatives for solving the department's money problems.  

A $54 million capital investment will mean a new Fine Arts Complex for Illinois State University. The announcement of the investment was made by Gov. Pat Quinn. "This investment means Illinois State University will be able to build on its excellent reputation in the fine arts while creating hundreds of good jobs in Normal," said Quinn. The funding will come from the Illinois Jobs Now capital construction program, with an initial $7.5 million for design and planning. Renovation of existing buildings and construction of instruction and performance space is part of the project. As a result of the funding, three buildings will be renovated or replaced. The next step of the project will be the hiring of an architectural and engineering firm to design the facility.

Philip DiStefano

A $170 million, multi-year proposal has been unveiled that will upgrade the University of Colorado-Boulder's football facilities. The project will include $50 million in private support, with additional funding from other athletic revenue sources. Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano said the plan "balances equally our commitment to the academic success of our student-athletes, the comfort and safety of our fans and the long-term success of our combined coaching staffs." The project includes a new academic center beneath the east stands. Also, the north side of the field's east stands will be supported against shifting ground under it. Dal Ward will be expanded to consolidate football operations and provide more physical resources in one space. An indoor practice facility also would be built adjacent to outdoor practice fields. A study on redeveloping family housing west of Folsom Street is also part of the plan. And finally, the west side stands at Folsom Field would be redeveloped. Campus officials say the project is an example of the effectiveness of a partnership among donors, alumni, fans and stakeholders.

Seeking to evaluate energy usage for nine of its campus buildings and to identify energy conservation measures, North Carolina State University has issued an RFP for energy performance contracting. The university is seeking an engineering firm that can perform energy audits and design including connection of selected buildings to the campus central utilities and energy conservation measures relating to lighting, controls, water conservation, building envelope, HVAC systems, fume hoods and electrical systems. The RFP is for advance planning only, however, the firm selected could be retained through the design and construction. Five of the nine buildings have been identified as Tier 1, with the heaviest energy usage. The other four buildings are Tier 2, and will be included as funding permits. Separate utility plant infrastructure improvements will be evaluated for the Centennial Central Utility Plant, including thermal energy storage and cogeneration.

Craig Miller

The Dallas ISD is considering spending millions of dollars on security issues on its campuses, particularly at 150 elementary schools. We need to shore up the actual physical security of the campuses, that's the most important thing," said DISD Police Chief Craig Miller of the status of elementary schools' security. He is seeking locked entryways and installation of a buzzer system for entry. The projects at the elementary schools could cost $2.5 million. A security task force recently toured each DISD elementary campus. A proposal from the task force includes a security surveillance network for primary grade schools. Portable buildings would all get peep holes added to their doors. The proposal also calls for about $2 million to upgrade security cameras at high schools. If approved, the projects would be paid for with funding from the 2008 bond program.  

Officials in Pascagoula, Mississippi, are preparing to seek bids for a new water treatment plant project within the next month. The project is currently in the final design stage. Plans are for the multi-million-dollar plant to treat water from the Pascagoula River to serve residents in east Jackson County. The city is planning on using $12 million in federal Environmental Protection Agency grants to help pay for the project, which will tie into existing distribution lines. The plant is designed to treat an average of 1 million gallons of water per day and has the capacity to expand to treat 2 million gallons if necessary. Officials predict the project will take approximately one year to complete after the contract is awarded. The project was originally designed as an economic development tool at the Singing River Island Naval Station. When the Navy left, the grant program was rewritten and the project was redesigned to supply water to the eastern county residents in Escatawpa, Helena and Big Point and possibly Wade and Hurley.

Jim Simpson

Thanks for $215 million in federal funds, repair work on Route 35 in New Jersey from Point Pleasant Beach to the entrance of Island Beach State Park will begin. This major reconstruction project, which is slated to start this summer, will be split into three phases. The first phase will include the stretch from Point Pleasant Beach to Mantoloking. Bids will go out later this fall for the other two sections that include the central and southern portions of the peninsula. The project includes resurfacing, replacement of all underground pipes for utilities, storm water and sewer, according to Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson. The part of the highway that is concrete will be replaced by a thick stone base covered with asphalt. That should make the roadway stronger and more resilient. The project, which is slated to start in June, includes the stretch of Route 35 from Point Pleasant Beach to Mantoloking. It is slated to finish in only two and one-half years the project that previously had been scheduled to be completed in six years.

A team to survey and offer possible options related to the expansion of a planned streetcar route in Kansas City, Missouri, is being sought by the city. City officials are hopeful to expand the planned 2.2-mile streetcar route by the end of this year. An RFP has been released seeking a consultant qualified to analyze rail-based transit options and develop a strategy for expansion of the line. The plans are for the line to run between River Market and Crown Center, along Main Street. The winning team will receive a notice to proceed by May and will then be required to submit a plan by the end of the year. A number of corridors are under consideration, and the winning team will be required to analyze the pros and cons of each corridor, including criteria such as potential economic development and connections to existing activity centers. The top three corridors will be chosen and in the final analysis round, a potential track alignment will be developed for each of the final three routes. The team then will provide a cost estimate, locations for stops and track, ridership rate and economic effect of each route. Private-public funding options should also be considered.

The state of California recently released an RFP for a systems integration contractor for its California Business Connect Solution for the California Secretary of State. The successful contractor will be responsible for developing, maintaining and operating an integrated solution. The proposed software and equipment for the project must ensure statutory and regulatory compliance and making all public data available online. It must also establish a Center for Excellence for the successful processing, storage and retrieval of records, eliminating paper-based, manual transactions. The project also includes minimizing economic losses due to processing delays by establishing uniformity in data entry and data capture so that records of the Secretary of State are available to the public and to state agencies and employees. The estimated cost of the project is $20 million.

Operation and management of the California Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program (DDTP) is being solicited through a secondary RFP from the California Public Utilities Commission. Bidders should have extensive administrative experience in program and contract management, knowledge of the state's DDTP program and those it serves, as well as experience in working with state programs that serve individuals who are deaf or have disabilities or have other physical and/or special needs. The term of the contract is approximately 16 months, with two one-year options. The selected contractor will not be eligible to bid on future RFPs for the DDTP Equipment Processing Center, the DDTP Marketing Services, nor any other new contract related to the provision of goods and services for the DDTP, except for captioning services, during the term of the contract.

Check out these recent awards:

Public-private partnerships are catching on throughout the country. "This area is probably the hottest new business trend that we will see in the next two decades, and here's the reason - it will spur economic activity more than anything else." That's what Strategic Partnerships, Inc. President and CEO Mary Scott Nabers says in a recent interview with McCombs Today, an online publication of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Read the complete interview and see what Nabers thinks the future holds for public-private partnerships involving government entities from cities and counties to college campuses.

UConn looking to P3 to build downtown campus student housing

Susan Herbst

The University of Connecticut is looking to a public-private partnership (P3) to help expand the university's city campus in Stamford through addition of residential housing. We absolutely have to have a residential component to the Stamford campus," said UConn President Susan Herbst. Herbst said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was pushing the university toward creative thinking regarding upcoming projects, including the use of a P3.

The campus is hoping also to expand programs and add faculty. Malloy pointed out that the state has requested $5 million for Stamford campus housing in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years.

Housing has long been influential in where students attend institutions of higher education. The governor pointed out that the Stamford campus is one of only a few in cities or 100,000 or more that does not have on-campus housing for students. Malloy said $1.5 billion worth of projects are scheduled between 2014 and 2024 as part of the "Next Generation Connecticut" program that is expected to attract 6,500 more undergraduate students.

Free listings offered for RFPs to public sector entities, nonprofits

Kansas 

• The Kansas State Department of Facilities Management is seeking bids for upgrades to fire alarm systems in various buildings at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
•  The Kansas State Department of Facilities Management is seeking bids for second floor variable air volume (VAV) improvements to Rarick Hall on the Fort Hays State University campus.

 Wisconsin 

• The Wisconsin Division of Natural Resources is seeking bids from qualified contractors for construction of an unheated storage building at the Eagle River Ranger station in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
• The University of Wisconsin, Madison is seeking bids for a West Campus cogeneration facility addition and chiller installation.

Texas 

• The Texas Department of Public Safety is currently seeking bids from qualified vendors to establish a one-time procurement for monthly satellite radio service that includes Satellite Mutual Aid Radio Talkgroup (SMART) for the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is seeking qualified respondents to print and ship approximately 300,000 copies of the tenth annual issue of the Texas State Park Guide booklet, English version. Option to purchase Spanish, sponsor and/or digital Guide versions, plus additional maps.

New Hampshire 

• The town of Londonderry New Hampshire, through its Planning and Economic Development Department, is requesting the submittal of qualifications from economic development consulting firms for professional services to assist the community in developing its economy through Economic Development Specialist Contract Services. Submissions will be reviewed using a Quality Base Selection process.
• The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is seeking qualified vendors to provide residential treatment unit and outpatient psychiatric services for inmates and inpatient services for state inmates and non-adjudicated residents of the Secure Psychiatric Unit (SPU).

Illinois 

• The Illinois Department of Central Management Services is seeking a responsible vendor to provide playground equipment and installation services at the Michael A. Bilandic Building (160 N. LaSalle) in Chicago.
• The Illinois Bureau of Communication and Computer Services of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services is issuing a Request for Information to collect information that will facilitate development of a Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP will seek to engage a partner with exclusive rights to the sale and marketing of Illinois Century Network dark fiber and lit services to the commercial sector.

South Carolina 

• The South Carolina Judicial Department is seeking bids for acquiring and implementing a statewide electronic filing and electronic service portal for the South Carolina courts.
• The State of South Carolina Materials Management Office is soliciting proposals for food service operations for Lander University. This resulting contract is for one year with nine one-year options for a possible maximum term of 10 years.

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 Tim Stewart.

Tim Stewart

Tim Stewart graduated from Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City with a degree in civil engineering. He has spent the last 32 years in construction, engineering and maintenance. He began a 28-year career with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority in 1984 in field maintenance and worked his way up through the organization, serving as director of patron services, director of maintenance and director of planning and operations. Stewart has served as deputy director and CEO of the Authority since 2005. The Authority oversees the state's 10 turnpikes, the second-largest system in the country. Stewart was recently named director of the Authority, succeeding Gary Ridley, who serves as director of both the turnpike authority and the Oklahoma Transportation Commission and and who will retire at the end of March. Stewart will oversee 550 employees, an operating budget of $73 million and a capital budget of $89 million. He will begin his new duties on April 1.

 

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp (top left) is stepping down as chancellor, and will head to Washington University in St. Louis to become provost there instead of staying on at UNC-CH as a member of the faculty. U.S. Department of Vveteran's Affairs Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology Roger Baker (top middle) has announced he will resign, but has not yet announced the date. Melody Rose (top right), one of two vice-chancellors of the Oregon University System, will become the Oregon System's new interim chancellor, replacing George Pernsteiner, who stepped down earlier this month. Diane Dugas, who has also been an assistant superintendent in the Region 4 school district, which covers Chester, Deep River and Essex in New Hampshire, will be the new superintendent of the East Hampton schools. Former Vista, California, City Manager Rita Geldert will start a new job in March as the executive director of the California City Management Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes good government by helping to train city managers and educating the public about the role of city managers. Cedric Alexander, who currently oversees Transportation Security Administration for Dallas/Ft.Worth International Airport, will become the new police chief of DeKalb County, Georgia, on April 1. Daniel LaVista (middle right) has announced that he will resign this summer after serving three years as chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District. New Haven, Connecticut, School Superintendent Reginald Mayo (middle center) is retiring June 30 after more than two decades as head of the school district and 46 years in the New Haven public schools. Jean-Lou Chameau (middle left), who has served as the California Institute of Technology's president since 2006, will leave the institution later this year to become the next president of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, in Saudi Arabia. Redwood City, California, has picked Audrey Rambert, who has held positions with San Mateo County, Palo Alto and Menlo Park, as the new assistant city manager. The City of Tacoma, Washington, has hired Andrew Cherullo, the chief financial officer for the Washington State Health Care Authority, to be its next finance director, replacing Steve Call, interim finance director. Reed Hall, interim head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has been named as the corporation's new chief executive officer, replacing Paul Jadin, who left to lead another economic development group. Robeson Community College in North Carolina has named Pamela Hilbert (bottom left), Pitt Community College's vice president of Academic Affairs since 2006, as its new president, to replace the retiring Charles Chrestman. The new Polk County (Georgia) School District has picked Dr. William A. Hunter (bottom center) as its superintendent, to replace Marvin Williams, who retired last year. The Charlotte, North Carolina, City Council has offered the city manager job to Ron Carlee (bottom left)  chief operating officer of the International City/County Management Association and former county manager of Arlington, Virginia. Regina McDonald, a 32-year veteran of the Pittsburgh Police Department, has been chosen as acting police chief, replacing former Chief Nate Harper. Deputy Director Michael Sprayberry, who has held that post at the North Carolina Emergency Management office since 2005, has been promoted to head of the department by Department of Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan. A 26-year veteran of the Aurora, Illinois, Fire Department, Deputy Fire Chief John Lehman has been appointed fire chief.