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State hopes taking project to private sector will ensure best price, value

An unsolicited proposal from a private company for a tolled east-west belt route on the north side of Tampa has led the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to seek competitive bids for the project. The proposed toll road in Florida originated as a letter from a private developer to Florida DOT Secretary Ananth Prasad (pictured). International Infrastructure Partners (IIP) proposed converting State Routes 54 and 56 into an east-west belt route toll road in Pasco County. The 33-mile stretch of highway could become a first for the state - a privately funded, operated and maintained toll roadway.

There could be a new toll road in Florida thanks for an unsolicited proposal from a private developer.

IIP's proposal, which included financial backing for the project by private partner Guggenheim Securities, set the stage for the state to take the proposal public to see what other entities might be interested in bidding on the project, hopefully ensuring the state competitive bids that would ensure the best price.

FDOT, in its request for proposals (RFP), is seeking firms to design, build, operate and maintain the 33-mile roadway that runs east to west under a long-term lease of FDOT's right-of-way.

While FDOT officials are expecting to receive a variety of proposals with what they expect will be a range of prices, the department will be under no obligation to enter into a public-private partnership or privatization of the roadway.

In addition to providing an upgraded road, the RFP requires bidders to also show how their proposal will have a positive impact on the region and the state, protect the environment, create temporary and permanent jobs in the state and improve transportation efficiency.

The RFP also stipulates that the winning bidder will lease right-of-way for the roadway, but the right-of-way will remain under the control of FDOT. Lease rates the bidder will pay the state will be negotiated, and there will be no costs to the state for the project.

Proposals for the project are due and will be opened on Oct. 23. A bid award date has been set for Nov. 6.

Ohio Turnpike, Infrastructure Commission jump-starting stalled projects

Purdue engineering, other facilities likely to undergo renovations

Engineering buildings on the Purdue University campus will benefit from part of about $150 million in spending for renovations. New classrooms also will be built, along with a new library building. Work could begin next year, with a completion date of 2018 anticipated. The renovations of engineering facilities on the campus are expected to cost $70 million. Those renovations will help the university as it anticipates 700 new students and 200 new faculty members to the engineering program in the next several years. Plans call for $70 million in renovations for existing engineering buildings as Purdue looks to add 700 students and 200 faculty members to its engineering programs in the coming years. Another $80 million will be spent on the Active Learning Center, including classrooms that will allow greater use of technology. Space will also be available to consolidate six science libraries. The center would be built on the site of the old Engineering Administration Building and a vacant heating and power building. The projects will face Board of Trustees approval on Sept. 27.

University of Texas at Austin plans to build new $310 million engineering facility

A cramped, 50-year-old engineering building on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin will be replaced by a new $310 million engineering education and research center. Expected to be completed in 2017, the facility was approved this week by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. The System, looking for tuition revenue bond approval that never materialized during the 83rd Texas Legislature and that could have helped fund necessary construction, will take on paying for the new building itself. The UT-Austin campus will depend on up to $150 million in bond debt for the building will raise another $50 million in donations and draw on reserves for $5 million. The remainder of the costs - $105 million - will come from the System in the form of bonds. Once the building is completed, enrollment in engineering at UT is expected to increase by 1,000 students. The increase in students will mean an increase in revenue from student fees. That money will help fund additional faculty.

LSU hospital privatization could result in new clinics in affected areas

As the Louisiana State University public hospital in Pineville is taken over in a privatization agreement, Gov. Bobby Jindal is pushing for a $15 million state investment to build clinics for two private hospitals taking over those services. Jindal is hoping to shutter the LSU-run Huey P. Long Medical Center, moving its services to CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital and Rapides Regional Medical Center. Part of the deal that would lead to the privatization agreement is a $15 million investment by the state in an inpatient psychiatric facility at the CHRISTUS facility and three new clinics in Alexandria and Pineville for health care for the uninsured. Although the state would build the facilities, they will be owned by the private hospitals, according to Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols (pictured), for as long as they provide services to the uninsured. Nichols said once construction plans are finalized, they must be approved by the State Bond Commission. Unlike other LSU medical facility privatization deals, the private hospitals will not pay rent to operate the new clinics that will be built. But, before any of that can happen, the State Legislature must give its approval when it meets next year. One of the reasons for the proposed closure of the Long facility is that the hospital is 75 years old and has ongoing maintenance costs. The state does not have the money available to build what would likely be a $200 million replacement facility. Jindal has supported privatization because a private provider can offer services state facilities can no longer afford. Five such privatizations have already been approved. This marks the ninth and last privatization deal proposed during Jindal's administration.

University of Tennessee preparing for demolition, then construction

Two facilities on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville have been approved for demolition in advance of new construction. The Stokely Athletics Center and Gibbs Hall will both be demolished and the campus will get a $24.4 million parking garage and a $64.3 million residence hall and dining facility. The football practice fields will also be expanded as part of the project. Once the demolition is completed next year, a 1,000-space parking garage will be built. The second phase of the project will be a new 600-bed, co-ed residential hall with a dining facility. The residential facility will be financed through housing fees and revenue bonds. The parking garage is expected to be completed by summer 2015 and the residence hall by summer 2016. The football practice field expansion, set to begin in 2016, will cost $10 million, funded in its entirety by a private donation.

University of Georgia seeks funding for science center, renovations

Officials at the University of Georgia are seeking a $50 million investment by the state for the construction of a science learning center and renovation of Baldwin Hall. The 122,500-square-foot learning facility would provide space for undergraduate teaching in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. The cost of the facility is estimated at $44.7 million. If the funding is provided, funds from the university totaling $10 million would be used to modernize space where those courses are now being taught in the more than 50-year-old Chemistry and Biological Sciences buildings. The new center would include more than 30 teaching labs for the chemistry, biological sciences, plant biology and physics departments. The remainder of the $50 million being sought from the state would provide funding for expansion and renovation of Baldwin Hall, a 75-year-old building that currently houses the School of Public and International Affairs. More than 10,000 square feet would be added and include three new classrooms and additional office space, while also complying with the access needs of persons with disabilities.

Oklahoma's Madill school district voters approve funds for safe rooms

Voters in the Madill school district in Oklahoma recently approved a $2.5 million bond election that will provide safe rooms to protect its students from natural or man-made disasters. Of that $2.5 million, $1.2 million will be spent on the safe rooms. Madill Superintendent Jon Tuck (pictured) said it is "really hard to vote against a safe room in Oklahoma," given the number of tornadoes that strike the state every year. He said the school district currently has no safe spaces for students in emergencies. Tuck said the safe rooms will double as classrooms and will be added to the south end of the elementary school and will connect to the south part of the high school. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not provide any of the funding for the safe rooms, Tuck said they will be built close to FEMA standards. The two rooms will be close to 900 square feet and will be built with reinforced concrete walls, roof and with minimal windows. The superintendent said all of the high school students can be fit into the safe rooms and most elementary students in their rooms. He suggested that in the future, any classrooms that are built should have safe rooms until there is enough safe room space to hold all of the students. The rooms should be completed by the spring and available for use by the following school year.

University of Iowa to get $70M pharmacy building, other universities seek funds

A new pharmacy building on the campus of the University of Iowa has been approved by the university's Board of Regents. The $70 million pharmacy building is part of a $689.4 million capital building plan expected to extend over five years. To make room for the new building, the university plans to demolish and replace a more than 50-year-old building currently in use by the College of Pharmacy, along with a newer addition from 1996 that is used for research. The project's total cost will be $96 million, with $26 million to be paid for with private funds. Two other Iowa state-supported universities also sought money from the state for construction projects. Iowa State is seeking $55 million for a new biosciences building and the University of Northern Iowa wants $33 million over five years for renovations to an education center.

Georgia school district to sell $23.5M in bonds for two new schools

The Board of Education in Bryan County, Georgia, has approved the sale of $23.5 million in bonds for construction of two new elementary schools. The district will use some of its $1.1 million in excess sales tax collections over the last five years after using part of it to pay off debt service. 

Madeira Beach to use bond proceeds for part of municipal complex costs

Officials in Madeira Beach, Florida, will use $4 million in bonds to finance part of the expenses of building a new city hall, fire station and recreation complex. The project carries a cost of $9.9 million. The remainder of the funding will come from city reserves. City officials have pared down some of the costs associated with the facility and also are being forced to put some other planned projects on the back burner. The bond financing is expected to be completed by sometime in October, with a groundbreaking on the city hall, fire station and recreational complex between November and December. The city complex is expected to take about a year to complete.

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P3 project in Houston draws seven RFQ responses

A request for qualifications (RFQ) for a public-private partnership for a justice complex in Houston has drawn seven responses. The city of Houston is seeking a design-build-finance-operate-maintain partnership with a private sector partner for a facility that will house some of the operations of the city's Municipal Courts Department and the Houston Police Department.

The city received seven statements of qualifications from the following firms or alliances: Hines; PEJP (Plenary Edgemoor Justice Partners); Skanska/AECOM/Honeywell; Griffin Partners; KBR; CGL; and Midway (Page Southerland Page and Manhattan).

The RFQ was issued in June. Houston officials are looking at an 18-acre site held by the city that includes the city's Municipal Courts Building and other structures. The new facility will consolidate operations that are currently conducted at the Municipal Courts Building, the Houston Police Department's Riesner facility and the HPD headquarters on Travis Street.

Illinois lawmakers support funding for locks, dams on two rivers

There's a bipartisan effort afoot among Illinois members of Congress as they seek to ensure repairs and upgrades to locks and dams on two rivers in the state. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act would benefit locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Once the bill makes it out of committee, it will head to the full House for a vote.

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (pictured) called the legislation a "bipartisan, common sense bill" that is aimed at modernizing locks and dams in the region. She said improving the locks and dams on the two rivers is necessary to keep the economy moving forward. She added that the state cannot wait decades for the needed improvements. Bustos is joined by Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and Congressman Rodney Davis to try to get the measure passed. In March, the four filed legislation that allows public-private partnerships for improvements to the nation's water infrastructure.

These P3s are expected to speed up the projects and save taxpayers' money. This program calls for a pilot project of five years that will identify up to 15 projects involving navigation, flood damage reduction and hurricane and storage reduction projects that have been previously authorized and reopen them to additional private investments.

University of Alaska-Fairbanks opts for P3 for campus Wood Center

The University of Alaska-Fairbanks has entered into its first public-private partnership, a project to finance and build an expansion to the university's Wood Center. A team has been put together for a $28 million project that will add 34,000 square feet to the center's dining facilities and will seat 420. Another 9,000 square feet of space currently being used by a variety of organizations and others will also be renovated. The private-sector partners will pay for most of the cost.

This is the first P3 for the university, but officials are looking ahead to a needed upgrade of campus student housing that might qualify as well. Community Properties Alaska (CPA), Inc. (which will own the dining facility) and Lorig Associates are heading up the project with CPA responsible for financing. HEMM Co. is the contractor and Perkins+Will is the engineering firm. CPA will lease the land from UAF and own the expansion until it is paid back, at which time it will be gifted back to UAF. The costs to the university were minimal on the front end of the project. As the project is paid for, the university is responsible for annual payments up to 30 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 Hillary Gitelman.

Hillary E. Gitelman (pictured) holds a bachelor's degree in history of art from Yale University and a master's degree in historic preservation from Columbia University. Early in her career, she held increasingly senior positions in planning and historic preservation. She served as the environmental review officer for the San Francisco Planning Department, where her job was to make sure the city complies with the California Environmental Quality Act. Between 2001 and 2004, she directed the planning department of the Presidio Trust, a federal agency charged with preserving the Presidio in San Francisco for public use and keeping it financially self-sufficient. There she was responsible for developing the Presidio Trust Management Plan, the PresidiGo shuttle system and parking-management program. Gitelman has spent the last eight years in Napa County, where she was responsible for current and long-range planning, building permits and code enforcement. She also has extensive experience in parking and traffic management. Gitelman was recently chosen by Palo Alto City Manager James Keene to serve as the city's planning director, replacing former planner Curtis Williams, who retired in June.

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Former Dona Ana Community College President Margie Huerta (top left) has begun her new job at New Mexico State University as an administrative assistant to NMSU President Garrey Carruthers, after taking three months of approved, paid leave. Nathan Hecht (top center), a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas since 1988, has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry as the 27th chief justice, replacing Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, who is stepping down Oct. 1. Gerri Martin (top right), superintendent of McDowell County Schools, has been selected as superintendent of the Orange County (Virginia) Schools, replacing Del Burns, who has been serving as interim superintendent since Patrick Rhodes retired in June. Windsor (Connecticut) Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Villar has accepted an offer to become the new executive director of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform, effective Oct. 30. The Reading (Pennsylvania) Area Community College board of trustees has named Kenneth D. Dearstyne Jr., associate vice president in the office of finance and administration of Millersville University, as the new senior vice president of business services/treasurer at East Stroudsburg University. Businessman Roberto De Hoyos of Austin recently won appointment as the newest member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission that oversees parks and wildlife management throughout the state. Dr. George Cooper (bottom right), former president of South Carolina State University and a Senior Fellow with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, has been selected executive director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative. City Manager Milton Dohoney has named Jeffrey Blackwell (bottom center), a 26-year law enforcement veteran and deputy chief of the Columbus Division of Police, as its new police chief. Jesus Aguirre (bottom left), director of the Washington, D.C., Parks Department who has spent most of his career in education, will become the city's new state superintendent of education, replacing Emily Durso, who has been leading the Office of the State Superintendent of Education in an interim capacity since June. William Patrick Pate of High Point, North Carolina, and former assistant city manager there, has been selected as the new city manager for the city of Manassas, Virginia. Fairfax County (Virginia) Battalion Chief Richard A. Roatch, a 23-year veteran of the department, he has been promoted to a deputy fire chief position within the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. Smithtown (New York) schools have chosen Judith Elias, former interim superintendent, elementary school teacher, reading teacher and administrator, as the new superintendent, replacing Anthony Annunziato, who resigned.