By Jim
Lamb
Green Valley
News
NOGALES—Construction
of the Tubac ballfield has been delayed another week as the Santa Cruz
County public works department determines if the apparent low bidder, who
is licensed , holds the appropriate certificate to do the work.
The county
supervisors tabled contract awarding Tuesday for another week.
In other action
the supervisors:
•Learned the
county will finish the year $700,000 ahead of last year,
•Took action
to fill positions being vacated by two well-known county employees and
•Revised the
county’s street and road naming ordinance.
The county
has been trying to build a ballpark south of Tubac on donated land since
1995. The county has received partial funding of $110,000 from state Heritage
Fund money. The project first went to bid last October but the bids were
too high. Plans were revised and a new call for bids was issued.
The apparent
low bid of $196,480 was submitted by Burns Construction Co. of Tubac.
Runner up bidder,
M. Anderson Construction Corp. of Tucson, questioned whether Burns has
the appropriate state license. Anderson bid $199,949.50,
Victor Gabilondo,
county public works director, said Burns has a B1 commercial building license,
but Anderson claimed that a Class A engineering permit was required for
this job.
Gabilondo said
he checked with the state contractors licensing office and should know
by next Tuesday if a B1 is acceptable for the job.
Gabilondo said
owner Milton Burns told him that he uses only licensed subcontractors for
work he’s not licensed to do, such as using licensed plumbers when he builds
a new house.
The final financial
report of the year shows an estimated general fund balance on Dec. 31 of
$2,456,956 compared to $1,751,213 a year ago.
Supervisors
approved hiring an Emergency Services Director/Animal Control Director
- Trainee to succeed Laurence “Mac” McWilliams who has announced plans
to retire. The board also approved advertising outside the county for a
successor.
McWilliams
has been a county employee since October 1985.
The board also
approved filling the position of building inspector now held by Bill Shipitalo
who has been with the county since October 1994. He’s leaving to be a project
director at Nogales Public Schools.
The revised
street naming and numbering ordinance calls for all roads in the county—whether
public or private—to have name signs on them. The county will pay for them.
Public road
signs will be white on green and private road signs will be white on red.
The supervisors
said naming all streets was for safety so emergency vehicles could find
an address more quickly.
The ordinance
will also permit developers to install their own street signs in a development
if they are easily read and understood. Persons can also petition to rename
a street, but it costs $200 to apply and $80 for each street sign changed
if approved.