“If I could summarize this past year in one word, that word would be ‘challenging’”. Paul Keesler, Oro Valley Director of Public Works noted this in his remarks to the Town Council at last week’s 2023 Town Manager Recommended Budget ("TMRB') Study Session.
Inflation, lack of supply, and lack of contractor availability cloud future
“Over this past year we were able to operate and move forward in this continuing inflationary, lack of supply, lack a contractor atmosphere. It’s no mystery. We’ve been talking about this for a while now: Supply chain issues and material availability… [lack of ] contractor availability: That's another battle that we've been fighting… many times we're only getting one bid and sometimes that it's not even in earnest."
2022: We've done a lot in a very difficult market.
2022: We've done a lot in a very difficult market.
Keesler pointed to a number of accomplishments this year. “The biggie that Oro Valley is known for is that we're able to keep our street condition in its usual great shape… we treated approximately one-fifth of our streets this past year, which is per our schedule. Every street gets retreated depending on his condition roughly every 5 to 7 years so we we shoot for that roughly 20% every year.” Keesler noted this may not be the case going forward because of a shortage of one of the materials used in pavement preservation.
The town has also faced the inability to get replacement vehicles, whether they be for public works projects or police department vehicles. Keesler sees no end to this particular challenge for at least two more years.
The town has also faced the inability to get replacement vehicles, whether they be for public works projects or police department vehicles. Keesler sees no end to this particular challenge for at least two more years.
Town is plunging forward with an aggressive fifty-project program for 2023
The TMRB for public works this year is $20.9million dollars. That is just for "normal" public works projects like road building and maintenance, building maintenance, and purchasing and maintaining vehicles.
The TMRB for public works this year is $20.9million dollars. That is just for "normal" public works projects like road building and maintenance, building maintenance, and purchasing and maintaining vehicles.
Major "normal" public works projects planned for this year include rebuilding a portion of Shannon Road. This represents a shift in road funding because it is a replacement of an aging road. The town will be paying for this rebuilding from its own funds as opposed to getting funds from other governments sources as they have in the past.
One of the challenges Keesler noted was the need to do “cosmetic work” on the town’s bridges. This will not happen this year because the bid price for doing this was patently ridiculous. What should cost $400,000 was bid at $2 million.
...that includes managing the capital spending of some other departments
The Public Works Department also administers the capital spending of some other departments. This includes the capital spending on the town's parks that is included int he Parks and Recreation Department budget. The Parks and Recreation Department pays for the parks. But it's Keesler's department that actually gets the parks built!
This year this includes building some portion of Naranja Park, replacing the irrigation on one of the golf courses, and building additional multi-use paths. All of these three items are being paid for by the Towns $25million Parks Bond that was issued last September.
But there’s more. The town is replacing the tennis courts at the Community Center. That is another Parks and Recreation project. These courts require concrete. Keesler observed that contractors can only buy a specific amount of concrete. In order for there to be enough concrete for the town's project, the contractor has to use material from other projects on the Oro Valley tennis courts.
But there’s more. The town is replacing the tennis courts at the Community Center. That is another Parks and Recreation project. These courts require concrete. Keesler observed that contractors can only buy a specific amount of concrete. In order for there to be enough concrete for the town's project, the contractor has to use material from other projects on the Oro Valley tennis courts.
Keesler: A reorganize focus for 2023
Keesler has fifty projects on tap for the year and he has reorganized the department to get the job done. He has assigned projects to ten individuals who will be the project managers. There is one full-time project manager for Naranja Park. The other project managers will have four or perhaps five projects they will oversee.
Clearly, it will be a challenging 2023 for the Oro Valley Public Works Department.
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