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BISBEE — Developers will soon have the option of having improvement plans certified by a licensed engineer rather than the county engineer if they choose to do so.
Improvement plans are engineered designs for all road and drainage improvements which must meet federal, state and county professional engineering regulations. They must be certified accurate and complete by an engineer registered to certify plans in Arizona, said Planning Manager Susana Montana.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors amended subdivision regulations to allow “self-certification” and that measure should be official in 120 days. The wait is necessary, according the county planning and zoning staff, so that a standard operating procedure and protocol could be established, Montana said.
Developers can still submit improvement plans to the county if they choose when the amendment goes into effect.
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Planning staff can be overloaded at times, creating a backlog of work, she said. By allowing developers to have their improvement plans certified by a licensed engineer, building could start faster as well as take some of the load off of county staff.
“I like the idea of flexibility,” Supervisor Pat Call said. “This puts the burden on the developer. But, I am concerned there may be unintended consequences. I think that we should review it after a year to see if it’s really working. I’d like to know if staff is spending more time or less time on the plan review process.”
Montana replied that staff wanted to wait two years before the review so there would be enough plans submitted to determine if it was viable.
County Administrator Mike Ortega said it would not be a problem to give a review after one year. He told the supervisors he would analyze the data and report his findings back to them.
Until the protocol that was established, developers will have to run all the improvement plans through the county, Ortega added.
Montana said that once the protocol was completed, she would bring a new fee schedule before the board. That item to approve the new fee schedule was on the agenda, but was removed at the start of the meeting. It will come up for discussion at a future meeting.
In other business, Maddux and Sons Inc. will be providing on-site crushing service for the county at various county-owned pits for the annual sum of $291,000. The crushed rock is used for county highway and floodplain projects.
The supervisors approved renewing contracts with Maddux and Sons Inc. and Rinker Materials to provide concrete for county projects as well.
A court consolidation agreement between the county and Willcox also was approved. Ortega said both entities wanted to save money. The agreement will cost the county $189,286 which provides a net revenue of $3,356.
Willcox City Finance Director Ruth Graham said that the city has been negotiating with the county to take over operation of the magistrate court. The one-year contract “will allow each party to analyze the results of the changeover and to make a determination as to whether or not the contract should be extended another year,” she said.
Judge Trevor Ward of the Willcox Justice Court said, “For want of a better word, it will be one-stop shopping.” Ward explained that with two courts in town, people are often confused about where they need to go. He said defendants have missed their court appearances by sitting at the wrong courtroom.
Ward told Wick News Service that Court Clerk Arlene Horner would make the transition to Justice of the Peace Court No. 4, but that Patricia Ferguson will stay with the city in another capacity. “J.P. 4 has about 5,200 case filings in a year,” he said. “Willcox Magistrate has about 1,300 to 1,500 filings a year. We’ll be picking up about 700 criminal filings per year, or about 51 percent.”
Ward said he would hire one more person when the consolidation occurs. “To be honest with you, the brunt of the work would be on the clerks,” he said. “As long as we have the additional staffing, things will be fine.”
Ward said he would not receive a raise from the additional caseload.
The supervisors also voted 2-1 to award the print legal advertising contract to the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review for one year at a cost of $40,095.57. The San Pedro Valley News-Sun of Benson and the Arizona Range News, of Willcox which are weekly papers with the same publisher bid $28,793.
The Herald/Review has a far larger readership with a daily circulation of more than 10,000.
The Valley News and Range News, both weekly papers, each serve around 3,300 in both venues per week. Call and Supervisor Paul Newman voted to award the contract to the Herald/Review due to the fact the paper reaches more people and actually comes out less per person than the bids of the other two newspapers. Supervisor chairman Richard Searle voted against it.
Searle felt the bids made by the San Pedro Valley News and the Arizona Range News were less expensive at $28,793 for each newspaper.
“I disagree that the total cost isn’t important,” Searle said before voting. “This would be a cost savings.”
All three newspapers are owned by Wick Communications Co. of Sierra Vista.
The supervisors also approved a $120,000 transfer from general fund contingency to the human resources department to cover costs associated with damaged county vehicles.
Ortega explained that the department budget line item had been reduced in 1999 for lack of use. Since that time the county has experienced an increase in the number of claims and costs. Many of the repairs have been to windshields. The grader that was damaged last year in an accident carried a $25,000 deductible.
He said it was the third year that the county has had to dip into the contingency fund to make up for under-budgeted costs. Last year, a $144,000 shortfall had to be covered.
Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net. Carol Broeder of the Arizona Range News contributed to this report.
Toni wrote on Jun 11, 2008 6:14 PM: