The Solar State gets two Solar Projects Going

The solar state of Arizona is dedicating two solar projects in October. The Mesquite Solar I facility near the Harquahala Valley by Sempra Generation is the first one. This will be a 150-megawatt power plant that will sell its power to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in California.

The project benefits Arizona because solar panels for generating power will be sourced from Goodyear plant of Suntech Power Holding Co. Ltd. Even though not all the panels for the project will come from the Goodyear plant, it is still a big deal for the company manufacturing photovoltaic panels.

The second project to be dedicated is the much smaller project of First Solar Inc. based in Tempe. This 17-megawatt facility is the Paloma Solar Power Plant in Gila Bend. The power generated by this project will go Arizona Public Service Co. (APS).

The Paloma Plant is the first of the projects planned by APS which is seeking to generate 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic power by 2014. It has already announced several of the proposed plants.

Gila Bend is working to be the solar capital of the solar state. It is seeking to attract projects to the city by streamlining the requirements for setting up the power plants.

Third Time Lucky Pharr Gets Costco to City

As a “card-carrying” member of Costco, Pharr City Manager Fred Sandoval knew the potential that the warehouse retail giant offered to the city. That’s why he and his staff tapped a Texas government economic incentive in their third attempt to offer Costco $11 million to induce them set up shop in Pharr.

Costco was paid $5 million to purchase land at 1501 W. Kelly Avenue and an additional $1.5 million for construction. The city is further committed to pay $1.5 million per year for three years after Costco opens.

When complete, the 148,000-square-feet store will employ about 120 people. Sandoval is confident that the store will sell not less than $150-200 million a year and that the sales tax on taxable sales will pay back the $11 million incentive in about five years. Items such as food and medication, and bulk sales to other stores for resale, are not taxable.

City leaders are hoping that Costco would do more by acting as a catalyst for development of the area from Kelly Avenue to the north of U. S. 83 along Jackson Road. They think that the store will attract not only locals but also people from around and from Mexico. People who would otherwise have never to come to Pharr would come once Costco is open.

Costco has company in the form of another membership warehouse, the Sam’s Club at 1400 E. Jackson Ave. in McAllen half a mile away. Both stores together can draw more people to the area in general, the city leaders feel.

Relocation of Trees

The site proposed for Costco had 48 live oak trees and tree-lovers had mounted a protest against cutting them down. City decided to pay $50,000 in expenses to move some of the trees to city parks and keep them alive. 20 of the trees have been relocated to Tierra Del Sol Golf Course and several city parks.

20 were destroyed as being too large or too sick while the remaining eight are on site to be used for landscaping.

Construction Jobs Increase in Utah

While construction jobs were being lost in most of the country, employment in the Top of Utah showed an increase of 2 percent in the construction sector according to employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA). Both federal and state construction jobs increased in the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan area including Weber, Davis and Morgan counties.

The AGCA report mentions that construction employment declined in nearly half (153) of the 330 metropolitan areas while it remained stagnant in a further 39 areas. Construction demand was low to nil in many parts of the country, with modest improvements in private construction being offset by fall in construction funded by governments.

The demand in Utah arose mostly from the transportation sector with increases in both numbers and sizes. For example, the $5 million rehabilitation project from Washington Boulevard to Harrison Boulevard on the 12^th Street was executed during the past year. Auxiliary lanes were added to I-15 from Bountiful to Centerville and from Clearfield to Layton in Davis County, which also accounted for a major construction work on 500 South in West Bountiful.

A few major construction projects are scheduled for the coming years raising hopes of creating a large number of jobs. An environmental study is already on for a $80 million project to add Express Lanes on I-15 while a $70 million extension is planned to S. R. 93 in Clearfield.

The Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan area has clearly recovered from 2010 when it lost 12 percent jobs compared to the previous year.

Jobs Scene Looks up in Orlando

When Steve Brogan, a carpenter, started looking for work in early 2009, the only worthwhile construction job available was the Amway Center. At that time, Orlando City was also beginning to hire construction workers through the Blueprint Employment Office, with a view to get local workers for local projects. Brogan managed to get work through sheer persistence.

Brogan is now working at New Horizon Construction Services. According to the company, they found everything they wanted in a worker in Brogan, a go-getter. And this trait is seeing him through when things are a bit slow at New Horizon. Employers are happy with someone who feels that the only way he can straighten out his life is through getting back to work.

Brogan indeed had problems with his life, and had got into detox end of 2008 before he could really start looking for work. He now feels that things are falling into place.

And the City of Orlando is continuing with the Blueprint Employment Office program to get local workers working on other local projects such as the Performing Arts Center and Citrus Bowl renovations. The City could definitely benefit with more go-getters like Steve Brogan.

How much Will GulfQuest Maritime Museum Cost?
Another City Project

In a further increase of construction costs, the Mobile City Council approved an increase of $180,000 for constructing the GulfQuest Maritime Museum. Earlier rounds had increased it by $239,000. With the latest increase, the city’s contract with W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Co. handling the museum’s structural work stands at $14.3 million.

Mobile’s head of architectural engineering, Brad Christensen, attributed the cost increases to problems of keeping the Mobile River out of the museum’s waterfront work site. The paperwork involved in approving the cost increases took several months after the problems had occurred.

While the earlier cost increases were funded with the city’s portion of Alabama Municipal Trust Fund, the latest increase will have to be paid out of $3 million new debt issued over the summer.

Cost of the museum project is not yet fully clear. The museum director, Tony Zodrow, puts it at about $35 million but a more realistic estimate is $38 million. The city has already put aside $25 million for the construction, made up of $21.4 million debt and $3.6 million savings from a previous refinancing.

The federal government paid $10 million through transportation grants.

Redesign of the 25,000-square-foot, four story office building at 200 Government St., which the city had bought for $949,000 in 2008, is proceeding. The first two floors of the building have already been renovated at a cost of $554,000. The task of redesigning the third floor has now been entrusted to Holmes & Holmes Architects for $20,000.

On competing the third floor, the building will accommodate the city’s Weed and Seed program, which is an anti-blight, anti-crime initiative funded with federal dollars.

A Model Transit Oriented Development in Murray

Fireclay Villages is a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) that will house 400 apartments, 268 income-restricted units, and office and retail space. The project on a 26-acre site near the Fireclay TRAX commuter rail station is one of the largest developments built in Murray City. Located at 4400 South and 100 West in Murray, Utah, it is a joint venture between Strategic Capital Group (SCG) and Miller Development Company (MDC).

Scheduled to be completed in three phases over the next five years, the project will create 1 million square feet of new living space and a total of 94,000 square feet of office, restaurant and retail space in the city. It is designed to encourage a walkable urban lifestyle where people will drive less and walk/cycle more. Colin Wright of Strategic Capital Group feels that the residential/commercial/retail project will serve as a model for future TODs in Utah.

Transit Oriented Developments

TODs happen when people cluster around mass-transit stations to save on driving and commuting time. TODs are characterized by buildings that accommodate both commercial and residential occupants, with businesses typically on the first floor and residential/office space on floors above. TOD is driven by such factors as pollution, traffic congestion and loss of open space, and involve people moving from run-down sections of town to city centers.

Andrew Gruber, executive director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, estimates that they will be adding another 1.4 million people along the Wasatch Front over the next 30 years. That represents an increase of 65 percent.

Fireclay Villages can thus be said to present the shape of things to come.

1. Experience

A broker’s experience plays a large part of his or her ability to find you affordable insurance. Before you hire a broker, do some basic research on how long he or she has been in business. However, a qualified broker doesn’t necessarily mean someone who has been in business for 10 plus years. Even one year may have been enough time to gain some valuable experience.

2. Read reviews

If your prospective broker has been in business for a while, then there is a good chance that there are local reviews for that broker from other clients. Of course, this all depends on your location and prospective broker. For example, TSC Direct car insurance is a popular company in New York. Regardless, most of its customers probably read various TSC Direct reviews before they made their choice to join the company.

3. Their concern for you

An auto insurance broker’s job is to help you find the most affordable car insurance, based on your driving history. With that said, if the broker does not have your best interest in mind, then you do not need to hire that broker. How do you know if they have your interest in their mind? Listen to their tone of voice — do they sound genuine? You probably know what business or sales tones of voices sound like. A broker should not carry that tone. What kind of insurance are they referring you to? Can you find something cheaper on your own? If so, then they probably aren’t looking out for your best interest.

If you take these three tips to heart, you should be able to find a quality insurance broker. Never settle for a broker before you do your research.

An auto insurance broker is a professional who matches you up with the best insurance companies, based on your driving history. Unlike an insurance agent, a broker does not work for a singular company. Therefore, he is not like a sales agent, making slick statements to persuade you into choosing his company. However, how do you choose your auto broker? Here are a few tips to help you.

Get reviews

Reviews are your best friend. There is a good chance that someone else has written a review for your prospective auto insurance broker. A simple Google search will tell you if so. Many people read reviews on various brokers and insurance companies before making a final decision. This also includes popular companies, such as State Farm or Geico. It is not hard to find reviews. A simple search query, such as TSC Direct reviews, will turn up results.

Talk with various brokers

Never settle for the first broker with whom you speak. It can be hard to make a fair judgment when you have nothing to compare a broker to. Moreover, by speaking with various brokers, you will gain a sense of which brokers have genuine motives. You will be able to discern from the brokers who have your best interest and the brokers who have their best interest in mind.

Do a quick background check

I’m not talking about criminal history, rather work experience and prior success. How long has your prospective broker been in business? Does he or she have happy clients? Brokers who have been in business for at least a year will probably have enough experience to be able to effectively help you find the best car insurance.

By doing your research, you can find a broker that matches you and what you need. There is no reason to settle for less, especially when it comes to your auto insurance.

1. Does the broker have any local reviews

Many people write reviews for products or services that they have used. Therefore, it should come to no surprise that your prospective has a few customer reviews as well. Even major companies are reviewed by local customers, and new prospective customers usually read these reviews before they make a decision. For example, TSC Direct is a popular insurance company in New York. Someone who lives in New York may be considering using TSC Direct, so they do a Google search for TSC Direct reviews. The results will take them to sites with those reviews.

2. Is the broker truly thinking about you

If you settle for the first broker you talk to, you will never truly know if he or she has your best interest in their mind. How can you tell? Well, you need to listen to their tone of voice. Does the broker sound like he or she is trying to sell you on something? If so, then that broker probably doesn’t have your interest in mind.

3. Experience

Though this is not always a concrete rule, you will typically want a broker with prior experience. An insurance broker who has been in business for at least a year will probably be able to help you find the most affordable insurance company.

Always use your better judgment. If something sounds sketchy or too good to be true, then you should trust your instincts. Hopefully these three tips will also help you.

The City Lights Project of Milwaukee Leads to some Issues

A six-acre renovation project to remodel former gas light buildings of early 1900 construction in Milwaukee involves converting these into office and retail space. The $14.2 million project known as City Lights also includes public improvements such as roads, sewers and a walkway along Menomonee River.

Funding for the project comes from various sources including $2.2 million in equity and $8.5 million in debt raised by the developer Giuffre VIII LLC, debt raised by the city and city’s own funds earmarked for public improvements and sewer funds. City hopes to repay the debt from taxes generated by the improvements by 2034.

The developer has already completed renovation of a former Milwaukee Gas Light Co. building spending $5.2 million on the renovation and $2.5 million on roads and other public improvements. The Menomonee Valley Building, 2122 W. Mount Vernon Avenue owned by Giuffre is now the headquarters of Zimmerman Architectural Studios Inc.

Several subcontractors and suppliers claim that overdue bills of about $434,000 for work done in 2010 and 2011 have not been paid.

Giuffre says that 93% of the bills have been paid while the remaining payments are pending owing to payment issues. One of the project’s main contactors, Signature Group Inc., has now gone into receivership. Payment to the company has been placed in an escrow following a judge’s order, said Giuffre.

According to Giuffre, other bills are overdue because contractors didn’t file proper documents to prove that they had met the city’s requirements for hiring city residents and disadvantaged subcontractors. The project had received city financing help.