City to debut construction standards
Contractors had asked for more time to review
The Yuma City Council will again introduce an ordinance of construction standards this week.
When the ordinance was first introduced last month, two industry representatives protested that they were not given notice or asked for input.
In the interest of being businessfriendly, the council delayed the introduction of the ordinance to this Wednesday’s meeting.
The standard specifications relate to the “construction or alteration of streets, public utilities, public rights-ofway and other publicly owned properties within the city limits.” The city is set to adopt the specifications published by the Maricopa Association of Governments with the Yuma Supplement, which include variations specific to the city, as the standard requirements.
During a Feb. 6 work session, City Engineer Jeff Kramer explained that the MAG standards have been in effect in the city administratively for two years, but they were never adopted as part of the city code.
Before the adoption of MAG in 2016, the city had not updated the standards
for more 50 years. Instead of completely rewriting them, staff looked at other specifications that are widely used that the city could adopt and amend by use of a supplement. The city settled on the 433-page MAG, which Kramer called a “meaty publication.”
“They are time-tested and proven and used for a long time. They are highly regarded specifications and very positively used by those who use the specifications on a regular basis,” Kramer said.
As part of that review, which went on for a couple of years, the city had about 50 meetings with both external and internal stakeholders and “a very wide cross section of the design and construction industry in Yuma was invited to participate. Some chose to participate, some chose not to. There was very little feedback in the process.”
He said the standards apply to all construction in the public right-of-ways such as sidewalks and used for all the city’s public works and capital projects, both off site improvements and subdivision developments. He said they apply to both public and private developments.
During the Feb. 7 meeting, when the ordinance was first set to be introduced, a couple of speakers asked for more time so they could familiarize themselves with the MAG and Yuma Supplement.
John Weil, an attorney representing Hall’s General Contractor, said that when the city went through the process of adopting the standards administratively in 2016, they did not think it was relevant to them.
“In our mind we did not care about the MAG because we don’t do public works contracts and we understood that the MAG did not apply to the residential construction,” Weil said.
Harvey Campbell, president of BetterYuma.org, a nonprofit organization that represents developers, landowners and business people, said he also had been unaware of the proposed MAG ordinance until recently. He also noted that the agenda item could cause confusion because it refers to “public works construction” and does not specify residential projects.
Although he had read most of the 64 pages of the city supplement, he had not had an opportunity to read the entire 433 pages of the MAG, he added. He asked the council to postpone the agenda item for two council meetings so he could meet with members and have an opportunity to “engage” with city staff.
City Attorney Richard Files clarified that the reason staff is proposing that the standards be adopted as an ordinance is so that it carries a penalty clause to ensure compliance.
City Administrator Greg Wilkinson noted that the city needs the ability to make sure deficiencies will be corrected. The city has one of two ways to ensure this compliance: a voluntary bond or a penalty to make a contractor fixes defects.
Councilman Mike Shelton liked the idea of postponing the ordinance introduction. “I do not want to turn a deaf ear to the hardship they have expressed to us. So in terms of due process to them, I like them to have the freedom to have the conversations they need with their people and come back to us with whatever framework they’d like to share,” he said.
Mayor Doug Nicholls reiterated that the standards are already in place. “We’re not creating an in-place code that has to be changed, that has to all of a sudden be built to that.” He added he didn’t mind if the introduction was delayed.
Shelton pointed out that the issue was not about how long the standards had been in place but rather when the contractors “had a sense of it applying to them.”
“I’m completely OK with putting this off for two weeks and introducing it in two weeks,” Councilman Jacob Miller said.
Councilwoman Leslie McClendon agreed to the delay. “To be able to have everybody on the same page, I feel is the right thing to do.”
Deputy Mayor Gary Knight also agreed, “in the interest of being business friendly,” to give the industry members more time to read the MAG standards. Nicholls asked that Kramer reach out to the other industry members and ask if they want to participate.
The MAG construction standards and Yuma supplement is set to be introduced during the Wednesday regular council meeting.
In another action, the council also appointed Lisa Marlin as the finance director, a title formerly held by Pat Wicks, who is now the chief financial officer.
During the presentations, Wicks accepted a Distinguished Budget Award from the Government Finance Officers Association.
In addition, the city accepted a $85,000 “big check” from APS to cover the cost of a new gym floor at the Joe Henry Optimist Park.
Also, Nicholls and Wilkinson announced the distribution of gaming proceeds from the Quechan Tribe, which included $500 for the Bully Rehab Awareness Gym, $3,000 to the Yuma Community Food Bank and $3,318 to the Catholic Community Services, which runs the Safe House domestic violence shelter.