STATE REPS
Hendrix is a Republican member of the Arizona House, serving Legislative District 14 in Gilbert and as chairman of the House Regulatory Affairs Committee.
The Yuma Sun reached out to Yuma County Administrator Ian Mcgaughey for comment. “As much as we would like to respond, we cannot comment at this time due to ongoing litigation,” Mcgaughey said.
In December 2021, the supervisors picked ALLO Communications, with a 3-2 vote, to build 181 miles of the countywide broadband network. The purpose of the network is to make it easier for last-mile broadband providers to connect to unserved and underserved areas of the county.
The Nebraska-based company was the vendor originally recommended by a task force appointed by the supervisors and tasked with evaluating the submitted proposals.
ALLO, in its proposal, estimated the cost at $37.5 million. The county committed $20 million, about half of its American Rescue Plan Act funding toward the project.
In addition, Yuma County and ALLO have sought and received state and federal grants to help fund the project.
In March 2022, Gila Electronics, a Yuma company that unsuccessfully bid for the project, filed a lawsuit accusing Yuma County and the supervisors of awarding the contract
“to an entity that lacks the necessary licenses to have participated in the procurement process and perform the required work, all resulting from a fundamentally flawed and unlawful procurement process.”
As a result, Harold Hendrick, the owner of Gila Electronics, said “millions of dollars are being wasted as Yuma County overpays a vendor who is charging more than a local licensed contractor had bid.”
On the contrary, ALLO told the Yuma Sun, the project is coming under budget with the first middle-mile phase scheduled for completion by Feb. 16.
Gila has also accused ALLO of exploiting the project by placing its own fiber optic cables alongside the county cables. “Even though tax dollars are funding this project, ALLO would still be able to charge first responders, schools and local governments to use the broadband network,” Gila stated.
Hendrick noted that none of the increased costs or joint trenches were rebid or approved by the supervisors.
In a request for comment on Hendrick’s comments, ALLO denied taking advantage of the tax-funded project and pointed out the county’s approval of a “dig once” approach. In the fall of 2022, ALLO stated, the company identified portions of the already approved run lines for the county middle-mile network known as Area A that is common to the ALLO Yuma last-mile network.
“After consultation with Yuma
County officials, it was determined to be in the best interest of Yuma County to seek alignment with ALLO Communications’ offer to share construction costs to build Middle Mile Segments 2A-2G that traverse ALLO City design plans,” ALLO stated.
In return, ALLO invited the county into the company’s city-built run line for certain segments in the county, resulting in a cost-sharing agreement.
In addition, the company said, ALLO covers all traffic control expenses for the construction of the common underground run lines and all required surface restoration expenses associated with the construction of the common underground run lines.
Gila Electronics is not asking for the court to order Yuma County to award it the contract. Instead, it is asking Yuma County to restart the procurement process to achieve the best price for taxpayers.
Hendrick told the Yuma Sun: “The issue isn’t between Gila and ALLO, it’s between ALLO and Yuma County and its taxpayers. Yuma County issued a work order to ALLO that they changed without consent from Yuma County and the Board of Supervisors. They changed line items and raised their labor prices millions of dollars. To cover those costs, they removed approximately 10 miles (13%) from the construction project (again without any approval from the board).”
The complaint is set for a trial starting Feb. 26.