ARIZONA HIGHWAY COMMISSION NOTES.

ARIZONA HIGHWAY COMMISSION NOTES FEBRUARY 28, 1939

The newly appointed members of the Arizona State Highway Commission met in the Commission office in the Highway Building at 9:30 A. M., February 28, 1939. There were present: J. M. Procter of Tucson, F. C. Bledsoe of Bisbee, Kemper Marley of Phoenix, R. E. Moore of Jerome, L. B. Owens of Holbrook; also State Highway Engineer Howard S. Reed, Assistant Attorney General A. R. Lynch, the Secretary, Mary Foudy Clinton and W. R. Hutchins. State Engineer Reed, in the absence of a Chairman, told the assembled Commissioners the first order of business would be the organization of the new Commission.

The motion was made by Commissioner Marley, seconded by Commissioner Moore and unanimously carried, that J. M. Procter be elected Chairman of the Commission.

Chairman Procter took the Chair and called for nominations for Vice-Chairman.

It was moved by Commissioner Bledsoe, seconded by Commissioner Owens and unanimously carried, that R. E. Moore be elected Vice-Chairman of the Commission.

The Chairman then called for the appointment of a new State Engineer, as the next order of business. Mr. Reed told the members of the Commission, same being confirmed by Attorney General Lynch, that the bill provides the Commission recommend to the Governor the Engineer they wish appointed, and upon the Governor's approval and confirmation, appointment shall be made.Upon motion of Commissioner Marley, seconded by Commissioner Bledsoe, W. R. Hutchins was unanimously selected as State Engineer for the Arizona Highway Department.

The Chairman requested that Assistant Attorney General Lynch and the Secretary draw up the necessary document to be sent to the Governor for confirma tion of the State Highway Engineer.

The question of the naming of an Assistant for Mr. Hutchins was brought up and Mr. Lynch notified them that according to the law, Mr. Hutchins would name his Assistant.

The Tentative Minutes of the Commission Meeting of February 20, 1939, were read by the Secretary. It was moved by Commissioner Bledsoe, seconded by Commissioner Marley and unanimously car-ried that they be approved as read.

Mr. Reed then told the Commission there were several matters he would like to speak of before the meeting adjourned. The first was with reference to the meeting that had been set by the Commission for March 3, 1939. As there are two bid openings on this date, February 28, and the Bureau of Public Roads usually needs two to three days in which to give prior concurrence, March 3rd had been set for the awarding of the bids. There is also a small job on which bids are to be opened on March 3rd, on which it was thought possible to get concurrence from the Bureau on the same day in order that the award might be made then also. Mr. Reed suggested that this date be kept as the next meeting date, if it so met with the approval of the Commission.

Mr. Reed also spoke of the Convention to be held in San Francisco of the American Road Builders' Association and the Western Association of State Highway Officials, on March 6th to 9th, 1939, telling the Commission that some reservations had already been made as it was thought some representative would be sent.

Chairman Procter said the matter would be held in abeyance and a later report made when there had been time to discuss same with Mr. Hutchins. There being no further business to come before the Commission, it was mov-ed by Commissioner Bledsoe, seconded by Commissioner Marley and unani-mously carried, that the meeting adjourn to meet again at 10:00 A. M. on March 3, 1939.

MARCH 3, 1939

The Arizona State Highway Commission met in regular session at 10:40 a. m., March 3, 1939. Those present were: Chairman Procter, Vice-Chairman R. E. Moore, Commissioners Marley, Bledsoe and Owens; Also State Engineer W. R. Hutchins, Assistant Attorney General, A. R. Lynch and the Secretary, Mary Foudy Clinton.

Upon recommendation of the state en-gineer, who had received prior concur-rence from the Bureau of Public Roads, it was moved by Commissioner Marley, seconded by Vice-Chairman Moore, and unanimously carried, that the award on the Ajo-Gila Bend highway, F. L. 10-A (1) (1939), A. F. E. 8508, be made to the low bidder, Skousen Bros., Contrac-tors, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the amount of $87,189.78.

Resolution was read by the secretary, authorizing W. R. Hutchins as State Highway Engineer, to verify and approve claims for the expenditure of moneys from the highway fund. Chairman Procter asked if Mr. Hutchins' bond had been filed, and upon affirmation by the secretary that notice had been received from the secretary to that effect, it was moved by Commissioner Moore, seconded by Commissioner Bledsoe and unanimously carried, that the Resolution as read be adopted and entered upon the minutes. Same was then duly signed by each commissioner, attested by the secretary, Mary Foudy Clinton, and the state highway engineer, W. R. Hutchins, and approved as to form by A. R. Lynch, special counsel.

A resolution was read by the secretary, authorizing State Highway Engineer W. R. Hutchins, to sign all documents necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the Arizona State Highway Department. It was moved by Commissioner Bledsoe, seconded by Commissioner Owens and unanimously carried, that this Resolution be adopted as read and same spread upon the minutes. Same was then duly signed by each commissioner, attested by the secretary, Mary Foudy Clinton, and the state highway engineer, W. R. Hutchins, and approved as to form by A. R. Lynch, special counsel.

The assistant attorney general told the commission it would be wise to fix the state highway engineer's salary. Chairman Procter asked if it would be possible to defer this action until a later date and Mr. Lynch stated that would be permissible, dating it back to begin on March 1, 1939.

Upon request of State Engineer Hutchins, Ralph Hoffman, the bridge engineer, appeared before the commission. The matter of sending a representative from the Highway Department to the convention of the American Road Builders' Association and of the Western Association of State Highway officials, to be held in San Francisco from March 6 to 9, was then referred to by Mr. Hutchins, he recommending that Mr. Hoffman be sent as such representative. These meetings, Mr. Hutchins said, usually develop into committees on design and bridges. Miller, the plans engineer, had already sent his data in to the committee on design. No committee on bridges has been called as yet but undoubtedly there will be. It was moved by Commissioner Bledsoe, seconded by Commissioner Moore and unanimously concurred in by the rest of the commission that Mr. Hutchins' recommendation be accepted and Mr. Hoffman be sent as representative from the Arizona State Highway Department to the convention above named.

State Engineer Hutchins called the attention of the commission to the bid to be opened at 10:00 a. m., March 10, 1939, on two hundred thousand 1939 Arizona state road maps. Commissioner Owens asked if it be necessary to award the bid on that date. Upon statement from the secretary that Mr. Miller was anxious to receive these maps as soon as possible, the chairman suggested that the next meeting of the commission be set for 2:00 p. m., March 10, 1939.

A letter from John Frederick Farson was read to the commission by the secretary, asking consideration of several new projects. It was recommended by Commissioner Moore and concurred in by the rest of the commission that this letter be referred to the state engineer for reply and recommendation.

Mr. Ralph Woodward, representing Mr. Conyes of the Conyes Freight Lines of Salt Lake City, appeared before the commission, concerning the registration of trucks which go across the northwest corner of the state of Arizona at Littlefield, on the way to Los Angeles, a distance of only 17 miles on Highway 91. He stated that the normal number of trucks run across this corner of Arizona during the year was four or five. Sometimes only two were used and during an extra rush of business, occasionally nine would be used, some of these making only one trip. He requested that the commission grant the Conyes Freight Lines permission to register the normal number-four or five and then be free thereafter from delays incidental to the stopping and causing registration of certain trucks that might only be used for one trip a year across this corner of Arizona.

Upon question from the state engineer, Assistant Attorney General A. R. Lynch, stated that he could not give an opinion on this matter off-hand, but would need to study same, as he found it difficult to find any authorization to permit the use of substitute trucks without previous registration.

Following subsequent discussion, the chairman asked that Mr. Lynch furnish report on this matter at the next meeting of the commission on March 10, 1939.

Mr. Milton Ray of Aguila was granted an audience with the commission. He was there as a representative of the Aguila road committee and the people of the Alamo district, to ask that a survey be started from Aguila to Alamo to construct a bridge over the Bill Williams river. This is badly needed to accommodate mines in that district hauling ore and also that a daily stage line might be started from Phoenix to Boulder Dam.

State Engineer Hutchins said this matter had been taken up in a recent commission meeting and the secretary read the excerpt concerning same from the minutes of February 8, 1939.

Mr. Ray informed the commission that the road now being surveyed was not the road asked for by their delegation, and upon recommendation of the state engineer, the commission concurring, it was decided to ask Mr. Percy Jones, chief locating engineer, for a report on this matter to be given to the commission at the next meeting on March 10, 1939.

Mr. Ray Vyne, representing the Works Progress Administration, Phoenix office, was introduced by the state engineer to the commissioners and told them he was there to congratulate them upon their appointment and to offer the cooperation of the WPA Phoenix office in any work they might contemplate, stating that they would be most glad to discuss any question with the commission at any time.

There being no further business to come before the commission, the meeting was adjourned at 11:25 a. m., to meet again at 2:00 p. m., March 10, 1939.