The Pima County Board of Supervisors learned that the Transportation Department is planning to spend $500,000 on five contracts with public relations firms to publicize roadway projects.

When board members asked whether the county needed to spend so much on public relations, Transportation Director Kurt Weinrich said, "It's an essential part of community outreach during the construction phase.

County ordinance requires it during the design phase [of projects] to deal with environmental mitigation needs but wešve found that is not sufficient, even for environmental issues, particularly around noise and screen walls."

Board Chairman Sharon Bronson, D-District 3, and Supervisor Ann Day,R-District 1, praised the use of public relations firms for helping keep businesses and residents informed about construction work at Thornydale Road and other locations.

Weinrich said the past practice has been to let contractors hire the public relations firms, but that they typically mark up the costs between 5 percent and 15 percent, so bidding the project out directly would save the county money.

One of the five firms that received the highest ratings under the county contract procurement system was Michael Bolchalk Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations of Tucson.