By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- So did you ever want your very own shipping container?
You will soon get the chance, courtesy of a now abandoned vision by former Gov. Doug Ducey to build a wall out of them along the state's southern border.
But you won't get your pick of color.
You have to arrange to have it shipped.
The seller -- the state of Arizona -- is warning that these aren't in the greatest shape.
And you'll have to wait your turn until after government agencies and nonprofits get first crack at them, something expected to occur by Oct. 1.
Still, there should be plenty left of the approximately 2,200 shipping containers that Ducey, a Republican, had the state purchase so he could erect miles of double-high containers to fill the gaps left in the border fence that was started by former President Trump.
And the asking price is less than the state paid to buy them in the first place last year, even without considering the $100 million in taxpayer funds spent to erect them.
As it turns out, that wasn't the end of the funding. Ducey was forced to agree to remove the containers -- at the cost of another $76 million of taxpayer funds -- after the federal government sued the state for trespassing on federal property.
So now the state is stuck with all of these containers it bought solely for the project which now are simply gathering dust on the grounds of the state prison in Tucson.
That leaves only one thing to be done: for the state to get rid of the containers, try to recoup some of those expenses -- and finally put the issue to rest.
It started with the promise by Trump to build a "big, beautiful wall'' between the United States and Mexico.
Only thing is, by the time he left office at the end of 2020 there still were gaps. And on his first day in office, Democrat Joe Biden, his successor, called an immediate halt to further construction, leaving several open areas that had been part of the plan.
Last July the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it has authorized Customs and Border Protection to seal some of the openings, including a 3,820-foot gap near Yuma. That, however, didn't stop Ducey from just weeks later issuing an executive order directing that those gaps be filled with a line of 130 shipping containers, stacked two high, at state expense.
And, months later, Ducey announced a separate and more extensive contract to fill a 10-mile gap along the border south of Sierra Vista, in the Coronado National Forest. His administration also gave a no-bid contract to AshBritt Management & Logistics.
All that came to a halt when Ducey, after being sued by the federal government for trespass, agreed just days before he left office in December to remove the containers. And the state agreed to pay AshBritt even more money to undo what it had just put up.
And that leaves the state -- and now Gov. Katie Hobbs -- with all those containers which range in age from 10 to 20 years.
The most expensive container the state is offering is 40 feet long, eight feet wide and eight-feet-six-inches tall. It's listed as Grade C which means the exterior will have "extensive corrosion with a multitude of dents,'' may have prior repairs or patches, with an interior with markings, scratches and corrosion.
That will set you back $2,000.
If one with extensive corrosion or holes, is OK, as well as major damage, there are some Grade D 40-foot containers for $1,500.
Need something smaller? A Grade C 20-foot container will set you back $1,000 while $500 will buy a Grade D in the same size.
But there are only about 100 of these smaller sizes available.
The state Department of Administration which is marketing the items says they can be "repurposed'' for housing, offices, classrooms or other occupancy.
But, depending on where they are put and how they are used, there are a host of other hurdles, like oversight from local officials and zoning. And any plans to take the containers to a facility to be converted to housing for placement offsite, requires that facility to be licensed and certified by the Arizona Department of Housing.
So far, though, that hasn't been the interest of takers.
Megan Rose, spokeswoman for the Department of Administration, said virtually all of the approximately 100 that already have been snatched up have been bought by other state agencies who want them for storage.
But not all of them. The Herald/Review reports that Bisbee Public Works Director Matt Guerney has ordered 13 Grade C containers, in different sizes.
He said they are needed for storage space for everything from equipment and supplies for parks, streets, sewage and sanitation. And the fire department wanted two for its own storage use.
The price tag for all that is $27,820.
If the state gets rid of all the containers, it will be at a loss -- even discounting the construction costs.
The Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, which made the purchase, doesn't have a breakdown of what each container cost. But the total price tag was more than $13.8 million.
Even assuming all the containers being offered for sale are 40-foot Grade C, that would put the maximum recouped at just $4.2 million. And the final figure is likely to be less, given there are less expensive Grade D containers and smaller ones.
Dan Scarpinato, who was Ducey's chief of staff when the state paid to buy the containers, erect the barriers and then take them down, said his former boss "stands by the project.''
"Arizona has been hard hit by the border crisis, and the Biden administration has ignored it even as it has gotten worse and worse,'' Scarpinato told Capitol Media Services.
Anyway, he said, it served its purpose, resulting in a commitment by Washington to start closing gaps in the existing wall.
"This effort was never meant to be a permanent solution,'' Scarpinato said. "But it did result in getting the administration's attention when almost nothing else would.''
Hobbs press aide Christian Slater had a different take.
"It was a political stunt and a waste of taxpayer dollars,'' he said.
-30-
On Twitter: @azcapmedia
