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City: Annexation proposal needs more work
Thelma Grimes
San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Benson City Council Monday declined to direct staff to move forward with annexing a 695-acre parcel west of Benson because they did not like the wording of the resolution and felt they needed more information.
The proposed annexation died for a lack of a motion.
In an Aug. 31 letter, a group known as Development Funding Group of Las Vegas submitted a request for annexation to the city. The property in question is located on the west side of State Route 90 near Interstate 10.
The property is split into two parcels. A small block is to the north of the Meritage Homes development, located across from the Cochise Community College Benson Center on SR-90, and the main portion of land is further south of Interstate 10 across from the 20,000-home Whetstone Ranch development.
With no one from the development group attending the meeting to answer questions, Councilman Mark Fenn said moving forward is not a good idea.
"First, I don't like how the resolution is worded; I think it kind of gives this developer a false hope," he said. "Second, I want more information from the property owner before I can even think about giving the staff the green light to move forward on this."
Councilwoman Kathy Suagee said she also feels the city has too much to sort out when it comes to planning and zoning regulations, and something of this caliber should be handled with extreme caution.
Councilman John Lodzinski, however, said the council shouldn't be too quick to deny the request, or at least a half-mile of it.
Lodzinski said the small block of property is located in a commercial area.
The developer could open a grocery store or other businesses and then offer lower sales tax rates because they are outside of the city.
Benson has a higher sales tax rate than Cochise County, and Lodzinski said that could hurt the city in the long run.
Lodzinski said the development could also cause traffic problems on State Route 90.
Area residents expressed concern about the proposed annexation because there is not enough information on this development, and the west boundary of the property connects with Smith Ranch, the controversial 4,900-home development proposed by Diamond Ventures.
With the measure dying for a lack of a motion, City Attorney Ann Roberts said the issue will likely go before the council again after some questions are answered.
In other business, the council unanimously approved spending $18,000 for a new truck in the building department, as requested by Building Official Mike Lockett.
Lockett said the current city truck has more than 225,000 miles, and the transmission is going bad.
The council had no problem with the request when Jim Cox, the city's finance director, said the funds are available.
In other business, the council approved a $25,762.32 bid to Border States of Phoenix to provide the material needed to extend the gas main line from the upper tank to the SKP location in southwest Benson.
This was the lowest of three bids submitted.
To save customers money, council gave Cox permission to contract for natural gas to lock in supply and a set price through the winter months.
Cox said the city has not contracted with a natural gas company for the last 18 months, and while it doesn't hurt the city, it does impact customers.
Currently, Cox said gas rates are at a three-year low, meaning customers would pay 98 cents per unit if a fixed rate were set tomorrow. Last year at this time they were paying about $1.30 per unit.
Cox said he'd like to wait a little longer and let the price go down a little more before signing a contract.
The first contract would likely be for four months, Cox said, and after that he will work with a company for something more permanent.
Council also unanimously voted to refund gas and water meter customers $20,000.
Last year the council approved adding new equipment to gas and water meters and at the time had expected to pass the costs on to homeowners. However, Cox said the plan didn't go as well as expected.
Cox said his research with water and gas companies and cities throughout the state indicate the meter upgrades should be the city's responsibility.
After the council approved the measure last year, Cox said 34 homeowners paid for 34 gas and 40 water meters to be replaced, and now that customers are not being charged, a refund is required.
"We should write the people checks and be done with it; that's a sign of good will on the city's part," he said.
This is a maintenance project, Cox said, and it has nothing to do with new construction or new services being connected.
Following the advice of the Benson Planning and Zoning Commission, the council unanimously voted to make all the proposed minor amendments to the general development plan major.
There have been questions about the proposed changes that range from updating city staff and council names in the document to minimum and maximum number of houses in subdivisions that drew criticism from citizens.
Councilwoman Lori McGoffin said the city must take a step back and look at what the changes mean before moving forward.
Roberts said the proposed changes weren't minor in her opinion and should have never been classified that way.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a $300 donation to the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, to assist in the costs of published professional research reports that demonstrate the importance of cities and towns for the economy and quality of life in Arizona.
In a letter to the city, Ken Strobeck, executive director of Arizona League, said the information is presented to the Arizona Legislature on a variety of issues.
The council also unanimously gave the Southern Arizona Behavioral Health Services permission to use the old City Hall building at 160 S. Huachuca to construct a haunted house at the end of October.
The haunted house is expected to be open to the public from Thursday, Oct. 26 to Oct. 30.
San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Benson City Council Monday declined to direct staff to move forward with annexing a 695-acre parcel west of Benson because they did not like the wording of the resolution and felt they needed more information.
The proposed annexation died for a lack of a motion.
In an Aug. 31 letter, a group known as Development Funding Group of Las Vegas submitted a request for annexation to the city. The property in question is located on the west side of State Route 90 near Interstate 10.
The property is split into two parcels. A small block is to the north of the Meritage Homes development, located across from the Cochise Community College Benson Center on SR-90, and the main portion of land is further south of Interstate 10 across from the 20,000-home Whetstone Ranch development.
With no one from the development group attending the meeting to answer questions, Councilman Mark Fenn said moving forward is not a good idea.
"First, I don't like how the resolution is worded; I think it kind of gives this developer a false hope," he said. "Second, I want more information from the property owner before I can even think about giving the staff the green light to move forward on this."
Councilwoman Kathy Suagee said she also feels the city has too much to sort out when it comes to planning and zoning regulations, and something of this caliber should be handled with extreme caution.
Councilman John Lodzinski, however, said the council shouldn't be too quick to deny the request, or at least a half-mile of it.
Lodzinski said the small block of property is located in a commercial area.
The developer could open a grocery store or other businesses and then offer lower sales tax rates because they are outside of the city.
Benson has a higher sales tax rate than Cochise County, and Lodzinski said that could hurt the city in the long run.
Lodzinski said the development could also cause traffic problems on State Route 90.
Area residents expressed concern about the proposed annexation because there is not enough information on this development, and the west boundary of the property connects with Smith Ranch, the controversial 4,900-home development proposed by Diamond Ventures.
With the measure dying for a lack of a motion, City Attorney Ann Roberts said the issue will likely go before the council again after some questions are answered.
In other business, the council unanimously approved spending $18,000 for a new truck in the building department, as requested by Building Official Mike Lockett.
Lockett said the current city truck has more than 225,000 miles, and the transmission is going bad.
The council had no problem with the request when Jim Cox, the city's finance director, said the funds are available.
In other business, the council approved a $25,762.32 bid to Border States of Phoenix to provide the material needed to extend the gas main line from the upper tank to the SKP location in southwest Benson.
This was the lowest of three bids submitted.
To save customers money, council gave Cox permission to contract for natural gas to lock in supply and a set price through the winter months.
Cox said the city has not contracted with a natural gas company for the last 18 months, and while it doesn't hurt the city, it does impact customers.
Currently, Cox said gas rates are at a three-year low, meaning customers would pay 98 cents per unit if a fixed rate were set tomorrow. Last year at this time they were paying about $1.30 per unit.
Cox said he'd like to wait a little longer and let the price go down a little more before signing a contract.
The first contract would likely be for four months, Cox said, and after that he will work with a company for something more permanent.
Council also unanimously voted to refund gas and water meter customers $20,000.
Last year the council approved adding new equipment to gas and water meters and at the time had expected to pass the costs on to homeowners. However, Cox said the plan didn't go as well as expected.
Cox said his research with water and gas companies and cities throughout the state indicate the meter upgrades should be the city's responsibility.
After the council approved the measure last year, Cox said 34 homeowners paid for 34 gas and 40 water meters to be replaced, and now that customers are not being charged, a refund is required.
"We should write the people checks and be done with it; that's a sign of good will on the city's part," he said.
This is a maintenance project, Cox said, and it has nothing to do with new construction or new services being connected.
Following the advice of the Benson Planning and Zoning Commission, the council unanimously voted to make all the proposed minor amendments to the general development plan major.
There have been questions about the proposed changes that range from updating city staff and council names in the document to minimum and maximum number of houses in subdivisions that drew criticism from citizens.
Councilwoman Lori McGoffin said the city must take a step back and look at what the changes mean before moving forward.
Roberts said the proposed changes weren't minor in her opinion and should have never been classified that way.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a $300 donation to the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, to assist in the costs of published professional research reports that demonstrate the importance of cities and towns for the economy and quality of life in Arizona.
In a letter to the city, Ken Strobeck, executive director of Arizona League, said the information is presented to the Arizona Legislature on a variety of issues.
The council also unanimously gave the Southern Arizona Behavioral Health Services permission to use the old City Hall building at 160 S. Huachuca to construct a haunted house at the end of October.
The haunted house is expected to be open to the public from Thursday, Oct. 26 to Oct. 30.
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