Progress Report 2023

CITY OF FLAGSTAFF ECONOMIC VITALITY STAFF

The practice of helping businesses to stay and grow in Flagstaff is one that requires a deep and broad level of engagement with allbusinessesfromthefirst-time startup to the global community partners, which provides unique perspectives on the trajectory of entire community Local businesses seek to survive and thrive in locations that meet their business needs and are also places that the owners and the employees want to call home. There is a natural tension between affordability and desirability Flagstaff is a highly desirable place to live and yet for decades we have participated in community dialogues about affordability According to Kiplingers, Harlingen Texas, located in

the southernmost tip of Texas near the Rio Grande and Gulf of Mexico, is the cheapest place to live in the USA,but with 24 7% of their population living below the poverty line, it may not be particularly desirable.

118 7 That is the cost-of-living index of Flagstaff Considering that the costof-living index for the state of Arizona is 106 4, the numbers present a certain tension.

$12 million Flagstaff bed, board and beverage Tax collection 2009-2022

$10 million

$8 million

$6 million

$4 million

$2 million

revenue for 2022 is the fact that Flagstaff has a minimum wage that is $2.90 more than the rest of the state of Arizona. A minimum wage of $16 80 amounts to $18.21 for the employer when costs such as federal unemployment,social security, and state unemployment are included. While such true costs may be good for the BBB revenues they are also challenging to local independent businesses and to the area high school students looking for their first challenges, real and perceived, Flagstaff still ranks very high in terms of quality of life and quality of place. Our four-season community is blessed with award winning kindergarten through career (K-Career) education facilities and more outdoor activities than one could do in a month; Flagstaff is highly desirable, and many businesses continue to ChooseFlagstaff com again and again. Joy Cone Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of ice cream cones Their western operations reside right here in Flagstaff and while they currently employ almost 200 people,they are in the process of expanding adding up to 85,000 square feet which will also result in their hiring

Flagstaff makes it easier to choose Flagstaff 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 0

Please see ECONOMY, Page 3 The Guidance Center – an expanding team of experts available to you 24/7 Call The 24 Hour Crisis Line at (928) 527-1899. It Only Takes A Moment To Get The Help You Need.

$11,465,000

Discover Flagstaff creates synergy between visitors and residents

DISCOVER FLAGSTAFF

Discover Flagstaff is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of Destinations International. As a certified Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Discover Flagstaff works with intentional design to understand and create synergy between the resident and visitor through responsible visitation marketing. “It is an honor to tell the Flagstaff story and project our community values,” Discover Flagstaff Director Trace Ward said.

The official tourism bureau, funded by the Bed, Board, and Beverage (BBB) tax, is Discover Flagstaff and operates as a section in the City of Flagstaff’s Economic Vitality Division. The mission of Discover Flagstaff is to increase visitation and visitor spend through responsible marketing, advertising, direct sales and other programming. This is done by utilizing data-driven strategies and tactics which inspires and motivates year-round visitation benefiting the community economically and socially. Tourism is the city’s number one industry and economic driver. In fiscal year 2022, BBB tax generated $11,446, 072 in revenue for an unprecedented post-pandemic increase of 26.5% and 75% of all Flagstaff Airport enplanements are visitors. According to the Arizona Office of Tourism Economic Impact Study, tourism provides economic stability to the community with an annual real tax savings of $738.00 per household.

Traditional accommodation metrics, for occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) from July 2022 through February 2023, reported by Smith Travel Report (STR) continue to show strong and healthy performances. Discover Flagstaff has taken a holistic approach to marketing our mountain town and continues to educate and engage the public on responsible tourism while promoting all things that make Flagstaff a special place to visit. The connection of tourism, economic vitality, and economic development work together. For example, the Visit-Discover-Grow program, takes visitation to the next level by investing in the Flagstaff community economically. Are you aware that in 1964

Bill Gore visited Flagstaff with his family to experience hiking in Flagstaff’s beautiful Ponderosa pine forests and was captured by areas natural beauty? W.L. Gore & Associates is a major employer in Flagstaff. The W.L. Gore products help people around the world from firefighters to outdoor enthusiasts, commuters to cardiac patients with the belief in the natural, human capacity to solve problems in creative ways. Flagstaff is a great place to live and visit as well as a great place to start a business.

Discover Flagstaff connects visitors and residents in multiple ways, one of which is ecotourism.

Ecotourism is any form of visitation that focuses on traveling to natural environments with a mission to learn about and ultimately help protect those environments.

The Discover Flagstaff Pledge for the Wild (PFTW) program is all about responsible visitation and giving back to our community to keep Flagstaff’s wild places wild.

This public education effort is for both locals and visitors to keep our destination beautiful, sustainable, clean and educate responsible trail use while hiking, tree bathing, stargazing, wildlife watching or biking. The program benefits the

local non-profit Flagstaff Trails Initiative with trail management and it is easy to participate simply text WILD4FLAG to 44321 with a donation. Adding more strength to PFTW, Discover Flagstaff is adding a new dimension – Flagstaff Trails Passport — in May 2023 which adds another level of awareness and further encourages participation of responsible recreation to preserve Flagstaff’s beauty. The Flagstaff Trails Passport is designed to easily and conveniently select trails from a multi-agency procured list to help manage trail congestion, while also providing an opportunity to earn great prizes. These trails are assigned points based on level of difficulty, with easy trails assigned 1 point, moderate trails assigned 2 points, and difficult trails assigned 3 points. The first 400 people that earn a cumulative of at least 10 points allows Discover Flagstaff to

make a one-time donation (in the trail user’s name) to the Flagstaff Trails Initiative (FTI.) The Flagstaff Trails Passport is an excellent guide to adventure and pairs perfectly with Pledge for the Wild. Get the free Flagstaff Trails Passport – launching May 7 — at discoverflagtaff.com and win prizes!

Discover Flagstaff was recognized two years in a row with Arizona Governor’s Tourism Awards for the fire awareness campaign and Pledge for the Wild program. Destination stewardship efforts are ongoing with stay and play responsibly campaigns regarding winter recreation, trails less traveled, to respect private property, be fire aware, leave no trace, protect dark skies, tackle trail trash, stick to trails, plan ahead, prepare and have an alternate plan in order to appreciate Arizona. Flagstaff offers sustainable stay and play options at eco-friendly attractions, restaurants, hotels, tours and breweries. Discover Flagstaff also recognizes businesses annually for outstanding ecofriendly programs and the 2022 Sustainability Award winners are: High Country Motor Lodge, Flagstaff Area National Monuments and High Country Conference Cen-

ter. Discover Flagstaff is accepting nominations for an excellence in Sustainability Awards for eco-friendly practices in the categories of accommodations, restaurants/bars and attractions. To submit a nomination(s) the process is simple—provide a 500 word description explaining why the sustainability practices of the tourism business demonstrates an outstanding commitment to help benefit our community, visitor, and environment.

Nomination must include the following information:

„ Identify Category: Accommodation, Restaurant/Bar, Attraction

„ Nominated Business Contact Information (Business name, Address, Phone, Email)

„ Nomination Prepared by Contact Information (Name, Address, Phone, Email)

„ 500 Word Description

„ Supplemental Materials/ Photos Email nomination(s) to Jessica Young, Sales and Marketing Manager: Meetings and Events, at jyoung@flagstaffaz.gov. Winners will be announced at the Annual Stakeholder and Partner Meeting.

more people as well As one of the largest employers in the region, Joy Cone Company jobs provide the jobs that make it possible for almost 200 families to call Flagstaff home Also, the largest healthcare provider for all of northern Arizona, Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH)-Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) is poised to build a state-of-theart facility adjacent to Fort Tuthill and the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport on approximately 180 acres west of I-17 The new facility will also include a variety of support services and facilities plus medical/healthcare research and development

Startup businesses are also doing very well in Flagstaff The campus at Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology known as NACET (nay-set) is currently running at 70% occupancy Moonshot @

NACET is the leadership team that is working with the startups that are filling the business incubator and accelerator In the face of tension and challenge, businesses large and small are thriving in Flagstaff Construction permits also provide some insight into the state of things in Flagstaff In 2017 there were a total of 1,529 construction permits issued Fast forward to 2022 when there were 2,489! That represents a 162 7% increase As you can see, there a number of markers that suggest Flagstaff is a good bet

Business Attraction & Development

As Flagstaff looks to the future, smart development will be a key factor to ensuring our communities excellent quality of life From public infrastructure, good jobs, and most importantly workforce housing, Flagstaff has a great need for all these facets to ensure a prosperous economy

Let’s take a look at some recent successes towards these goals and what we can expect on the horizon

This year has been exceptional for economic development in the City of Flagstaff and for Northern Arizona Continued partnership with key organizations and partners have helped bring high quality employment opportunities and low impact businesses to our growing mountain town

Over 480 new business licenses were issued this year, many of which were small business oriented, which is the beating heart of our economy in Flagstaff

The attraction of some of our communities’ favorite chains also occurred with the much anticipated construction of In N Out beginning this month, and the arrival of businesses like Bosa Donuts, Home Goods, and many others Flagstaff also continues to advance job creation in key targeted sectors such as manufacturing, with the expected arrival of KC HiLites

scheduled to open later this year

Looking to the future, Flagstaff shows no signs of slowing down with key developments working their way through the city’s planning process City staff continues to work towards partnering on the development of 32 acres geared towards manufacturing and research and development space that will be located adjacent to the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport There also are over 1,800 acres as well as 5 000+ dwelling units that are currently working their way through the development pipeline or are already under construction!

As development and job creation continue to occur needed public infrastructure will take center stage as the city plans for smart expansion to accommodate our growing population Projects like the Lone Tree overpass and the development of the John Weasley Powell corridor will be focused areas as Flagstaff looks to create additional transportation corridors and growth

areas for our residents These growth areas coupled with newly planned subdivisions and other multi-family developments will begin to tackle the ever important need of workforce housing for our community

With all this on the horizon, it will be important for the City of Flagstaff to continue to assist in the facilitation of smart growth and development that not only coincides with but matches our community character The economic development team will continue their work to attract retain, and expand businesses that generate high quality job opportunities for our residents that bolster the Flagstaff economy Transportation and housing solutions will also continue to take precedent as our community’s demand for these key needs directly influences the quality of life for all Flagstaffians There is still much work to be done, but the economic outlook for 2023 and beyond for Flagstaff is both confident and exciting

standing Restaurant 2023 semifinalist and Chef Rochelle Daniel of Atria as a semifinalist in the 2022 Emerging Chef category!

Innovation, inspiration, and education continue to be the driving factors Discover Flagstaff uses to motivate travel to our destination responsibly and is actively working on three Visit Arizona Initiative (VAI) grants awarded for astrotourism, gastronomy and responsible visitation Flagstaff has a rich history of astronomy and is one of the best places on the planet for stargazing! Flagstaff is the world’s first international dark sky city, home to the discovery of Pluto and all the astronauts that walked on the moon trained in Flagstaff It is amazing to walk downtown at night and see the Milky Way or get a closer look through high powered telescopes at Lowell Observatory – only a few minutes from downtown Flagstaff’s food scene as a culinary mecca continues to evolve with creativity, forward-thinking chefs and is Arizona’s leading craft beer city This mountain town offers abundant opportunities to tempt your taste buds Flagstaff received culinary honors from the James Beard awards with Chef Christian Lowe of Shift Kitchen & Bar as a 2023 James Beard finalist in the Emerging Chef category, Proper Meats + Provisions as an Out-

A James Beard Award in the food world is equivalent to an Oscar in the movie world

Did you know National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) is May 7-13, 2023? This year marks the 40th anniversary of NTTW celebrating the industry’s critical role in powering economies communities and connections moving travel forward Discover Flagstaff has nuanced the week as National Eco-Tourism Week for an eco-friendly localized twist Nuancing the week’s festivities by adding a strategic spin, locally the celebration will be named National Travel and Eco-Tourism Week Please join Discover Flagstaff’s tourism service day scheduled on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 RSVP to attend by emailing to Carrie Nelson at cnelson@flagstaffaz gov

The Discover Flagstaff goal is to keep Flagstaff relevant, collaborate with community partners, and support locals while marketing attractions, accommodations restaurants and events with all the things to see and do while visiting encouraging tourists to stay and play responsibly Learn more at discoverflagstaff com and the Flagstaff Visitor Center (1 E Rt 66 )

Flagstaff Water Services addresses flood mitigation

CITY OF FLAGSTAFF WATER SERVICES STAFF

Substantial flooding the past two monsoon seasons has challenged Flagstaff in many ways. From the devastating impacts of the 2019 Museum Fire to flood events following the 2022 Pipeline Fire these struggles helped City of Flagstaff staff obtain federal, state and local funding for the completion of critical infrastructure projects to better mitigate flooding in the future

Spruce Wash Projects

The Killip School Regional Detention Basin project was one of several started last year to alleviate flood impacts in the Museum Fire burn scar area Designed and constructed as part of the new W F Killip Elementary School in the Sunnyside neighborhood, this project has the capacity to detain 11 acre-feet of stormwater approximately 3 6 million gallons

A 60-inch pipe installed at the outlet of the basins connects to an existing stormwater pipe on 3rd Street which will allow the basins to drain within 36 hours after a flood event once completed Revised outlet design options are currently under consideration to ensure there will be no adverse impacts downstream The inlet portion of this

project will receive $1.5 million of federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Water Services completed phase one of the Spruce Wash Technical Feasibility Study which evaluated long-term mitigation options and identified improvement needs along the channel from upstream of the Linda Vista Avenue crossing to Route 66 Phase two, development of concept plans, is currently underway in collaboration with JE Fuller and Peak Engineering, Inc

Other mitigation projects within the Sunnyside neighborhood include the Spruce Wash Cedar to Dortha channel segment and Dortha Inlet improvements. The existing channel between Main Street and Rose Street was regraded into a standard trapezoidal configuration and then lined with shotcrete concrete A larger concrete box culvert and inlet was also added across Dortha Avenue These improvements protect utility infrastructure in the channel from flooding impacts and reduce flooding to the surrounding neighborhood as well as downstream Additional channel widening was completed November 2021 at the north end of Paradise Road to reduce flooding

impacts and protect the City’s water infrastructure This project was done in partnership with the Coconino County Flood Control District and U S Forest Service

Residents of the Mount Elden Estates Paradise Grandview Homes and Sunnyside neighborhoods now have a siren alert system to warn of potential flooding The alarm gets activated when a certain amount of rain falls on the Museum Fire burn scar within 15 minutes, with warning messaging broadcast in both English and Spanish This project was implemented by the City and County with significant financial support from the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management

The City also contributed to the County-led the Alluvial Fan Stabilization Project Grade control along the eastern section of the watershed was put in place to help reduce erosion, which allows the alluvial fans to spread out the path of floodwater and lower downstream impacts on drainage structures and private properties in the Grandview and Sunnyside neighborhoods The U S Forest Service Regional Advisory Committee helped fund this and other projects through a series of federal grants.

Looking to the future the City is already working to implement the projects identified in Proposition 441 which designates $26 million to stormwater flood mitigation projects within Spruce Wash Design work in coordination with Water Services, Public Works, Capital Improvements, contracted engineering firms and the Coconino County Flood Control District began shortly after the proposition was approved by voters.

Schultz Creek Projects

Several flood events within the Schultz Creek watershed this past summer prompted quick response from the City of Flagstaff’s Water Services, Grants and Contracts Management, and Public Works divisions.

Sandbags were quickly filled with the help of volunteers, organized by the Flagstaff Sustainability Office and Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Events and other partners Additional funding for flood mitigation projects from the Arizona Department of Emergency Management and Military Affairs was made available following the City’s state of emergency declaration as a result of this unprecedented flooding

Please see FLOOD, Page 5

Crews broke ground on the Schultz Creek Sediment and Flood Detention Basins Project in the fall and it was completed by the winter in record time. The three basins can detain more than 56 acrefeet of water and sediment, or around 18 million gallons. This project received financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service through a $2.4 million grant as well as a match of more than $700,000 from the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. Improved responses to flood events the past two years were made possible through computer maintenance management system Cityworks, which Water Services’ SCADA/IS team implemented for the stormwater section beginning in

2020. Staff created a baseline record for both open and closed channel systems and then the tool provided the Incident Management and Emergency Operations team real-time inventory of damage assessments during storm events. The SCADA team received national recog nition for this work in December 2022.

Additionally, residential mitigation projects will soon be funded through a new grant program being developed between Water Services and Sustain ability. The Resiliency Grant Program plans to provide $200,000 to support floodproofing projects in qualifying neighborhoods. Stay tuned as details become finalized.

The lessons learned from recent flooding events have strengthened re sponse efforts, and the City continues to seek out and apply for funding to offset the costs of these large infrastructure projects.

o f F l a g s t a ff • C h e c k f o r d r a g g i n g c h a i n s o r t o w s t r a p s a s t h e y c o u l d s p a r k a w i l d fi r e A v o i d p a r k i n g i n g r a s s y a r e a s w h e r e a h o t m u ffl e r m a y s p a r k a w i l d fi r e • O n l y u s e d e s ig n a t e d o p e n f o r e s t r o a d s a n d t r a i l s f o r r e c r e a t i o n F o r e s t S e r v ic e) In f o r ma t io n: c o c o n i n o n at i o n alf o r e s t us C o un t y In f o r ma t io n: c o c o n in o az .gov C i t y F ir e Re s t r ic t io n s S t age s In f o r ma t io n: flag s t a ff az .gov

North alluvial fan looking upstream

The path to adven tuRE isn't always paved.

AN ELECTRIC DEBUT FOR MOUNTAIN LINE’S FLEET

SEAN GOLIGHTLY

Sun Staff Reporter

When the bay doors opened and the new electric bus rolled in during Mountain Line’s launch event on Thursday, there was a strange silence.

Despite the cavernous acoustics of the warehouse space, the bus moved forward with almost no sound — the gentle creak of fresh rubber on its tires louder than its electric propulsion. Even inside the bus, sitting right over the motor, there was not much to hear. Casual conversations — even whispers — were fully audible.

“It’s so quiet,” said Mountain Line operation director Jim Wagner. “When we had students on board, this young lady that was sitting across from me, I could hear her tapping the phone.”

And yet, this peaceful quiet of the electric bus ride amounts to an afterthought, a bonus reduction in noise pollution alongside the bus’s greater reductions in carbon emissions.

“Replacing one hybrid bus with an electric bus reduces the annual greenhouse gas emissions by 61 tons, which is the equivalent of removing 10 passenger cars on the road each year,” said Mountain Line CEO Heather Dalmolin. “When Mountain Line fully transitions to an all-electric fleet, we will reduce local annual greenhouse gas emissions by 68%.”

That’s Mountain Line’s goal, Dalmolin said, one that began in 2008 when Flagstaff voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 401 to fund the purchase of electric buses.

“Fast forward 10 years and Mountain Line was the first transit system in the U.S. to operate a 100% hybrid-electric fleet,” Dalmolin said.

Now, they officially have two fully-electric buses that will be operating on the streets of Flagstaff by mid-April. The 444 kilowatt-hour batteries provide each bus with a range of about 100-130 miles per charge, Wagner said. They have more powerful acceleration than the fleet’s current hybrid buses, and they’re also equipped with regenerative braking — a system that re-charges the battery while slowing the bus by converting the energy of the bus’s movement into stored battery power.

“For instance, when we went up Snowbowl Hill with one unit we used years ago, it used six units of power,” Wagner said. “And coming back down it gained four units of power because of the regenerative braking.”

The plan is to gradually replace the Mountain Line fleet with all-electric, zero-emission buses as their current hybrid-electric fleet reaches the end of their useful life — 15 years, according to

Mountain Line communications director Jacki Lenners. As their newest hybrid bus was purchased in 2017, by 2032 Mountain Line hopes to have fully transitioned to a fully electric fleet. “As long as we’re able to secure

funding,” Lenners said. Their funding strategy has been to use local tax dollars — such as those provided in 2008’s Proposition 401 — to bring in federal grants that require matching contributions. It’s worked so far.

And there’s more money out there.

“When President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it created an unprecedented opportunity for us to drastically improve the lives of millions who ride buses every single day,” said FTA deputy associate administrator Erica Maza. “This legislation provided $5.3 billion over five years in conforming with competitive grants.”

These first two electric buses represent “a significant step forward towards establishing a zero emission fleet that is safe, cleaner and more sustainable for the future of Flagstaff,” Maza said. With this step behind them, Mountain Line’s full transition seems imminent.

“We are well on our way,” Dalmolin said. “Mountain Line is receiving federal grant money for an additional four zero emission buses along with electric support vehicles and the infrastructure to support the transition to electric.”

For utility provider and Mountain Line partner Arizona Public Service (APS), the new electric buses will serve as a vital research opportunity to gather data about the implementation of electric vehicle infrastructure around the state.

RACHEL GIBBONS PHOTOS , ARIZONA DAILY SUN

a new, fully electric Mountain line bus pulls into the transit operation’s garage on north Kaspar drive. The new bus is one of two that will be joining Mountain line’s hybrid fleet as Mountain line prepares to eventually become an entirely electric operation.

david Wessel of Metro plan (right) and Mitch reddy of Mountain line (left) take a ride on the transit operations new, fully electric bus. The new bus is one of two that will be joining Mountain line’s hybrid fleet as Mountain line prepares to eventually become an entirely electric operation.

Folks gathered at Mountain line’s main operation hub on north Kaspar drive take photos of the new, fully electic bus as it pulls into the garage. The new bus is one of two that will be joining Mountain line’s hybrid fleet as Mountain line prepares to eventually become an entirely electric operation.

Empowering Educators to Greater Heights Empowering Educators to Greater Heights

e a r ou will enjo orking for us. F

There are a number of reasons you will enjoy working for us. From our e competitive salary and highest allowable insurance contribution in the state, to our beautiful desert landscapes and outdoor activities, We offer something for everyone. Our educational programs are data proven to offer both a rigorous education for our students and unparalleled supports for educators.

K-12 Teachers and Counselors

Starting Salaries

Level 1: $ $50,000 50,000

Level 2: $ $60,000 60,000

Level 3: $ $70,000 70,000

Relocation Expenses

Teaching Opportunities

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Multiple Positions

Secondary

ELA

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Sign on Incentive of $ $18,000 to $ $22,000

$ $2,500-2,500-$$4,500 Plus Competitive Insurance Contributions1 1 (Employer pays 80%)

Free Housing at our County School Sites

Teacher and Student Supplies Provided

Professional Development and Dev Career Growth Opportunities

Administrators

Assistant Principal Applicant Pool Elementary and Secondary $ $86,240

School Dean Pool $75,040

Head Principal Pool $100,800-$112,000

Principalship Opportunities

High School Principal Elementary Principal Assistant Principal

Social Studies

Vocational

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Educational Services

Career Opportunities

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School Psychologist

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FUSD to add teacher mentors

teacher support.”

working with new teachers in the district’s elementary, middle and high schools.

ABIGAIL KESSLER

Sun Staff Reporter

Flagstaff Unified School District’s (FUSD) board approved on Tuesday at its meeting a position description for a new teacher mentor as part of a change to the district’s teacher induction program for the 2023-2024 school year. The district had received a twoyear grant from the Arizona K-12 Center to employ a new teacher mentor and will be using Title II funds for two other new teacher mentors. One mentor each will be

The grant is specifically for new teacher induction, mentoring and support. The mentors will be spending time in the new teachers’ classrooms, providing evaluations and helping them learn tasks such as classroom management and lesson planning.

The structure is based on recommendations from the Arizona Department of Education’s Beginning Teacher Induction Standards.

Heather Ziegler, the learning, technology and innovation assistant director for FUSD, said the district hires between 85 and 90 teachers each year, 70% of whom are in their first three years of teaching.

“When we received this [grant], we also wanted to look at how our mentor-mentee program is currently structured and really looked at the way we structure our current capacity for new teachers,” she said.

Ziegler said that this is a shift from FUSD’s current system, which right now is closer to a “buddy system.”

“To date in FUSD, we’ve been limited to the colleague support or buddy type of program due to a number of factors, including awareness surrounding research funding and access to effective training,” she said in a presentation during a February board meeting. “This grant would provide an opportunity for our district to implement a really solid proven model of beginning

Learning, technology and innovation coordinator Renda Fisk also presented on the mentor program.

“Research shows that teacher quality is the most important factor in student success,” she said.

of teachers leave the profession in their first five years of teaching.

The grant funds the position for two years, so the program will be adjusting over time.

“

... This program is grounded in the Arizona beginning teacher induction standards, and those state that developing effective teachers — those that stay and have the knowledge and skills to help all students achieve their maximum potential — takes that intentional work.”

Fisk noted that early-career teachers have higher retention rates when they receive “comprehensive induction support.”

At the February meeting, Ziegler said that between 40% and 50%

“[We’ll be] really focusing in with strong mentor support within those first two years of the teaching program with our new teachers, and in year three scaling that back a little bit to be somewhat of that buddy system within the schools,” Ziegler explained. “Then still having a very targeted approach when it comes to the first three years of having ongoing professional development how we can support them”

A recording of Tuesday’s board meeting is available online. Discussion of the teacher mentor program begins at about one hour.

young students filed into the rooms of Thomas Elementary School during the first day of the 2019-20 school year for Flagstaff unified School district.

There are a lot of questions in need of answers, said APS strategic projects manger Judson Tillinghast. He’s curious to see how Mountain Line’s rollout will create insights about the frequency of recharging and the placement of charging stations, how charging schedules can take advantage of APS excess solar energy during daylight hours, and even how the buses might be able to re-supply power to the grid.

“We’re just getting to the beginning of this, but everyone talks about the future of vehicle-to-grid constructs,” Tillinghast said. “Some of these buses claim to be capable of pushing power back out to the grid. So if there’s excess battery capacity that hasn’t been used during the core peak hours, you send a signal and dispatch that battery back to the grid, providing savings for everybody.”

As a utility provider, APS has promised to provide completely carbon electricity free by 2050, with a goal of reaching 65% clean energy by 2030. Their partnership with Mountain Line is a crucial piece of that goal, said senior public affairs manager Janet Dean.

“We’re going to receive bus and battery performance data through this partnership,” Dean said. “That’s going to allow us to shape policy and develop programs for fleet electrification in the public transit sector across the state.”

With Mountain Line paving the way, other bus fleets in Flagstaff are looking to follow suit. According to Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) superintendent Mike Penca, the school district has already transitioned to lower emission propane-fueled school buses.

While they have so far been unsuccessful in receiving grants for fully electric buses, “we’re continuing to apply,”

Penca said. They hope to receive funding for both buses, other electric sup -

port vehicles and a transportation facility that will be able to support electric

vehicle charging. These developments are “maybe 4-5 years down the road,”

Penca said.

For FUSD bus driver David Spence — who said he would be very excited to drive an electric bus — another option could be diesel-to-electric conversion.

“You can take an old diesel bus and convert it to electric for $140,000,” Spence said. “That’s what I’d advocate for.”

Northern Arizona University also has a “strong desire” to electrify their bus fleet, said Erin Stam, director of university transit services.

“It’s a challenge, because we’ve been told we’re not public transit,” Stam said — a designation that disqualifies them from many types of grant funding. University transit services are also a self-funded, auxiliary department to the university itself, and thus not able to

dip into tuition funding.

Nonetheless, NAU president José Luis Cruz Rivera is “highly motivated to meet our sustainability goals,” Stam said.

Altogether, electric buses and other electric vehicles will be an important part of Flagstaff’s future, said city councilmember and Mountain Line board member Miranda Sweet.

“The goals of the city are set forth in our carbon neutrality plan,” Sweet said. “These benchmarks will not be attained without a robust transit network served by zero emission vehicles. Today, we start making these goals a reality.”

Sean Golightly can be reached at sgolightly@ azdailysun.com.

US

Sara Dechter, City of Flagstaff Comprehensive

and Neighborhood Planning Manager

RACHEL GIBBONS PHOTOS , ARIZONA DAILY SU

Folks gather for tacos and a presentation of a new, fully electric bus at Mountain line’s main hub garage on north Kaspar drive. The new bus is one of two that will be joining Mountain line’s hybrid fleet as Mountain line prepares to eventually become an entirely electric operation.

Shaw, CONTACT

Coconino County, Long Range Planner

P&Z hears more on new FMC campus

Plans studied further as commission sets another meeting

ABIGAIL KESSLER Sun Staff Reporter

The City of Flagsta ’s Planning and Zoning Commission heard more details of the specific plan and zoning map amendments for the proposed new Flagsta Medical Center (FMC) campus at a meeting Wednesday.

It did not take action on the items, but instead voted to continue at a special meeting set for Wednesday, April 19.

Residents of nearby neighborhoods, FMC employees and representatives from a variety of organizations came to hear about the plans, with about 30 making comments of their own. By the time the meeting started, all the chairs — about 85 — were full, with more attendees standing around the edges of the room. At least another 35 joined virtually.

The meeting took place in the Aquaplex’s community room rather than Flagsta City Hall this time, and it was the commission’s second meeting to discuss the specific plan and zoning code amendments related to the project. The first was held at Flagsta City Hall on Wednesday, March 22.

If the commission approves the specific plan and zoning map amendments at the next meeting, the product will be moving to Flagsta City Council for approval — a process that might take two meetings.

As the items up for approval were the same as the previous meeting, presentations and discussion mostly focused on questions about the project that had been brought up by commissioners and public commenters.

Fire station funding

At the last meeting, commissioners had asked about funding for several aspects of the project, particularly the changes to the city’s Fire Station No. 6 that would be needed to service the hospital.

As city planning manager Ti any Antol noted in the findings portion of the presentation, the applicant (Northern Arizona Healthcare) is responsible for a “fair share and rough proportional share” of the public facilities, services and infrastructure it is developing.

She used road improvements as an example.

“There will be folks that will be using and will benefit from the use of Beulah — even though it needs to be rebuilt by the hospital, there’s a share of those that’s borne by the community as well,” she said. “That’s true for almost every infrastructure improvement to a degree. But with tra c and our service, we do these very specific impact analyses, because that helps us determine what an applicant’s proportional share is.”

Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) will need to fund its share of the required improvements before the hospital and Ambulatory Care Center open “unless the city agrees to cover costs outside of the required proportional share.” The city will be helping with grant applications for some of those, according to Antol, includ-

ing the fire station facilities.

NAH will need to pay for half of the facility capital costs — which includes land acquisition — while the city will pay for sta ng the ladder company (including training) and the vehicles, according to Antol’s presentation.

For the city, this would mean $1.4 million for sta ng each year and a one-time $1.6 million investment in vehicles. The presentation did not give an estimate of the facility’s cost to NAH.

One commissioner summarized the costs of the project as including $45 million in infrastructure costs, $9.5 million for the fire station, $2.4 million for the fire truck and company, and $1.2 million for the public transit route.

The city plans to fund the new equipment as “we feel that is really just a relocation of an existing service,” said Rick Tadder, city management services director.

Funding has already been prepared for most of the one-time costs (using internal one-time resources and possibly impact or development fees), he said; what is currently being planned is the continuing operational costs.

Tadder spoke on ways the city might come up with funding for the ladder company sta ng. While it does not yet have a finalized plan, the city plans to apply for a federal grant that would fund the first three years of sta ng.

After that, the costs would be covered by city resources.

Firefighting, as a required service, would be from the city’s general fund, which has “many revenue resources available to address operational needs,”

he said, noting that current projections expect revenue growth — and any extra could be set aside for these costs.

Other options he mentioned in the city’s “toolbox” — despite Tadder saying he was not currently recommending them — include setting aside funds to level costs over time, increasing primary property taxes (the city can increase this by 2% each year and has not done so for the past three years, he said) and reallocating city programs.

Current campus

Reuse of the current campus was mentioned in both city and NAH presentations, though without much detail on what those plans might look like.

Antol noted in her presentation that, as the current hospital is in a high-density residential zone, “NAH retains the right to develop the existing campus under current zoning entitlements (High Density Residential) without additional public participation.”

If plans for the new campus require a conditional use permit or rezoning, however, there would then need to be a public process.

NAH said it has plans to go through a public participation process in deciding what to do with FMC’s current campus and has already had meetings with an improvement management company, PUMA, in September.

“We are committed to seeing the current campus enhance the surrounding neighborhoods and the downtown district,” said NAH’s vice president fo

Regional quality health care right here in our community

No one wants to think twice about where we will get health care when we need it most. Here at Northern Arizona Healthcare, we’re pleased to be planning an innovative, best-in-class hospital and associated medical campus that will serve all of northern Arizona for the next 50 years.

In fact, we’re asking for the Flagsta City Council to consider our proposed Health and Wellness Village on May 2 and May 16, and we couldn’t be more excited about how this will maximize health care delivery and expand health care services in northern Arizona. Better care closer to home is meaningful. Whether you live in Flagsta or Tuba City, we want to reduce your trips to Phoenix for specialty care. We know our proposal is the best way to do so.

I’ve had the pleasure of serving our Flagsta community as a nurse for over 23 years now. The majority of that time was spent in the Flagsta Emergency Department. My 18 years in the ED afforded me the opportunity to provide a spectrum of care to our community and truly learn who Flagsta is.

During that time, it became incredibly clear to me I had chosen to serve a phenomenal community. A place where family comes first, neighbors care about one another, health and wellness are a priority and where everyone strives to find a way outdoors.

Over the past three years, I’ve had the honor to serve as the chief nursing ocer for our health system. To say managing a health system during a global

pandemic has been challenging is an understatement. However, these years and experiences have led me to understand in new ways exactly how critical it is that our hospital is well-built and prepared for the health care challenges of tomorrow.

NAH is invested in the betterment and well-being of the communities and the people we serve, whether you see us regularly for ongoing care, or rely on us to be there for you in an emergency. Our proposed Health and Wellness Village will create a space that is safer and more

conducive to healing. It will be a space that will benefit our patients, the community, and our nurses, physicians and techs who work tirelessly to provide the best care.

We’re not just planning for the next 10 years, we’re planning for the next 50 years. We’re planning for the future health care needs of the people living in Flagsta and northern Arizona. We’re planning so that we can advance health care technologies, so that we can care for a growing population, so that we can recruit and retain the best health

care professionals and so that all of our patients have a private room to benefit their healing. Our sta deserve a campus where they can spend time in nature during their breaks to recharge. The people of northern Arizona deserve a Health and Wellness Village designed to ensure safe, high-quality, patient-centered care well into the future. We are excited to bring that to you.

Ty any Laurano is the Chief Nursing O cer for Northern Arizona Healthcare

, ARIZONA

Flagsta Medical Center watch a flyover of Flagsta Medical Center by four aircraft from the Arizona Air National Guard in this 2020 file photo.

Low inventory, buyer comfort levels keeping real estate market steady

JESSICA GARARD

2023 President, Northern Arizona Association of REALTORS®

It is hard to hear a news report and not hear a story about our economy.

Inflation, The Fed, Interest Rates, Recession are all terms that the average American is accustomed to hearing these days. When talking about the economy, real estate can’t be left out of the discussion.

With all of the uncertainty in the economy, our local housing market did see a dip in 2022 compared to previous years. When the mortgage rates jumped to over 7% in August, buyers in the market started to pump the brakes. The housing prices came down slightly and more negotiating started to happen. The market started tilting more towards a stable market rather than a heavy seller’s market into the first couple of months of 2023. Fast forward to current times and the term “Supply and Demand” is rearing its head again here in Northern Arizona.

At the start of the year our real estate

Campus

From page 12

construction and real estate, Steve Eiss, adding that the hospital would not be sitting empty. “ ... Our plan and something that we’re already underway on is to have a true transparent collaborative process through the community development advisory council.”

He said NAH plans to host community meetings on its plans for the new campus “shortly after we get the work started on the new campus.”

It is also currently meeting with City Planning and Development to make sure the plans align with Flagstaff’s regional plan update.

NAH gave more information on its plans for its private practices and medical offices currently scattered around Flagstaff.

Three of the practices listed (the NorthStar Medical Offices Building, NAH Medical Group Orthopedics and the NAH Orthopedic Surgery Center) were relocating and three (NAH Central Flagstaff, the Rehabilitation Hospital of Northern Arizona and Northern Arizona Orthopedics) were staying in their current location.

The other 16 were marked as having an “opportunity to relocate.”

“We will maintain a presence in central Flagstaff, primarily for those services you’re going to access on a regular basis,” Eiss said. “...We’re working very closely with the physicians to decide who wants to move, who needs to move. ...And once we have all of that dialed up, then we will work with a third-party developer on what an additional medical

market in Flagstaff started seeing buyers ready to jump back into the market. Interest rates dipped a bit and buyers who took a pause came back to the market. What did not come back, however, was the inventory. It is typical for us to see a dip in inventory during the winter months, but now we are back with more demand and not enough supply. Homes that are priced correctly and in “move in” condition are seeing multiple offers again, and real estate prices in Flagstaff are starting to creep up again. While we are starting to see multiple offers on homes, they are not at the rate we saw these in the height of 2021 and 2022 where houses were closing at an average of 10% over list price. Currently, we are seeing offers at list price or moderately above.

offices could be on the existing site.”

Unresolved questions

Antol mentioned two issues as still needing to be resolved: a $500,000 credit NAH has requested for part of the fire development fees and the timing of phase one construction on Beulah Boulevard’s intersection with Purple Sage Trail.

The credit request would go toward the 50% of the new fire station facilities for which NAH is responsible.

As part of phase one of construction, NAH will be realigning and widening Beulah to four lanes. The Beulah-Purple Sage intersection will one day be connected to an Interstate 17 underpass and will need to be graded to make this possible.

City staff is requesting that the road construction that is already happening for the project include that grading, as “when you’re rebuilding a road it’s better to overbuild to some degree because it’s far more expensive at the later stages.”

NAH has requested that the development agreement instead say it will complete the grading once the city is ready to build the underpass — at least five years in the future.

Antol said the city and NAH are working to come to an agreement on both items.

Moving to a health village

Eiss said NAH has developed five different growth plans at the current location over the past 20 years, none of which were viable options. The development is meant to address health needs beyond the immediate future, including coming population growth in northern Arizona.

At the time of writing of this article (4/7/23) there were 162 active listings in the Flagstaff area market. This area includes Bellemont, Parks, Kachina Village, Mountainaire and the areas northeast of town on Highway 89. These active listings also include all types of homes: single family, townhomes, condos, manufactured and mobile homes. We include all areas and property types because most buyers these days are forced to broaden their search criteria due to the lack of inventory. When narrowing it down to single family homes in the Flagstaff city limits the number of active listings drops to 43. If you are a buyer, however, don’t fret, we are seeing more new listings hit the market since the beginning of April compared to the last few months.

The closings for March have been recorded and the first quarter sales numbers are in line with the first quarter of last year. The median sales price (half of the homes sold below this price and half sold above this price) for Single Family homes in Flagstaff for Quarter 1 of 2023

“Each would have led to an unacceptable disruption of care for patients or were insufficient in addressing the region’s long-term needs and growth,” his presentation said. “The reality is that FMC cannot be expanded or remodeled to meet patient needs. Renovations or expansions would require closing or limiting available services during and after remodeling or new construction”

While the specific plan and rezoning currently up for approval are only for phase one, which focuses on the hospital and ACC, NAH hopes to build an expanded health village, which consists of housing, retail, restaurants and a hotel, in the second phase of the project.

Eiss listed two other health villages located in Union Village in Henderson, Nevada, and Minnesota Health Village in Maple Grove, Minnesota, as comparable to what NAH is eventually hoping to build.

“The true power behind getting this right isn’t just taking what other people have done and trying to replicate it. It’s really trying to tailor fit what health and wellness is for a community,” he said.

“So our vision is honoring our commitment to providing always better care with a focus on holistic well-being.”

He also noted that the project will be helping to fulfill more than 100 of the goals and policies listed in Flagstaff’s regional plan, including emergency response services, housing options and improvements to the trail system.

When asked why NAH was planning the larger village instead of the hospital on its own, interim president and CEO Josh Tinkle mentioned both funding and changing care models.

“We believe for us to be sustainable

was $717,000. This is just slightly lower than what we saw in 2022 where Quarter 1’s median price came in at $725,000. A number that may be more shocking is the average sales price for Single Family homes in Quarter 1 was $901,191. This is a bit higher than the average of $872,579 that we saw in 2022.

The lack of affordability here in Northern Arizona continues to be an issue. The Northern Arizona Association of REALTORS® was excited to support Propositions 441 and 442 in our last election. The passing of these Propositions is a big step in helping with the affordability issue. As REALTORS® we are here to help with all types of housing. We want to see those working in our community find housing in our community. Whether you are looking to buy or sell a home it is important to hire a local REALTOR® to advocate for your needs. If you are looking for a rental property an agent can also help point you in the right direction. We are always happy to help and provide any information we can.

and be successful long term we need to better manage people’s healthcare and make sure that they don’t always have to go to the facility, and one way that you do that is through health and wellness and the broader village perspective,” he said.

During the public comments part of the meeting Wednesday, John Ninoler, the lead architect on the project, spoke in favor of the new campus as a Flagstaff resident and answered questions from the commission about aspects of the building’s design.

Most of the questions were about building’s planned height. In the hospital’s design, the patient towers are taller than typically zoned for in Flagstaff.

Ninoler said the additional land and travel time between areas of the hospital would make a shorter building with the same number of beds not possible at the site.

“At 450 beds, the land use and the land area required to do multiple wings shorter becomes a major hindrance,” he said. “They would have to buy a whole lot more land, they would have to cut down a whole lot more trees to be able to get 450 beds off of a chassis that works around all of the central services.

“So what we decided to do is stack two towers on top of all the services: imaging, pharmacy, lab, surgery all right below. ...It’s one vertical ride down to anything you need in an emergency. When you get multiple wings, it is a long push. ...Minutes mean everything and you’re talking about an ambulance trying to get through town and get to the facility. When somebody codes, minutes to the OR are just as critical.”

A recording of Wednesday’s meeting is available online.

“The true power behind getting this right isn’t just taking what other people have done and trying to replicate it. It’s really trying to tailor fit what health and wellness is for a community,” he said. “So our vision is honoring our commitment to providing always better care with a focus on holistic well-being.”

—

Steve Eiss, na H vice president for construction and real estate

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