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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS www.ahwatukee.com
BLASTING TO START
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
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Forum brings both council candidates, voters together
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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he first – and possibly only – joint appearance in Ahwatukee of both City Council candidates for the seat representing the community will be held tonight, July 26, at Mountain Park Community Church. Incumbent Sal DiCiccio and challenger Kevin Patterson will square off in an hourlong forum sponsored by the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce and the Ahwatukee Foothills News starting at 6 p.m., following a public reception for the two candidates that starts at 5:30 p.m. at the church, 24th Street and Pecos Road. Audience members will have an opportunity during the forum to submit questions in writing to moderators. Questions also have been submitted in advance by chamber members and AFN readers. The general moderator for the event is chamber President/CEO Lindy Lutz Cash.
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS SHOWERING LOVE
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20TH ANNIVERSARY
SAL DiCICCIO
The event was moved to the larger church venue from the Ahwatukee Activity Center after more than 100 people indicated they planned to attend, Cash said. Chamber member Harvey Gibson will be the forum moderator, asking questions that will be screened by the AFN and Nick
KEVIN PATTERSON
Knight, who chairs the chamber’s public policy committee. Gibson is the business development officer at Landings Credit Union, one of the chamber’s founding member businesses. See
FORUM on page 6
Flood study shows many problems, no money to fix them BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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fter nearly two years of studying flood risks in Ahwatukee that could cause more than $5 million in damage to 492 homes, apartments, commercial buildings and other structures, county and city officials have one piece of advice for owners and renters in harm’s way. Get flood insurance. But even if you got it today – in the middle of monsoon season – you’ll still have to wait 30 days before it takes effect. The advice emerged Monday during an Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee meeting over a frustrating fact: While city and county officials now know
where the problems lie, there’s little money to fix them. And in cases where flooding issues are linked to other property owners’ lack of maintenance, officials aren’t sure if they can force those owners to correct the problems. “It’s frustrating,” said Karen Young, who appeared before the committee as it discussed the Maricopa County Flood Control District’s final version of the nearly two-yearlong study. That study pinpoints 21 intersections, 15 streets and segments of major arterials, two hillsides and a channel entrance behind Lomas Elementary school as being at risk for heavy damages in a so-called 100-year flood. Although the term “100-year flood” is a simple definition of a catastrophe that
statistically has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year, Young discussed how her 80-year-old mother had already been hit twice by fate in three years. Her mother’s home, near the clubhouse in Ahwatukee Country Club, incurred $14,000 in damage in 2014 and another $4,000 last year. Since then, she’s also forked out $3,000 on flood prevention improvements. To her dismay, she also heard Hasan Mushtar, the city’s flood plain manager, concede that owners might not be able to get flood insurance if they’ve incurred flood damage before. The county doesn’t even know how much it would cost to correct all the problems it
The first day of school is Thursday, Aug 3
Meet the Teacher. Middle School July 31; Elementary Aug 1. www.kyrene.org/back-to-school • 480-541-1000 • Follow us on social media
See
FLOOD on page 16
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