Mayor ethics probe’s cost
How safe is Gilbert?
PAGE 7
PAGE 3
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
COMMUNITY......... 14 Meet one of Gilbert’s newer residents.
BUSINESS................. 18 Louisiana cuisine coming to Gilbert.
Higley athletes getting national attention.
COMMUNITY....................................... 14 BUSINESS............................................. 18 OPINION................................................ 19 SPORTS..................................................20 CLASSIFIED..........................................23
Sunday, October 10, 2021
First police recruit class trains in Gilbert BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
G
ilbert Police Lt. Ken Davis recalled what it was like training recruits in prior
years. “Most of time firearms would go to Mesa to use their outdoor defensive tactics,” said Davis, who oversees advanced and basic training. “A lot of times we’d go to Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler and surrounding agencies and borrow their space.” That’s not what’s happening these days after February’s opening of the 50-acre Gilbert
Public Safety Training Facility that comes with a shooting range, outdoor driving track, classrooms and other tactical amenities. The state-of-the-art facility last month welcomed its inaugural class of recruits. The $85-million facility also is used by firefighters for their training. Davis said the recruits are diverse and include high school graduates, those with master’s or bachelor’s degrees and varied work experiences. “We have everybody,” he said.
Cadets break a sweat under the watchful eye of an instructor in the first
see TRAINING page 6 police recruit class at the town’s new public safety building. (Pablo Robles)
Cooley Station may expand to longtime farm BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
SPORTS......................20
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
F
red Gieszl was just out of high school in the 1970s when he bought 12 acres at the northeast corner of Recker and Williams Field roads for farming. Nearly 50 years later, Gieszl is ready to grow rental housing and a shopping center on the site within the master-planned 738acre Cooley Station community. “We’re pretty excited about this project,” said Greg Davis, president of IPlan Consult-
ing, representing the family. “We think it will be successful moving forward.” Davis and Jason Barney of Circle G Property Development held a virtual neighborhood meeting recently with Frank and Carolyn Gieszle attending to present Traditions at Cooley Station for feedback. It’s the first step before a formal submittal to the Town for a minor General Plan amendment, which is expected to occur in the coming weeks. The land is currently zoned Gateway Village Center, which allows for commercial
and multi-family housing up to 50 dwelling units per acre and as tall as six stories. In the early 2000s, the Town’s vision was to create a village center with intense commercial and residential development at the intersection – much like Mills Avenue in Tempe, Davis said. But over the years, the market has changed and that level of density is not in demand, he added. The new dialed-down proposal calls for
The latest breaking news and top local stories in Gilbert!
www.GilbertSunNews.com .com
see COOLEY page 4
JUST A CLICK AWAY
