West Valley View - June 15, 2016

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 BUCKEYE APPROVES TENTATIVE BUDGET, PAGE 9

westvalleyview.com — the newspaper of Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park & Tolleson, AZ 50¢ Wednesday, June 15, 2016 (623) 535-8439

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View photo by Jordan Christopher

STORM CLOUDS roll into the West Valley last fall during the end of the monsoon. Today marks the first day of the annual storm season.

Weathering the storms BIG APPLE OR BUST Avondale man’s painting to be on display in N.Y. art exhibit — Page 8.

PATH OF DESTRUCTION Fire destroys heavy equipment at W.V. recycling plant — Page 9.

DUMPED TRUCK Commercial vehicle carrying load of dirt rolls over on I-10 — Page 10.

DAILY UPDATES! News Updates and fresh Classified ads posted Monday - Friday at 4:30 p.m. online at www.westvalleyview.com Volume 31, No. 10 28 Pages 1 Section Circulation: 73,391 INDEX Classifieds .................... 21 Editorials & Letters .......... 6 Obituaries ...................... 19 Sports ........................... 11 Briefcase ......................... 9 9 Days a Week............... 18 Recycle this paper

View photo by Jordan Christopher

LITCHFIELD PARK RESIDENT DEBBIE NORDENBERG looks from her backyard to the now drained Tierra Verde Lake June 2 in Litchfield Park. The city drained the lake earlier this year to begin a construction project to reinforce the lake’s retaining wall and add enhancements including a sidewalk that will now border the entire lake.

Litchfield lake project is a path to conflict staff writer

For more than 20 years, Debbie Nordenberg has enjoyed a view of Litchfield Park’s Tierra Verde Lake so much that she hasn’t installed curtains on the windows that stretch across the living room and dining room of her townhouse. This summer, she’s looking at something more like a trench after the lake that’s a landmark in the city of about 5,000 residents was temporarily drained for what the city calls an enhancement project. The project will not only have an impact on the view that Nordenberg said was “better than TV,” but she fears it will also limit her access to the lake, eliminate privacy and security and perhaps lower the value of the property at the Laguna Royale community, the only homes that border the lakefront. “They took away our lakefront property,” said Nordenberg, who shares her three-bedroom, twostory home with her 90-year-old mother, Jean Bailey. “It’s terrible what’s happening to us.” What’s happening is a project that’s necessary to replace a retention wall that was failing where it borders the complex on the city-owned manmade lake, allowing water to leak in under the lawns and threatening the structures just a few yards from the four-acre lake. When homeowners of the 15 units of the complex facing 800 feet of lakefront couldn’t agree to contribute $300,000 the city wanted to replace the wall, the Litchfield Park City Council approved a $680,000 city-funded project to remedy the problem that also creates a public promenade with a sidewalk between the lake and the townhouses. Litchfield Park City Manager Darryl Crossman said the “health, safety and welfare” of residents demanded action to replace the wall. “If that wall had collapsed … all those properties would have washed into the lake,” Crossman said. He said inspection of the wall after the lake was drained last month confirmed the city’s concern.

by Emily Toepfer assistant editor

“After seeing the wall exposed, I’m surprised it didn’t fall in years ago,” he said. “It was not constructed in a manner you expect a retaining wall to be constructed.” The project will not only build a new concrete shoreline, but also create about 16 feet of land that will be built into the lake bordering the complex for a greenbelt with an 8-foot-wide sidewalk big enough for golf carts. “Right here, where the lake was, they are putting in a sidewalk,” Nordenberg said. Residents will view the lake through a wrought iron fence that will separate the new space from the homeowners’ lawns. Some homeowners fear that when the lake is refilled and the project is completed in September, the greenbelt will attract the public — like those who frequent the park across the lake — who could loiter, litter and look through the windows. “Sidewalks don’t close up at a certain time. We’ll have people back here at all times of the night,” Nordenberg said. “There will be no way we can enjoy our backyard for a barbecue, coffee in the morning, not for anything.” She’s particularly worried about the city’s annual spring fishing derby, when the lake’s public access areas are lined with anglers. “I can’t imagine how ugly it’s going to be,” she said. Officials say the project benefits the entire city, but Nordenberg said it will limit her access to the lakefront, where she used to have a paddleboat tied up. “Once you have lake property in Arizona with this kind of view, you have something special,” Nordenberg said. “We moved here to live on the lakefront.” Work on the project started in April after almost two years of discussions that ended with an impasse between the homeowners and the city over what should happen at the lake and who should pay for it. The results have left some homeowners angry

A monsoon storm can come and go in a flash, leaving behind a trail of muddy roads and destruction in its wake. The summer storm season starts today and goes through Sept. 30. While experts say they can’t predict what sort of weather we’ll see this year, we are entering into a La Niña, which could mean storms earlier in the season, said Marvin Percha, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix. “Unlike the winter, when sometimes with the El Niño and La Niña, we can give some idea of what things are like, there really aren’t any tools available for predicting the monsoons,” Percha said. Generally during El Niño years, more rain is seen at the end of the monsoon, because increased tropical storm activity pushes moisture into the Southwest, and more upper level lows in September and October pull moisture out, Percha said. Upper level lows are closed cyclonically circulating currents in the lowest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that move in a different direction than the main current. The air within an upper level low is colder than its surroundings. “With us going into a La Niña and away from the El Niño, we might not have quite as much activity at the end,” he said. Whenever the monsoons strike, people should be prepared for the large amounts of rain, hail, lightning and damaging winds that come with it, said Battalion Chief Russ Braden, a spokesman for the Goodyear Fire Department. During a storm, firefighters typically respond to calls for downed power lines, vehicle collisions and fire alarms caused by power outages, Braden said. Flooded washes and road closures are additional consequences of the hazardous weather. Braden recommends the following tips for weathering a storm: • Use flashlights, not candles during a power outage. • Secure outdoor furniture — strong winds will turn unsecured items into flying projectiles. • Stay indoors if you see lightning, and don’t stand near or under trees if you’re outside. • Don’t drive across downed power lines. Remain in your car if power lines fall on your vehicle, and wait for rescuers to arrive. • Don’t cross flooded washes and roadways. Every year, drivers find themselves stranded in normally dry washes. Along with the wet weather comes dust storms, or haboobs, which can span miles and pose a serious public safety risk, because they can strike out of nowhere. The Arizona Department of Transportation works to warn drivers of impending storms through

(See Lake on Page 2)

(See Weather on Page 5)

Homeowners object to retaining wall replacement that puts sidewalk between homes, water by Glenn Gullickson

Monsoon starts today, goes through Sept. 30


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