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Tu b a c Vi l l a g e r J a n u a r y 2 0 1 4
THRIFT SHOP
SHOWERS MONEY
Many Tubac and nearby area groups received significant donations from the Country Fair White Elephant group in the annual awards on Dec. 12. Organizations apply for the grants and a committee reviews the requests. Funding comes from the group’s thrift shop in Green Valley at 601 N. La Cañada Dr. The group handed out a total of $1.6 million. Among the recipients were: Amado Community Food
Bank, $50,000; Borderlands Community Food Bank in Nogales, $50,000; Nogales Community Food Bank, $43,000; Santa Cruz Humane Society, $20,000.
Friends of the Tubac Presidio, $1,000; Tubac Center of the Arts, $7,000; Young Audiences of Santa Cruz County, $6,000; Rich River (Tubac and Rio Rico) Athletic Club, $1,000.
For the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 (Tubac and Rio Rico) grants were: Rio Rico High School, $25,000; Calabasas Middle School, $12,000; Coatimundi Middle School, $7,500; San Cayetano Elementary, $14,000; Mountain View Elementary, $12,000; Peña Blanca Elementary, $10,000. The Tubac charter school Montessori de Santa Cruz, $4,000.
ROSEMONT COPPER
OBJECTION PERIOD STARTS
The Coronado National Forest announced the completion of the Rosemont Copper Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The National Environmental Policy Act environmental analysis process was initiated for the Rosemont Copper Project in March of 2008, in response to a Mine Plan of Operations for an open-pit copper mine proposed for the Santa Rita Mountains north of Tubac and east of Green Valley. The proposal was submitted by the Augusta Resource Corporation in 2007. The analysis process is now coming to a close. On Dec. 31, a legal notice was published in the newspaper of record, the Arizona Daily Star, which initiates the 45-day objection period beginning Jan. 1, 2014.
Those who are eligible have 45 days in which to review the documents and file an objection on the proposed project. Specific directions on how to file an objection are provided in 36 CFR 218.8 and will be included in the legal notice, and posted on the project website (www.RosemontEIS.us ).
Following the objection filing period, the Forest Service will have a 45-day review period, with the option for one 30-day extension. The total objection period has a statutory limit of 120 days following the legal notice commencing the objection process. At the end of this period, the reviewing officer will issue a written response to the objections which may include instructions to the responsible official to incorporate additional changes in the draft Record of Decision or to move forward with the project.
BOARD DEPARTS EN MASSE FROM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Many individuals in Tubac grew to know about the Santa Cruz Community Foundation because board members made presentations at meetings and a number of annual fundraisers were held in Tubac and Tumacácori. However, after 13 years in the area, the foundation was left with no local office, no staff, and no board of directors at the end of October.
Even so, people affiliated with it say that all the charitable funds are secure and are being administered by the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona in Tucson. Robert Phillips, the executive director for the past five and a half years, resigned effective Oct. 30. As well, the three part-time employees in the office and the 12 members of the board of directors resigned. Within a short period of time, they created a non-profit titled Border Community Alliance (BCA).
The reason for the departure, said William Neubauer, M.D., board president, was that Phillips and the board members wanted to focus more time and money on projects tied to Nogales, Sonora.
“There was nothing negative. We wanted to go our own way,” he said. “We were divergent with the community foundation and we are focusing on a lot of different projects.” continued on page 10....