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LOCAL/REGION

FRIDAY JULY 24, 2015

HERALD/REVIEW

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Transit board puts brakes on extending BST BY CHRIS BRASWELL For The Herald/Review

SIERRA VISTA —Directors of an intergovernmental planning agency voted on Tuesday not to accept existing recommendations for extending Buffalo Soldier Trail to Moson Road through an area of private land and undeveloped public land. The Dibble Engineering “desig n concept repor t � began with six potential routes and a no-build option for the proposed project east of Sierra Vista, with the bypass potentially coming through at Chief Joseph, Thompson, Garden Creek Trail, Lower Ranch Road, Valley, or Durango Road. The report arrived at Durango Road as its strongest recommendation for a four-lane extension. The Sierra Vista Metropolitan Planning Organization’s technical advisory committee forwarded the matter to the board on the merits of the proposal’s baseline technical competency, but without consideration of the dissent from community members. The dissent from area residents persisted on Tuesday, with concerns about land rights, water and other ecological issues stemming from additional urban development encroaching upon the San Pedro River and its adjoining open space. “This map shows thousands of acres of state trust land which can be acquired by developers,� private property owner Patsy Molinari said during a call to the public. “I’ve also included an aerial view of my home which has been non-existent in the DCR, but you do have a beautiful picture of my ranch gateway which you will never get through.� “The city and the county have received all the survey and engineering work at taxpayer expense to ramrod through a project which will allow all these acres to be developed and have a severe impact on water, environmental, and other issues,�

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This eastward view of the intersection of Buffalo Soldier Trial with Highway 92 shows the starting point of the proposed extension of BST to Moson Road. Molinari said. “No doubt taxation, or annexation, et cetera, will eventually result.� She also expressed concern that the Nature Conservancy (an organization which buys and holds critical habitat for the purpose of preserving the open space) might give or sell to the county 1,800 acres of open green space located at the end of Durango Road, that she suspects developers could then buy from the county. The board vote was unanimous 4-0 not to accept the r e c om mend at ion ( b o a r d member Bob Blanchard was absent). The MPO still owns the report and its information. Board member Richard Searle, who is also a Cochise County Supervisor, said the county was still committed to connecting State Route 92 to Moson Road, but that the appropriate route must be found.

“First of all, I cannot support eminent domain, and for this to go forward, it’s pretty apparent that to get a right of way all the way through would take eminent domain. Second thing, the intention is that there will be a conservation easement there on that property. So Riverstone will never become a subdivision,� Searle said, referring to Riverstone development area near the proposed extension connection at Durango Road. B o a r d Ch a i r m a n R ick Mueller, who is also the mayor of Sierra Vista, said the city still wants a bypass, and that maybe it needs to take a harder look at the potential for Kino or Schraeder roads, both of which were examined for potential extension some 10 years ago. “From my point of view, if the county has a strong sentiment to not use eminent domain to push BST, say, past

Colonia de Salud to Moson, then that’s almost a fatal flaw, because then you lose what’s called a logical terminus, it has to make sense, all the pieces have to work,� said Bill Harmon, district engineer, Arizona Department of Transportation. Muel ler c or r e c t e d t he spokesman for Dibble who made reference to the Tribute master development plan during the engineering firm’s presentation. “Actually, it’s not the Tribute Plan, it’s the city’s adopted traffic/ circulation plan,� Mueller said. “Tribute happens to be part of that, but it’s the city’s traffic circulation plan that is driving this. I’d appreciate if you’d be accurate.� The Tribute plan has been on hold since a state judge r u led agai nst t he water adequacy designation for the 7,000-home residential and commercia l master-

planned community last fall. The disposition has been appealed by Pueblo del Sol Water Company and the Arizona Department of Water Resources. A previous mention of Tribute by Dibble, during the MPO technical meeting on July 8, also drew criticism from Tricia Gerrodette, the Huachuca Audubon Society president, who described it as “a clear admission that this road is meant to facilitate Tribute.� “We have missed where we should have started with NEPA (U.S. National Environmental Policy Act),� Gerrodette said. “The NEPA process starts with planning, then you go into engineering and scoping, then you go into design. I know some of you think that NEPA is only invoked when you come to construction; I would beg to differ.�

Santa Cruz upset at lack Shoplifting suspect may have of state border funds hit Walmart for third time W h i l e Yu m a a n d Cochise counties are set receive more than $ 500,000 in additional state support for border law enforcement, Santa Cruz County will get a comparatively small amount under a new plan backed by Gov. Doug Ducey. The funds earmarked for local border security efforts are coming from the state’s Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM). Santa Cruz County’s annual payments from GIITEM will increase to $34,000 from $7,900, according to information provided by a spokesperson with the governor’s office. Sheriff Antonio Estrada described the modest rise as an “insult.� “I can’t possibly fathom the fact that Santa Cruz County, the smallest, the poorest along the border with Mexico, with the biggest corridor, the biggest activity of drugs, illegal

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From Wick Communication News Wire

G R E E N VA L L E Y — A shoplifting susp e c t who a l le g e d ly was caught stealing f rom t he S a hu a rit a Walmart twice since Ma rch may have st r uck agai n at t he same location July 8, displaying an almost identical technique. A lo s s pr event ion employee ca l led Sahuarita police shortly a fter 5 :15 p.m. to repor t that he’d ob served a shopliftingi n - p r o g r e s s r ou g h ly a n hou r e a rl ie r a nd re c og ni ze d t he m a le s u s p e c t f r o m previous incidents. According to the report, the loss prevention of f icer said t he ma n picked out several video games, then went to the footwea r depa r t ment, wher e he a l le ge d ly put the games inside a shoebox. He then took the box to the hardware section, where he picked up a screwdriver and pried open the security cases on the games.

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Sti l l c a r r yi ng t he box, the suspect proceeded to the garden department, where he was believed to have stu f fed t he ga mes under the fence into the pa rki ng lot and then hid the shoebox back in the store, the report said. He t hen a l lege d ly stuffed a small, foldable backpack in his p o cket a nd lef t t he store, waited outside brief ly then put the stolen games in the stolen backpack and left the area, the s a m e a s h e ’d d o n e the last time he was caught, according to

the report. Police went to the home of t he pr ev ious suspect, who was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in March and again in late May, to question the male but did not f ind him there. Nor did t hey f i nd him at the addresses of several known acquaintances. The suspect is be lieved to have taken four Xbox One games wit h a combi ned value of $ 26 0. Video surveillance and pictures were placed into evidence in connection with the case.

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of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead. Through GIITEM, Arizona counties receive about $2.4 million annually to help support border security and other en forcement ef for ts, according to a Tuesday report in the Arizona Republic. The plan calls for sizable cuts to the payments Pima a nd Ma ricopa cou nties receive, which will then be redistributed to other counties.Santa Cruz also receives funding from the program for a single detention officer position. Yuma Sheriff’s Office Capt. Eben Bratcher told the Republic that the additional funds will “go a long ways towards helping us to offset the costs that we have incurred by prosecuting illegal aliens who are smuggling drugs that the U.S. Attorney’s Office doesn’t prosecute.� Santa Cruz County has faced similar costs as a result of criminal prosecutions that stem from federal arrests made in the county.

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d r ugs and i mmig ration, that we would be overlooked and given such a measly amount,� E s t r a d a s a i d . “ I t ’s an embarrassment.� “What do you think $ 3 4 , 0 0 0 i s goi n g t o do? � he asked later. “Absolutely nothing.� Estrada said he was “glad� Yuma and Cochise counties are getting additional support, but is reaching out to state officials to find out why Santa Cr uz will not be enjoying comparable amounts. A spokeswoman for Ducey’s office did not respond to a question from the NI about why Santa Cruz County’s increase was so small compared to Yuma and Cochise. Yuma will see its annual border security and law enforcement grants under the program jump from $33,400 to $ 11 2 ,0 0 0 a nd C o chise will see a nearly $ 4 8 0,0 0 0 i ncrease to $ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 , ac c or d i n g to the text of the plan, which was submitted in May to the Arizona Legislature by Department

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