Queen Creek Beat

Queen Creek’s annual Fourth of July fireworks event will be held at Schnepf Farms in beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Heavy traffic is expected in the area of Schnepf Farms. Motorists not planning to attend the event are advised to use alternate routes of travel and avoid the following areas:

• Rittenhouse Road between Ocotillo and Combs/Riggs roads
• Cloud Road between Ellsworth and Rittenhouse roads
• Combs Road between Rittenhouse and Gantzel/Ironwood roads
• Empire Boulevard between Ellsworth and Gary roads
• Gary Road between Combs Road and Empire Boulevard

Motorists are advised not to park along the shoulders or stop in the street in these areas to view the fireworks at any time. Sheriff’s deputies will be patrolling these areas and directing motorists to move their vehicles. Anyone wishing to view the fireworks should park in designated areas within the event venue.

Motorists are cautioned to obey all signing and directions from law enforcement, and to be patient before and after the event.

If you have questions regarding July 4 traffic, contact the Queen Creek Traffic Hotline at (480) 358-3132 or traffic@queencreek.org.

Queen Creek will be merging the monthly About Town newsletter with the Town Manager’s Weekly Update and converting to an online-only service starting this week.

The new About Town Weekly E-Newsletter includes  feature stories, town news and statistics, project updates, answers to residents’ questions and links to the town’s Web site for more information on items.

The transition online will save the Queen Creek approximately $58,000 in publication and postage costs.

The first edition of the weekly e-newsletter will be distributed on July 2. Residents are encouraged to subscribe the new e-newsletter to continue to receive current, detailed information.

To subscribe, visit www.queencreek.org and click on the “Sign-up for eNews” button at the bottom of the home page. Subscriptions are free of charge and information will not be sold or used for purposes other than distribution of the newsletter.

Phoenix Horse Auction is hosting the first horse sale to come to Queen Creek’s Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Centre this Saturday.

The group is expecting to host regular sales two Saturdays out of every month. Anyone looking to sell their horse or tack can call in advance or simply fill out registrations at the event.

The sale starts at 7 p.m. June 27 at Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Centre, 20464 E. Riggs Road, Queen Creek. Entry is free for customers and $45 plus 5 percent commission for anyone looking to sell horses or tack.

Call the Phoenix Horse Auction at (480) 361-1660 for more information

Queen Creek has posted the following traffic alerts for the week of June 18-25:

Ellsworth Loop and Maya roads: The northbound right lane will remain closed until repairs can be made to the curb and gutter just north of Maya Road.

Ellsworth and Rittenhouse roads: The northbound shoulder just south of Rittenhouse Road will be closed while crews complete installation of utilities for the commercial development on the southeast corner. This work will necessitate the restricting of right turns from northbound Ellsworth Road to eastbound Rittenhouse Road.

Queen Creek’s Town Council approved a $20.1 million General Fund budget Wednesday.

The council approved the budget on a 6-0 vote. Vice Mayor Gordon Mortensen was absent.

The budget package represents a $3.1 million cut to the General Fund for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. The total budget, which includes money from various funds for water, sewer, capital funds and emergency services, totals $98.1 million.

Budget cuts were made to accommodate an average $3.1 million deficit projected for each of the next five years.

Town staff will shoulder most of the cuts. Twenty positions are slated for elimination, which will be achieved through a voluntary severance package, layoffs and cutting empty positions.

Queen Creek also plans to keep four-day workweeks and keep previously instituted pay freezes.

Other measures to balance the budget include raising fees for business and liquor license applications and moving some town publications to online only.

Salt River Project has submitted an application with the state to build a 230-kilovolt power line along a controversial path in Queen Creek.

Now that SRP has applied for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility for the Abel-Moody line, it will be up to an Arizona Corporation Commission line siting committee to recommend the final path of the line.

The 20-mile project is planned to connect the future Abel Substation, located near the intersection of Judd and Attaway roads southeast of Queen Creek, with the Schrader-to-Santan 230kV transmission line near the Moody Substation, located near Recker and Pecos roads in Gilbert. As part of the project, a new substation will be built near the intersection of Combs and Meridian roads in Queen Creek.

SRP’s preferred route runs southeast along the Rittenhouse railroad corridor, then cuts east on Ryan Road and south on Signal Butte before meeting up with Rittenhouse again.
Several residents in the area have started a petition against that route, concerned about proximity to existing homes. Those residents would prefer a route along Germann Road, which is the same route Queen Creek’s Town Council has endorsed.

SRP officials have said the nearby Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport makes the Germann option difficult.

The Corporation Commissions Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee will review the application at a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 5 at the ASU Polytechnic Campus, Student Union Cooley Ballrooms, 7001 E. Williams Field Road, Mesa. There will also be a special public comment session that evening at 6 p.m. at the same location. Following the hearings, the siting committee will decide whether to issue or deny the certificate, which requires final approval at an open meeting of the ACC.

If the application is granted, SRP expects to begin construction in 2011 with completion of the first circuit planned for 2012.

For more information about the project or for a map of proposed routes, visit www.azpower.org/abelmoody.

Queen Creek’s Transportation Advisory Committee is looking for several new members, with spots open to both residents and non-residents. The Town Council is eager to appoint several qualified members before the July 15 meeting.

The Transportation Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Town Council regarding overall transportation planning. The committee looks for methods of improving traffic flow in and through the Town; reviews the Town’s budget and Capital Improvement Program; and studies any other relevant transportation issues.

The committee meets monthly on the first Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Development Services Building behind Town Hall. Appointed members must meet attendance requirements in order to remain on the committee and be willing to tackle issues in a cooperative manner.

If you are interested in joining, contact Norma Hernandez at (480) 358-3142.

The closure of Ocotillo Road for repaving between Power and Hawes roads has been extended through June 12.

The closure is scheduled to take place between 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily. The closure time may be extended up to 7 p.m. on June 9.

The segment between Power and Sossaman roads is scheduled to be closed on June 10 and the segment between Sossaman and Hawes roads is scheduled to be closed June 10 through 12 . Both segments will not be closed at the same time. Additionally, drivers should expect turn restrictions and delays at the intersection of Ocotillo and Sossaman roads on June 10 and 11.

Exact timing of the closures may fluctuate depending upon many factors. Motorists are advised to watch for news releases and electronic message boards that are posted in the area that will advise of any change in dates or times.

Access to local residents will be maintained during the closure, and through traffic will be detoured. Motorists are asked to obey all speed limit and warning signs, as well as directions from flaggers and law enforcement.

If you have questions regarding this closure, contact the Queen Creek Traffic Hotline at 480-358-3132 or traffic@queencreek.org.

Pinal County’s Board of Supervisors approved eliminating 160.5 positions this week to cope with falling revenues.

Most of those positions are already vacant, but 42 employees will be laid off June 12.

The full press release follows:

With falling revenues and the ever present need for service provision, the Board of Supervisors approved a budget resolution that will reduce the workforce for Pinal County in FY2010.

The Supervisors voted to eliminate 160.5 positions, the majority being positions that are already vacant and haven’t been filled. On Friday, June 12, 42 employees will be given a notice of lay-off.

“This is not a measure we take lightly,” said Chairman David Snider. “Many private sector companies have been dealing with these issues for the past 18 months. Our workforce was appropriately sized up to this point, but with the truly significant decline in revenues that we’ve seen since last October, we must enter the new budget year with a much leaner and more economical organization. These are good employees who are being let go at no fault of their own.”

District 2 Supervisor Bryan Martyn said that the vote to conduct the reduction in force is a hard choice to make.

“There simply is no easy way to do this,” Supervisor Martyn said. “We are committed to providing quality services. This appears to be the only way to scale our workforce to the workload anticipated in the upcoming months.”

Looking over the budget resolution, Vice-Chairman and District 1 Supervisor Pete Rios asked that there be an effort to bringing the laid-off employees back as soon as possible.

“I echo my colleagues when they say this is a tough decision to make.” Supervisor Rios said. “I would like to ask that when the economy improves, we look at hiring these people back, perhaps looking at them as a priority.”

Pinal County, along with other counties in Arizona, is still unsure to what extent the legislature will dip into their coffers to help balance the state’s budget. There are various budget proposals being bantered about by the legislature and Governor Brewer. The Supervisors are keeping an eye on the daily developments from Phoenix, hoping to have an answer sometime before the county budget comes before the board on June 27.

“The state legislators are exploring lots of strategies that balance the state budget by shipping the counties a truckload of pain with a price tag in the millions,” said Chairman Snider. “We believe the state’s elected leaders need to solve their problems, just as we are solving ours, but they need to do so in a manner that does not effectively and completely disrupt our ability to provide quality services to the residents of Pinal County. We are hoping Governor Brewer will call upon her past experience as a Maricopa County Supervisor to persuade leaders that sending an IOU to Arizona’s counties is not fiscally responsible.”

Pinal County Public Health officials have received confirmation that a 64-year-old woman who died last week was positive for the H1N1 virus. The woman had underlying health conditions and was being treated for pneumonia at the time of her death.

This is the fifth death statewide related to the H1N1 virus and the second death involving a resident of Pinal County. The total number of confirmed cases in Arizona is 580 as of 2 PM on June 4.