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Mayor Sam Hosler, Town of Kearny
By Mayor Sam Hosler, Town of Kearny
Last Friday afternoon the landscape architecture students from Arizona State University met with interested Kearny residents and people from the whole Copper Basin to present their tentative proposals on recovery and development following the Gila River fire. There were four separate presentations from the four teams who worked with Dr. Chingwen Cheng, a sustainability scientist with the university.
The results were varied, thorough, and well-presented. Afterwards the students listened to remarks from the people, taking notes on new information, and getting ready to adjust their plans before the final report on April 28. There were different approaches from the four groups, and there was also a remarkable overlap of goals which could be achieved.
This last Monday another group of ASU students met with a group which is surveying tourism needs in the Copper Corridor. Liz Harris Tuck and members of the Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition are heading up this effort.
On Tuesday our Town Manager, Anna Flores, meet with me and with Brad Mecham, the senior Community Development Planner with Central Arizona Governments. The Town of Kearny has received a $35,000 federal grant to develop a 10-year plan, and this plan will contain a substantial economic development component. The 10-year plan will also present a substantiated list of needs for the town, which is a requirement for the town to receive future grants. This plan will take months to work out, and will involve residents and town government in a variety of ways.
These are encouraging signs for Kearny and the Copper Basin. We are working on improving our water infrastructure right now, and we are beginning work on the sewer and wastewater treatment infrastructure. Intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) have been completed by Kearny, Winkelman, Hayden, and Mammoth to provide a police chief for the four towns while the task group on a regional police force is completing its proposal.
Meanwhile, the Journey for a Clean Kearny group is pressing ahead with litter patrol and yard cleanup, a possible adopt-a-planter program and sprinkler installation for the uptown, and the beautifying of bare areas with desert plants.
Thank you, everyone who has taken part so far, and I anticipate even more involvement in the months ahead.
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