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Superior, Arizona
Lack of a quorum results in two council members having to phone in their attendance
With an assist from modern telecommunications technology, the Superior Town Council got done what needed to be finalized at the July 14 Council meeting.
As the meeting hour approached, it appeared that the meeting might not take place. Only two council members (Stephen Estatico and Mila Besich-Lira) were present and a quorum of four is required for the meeting to take place.
However because two items on the meeting agenda had to be finalized by mid-July, Town Manager Todd Pryor arranged for a conference call that brought Vice Mayor Olga Lopez and Councilman Gilbert Aguilar as remote presences to the meeting. With the cellphone connecting the two additional council members placed under a microphone, their input to the meeting was heard by meeting attendees through the auditorium’s speaker system.
First up was approval of the Town of Superior’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget. The total sum budgeted is $6,954,317; an increase of about $200,000 over fiscal 2016. This resulted from higher expected tax revenues, mostly from Resolution Copper. The Budget allocates more spending next year on road and sewer improvements, the town library, swimming pool, and senior citizen programs.
The Council then approved the Transfer Station Remediation Plan negotiated with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) that will enable Superior to avoid nearly $1 million in immediate payments to clean up the site of the Superior Transfer Station, which has been closed since March 2012. At that time, the station, then operated by Orion Recycling, was found by ADEQ to be in violation of Arizona environmental regulations with the most egregious violations was the stockpiling of asbestos contaminated construction material. While some cleanup of the site was then performed, Superior lacked funding to continue the work and the station was put under an ADEQ consent decree in March 2014.
Under the approved plan, Superior is acquiring an air curtain burner that performs low-pollution burning of vegetative matter. To be installed by the end of September, the burner will immediately tackle the 6,500 yards of green waste (including wood) that has been sitting on the site since 2012. As the burner can reduce to ash green waste at the rate of four tons an hour, this project could take from 100 to 170 days. The resulting ash would be only about 3% the volume of the existing green waste.
Beginning in mid-September, Superior also will initiate the removal of asbestos-contaminated material currently housed in two bulk containers on the site. Once completed, the area under these piles will be cleaned, decontaminated and graded, leaving behind 50,000 square feet of clear space. This part of the plan is expected to be completed by early April 2017.
Once these two ADEQ mandated tasks are completed, Superior will continue to operate the Transfer Station handling in-coming materials.
The $96,000 cost of the air curtain burner has already been paid with HURF (Highway User Revenue Funds) revenues, which is allowable as much of the green waste comes from vegetative matter removed from along highways. During the April Town Council meeting, it was noted that the air curtain burner also could generate revenues for Superior as the ash from wood waste is a nutritious soil additive and can be sold a plant nurseries, farms, and as potting soil to homeowners.
An advantage for Superior provided by the plan is the spreading out of costs over three years so that less than $290,000 need be budgeted annually for the transfer station cleanup project.
Once these two items were approved all that remained was the Call to the Public segments. And while a number of people came to the meeting, only citizen Nancy Vogler took the floor, saying, “I and some other people were going to ask Mayor Jayme Valenzuela to resign following his recent indictment for misusing the town debit card. But since he isn’t here tonight, I’ll instead invite everyone to attend the Prickly Pear Festival on August 20-21.”
The meeting was then adjourned after less than 30 minutes. Two other items on the July Meeting agenda were tabled until the next meeting on August 11.
James J. Hodl is a career journalist who has worked for newspapers, magazines and trade journals. A graduate of Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism, Hodl began his career as a reporter with the Palatine (IL) Herald and the Morton Grove (IL) Review before becoming editor of the trade publication Appliance Service News. In recent years, Hodl has had articles published in Consumers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Home Remodeling, Kitchens & Baths and Salute; and has contributed to trade publications serving the home furnishings, restaurant and casino markets. A native of Chicago, Hodl relocated to San Tan Valley in 2013.
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