Desert Messenger

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Behind Silly Al's Smiley: 928-662-7143 Quartzsite,-AZ by Shanana Rain Golden-Bear Sept. 20, 2021 Quartzsite Town Manager Jim Ferguson announced QPD Chief Clay Romo will be October's Town Manager's Meeting. The topic for today was "Develop- ment." Ferguson said, "There's lots of activity in town," with a number of investors with projects in mind. He spoke about the new outdoor storage facility on east end of town which will have RV Storage, which is much needed in our community. Also on the east side of town, Best Western motel plan is in the review process. It will have 80 units. The rumor of Black Bear Diner coming to town was made in an architect's original drawings, but the current plans "do not include a restaurant." Ferguson said, "There has never been a contract with Black Bear Diner at all." There's a company from Texas which has purchased both sides of E. Main Street, at the corner of Rig- gles, near Exit 19. There is a large "Marketplace" planned including a large fuel station and a 50,000 sq. ft. building. The company is also working with the Town to try and purchase 77 acres of BLM land adja- cent to the north, possibly to include residential projects. This company has over 400 projects nationwide. Arizona has issued two licens- es for Marijuana dispensaries in Quartzsite. One is going to be at the old Ted's Truck Stop on W. Main St. The fi rst phase will be a dispensary. The owner may reopen the kitchen for edibles. There could be a possi- bility of a future greenhouse, too. On the west side of town, Terrible's is being built at the corner of W. Main and Quartzsite Blvd. They had been delayed by the cost of lumber and tresses. A car wash had been proposed originally, but ADOT had concerns with traffi c that would be generated by the new project. ADOT would have required them to make expensive improvements to the in- tersection, so the company put the car wash on the back burner. Earlier this year, Love's Truck Stop had planned to tear down its build- ing and rebuild a larger facility. Also just west of Love's was a proposed project for a motel, restaurant and housing. ADOT said it was too much of an impact of traffi c at that inter- section, so both projects are on the back burner. Also on the south side of the free- way is Desert Gardens and TA projects. Ferguson said, "These are projects we want to see happen. The Town cannot approve a project before ADOT approves." The Town Council approved to proceed with traffi c study for that intersection and we are working with ADOT on the traffi c challenges at the inter- section south of Exit 17. "Improv- ing that interchange is important. We should have the study in about 60 days." That bridge needs to be widened, but it's 25-30 million dol- lars and ADOT has not budgeted for the improvements. Some projects may be able to be phased in. ADOT is requiring improvements. "That interchange is critical," said Fergu- son. He added that the community can put pressure on legislators. He mentioned that Senator Mark Kel- ley spoke at the League of Cities and Towns Conference, mentioning the importance of I-10 infrastructure. The proposed rezoning of Desert Gardens is a big project, that "we are going through the process." If the commission recommends the project to Council, it will be up to them to approve. This item is on the Planning and Zoning Commission's agenda for Tuesday, September 21st meeting. The meeting was held at Town Hall at 2pm. He wants the P & Z commission to know everything that is allowed in a zone, COULD occur, and not under Conditional Use Permit. The Town has been working with Buxton Analytics for municipal eco- nomic development. They have a wide variety of statistics available. Ferguson announced QUEST has "been on hiatus. I've got to restruc- ture QUEST. I don't want QUEST to go away." QUEST (Quartzsite Urban Economic Strategic Team) is a committee formed by the Town Manager years ago. Kay Moring talked about the muse- um and an E. Clampus monument. Ferguson announced the Clampers have retracted their proposed mon- ument at Town Hall. The Clampers have since approached the museum to install a monument there. (It was installed October 16th.) Marilyn McFate talked about some history of asking BLM for land north of the Fire Station for a fair- grounds and parking. Ferguson said he is aware of that and open to re- viving BLM offer to use for public purpose. Monica Timberlake gave an up- date on the current status of the local elementary school. She said the school is waiting for approval of design and it will go back to School Facilities Board for their approval. She stated, "The Quartzsite campus is not condemned." They hope to start building at Quartzsite end of the school year. All Quartzsite stu- dents are being bused to Ehrenberg Elementary School due to education consistency and safety if construc- tion were to start sooner. Shanana Rain Golden-Bear gave a recap of the County Board of Su- pervisors meeting earlier today. The board voted 2-1 (Holly Irwin voted no) to direct staff to research the justice court precinct boundar- ies and prepare new boundaries for consideration and review by the Board if consolidation will provide savings to the County. The discus- sion was whether or not to close Quartzsite Justice Court and/or Salome Justice Court. Duce Minor said they would take public com- ment, but didn't say when. Gold- en-Bear wants to advocate keeping Quartzsite Court open. Town Manager's Meetings are held the 3rd Monday of the moonth at 1:00pm at the Community Center Annex Building, 295 E. Chandler St. Quartzsite. For more informa- tion, contact Town Hall at 928-927- 4333. (The video of today's meeting is posted online at www.Quartzsite- Videos.com)

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