By Brian Wright | Casa Grande Dispatch
Economic development representatives from all corners of Pinal County came to a Board of Supervisors work session Wednesday to discuss objectives and common goals.
While some, such as Florence Economic Development Coordinator Scott Bowles, acknowledged the first priority is to help their municipality attract businesses, there was agreement among the attendees and the supervisors on one thing — development in any area of Pinal is good for the county as a whole. Janine Solley, who works for the city of Apache Junction as a business advocate, said the community has long been very dependent on its winter visitors. She said that in order to make Apache Jun tion more sustainable, it must provide well-paying jobs.
Representatives from cities and towns including Casa Grande, Maricopa, Florence, Eloy, Coolidge and Marana attended the meeting.
Manager Richard Wilkie said the current city code isn’t as business friendly as it should be, and city staff is reviewing the code. He also said Casa Grande has several amenities that people aren’t aware of, which is why the city is focusing on marketing itself. He stressed a need for regional cooperation.
“Economic development, especially in the rural communities, it’s not just one person or it’s not just a few people; it’s a team effort,” he said. “When we take a look at Pinal County, it needs to be a team effort.”
Board Chairman Steve Miller said the municipalities, while fighting for their own residents, need to realize how each economic development success, no matter where it happens in Pinal, is good for the entire county.
“I really agree with this idea that we need to go regional,” said Miller, a Casa Grande resident and former Casa Grande City Council member. “What happens in Casa Grande or San Tan (Valley) or Mammoth or Ray (Kearny) — if it’s in our county, it’s going to benefit all of us at some point.”
Obstacles in the way of economic development were also dis- cussed, such as floodplain issues in Maricopa. Micah Miranda, economic development director for the city of Maricopa, said the extra money a company has to pay to get a site out of the flood- plain — which could be upwards of $250,000 — will force that company to look elsewhere.
Maricopa, however, recently triumphed over a large obstacle when it took a massive sectio of land out of the floodplain to begin building a state-of-the-art multigenerational facility, aquatic center and regional park.
District 5 Supervisor Todd House urged all municipalities in the county to ask the board for help if they’re having troubles with economic development.
“If you’re on a point where you’re (having) an issue where you can’t attract any business, and you need one of the supervisors or if you need any other push to make that happen, please let us know,” he said. “I’m positive that everybody up here would love to be participating in helping out to make things happen for each individual city, as well as the county.”
One of the other items discussed at the work session was issues involving air quality in Pinal County. High levels of air pollution are another threat to business attraction and general development.
The “Cowtown” air monitor in Maricopa has recorded the high- est levels of particulate matter in the state, but District 4 Super- visor Anthony Smith, formerly the mayor of Maricopa, said the results are misleading because of where the monitor is located, in a feedlot surrounded by thousands of cattle that constantly kick up dirt. Smith said it’s not an accurate depiction of what air quality is like for Maricopa residents. He said the monitor needs to be relocated to make samples more representative of PM10 particulate matter.
The board gave Don Gabrielson, Pinal County director of air quality, suggestions and asked him to look for other possible solutions to the problem.
“Give us an alternative to the Cowtown monitor that will work,” House said.
