Great Breaking News Concerning Arroyo Grande

We are aware that Chuck Huckelberry, Pima County Administrator has had a change of heart concerning an electrical substation in Arroyo Grande.

For whatever reason, Mr. Huckelberry in his letter dated Dec.16 to Lawrence Lucero, Governmental Affairs Manager for TEP wrote that inasmuch as Oro Valley's General Plan Amendment precludes a TEP substation in Arroyo Grande, "the substation should be relocated north from the site now proposed to lands scheduled and/or planned for development."

Congratulations to the County Administrator for taking this action.

Hopefully, the other parties involved, TEP & State Lands will now also agree with this position.

Kudos to the Oro Valley Council & David Andrews, our Town Manager for standing firm on this issue!

Sun City Residents Concerned About Substation In Their "Backyards"

As reported in the Dec 17 Explorer, a meeting was held last week in Sun City addressing the concerns of the citizens as to the potential TEP substation behind their homes in Arroyo Grande.

This is a BIG issue, and at the moment, it appears of all the entities involved----Oro Valley, Pima County, State Lands, Sonoran Desert, the ONLY party concerned about the residents is Oro Valley.

We hope the rest of the participants, lead by the County Administrator, will come to their senses and agree that a monster electrical substation does NOT belong in this area.

As we noted on a number of postings, the wildlife corridor is NOT the place for a 2 1/2-3 acre substation.

As Phil Richardson pointed out in our posting, it is "ugly, noisy and perhaps a health issue."

This substation should be relocated prior to moving forward on this potential annexation!

Read The Explorer article here.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/12/17/news/doc494835a8b8fa4186396580.txt

Chuck Huckelberry's Explanation Concerning Arroyo Grande

In a letter to The Explorer, the County Administrator addresses the county's position on Arroyo Grande.

We hope "common sense" will prevail and Mr. Huckelberry will see "the light." Oro Valley biggest concern is NOT having a monster electrical substation right in the middle of this development near the homeowners of Sun City.

Read Mr. Huckelberry's letter here.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/12/17/opinion/editorials/doc494844639f74e757645323.txt

Oro Valley Facing $2.7 Million Deficit

The Town Council will be discussing the upcoming budget at the Dec. 17 meeting. As reported in The Explorer, we can expect to hear that the coming year will bring a deficit of $2.7 million.

We're sure there are a number of things the council can consider to help alleviate this deficit. Hopefully, some things will be implemented.

It won't help now, but there is no doubt the "giveaways" that were voted in for retail developers in 2004 and previously are having a negative impact.

Giving away $300K+ a year to the Hilton El Conquistador for no reason certainly doesn't help with this shortfall. Giving Vestar, Bourn Partners & Diamond Ventures almost 1/2 our sales tax revenue is also a negative factor.

At least the majority of this present council realizes this, although it's too late to help.

Read the Explorer article here.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2008/12/17/news/doc4948363a87324589500542.txt