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NOTICES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SERVES TUBAC AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ARIZONA. SHANNON HALL, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
To see the county notices go to :
https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov.
To post a notice or announcement, forward it by Thursday Noon for weekend edition email delivery (via Jpeg format) to tubacweekly@gmail.com
Tubac Weekly is a news resourse for our community- please share important notices.
QUESTIONS, CALL 310-924-0363
Santa Cruz County, in partnership with the Tubac Fire District, is nearing completion of a new 180-foot communication tower at Tubac Fire Station #1. This critical infrastructure project, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), represents a significant boost to public safety communications, benefiting multiple agencies throughout the region. The new tower will also serve as a key component in the county's broader communication network, providing residents with more reliable broadband and cellphone coverage.
The project began when Tubac Fire Chief Ben Guerrero reached out to the county as the fire district prepared to demolish the old firehouse. This demolition included the costly task of relocating the aging 100-foot communication tower. Anticipating the financial challenge, Chief Guerrero proposed a collaboration that would benefit both the fire district and the county. Together, they conducted a radio study to assess local communication needs, revealing several dead spots that compromised safety. This led to the decision to construct a new, taller 180-foot tower to improve coverage and enhance safety.
The partnership allowed the county and the fire department to share resources and reduce expenses. "One of the greatest advantages of working together on this project was that we met the needs of both our organizations and the community while saving taxpayer money and eliminating the need for two towers in Tubac. This is a great example of how collaboration between stakeholders benefits the entire community,” said Fire Chief Guerrero.
Reflecting on the collaboration, Juan Balderas, Santa Cruz County CIO, emphasized, “By working closely with Supervisor Bracker and the Tubac Fire Department Board, all of whom were essential in making this project a reality, the County has taken another step toward enhancing the safety and security of its residents. This collaboration underscores the County’s commitment to building resilient infrastructure that serves the community's needs.” ###
This story is also available on the Santa Cruz County website<https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=158>.
Shannon Hall
Santa Cruz County seeks to fill a second deputy county manager position.
Photo by Daisy Zavala Magaña.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors officially approved to create a new employee position – a second deputy county manager – during its regular meeting last week.
The new hire would work alongside County Manager Jesus Valdez and Deputy County Manager Mauricio Chavez. The position was approved with a starting salary of $112,000.
“Adding an additional deputy manager will improve our services, community engagement, (and) assist management with strengthening County’s policy and procedures,” Valdez told the NI in an email.
The Oct. 1 decision, approved without public discussion, came months after Valdez brought forward the proposal to add the second deputy manager, as well as an assistant to the county manager. The new positions, Valdez said in February, would allow staff to focus on grant writing and economic development initiatives. The Board of Supervisors agreed the investment would be worthwhile for the county.
While the assistant position has been approved, he noted, there are currently no plans to fill that position during the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
In his capacity as county manager, Valdez oversees multiple departments, such as the airport, community development, health services, information technology, and the workforce development program. Chavez oversees the administrative services, human resources, animal control and public fiduciary departments. He also serves as the county finance director.
The second deputy manager would also be responsible for multiple departments, as well as developing and implementing countywide administrative and operational policies, planning for development of public services, directing studies and special projects, and helping prepare the annual budget for assigned departments, among other tasks.
The qualification requirements for the position include a bachelor’s degree in administration or a related field, and five years of management or administrative experience in municipal or county government.
For more information about the complete job listing, visit santacruzcountyaz.gov/job
MORE FROM THE NOGALES INTERNATIONAL
Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35’s Aquatic Center had its soft opening on Saturday, August 24. Staff and faculty had the opportunity to splash around in the the new pool, swim some laps, dive from the diving boards, have some fun with their families near the splash pad, enjoy some lunch, and soak in the sunny day. The Aquatic Center and its amenities will be available to the public starting on Monday, September 2, 2024.
The public is welcome to come and swim, lay in the sun, socialize, and enjoy their day off at the new facility. Pool pass registration is required beforehand and can be completed here.
Southern Arizona residents, activists and organizations are teaming up with federal government officials to designate a portion of the Santa Cruz River as Arizona's first urban national wildlife refuge.
The federal designation would ensure the protection of the critical habitat for years into the future following its revitalization in recent years.
Prominent landowner Andrew Jackson, who possesses thousands of acres of critical habitat, is part of the effort. Following backlash last year in the town of Rio Rico for a rezoning request that residents feared would bring mining to their town, he began working with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition to help preserve some of his land that borders the river.
“It was kind of a call to action to put (the land) in the hands of somebody that can manage it and maintain that for a long time,” Jackson said, noting he's invested in regenerative farming practices and water conservation.
In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition developed a landscape conservation design to start the process of proposing an "urban partnership" program in Tucson, and the potential for a new national wildlife refuge along the Santa Cruz River.
The agency manages over 100 wildlife refuges across the state, within 25 miles of population centers of 250,000 people or more. Just one urban wildlife refuge currently exists in the Southwest, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Santa Cruz River would be Arizona's first urban national wildlife refuge.
The Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition wants an “archipelago” of protected properties at risk of development along the Santa Cruz River, stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border to the northern edge of Pima County. Coalition members say this designation would offer permanent wildlife habitat, outdoor access, and ecotourism.
The protected area would include areas of upland Sonoran Desert scrub habitat, canyons that provide habitat connectivity, and nearly seven miles of riparian habitat approximately 40 miles south of Tucson.
The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission and Arizona Media Association are partnering to make Arizona’s 2024 debates the most accessible in Arizona history. See the full debate agenda on our website:
https://azmedia.org/2024-arizona-deba... Head to the Clean Elections' website to read more about the moderators and submit your own question for the candidates: https://www.azcleanelections.gov/debates
Together, we represent thousands of Pima and Santa Cruz County residents who want to see the river corridor protected in perpetuity. The Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition recognizes that the Santa Cruz River has been a storied spiritual and cultural place for the Tohono O’odham and their distinct ancestors, and Pascua Yaqui people from time immemorial. We recognize that the people of the San Xavier District, in particular, have ancestral ties to the flowing Santa Cruz River and the lands around it. The original homeland of the O’odham and their ancestors, including the Hohokam and Early Agricultural People, is located on the river, which they collectively have stewarded for millennia. They continue to access these lands for ongoing cultural and religious practices.
The ecologically and culturally rich Santa Cruz River flows through the heart of Tucson, a fast-growing city of over 1 million people in the greater metropolitan area. After generations of colonization and groundwater overuse, the surface flow stopped running in some areas, with flows all but drying up except during heavy seasonal rains. In 2012, Pima County approved funding to vastly improve the quality of wastewater effluent that was being released into the Santa Cruz River. By upgrading the wastewater treatment facilities—which currently release highly treated wastewater into the Santa Cruz—local leaders, alongside restoration volunteers, created over 25 miles of vibrant habitat that has been foundational to the recovery of native vegetation, wildlife, insects, and migratory bird species.
The Santa Cruz corridor offers abundant recreation opportunities, including birdwatching at Sweetwater Wetlands and cycling and walking along the beloved 137-mile Chuck Huckelberry Loop, a popular paved recreation trail with dozens of access points that runs alongside the Santa Cruz and its major tributaries.
Our vision for an urban national wildlife refuge imagines an archipelago of protected properties along the Santa Cruz River that would offer permanent wildlife habitat and outdoor access. The Tucson land would anchor this “string of pearls,” offering shade, river access, and outdoor education for the neighboring communities. The Santa Cruz River Urban National Wildlife Refuge draws inspiration and lessons from current exemplary restoration work happening along the corridor, including the San Xavier District’s Wa:k Hikdan project.
For two months, a California couple was heartbroken, worrying about the whereabouts of their beloved cat after losing him in Yellowstone national park, a wilderness larger than some US states.
But as summer came to a close, so did their tragic story. Benny and Susanne Anguiano reunited with their lost feline Rayne Beau last month after an animal welfare group called to let them know their cat had been found in Roseville, California, about 800 miles (1,287km) from Yellowstone.
In June, the couple went camping in the national park, where their cat was startled by something in the wilderness. Rayne Beau ran into the trees, and they didn’t see him again for 60 days. During the trip, they searched every day, laying out treats and toys in hopes he’d return, but without success.
“We had to leave without him,” Susanne Anguiano told KSBW. “That was the hardest day because I felt like I was abandoning him.”
In early August, Rayne Beau’s microchip came in handy.
The couple received a message from Pet Watch, a pet-tracking service, indicating that their cat had been found in Roseville at the local branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A woman had discovered Rayne Beau alone in the street and brought him to the shelter.
“He was really depleted,” said Susanne. “He probably didn’t have much energy left to go any farther.”
Susanne first shared their rollercoaster story on Facebook, explaining that she hadn’t told it earlier because “it was too traumatic.”
Exactly how Rayne Beau travelled the 800 miles from Yellowstone to Roseville remains a mystery, but the couple said they hope sharing their story might prompt someone to come forward with any details. In their KSBW interview, the couple also urged other pet owners to install trackers to avoid losing their pets for good.
An estimated 10m dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the US every year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Only one in 50 cats in shelters return to their owners, but with a microchip, nearly two out of five are reunited with their families.
The Santa Cruz Humane Society is a no kill shelter that provides compassionate care and adoption services for homeless dogs and cats in Nogales, Arizona. Visit us and take home your new family member today!
SHOP and DONATE at our thrift store to help support our mission.
Please reach out to your Congressional Representative(s) and ask them to oppose H.R. 2925, the “Mining Regulatory Clarity Act” sometime this week, as it will be voted on next week.
THE MINING REGULATORY CLARITY ACT: THE LARGEST HANDOUT TO THE MINING INDUSTRY SINCE 1872
The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act represents an unprecedented giveaway of America’s cherished public lands to mining corporations, upending and reversing over a hundred years of public land law precedent. Under the bill, anyone—for a nominal fee—gains absolute rights to occupy land in perpetuity, construct massive waste dumps, and build roads and pipelines across public lands to the detriment of all other values. This would preclude all other types of development and use, including renewable energy projects, recreation, and traditional cultural uses.
The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act would undermine the federal government’s longstanding authority to safeguard public lands,threatening the protection of irreplaceable cultural, environmental, and economic resources. That’s because the bill conveys mining claimants with an absolute right to permanently occupy lands. If an alternative use—like an electric transmission line or a renewable energy project—needed to cross “claimed” public lands, mining companies could extract large sums of money from the federal government in exchange for giving up their claim.
Unintended consequences – this bill could easily be weaponized. A person wishing to block a solar or wind farm or transmission project could simply file a claim in the path or the project and would be conveyed an absolute right to block it from moving forward.
Under Section 2(e)(1)(B), mining companies would receive a statutory right to permanently occupy and bury our federal public lands under tons of toxic waste. Further, Section 2(e)1(A) grants mining companies automatic rights-of-way for new pipelines, transmission lines, and roads across public lands—eliminating a central provision of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that requires mining companies to receive a permit for such uses just like every other industry operating on public lands. Section 2(e)(2) would also eliminate FLPMA’s requirement that the company pay “fair market value” for using public lands for these facilities.
The Mining Regulatory Clarify Act was authored in reaction to recent court decisions that affirmed and enforced longstanding law. According to proponents of this egregious corporate handout, the need from this bill arises from ac our case known as Rosemont, as well as two subsequent federal court rulings, where a company proposed using invalid mining claims to dump enormous quantities of waste generated at the mine site. Their solution was to assert a right to dump water on thousands of acres of public lands, despite any valid mining claims. The problem with that was obvious and courts blocked them: holding an invalid mining claim confers no right to use or occupy the lands covered by the claim unless a valuable mineral is discovered.
This bill would tip the scales away from communities, the environment, and our clean energy future--giving the mining industry the power to dictate how we use our public lands. Instead, Congress should work to balance our nation's clean energy mineral needs with all other public land uses, such as for renewable energy projects, cultural and historical resources, ranching, recreation, water resources, and wildlife.
Let's do our part == contact your legislators by clicking on the link below. Let them know that you OPPOSE the Mining Regulatory Act. Find and contact elected officialsI
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