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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Darkhorse water treatment plant site emerges

BREAKING NEWS
You read it here first

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor

A new site has emerged as the favorite for the C.C. Cragin water treatment plant that the Town of Payson plans to build near the unincorporated community of Mesa del Caballo.

According to a U.S. Forest Service official, the site was suggested by a Mesa del Caballo resident whose property would have been directly impacted by the site previously favored.  The new site is across Houston Mesa Road from most of the community, but still adjacent to several homes.  

Dubbed WTP7, it does not impact the community's views of the Rim.  It is also on higher ground, making it attractive to the Town of Payson.

In an e-mail to Bear Sherfey, the Mesa del resident who proposed the new location, the Forest Service official wrote: "Bear, your 'new' alternative water treatment plant location, as you identified in your comment letter, has been accepted by the NEPA contractor. The Town of Payson engineer had determined that your suggestion was feasible, from the engineering perspective. Therefore, your comment is identified as 'substantive' and needs to be considered in the final environmental assessment. Good job!"

In an e-mail to the Mesa del Caballo Water Committee, the official complimented the community for its active involvement in the selection process: "...all the folks in the Forest Service, both Phoenix and Payson offices, have heard of your concerns and (WTP7) is now the forward direction the process is moving towards. Good news."

The Town of Payson wants to locate the water treatment plant near Mesa del Caballo so the water-starved community of 400 homes and possibly other small communities along Houston Mesa Road can have access to C.C. Cragin water and help finance the project. 

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