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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The 4-year college scam


And Cragin water for a golf course?

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor

You can spend money on the Payson Roundup if you want.  It’s your money.

What you shouldn’t do is put a lot of faith in what you read – especially about a four-year college coming to town anytime soon.  And by soon, I mean in the next 5-8 years – bare minimum.

Yes we all want it to happen.  But wishing doesn’t make it so, and the Roundup continues to buy Payson Mayor Kenny Evans’ line of BS hook, line and sinker – no questions asked. 
 
I am referencing the front page article in the Nov. 30 edition in which Pistol Pete Aleshire spews nonsense about the progress of negotiations with ASU without talking to anybody from Arizona State.  That, folks, is sloppy, lazy, irresponsible journalism at best.  Hopefully that’s all it is, because the thought of the town newspaper being in bed with the local politicians is a lot scarier.

And before we leave you, isn’t anybody outraged about the Town of Payson selling Chaparral Pines 49 years worth of water from Blue Ridge for its golf course?  At any price, let alone at “cost”?

Good lord, folks, the West cannot afford to waste its water on golf courses, and Payson, of all places, should know that.  This is the town that loves to brag about its low per capita water usage.  About responsible management of water resources. 
And now it’s selling water to Chaparral Pines at cost to water a golf course?  For 49 years?  Where is our sense of outrage?

Those who make this decision are immoral.  They are selling out future generations for the sake of what – the 2 percent?  Money?  Whatever the motive, it’s a bad, bad idea.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would be very disappointed if our Christian councilor Ed Blair goes along with this shameful water deal. God would expect him to preserve the natural resources on our planet. As for the rest of them, they're mostly in the pockets of the realtors and developers, the very bunch of jackals that wants a 4-year college so badly. And it's not so our youth will be better educated. It's so they can line their pockets. As for the Roundup, of course they're in bed with Evans, realtors and developers. Growth for them is growth for the Roundup.

ramie said...

The leadership in this state is abysmal. As long as we keep electing leaders who are against education, the environment, the middle class, etc. this is what we are going to get. It's such a shame because this is such a beautiful state. Our priorities are all wrong -- we should be spending the money on education, public transportation, and protecting our resources.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE.... Ed Blair has become one of them.
They have made themselves gods' and they are lording themselves over the people of Payson.
Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

Anonymous said...

You must have missed the detail in the article that the golf course is paying for a pipeline to the college property.

Aren't you familiar with the concept of private industry/public partnerships where the company will pay for things that the city can't afford. Obviously, this benefits both parties. Most major cites do business this way.

The golf course is not getting the water for free or is the city selling out for the sake of the so called 2 percent.

Try telling the whole story next time, not just one side like you accuse the Roundup of doing. But then a gain,if you did, you wouldn't have an article.

James Keyworth said...

I'm not missing any details. My issue is not whether it's a fair deal financially for the town. My issue - clearly stated - is that it is stupid to use potable water on golf courses, especially in the West, especially during a drought, especially for 49 years, and especially a golf course that hardly anybody plays. Talk about placating the 2 percent.

And yes, I tell one side of the story - the side the Roundup won't tell you.

Editor

Anonymous said...

In regards to the Payson town council and mayor approving Chaparral Pines 49 years worth of water from Blue Ridge for its golf course?

Yeah right and then they will raise all the "little people's" monthly water bills to pay for it all. People are in such dire straits right now and can't even afford to have water for their own garden and these people want to give the water away at cost?

That is not going to happen!

Let them just try to give away what we have worked so hard for over 20 years. We'll just do a referendum to overturn the council decision to give water "at cost to Chaparral Pines" and allow the people to vote on it.

And why we are collecting signatures for the referendum we will also be collecting signatures to recall the entire town council and mayor evans. Just like cities across America are doing.

Congressman Lindsay Graham used the right word to describe our town council and mayor “Crazy Bastards”.

Anonymous said...

Crazy like foxes. They are clearly in the hands of the realtors and developers. We need to raise hell about this water deal. Has Buzz Walker looked at the precipitation totals for Payson this year. We are at less than half of normal. Chaparral Pines should have worried about where their water was coming from when they built that golf course. It's not our problem that the rich people have to play golf on a brown course. Or at least it shouldn't be our problem.

Ed Blair said...

Hi, your Christian councilor here:

Who has documentation that we Council decided to sell water to the golf course for 49 YEARS? This is very important you tell me when I voted on THAT time frame.

Here's the deal: in July we voted for a ONE TIME DEAL: we provided water to the golf course for 45 DAYS at the golf course's cost of $115,000. Seems like a win-win. Any further "deals" will have to come to the council again. Watch the agendas next June-July so you can come and speak against it IF IT COMES UP AGAIN. That's sort of a likely time.

Ed Blair, whom anyone can remove in 2014 re-election

Sgt. Joe Friday here said...

Geez Ed. What a buzz killer you are messing up a good blog thread with facts.

Anonymous said...

There are new players in the PSWID controversy

There are more than one business’ listed currently with the Arizona Corporation Commission with an address of 1011 S. Goodfellow Rd, Payson Arizona. And there are not multiple rental spaces at that address.

#1st company is: M3G MILL WORKS File Number: L-1586343-0
Articles of Organization listing Gary Lavetro as well as Kris Lovetro as the owners of M3G Mill Works (A Saw Mill) with a business address of 1011 S GOODFELLOW DR. PINE, AZ 85541

Document Number 03048354 lists Michael S. Greer as the manager and on that document the address is 1011 S. Goodfellow Road, Payson, Arizona 85541.

This information is at the Arizona Corporation Commission website at address: http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=L15863430&type=L.L.C. (click on the document number buttons on lower left side.

#2nd company with same address is: MB Fine Homes owned by Robert Fredrick Meyer is the company that builds $$$ Million dollar homes at the Country Club Golf Course. Meyer is also listed on the Arizona Corporation Commission with a business address of 1011 S. Goodfellow Road, Payson Arizona. Reference: http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=L17778547&type=L.L.C.

I spoke to a man who lives near that address (1011 S. Goodfellow Rd address) and was told that Robert Fredrick Meyer was operating an illegal Saw Mill at 1011 S Goodfellow Road Payson zoning enforcement officer Sean Tanner was called and Sean issued a Cease and Desist Order and shut down Mr. Meyer's Saw Mill operation.

The reason Mr Meyer's Saw Mill was shut down was because a Saw Mill is required to have a property zoning of "M1" or "M2" (heavy industrial), just like the Door Stop company up at the Payson Airport Industrial area. Mr. Robert Fredrick Meyer's Saw Mill at 1011 S. Goodfellow Rd Payson Arizona is only zoned "C3" (light industrial). Meyer's Saw Mill was issuing particulates into the air of the surrounding neighborhood making people sick.

ADEQ was informed and they sent inspectors up to inspect Mr. Meyer's operation, but the Saw Mill was not in operation emitting saw dust particles at the time of inspection so ADEQ gave Mr. Meyer's a clean inspection.
Mr. Fredrick Meyer also owner of MB Fine homes did an "End Run" and applied for a TConditional Use Permit to keep running his Saw Mill operation at 1011 S. Goodfellow.
The Town of Payson Community Development and Zoning board (and mayor) went ahead and gave Mr. Robert Fredrick Meyer the TConditional Use Permit to continue operating his business there, BASED upon the ADEQ inspection which states that the Saw Mill WAS NOT in operation when ADEQ did their inspection, and get this.
Even though the Head Start pre school is located just 12 feet away.
I wonder if all the parents of all the children that attend the Payson Head Start School were informed about the Saw Mill and possible contamination from inhalation to their children.

So that if their children had asthma or some other breathing problem could tell the school administrator not to let their children play in the back where there could possibly be saw dust that could make their children’s conditions worst.
If any of those children get sick and their parents hire a good attorney they will get a large settlement for sure.
So all Saw Dust particles go into the air and all the 70 plus or more children running around breathing real hard inhale all that dust into their lungs. Oh my!
Had Mr Gary Lovetro or Michael S. Greer or Mr. Robert Fredrick Meyer gone to The Town of Payson Community Development Department and asked up front what type of zoning was required to operate a Saw Mill they would have been told M1 or M2. Instead they choose to go right ahead (maybe even knew so?) and start the Saw Mill operation.
Are Gary and Kris Lovetro, Michael S. Greer and Robert Fredrick Meyer all in business together?

Anonymous said...

Hello Jim,
Could you please give us a URL

for the "Chaparral Pines 49 years worth of water from Blue Ridge" article?

Or did the Roundup remove it?

Anonymous said...

"Evans said he has been in talks with Steve Loy, part owner of the Chaparral Pines golf club, and Crescent Resources to help solve their water problems as well as bring water to the proposed university’s property.

Loy and those groups will pay “sufficiently” to have a pipeline built from Tyler Parkway down to the university’s property and over to Chaparral Pines.

Payson has agreed to provide a share of Cragin water to the golf course at cost for at least 49 years, he said. Evans said the three-party contract, with the town, SLE and golf club, could be stitched up by the end of the year."
Reference:
http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2012/nov/30/university-slow-steady/

Based upon the article and Blair’s inept knowledge of the article, proves that councilman Ed Blair is delusional. Maybe he is loosing it?

Anonymous said...

Light a match and some people will come running with a can of gasoline.
There can be no contract without the approval of the city council. The town of Payson owns the water, not Kenny Evans or the SLE. Ed Blair says that has not been brought to the council. Maybe Ed Blair missed the vote. Maybe Ed Blair is getting senile OR maybe there is a lot more to the story, and we all need to take a deep breath and not get too "itchy" with that gasoline can.
Incidently, it is fairly common for well water to be used on many golf courses around the country, so the term "potable water" should not be used as an emotional trigger. Cragin water is water is scheduled to be pumped into underground aquifers for storage and drawn from there. It will actually need to be treated somewhat to make it truly "potable."

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, your delusional councilor here:
Want to know the full public story of the water to Chap. Pines, the university, American Gulch and water percolating through the grass and water streams? then go to the video of tonight's Dec 13 council meeting.(www.paysonaz.gov)
There's going to be a big difference between potable water (WHICH WILL NOT TO GOLF COURSES) and raw (not going through but around the treatment plant in Mesa Del) Town doesn't pay for the pipe, but gets to sell it. Ed
December 13, 2012 7:31 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Sorry, Mr. Councilor, but that's Evans-speak. Bypassing the treatment plant does not make the water any less potable (or you any less culpable). If you and your council vote for this, you are voting to use (potentially) potable water on an underused golf course for 49 years, well into the timeframe when the West will be desperate for water. It's just plain dumb, shortsighted and probably greedy.
December 14, 2012 9:18 AM

Anonymous said...

William Seward was vilified for arranging the purchase of Alaska. Theodore Roosevelt was callled a Socialist and worse for taking over vast amounts of land to create public parks. There must always be a villan, it seems.

It's pretty obvious that there is a personal dislike for Kenny Evans in some quarters, but an even handed honest evaluation of the work he has done for the town of Payson will reveal no demons.

Real farsighted planning and implimentation of thousands of critical details require either unconventional or sometimes misconstrued actions. If great progress was easy we would live in a perfect world.

The town of Payson has few, if any assets to build upon for sustaining meaningful growth, and a town, like most organisms either grows or dies. Cut Mayor Evans some slack

Anonymous said...

The conditional use permit #TUP12-008 WAS issued to MB Fine Homes ( Robert Fredrick Meyer ) at 1011 S. Goodfellow Rd, Payson, AZ 85541 on November 28, 2012, signed by Doni Wilbanks, on 11/28/2012. Doni is a Town of Payson Planning Technician.

We (wife and I) decided to look in on this matter and so we went down to the area and asked some of the neighbors what was going on. We were given the actual letter and envelope that the notice letter was sent in. We read the notice (sent by the Town of Payson that was sent out to all neighbors near the illegal “Saw Mill” at 1011 S. Goodfellow Rd, Payson, AZ. That letter was dated November 7, 2012.

The letter said all comments from the neighbors must be received by Payson community development planning and zoning within 10 days of the date of this letter which made the response date Saturday 17, 2012.

The envelope that held the Payson community development planning and zoning notice letter was IS DATED BY THE POST OFFICE November 14, 2012.

The neighbors didn’t receive that notice till “FRIDAY” November 16, 2012.
That left no time for the people affected to respond to the Payson planning and zoning community development department, to tell them they did not want a “Saw Mill” in their neighborhood and that the land at 1011 S. Goodfellow was not zoned for a “Saw Mill”

Just by the dates on the letter and post office date on envelope shows how incompetent the current administration is and that they could care less about the health of the children at the pre school 12 feet away from Mr. Robert Fredrick Meyer’s illegally operating “SAW MILL” at 1011 S. Goodfellow Rd. Payson, Arizona 85541

It looks as though mayor Kenny evans administration was going to give the conditional use permit anyway regardless of what the “little people” wanted. It appears as though the letter was just a formality.

At the very least this IS selective enforcement.

The guy in Wheaton Ill can “smell” the stench from the crap that is going on here in Payson even as far away as Wheaton Ill.

The article that Jim started this post on was nothing more than a ploy by the Roundup (for evans and the good ol’ boy realtors and developers) to draw out those who disagree (Dissidents') with what they want to do.

(A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution)

So that the mayor and his puppeteers would know who to demonize, intimidate and strong arm.

How can Payson be blessed by God when the rulers do such evil in the sight of God?

At church a few weeks ago the pastor said that in the “latter days” people would call evil good, and call good evil and they will have changed sides (from good to evil) and not even know it.

We all would like to see jobs and prosperity in Payson, but not at the expense of the “Little People”.

What kind of deal is selling the Country Club 49 years of water (at cost)?

The people of Payson have paid for everything we have now concerning WATER even before evans moved here, or the Country Club Golf course Chaparral Pines even existed.

If anyone should get a break in water prices it us that have lived here for 30 plus years!

If the Country Club Golf Course wants to buy water and there is enough to sell it to them… then make THEM pay for all the piping to their property line and also charge them an impact fee in the amount it will takes to run a line to the proposed ASU extension college.

That’s the deal that should be made with the big $$$ money Chaparral Pines Country Club.

Anonymous said...

We had heard that councilman Ed Blair was seen playing golf at Chaparral Pines Golf Course Country Club…. that would explain his “win-win” explanation.

Anonymous said...

IMPEACH MAYOR EVANS NOW!!!!! Ed Blair is not evil; in fact he tries to protect all of us...the people who pay taxes and love this town! The amount of lies and manipulation of words and intent is mind-boggling. Less than 2% of eligible voters ACTUAlly vote. Apathy, apathy, apathy. We each have a voice as an American citizen but it seems watching porn on the computer and watching the Simpsons is more important than being a part of the positive changes we are able to legally make happen. Ask how Buzz Walker was able to purchase a home in Chapparal Pines!!???? I'd like his salary....with added benefits. IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! Let's put the law manipulatore and self serving politicians in Sheriff Joe's jails where they belong! Take our town back...Tom, Sue, and Ed Blair can not do it alone!!! I am in contact with the FBI daily about the shenanigans in Gila county daily. WE WILL PREVAIL!!!! I think mayor evans will look great in pink handcuffs. pink underwear, in one of the filthiest environments on this planet. WAKE UP ATTEND ALL COUNCIL MEETINGS or this heavenly place under the mogollon rim will be destroyed by greed- realtors and good old boys