Month: September 2011

Grants could help Verde River at Clarkdale Arizona project

by

[Source: Philip Wright, Verde Independent] – When the Town Council meets at 3 p.m. Tuesday, it will consider a request by staff to go after two grants from the Heritage Fund of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The process would begin with two pre-applications for two lottery funded grants for Urban Wildlife and for Public Access.

A report prepared by Jodie Filardo, director of development and project manager for Sustainable Clarkdale, explains that the state has $112,500 available for Urban Wildlife and $50,000 for Public Access grants. “Our Verde River @ Clarkdale project aligns well with two specific granting focus areas: Urban Wildlife and Public Access,” Filardo stated. Filardo further explains that Melody Reifsnyder of Sage Consulting will put together the grant applications for the town.

“She is being funded on a fee-for-service basis from Walton Family Foundation grant funds established to hire professional services to write two separate pre-applications,” Filardo stated. If the grant applications are approved, Reifsnyder also will complete the full applications process for the town.

In a related matter, Mayor Doug Von Gausig has sponsored an agenda item calling for the council to consider approving Resolution 1376. That resolution would support The Verde Compact, a statement confirming dedication to the well-being of the Verde River and Valley. In a staff report on the item, Kathy Bainbridge, Town Clerk and Finance Director, stated that the Verde Compact “…has been endorsed by The Nature Conservancy and more endorsements have been pledged from other environmental organizations.” John Neville, president of Sustainable Arizona, will make a presentation regarding the Value the Verde Ecotourism Initiative.

 

Misconception hurts state parks

by

[Source: Arizona Republic Editorial] – The struggling state park system isn’t suddenly and magically awash in cash. But there’s a pernicious misconception that it is because the Arizona State Parks Board approved more than $40 million in grants for two cities to buy state trust land. This is not park money.

The board happens to be, under the terms of a voter-approved referendum, the gatekeeper for funding to preserve trust land. The parks don’t get one penny.

It’s a lot like the state treasurer. The office manages billions of dollars a year. But that doesn’t turn Treasurer Doug Ducey and his staff into billionaires.

This kind of misunderstanding – whether willful or careless – may be one reason legislators have so blithely undermined Arizona State Parks. They cut off all state support in 2009. Since then, they’ve reached right into the till, diverting money that the parks themselves earn through entrance fees and concessions. This is not only wrong but also profoundly disingenuous from legislators who want agencies to act more like businesses.

As Arizona heads into yet another challenging year for the state budget, we can’t make smart decisions without looking at the numbers in context. All dollars aren’t the same. Some funding has legal constraints. Some spending has broader benefits beyond the immediate budget line.

Take that $40 million. It’s from the Growing Smarter fund, which voters approved in 1998. The ballot measure required the state to put aside $220 million, over the course of 11 years, to be used as matching money to preserve state trust land. (Trust land cannot be set aside for conservation outright but must be bought or leased.) Scottsdale just got approval for a $36.2 million grant to help expand its mountain preserve.Phoenixis getting $4.18 million to put toward buying land for the Sonoran Preserve.

Given the well-established value of open space – from tourist appeal to recreation to wildlife habitat – those are farsighted moves that will benefit all Arizonans in the long run.

It gets better. The dollars actually do double duty, helping Arizona schools, as well. Money from the sale of trust land is put into a permanent fund, with the interest going to education and a few other public purposes. Because of the matching requirements, the Growing Smarter grants will end up putting more than $80 million into the permanent fund. The story is far more complex than a single figure on a balance sheet.

Just a few examples of what Heritage Fund has done for Florence

by

[Source: Bonnie Bariola, TriValleyCentral.com] – For those of you who do not remember, it is thanks to the town of Florence that many of the historic buildings on Main Street have been saved over the years. Through a voter initiative, in 1990 the Heritage Fund was approved by the voters of Arizona. Among other things, this fund provided $1.7 million a year toward historic preservation through a competitive grant process.

Prior to approval of the Heritage Fund, Florence’s Historic District Advisory Commission had been approached by a member of the local Knights of Columbus asking if the Commission supported the rehabilitation of the Chapel of the Gila. The Commission wholeheartedly supported this effort.

Upon receiving the initial criteria for applying for a Heritage Fund, the town’s Community Development Director determined the rehabilitation of the Chapel of the Gila would be a perfect fit. The Knight’s of Columbus member was contacted and the result was a public/private partnership between the town and the Diocese submitting an application — the town prepared and administered the grant and the Diocese provided the matching funds.

The fact that the grant application for the historic Chapel of the Gila ranked first in the first round of Historic Preservation Heritage Fund Grant applications should be mentioned. It should also be noted that before construction began, due to extreme rainfall in the spring, the east wall of the chapel collapsed. Since funding was in place it was possible to save the building; otherwise, it would have been necessary to demolish the entire building. The chapel is always one of the most visited buildings on the annual Tour of Historic Florence.

Clarke House: The William Clarke House has been saved due to the efforts of several organizations and people. Lois Stryker headed a group which put a roof on it prior to the town submitting the first Heritage Fund grant for it’s rehabilitation. Donovan Kramer Sr. then agreed to assume ownership of the property and provide the match for the grant, and the nonprofit Florence Preservation Foundation (FPF) volunteered to assume the administration of the grant. After several additional Heritage Fund Grants and many, many thousands of dollars from Mr. Kramer, this very important building on Main Street is now home to the Florence Reminder and Blade Tribune.

Silver King Hotel: Only with the Heritage Fund, the town of Florence, and the Florence Preservation Foundation are the people of Florence able to have the Florence/Silver King Marketplace as one of the most important buildings on Main Street today. In addition to Heritage Fund Grants and donations, it was necessary to find additional funding for this massive project. Transportation Enhancement Funds could be used for Historic Preservation but were only available to government entities. To obtain funding from this source, the FPF partnered with the town of Florence to obtain these funds. Over the years the Florence Preservation Foundation members prepared two separate applications totaling one million dollars with Town Council members approving these applications being submitted.

Each of these $500,000 grants required a $30,000 match. The town of Florence provided the match for the first grant with economic development monies it had received from the State of Arizona. A Heritage Fund grant written and submitted by the FPF provided match for the second $500,000.

McFarland Park: More recently the town assumed operation of McFarland Historic Park in order to have an additional tourist attraction for both visitors and local residents. State Parks used a portion of the Heritage Funds allocated to them to rehabilitate the building that houses the Park. Once that was completed in 2009, Jay Ream, Assistant Director of Arizona State Parks was asked what the plans for McFarland Park were.His reply was “Due to the extreme budget cuts to the parks system, the only use for McFarland is to lease it for an adaptive reuse.” This message was relayed to Town Manager Himanshu Patel, resulting in the Town Council approving a lease between the town and Arizona State Parks.

The Florence Main Street Board agreed to operate the park in addition to already operating the Florence Visitor Center. Again, after Heritage Funds made possible the rehabilitation of the building, due to a partnership between Arizona State Parks, the town of Florence and the Main Street Program, yet another building on Main Street is open to the public.

In 2010 when the Historic Preservation portion of the Heritage Fund was suspended by the Legislature, Florence had a total of five grants valued at $650,000 which were canceled or suspended. With the required matching funds, 1.3 million dollars would have been added to the local economy and five additional historic properties would have been saved.

Won’t you please contact the governor and your legislators and ask them to reinstate the Heritage Fund.

Game and Fish to host public meetings regarding management of the department’s Horseshoe Ranch property

by

The property is located about an hour north of Phoenix within the Agua Fria  National Monument. The acquisition included 200 acres of deeded land coupled with nearly 70,000 acres of grazing allotments, all of which will be under Arizona Game and Fish Department management.

Game and Fish is looking for the public’s feedback and input on various management scenarios for this site that will be presented during these meetings. Each meeting will consist of an information session highlighting the property’s history, the purposes for acquiring the property, and possible development and management scenarios, followed by an open forum session where the public’s feedback and ideas regarding the scenarios will be solicited. 

“We encourage people to attend and provide their thoughts,” said Randy Babb, information and education program manager for the department’sMesaregion. “The input will help us design future management for the ranch and wildlife area.”

Meetings will be held on the following dates:

  • Tuesday, Oct. 4, 6-8 p.m., Phoenix, Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters, Eagle Room, 5000 W. Carefree Highway.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 5, 6-8 p.m., Black Canyon City, Albin’s Civic Center, 19055 E. K-Mine Road.
  • Thursday, Oct. 6, 6-8 p.m., Mayer/Cordes Junction area,MayerHigh School, Mayer (follow signs to public meeting room).

For more information, contact Randy Babb, information and education program manager for the Game and Fish Mesa region, at (480) 324-3546 or rbabb@azgfd.gov.