Yuma County Oks Foothills Solar Plant -- If It Comes With Improved Roads

July 3, 2012

The Sun (Yuma, Ariz.)

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors made it clear that it wants the Foothills Solar Plant to come with a good road, and they have a preference as to where the fresh pavement should lead through the scrubby desert.

The supervisors approved a special use permit Monday for the 400-acre solar development on the condition that its operator, Arizona Public Service, work in good faith with its landlord -- the Arizona State Land Department -- and nearby private property owners to improve an extension to Scottsdale Drive from 40th Street to the County 13th Street alignment.

Tucson Zoning Approves Big Hotel & Commercial Project

June 2, 2012

Arizona Daily Star 

City examiner seeks fewer homes on River; costs concern county

The city zoning examiner has given the OK to a hotel and commercial development on the southeast corner of River and Craycroft roads although he is recommending fewer homes be allowed than the builder wants.

But County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said he has unresolved concerns about the planned annexation and zoning, including what he says are major cost shifts.

Click here to read more 

June 30, 2012

Arizona Daily Star 

Marana residents will be asked to authorize the town's acquisition of the Marana Wastewater Reclamation Facility when they go to the polls for the general election in November.

The Town Council voted 4-2 during a special meeting June 26 to approve the ballot measure.

The move is in response to a ruling from the Arizona Court of Appeals against the town on June 14. The ruling said Marana did not have proper approval from residents to legally own or operate the plant at 14393 W. Luckett Road.   

Click here to read more 

Suburban Phoenix Airport Plans $1.4B Terminal Expansion

June 18, 2012

The Tribune 

The booming Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport has unveiled a $1.4 billion plan for a new passenger terminal that could open as soon as 5 years from now and eventually expand to 60 gates.

The airport is anticipating that rapid growth will continue with its focus on low-cost air travel, and that its continuously-expanding temporary terminal will soon reach capacity.

Gateway served almost 1 million passengers last year and is on track to handle 1.3 million this year.

A pipeline to allow owners of the Rosemont mine to recharge Central Arizona Project water to compensate for its groundwater pumping will start its first leg of construction next month, a private water company building the line said Tuesday.

Click here to read more 

Augusta facing a financial squeeze

June 24, 2012

Arizona Daily Star 

Rosemont Copper's parent company could face a cash squeeze later this year, but company officials say they're confident of obtaining more money to continue their push to get permits for the proposed Rosemont Mine.

Augusta Resource Corp.'s available cash to carry out its permitting and other efforts has dwindled sharply over the past year, just as the mine project has hit some major snags, most notably two highly critical letters from the Environmental Protection Agency last winter.

Forest Service reviewing comments on Rosemont Copper mine

June 22, 2012

Platts 

Pima College's northwest campus plans building for science classrooms, nine labs

June 15, 2012
Arizona Daily Star    

Pima Community College will construct its first new building in eight years on its Northwest Campus, 7600 N. Shannon Road.

Tentatively dubbed the Science Lab and Classroom Building, the 48,000-square-foot facility will include seven classrooms, a lecture hall, a math emporium, nine science labs and a lab prep space when it is completed in October 2013.

The three-story building, which will be at the south end of campus, will also accommodate the college's hotel restaurant management program and 11 faculty offices.

June 15, 2012

An Iowa company plans to build and operate a 40,000-square-foot data center on Tucson's south side.

Involta LLC, a data-center management company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, recently bought an industrial building at 4400 S. Santa Rita Ave. from Aurora Optical Inc. for $2.025 million, according to documents filed with the Pima County Recorder's Office.

The $15 million facility is scheduled to be operational in December, according to a news release issued Tuesday by Involta.

Data-center developers flock to metro Phoenix

June 18, 2012

Metro Phoenix has become one of the top-10 markets for developers of data centers, where companies large and small house their equipment for connecting digitally to customers, employees and suppliers.

Analysts speaking at a data-center seminar in Chandler on Friday said the Phoenix area's growing prominence within the industry is a result of geographic and economic factors.

Proximity to major West Coast markets, relatively low taxes, a low risk of natural disasters and cheap, reliable energy are just a few of the many benefits of operating a data center in Arizona, they said.

Oracle mine may get DEQ approval

June 27, 2012

Arizona Daily Star 

Pima County's environmental chief, who denied an air-quality permit for the Rosemont Mine last year, plans to approve one for a much smaller copper mine slated for the back side of the Catalina Mountains.

The proposed Oracle Ridge Mine would emit few enough particulates that it's likely to meet federal air-quality standards, said Ursula Kramer, director of the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality.

June 28, 2012

AZ Family  

As the housing market starts to rebound in Arizona, construction managers say they are having a hard time finding enough manpower to fill skilled worker jobs.

"Everyone thinks there are no jobs here," said Tim Snyder, President of Brewer Commercial Services. "But in the industry I'm in, we have a lot of job openings that we wish we could find skilled laborers for."

Snyder said his company has advertised two plumbing jobs in recent weeks and has had only a handful of responses.

June 18, 2012

Phoenix Business Journal 

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the nation's construction workforce continued dwindling in May, yet Arizona was among the minority of states that boasted year-over-year gains in the sector.

Arizona saw the third highest spike in the nation last month in terms of the number of new construction jobs compared to last year, trailing closely behind only Texas and California in first and second places, respectively, according to the BLS data compiled and released Friday by the Associated General Contractors of America.

Click here to read more