San Manuel y Happ ! r e t s a E
MINER
Proudly serving as the Tri-Community’s source of weekly news since 1954
Vol. 57 No. 16
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Periodicals Postage Paid at San Manuel, Ariz. 85631
Mammoth gets new Public Works Director By John Hernandez There’s a new gal at the helm of the Mammoth Public Works Department.
Dudleyville. Wendy grew up in Montrose, Colorado. She received a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. While in College she also played softball and volleyball. She still likes to play volleyball competitively and plays in a league at Sports Park in Tucson. Wendy and her husband are active in the community and work with the San Manuel Sea Lions swim team. With 14 years of working in the copper mining industry and seven years in wastewater management, Wendy brings a lot of experience to her new job. She has worked for every major copper company in Southern Arizona including Magma/BHP, ASARCO, Cyprus, and Phelps Dodge in Morenci. She worked for Pima County as the Plant Manager of the Roger Road Wastewater Reclamation Facility. While she was at the Roger Road Facility, she was Project Manager for the Solar Project Department. The Roger Road Wendy Gort brings a lot of experience to the job as Mammoth’s new Public Works facility was chosen as the site for Pima County’s first Director. (John Hernandez photo) solar project. It also had an on site methane power plant which used methane created from sewer sludge to generate electricity. A 74-year-old man was on April 15. A 2007 Polaris on. The force of the collision, Her certifications include killed Friday in a two-vehicle Ranger was traveling north PCSO Public Information Waste Water Treatment grade accident on Tank Road in San on Tank Road, a private dirt Officer Tim Gaffney said, 4, Water Treatment grade 4, Manuel. road, and a 1985 Ford Bronco caused the Ranger to roll over Water Distribution grade 3, According to the Pinal County was traveling south when the onto its top. and Wastewater Collections The driver of the Rhino, Grade 3. She is working Sheriff’s Office, the accident vehicles met on top of a hill was reported at 5:08 p.m. and struck each other head identified as Charles Bast, 74, towards completing her grade San Manuel, was pronounced 4 certifications which is the dead at the scene and the highest certification in the passenger, identified as Mary water management industry. Bast, 61, San Manuel, was Wendy applied for and airlifted to University Medical accepted the job because she Center in Tucson. Both were wanted to stay in the area. She trapped under the overturned said she loves Mammoth. She vehicle when the deputy said her biggest challenge will arrived on the scene. Mary be “balancing the resources sustained serious injuries in with the needs of the town.” the accident but is expected to Wendy says her office is open recover. to the public. She is willing The Bronco had two juvenile to “listen to any ideas people male occupants. The driver was have to make the town better identified as Manuel Ochoa, and will work to make positive 17, San Manuel. He was changes.” taken by ground ambulance You can reach Wendy at to Oro Valley Hospital for wgort@townofmammoth. precautionary measures. The us or call her anytime at the passenger in the Bronco was Public Works Office (520) See Accident, Page 2 487-9044. Wendy Gort has been named the new Public Works Director for the Town of Mammoth. Wendy lives in Oracle with
50 Cents
Oracle celebrates Oaks Festival, Car Show
her husband Alex. They have two children and have lived in the Copper Corridor area for 21 years in Oracle and
Anne and Bill Blomquist, Grand Marshals of the Oracle Oaks Festival 2011. See more photos Page 10. (John Hernandez photo)
One dead in off-road accident
Final home game ...
Vern Santos’s red 1937 Chevy Sedan took Best of Show honors at the Oracle Spring Run Car Show. See more photos, results, Page 10. (Jennifer Carnes photo)
Public invited to forum on M-SM solar proposal
Coach Donnie Payne bids farewell to the Miner Faithful as he coaches his last home game for San Manuel. (Frank Smith photo)
The Easter Egg-spress will make annual stops in Tri-Community Hey, Kids! Get out your Easter baskets and get ready to hunt some eggs! The Easter Egg-Spress will be making its annual stop at the park by the pool in San Manuel on Saturday, April 23. The fun begins at 11 a.m. The Easter Bunny’s train will make another stop in the Tri-Community on Sunday, April 24, at the Oracle Union Church. The church bell will ring promptly at 10 a.m. and the hunt will be on! Don’t be late! You don’t want to miss out! More than 100 eggs will be hidden - some with prizes! The event is open to children 9 years and younger.
By Lana Jones Wednesday, April 27, the Mammoth-San Manuel Unified School District will be holding a public forum on the solar power project proposed for the Jr./Sr. High. The forum will take place at the district auditorium in San Manuel and will begin at 6:30 pm with a presentation from Tom Harris of PV Advanced Concepts. Harris will give a background and introduction. Andy Sinnott, Tioga Energy sales executive, will present the rate and savings analysis, and other details of the potential agreement. After the presentations, Harris and Sinnott will take questions from the public. The project will be discussed in detail at the forum but here’s a little background. The M-SM Board voted at their March meeting to send a letter stating their commitment to this project to Tioga, the winner of the
RFP (request for proposal) process. The project is not guaranteed at this point though. Its success still depends on a few things. In order for it to move forward it must first be selected in the APS “Solar for Schools” program. Superintendent Dr. Ron Rickel said that if the district was not selected then there will not be a solar project. If the district was selected, then the next stage would include a contract with Tioga that would need to be approved by the Board. If the contract were approved, then Tioga would build a 378 kilowatt solar electricity system at San Manuel Jr./Sr. High School. Tioga would own, operate, maintain, and insure the system. The M-SM district would then agree to buy the power generated by the system from Tioga. This is the only cost the district would pay.
The rate Tioga is proposing to charge is 8.6 cents per kilowatt hour. APS currently charges the district 17 cents per kilowatt hour. The difference in rates would provide an estimated savings on district electricity bills of $18,000 in the first year. The savings would grow each year assuming APS’s electricity rates continue to climb. According to Sinnott’s March presentation to the M-SM Board, APS rates increased from 11 cents to 17 cents per kilowatt hour over the past five years. That’s an average increase of about nine percent per year. Tioga’s rate will increase at three percent per year. As long as APS’s rates increase more than three percent each year, the district’s savings will increase each year. Even if APS’s rates increase less than three percent though, the district will still save money on electricity, just not more each year.
On his way to the championships ...
Kiah Blank, a young wrestler from San Manuel, placed third in the 8- and 9-year-old 85-pound USA regional qualifiers Saturday, earning him a seat for the world championship. Kiah is the son of Jason Blank. (Jennifer Carnes photo)