Health care furor 3 • Bonita Street update 5 • Wrestling with success 13 ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
PAYSON ROUNDUP
Fraud probe grows by
75 CENTS
TUESDAY | JANUARY 10, 2017 | PAYSON, ARIZONA
payson.com
Food drive falters
Fossil Creek Conundrum
Michele Nelson
by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
roundup staff reporter
The auditor general continues to investigate the alleged embezzlement of money from the Pine Strawberry Water Improvement District and Sunny Mountain Realty, a complex and still mysterious case involving at least $724,937 in forged checks. The Roundup has obtained the copy of an investigative interview of Rebecca Sigeti — bookkeeper for both the water district and the real estate company, in which she admits forging some checks. The relationship between PSWID and Sunny Mountain was incorrectly stated in a previous Roundup article. The building that housed both PSWID and Sunny Mountain, is owned by a gentleman from California. Sigeti has not been charged with anything in connection with the forged checks. In the interview with investigators, she admitted forging some of the checks and maintains she paid all the money back — roughly $147,000. The Gila County Sheriff’s Office has turned the interview over to the auditor general’s office, which refused comment on its ongoing investigation. Several members of the Pine Water board have confirmed the auditor general is investigating some $300,000 in money missing from the water district, forged checks and a second set of financial records. The auditor general previously got a search warrant for Sigeti’s computer. The interview conducted by the sheriff’s investigators sheds new light on the case and the murky connection between the water district and the real estate company. In the GCSO report, the investigator questioned Sigeti about 189 forged checks totaling $724,937 written between 2010 and 2015. The checks were written on the account of Sunny Mountain Real Estate Company. Sunny Mountain is no longer in business. The account also showed 25 mysterious deposits totaling $444,289.76. The sheriff’s report does not indicate where the deposits came from. The report calls them a “mystery,” but reports from former PSWID staff and
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by
Peter Aleshire
roundup editor
Payson residents showed up this week at a hearing to urge the U.S. Forest Service to protect Fossil Creek — while still making it easier to get to the stream from Rim Country. Seven years after Congress designated the 17-mile-long, spring-fed stream as a “Wild and Scenic River,” the Forest Service has come up with its “preferred alternative.” The Forest Service still has to gather comments, then do an Environmental Impact Report before actually adopting the plan — probably in 2018 or 2019. The Forest Service plans to keep in place the existing permit system,
• See Investigation, page 9
• See Fossil Creek, page 14
With less than a month left in the annual Payson Area Food Drive, it looks unlikely this year’s collection goal will be met. So far, $26,245 has come in toward the $50,000 goal. For food, just 3,800 pounds has been donated toward the 30,000-pound goal. Every year since the PAFD began eight years ago, the ambitious goal has been met, to the surprise and delight of food drive organizers. And every year, every cent and can is handed out well before the next food drive kicks off. Organizers say there are still so many hungry and needy residents in Rim Country that they continue to hold the food drive every year. Together, the Community Presbyterian Church, St. Vincent de Paul and Pine food banks serve between 2,600 to 2,800 people every month. This year, the drive wraps up Feb. 5 on Super Bowl Sunday. All of the money and food collected stays in Rim Country and goes directly to one of three food banks. Around this time last year, residents had donated 19,000 pounds of food and $41,700. With the number of donations down this year it looks unlikely the goal will be met unless there is a huge surge in donations. With this community, that miracle just might be possible. Culver’s is supporting the effort by setting up a collection jar at the front counter. And on Jan. 15 and Jan. 30, 10 percent of net food sales at Culver’s will go toward the PAFD. To donate, drop food donations off at any of the PAFD labeled boxes at: • Payson Public Library, 328 N. McLane Road • Payson Town Hall, 303 N. Beeline Highway • Compass Bank, 613 S. Beeline Highway • Wells Fargo Bank, 115 E. Highway 260 • Washington Federal Bank, 213 S. Beeline Highway • Verizon Wireless, 300 N. Beeline A monetary donation box is set up at the front counter at Culver’s, 805 E. Highway 260. Mail checks to PAFD, P.O. Box 703, Payson, AZ 85547.
Milk Ranch well fix Payson will protect night skies Pine water board grapples with costly options by
Max Foster and Michele Nelson
payson roundup
The Pine Strawberry Water Improvement District governing board on Dec. 15 laid plans to find solutions to the turbidity glitches that have plagued the Milk Ranch wells since they were drilled. The board has identified three options; hire a hydrologist to figure out where the sand comes from, install a filtration system or abandon two of the three Milk Ranch wells and drill a new well. Each plan comes with a different cost. The board’s minutes laid out the costs; “The cheapest is to hire a hydrologist to determine where the sand is coming from in the wells for $75,000-$100,000. The next option is treating the water at a cost of $300,000-
$600,000, or abandoning wells I and II and re-drilling a well at a cost of $300,000-$500,000.” Maher Hazine, treasurer of the board, said the board has not made a final decision. “His (PSWID engineer) recommendation is to get a hydrologist,” said Hazine. “That doesn’t mean we will hire a hydrologist.” Hazine said a hydrologist would be able to drop a camera into the wells. He would observe while the pumps run to see the source of the sand. The filtration system option has its own problems, said Hazine. “With a treatment system we might have ongoing costs — electricity and filtration requires maintenance,” said Hazine. Hazine said a hydrologist would also be able to help determine if drilling another well is a reasonable option based on the conditions of the current wells and geology. Hazine said the board will discuss these options further at the Jan. 19 meeting.
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If you like to go outside at night and stargaze, you aren’t alone. Payson wants to protect that starry view by becoming a designated International Dark Sky Community. The move, they hope, will be a tourism draw. Many of the tourists that visit Payson are from the Valley where the city glows under plenty of outdoor lighting, but the sky, except for a few planets, is mostly dim. Sedona and Flagstaff are already part of 14 communities around the world with the International Dark Sky Community badge, environmentally conscious places that promote stewardship of the night sky, according to a town memo. The idea of registering
• See Well options, page 9
THE WEATHER
volume 27, no. 3
Outlook: Mostly cloudy throughout the week, but sunny on Wednesday. Highs around 50, lows in the mid to lower 30s. Details, 9
See our ad and upcoming events on page 14
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
Photo courtesy of DJ Craig
• See Night Sky, page 2