Zone

Big park upgrade / P. 4

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com

Local artist's exhibit P. 16

Sunday, March 13, 2022

INSIDE

This Week

BUSINESS...... 19

Mesa trio teaches country swing.

SPORTS............ 25

Skyline High coach swinging for the bleachers.

GETOUT............... 27

Last Train to Juarez rolling into Mesa.

COMMUNITY ................................ 16 BUSINESS ...................................... 19 OPINION ....................................... 22 SPORTS......................................... 25 GET OUT ....................................... 27 CLASSIFIED .................................. 29

Zone 1

Ranching family’s project aims to preserve Mesa history

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER

Tribune Staff Writer

Streets of luxury housing are planned to replace century-old orange groves and pastures at the end of Val Vista Drive on the south banks of the Salt River in northeast Mesa over the next two to three years.

While most of the orange groves will be lost, the four families that own the parcels hope years of planning and vetting potential developers will lead to a project that does justice to a historic slice of Mesa and opens it up to residents with public trails and trailheads.

The landowners in this part of Lehi have partnered with Blandford Homes to create an 85-acre planned area development called Pioneer Crossing, a reference to a historic crossing point on the Salt River close by.

Mesa City Council last week approved an assortment of zoning changes and plan amendments that have cleared the way for the development to proceed.

Councilmember Mark Freeman, who represents the district and worked with stakeholders and the landowners as they contemplated the development, said after the council meeting that the families involved

seePIONEER page 6

A champ of a dog

Champ the Chihuahua was born without front paws but his owner, Pamela Andersen of Mesa, said the dog has been a joy to her husband Andrew Kuzyk as he struggles with brain cancer. For

the story, see page 14. (David Minton/Tribune Photographer)

Eastmark residents fear city reneging on promised park

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER

Tribune Staff Writer

Some Eastmark residents fear they are being cheated out of amenities they were promised by a developer and Mesa and their fury boiled over before a subdivision plat vote at the City Council meeting March 7.

Ninety-one residents of the master planned community in southeast Mesa submitted comments opposing a subdivision of parcels south of the Apple Data Center on Elliot Road, between Signal Butte and Everton Terrace.

While their immediate concern was the land just north of their neighborhood, their outrage stemmed in part from a developer’s promise to build 106 acres of park space

seeEASTMARK page 8

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Bell Bank Park was home for stranded MLB players

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

It may sit on the outskirts of Mesa, but briefly, Bell Bank Park became the center of the baseball universe.

The sports facility at 1 Legacy Drive just east of Gateway Airport opened its doors for players to utilize the facilities and assist with anything they needed to prepare for the season. This came as players and owners faced unprecedented times dueling over a collective bargaining agreement. Nobody knew when or if the season would begin.

On March 9, Major League Baseball announced it would cancel regular season games through April 13 but the next day all that gloom vanished with word of an agreement with the players union. A truncated Spring Training Season is scheduled to begin Friday, March 18, with games at both Sloan Park and Hohokam Stadium.

Hours before a tentative agreement was announced, San Francisco Giants’ Austin Slater said he felt optimistic. “There’s ongoing discussions happening today and hopefully they’re productive and something comes out of it,” he said.

Slater will begin his sixth MLB season all with the Giants and said he’s “grateful” to work out and get the time to prepare for the season at the park.

“It’s honestly one of the nicest facilities I’ve ever worked out at,” he said. “And the fact that they’re allowing us to use it is very generous.”

He and other players said they felt comfortable with amenities at Bell Bank Park’s 20,000-square-foot fitness center that had everything they needed to shake the offseason rust.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Nico Hoerner said, “Being able to do everything in the same place is really special.”

“They have a tremendous staff here to basically supply us with anything we

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THE MESA TRIBUNE | MARCH 13, 2022

Mesa breaking ground on Red Mountain fields

BY SCOTT SHUMAKER

Tribune Staff Writer

The Mesa City Council gave the green light for contractors to begin work on the installation of 10 new sports fields and four youth-sized baseball and softball diamonds at Red Mountain Park at its Feb. 28 meeting.

At the meeting, Council approved a $2.8 million contract with Valley Rain Construction Corp. to kick off site clearing, mass grading and water hook up.

Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Director Andrea Moore told council members that the fields are not expected to open until spring of 2024, but the city needs to start work now to connect the water supply while a canal is empty and give the natural turf fields ample time to grow in. The contract is just the first installment of spending. City staff estimate the fields will cost another $27.3 million to complete. The plans include parking, LED field lighting and new restroom facilities. Designers included two “flex fields” in the plan, which can be combined to accommodate sports using larger fields, such as lacrosse.

The expanded sports complex adds an impressive amount of play space to the city’s inventory, but it’s not as big as the The Red Mountain Park upgrade involves a number of improvements, as outlined in this graphic. (City of Mesa)

one the city dreamed of in 2018. Two questions on the 2018 ballot asked voters to approve a larger 24-field complex at Red Mountain Park, intended to have the capacity to accommodate large tournaments drawing visitors from out of town. The initiative for the larger sports complex – dubbed Mesa Plays – included amenities like stadium seating at select fields and a field house.

Mesa Plays failed, but other bond questions on the same ballot passed, including a $111 million bond for park and cultural enhancements. This bond is providing the funds for the smaller-scale sports complex the city is now building. In council’s study session on the project, Councilmember David Luna reiterated that the new fields and diamonds planned for Red Mountain Park are separate from the project voters rejected in 2018. “I did want to remind viewers that this is not Mesa Plays,” he said. “There’s some disinformation out there that this is Mesa Plays, that we’re spending more money than was bonded for. That is incorrect information. We are only using voter-approved dollars.” Moore said the new sports fields at Red Mountain are needed to meet high demand for space from athletic teams.

“We have a huge number of hours of field requests that we cannot meet every week, so it adds up,” she said. “That is why the 2018 bond package focused on adding sports fields … in order to try to continue to meet more of that need.”

During a virtual public meeting about the new fields last year, participants aired concerns about the intensity and timing of lights during night games. A city staff member at the time said the lights would be off by 10 p.m., and the parks department would install LED lights that focus illumination on the playing space, with less bleed to surrounding areas than earlier light designs.

The Red Mountain sports expansion area is mostly undeveloped desert, but disc golfers, walkers and horseback riders currently use this portion of the park. The new fields will take up about a third of the 90-acre swath of undeveloped desert at Red Mountain, but Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities staff told council the department is planning to make accommodations so these

had turned away a lot of offers from developers over the years before arriving at this plan.

He praised the project for blending in with the surrounding area, providing the public with trail access and preserving a piece of the area’s agricultural heritage.

In a January Planning & Zoning Board hearing, neighbors were generally supportive of the development as long as the city put in a new fire station to serve the additional houses. Freeman agreed that a station is needed and said he is working to put a fire station at 32nd and McDowell on the ballot for the next bond election.

One of the properties involved in the development is Tyler Farms, a 40-acre horse boarding ranch. Attorney Brian Campbell, a member of the Tyler family and their representative, said the land surrounding Pioneer Crossing is loaded with history. The plans for the PAD, he said, were built around a vision to protect and highlight its history.

The day after the Council vote March 8, Campbell showed the Mesa Tribune some of that history.

Standing on a hill overlooking the Salt River near Tyler Farms, Campbell pointed down the dry river toward a small white obelisk marking the Lehi Crossing. This spot was an important crossing on the Salt River used by traffic from Fort McDowell and pioneer families in the earliest days of Mesa.

Campbell next drew attention to a deep canal originally dug by Native Americans, then re-dug by Mormon pioneers, just below the hill. Now retired from service, the canal is still used to carry water in times of extreme flood, he said.

Campbell then walked along the Sun Circle Trail, a vast loop trail that encircles Phoenix and the surrounding valley and connects with the even larger Maricopa Trail.

Near the spot where the ancient canal meets the Salt River, the cobble walls of a prehistoric village can be seen on a finger of land between the canal and the river. The village was excavated by archaeologists in the 1930s and then backfilled.

Campbell said he knows some of this history because the man who homesteaded Tyler Farms in 1940, Don MacLaren Tyler, took an interest in local history and researched the area.

Using historical documentation, the family believes the ranch is the site of the 1878 Mesa Company’s “river camp,” where the company camped while laying out the townsite of Mesa. If true, that would place the first births and deaths of Mormon settlers on the ranch site, he said. Campbell said there have been surveys of the property for remains of the camp, but none have been identified yet.

Campbell would like to see all of this history highlighted along the Sun Circle Trail with kiosks and other interpretive features.

In more recent history, the Tyler farm played a role in the orchard industry that became an important part of Mesa and is still evident today, with the BB Farms orchards and farm stand just down the road. Tyler, who managed a citrus cooperative in Southern California before moving to Arizona in 1940 “for the sun,” used the Tyler Ranch as a plant nursery for the 1,000-acre Mezona orchard in east Mesa.

Tyler also served as general manager of Arizona Citrus Growers, which later became Arizona Sunkist Growers, of which he was a board member. Tyler died in 1989, but Campbell said the patriarch gave the family the vision to develop the property in a way that showcases its history.

Once the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway went through the area, local landowners understood that development was inevitable and conversations started about what development might look like. The other owners involved in Pioneer Crossing are the two Burden families and the Engels.

“When it became time for everyone to develop, (the landowners) decided on a coordinated vision,” Campbell said.

Jalapeño Buck’s is a part of the agritainment plan for Tyler Farms. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

Brian Campbell holds a photo of Donald Tyler, namesake of Tyler Farms, overlooking the remains of ancient Native American canals between the farm and the Salt River in Mesa. (David Minton/

activities can continue after the expansion of the fields.

One of the biggest conflicts with existing uses is with the park’s two disc golf courses, which have significant overlap with the sports expansion area. City staff said the parks department is working with the Mesa Disc Golf Club to relocate and redesign holes so the park can keep two 18-hole courses.

Staff and council members noted the popularity of the park’s disc golf courses during the study session.

Rob Hart, president of the Mesa Disc Golf Club, told the Mesa Tribune that users of the UDisc app threw 2,494 rounds at Red Mountain Park in 2021. In 2020, the app recorded almost 5,000 plays. These figures capture only a portion of total plays, he said, since not all players use the app.

The disc golf course on the north side of the park will be the most impacted by the creation of the sports fields. Hart

Baseball fields will enable eight teams to play at the same time. (City of Mesa) said this course currently features many long-distance “pro-style” holes. Course steward and professional disc golfer Pete Ulibarri has helped redesign it to fit into a smaller space, with shorter holes requiring precision throws. For Hart, there’s no love lost from the relocation of holes. He said when volunteers helped build the courses several years ago, “the city told us upfront the desert was earmarked for something else.” “The city of Mesa has been really pro disc golf,” he said. Before approving the initial phase of work, council members noted the popularity of horseback riding routes in the undeveloped desert. Moore said the Parks Department will reroute one of the equestrian paths to take it out of the way of the new fields, but these will still be available. The equestrian route is “still there, and still designed in a way that the disc golfers are not throwing their discs toward the horses,” she said. “That’s how that all works together.”

with various recreational amenities south of them. So far, 65 acres of the promised park space have been built or planned, and residents are starting to worry that developers will not build the rest.

Monica Miller, a resident of Eastmark since 2019, said neighbors were disturbed last year when they realized a large section of land previously included in plans for the 106-acre park space was being turned into a residential neighborhood.

“People realized homes were being built where Great Park was intended to go, and no notice was provided,” she said.

“Great Park” is the legal term for the large park including the 2008 Pre-Annexation Agreement signed by DMB Proving Grounds LLC and the city of Mesa.

Since the change to the Great Park plan, residents have been looking at maps of Eastmark and wondering where the rest of the promised park could go.

“A lot of us moved to Eastmark because we have young kids,” Miller said.

Features like the promised pool and sports fields were “really valuable to a lot of home purchasers, and we just want something that is even close to what we were promised,” she said.

Miller and other residents who commented at the council meeting see the land encompassing the plat subdivision under consideration as one of the best prospects for the city and DMB to make good on their promise of 106-acres of park.

The Eastmark residents who spoke questioned whether the proper processes had been followed for approving the plat. They saw a through-road in the subdivision as evidence the developers are not setting aside park space – or even retail and office space, which the area is currently designated for in the general plan.

Miller said if parks aren’t going in, a resident-focused commercial area would at least be better than more warehouses and data centers. Brookfield Residential, which manages Eastmark, responded to requests for information about the plans for this area. “We are confused by any criticism about the Mesa City Council’s recent approval of final plats to bring more technology users to the area,” Senior Vice President of Development Dea McDonald wrote.

“This involves no change in contemplated use and is consistent with existing zoning. In other words, it is another example of the continuing implementation of Eastmark’s innovative, outstanding vision,” McDonald continued.

“We are doing exactly what we said we were going to do,” McDonald continued. “The result has been development at its best. Eastmark has come to be known for its excellence and has become a new point of pride for the State of Arizona.”

Regarding resident fears that Eastmark could fall short of the 106 acres of promised park space, the city auditor partially substantiated these concerns in a report last summer initiated after a resident complained about the changes in the park master.

“Based on the current plan available, Development Services staff acknowledged that it would be difficult for the developer to arrive at the needed acreage without receiving acreage credit from the disc golf course and/or skate park.” The disc golf course and skate park are currently considered amenities of the Eastmark homeowners association and were not included in the Great Park plans. According to the auditor’s finding, the city still believes there is enough space in Eastmark for DMB to fulfill its promise of 106 acres, but the report suggests the city is interested in allowing the company to make up much of the difference by changing the designation of the HOA amenities.

After resident comments were read into the record, Development Services Director Nana Appiah responded to the question of the Great Park.

“There are still areas in the development that have not been developed, and the city is holding the developer responsible for making sure they meet the requirement of the Great Park which has specific amenities,” Appiah said.

The plat subdivision also touched a nerve, Miller said, because of what residents perceive as stilted communications with the development department, which have created distrust over whether the city is following required processes.

Miller said the plat was originally scheduled for the Feb. 28 city council meeting, but the plat was removed from the agenda. Miller said she wasn’t told when it would be back on, so she had to watch out for it.

“They just said ‘it’s been pulled,’” Miller said, “We’re kind of on our own finding it, and it has residents upset because there’s been a long-standing history of changes occurring to the plan without the legal procedure being followed.

“It always feels like they’re trying to not include us in the process,” Miller said.

Appiah responded to accusations that the department had not followed proper procedures in bringing the plat to council, saying the approval of the plat was an administrative decision, and resident notification was not required. He said the plat complied with the master transportation plan.

“In the development plan, there is a specific requirement that says that modifications to the transportation plan can be made administratively by city staff,” Appiah said, “and the premise behind that is once you get specific development, that’s what determines the trip generations and basically the trip distribution.”

Appiah also said the road connecting Signal Butte and Everton Terrance roads was not necessarily in conflict with existing development plans.

“It was anticipated throughout the discussion and the project narrative in the development plan that there was likely to be a road that goes through that [area], even the green space,” he said.

Development Services Director Nana Appiah insisted, “There are still areas in the development that have not been developed, and the city is holding the developer responsible for making sure they meet the requirement of the Great Park.” (YouTube) Eastmark residents say developers are eating into promised park space with plans for more

homes. (City of Mesa)

Pioneer Crossing carves out an “agritainment” district – a portmanteau of agriculture and entertainment – which will be anchored by the BB Farms citrus stand and Jalapeno Bucks, a popular barbecue spot featured on the Arizona Fresh Foodie Trail. The agritainment district will preserve a block of the orange groves and create event and dining spaces among the trees.

The busy Jalapeno Bucks will get enhanced parking, and museum space is planned to honor the Valley’s citrus history. The Burden family will continue to own and operate the agritainment district and its businesses.

One of the features of Pioneer Crossing that Campbell seems most proud of is the trail connectivity planned for the area. The Lehi Loop Shared Use Path, championed by the Lehi Trail Association and passed in the 2018 election, is scheduled to get underway soon. Blandford Homes is working with the city to create a public trailhead at the north end of Val Vista to provide access to the Lehi Loop path as well as the Sun Circle Trail.

An even “higher vision” for Campbell is to see land managers restore the riparian habitat of the Salt River near Pioneer Crossing. With habitat restored, the trails planned in the area would provide even greater attractions for Mesa residents and visitors.

He admits that is likely years away, but he said he will continue working on the vision even after Pioneer Crossing is built out.

“This is a labor of love,” Campbell said. “All the issues – the funding, the restoration – all that’s going to be years in the future. That’s going to be something my kids are going to work on.” This old photo of Donald Tyler, namesake of Tyler Farms, shows him supervising citrus packing when orange groves dominated much of northeast Mesa. (David Minton/Tribune

Staff Photographer)

State starts free summer camp for public school kids

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

Parents who think their kids need a bit of an academic boost can sign up to send them to a free summer camp.

Currently, only organizations that want to actually provide the services must file applications. That ranges from public schools to boys’ and girls’ clubs to the YMCA.

Gubernatorial press aide C.J. Karamargin told Capitol Media Services that in just the first three days about 400 potential hosts already had expressed interest.

What’s next, he said, is reviewing all of the applications. And Karamargin said that’s about more than what kind of academics and programs they intend to offer.

“They will be vetted and checked," he said. “Parents will be trusting their kids to these people."

In the meantime, there are no opportunities for parents to sign up and choose which programs they want for their youngsters.

There is, however, one thing parents can do: Go to the website at “azontrack. com" and put in their names to be notified when there actually are options.

Ducey is funding these programs with $100 million of federal COVID-relief dollars, enough, he said, for about 250,000 students to enroll in the eight-week programs that will be made available. But the governor insisted that if demand is higher he will find additional cash.

There is no cost, with enrollment open to students as young as those entering kindergarten. And it even will cover high school seniors who may need some help getting up to speed to get the credits they need to graduate.

The program, however, is open only to students in traditional public and charter schools. Youngsters attending private or parochial schools are ineligible.

But, for the most part, it won’t be the kind of place with boating and archery. Instead, it’s designed to help them catch up with what they may have missed due to COVID.

The focus, Gov. Doug Ducey said, will be on reading, math and American civics. “This couldn’t come at a more pressing time," he said. "Last year just 38% of our students passed the statewide English arts test and only 31% passed the math test."

Parents can sign up at ontrack.az.gov.

Ducey said this eight-week program will be more than kids parked at their desks, explaining, “This is truly a camp, with activities, games, peer learning and so much more to look forward to."

Former state schools chief Lisa Graham Keegan, whom Ducey tapped to run the program, said that after all of the remote learning, “This is the time to re-engage."

“Our children deserve experiences that reconnect them with the joys of learning," she continued. “And they need to be able to be with their friends as themselves personally and not as avatars."

All of this will be free.

Ducey said he has set aside $100 million of federal COVID relief funds, enough, he said, for about 250,000 students to enroll in these eight-week programs. And he promised to find additional dollars if the demand is higher.

Keegan said parents actually will be presented with multiple options from which to choose, giving them an opportunity to select a program they believe is best suited for their children.

But there is one restriction: The program is open only to students in traditional public and charter schools. Youngsters at private or parochial schools are ineligible. The first step, she said, is doing outreach. Keegan promised a lot of promotion, including working with schools to ensure their students -- and their parents -- are aware of the option. There is one other issue: finding qualified teachers to staff the programs in a state where schools have had a hard time filling vacancies.

“That is the biggest issue for all of our schools,’’ Keegan said.

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THE MESA TRIBUNE | MARCH 13, 2022

Citizens question cost of Lehi Loop ‘pet project’

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

Several citizens raised concerns last month over a new $5.6 million shared-use recreational pathway that will extend for 2.2 miles in Lehi.

Citizens brought concerns at the Transportation Advisory Board meeting last month about the Lehi Loop Shared Use Path that will run along the Salt River Project canal and State Route 202, include two trailheads, and utilize an existing tunnel crossing beneath Val Vista Drive.

“The Transportation Department seems hell-bent on wanting to waste a huge chunk of our limited active transportation budget on a path that would only service a few ranch houses in northeast Mesa,” Luis Montes said.

Montes operates the Facebook group BikeMesa whose stated purpose is “working to make bicycling a prominent, safe, and convenient form of transportation and recreation in Mesa, Arizona and surrounding areas.”

Overall, Montes said the plan ignores most residents that need safe paths for commuting and “should be a low priority.”

“It’s clearly someone’s pet project, but it’s being funded with our tax dollars,” he said, noting that the city removed plans and timelines from the city website.

“We’re basically blind to whatever they’re currently working on,” he said. Mesa officials said project budgets are updated annually in the city’s Capital Improvement Program that’s approved by City Council.

Ryan Wozniak, a member of the BikeMesa group, said the city fielded some questions from the community at a council study session last Aug. 26, but “has been awfully quiet since.”

“Since that presentation, there hasn’t been an update or clarification of the strategy,” he said. “I think they are attempting to maximize where pots of money is to be spent.”

City spokesman Kevin Christopher said Mesa residents voted in 2018 to approve bonds for three shared-use paths totaling $12.4 million that included the Lehi project as part of the $196 million bond for upgrades to parks, public safety and cultural institutions. During the design phase of many capital projects, the city said it holds public meetings to get citizen feedback regarding the project, aesthetics, overall function and cost estimates. The city held a virtual public meeting in June 2021 to present design concepts, schedule, and budget for the Lehi Loop Path. The Transportation Department said the project is currently under design and scheduled to begin construction this year with completion Lehi residents are concerned about the $5.6 million cost of this planned 2.2 mile pathway. (City of Mesa) in 2023. The city said before construction begins, the city will solicit bids from contractors for the project and the lowest bid is selected and approved at a council meeting. “If another method of construction contracting is used, City Council is notified of cost and schedule before the contract is executed,” Christopher said. “So that questions/concerns can be dealt with before having a contract.”

EASTMARK from page 8

Council members appeared concerned that, regardless of who was right or wrong, there was so much difference in understanding between development services staff and residents at this point in the process;

“Does this have to be approved now?” Councilmember David Luna asked Appiah. “To give residents an opportunity to weigh in – they feel like they’ve not had the opportunity to weigh in – do we wait two weeks?”

Appiah resisted delaying the plat, saying the plat would just allow the property to be sold, and there are contracts waiting to be signed. The property would still have to go through a final site plan for development, he said.

The city attorney jumped in to comment on the prospect of delaying the subdivision plat.

“This is an administrative function in which council decides whether or not the process was followed,” City Attorney Jim Smith said. “You’ve heard Dr. Appia explain why it does comply with processes. … Council could continue the case to have more outreach to the citizens, but the same case will come back in two weeks to determine whether it complies with code.”

Miller thought it was “revealing” that a two-week delay created concern for city staff, even when council members seemed open to it.

The council member who represents the district where the plat is located could have been an influential voice on the matter, but he was sitting on the sidelines.

District 6 Councilman Kevin Thompson recused himself from the discussion after realizing during the meeting that his firm Broadmore Consulting represents the designer of the plat.

According to Broadmore’s website, Thompson’s firm helps businesses navigate government processes.

“We specialize on local municipal governments,” the website states. “Whether business development, permits, policy, or procurement, we help open doors, build reputations, and shape public poli-

Councilman Kevin Thompson, who represents Eastmark, declined to go along with his colleagues. (YouTube) cy for businesses like yours.” “It seemed convenient in the moment for him to conflict himself out,” Miller said of Thompson’s recusal from the issue. The council approved the plat 6-0 with Thompson abstaining.

Build-to-rent community taking shape in Mesa

TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF

The growing build-to-rent trend is emerging in East Mesa as the first tenant is ready to move into one of the homes in the new gated Christopher Todd Communities at Ellsworth.

Though build-to-rent has been around for several decades, lifestyle and the increasing cost of housing are prompting investors to shift billions of dollars into that segment of the residential housing market, numerous analysts have noted in recent months.

“That’s a huge shift in preference to renting homes rather than apartments,” said Todd Wood, CEO of Christopher Todd Communities, a Mesa-based company that has partnered with national home builder Taylor Morrison to create innovative single-story luxury rental home communities. Todd also noted that 43% of Gen Z – the generation born between 1997 and 2012 – prefer renting to buying, according to the National Apartment Association.

Among them is Madison Murphy, who is preparing to move into one of the homes that are nearly completed in the Christopher Todd Communities at Ellsworth, where 57 homes are currently being finished and another 87 are due for completion later this year.

A nursing student at Arizona State University, Murphy said she was searching for a rental that would provide her a more peaceful setting as she has a busy schedule.

She said that when she discovered Christopher Todd Communities At Ellsworth in Mesa, she knew she had found what she was seeking: a place convenient to school and to a hospital where she will be gaining valuable on-the-job training.

“Having a gated community with smart home technology and resort-style amenities will make my life easier and provide a place to de-stress. I’m excited to have a place of my own so I can focus on my goals while also enjoying the pool and fitness studio in my free time,” she said. The 144-home community, located at 250 N. Ellsworth Road, includes a smart gated entry, single-story one- and twobedroom smart homes with private backyards, pet doors, upgraded interiors with all appliances including washer and dryer.

The technology package includes keyless door entry, and entertainment and climate

Madison Murphy will be one of the first tenants to move into a build-to-rent home in the Christopher Todd Communities at Ellsworth in Mesa. (Courtesy Christopher Todd Communities) This home is representative of the Desert Contemporary architecture featured at Christopher Todd Communities At Ellsworth. (Christopher Todd Communities) control via smart phone or tablet. The homes are complemented with a resort-style pool, fitness studio event lawn and Serenity Park. The community is in pre-leasing mode and phase one is already 70 percent leased. Rents start at under $1,600 a month.

Information: ChristopherToddEllsworth.com

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THE MESA TRIBUNE | MARCH 13, 2022

Disabled dog helps couple cope with illness, disability

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

Champ looks a little different than other dogs but he still takes life one paw at a time. The 4-month-old Chihuahua Mix was born without his front paws but that doesn’t stop his “little chicken wings” from running, jumping and leaping like other dogs, said his owner, Pamela Andersen, 54, of Mesa.

Champ also is a joy to her husband Andrew Kuzyk, 60, while he battled through chemotherapy and recovers from surgery due to brain cancer.

“He is such a joy to us,” she said. “I just feel like he’s here for a reason for us.”

The couple moved from Michigan to Arizona in 2007 but Pamela rescued her chihuahuas Charlie and Claire from Georgia in 2020. That’s when the dogs had the first litter of puppies.

Champ was one of six puppies born in November 2021 as part of her second litter that should have never been because she’d planned to neuter Charlie sooner than she did.

“I didn’t do it fast enough,” she said.

Initially, Claire had rejected Champ and that led many of their friends to say they should just let die, Andrew said.

He decided he would do nothing of the sort and took him under his wing because he said he feels “very similar to him.”

“He makes me feel good,” he said. “He operates his life like he has no disability.”

While the couple both said Champ entered their life and became such a “blessing,” Andrew credits much of his fighting spirit to his Christian faith.

“There’s no way I’d be here without divine intervention,” he said. “I have total faith.”

Though, he’s not giving up, Andrew said he will not take part in chemotherapy anymore and simply just live his life.

“I’ll just live my life and whatever happens happens,” he said.

Andrew was diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2021 and had surgery Nov. 1. While the surgery removed most of it, he said some remains because its inoperable due to the location in his brain.

While Champ uses his elbows to run around just fine – as well as standing on his hind legs – his owners have researched buying a wheelchair but costs average more than $300.

Andrew said his medical bills have exceeded more than $1 million just for his own surgery. His wife had shoulder surgery on Dec. 27 from a fall.

With both of them on disability, veterinarian bills and a $300 wheelchair for Champ don’t appear possible, they said.

Despite all these dire circumstances, when Andrew feels depressed about his situation, he simply picks Champ up and finds the solace and inspiration to carry on.

“He’s going through that,” he said. “I can go through this.”

Champ the Chihuahua doesn’t let his missing front legs interfere with the normal activities most any dog engages in. (David Min-

ton/Tribune Staff Photographer) Pamela Andersen and her husband Andrew Kuzyk draw a lot of comfort from Champ the Chihuahua and have little doubt that goes two ways with their cherished pet.

(David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

BASEBALL from page 3

need,” he said. “Any work we want to do they’re there ready for us.”

He said as a young player, it’s great to have facetime with others because it gets him better acquainted in the league.

“Putting some names to the faces in the association as a younger player has been really nice to do as well,” Hoerner said.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom said the “top notch” facility has helped bring players together as more than just competitors.

“It’s nice to just get guys from other teams around…and get to know him as a person as other than just the player on the other side of the field.

Bell Bank Park President Brett Miller said opening their facilities to the players to help them best prepare for the upcoming season showed the true capabilities of the complex.

“It was an unbelievable experience to showcase all of our state-of-the-art facilities and amenities as a one-stop shop.”

Although it was brief, Miller said lines of communications are always open to anyone of any sport who want to start a dialogue with the facility.

“We’ve got the ability to provide and serve a multitude of sporting departments all under one roof,” he said.