CHINO VALLEY - The Chino Valley Town Council Thursday approved a conditional use permit for the Appaloosa Meadows subdivision's water company to install an arsenic treatment system at its main well on the northwest side of town.
Appaloosa's 1.25-acre primary well complex stands on the northwest corner of West Road 3 North and North Road 1 West, and currently distributes drinking water from a 60,000-gallon storage tank to about 230 homes in the community.
Maurice Lee of Phoenix-based Analytical Water Solutions, a state certified specialist in arsenic and fluoride removal, will put in the equipment.
Lee said the water currently serving the subdivision contains anywhere from 15 to 17 parts per billion of arsenic, which exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency standard of 10 ppb.
"This equipment will take the arsenic level here to between 0 and 2 ppb," he said.
After a 30-day legal waiting period, Lee plans to attach the equipment at the well site.
On Friday, Lee filed his plans with the town for the conditional use permit. This past fall, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality approved the installation of Lee's equipment.
Joe Cordovana, president of the privately held Appaloosa Water Co., said he has two other wells, including one on Harrison Drive that also will benefit from the arsenic treatment.
Cordovana added it will cost him about $200,000 to get the equipment installed, but he will apply for a $225,000 government loan to offset the payment.
At this time, Appaloosa Water Co. has not filed a rate case with the Arizona Corporation Commission to increase rates for its customers.
"I have just started working with the Arizona Corporation Commission to try to obtain the loan," he said.
As part of the conditional use permit, Cordovana's company will construct a new building to house the arsenic removal system west of the complex's existing storage tank and put in a 5,000-gallon backwash tank.
Lee said it takes just two weeks to install an arsenic treatment system and will put it in later this winter.
"Building it takes longer than anything," he said. "When the system's finished, it's simply a matter of sliding it in place and doing the plumbing work."
IN OTHER BUSINESS, THE COUNCIL:
• Tabled indefinitely a vote on four conditional use permits for the City of Prescott to install arsenic treatment equipment on four of its well sites in Chino Valley.
The City of Prescott and the Town of Chino Valley have yet to come to terms on an intergovernmental agreement tied to the issuance of these permits, one that has delayed the council's decision.
• Agreed to the conceptual site plan, landscape plan and building elevations for the proposed Headington Plaza office shell building at 759 N. Highway 89.
• Officially appointed Development Services Director Jerry Stricklin indefinitely to acting town manager. Stricklin replaces Town Manager Bill Pupo, who will retire from government service at the end of the month.
In an executive session, the council set an annual salary of $129,000 for Stricklin.
Vice Mayor Joel Baker said Stricklin will receive a $600-per-month vehicle expense allowance, but he will retain a standard employee benefit package, which contains no fringe benefits and will save the town money.
• Re-appointed Garland Miner, Dorothy Schmidt, Curt Skousen and Florence Sloan to the Planning and Zoning Commission with terms ending Jan. 31, 2011.
The council also appointed Carol Diamond and Cheryl Romley to new positions on the town's Industrial Development Authority, with terms expiring June 30, 2011, and June 30, 2013, respectively. Councilman Ron Romley abstained from the vote because Cheryl is his wife.
