A Message from Steve K...08/21/2023

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Date: 08/21/2023

Topics in This Issue:

Long Term Hospice

I’m starting this week with a couple of sad notes. Many of you know or know of my brother Pete. Many of you have also shared your own story about managing dementia-related conditions. So, I’ll share that his Dementia condition that began with Aphasia has now progressed to the point at which his wife has to bring in long term hospice assistance. At least he’s still at home. Here’s what long term hospice is -

Long-term hospice is for people with a life-limiting illness who might need longer support. Some reasons for long-term care could be: You don't have the support necessary at home. Your illness is taking over your life, and you need constant medical care.

The main difference between hospice care and a nursing home is that a nursing home is a long-term-care facility, while hospice care is limited to six months, and it can be managed at home. Another difference is cost – hospice is covered by Medicare. I wish I had known about this for my mom.

Our health system requires you to essentially be destitute before the state will step in and pay even for catastrophic irreversible care. According to the National Institutes of Health, about 90% of patients die within the six-month timeframe after entering a long-term hospice care relationship. If a patient has been in hospice for six months but a doctor believes they are unlikely to live another six months, they may renew their stay in hospice. If you can’t find a doctor to state that then you’re on your own.

I know so many of you who are dealing with dementia-related challenges within your own families. It’s a terrible, progressive condition. Jimmy Carter is in hospice. Here’s a link from Apple News that describes his situation and the program in pretty good detail: https://apple.news/A8odWWgwUSQehnFCFbfRFxA 

Ann Buckmaster

And this. Losing a spouse must be like losing a part of who you are. We at the ward 6 office want to come alongside our friend and Tucson media gem Bill Buckmaster in support as he grieves the loss of his wife Ann. As I said to Bill, there are no words that can ease the sting of the blow. Please offer your prayers for the entire Buckmaster family as they work through this huge loss.

Yellow Brick Coffee 

Last week they started prepping to paint the interior of the ward 6 office. A contractor has been hired to replace the roof. Flooring is being ordered and things are moving along towards our returning ‘home’ so we can open up shop once again.  

Until we’re able to use the ward office again please continue to call and email. Other than the walk-up business that was a daily thing, we’re still responding to all of your inquiries. This week we’re taking one more step to stay/re-connect with you. One of the more popular ‘transactions’ we had at the ward office was people coming and asking for some plastic bags to help with their plastic collecting. On Thursday from 10am until about noon our staff volunteer Mark Crum will be holding the fort down outside Yellow Brick Coffee – in the Benedictine retail plaza. He’ll have bags with him to give out and will be available to answer your questions about the program – or other issues of importance. Constituent/customer service is our #1 priority so we’re trying to find ways to not miss a beat, despite the hiccup the relocation has caused. 

Customer Dis-service – The Arizona Daily Star

I’m a subscriber to the Arizona Daily Star. It comes to my house most every morning. I felt it’d be a nice touch to subscribe at the office so my staff and visitors would have it to browse through. So we went online and subscribed. Here’s the account history – it's more expensive than I had thought when I made the call to sign up. 

I only mention this to alert you that the Star is not locally owned. It’s a part of Lee Enterprises – a conglomerate that owns multiple media outlets all over the country. It’s the same as our ‘local’ television stations. Do you ever wonder why local news gets such little coverage? It’s because local issues cost them more to report than simply pulling in stories from AP or other national outlets. If you choose to take the Star at your home, you might want to consider avoiding paying ahead. You won’t get the money back if something happens and you have to cancel. And whatever rate you’re paying is likely much different than say your neighbor is paying, depending on which Carlos you and your neighbor connected with when you signed on.

This is one of the reasons online news coming from The Sentinel, Luminaria and The Agenda are so important and are welcome additions to the local media mix.

Customer Service – Tucson Water

Last week during some routine water well sampling, Tucson Water detected some E Coli in untreated water out at a well on Speedway and Camino Seco. I’ve circled it on the map shown below. That well feeds into the larger central Tucson system so TW went ahead and tested numerous other wells within that service area. None of them came back positive. The well out east was immediately taken out of service and throughout this week staff will be doing more tests to detect the source of the issue at that one well.

As is required by the EPA Tucson Water issued this map over the weekend to our customers. I’m sharing it here for a couple of reasons. First and most importantly is to make clear that the shaded area on the map is where they did the further testing and found no contamination. So, if you get the notice don’t misread its intent.

The second reason I’m sharing the map is if you live in a multi-family (apartment, assisted living facility, etc.) setting your co-residents may not have seen it. The letter would have gone to the ‘customer’ which in those kinds of situations would be the manager. If you share it with others please make clear that Tucson Water has shut down the well where they found the contaminant, the water they tested had not been treated, we treat all of the water before it’s served to customers and there is no reason for concern based on the letter you may have seen. The letter was sent as per EPA rules, not to be alarmist.

And the letter was sent as a signal of good customer service – in counterpoint to what happens if you try getting a refund on pre-paid subscription money from Lee Enterprises (aka, the Star.)

Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona

During last fiscal year my office donated several thousand dollars to CHRPA. It’s a local non-profit that does home repair work for low-income residents and seniors. I like to give updates on how well they’re investing those dollars into the community, both to validate the importance of the donations, and to encourage others to also support their work.

Here’s an example of the kind of repair work CHRPA does. This is the old and new of a water valve that was leaking before / and is solid and secure after.

The average cost of repair work done was around $1,300. The maximum amount on a given job was just over $8,000. Those are big dollars for our families who are living paycheck to paycheck, or who are on fixed incomes. My staff and I appreciate the commitment CHRPA and their team has for taking care of those in need throughout the community. We’ll continue financially supporting them. If you’d like to learn how you can too, check them out at http://www.chrpaz.org/  

Trafficking 

Cone with a Cop 

On a bit of a lighter law enforcement note, representatives from our midtown division of TPD will be at the new Dairy Queen on Monday, August 28th from 5pm until 7pm sharing time with residents. Come on by and meet the officers who are working hard in midtown every day. They’ll be there to answer your questions, but most importantly to meet you and introduce themselves. We non-coffee drinkers felt left out at the coffee with a cop events. Everybody loves DQ cones, so this is a not-to-be-missed chance to beat the heat and meet a cop in a totally non-controversial setting. 

Tucson Plastic Program 

Since we adopted the service agreement with ByFusion the focus has been on standing up a facility for them to operate out of here in Tucson. We’re the only city in the world to ramp up a production facility at the scale we’re going to. In the service agreement we’ve identified Los Reales Sustainability Campus (LRSC) as the location. Tomorrow we’ll be voting to approve a change in that location.

Construction costs are soaring. At present costs the expense of building a ground-up facility at LRSC would be at a minimum roughly $2.5M. Probably more based on cost estimates projected by the architects we have looking at the scope of that work. In fact, on Friday I got a call from the lead developer on a proposed multi-housing project we’ve been working on at Rosemont and Broadway. They pulled out of the deal because of the combination of construction costs and interest rates. There’s no way our building at Los Reales would have come in at under $3M. So, I’ve been scouting around for a more cost-effective alternative and believe we’ve now got one identified.

John Ash is a friend who works for CBRE realty. He called me a while back and asked if I knew of a city operation that might benefit from a property, he had available over on Plumer. I met him on site one day and it became clear that if deal points could be worked out the Plumer site would be a far superior option for ByFusion than building an entire new facility out at the landfill. Both sides wanted to see this be a success so coming to terms on the lease was easy.

All the M&C need to do on Tuesday is approve an amendment to the service agreement that changes the location of the site. When that happens, this is where we’ll begin working to do improvements to the building so ByFusion can move their blocker machine in and get to work.

The site is just over 4 acres so if needed the city can use some of the space for other needs. There are two large ‘60’s vintage quonset huts and an office/storage building on the property. The larger of the quonset huts is about 11,000 square feet on the inside. We were going to build a 10,000 sq/ft facility for BF out at the landfill. Here’s a view of the interior of that building.

The city will lease the site and none of the terms BF had already agreed to for operating out at Los Reales will change. Doing the tenant improvements at Plumer will be significantly less costly than it would have been to build a new structure of this size at LRSC. So, by the end of our meeting on Tuesday we should be all set with an address for ByFusion. And with that it’ll be all-systems go for them to construct the blocker and for us to get to work modifying the Plumer site so it’s ready for them to move into. Given that it’s centrally located it’ll serve as a perfect location for ByFusion to host instructional events for schools and the public.

More good news on the plastics program from last week. Therapeutic Riding of Tucson (TROT) is a non-profit that uses horses in therapy for autistic kids, veterans with PTSD and others. Their tack room is right now an old single-wide trailer. Last week their board approved moving ahead with a contractor and architect I introduced them to and building a new, larger tack room using ByBlocks. It’ll be roughly 800 square feet. We’re in early design. I expect the Plumer site to take about 7 months to complete. I’ll be surprised if TROT isn’t using their new tack room well ahead of that.

With all of that going on we also made a little progress on the Do It Yourself kits for benches. This is a rendering of just one of the models that’ll soon be available. ByFusion is putting together the marketing material, pricing and they’ve got a 3^rd party vendor selected to put the kits together and send them out. I’ll share the full menu of options when they get it ready for prime time. I know several groups are waiting.

Last week was another 6+ ton donation week. Thank you for continuing to show your support of this project. It’s great to be able to share some real progress this week, and to tag it with another record-setting week from all of you. Here’s the list of drop-off locations.

Rosemont/Broadway Rezoning

Above I mentioned that the developer of the Rosemont/Broadway proposal had pulled out of the deal due to construction costs and interest rates. Our whole effort at building affordability into housing is constrained by much more than just building and zoning codes. Here’s a little history on the Rosemont project.

In 2015 the city council agreed to rezone the SW corner of Rosemont and Broadway for a grocery store. After the agreement the small strip mall sitting on the site was demolished. Then the grocery deal fell through and the neighbors were left with a 7-acre vacant lot. Here’s how it looks today:

In 2018 the city council agreed to a rezoning of that parcel so a micro-hospital could be built. Shortly after that approval the deal fell through. Then came an agreement for a mid-range apartment complex. That deal also fell through. Each time the deals failed it was due to costs associated with the construction and the cost of money. The lot sits vacant, except for the times of year when a pumpkin patch and Christmas tree vendor moves in. 

For the past several months we’ve been meeting with the developer and neighbors talking about a higher end apartment complex. The flag is Way Pointe. Their product is nice – not knock your socks off great, but ok aesthetically. It certainly doesn’t scream Tucson or the southwest in its design. 

The zoning examiner recommended denial of the rezoning request. In his concluding statement he said the project ‘degrades’ the neighborhood. City staff is citing how it would address climate action, housing needs, comply with our Move Tucson goals and transit-oriented development. Their clear leaning is that we ignore the zoning examiner’s recommendation and approve the project.

Following the zoning examiner hearing the developer appealed to the M&C. The city is responsible for sending out public notices for that hearing. The notices were flawed so the public hearing on this project was being postponed until our September 6^th meeting. 

Before Way Pointe pulled out of the deal, I had reached out to both sides encouraging them to get together to try to hammer out a deal getting us to a yes. Moving the massing to the Broadway face would help. Identifying some traffic mitigation solutions would help. Providing some buffering or reduced parking would all help. Within that small window of time everyone was committed to doing our best to reach a deal. Now we’re back to the drawing board and will wait on proposal #5 for the site.

We hear enough about NIMBYism. I share this story to highlight there’s a lot more that goes into whether or not a deal makes it than just input from surrounding neighbors.

Prop 101 Road Work

Proposition 101 is our 10-year ½ cent sales tax that’s earmarked for 80% road reconstruction and 20% safety enhancements. Coming this week there will be some work taking place in midtown that you might want to avoid.

In order to minimize impacts on the public crews are now largely working during the nighttime. But you’ll still see some impacts. Between 6pm and 5am from today through the end of the month there will be crews doing crack sealing on these roadway segments:

Later this fall crews will return to lay a thin layer of asphalt emulsion to help seal the existing surface to preserve it for an extended time. This is your tax money at work, making your commute more enjoyable.

Personal Budgeting Assistance

Being able to manage your own financial affairs is often one of the keys to prolonging your independent living. Sometimes the loss of a spouse puts a new set of financial management responsibilities on the remaining person. At other times the loss of sight, or a physical disability makes it difficult or impossible for a person to do things such as check writing or keyboarding. Pima Council on Aging (PCOA) is offering a series of free informational sessions to help people navigate those challenges.

The aim of the sessions is to train people in becoming a Personal Budgeting Assistance Volunteer. There’ll be 3 sessions, each containing the same information. Each of the training sessions will be held in-person only, and you must register if you’re going to attend. To register please go to https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/personal-budgeting-volunteer-information-session-2451559.https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/personal-budgeting-volunteer-information-session-2451559 Here’s a schedule for the sessions – choose just one.

Fall Gem Shows

Since COVID the gem shows have been making a slow recovery. The fall shows are back to levels we haven’t seen since 2019. That’s a great indicator for what’s to come in the spring. Starting on Labor Day weekend you’ll have several to choose from.

As is true of the spring shows, some of the fall gem shows are for the public and some are for wholesalers. Our friends at Visit Tucson have put together a map that’ll guide you to whatever you’re looking for. The shows are generally in similar locations as to what you’re used to in the spring. We at the ward 6 office are grateful to Jane Roxbury for her hard work on managing this information.

Use this link to see all of what’s coming during the fall gem show season.

https://www.visittucson.org/tucson-gem-mineral-fossil-showcase/

Water is Life Celebration

Our friends at the Loft, Sustainable Tucson and Watershed Management Group are teaming up and bringing a short film showcase that’ll run throughout the day on Saturday, September 16^th. It’ll begin at the WMG living lab with a family ‘how to’ instructional on making your own rainwater harvesting basin and conclude at the Loft with short films covering all-things water.

The WMG living lab is located at 1137 N. Dodge, just off Speedway. From 8am until 11am they’ll host Family Saturday where the WMG staff will teach you how to make your own basin. They’ll send you home with a free build-your-own-basin kit. Then at 11:30 you’ll tour their whole facility seeing all the creative ways you can join WMG in conserving water at your own home.

The Loft joins the day of activities beginning at 2pm. There will be live music to kick off the series of short-film documentaries. They’ll have 8 films in total. A sampling of them include:

• Andrew Brown’s “Free Water” features local water champion Brad Lancaster sharing how we can take advantage of a largely untapped source of water: the rain that falls on our streets and yards.
• Mike Foster’s “Reintroduction of Beavers in the San Pedro” demonstrates how beaver dams can help restore the watershed by slowing down and spreading the water so it sinks in.
• Laura M. Norman’s “Can Rock Dams Reverse Climate Change?” shares the story of how ranch owners Valer and Josiah Clark installed over a thousand rock dams and created a lush riparian habitat on their ranch using only the land’s natural rainfall. Valer Clark will be present at the screening.
• Leslie Ann Epperson’s “Prayer Run for the Santa Ritas” follows Marlinda Francisco on her protest run to protect the land and water on the Tohono O’odham reservation.

You can see the full list of the films at this link: (full list on Loft website) Following the films there’ll be a short Q&A with some of the film makers and other water experts. For information on how to sign up for the WMG events use this link: https://sustainabletucson.org/agua-es-vida/

Film tickets are available at regular admission prices from The Loft Cinema, but passes will be accepted for this event: https://loftcinema.org/film/agua-es-vida-short-film-showcase

RTA Update

We’ll have yet another RTA update on Tuesday’s agenda. The RTA board is targeting the spring of 2025 for the RTA Next election. Here’s the motion the RTA board passed that sets that time frame into play:

Acronyms – the CAC is the citizens advisory committee. The TMC is the RTA’s technical management committee. Each has been kicking around proposed ballot ideas, shifting dollars from category to category and trying to scatter the ornaments on the Christmas tree sufficiently to get a majority of the regional support. The motion refers to the RTA endorsing the ‘pessimistic’ revenue projections. They had 3 options for 20-year revenue projections presented by the UA Eller college. The pessimistic is set to yield about $2.3B over the next 20 years. In previous newsletters I’ve shared the competing budget proposals offered by the CAC and the TMC. Ultimately, it’ll be the full RTA board that decides what goes to the ballot. In their motion they have essentially told the two committees that they’ve got until December 6^th to come up with something for the board to act on. The board of course reserved the right to reject what comes to them and put their own proposal together.

The CAC has been focused on fitting the available dollars into the various categories, not really trying to identify specific projects to fund. In their last draft framework, they had proposed removing $100M in contingency money from the budget. Anybody who has ever managed a major capital project will recognize that idea doesn’t reflect the realities of cost escalation, scope-creep and the need to keep a buffer. I expect the full board to push back on that.

The CAC also proposed increasing funding for public transportation. That’s another area I expect the full board to resist. And the full board already rejected the CAC proposal to increase the ask from a ½ cent to .6 cents.

There’s still no money in any of the proposals for road repair, and every time the M&C sign a new agreement for funding with the RTA for our existing projects there’s a section in the agreement that binds the city to paying for any cost increases over the budgeted ballot amount. That failure to address inflation has still not been addressed despite the RTA staff having recognized there has been significant cost escalation within the existing projects.

The update comes Tuesday. It seems the RTA board has already signaled they’re ready to shift from the ‘what goes to the ballot’ part of the process to identifying the ballot measure and starting the public marketing phase.

Neighbors helping Neighbors

We’re all watching how the Maui residents are doing what people do. And now Southern California has put the horrific Hawaii fires on the 2^nd page – in times of need we find ways to put our differences aside and come to one anothers’ aid. I’ve shared in previous newsletters the Building A Resilient Neighborhood (BaRN) effort to get neighborhoods in Tucson ready in case there is a neighborhood-wide emergency. Coming on both September 5^th and 6^th Tucson residents who represent a wide cross-section of neighborhoods will join with Physicians for Social Responsibility and share how your neighborhood, mobile home park, apartment complex or street can prepare for the time when that neighbor-to-neighbor outreach is needed.

One concept they’ll introduce is a CAP (Connect and Protect.) Just as there are block watch leads in neighborhood watch programs, under the BaRN resiliency program a CAP block will have a connector who’ll help to organize and maintain your connection. Some of the things a connector will do include these:

• Sharing emergency preparedness information in the HOUSEHOLD EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST so that neighbors are better prepared in advance of an emergency.
• Collecting contact information on their block from residents who are willing, so that neighbors can reach each other in an emergency.
• Serving as the primary contact on their block for the Neighborhood Association or HOA in case of extended power outage or another catastrophe.

The informational meetings on the resiliency programs will be held by Zoom only. You must register. Here are the links for you to sign up for whichever of the two sessions you’re interested in. Each session runs for an hour and there will be monthly update meetings offered.

Sep 5, 2023, 4:00 pm

Register here

       OR

Sep 6, 2023 7:00 pm

Register here

Sincerely,

Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov

City of Tucson Resources

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