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For the Town of Snowflake, 2019 will bring the long awaited completion of a 15 year project to divert the flood water from the industrial park as well as continuing the expansion of hiking and biking trails throughout the northwestern portion of the town and beginning to formulate plans with the Town of Taylor to create a recreational center.
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The completion of the Northern Solution, which will start in January with a finish date before summer, will wrap up a 15 year project that has cost $4.5 million from federal, state, county and local sources to pull the industrial park out of the flood plain.
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Town Manager Brian Richards shared that the project began in 2003 after the industrial park was flooded. “The industrial park turned out to be in a flood plain,” said Richards. With the aid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds, the town was able to create the Southern Solution, which included the large cement lined canal beside the railroad tracks.
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“We have made significant improvements on the flooding in that area,” continued Richards. “Once we finish the Northern Solution, then we can file a letter for map revision with FEMA and have the approximately 250 acres of land from the industrial park removed from the flood plain, which will mean that people won’t have to pay flood insurance.”
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While there are several businesses within the park, Copperstate Farms, the medical marijuana agribusiness that is currently growing eight and a half acres, is the largest and owns an additional 85 acres east of the greenhouses. Employing approximately 230 people and with the town receiving $94,000 yearly from their business license, Richards said, “Copperstate is definitely helping the town, directly as well as indirectly because those employees shop in our stores and there is a ripple effect from their payroll.”
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Another new business that recently opened in the park is making woodchips for playground cover that is being shipped nationwide.
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Richards also noted that two and half years ago, the town annexed land purchased by Mountain Time Management just east of the old pig farm across from Ballard Trusses. Mountain Time is an indoor/outdoor medical marijuana grow facility that employees approximately 15 people. The business licensing from Mountain Time, nets the town $6,000 each year.
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The other flood project is the Fire Station-School Project, which is in environmental review. Richards said this project will divert water that has been flooding the Snowflake High School football field. FEMA will provide 75 percent of the funds, with the town matching the remaining 25 percent through labor and equipment in-kind match. The project is expected to cost approximately $500,000.
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“We are hoping that the diversion of the water will solve this problem for the school,” said Richards. “The district is thinking about replacing their grass field with artificial turf but can’t until the flooding issue is resolved.”
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Speaking of grass, the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department Parking Lot Project is scheduled to be finished by April. “The lawn will be taken out and replaced with parking, which will make the town more environmentally conscious as we won’t need to water and maintain that grass.”
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Another aspect the town is pushing is outdoor recreation through the creation of a trail system that Richards is hoping will one day connect the towns of Snowflake and Taylor, giving residents and visitors options of hiking and biking around and through the various nature areas of the towns.
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Richards said the S Trail is completed with exception of the signage, which is slated to be done soon. “As people get more active, they need more to do,” noted Richards. “We want to add trails every year and we even want some single track mountain bike trails.”
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But like everything, it takes time and money and there is only so much Snowflake can budget each year for the trail projects. The donations of $1,000 from Red Roof Mini Storage and $1,000 from DW Lusk Contracting helped with getting the S Trail done. Richards did want folks to know that there are some steep areas on that trail, especially on the wash connectors. “We would ask that people riding bikes use helmets and protection.”
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After the Northern Solution is completed this year Richards said he is looking to begin working on more trails including the Canyon Trail and the West Garden Trail.
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At this time, Snowflake has three main hiking trails that cover nearly five miles: the S Trail, which is 2.42 miles long and has an elevation climb of nearly 100 feet with some 17 percent slopes; the Copperstate Loop, which is a mile long; and the Cottonwood Wash Trail, which is 1.8 miles long and travels to Pinhead Knoll.
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Snowflake continues to work with Taylor on a variety of things. Richards said the ongoing relationship between the two towns has improved a lot. By sharing the services of the police and fire departments and the library, both towns have saved money. Even the proceeds of Wal-Mart are split between the two towns.
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While Snowflake has the bigger population of people, Taylor has the larger city sales tax base. “We combine all the revenues into the calculation for each entity’s split of shared services expenditures and we have essentially created one local economy,” said Richards. “We are not competing with each other over businesses, and it absolutely saves money through the combined efforts of our shared services.”
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The thought of creating a joint recreation center is the most economical solution. “We have an architect working on the pool right now,” said Richards. “We are looking at the cost of either retrofitting the current pool facility or creating another facility for the pool. The pool building is 60 years old and it needs a new roof and the pool needs to be redone as well as the bathrooms and the pool filtration system. It was built in the 1950s and was never designed to last as long as it has.
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“We want to work on some kind of recreation center, maybe a combination with the pool and athletic ball court,” continued Richards. “Maybe we can retrofit the pool and in Taylor we can build a multipurpose facility. Whatever we do, we are going to do it together.”
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When asked how the failure of Proposition 419, the proposed jail tax, will impact the town, Richards simply said, “I don’t know for sure. It’s going to affect everyone in the county equally. The county could increase the jail fees. We pay less because we try to do things to keep our expenses low. Snowflake and Taylor have the smallest city sales tax collections of all the cities and towns in Navajo County, so we do what we can to keep our expenses lower.”
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