The city of Apache Junction may review the methods with which it communicates projects to residents after unhappy homeowners filed a petition against the city for roadwork they claim destroyed the rural character of their street.
“Although we communicated in advance in writing with the neighborhood, the project has made it clear that we can and must do more,” Giao Pham, the city’s public works director, said in an e-mailed response to questions last week.
Twenty-eight citizens signed a petition that was presented to the Apache Junction City Council during its regular meeting Feb. 18. Most of them reside along North Acacia Road, where the roadwork was done, as well as neighboring East Manzanita Street, East Tepee Street to the north and East Superstition Boulevard to the south.
The residents are upset about roadwork to repair and widen North Acacia Road between East Tepee and East Superstition that took place during the first half of February.
They claim the city’s removal of roadside desert vegetation and the resulting wide, soft-dirt shoulders “negatively affects property values” and are an “eyesore to those who live on Acacia Road,” according to the petition packet. They also claim the removal of cactuses, Palo Verde trees and creosote bushes from the roadway shoulders will create erosion issues when it rains, has destroyed the area as a wild-animal habitat and creates dust issues, according to the packet.
“They did overkill,” Ray Bankler, who lives at 888 N. Acacia Road, said during an interview last week.
Private land was not disturbed during the two-week-long project, Mr. Pham said in the e-mailed response to questions last week. All work was performed within the 66-foot-wide Federal Patent Easement established by the 1938 Small Tract Act, which extends an easement 33 feet from the center of a roadway on both sides, Mr. Pham said.
In late January the residents were notified by the city by mail that pavement reconstruction would begin the first week in February, according to the city letter provided in the petition packet provided to the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent by Mr. Bankler. Mr. Bankler submitted the petition to the council during the Call to the Public portion of the Feb. 18 council meeting.
The letter explained the street would be widened to about 22 feet to accommodate a 20-feet paved surface. City crews would remove the existing asphalt and about 6 inches of underlining base, and then place 4 inches of new base and then pave the road, the letter said.
The letter, signed by Greg Mayer, the city’s street maintenance supervisor, explained the street would remain open during the three-week-long project and asked residents not to park on the street or shoulder Monday-Thursday during roadwork.
A subsequent letter notified residents that street paving would take place Feb. 3-4 and instructed residents when they could drive on the repaved road and how to access their driveways during the paving process.
Both the city and residents agree Acacia Road needed to be repaired. Acacia resident Darryl Cross, who lives at 1018 N. Acacia Road, said during a phone interview last week that the road was constantly getting washed out and needed potholes filled in. The reconstructed road “never had a great base” and now that it does should last 50 years or more, he said.
“But nowhere in the letter did it mention disturbing, removing and decimating the landscape,” Mr. Cross said. “Everything south of my driveway is scraped bare 50 yards or so.”
Residents also questioned why so much land was disturbed at the south end of North Acacia Road while vegetation toward the north end of the road was barely touched, Mr. Bankler said.
Mr. Pham explained the city’s thought-process in his e-mail.
“The original roadway was in poor condition. When we pave or improve a roadway we have to make sure that width is a minimum of 20 feet (10 feet for each lane) to prevent head-on collisions. This sometimes requires widening of the shoulders and relocating mailboxes and fences. The city will try to avoid a lot of the man-made structures such as fences and landscaping. The city will grade or widen the shoulders because of drainage and steep slopes,” he wrote.
He said during a phone interview March 6 the road shoulders were widened to 4 to 8 feet in some areas so vehicles could pull off safely while other areas had to be resloped so they would redirect water to nearby washes during rains.
When presenting the petition to the council, Mr. Bankler asked why a tree and vegetation were removed from the southeast corner of his property. Both provided a barrier cars and pedestrians could not cross as well as a screen for his fire pit and its seating area from traffic, he said during an interview last week.
Mr. Pham said during an interview that the vegetation posed a safety hazard by blocking the stop sign posted on the northwest corner of Acacia and Superstition.
To save money, the city used its own labor force rather than contract out the work, the public works director said in his e-mail.
He said in his e-mail that utilizing a contractor would have increased the cost by three to four times.
The cost for the project was: $49,875 for the 800 tons of asphalt; $11,716.83 for in-house labor; and $8,667.50 for equipment. The work was planned in the current budget, Mr. Pham said.
Five members of the city council have toured the area.
“Everything they did was done legally. But was it done in everyone’s best interest? That’s something we need to address,” Councilman Chip Wilson said during an interview last week.
“As a part of the city’s — and before it was a city — history, many of our roads are not in the correct alignments,” Councilwoman Gail Evans said March 7 in an e-mailed letter to the Independent. “Citizens were able to blade their own road to their property. Sometimes the roads were somewhat where they should be and a lot of times they weren’t and usually only roughly 33 feet were bladed in not the whole 66-foot easements. The city can only stay in the rights-of-ways; unfortunately many citizens don’t realize or understand where their property line (net) is as compared to the gross property, which in many cases is the center of the road.
“When the city came in to repair Acacia — which I am sure is greatly appreciated — construction sometimes takes out vegetation that is in between the gross and net property lines as needed to complete their jobs, which in part trying to have the road where it actually belongs,” the councilwoman said. “My point: just because the road is where you see it doesn’t mean that is where it is should be. Acacia itself has many dips with small runoffs that affect the road’s surface longevity. The good news is even though the vegetation is gone for now, with our wonderful desert vegetation a few rains it will return.”
Councilman Wilson said he would like to hold a neighborhood meeting with the residents after all members of the council have toured the area. Mayor John Insalaco and Councilman Dave Waldron had not visited Acacia Road to view the project as of press time Friday, Councilman Wilson said.
“We know not everyone will be satisfied but we hope the majority will understand why things were done,” Councilman Wilson said. “We hope they feel they were heard and their problems were addressed.”
In the meantime, the city is reviewing the way it communicates with residents regarding projects, Mr. Pham said during his phone interview March 6. He said previous letters have been sufficient but now he understands the city may have to spend additional time explaining the projects more in-depth.
“In the future, especially in the rural areas, we will enhance our up-front communication with residents. Ideally, we’ll meet face-to-face in a meeting. That way we can communicate our plans and hear — up front — the perspectives and ideas of those whom we serve,” Mr. Pham said in his e-mail.
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