Potential developers of Camp Verde’s Old Hwy 279 area, take note: The town is investing in your future.
On May 3, the Camp Verde Town Council unanimously authorized $358,000 in capital improvement project and reserved funds to install six sewer line crossings, locate two existing sewer line crossing locations and install 665 linear feet of eight-inch force main sewer line within the Arizona Department of Transportation’s State Route 260 improvement project.
Where gravity flow is insufficient or effluent must travel uphill, a force main sewer line uses a pump or compressor to move effluent along the line.
“This is about the only way we’ve found in the master plan to service the Old 279 area,” said Camp Verde Deputy Director of Public Works Troy Odell, adding that the sewer lines would extend from E. Cherry Creek Road to W. Horseshoe Bend Drive. “It’s necessary [if] we’re ever going to service that corridor.”
According to Odell, the connections create the potential for future development, sending a signal to companies and business owners that the town is interested in assuring their infrastructure needs are met.
Though unconnected, the sewer lines make a fully operational sewer system more feasible in the future.
“We did our contribution to getting it started,” Odell said.
Asked why the decision could not be put off for a while, Odell said that if the decision were made as late as June, organizing resources would be a challenge, as sewer line construction would then be in conflict with ADOT’s construction along State Route 260.
“We have to get started now,” Odell said, adding that in his estimation construction costs would not go above the projected $45,000 for the six sewer line crossings and $88,000 for the force main sewer line. “I tend to think it’s going to stay where it is.”
Camp Verde Town Manager Russ Martin said that he wanted the council to agree on a minimum budget so that contractors would want to bid on the project.
In the current bidding climate, Martin said that contractors are wary of committing to projects unless they have a guaranteed funding commitment: “If you’re interested, you need to commit $150,000 to $200,000, at a minimum.”
Ultimately, the council approved the full projected cost of the project, not including the locating of two sewer line crossings the town previously built. According to Odell, their exact positions remain unknown.
Camp Verde Mayor Charlie German expressed approval for the funding of the project, saying, “I’m happy we’re moving forward on this.”
According to German and former council member Bruce George, the approval of a 0.65 percent sales tax increase in 2015 paved the way for infrastructure projects such as the sewer line crossings.
German said that the infrastructure would help members of the Yavapai-Apache Nation — representatives of which, German added, had expressed remorse for “missed opportunities” for them to join the larger Camp Verde community due to lack of infrastructure — move forward with planned economic development projects in the region.
Furthermore, German said that it would allow Out Of Africa to expand its operations.
“It sets the stage I felt was worth doing when I voted to increase the sales tax,” German said.
