Government Affairs
2008 Election Candidates and Candidate Survey Responses back to main Candidate page
Candidate Survey Responses – On The Issues – Each Question, All Candidates
18. Do you support the City’s contract with the Arizona Snowbowl to sell Snowbowl reclaimed water for snowmaking? Why or why not?
Mayor Joseph Donaldson
I do support the City’s contract to sell reclaimed water to the Snowbowl for their use as making snow. The contract is binding and it is supported broadly by the community. Only the Federal Courts will decide if the Snowbowl can use reclaimed water for snowmaking.
Sara Presler-Hoefle
I would honor the City’s contract with Arizona Snowbowl to sell reclaimed water. We should consider who will pay for building and burying the pipeline.
Karla Brewster
I am neutral on this issue as I see both sides- the economic side of attracting more skiers and also the Native American issue of the peaks being sacred. I do have a concern about the pharmaceuticals that reach the aquifer in the reclaimed water. This is a court issue now and not in the hands of the council for decision making.
Coral Evans
I do not support the City’s contract with the Arizona Snowbowl to sell Snowbowl reclaimed water for snowmaking as I feel the process which lead to the decision was flawed. I believe that the decision to sell reclaimed water to the Arizona Snowbowl should have involved additional community input prior to being voted on.
There are many aspects to the decision that were not thoroughly investigated prior to the signing of the contact. These aspects would include not only the sacred/religious aspects raised by our Native American community members but also the sell of water that could prove crucial/needed in solving water shortage problems that Flagstaff is predicted to be facing in the near future. Additional points of question include who would pay for the waterline up to the peaks (the tax payers of Flagstaff or the business purchasing the utility), the cost of such a waterline, whether or not the pipeline would be above- or under-ground and the effects that would have on individual property along the proposed waterline route.
This kind of decision is indicative of many decisions that have been made by council in the past. An example of this would be the decision to sell the Murdoch Building (site of the historic Dunbar Elementary School) located in the Southside neighborhood prior to discussing the decision with neighborhood residents.
Morgan Hagaman
I do support the contract. It makes very good sense. The City has a lot of reclaimed water that is available for sale in the winter. The Snowbowl wants to buy it. It’s a good business decision. If the Snowbowl can benefit from snowmaking, it will only benefit Flagstaff. The more skiers that come to Flagstaff, the more money is being spent in our local businesses. It is a win-win situation.
John McCulloch
Yes and I supported it in 1992 as a mayoral candidate. I don’t like the somewhat antagonistic slogan of “Reclaim the Peaks,” and instead think we should focus on “Sharing the Peaks.” I have been to a number of skiing facilities in the west and no one like the idea of skiing on reclaimed water so I’m not sure how you market that.
Micole Shorty
First of all let me remind you that this issue is not in the hands of the council but the courts. We will not be the first to use reclaimed water in this fashion and it will benefit our economy tremendously. Let me also say that it will only use 2% of the land in question.
Al White
I voted to sell reclaimed water to Snowbowl because we have a policy to use reclaimed water in all recreational usages as an environmentally conservationist water policy. I still see it that way. I am truly sorry that that has been interpreted as a desecration. |
