The Patagonia Town Council voted unanimously on March 4 to approve an Early Actions Community Investment Funding Agreement with South32 that will result in up to $2.31 million in Patagonia-specific projects.
Town Manager Ron Robinson emphasized during the special Town Council meeting that the early actions agreement is distinct from the Community Protections and Benefits Agreement that is being negotiated by Patagonia, Nogales, Santa Cruz County and South32, and that the projects being funded can begin prior to approval of the CPBA.
The CPBA is an ongoing negotiation between the governmental entities and South32, an Australian company that will be mining for zinc, silver, lead and manganese at the Hermosa Project in the Patagonia Mountains, south of town.
The early actions agreement — also approved last week by Nogales and Santa Cruz County — encompasses 16 projects that were identified in a “gap analysis” conducted by the University of Arizona College of Engineering, College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, and the Eller College of Management that highlighted significant gaps in services and infrastructure in Santa Cruz County.
Six projects are specific to Patagonia. Nine of the items address countywide gaps, and one is directed to Nogales. The countywide projects will provide additional benefits for residents of Patagonia and eastern Santa Cruz County. All told, the 16 items will result in $4 million in investment from South32.
The Patagonia-specific projects are:
- Up to $630,000 to expand fire and emergency medical service infrastructure. This would involve replacing broken signal repeaters, increasing the strength of the repeaters in place and developing a plan with a 911 contractor to ensure that communications systems are thorough and without gaps.
- Up to $300,000 to Patagonia’s town office to create space for a town marshal’s office, which would restore local policing capabilities, rather than the current contracting with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. The funding would be used to extend the courthouse building by 40 feet to accommodate the marshal’s office.
- Up to $380,000 for Phase II of the Patagonia Flood Control Study.
- Up to $500,000 to design an expansion of the Mariposa Community Health medical clinic to allow for imaging, a small emergency room and crisis counseling.
- Up to $150,000 for design and concept drawing for a day care center on town-owned property on Harshaw Road for children up to age 5.
- Up to $350,000 for design and engineering of an affordable housing project on Harshaw Road, next to the RV park. Plans call for five duplexes to house 10 families.
Action items that are categorized as countywide include:
- Up to $200,000 for an independent emergency services audit.
- Up to $200,000 to support a Mariposa Community Health mobile clinic for remote and underserved areas.
- Up to $100,000 to purchase a county mobile vehicle/clinic to increase convenient access to primary care, immunizations, screenings and health education.
- Up to $150,000 to study and design a housing project for a Mariposa Community Health residency program.
- Up to $200,000 to purchase a vehicle for Mariposa Community Health transportation programs.
- Up to $150,000 to create a strategic child care plan for the county.
- Up to $150,000 to create a countywide parks, recreation and open-space master plan, including parks, birding, trails (horse, hiking, walking), cycling, sports facilities and recreation programming.
- Up to $150,000 to update the Santa Cruz County Housing Strategy, emphasizing housing for middle-income professions such as teachers.