Mesa City Council approves $6M project to replace 5 miles of gas pipes

The city of Mesa will replace nearly 5 miles of high-pressure gas lines with larger pipes to support city growth and improve the city’s infrastructure.

A contract was unanimously approved by the city council at their meeting on Monday, Feb. 9.

The contract with Arizona Pipeline Co. totals just over $6.1 million, which will be funded through utility system revenues rather than the city’s general fund.

The work will be done along Arizona Farms Road in Pinal County and will replace 4-inch pipes with 12-inch pipes.

City officials said the upgrade is meant to improve reliability and handle increasing demand as the area continues to grow.

David Winstanley, a resident of District 6, spoke about his concerns with the contract at the council meeting.

Winstanley posed two philosophical questions to the council about the new pipe replacement contract: whether the city would profit from the deal and whether raising taxes on Mesa residents is worth it to the council.

“It does not benefit the citizens of Mesa at all,” he said.

To pay for this new contract the government will move more money into its general fund, and that extra money ultimately comes from taxpayers, Winstanley said.

“When you approve this contract, as I’m sure you will and you should, you will be adding more to our Mesa taxes,” he said. “Do you really want to charge Mesa residents a tax?”

Winstanley said his concerns came up briefly during utility rate talks late last year, but no one was given clear direction at the time, and he’s now asking for this to be formally assigned to a council member.

“My suggestion is since this is a business meeting, perhaps these two philosophical questions can be addressed in your upcoming strategy planning session,” Winstanley said.

City Manager Scott Butler said the funds for the new contract will only be coming from those using the utility services and not Mesa residents as a whole.

“This is not a fee or a tax upon residents that do not purchase natural gas from the city,” Butler said. “Any of those bonds that are issued to build infrastructure for that utility are borne by the ratepayers within that particular utility.”

The approach helps offset the loss of the primary property tax by boosting other revenue sources to keep pace with the city’s growth, Butler said.

“It takes pressure off the fact that when we removed the primary property tax that the city didn’t just look at one revenue source, it wanted to enhance those revenue sources to take into account the growth in the city,” he said.

Assistant City Manager Marc Heirshberg said the city’s purchase of the Magma gas system in the 1970s was intended to support future growth, an investment he said is now paying dividends.

“This was an area of potential growth and an opportunity to expand as the city was growing its utility enterprises,” he said.

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