By Richard Dyer
Mail | Twitter: @RHDyer

Two public utility easements at an apartment complex planned at 181 N. Winchester Road are not needed by the Apache Junction Water District and have been vacated.

Apache Junction City Council members serve as the water utilities community facilities district board.

The board voted unanimously April 19 to approve a resolution declaring portions of the public utility easement are no longer necessary for public use as a public utility easement and are extinguished. Vice Chair Christa Rizzi was absent.

The two easements are a portion of the Sunset Vista Estates apartments, Water District Director Mike Loggins said at the board meeting.

“They’re looking at an approximately 85-unit apartment complex,” he said. “So it will be redeveloped. These two easements are no longer required for public utility easement, so the district recommends extinguishment of these two easements on this property.”

Sunset Vista Estates applied to extinguish two federal patent easements, John McGhee, senior project engineer at Cole & Associates, said in a letter to the water district.

“The 33-foot-wide easements run latitudinally through the parcel on both the northern and southern ends. The reason for applying for the extinguishment is for the construction of multifamily residential development.”

The Apache Junction Water District supplies well water — groundwater — pumped from the Eastern Salt River Sub-Basin Aquifer which flows southwesterly under Apache Junction and its surrounding areas. The groundwater is treated for arsenic removal where necessary, disinfected with chlorine, pumped into storage tanks and blended with Colorado River surface water. The surface water is transported through the Central Arizona Project canal system and filtered and purified at the Superstition Area Water Plant before being introduced into the distribution system. AJWD can also receive CAP water from the city of Mesa’s Brown Road Treatment Plant and delivered through an interconnect for a backup supply of water, if needed.

For information on the Apache Junction Water District, go to ajwaterdistrict.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.