Funding public art: The Marana Town Council is moving forward with a proposed public art policy that would establish funding and a committee to create high-quality public art across the town, according to Tucson Local Media’s Veronica Kuffel. The policy would invest 1% of value from any private development project with commercial, office or apartment-style use with greater than 10,000 feet of net floor area. It would also take 0.5% of value from private industrial-use buildings of the same size and set a maximum contribution of $150,000 for private development projects. The proposal will return to the council for formal approval in September. (July 7, 2023)

Road improvements continue in Marana: Construction has begun on Phase 2 of Marana’s Tangerine Road Corridor, according to Tucson Local Media’s Veronica Kuffel. The project is part of the town’s Capital Improvement Projects Plan, with the final portion estimated to be completed in October 2025. (July 14, 2023)

When life gives you pumpkins: The Marana Town Council will be voting soon on a proposal for the annexation of land under the Marana Pumpkin Patch, Tucson Local Media’s Veronica Kuffel writes. The council held a public meeting Tuesday regarding the proposal, which would include the property southwest of the North Trico Road and West Hardin Road intersection. It would connect to the northwest border of Marana, just north of Avra Valley and Picture Rocks.

“It just seems fitting for something so centric to what Marana is all about to be in the town, not just outside of its boundaries,” Town Manager Terry Rozema said. (August 17, 2023)

Arts for all: The Marana Town Council has adopted a new public art policy, which includes two new fees and a minor amendment to the general plan, Tucson Local Media’s Veronica Kuffel writes. The rezoning code provides a low-cost alternative for residents and small-scale developers and will also apply to future art installations, allowing for more flexible applications and the ability to rezone without a consultant. The new fees go into effect Nov. 1. (October 3, 2023)

Four more years: The Marana Town Council voted to reappoint Magistrate Laine McDonald for a four-year term, Tucson Local Media’s Veronica Kuffel writes. McDonald, a University of Arizona law school graduate, started as the town’s front-line prosecutor and went on to lead the prosecutor’s office for Marana Municipal Court. She was appointed magistrate in 2015 and has been reappointed to two-year terms since. The new, four-year agreement includes a 7% salary increase. (October 13, 2023)

Years in the making: The Town of Marana broke ground on its community and aquatic center earlier this month, following more than six years of planning, Tucson Local Media’s Karen Schaffner writes. The new 61,000-square-foot facility will include a 10-lane, 25-meter swimming pool; a second pool with zero-depth entry and a resistance channel for walking; a place for teens to gather; basketball, pickleball and volleyball courts; a community room; fitness center; child watch room; and a three-lane, one-tenth-mile indoor walking track. (October 30, 2023)

Trains, bridges and automobiles: Marana wants to hear from residents about a project that would seek to alleviate train delays at the I-10 and Cortaro Road interchange and bridge the community east and west of the interstate, per KOLD. The city is holding a forum tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Leman Academy, even though groundbreaking is still at least five years out, KOLD’s Jack Cooper reports. ****And if you want to nerd out on the Cortaro Road project, Marana has a whole podcast episode dedicated to it. (November 7, 2023)

More water for Marana: The Arizona Department of Water Resources is likely to approve Marana’s application to modify its existing assured water supply designation, despite the objections of a local conservation group, the Star’s Tony Davis reports. Marana is seeking a continuation of the state’s designation that it has an assured, 100-year water supply, which was first granted to the town in the 1990s. The approval would allow for continued, rapid subdivision development that mostly relies on groundwater pumping for another 10 years, allowing the population to more than double to about 72,000 people within Marana’s water service area. (January 16)

The Marana Town Council voted last week to take on debt to pay for the town’s Community and Aquatic Center. The decision came after the council said sales tax revenue would cover the project’s cost. Town Manager Terry Rozema told Tucson Local Media in October he was glad taxpayers wouldn’t have to borrow the money. The council voted 6-1 at last Tuesday’s meeting to issue bonds to cover the remaining costs, estimated to be $51.5 million. Council member Roxanne Ziegler cast the lone “nay” vote, saying she was alarmed the town’s sales tax revenue wasn’t enough to pay for the facility. Deputy Town Manager Erik Montague said the bonds are needed because the sales tax revenue, which stands at about $14.5 million so far, would be collected over nine years, while construction would be finished in about a year. Finance Director Yiannis Kalaitzidis praised the debt’s structure, saying the town will hopefully be able to “refinance some older debt, and that through that deal we’re hoping to save about $2 million,” or about $200,000 annually. (Tucson Agenda) (January 24)

Construction of an affordable housing community in Marana has become a point of contention among neighbors who say the construction is a great disturbance. The project in question is the Safford Apartment Complex, which is using land at 8740 N Silverbell Road for 200 apartment homes supported by federal low-income housing tax credits. Marana residents aired their grievances about the construction during call-to-the-public at last week’s meeting. Katherine Szczygiel, who lives in the Silverbell neighborhood where the complex is being built, told the council that “no one was informed any type of construction would be occurring,” and said the construction noise was “a terrible nightmare.” Montague told the neighbors that town staff had been made aware of these issues, and they met with concerned parties in the council lobby. If construction continues as planned, the complex will be completed in fall 2025. (Tucson Agenda) (January 24)

The Marana Town Council has some important funding decisions to make in the coming weeks. At the council’s March 5 meeting, Marana’s Public Works Deputy Director Fausto Burrell presented the town’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan, the total of which amounted to $569 million, nearly half of which is transportation. Most of the capital projects coincide with revenue sources dedicated for their particular area, like transportation funds, impact fees, federal and state funds, and water capital funds, Burrell said. (Tucson Agenda) (March 11)

Some Marana residents aren’t happy the Marana Town Council approved the rezoning of about 20 acres for a Tucson Electric Power substation, KGUN’s Madison Thomas reports. They’re concerned it will lower their property values, as well as lead to health risks, more noise, and ruining heir views. City officials say TEP needs the substation to provide enough electricity for the growing community. (June 6)

Town of Marana employees are about to get a lot more paid parental leave. The Marana Town Council voted last week to double the amount of paid time off it provides for parental leave to 160 hours. The increase, which is expected to cost the town $25,554, is an effort to remain competitive in the job market. But it still falls short of the current six weeks of paid leave that City of Tucson employees receive (which could soon increase to 12 weeks) and the 12 weeks allotted to Pima County and University of Arizona employees. The increase at the Town of Marana takes effect July 1. (Tucson Agenda) (June 10)

Marana’s town council also is planning to keep using federal dollars to help out low-income residents. The council held a public hearing and unanimously voted to approve Marana’s 2024 Annual Action Plan for its Community Development Block Grant Program. Last year, the town council approved the town’s first five-year plan, including needs, goals, resources, strategies and objectives to assist Marana’s low and moderate-income households with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The town is set to receive about $210,000 for the next planning year, which will be used to assist low and moderate-income residents through home rehabilitation and utility assistance programs. Community and Neighborhood Services Director Lisa Shafer said last year’s action plan worked well and this year’s plan is very similar. (Tucson Agenda) (June 10)