Approve an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the City of Benson and Cochise County for Planning Services and Building Inspections effective October 20, 2015 with annual renewal options.

The Community Development Department is requesting that the Board of Supervisors approve two Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs). One for Planning Services and one for Plan Review and Building Code Inspections between the County and the City of Benson. An IGA is a cooperative working agreement between the planning staff of both jurisdictions. An IGA would allow Benson to call upon the County for Planning or Building staff assistance should the City receive a planning project at a time when they do not have staff available to fully complete the work. Subject to staffing availability and solely at our discretion, the County would have the IGA in place to be able to assist the City. These cooperative agreements come into play on an intermittent, as-needed basis and serve as a safety net should a significant development, development agreement, overlay district or other planning project come into the jurisdiction for review when the city does not have enough staff to respond, or if building safety staff is not adequate in the City for all needed services. There are several advantages to these Agreements including: the County is familiar with local ordinances and regulations; the County and the City of Benson have a history of working cooperatively together; there would be no time lag waiting for future City-County contract approvals; and the cost is reduced for a jurisdiction to use County services as opposed to the more expensive fees charged by outside consultant firms. These Agreements would automatically renew annually, but may be canceled on short notice. The Benson City Council approved their portion of these IGAs on August 24, 2015. SUMMARY Having Intergovernmental Agreements approved and in place between the County and the City of Benson would allow the City to have access to the services of competent County planning and building inspection staff for individual projects on an as-needed basis. Benson would reduce or eliminate the need for both new hires and the hiring of more expensive outside consultant services. The County would be able to provide expertise when staff is available, utilizing employees on City projects and generating income for the department. An IGA does not guarantee that staffing would be available when a City has the need, but provides the possibility of staffing on an intermittent basis. IGAs are common practice between jurisdictions. The County currently has another IGA in place with the City of Benson for Rural Addressing. In other parts of the County, the Building Department has approved IGAs to provide Plan Review and Building Code Inspections for the Cities of Bisbee, Huachuca City and Sierra Vista. Both the City of Bisbee and the City of Douglas have expressed an interest in having the same IGA for planning services in place and the County expects those two IGAs may be approved by both the Bisbee and Douglas City Council members in the future. Current City development projects: Bisbee: Freeport MacMoRan continues their soil/water remediation and mine reclamation and the City is working on a proposed Senior Care Facility in Warren. Benson: Villages at Vigneto, an 8,200-acre master-planned community El Dorado Holdings is proposing to build on property formerly known as Whetstone Ranch just west of Benson. The proposed subdivision is expected to have more than 20,000 new residential structures plus commercial buildings. Douglas: International Border Crossing. The Douglas Port of Entry, the second-largest commercial port in Arizona, was built in 1932 and is operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Between 2010 and 2014 crossing traffic increased 30%. Douglas is proposing a plan to build a new commercial port of entry, expected to be operational by late 2019, to alleviate the congestion at its current crossing. The City is investigating the donation to the federal government of an 80 acre parcel of City property next to the border fence for the new commercial port of entry. Adjacent to the proposed new border crossing land is expected to generate develop for commercial, light manufacturing and warehousing.

Return signed IGAs to City of Benson staff. Await requests for assistance as needed.

Lack of early involvement by County staff in development projects in this area. Need for partner municipality to pay other outside consultants for planning and building inspections at a much higher rate.

Please send signed agreements to PNZ, Attn: Jesse Drake.