Discussion and possible directions to staff on any and all matters regarding the Arizona State Land Department application for the acquisition of Right of Way land for the widening of Juan Sanchez Boulevard. (Jenny Torres, Economic Development Manager, and Eulogio Vera, Director of Public Works)

Staff submitted the application to the Arizona State Land Department for the acquisition of Right of Way (ROW) for the widening of Juan Sanchez Boulevard (recently named Cesar Chavez Boulevard). The state process will take approximately 8-12 months to complete. As applicants with fiscal year restrictions, we have an option to provide partial payment this fiscal year and allocate the remaining funds for the next fiscal year to purchase the land. The Arizona State Land Department would set aside the funds in a suspended account and would withdraw funds when the process is complete. The Public Works Department allocated funds for the construction of 4th Avenue and Juan Sanchez intersection; however, since Council direction was to expand its ROW acquisition to include all the state land,  the state land staff recommended that we submit the application as one project.  We have approximately 15 acres to acquire and the staff estimate that the cost per acre will be approximately $26,000.00 per acre based on a recent appraisal. Staff is recommending that we provide $350,000.00 of funds to the state for the ROW acquisition for this fiscal year.