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Board discusses state‑land purchases for a materials pit, landfill expansion, Ward Canyon roadwork and housing study
Summary
Staff briefed supervisors on multiple state‑land opportunities—an aggregate materials pit for road materials, acreage adjacent to the county landfill, a Ward Canyon corridor for a potential road realignment and a large parcel under study for housing — and asked whether to pursue applications and targeted surveys.
Greenlee County staff sought board guidance Monday on several state land acquisition opportunities that could affect county operations and long‑term development: a materials pit near Loma Linda, expansion parcels for the county landfill, property for a Ward Canyon road realignment and a larger parcel county staff has flagged for a preliminary water/housing study.
County Engineer Reed Larson described the first parcel — roughly 40 acres of state land previously used as a gravel/materials pit. The county has used a BLM pit (Niagara/Nigro Canyon) as its primary materials source but staff said permitting for that site is arduous and subject to federal rules. Reed said acquiring the state parcel could provide a larger, nearer and more reliable aggregate source for road maintenance. Board members said move forward with a state‑land application; staff will open the formal acquisition steps.
On landfill expansion, staff said the county presently owns about 100 acres for the landfill complex and has pursued an additional parcel adjacent to current cells; archaeological surveys turned up historic rock alignments associated with New Deal–era CCC work, and staff has prepared mitigation and documentation plans for the state land office. The county has time on that acquisition and will continue the process; staff noted the landfill’s construction/demolition cell could be filled in roughly three years under current disposal rates.
Reed described a potential Ward Canyon realignment to remove a tight curve and rebuild the drainage structure. The plan would require purchasing a 100‑foot corridor from state land and designing a new crossing (box culvert or small bridge). Staff plans to reapply for ADOT/HSIP or similar grant funding and to discuss the corridor with the state land office.
Finally, staff described a large, mostly flat state‑land parcel near the ball fields that had been examined previously by private developers. County staff said they had commissioned a desktop hydrology study to assess water availability and that drilling test wells would be expensive (staff cited roughly a $100,000 price for test well work and noted test wells are costly and may be capped under state rules). The county asked whether the board wished to pursue staged acquisitions (40‑acre parcels at a time) and to pair any acquisition with developer outreach; supervisors said staff should continue staged exploration but confirmed the county is not committing to buy an entire large parcel at auction without a clear development partner and exit plan.
Ending: The board directed staff to continue applications and technical surveys for the materials pit and landfill parcel, follow up with state land on Ward Canyon corridor options, and pursue staged, targeted work on the larger housing parcel only with additional water analysis and developer outreach planned.
