Town of Miami pursues funding for roads,sidewalkd

When the Miami Town Council met April 14, Town Manager Alexis Rivera reported that a $10 million petition to fund road and sidewalk repairs was being presented at the State Capitol, specifically to the office of State Representative David Marshall. Rivera said the package was for the downtown area and included the sidewalks on Miami’s historic bridges. He told council members he hoped for a reply to the petition before June 30, 2025.

In February Rivera presented the Council with five road packages ranging from $1.4 to $1.9 million; these, he said, identified the streets and the work to be done. At this week’s Council meeting, he said downtown Miami was being separated because the Town would be using different state funding: “They have a $3.5 million smart grant available if we want to use that for the downtown area.

“As soon as we receive funding, we’re going to have a study session to review the [road paving] project report from 2021, and from that point look at the five packages we have and how we can start working. But if we receive the $10 million, the study session is going to be only to determine the rules and policies we’ll establish for that project.”

Councilmember Jose “Angel” Medina Sr, in his update to Council, named one particular street in need of attention. “I’m also still pushing for caliche as a backup in case we have an issue with our roads, especially Frederick Street. I would recommend as a precautionary effort to put some kind of signage at Frederick Street warning people that they’re going up a bad road.”

The Town has also presented a project for Highway 60 to Central Arizona Governments, which will in turn present it to the State of Arizona. “We allocated $6.2 million for the safety of the highway,” Rivera reported.

“Our package for the next three years is about $82 million, including wastewater treatment facility upgrades and the downtown storm water project that is going to be working with ASU and the Bureau of Land Management,” he added. That package also includes $1 million for brownfields projects.

Rivera also reported that the Town will create an impound yard on the back side of the Miami Police Department, to bring in revenue and to clear unused vehicles from the streets of Miami. “We need to be more aggressive to clean our town,” he said, citing some places that have as many as six vehicles not in use.

The April 14 meeting included a swearing-in ceremony for two Miami Police Officers, Douglas Bassler and Alonko Sodji. Bassler, who moved to the MPD from the Gila County Sheriff’s Office, has been with the department for about a year. He was also recognized for outstanding service after recently making six arrests in one week. Sodji has been serving on the force for about a month.

In his report, Mayor Gil Madrid said the second phase of the “M” Hill Project was nearly finished. “It’s been a grand event. We’re hoping that when Phase 3 kicks off, it’s going to be under the Town of Miami and the Miami Unified School District.” Madrid said he was going to try to transfer ownership of the hill to the Town and MUSD.

The Council also approved an intergovernmental agreement with Gila County for pass-through for an annual subscription to Pragmatica, LLC, an Arizona firm whose mission, according to Pragmatica’s website, is “providing innovative software solutions for the justice and public safety industry.” Its services include the Justice Web Interface, which Pragmatica affirms has “revolutionized the way law enforcement and criminal justice agencies communicate and collaborate.”

David Sowders

David Sowders, who now lives in Globe, has been in southern Arizona since childhood and grew up in Tucson. David earned an associate of applied sciences degree from Eastern Arizona College. He has 10-plus years of experience as a newspaper reporter and editor in Safford and Globe, and his articles have won several Arizona Newspapers Association awards. Writing, hiking and discovering new places around Southern Arizona are some of his greatest joys.