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Show r : ; wo x M s : . !. ... p . : ; v.'.wAv An Interview with Grand Junction's Mayor A.aggfe RONMAUPIN of Seniors Grand function's Mayor Ron Maupin recently talked to us about growth and development in the Mesa County area of Western Colorado. The similarities to Moab are obvious. "The Vintage Department Store" For the benefit of Moab readers, explain die boom and bust cycle that Grand Junction and Mesa County have experienced since the 70s. Maupin: We call it "Black Sunday." It was the day Exxon shut down their oil shale refineries in Parachute, Colorado. All the blue collar worker lived here, so in one day 2000 Zs ANTIQUES COLLECTIBLES INDIAN ARTS BEAD SUPPLIES GOURMET COFFEES MINIATURES' 510 Main Street (970) 245-140- jobs disappeared. Everybody's mortgages stopped, construction stopped.. .everything just came to a screeching halt. Consequently the city lost tons of revenue as taxes declined. Yet there were these plans on the books to keep up with this crazy growth that was going on. So plans were scuttled, bonds were paid off with some of the proceeds already before they could finish the work. Now we plan for the next bust We assume that someday the sales tax will drop again and things will slow down, sort of like what happened in Moab a while bade. Zs So what is it you've done to prepare for the next bust? Maupin: We try to budget conservatively. We've had doubledigit sales tax growth for the last four years and we maintain a pretty high working capital, several million dollars, just for the bust, if it conies. We do very conservative projections for next year's budget This If it's over that we have a year we had a 10 increase. Next year we're budgeting if not. not over we're surplus; budget Zs What's happening here that's making the area come back? Are you booming again? Maupin: Some people would say that Really we're only experiencing 2 real growth. In the early 90s we still had a decreasing population. We had no new building permits and there were lots of houses for sale. That has leveled off. People have heard that there were cheap houses here so they've moved here from California.. Zs That sounds familiar to Moabites. Maupin: They could buy a house here and live for several yean on five profits they made from their California homes. And they discovered there's a nice quality of life so they wanted to move here. Zs As people started to move back, did the city have tools in place to make sure the growth was paid for by the new arrivals? Maupin: There was plenty of infrastructure in place from the last boom. Sewer and water, roads were all there. We don't have any real deficiencies here except for schools. Now the current residents are trying to blame that deficiency on the new growth, but it actually existed before we started building again. Zs Are you seeing a lot of new residential construction? Maupin: Yes. Zs Does the city try to deal with issues like open space and protecting undeveloped areas? , Maupin: We've been trying real hard. We've spent about $9 million in the last three years on open space and parks. We bought 215 acres just last week in an area north of town, about 29 Road and Patterson. It was the largest remaining farm in the urbanized area. We bought 150 acres at 24 & G road, which is the sports complex park. We're very fortunate 4 8. 514 Main St. Op. CLEARLYADEUGHTFUL h CRySVAL OWE tBSl!ESmXP Serving hours: Saturday Breakfast: 8:30 - 1050am Monday - Friday Breakfast: 7-- 10:15am Lunch: 1 1am -- 1:25 pm Continental Breakfast: 10:15 -- 1 Lunch: 1 1am - 1:45pm Open at least 314 MAIN ST. QUESTION: Can you survive without shoes? ANSWER: Bakery...Monday - Saturday 1am till No. Voirft 3pm rmmm jij a a a; ;it 11 'fi ii'tr-v- - For more information on Downtown Grand Junction and upcoming events, T! - y-- Uk; t vc la a. i p-- (Get to Benge's) GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO (970)242-884- 3 call: (970)242-384- 3 970-245-29- 26 v.,!vXvXXvaw.,Xv.'WwXvXvXw,,!vWv.wvXv.w;vavv.,.v.v THIRTYiT.WQ '' V'1.'.- v.y ,vv-- . v.;Sj- VK'i;'- - t (i rvjy' X'" .! v.sv.svXvXvrXv.vIv.v.vIvX". SIMM ' r--- v..'X-.-- . ' |
