A month after Marana declared its intention to take control of a wastewater treatment facility on the edge of town, the town has put that plan on hold.
In a letter sent last Friday to Pima County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard Elias, Marana Mayor Ed Honea wrote the town has "suspended its efforts" to annex the Marana Wastewater Treatment Facility and take ownership of it.
"That's on hold, at least while we continue to do due diligence," Marana Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat said Monday afternoon.
Reuwsaat, Honea and Marana Councilwoman Carol McGorray met Monday with Pima County officials. It was the first face-to-face gathering between the two sides since Marana announced July 10 it was terminating a 1979 intergovernmental agreement between the town and the county regarding wastewater.
"We came out of it with a better understanding of each other's positions," Reuwsaat said of the meeting. "You really can't begin a negotiation process until you sit down together. We agreed to review some numbers so we're speaking from the same information base."
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Added Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry: "We decided to get on a factual basis."
Marana provided the county with preliminary numbers regarding the amount of potable-water use by the town, based on current and future growth, as well as estimates of the amount of effluent that would be generated from that use.
The county, in turn, will within the next two weeks give Marana figures related to the costs associated with owning and operating the sewage-conveyance system and pumping stations that lie within Marana town limits.
Reuwsaat said Marana will then compare the numbers it gets from the county with the ones it is compiling via a rate study that it's conducting and expects to have completed by November.
The intergovernmental agreement between the town and the county expires Jan. 11, at which time Marana would by default take over control of the sewer system within its limits. Reuwsaat said the two sides could agree to extend that agreement or work out a new agreement before then.
"There's a lot of time between now and then," Honea said. "We're trying to find something that works for everybody. I'm not saying we're any closer, but at least we're talking."
Marana officials made attempts to buy the disputed wastewater facility, located just outside town limits near West Marana and North Luckett roads, for more than a year in an effort to gain control over the effluent that flows out of the treatment facility from the town's water users.
Town leaders see the plant as key to developing a renewable water supply for the fast-growing town. The town wants to use the effluent as part of replenishment efforts necessary to sustain future water needs.
The county refused to discuss a sale, prompting Marana to end the intergovernmental agreement so it could annex the facility and then take it over.
The county responded July 24 by designating the land around the facility as a park in an effort to block the annexation, and the two sides appeared to be headed to court to settle the dispute.
Huckelberry said the negotiations between the county and Marana have "diminished" the chance of legal action being needed. He said the sides will meet again in September to further discuss the issue.
"Discussions are always a better option than going to court," Huckelberry said.
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