Big changes for track
Good time for homebuyers
PAGE 24
PAGE RE 1
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS....................... 8 3 council races, 1 GPS board race resolved.
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
Ocotillo Road project’s $79M cost ripped BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
T
he Town wants to build the 545-footlong Ocotillo Bridge in south Gilbert as a statement piece with all the bells and whistles as part of a project that will cost $79 million. The bridge will cross over watercourses at Gilbert Regional Park to connect Ocotillo Road between Higley and Greenfield roads, improving response times for police and
fire and giving a direct access to the 272acre recreational amenity. However, some residents are calling the town out for the expense. “There was an option for four garish, outlandish fancy bridges,” said Terri Naddy, who spoke at a recent council meeting. “But I didn’t see an option for a plain one. You didn’t give the community an opportunity to spend less money.” Although Naddy is a county island resident, she faces losing a portion of her back-
Giant lithium-ion battery plant eyed COMMUNITY......... 16 for northwest Gilbert Gilbert dollmaker’s studio is artists’ mecca.
BUSINESS.............. 18 Suds galore now available in Epicenter. COMMUNITY....................................... 16 BUSINESS............................................. 18 SPORTS..................................................24 GETOUT.................................................29 CLASSIFIEDS....................................... 35
Sunday, August 21, 2022
yard under Gilbert’s plan to widen Ocotillo Road from 148th Street to Greenfield Road to two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane. Ellen West called it a “Disneyland-style bridge,” adding “if it was like every other bridge that crosses that wash, we would save probably several million dollars.” And, Roy Morales said now was not the time to build the bridge.
O.H.S.O. fine
see BRIDGE page 6
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
P
lus Power is proposing to build a standalone lithium-ion battery storage facility on 3.1 acres in the northwest corner of Gilbert that can stockpile enough electricity to power over 30,000 homes. The American-owned company, with offices in Texas and California, pitched the Superstition Energy Storage project at a neighborhood meeting Aug. 17 that was attended by four residents, who did not ask any questions after the short presentation.
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People now have more activities to do in the Heritage District with the Aug. 10 opening of O.H.S.O’s The Park, 335 N. Gilbert Road. The neighborhood park for people of all ages is a massive outdoor playground featuring live music, arcade and lawn games, a TV-lined bar for sports, gate area for dogs and a reservable party pod. Information: ohsopark.com. (David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)
see BATTERIES page 3
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