Mayor Ed Honea, along with community partner leaders, gave a presentation at the annual Marana State of the Town luncheon held at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, on Thursday, July 29. Speakers included representatives from the Marana Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Fire District, KB Home, and MHC Healthcare. See below for video of the presentation, full transcript, and photos of the event. For information on the Marana Community Award recipients, please click here.

Presentation Transcript

JEANIE HUGHES | MARANA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Jeanie Hughes, Chairwoman of the Marana Chamber of Commerce

I am so excited to welcome you all to the 2021 Marana State of the Town right here at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. My name is Jeanie Hughes, Chairwoman of the Marana Chamber of Commerce and owner of Undercover Laser.

For the last 34 years, the Marana Chamber of Commerce has been the voice of business that works to build economic growth and quality of life in our community. Like everyone in this room, the Marana Chamber was tested by the pandemic. As a relationship-based organization, we took it upon ourselves to be a resource to you. We updated our website with links to up-to-date information and kept in touch with our weekly e-newsletter. Chamber staff also made daily calls to businesses, and like everyone else, we started working via Zoom. Once staff was able to safety return to the office, we began hosting in-person events and meetings again.

Over the last year, we have seen so many things: new businesses, the restructuring and pivoting of businesses, and, sadly, businesses that have closed. However, we’ve seen, more than anything else, that we can work together and that we do care for one another, and that’s an amazing story to tell.

With the continued partnership with the Town of Marana and our businesses, the Marana Chamber of Commerce is excited to start a new chapter. We have a beautiful building, the innovative leadership of our new President/CEO Amanda Wiggins, and the new designation as an Arizona State Visitor Center.

As a member of the Marana Chamber of Commerce and as a resident of the Town of Marana, it is a great honor for me to stand here and thank you for your support.

DAN MARRIES | MAYOR ED HONEA INTRODUCTION

Mayor Honea is the third generation of a five-generation Marana family and has served on the council on three different occasions. He worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Marana as a contractor for 29 years before retiring in 2007.

Mayor Honea is a member of the Pima Association of Governments, including chair in 2020 and the chair of the Regional Transportation Authority. He serves on the executive board of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns and is a member of Arizona Town Hall, Central Arizona Association of Governments, the Arizona Association of Economic Development, the Marana Optimist Club, and Marana Chamber of Commerce. He formerly served on the MHC Healthcare and Marana Food Bank boards.

Mayor Honea is a graduate of Marana High School, the U.S. Naval School of Construction, and Pima Community College. He served in the U.S. Navy Seabees during the Vietnam War and is a lifetime member of VFW Post 5990 in Marana.

The mayor is an outdoor enthusiast and avid hiker and can be found most days on one of the many trails that run throughout the Marana Community. He has two children and three grandchildren.

MAYOR HONEA | TOWN OF MARANA

I don't use the teleprompter, I've got some old-fashioned notes here. I want to thank everybody for coming out today. It's kind of odd for us to have a State of the Town in July, and I'd get into the story, but I won't waste your time on that. It's so nice to see everybody here, face to face, without a mask, and not on a Zoom meeting. Dan mentioned it before, but I'd like to take just a moment, I would ask everyone to stand at this moment, and what I want to do is— almost all of us here knew Ed Stolmaker in the fifteen years he served on the Marana Chamber Board as President and CEO, and most of us knew Jeff Piechura, who was 24 years Chief of Northwest Fire, who lost his life in a plane crash. Both of those men we had to say goodbye to this month, and I would ask if we could avert just a moment of silence on their behalf.

Thank you, please be seated. Marana's been doing pretty well. We thought we were going to suffer during the COVID-19 crisis, and we did to a certain amount of not being as mobile as we like to have been, but our population is growing like crazy. We're somewhere between 52-55,000 people, I think closer to 55,000. Our population is growing because we're getting so many new families moving to our community. In the last fiscal year, we had 1,067 new single-family residences, that averages out to 89 a month. And we had 143 in the last month of the fiscal year. So, people are coming to our community. I want to think they're coming to our community because of the great things we have to offer, and the great people like you all that give them a reason to come here.

We're also going to hire 26 new employees this year. And you say, "Wow, that's quite a bit for a town our size," but we didn't hire any employees last year. We thought we were going to have a 15% deduction in sales tax revenue, and instead it went up 15%, probably from buying paper towels, toilet tissue, beans, or rice at our Costco or Walmart here in Marana. Couldn't find it. But we're going to hire five new police officers, a dispatcher, I think four people in Parks & Rec, four in transportation, a lot of people because our thing here is we want to be able to provide service at the level that everybody either lives or works or recreates in Marana is used to.

One of the parts of our community that really suffered during the COVID pandemic was hospitality, tourism, hotel rooms, and those types of things. We were down almost 25%. I can tell you, in April, we were at 68% of our 1,270 rooms. And we're getting a new 100-room hotel at Joplin and Cortaro that's starting later this year, so we'll go to 1,370. And our growth in that industry is about 3% over 2019, which means people are coming here to recreate, they're coming here to go on vacation, they're eating in our restaurants, they're shopping in our stores. And I keep saying, we're back.

You know, some of the big celebrations, this is the second one that the Town has had recently. Our 4th of July Independence Day celebration at Crossroads at Silverbell Park was packed. The Walmart shopping center was packed, the Fry's shopping center was packed, and everybody that lived in Continental Ranch, Continental Reserve, Pima Farms, every neighbor or friend wanted to come to their house to watch the fireworks. The fireworks went off without a hitch, it was a great show, we didn't have any fires around it, we didn't have any problems with the cars and transportation getting to and from. So that was a great event, and this being the second great event.

Another big project we did during the COVID crisis was build Adonis Road. For those of you that are familiar with the San Lucas, Marana Estates, or Adonis neighborhoods in Northern Marana, they were kind of pancaked in between the Union Pacific Railroad and CAP canal. They had one way in, and one way out. There's about 1,000 homes in there, and if you needed police protection, or medical, or fire protection, or somebody to get in there, if the train was going slowly across the crossing, you couldn't get in or out. Well, we talked about it for years, and we talked about for years, and finally Roxanne Ziegler said, "Build the road". And for those of you that know Councilmember Ziegler, when Roxanne said build the road, we built the road. Cost us $4 million, but there's now a way for getting in and out through that project.

Water is a big issue for all of us, and one of the things that we've had a lot of problems with water recently, and something in Marana, is perfluorinated compounds and 1,4-dioxane. These are not something that we put in the water, they were put in different places where they clean airplanes, and it got into our system. But we piggybacked on the back of Tucson, we actually filed a lawsuit, but we didn't wait for the lawsuit to take place, to take action. Councilmember Jon Post said, "Build the water treatment centers," so we did, we built two of them. One in Continental Reserve, and one in Saguaro Bloom. They were $8 million a piece, money we didn't necessarily have to spend on something we weren't sure of, but when it comes to our residents, they always come first. Those plants are completed and online, so we have gotten that taken care of in our community.

Another project that we're dealing with community partners on is the NWRDS project, it's not "n-e-r-d" it’s NWRDS, anyway the northwest project of pumping water by Marana's airport in far north Marana, where the water table there is still going up about six inches a year. We are going to partner with Metro Water and the Town of Oro Valley, Vice Mayor is here today, welcome. I think it's a 30 or 36-inch line to pump water from where it is in the region. Metro and Oro Valley recharge CAP water in that same area, water table's going up because of the Santa Cruz River and recharge there. So we're going to work with those community partners to provide clean, potable water for the northwest part of our region.

The big project, Marana Community Center and Aquatic Center. Mayors all through the state have started doing this. Like I mentioned, I think Marana is about 55,000 people, and I can tell you I've talked to the staff and we're going to do about 100 new houses this month again as well. People are coming here rapidly, and we need a place to be. We need a place to go. We'll use this center for Founder's Day, we'll use this center for the Holiday Festival Christmas Tree Lighting, we need a place for our community to go and recreate, whether you're 9 months or 90 years. We'll have senior aerobics, and wading pools, we're going to have indoor courts, we're going to have indoor meeting rooms. And we're really, really proud of this facility, it's estimated to be a $42 million facility. But I will say that all seven members of our council voted unanimously to start on this project. We'll do the design this year, and by next fiscal year, we will start going vertical with both of those, we're going to build them concurrently, and we're going to have a Community Center & Aquatics Center in the Town of Marana, so we're very proud of that.

I'm not going to formally introduce our speakers today, but I am going to make a couple comments. I warned Amy about this when she came in, but Amy McReynolds is president of KB Homes. And people say those homebuilders are coming in, they're from out of state, or Mars, or California, or somewhere like that. Amy McReynolds graduated from Marana High School, she's President of KB Home, and I'm very proud of her. And I'll tell you, Amy and her sister, Tammy Foster, work in the Marana Alumni Association for Marana High School right now. They're very active in our community. And Amy is one of only two women in about 80 years of the existence of SAHBA to be president and CEO of that organization. The other person you see here is Dr. Clint Kuntz. That's PHD, not MD, but I’m going to explain some of that as well. Clint runs MHC Healthcare, 17 different locations. How would you like to run a medical organization with 17 locations during the COVID pandemic? He did it, and he did it well. You know, they had a drive-thru for people to get shots for COVID vaccinations, you saw in the video here, I just stepped between a couple cars, and some of Clint's staff, and got my shot walking through, because the Town Hall is across the street. He has done such a great job, and we just don't realize how tough it is to manage any organization during the COVID pandemic, but to manage a medical organization when you're worried about your staff, people in the community, and it was absolutely phenomenal, thank you, Clint.

The other person I want to talk about is Chief Brad Bradley, and we're going to see a video from him later. Chief Bradley has done so many great things, and incidentally, his Marana baseball team is in the Little League World Series representing Marana, and that's where he is today. Chief Bradley is an awesome guy, and he has done so many things to make Northwest Fire District so prominent in our region. Two new stations in Northern Marana, one on Tangerine Road, one in Dove Mountain. And something else that Chief Bradley did, because he thinks out of the box, is that Marana had a development code, and Northwest Fire had a development code. Guess what? Codes weren't the same. So, every time somebody tried to build a new building or something in our industry, we had to fight over the code. Chief Bradley stepped forward, along with some senior members of our staff, and put our codes together. Now the Northwest Fire Code and the Town of Marana's Code are exactly identical, because of this merger. I'm going to step away from the podium now, Dan Marries is going to come up and formally introduce our speakers for today. Thank you very much.

DAN MARRIES | AMY MCREYNOLDS INTRODUCTION

Amy McReynolds is our first guest to the stage. Amy is the Tucson Division President for KB Home. KB Home is one of the largest and most recognizable homebuilders in the United States, building quality homes for over 60 years. Amy is an alumni of the Marana Unified School District, once a Tiger always a Tiger, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from the University of Arizona. Her almost 30-year career in homebuilding encompasses Tucson, Phoenix, New Mexico and Southern California, where she has been a part of helping over 15,000 first time home-buyers, families and empty nesters fulfill the American Dream of home ownership.But her favorite part is being back in her hometown leading KB Home Tucson since 2013.

AMY MCREYNOLDS | KB HOME

Good afternoon! I am Amy McReynolds, The Tucson Division President for KB Home. KB Home is a national home builder building homes in 45 markets and 19 states across the United States. While KB Home is a national organization, my team is local, raised local, and an important note – Wildcat Fans! I grew up in Marana, Marana raised me, and now it is incredibly special to have a role in helping others call Marana home.

This last year, our homes took on a broader definition. They became our school, they became our office, our favorite restaurant, our entertainment and vacation, our safe haven and sanctuary – the value of not only what our organization does, but what all homebuilders do, and what we provide took on additional meaning.

At the start of the pandemic, our goal was to keep employees safe, our trade partners safe, and our customers safe. We implemented wellness checks, safety checks, safety supervisors, and a virtual experience that allowed customers to view our models and our studio from their home. Customers could work virtually with their sales counselor and their studio consultant, purchasing and personalizing their home to their preferences.

In addition, KB Home has always been committed to designing and building new homes that support our family’s health and wellbeing. It is standard in every home to have high-performance ventilators and whole-house infiltration systems that continuously improve the air quality. Our homes are 100% energy-audited with industry-leading Home Energy Rating System Scores or HERS scores. Reducing the impact of our business on our environment is a priority for KB Home and a benefit to our homebuyer.

As demand for new homes increases, the home building industry is navigating material challenges, shortage of labor, transportation and logistical issues. With new home permits up 36% in Marana and 43% in the entire market compared to last year, everyone is feeling stretched by the demand.

Thank you to the Town of Marana Development Services Department and the inspectors who collaborate with us every day to complete each home for our new home buyer. Thank you to Town Council, staff, and Marana Unified School District for welcoming and embracing new homes and new home neighborhoods.

From Tangerine Corridor, Dove Mountain, Twin Peaks, and Gladden Farms (where KB is currently on a path to over 500 new homes) to our new 251-homesite community Colina De Anza located at Cortaro and Hartman, KB Home chooses to build in Marana because of the amazing parks, streets, schools, access to jobs, healthcare, and public safety provided for our homebuyers.

Our homebuyers choose Marana for those same reasons. Marana is a great place to live, work, play, and go to school, and we are proud to provide homes for families to do so, especially in, my hometown. Thank you.

DAN MARRIES | CHIEF BRAD BRADLEY INTRODUCTION

Starting as a firefighter, Chief Brad Bradley began his service to the Northwest Fire District in 1999. The third Fire Chief to be sworn into Northwest Fire District since its inception in the early 1980s, Chief Bradley is the first to be promoted to the top position from the rank of firefighter recruit. Chief Bradley’s reputation for action, performance, and a sense of humor are known both inside the Northwest Fire District and beyond it.

Chief Bradley also serves the community as an executive member for several organizations, including the Southwest Arizona Emergency Medical Services Council (SAEMS) and Pima County Fire Chiefs’ Association (PCFCA) Board of Directors. He is also a Marana youth baseball coach, which is why he is unable to be here today as our local teams participate in the 2021 USAAA League World Series in San Diego. Chief Bradley stopped by my office at KOLD before he left.

NORTHWEST FIRE DISTRICT | CHIEF BRAD BRADLEY

Good afternoon. I'm sorry I'm not able to be there with you in person, but thank you to KOLD News 13 for sharing their studio with me, so I could still be a part of this important event. The Northwest Fire District was established in 1983 by a group of citizens interested in establishing a higher level of fire and emergency medical services on the northwest side of Tucson.

In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, both the Town of Marana and the Northwest Fire District experienced growth that caused the two jurisdictions to overlap. In the late 1990s, the Town of Marana recognized the need for qualified and consistent fire and emergency medical coverage throughout the town limits. Marana initiated a competitive process to identify a fire service provider that could meet the town's needs. Northwest Fire was chosen as a result of this process, and began providing coverage in all areas of the town that were not already within a defined fire protection district.

Since this agreement was enacted, Northwest Fire has successfully annexed properties within the Marana town boundaries, and become the town's largest fire and emergency medical service provider. For more than 20 years, the Town of Marana and the Northwest Fire District have worked collaboratively to ensure the safety and well-being of our mutual residents and visitors. Agreements between the district and the Town exist to ensure that our two institutions make the most of taxpayer funding by reducing duplicate fees, sharing use of facilities, coordinating new growth, and promoting new development.

In 2019, the District and Town came to a mutual agreement on the revision of the International Fire Code to reduce confusion and redundancy for business owners and home builders. This initiative was a joint venture that was designed with the best interest of the end user in mind. To ensure that Marana is a safe place to live, work, and play, the District and Town collaborate before, during, and after each of the four Marana Signature Events, ensuring that the residents and visitors of Marana can come together to celebrate and socialize in a safe environment is of paramount importance for the elected officials and staff from both organizations.

Keeping pace with the rapid growth occurring within the Town of Marana, Northwest Fire has invested nearly 50 million dollars in buildings, and many millions more in response apparatus and other capital investments. Within the boundaries of the Town of Marana, six of the eleven stations operated by the Northwest Fire District fall within the town limits.

In 2019, two new fire stations were open, thanks to voter approved bond funding. Station 337 is located near the Gallery Sports Club in Dove Mountain, and was a relocation from the original fire station located near the new MUSD K-8 STEM school located in the southern half of Dove Mountain. As growth continued in the Dove Mountain region, it became difficult to maintain our standard for response time to the far reaches of the Dove Mountain community. The new Station 337 allows for a rapid and equitable response time throughout the Dove Mountain area. Station 341 on Tangerine west of I-10 was built simultaneously, and was needed to keep pace with growth in the area of the Gladden Farms community and the surrounding area. Both new stations reaffirm our commitment to the residents and the Town, to maintain the highest level of readiness and response.

In addition to these facilities, the District's training center, fleet facility, and administration building are also located within the boundaries of the town. Due to our own growth, the current administration building for the District has reached capacity, and voter approved bond funding has been secured to build a new administration building. To further our mutual commitment and collaboration, the Town and District negotiated the sale of a piece of Town-owned property next to Fire Station 336 on Marana Main Street to build the new district administration facility. The building is currently under construction with a tentative move-in date of April 2022.

With a full understanding and appreciation of the investment that the residents and business owners within the district commit to us each year, it is important to provide the best possible return on that investment in as many ways as possible. That is why the District committed itself to achieve an insurance service office rating of 1, which was formally enacted on July 1, 2019. The ISO scoring, which ranges from 1 to 10, determines the cost of insurance premiums for property owners within the district boundaries. The ISO score of 1 obtained by the District ensures that property owners within the district pay the lowest possible insurance premiums. Only 373 fire departments out of the more than 40,000 evaluated by ISO, currently hold an ISO rating of 1.

The District is also in its third five-year cycle as an accredited agency with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. As an accredited agency, we undergo extreme vetting on all our business and response processes every five years to maintain our accredited status. Northwest Fire is 1 of only 270 fire departments in the United States to achieve accreditation, and 1 of only 87 to achieve accreditation and an ISO scoring of 1.

While the Town of Marana and the Northwest Fire District may be two separate government entities, our collective goal is to work together as seamlessly as possible. Every person inside our respective boundaries should be able to enjoy time with your family and friends, find comfort in their homes, and build their businesses knowing that collectively, we work day and night to ensure the safety and protection of each of you.

DAN MARRIES | CLINT KUNTZ INTRODUCTION

Clinton Kuntz has been CEO of MHC Healthcare since 2013. As CEO, Dr. Kuntz leads MHC with 17 health center locations, serving all of Pima County. Dr. Kuntz has experience in all areas of healthcare management including operations, finance, information technology, and building construction. Clinton serves on the board of directors of the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, Arizona Health Insurance Reciprocal Company, Sun Corridor, and P3 Arizona. He also serves on the board and is the president of both Collaborative Ventures Network and VB Cares Network, which focuses on value-based contracting.

Clinton has a Doctoral Degree in Behavioral Health from Arizona State University, a Master’s Degree in Information Technology from Boston University, and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Mount Vernon Nazarene University. On the personal side, Clinton lives in Tucson, AZ with his wife Kendra and three kids, Elijah, Mia, and Aireonahh. In his spare time, he enjoys camping, hiking, riding his Harley and spending time with his family.

CLINT KUNTZ | MHC HEALTHCARE

MHC Healthcare is a proven health home for Marana and all of Pima County, offering primary care, behavioral health, dental, pharmacy, and WIC services to people of all walks of life.

MHC began 64 years ago in the Marana cotton fields, where we became a resource for basic, free healthcare. Today, we have 17 locations throughout Pima County and serve nearly 60,000 patients. This includes our newest location at St. Mary’s Hospital. Patients don’t just come to MHC for their health, they come to MHC because we bring compassion, commitment, and health resources to everyone who needs care, no matter their age, income, race, or socioeconomic status.

This past year, MHC was at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep our employees and community safe, we provided COVID testing as well as telehealth services for Medical, Behavioral, and Dental needs. Employees who could work from home did so, while those working on the frontlines were provided personal protective equipment. Thanks to several Federal grants, MHC did not furlough any employees. This allowed us to be ready to deliver the COVID vaccine once it became available in December. Since that time, MHC has delivered over 21,000 vaccine doses to our community through the use of drive-through vaccination clinics in Marana, Oro Valley, Picture Rocks, and at the Tucson Mall.

The pandemic strengthened MHC’s partnerships with agencies throughout the community. The Town of Marana, Town of Oro Valley, Marana Unified School District, Trico Electric, Avra Valley Fire District, Northwest Fire District, and many others, have all supported MHC with both COVID testing and vaccination clinics. Pima County Health Department worked to get us vaccines for the Marana Community as soon as they were available. These partnerships, and many more, have worked to keep the community safe during these times.

Furthermore, telehealth is breaking down barriers for providers and patients. The pandemic has prompted a series of changes to federal, state, and private payer policies that allow telehealth to meet patient demand through prompt, convenient, and efficient healthcare. MHC will continue to use telehealth in the future so that time, distance, and availability are smaller obstacles for our patients.

MHC has been part of this community for the past 64 years and we plan to continue serving Marana for many more. As we look to the future, technology, regulations, and populations will change, but one thing will always stay the same: our commitment to providing quality healthcare with a heart. Thank you.

DAN MARRIES | AMANDA WIGGINS INTRODUCTION

Now, I would like to bring the Marana Chamber of Commerce’s new President and CEO to the stage. Amanda Wiggins.

Amanda Wiggins and her family relocated last year to Marana, AZ from Tallahassee, FL where for more than seven years she held various roles within the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, she was the Program Director of Leadership Tallahassee, Inc.

A graduate of Florida State University, Wiggins holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Public Relations and is an active member of the Junior League of Tucson. Amanda has developed through involvement in the Association of Leadership Programs, Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Access Tallahassee, Florida Public Relation Associations and The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc.

AMANDA WIGGINS | MARANA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Amanda Wiggins, President/CEO of the Marana Chamber of Commerce

First of all, I would like to share how incredibly excited and grateful I am to work alongside each of you to continue to make our community the best place to do business and call home. My flame is lit by the many conversations and connections I have made in my first few weeks at the Marana Chamber of Commerce. To see this event, the deserving award recipients and how our community came together in the toughest of times, confirms that I am right where I am meant to be.

I would like to personally take this moment to thank each of you for the warmest of welcomes to this organization and community. There is a clear vision for the future and unparalleled opportunity within Marana. In addition to that, there is a remarkable level of care, understanding and celebration of community. I have quickly realized that is what has made Marana the fastest growing community in Southern Arizona.

Thank you to each of you for being community champions, supporting your Marana Chamber of Commerce and the local business community. It is through your support that we accomplish great things together.

Now, I’d like to ask Mayor Honea to come to the podium for final remarks.

MAYOR HONEA | FINAL REMARKS

Well I hope you enjoyed our speakers here, Amy and Clint and Brad, I think they provide a great service to our community, and did a great job today. I want to say a few things in closing. The Town of Marana has done really well during the pandemic, and like our friends in healthcare, or our friends in the fire district, about two thirds of the employees of the Town of Marana had to go to work every day during the pandemic. Our police officers, our parks and recreation workers, because our parks were open, our streets and road personnel, our utility personnel to keep your water and wastewater running, and our animal control people. And I want to give a special thanks to them, and for what they have done for us over the last year.

I want to introduce a couple of people before we close. First person I want to put on the spot is Terry Rozema, please stand. I still call him "Chief" half the time, can't get used to it. Terry's been a tremendous inspiration to the Town of Marana since officially appointed in February, interim a couple months before that. Came in during the pandemic, did a phenomenal job, kept us all informed, provided great leadership, and I have great plans for the future, and I think you're going to be the guy to lead them, thank you very much.

Also, there are seven of us on the Council, and I want to thank my peers on the Council, I would ask them to stand when I call your name. Councilmember Jackie Craig, Councilmember Patti Comerford, Councilmember John Officer, Councilmember Roxanne Ziegler, Councilmember Herb Kai, and Vice Mayor Jon Post. These people worked very hard for us during the pandemic. I talked to every one of them at least once a week during the pandemic. I thought we had to stay in touch with each other, they got to where they wouldn't answer the phone if they it was my number.

We did very well in our community, and it's thanks to you, the people of our community, that did that. Homeowners, business owners, people providing services to our community. And I think we're going to have a banner year to start with next year. I'd like to end like I always do, God bless the Town of Marana, and God bless you, each and every one. Thank you for coming.

Marana State of the Town 2021 Presentation