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MONDAY
APRIL 25, 2011

TODAY: Sunny and warm

FORECAST, PAGE 21 LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA | 75 CENTS | WWW.HAVASUNEWS.COM

The Refuge Annexation debate

Snowfall
restored
supplies
at Mead
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nathan Brutell/News-Herald photos PHOENIX — After a decade-long
Above left, City Center Executive Plaza owner Jerry Aldridge discusses the proposal to annex The Refuge Golf & Country drought on the Colorado River, the Lake
Club in an undated photo. Above right, an opponent of the plan displays his argumentagainst the idea Mead reservoir reached a historic low level
last November, and water users in Arizona

Separating fact, fiction as May 17 vote nears
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-
part series. Part two will appear in
Tuesday’s Today’s News-Herald.
By NATHAN BRUTTELL
TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD
When it comes to the annexation of
The Refuge Golf & Country Club, finding a
real fact may seem like just a matter of
who you ask.
City Center Executive Plaza Owners
Jerry and Cindy Aldridge requested
annexation into the city last year for about
50 acres of the property for a new motor-
coach resort. The City Council approved
the annexation in October, but then opted
in January for an all-mail special-election
ballot after roughly 1,600 residents signed
a petition against the annexation. In
anticipation of the May 17 special election
and voters receiving their ballots in the
mail this week, representatives on both
sides have taken out advertisements, sent
mass e-mails and made dozens of presen-
tations on the issue. But which statements
are facts, which are fiction, and which fall
somewhere in between?
Below is a list of common statements
made recently by either party and
whether the argument is valid:
Statement: All Refuge residents are
opposed to the annexation.
Fact or Fiction: Fiction. While several
residents in The Refuge community are
opposed to the annexation, there are also
several who are in favor of the project and
its potential annexation into the city.
Finding a majority or specifics is a far
more difficult task. Refuge homeowners
were previously questioned by the associ-
ation on the issue, but some homeowners
have since made claims that the questions
did not give them all of the information
necessary and that listening to presenta-
tions from either side later changed their
minds.
Statement: Those who are against
The Refuge annexation don’t own prop-
erty in Lake Havasu City and don’t
spend a majority of their year in
Arizona.
Fact or Fiction: Fiction. While there
are several residents in the Refuge who
are opposed to the annexation, there are
also citizens of Lake Havasu City and
Desert Hills who are opposed to it. For
example, Lake Havasu City resident
Dennis Schilling is the chairman of the
political action committee that organized
the referendum petition. However, of the
people filing statements against the
annexation in the publicity pamphlet,
only three of the 17 are Lake Havasu resi-
dents. Conversely, eight of the 15 filing
statements in favor of the Refuge annexa-
tion are residents.
Statement: Desert Hills Fire is against
the annexation
Fact or Fiction: Fact. Not every repre-
sentative with Desert Hills Fire has made
a statement on the Refuge annexation,
but Desert Hills Fire Chief Mat Espinoza
said he is against any decision that would
put Desert Hills at a disadvantage finan-
cially.
“By annexing the Refuge (into the city),
the Desert Hills Fire District stands to lose
a portion of its budget,” Espinoza said.
“Whenever you take anything out of our
district, it reduces our budget for the fol-
lowing year.”
Statement: Without the annexation
into the city, Fire Station No. 6 will close.
Fact or Fiction: Fiction. City staff said
in a recent budget discussion that closing
fire stations is not an option for the fore-
seeable future. Lake Havasu City Manager
Charlie Cassens said recently the annexa-
tion vote “doesn’t have any bearing on
keeping Fire Station No. 6 open.” The
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response grant to the city last year does
impact Fire Station No. 6. The grant
helped keep the station open by providing
funding for additional employees and is
set to expire in 2012.
Statement: The annexation is only
going to cost the city $2,000 a year.
Fact or Fiction: Fiction. But the direct
cost isn’t a lot higher than $2,000. City
staff expects to spend between $2,000 and
$4,000 a year on additional public safety
costs if The Refuge is annexed, according
to a cost-benefit analysis. There are indi-
rect costs, including City Attorney Paul
Lenkowsky’s added hours in legal dis-
putes related to the annexation. Other
attorneys’ fees in various legal disputes
are being paid for by City Center
Executive Plaza, according to city repre-
sentatives.
and Nevada braced for shortages within
the year.
But the federal agency that operates the
reservoir recently declared that enough
water would flow down the river this spring
to raise levels above the shortage triggers
and ease the threat of rationing through at
least 2016.
It wasn't enough water to end the
drought, however.
Lake Mead will still finish the year about
100 feet below its high-water mark and still
less than half-full. But it was enough to sat-
isfy the terms of a 2007 river-management
plan that gives the federal government the
leeway it needs to better stretch water sup-
plies on an already over-allocated river.
"This year was key," Scott Huntley,
spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water
Authority in Las Vegas, told The Arizona
Republic. "It could have gone one of two
ways: either with the lake gaining water or,
had we had another bad year, with short-
ages. What we're seeing now is definitely
good news."
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which
manages the lower Colorado River, deter-
mined in early April that runoff from winter
snow on the upper river would produce
enough water to adjust storage levels at
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the river's
other big reservoir on the Arizona-Utah
line near Page.
What that means under the 2007 river-
management plan, adopted by the seven
Colorado River states, is that the bureau
will move extra water from Powell down-
stream into Mead.
In recent years, the bureau has released
8.23 million acre-feet annually for use in
Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico.
See MEAD, Page 3

Holiday’s CRIT to impose

waters calm 6.6 % liquor tax
for public, By JOAN TRAVIS

authorities TODAY’S NEWS HERALD

The Colorado River Indian Tribes will

By JAYNE HANSON
TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD
Lake Havasu law-enforce-
ment authorities agreed
Sunday that the holiday was
quiet with minimal arrests,
and it seems the atmosphere
was exactly the draw for boat-
ing on Easter.
Boaters were attracted to
the Lake for family-time, virtu-
ally-empty waters, compared
to other holiday weekends, a
little romance and even for a
chance to bid farewell to a
loved one.
“We are going to spread the
ashes of my stepfather,” said
Gary Klaske, of San Clemente,
Calif. “He passed away six
years ago, so it is time. And we
figured today was as good as
any.”
Klaske’s late stepfather,
John Lawson, was a retired Los
Angeles city fire commission-
er, a job he had for about 20
years, Klaske said.
Klaske and wife, Mary, and
family members, Gary and
impose a 6.6 percent liquor tax starting July
1.
The tax will apply to the following: all
retailers selling liquor for on-premise con-
sumption at either a restaurant or bar any-
where within the CRIT Reservation; all
retailers selling packaged liquor, for off-
premise consumption within the reserva-
tion.
Liquor is described in CRIT’s Notice of
Tribal Taxation to include “alcohol
(ethanol) and beverages containing more
than one-half of one percent by volume,
including beverages commonly known as
brandy, whiskey, rum, tequila, mescal, gin,
wine, beer, malt liquor and absinthe.
Retailers are solely responsible for pay-
Jayne Hanson/News-Herald photo ing the Liquor Tax, even if no additional fee
The waters of Lake Havasu near London Bridge are peaceful on Easter morning as a boat is charged to the consumers, and filing a
and its occupants head along the lake. Police reported few problems on the holiday dur- tribal tax return along with payment when
ing the day. due each month.
The Liquor Tax applies to all liquor
Sally Klaske, shoved off Easter weekend for us,” said is being safe, it is very con-
Sunday from the Lake Havasu Mohave County Sheriff’s trolled, and we couldn’t be sales, whether to tribal members or non-
tribal members.
State Park south Windsor Office Sgt. Doug Schuster. happier.”
launch ramp for a boat ride to “There were no calls for serv- San Bernardino County The tax was approved by the Interior
Department and published in the Federal
Lawson’s final resting place — ice, and boat traffic was signifi- Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Tim
at an unspecified cove along cantly less. To this point Smith said the California- Register Sept. 28, 2007.
The tax is part of the CRIT Health and
the banks of the Colorado (Sunday), we’ve arrested one based agency’s holiday activity
River. person for OUI and have on the water, like MCSO, was Safety Code and states, “The Code regu-
“This has been a very quiet issued five citations. Everyone See CALM, Page 3 See TAX, Page 3

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