City donates more land for vets home
Planned nursing facility will be larger than first proposed
Yuma officials are more than happy to help solve a problem facing the veterans nursing home planned for the city.
When originally proposed, the facility was to have 60 beds. Now the Arizona Department of Veterans Services is proposing the construction of an 80,000-square-foot facility with 80 beds, including four 16-bed long-term care units and a 16-bed memory care unit.
In 2014, the city donated eight acres at the southeast corner of Avenue 6E and the 34th Street for the facility. However, to accommodate a larger facility, Veterans Services has asked for an additional three acres of property.
“It’s not a bad problem to have,” Mayor Doug Nicholls said while explaining why the city was donating more land for the facility.
The City Council is expected to approve an ordinance contributing the additional property to the Veterans Services during the Wednesday meeting. The estimated fair market value of the threeacre property is $150,000.
The ordinance was introduced at the June 6 meeting. It comes with an emergency clause, which allows it to become effective immediately, because the state needs title to the additional three acres no later than July 31 to submit the necessary documents to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to officially secure funding for the facility.
The city donated the first eight acres in 2014, and since then the city, state and Arizona’s congressional delegation have been pushing to secure funding for the facility.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced in April that the VA’s State Home Construction Grant Program had approved construction costs for veteran nursing homes in Flagstaff and Yuma. The Governor’s Office did not
specify the dollar amount of the federal grant. However, Ducey noted that the federal grant will fund 65 percent of the construction costs for both Yuma and Flagstaff homes. The state is responsible for the other 35 percent.
The facility staff will provide 24-hours/sevendays-a-week skilled-nursing care for geriatric and chronically ill veterans, dependents and surviving spouses. It will be designed with a Southwestern theme and in accordance with the Community Living Center concept, which includes housekeeping and laundry services, gift shop, meditation room, barber/beauty shop and more. Each room will be furnished and private.
Veteran benefit counselors will be available to assist residents. Social services will also provide support for residents and their families.
The facility has been long-awaited by the community. The nearest facility is now more than 180 miles away in Phoenix.
As far back as 2006, Patrick Chorpenning, who at the time was director of the Arizona’s Veterans Services, acknowledged a need for a veterans home in this area. “I think there is probably a need for one in Yuma,” he said.
At that time, the government had approved a 120-bed veterans home in Tucson, which would also serve veterans in Yuma County. It opened in 2011. Some local officials pointed out that the Tucson facility was farther than the Phoenix home.
In 2014, Jan Brewer, governor at the time, said funding for a veterans home in Yuma would be included in her budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Brewer’s 2015 state budget included $9.2 million for the facility in Yuma.
State officials noted that a veterans home would be a good thing for Yuma, pointing out that this city is isolated from the rest of the state and Yuma veterans feel forgotten. They pointed out that in addition to increasing services for veterans and offering a safe permanent residence, the new home can also be a place where all Yuma veterans can get together for activities and social gatherings.
In other actions, two more ordinances were introduced to the council. One ordinance declares the a parcel of city-owned property at 40th Street and Avenue 3E as surplus and authorizes the exchange or sale of the property.
The city has no plans to use or develop the parcel, which is 43,997 square feet of vacant, unused land. However, the city is interested in exchanging it for property at 1230 S. 2nd Ave., which it needs for the construction and operation of the Utilities Administration Complex.
The city has been in discussions with the owners. An ordinance is required for the sale or exchange of any city-owned real property.
The other ordinance calls for rezoning of 4.8 acres at 2555 E. Gila Ridge Road from the Industrial Park District to the General Commercial District. The property owner, The Rock Church, would like to lease part of its building to commercial tenants. At this point, the church has indicated two potential uses for the tenant suites, a yoga studio and a retail/ warehousing space for a local hat company.
On May 14, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of the rezoning request.
The introduced ordinances will be up for adoption during the Wednesday meeting.