Realignment project dropped by council<br>

For now, Cataract Lake Road, seen here in the foreground with Iron Horse Crossing behind, and Franklin Avenue, further down on the right, will remain as they are due to a decision by the Williams City Council to put the realignment project to rest.

Once the decision was made, Edes told Grand Canyon Railway President Dave Chambers to go ahead and proceed with their original plans for their RV park, indicating that the entire Cataract Lake Road/Franklin Avenue realignment project was now officially dead.

Upon doing so, IHC’s Rich Millard, noticeably upset, put on a tongue-and-cheek smile, shook Chambers’ hand, and sarcastically thanked him. Millard was then heard by many at the meeting issuing what appeared to be verbal threats as Chambers was safely escorted out of the building.

“The main thing was the matter of a performance bond for the remainder of the road completion,” commented Councilman Michael F. Vasquez in a later interview.

According to Vasquez, that — along with a few other issues — was key in council’s decision to strike down the agreement and put the realignment project to rest.

Evidently, IHC, GCR, and the city had agreed to at first realign Cataract and Franklin as a 28-foot wide roadway. This would have been a project whose cost and labor were to be shared by all three parties, the majority of which would be taken up by IHC. The initial 28-foot wide realignment was to be completed by the end of the year. The rest of the project — widening the road to 60 feet and adding extra lanes, curbs and gutters — would be done after the completion of IHC’s phase two, which would include the gas station/convenience store, RV park, stables, and mini-storage.

This was done to allow IHC the chance to earn enough revenue from its development to complete the realignment project.

However, the city felt it needed assurance that once IHC’s phase two — with a projected two-year completion schedule — was finished, the rest of the realignment would actually be done. Therefore, the city asked IHC to put up a completion bond guaranteeing the developers would honor the agreement.

IHC refused and council dropped the project altogether, a surprise not only for those outside city staff, but reportedly for the developers as well.

“We had no idea why [city council] didn’t approve the agreement,” said Karen Greene of IHC.

However, in a Sept. 20 interview, Chambers said that he had an amicable, civil meeting with Millard earlier in the day and explained to him that the railway would not support the realignment without the completion bond the city was asking for.

“We had a friendly conversation that day,” Chambers said. “That’s the reason I went over to talk to him — because I didn’t want him to be surprised.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t work as Millard’s animosity towards Chambers came through strongly at the later council meeting.

As for the rest of the IHC development, city officials say it will be business as usual and they welcome the opportunity to continue working with Greene and Millard as their development grows.