Happy Birthday to The First Cousin!

To Know Us is To Like Us

The Mister was visiting with the Morrison Homes folks at Highland Groves last week, and they passed on an interesting statistic: 80% of their buyers of new homes in Highland Groves currently live within 2 miles of the community! The Mister says it appears that the folks who live nearby and are familiar with, or in some cases residents of, Morrison Ranch are the ones choosing to move into Highland Groves.

Empty Blog

Sorry for the light posting the last couple of days. I spent Friday continuing my education as a CPA by getting the latest updates on tax law. May I just remind anyone who is interested that it is possible to have a simple tax code, and it is possible to have a fair tax code, but it is NOT possible to have a simple, fair tax code? The explanation for the new laws on credits for alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles is 93 pages long, and no, I am not exaggerating. And that is just one tiny area of new law. The breadth of our current tax code is the equivalent of 16 King James Bibles! Frankly, I find the Bible much more interesting than the Internal Revenue Code, but the truth is I need to know and understand the contents of both. Or at least know what the topics are so that I can look up the details later.

The weekend was spent on wedding planning and shopping. I promise not to let my planning exuberance spill over too much into our daily chats, but as you're sitting on my front porch, it will be impossible for you not to see some of the fruits of our labor, such as the stunning dress we found on Saturday.

Anyway, between visions of tax credits and reception budgets dancing in my head, there hasn't been much effort toward Morrison Ranch happenings. I'll get back on track this week.

Touchdown!

OK, proud father alert! There is no reason for me to post this, other than how happy I am for my son. The Missus will probably still post the long version. I just have to tell you that at the Gilbert/Desert Ridge game last night, in the closing minutes, with victory already assured, the coach put in a little used running back, who dashed (yes, dashed!) 40 yards for a TOUCHDOWN! He had a great game on defense, and that would have been enough. But this was great fun.

Baseball's in, Water Park's Probably Out

To judge by the two articles in the AZ Republic today, Big League Dreams could be open and running by April 2007, but the water park/ice skating rink at Crossroads Park isn't likely to get off the ground. Here's the gist of the article on the Crossroads project:

A new traffic signal and turn lane would be needed if a proposed ice rink and water park open at Cottonwood Crossing, a town-order traffic study states.

But to Town Engineer Bruce Ward, parking is the bigger concern.

And some of the nearby residents make no bones about their feelings:

"I know we've been called NIMBYs . . . but I don't mind saying that I don't want this thing in my . . . back yard," Godinez said of the water park.

Big League Dreams (I've called it Field of Dreams in the past, and that is incorrect, so I'm trying to get it right now), on the other hand, has let two contracts to get started, according to this article:

Gilbert has made two key hires for its $22.7 million Big League Dreams sports complex project.

Without discussion, the Town Council on Tuesday voted 7-0 to hire M.A. Mortenson Co. and Phoenix-based Kitchell CEM on design-build contracts totaling $2.5 million.

Mortenson, a Minneapolis firm, will provide pre-construction services, and Kitchell CEM will cover project management.

The project is the concept of Big League Dreams USA LLC, which enters public-private partnerships with communities to build sports complexes with scaled-down facades of Major League ballparks. The Chino Hills, Calif., company was appointed to convert a 63-acre parcel on Elliot Road into one of its theme multi-use fields for sports tournaments and other events.

This project is located right next to Highland Groves, and should be a nice use of that space. The Mister has met with the initiators of the project to make sure they know of our desires for integrated landscaping and an attractive transition from Highland Groves to Big League Dreams. They seem amenable to working with us on that, because they also want a nice looking project. We have high hopes for the way it will all turn out.

No Man is an Island?

There's an article in today's East Valley Tribune about the quandary of having county islands in the middle of the Town of Gilbert:

A Gilbert Town Council subcommittee is trying to persuade 7,200 county island residents to annex into the town — or else subcommittee members will seek to require them to pay for fire service.

About 3,000 county island homes spread around Gilbert are served by Rural/Metro Corp., but the private company plans to leave the area once an alternative fire service is created.

Rural/Metro responds to or pays for all fire calls in the area, yet only about half the county residents around Gilbert subscribe to their service. Town officials expressed concern about taking over fire service and not getting reimbursed.

The Council Subcommittee on Fire Service Standards decided during a Monday meeting that finding a way to charge an across-the-board fee for fire service could avoid town losses but not leave the county residents to fend for themselves.

The subcommittee also is updating a pamphlet on the benefits of annexation — including road and trash-collection services, and fire or police protection — they plan to supply to county residents.

"The county residents are going to be in a position where they’re going to have to make decisions soon," said Councilman Dave Crozier, chairman of the subcommittee and former firefighter.

The subcommittee is planning town hall-style meetings later this year or early next year to gauge what the county island residents think of the fee idea or annexation.

The article also quotes Rep. Andy Biggs, who lives in a county island not far from Higley Groves West; he says that island residents don't really want to annex, but wouldn't mind paying for fire service. And this is the quandary. The residents have chosen to live in these islands because of lower taxes and more personal freedom; they don't really care about the services the town has to offer, like trash pickup, road repair and sewer hookups. But if someone's house catches fire, there is high interest in firefighting service. What if the Rural Metro station is far away from the burning house, but Gilbert Fire has a truck in the next block?

Back in the day when the county islands and the town were about half and half in size, they had an agreement to reimburse the responding municipality. As Gilbert has grown, this becomes less feasible. Yet it's unpalatable to endanger lives just because of cost, and it's not fair to Gilbert residents to pay the way for county island residents. What to do? Either annex or charge a fee, and that's the reason for the town hall meetings coming up. Of course, Gilbert has no legal authority to charge fees to county island residents; that ends up smelling like a tax. As always, these things take communication and compromise.

The Mister and I lived in a county island before our move to Higley Groves West (I'll refrain from the urge to tell the septic-tank story!), and, as in all neighborhoods, there are pros and cons to that situation. There are always some folks who live in harmony with others and don't abuse the freedoms or the relationships; and there are always some who find it difficult to get along and do abuse the freedoms. There just isn't an HOA to help control the uncontrolled. I hear the murmurings from my neighbors about "nastygrams" from the HOA about our garbage cans being left out, or cars being parked on the street, or other similar issues that seem petty. On the flip side, those petty inconveniences (and the not-so-petty infractions that have been addressed) have helped increase our property values by over 50 percent over the last five years. I cannot say the same about our house that was in the county island. There are generally two sides - or more - to every situation; it's a good idea to think through them all before making decisions.

Power Restored

After the accident last week that took out our electricity at the office, the push was on to get it restored. This may seem easy - this is America, after all - and I guess compared to some third world countries, it was easy. But for this American's I-Deserve-A-Break-Today plus Less-Than-A-Minute-Through-The-Drivethrough mindset, it seemed harder than it should.

The first issue was finding the right parts to repair the box. The Mister explained clearly to me that the force of the car knocking over the electrical box by the fence was so strong that it actually pulled the wires off the box hooked to the office. These wires are underground (in a pipe, of course) and travel about 60 feet from the impact to the office where the damage occurred. SRP's emergency crew came out that very night and worked to repair the electrical box by the fence, but the box on the office was still damaged, and therefore we still had no power. The parts for this damage were unavailable and very costly even if you could find them, which looked to be about 10 days out, from initial estimates. Ten more days of being unable to work! It was depressing.

Thankfully, our electrician found the parts after a diligent search, and made the repairs on Friday. There was excitement all around. We just needed it to be inspected and then we could be "energized" - the power turned on again. But there was some confusion about who needed to do the inspection and who needed to "green tag" it, since it is a private box, not the one next to the road that SRP maintains, and so now there was some phoning between various officials and The Mister in the middle, and as the day dragged on, it became obvious that there would be no electricity on Friday. Hopes dashed.

Yesterday, however, everything was cleared up; it was inspected, green-tagged, and energized, and by noon power was restored. Now we can pick up where we left off a week ago. There's a lot of work to catch up on, and thankfully, we're eager to do that.

Beauty in the Beholder's Eye

On Saturday night, The Mister, The Water Expert, The First Cousin, and I went to the tenth annual Gilbert Community Excellence Awards. Sponsored by APS and emcee'd by Wally Delecki, the purpose of the event is to celebrate the excellence of individuals, businesses, and communities in various venues throughout Gilbert. There were about 250 folks in attendance, and of course The Mister knew them all...

There were raffle prizes, door prizes, and food provided by various establishments. The food was a sampling affair from Gilbert restaurants, and it was delicious. I wanted to have an office lunch at some of the contributing restaurants; alas, Gilbert has grown so large that just because they are in Gilbert doesn't mean they are close enough to our office to slip into for lunch.

The Gilbert Fine Arts Association provided some entertainment for us: samplings of the productions at the Fine Arts Center (the old Boys and Girls Club in downtown Gilbert). The next show starting in November is "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and it looked like a great production, especially if you have kids.

And the highlight for us was accepting the Beautification Award for Morrison Ranch. We're quite pleased to be noticed for the very thing we are attempting: creating a beautiful community aesthetically, while also preserving some of the agricultural heritage of Gilbert. I'm sure this award will be proudly displayed in our office, if you ever want to look up close:





The Water Expert labeled this picture "Morrison Ranch's First Beautification Award"; now that's the spirit!

Plenty of Excellence in Gilbert

The AZ Republic printed this article about the Excellence Awards tomorrow night:

Saturday night will mark 10 years of Gilbert honoring residents and business leaders at the annual Community of Excellence Awards.

"What makes it unique is that it's a community program, so instead of all of us doing our own award, we bring the community together to celebrate," said Kathy Langdon, president of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, one of the event's sponsors.

In this milestone year, the awards ceremony will include a Taste of Gilbert - an opportunity for the public to sample food from a variety of local restaurants. Gilbert Fine Arts Association will provide live entertainment.

The awards reception will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Trilogy at Power Ranch ballroom, 4369 E. Village Parkway. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $25 each or $230 for a table of 10 by contacting the Chamber of Commerce at (480) 892-0056.

"It's a little more formal for Gilbert than most events, but there's lots of mixing and mingling,"
Langdon said.

Maybe we'll see you there; some of us from our office will be attending:

Morrison Ranch, one of the neighborhoods built on the Morrison family farmland, will be given the Beautification Award. The neighborhood's white fences, individual mailboxes and porches were part of the developers' goal to keep Gilbert's agricultural heritage alive in the community.

On a personal note, I returned from out of town yesterday, and it almost seems like I should have stayed away a little longer. The accident (which The Mister posted on yesterday) that took out the power to the office has really evolved into a mess. I thought I was really dependent on my computer, and I am; but without electricity, the scanner doesn't work, and the computer eventually runs out of juice, so there's no paperless office happening; the wallpaper guys can't finish the job in the dark; even paying bills is in the too-hard-to-do box without a working printer. So all these dangling jobs will have to dangle on... Darn; I guess I shall be forced to spend my time working on wedding plans.

We have curbs!

This is really sad. I actually get all excited about seeing curbs poured. It comes from this. A long time ago (almost a year) Highland Groves was all graded to perfection. Even though there was nothing but dirt, you could drive the streets and see the lakes and the parks. Then the trenching started. And in short order, nothing was recognizable. Curbs are the return to well defined streets, and therefore the park spaces between them. And as the Missus has posted before, they have been hard to come by. So, a few hundred feet of curb and gutter, and I am all excited. Jeez!

Love the View

I am no different from those folks that love a nice view, and a nice green farm field is definitely a nice view. It's been sad for our family to watch the passing of an era, one in which we were surrounded by those green fields. Here is an aerial photo that juxtaposes the passing era with the new era (just a reminder that if you click your cursor on the picture it will enlarge):



The nice green field is the future Lakeview Trails South community (I posted briefly about this community in the roundup last Friday). Below it and to the left, the large field that looks like dirt, but is really freshly cut hay, is Lakeview Trails North. Going counterclockwise from there is Lakeview Village, of course, then the Morrison Ranch office on the corner, followed by the edge of Higley Groves West, then Higley Estates, and finally back at the top, the lake reflecting the sun and the signature grain silos.

If I have to change eras, this is a nice view for the transition.

Things don't always go as planned

Tuesday night there was an accident at Grandma's house, our office at Higley and Elliot. Fortunately no one was hurt. Also, none of our team was involved. But one car clipped another , which took out the fence, rose bushes and POWER BOX for the office.

This actually damaged the box on the side of the office, because the big copper wires that feed the house are firmly attached at each end, and when the box moved, so did parts in the power meter. That is a repair that will take several days. So we have minimal power with extension cords from the other house. Sort of like camping. This is a good time of year to be camping in Gilbert. Here is another photo of the damage.












This is "a pain" for us, but more so for the families of the drivers. They both happened to be young. It is hard for them to project the consequences of their actions on a gut level. The kind that would make them drive defensively, say. So, as an old person, and quoting an old TV show, "Let's be careful out there!"

Feedlot Cleanup

I mentioned in my roundup last Friday that the former feedlot along Higley is looking better all the time. Here's a bird's eye view:



The stripe across the feedlot is where The First Cousin's son, our farm manager, has "ripped" it. This means he used a tool that digs down about 2 feet deep, trying to see how deep the manure is, and also if he might end up catching irrigation pipes. You need soil (not just manure) to grow anything,; and it appears that in some places it is in fact deeper than 2 feet.

Highland Groves From the Air

In last Friday's roundup, I mentioned that Highland Groves is making some tangible progress. The Mister took to the air on Saturday with his camera, and provided a good look from that perspective. Elliot Road is on the right side of the picture, looking east:




It may not look like progress is happening, but for those who have been waiting to live there, it is obvious. Bias For Action passed on a couple of details about the Ashton Woods sales process:

Ashton Woods is using a first-come, first-served form of drawing for home sales. They have over 150 names and are working through them in order. They are releasing eight homes in the Oak Park section of homes and six or so homes in their Brentwood line of homes each month. They are not using lotteries where you have to re-enter each month. Sales associates are in their trailer off of Elliot. They had 76 visitors last Saturday alone!

And The Mister got the news yesterday that they are actually pouring curbs. Yippee!

Okay, Here's Some Real Roundup

I am out of town for a few days, so the blogging this week will be of the pictorial variety. My Friday post was about the Morrison Ranch roundup. But here are a couple of pictures, courtesy of The Water Expert, of some cows on the Morrison ranch. The name of the ranch is The Windmill, and these were taken last Monday:





This was shipping day. All of the steers were shipped for sale, and all of the heifers were kept to continue to grow the herd.




We had to sell off about half of our herd a couple of years ago, due to the drought. The government felt the cows would be too hard on the forest in such dry conditions. Last winter's extra wet weather means that the herd can grow again.

Engaged!

I don't normally post on the weekends unless there's some amazing news; well, here it is! Our #3 daughter just said "yes" to the love of her life. Wow. They are planning on a late spring wedding ceremony.

Roundup on the Ranch

The Mister's family has a cattle ranch up in the Cottonwood/Sedona/Flagstaff area. In the fall, one of the duties involves rounding up the cattle that have been grazing in the open range all summer and take them back to the enclosed areas of the ranch. It would be easy to think that the title of this post is referring to that process. But that would be incorrect.

This is a quick look at goings-on around Morrison Ranch:

Higley Estates
I haven't said much about Higley Estates lately, but that community is nearly completed. The First Cousin's mother will be the last Greystone customer to close on her home, in November. I suppose there will still be plenty of concrete trucks for months to come as folks get their pools put in, but soon the construction traffic will die down considerably.

Lakeview Village
The shops between Albertson's and DiRicci's continue to progress in building. As with everything else right now, it is slow due to availability of building materials.

Panda Express is fenced and poised to start construction, but there are still some holdups there, as well.

The backordered pedestal for the transformer box next to Bank of America is "in." No word yet on when it will be installed, leading to the lighting of the palms on that corner.

Feedlot Cleanup
If you've driven down Higley lately, you've noticed the great improvement in the area next to the grain silos, as the feedlot corrals are gone now, and preparations are underway to plant some hay there. We have also contracted with a firm to paint the silos (same color) and hope to have that completed by Christmas.

Putting up a fence and hiring a security agency seems to have greatly reduced the number of incidents of trespassers on and around the silos; though we did have some kids in the quonset hut a few days ago (the police handled that). It grows more dangerous, not less, as the demolition of the mill next to the silos begins.

Highland Groves
Ashton Woods has begun selling from their trailer on the project. Of course, Morrison Homes has had several lotteries now, and continues to build homes that are already sold along with their models. U.S. Homes, the third builder, shouldn't be far behind.

And in the ever-present hope for concrete, there is actual grading and markers for the curbs and gutters; this is a good sign!

Lakeview Trails North
Invisible to the naked eye, this community on the south side of Elliot Road continues the necessary process of being built on paper before being built with wood and stone. Thankfully there isn't yet a shortage of paper or computers, so this work continues apace.

Lakeside Groves
This community is even more invisible than Lakeview Trails North for the moment; but we just filed the preliminary plat with the Town of Gilbert this week. So it will be happening just after Lakeview Trails North. (If you want exact locations of these communities, check out the website.)

Paperless Office
This has been a good week for the quest for less paper. The Mister and I are feeling more comfortable every day with the system and I have been gathering large piles of paper for the shredder as the contents of the documents go into the computer. Bias For Action and The Water Expert will get some initial training tomorrow, and then the process should really accelerate.

Papered Office
Most of the wallpapering is finished, but we had to order a couple of extra rolls (my fault, I didn't understand the implications of windows when measuring) so it won't be complete until next week. I'll post some pictures of the final product.

Overseeding With Rye

It sort of sounds like a sandwich, but it's actually the fall ritual of landscaping. The Water Expert sent me this link to an article by a fellow in the Extension Office in Pinal County with some great concise tips and explanation of the whole process:

If you want a spot of green lawn in your yard during the coming winter months, now is the time to switch your heat-loving summer lawn to a cool weather grass by overseeding..

The annual ritual of converting all forms of Bermudagrass and other warm weather lawns to a winter hardy grass is now in full swing throughout the desert areas of Arizona. The conversion process is fairly easy to do, as long as a few simple rules are followed.

Go read the whole thing; it won't take very long.

The Water Expert adds some more information:

They don’t talk about how much water to initially start with. We start with 3 minutes six times per day to get initial stand of grass, then cut back as it greens up, re-seed if necessary. Then after the first mowing fertilize it, mow for three to four weeks and get one more dose of fertilizer down before Christmas. We usually end up watering the turf twice a week after we have a good stand.

I love the rye grass, as does my shady back yard. It is my favorite harbinger of fall in Arizona!

Proud Mom Alert

I couldn't resist a little picture of our son before the homecoming dance last Saturday. He has inherited The Mister's good looks and has his own charming sense of humor. I think all that he inherited from me is a love of sports.



You'll notice that the picture is sans femme, which is one of the drawbacks of being the mom of the boy going to a dance: I don't get all the pictures of the cute couples. When he was dating one particular girl last year for a while, her mom invited me over for the picture-taking debacle before the kids left for dinner. I was happy to join in, and mad at myself for not offering the same courtesy to the parents of all the boys that took my 3 daughters to dances. What a great idea!

Farm Land

The Missus posted yesterday about the series of articles in the East Valley Tribune, and I wanted to add my two cents to her thoughts.

The notion that the Cooleys or the Morrisons set up in Gilbert in anticipation of development is just ridiculous. That is because both families, and others, started farming here before the invention of air conditioning. At that time, this place had lots of sunshine, lots of aluvial flood plains, and some water, with the potential for more as more lakes were added. But there was no way to imagine a million people dumb enough to move here and work in an office, much less the nearly 4 million people we have now. Then times and technologies changed. Phoenix started to grow. And throughout the valley, farm families had to begin to deal with that growth. There have been many responses. There are many valid responses. And most of them involved farmers losing the opportunity to continue to farm here, but also getting a lot more for their land than they paid for it. That is certainly a blessing. It is not something they connived. There were actually a bunch of other people (developers, home builders, and home buyers) who pretty much decided for the farmers what their future would be.

Some of us Morrisons decided that this part of Gilbert needed to feel like Gilbert after the transition. That is why we got involved. It required a career change for several of us. It required dealing with a whole set of problems we would rather avoid. But we think it is worth it. We think Gilbert has been a great community, and should still be identifible as a community, and a great one at that, once it is part of the Phoenix metroplex. Look around. I think we are getting it done!

Others seem to think it is a good idea, too. The Johnstons and the Cooleys are involved in the planning of their farms. I think the Sossamans are doing something of the sort. Now, we may have to develop some of the same skills and knowledge as "developers" like John Graham of Sunbelt Holdings. I get called a developer now, and I suppose the way I spend my day justifies that. But we came by this involvement for different reasons. Not necessarily better, but clearly different. It seems to me that the Tribune, especially in its first part of its latest series, glosses over this fact.

In today's article, they seem to catch some of the notion of our attachment to the land. Of course, unless you have been part of it, you can't even come close. I have crawled 100 yards uncovering little cotton plants a half inch high that got covered with a cultivator by accident. It makes no sense economically. But I was growing those little guys. I wanted the plants to make it. However, the article doesn't explain why we are involved with the change. It leaves it to the only motive listed in earlier articles - profit. Well, unless things change drastically, we are going to make a profit on this land, whatever we do. I think the Tribune should acknowledge that some farming families really want to help preserve Gilbert, and the East Valley, as a great place to live.

Define "Speculator" and "Land Baron"

The Mister really is the one that should write this post, but he is unavailable, so I'll do my best.

The East Valley Tribune is running a 3 day series called "The Speculators" which details some of the facts about the land owners and developers in the East Valley. There were a few paragraphs referencing Morrison Ranch and quoting Bias For Action in the first installment, titled "Land Barons Have Locked Up Empty Fields From Mesa To Florence." Here is the excerpt, though to get the full flavor, you should read the very long article in its entirety:

CASH CROP
Aside from Merrill and Levine, most owners of the largest blocks of land in the south East Valley are the families that have farmed the area for generations. Almost all of them have formed investment companies to manage their real estate holdings.

Some are content managing the sell-off of their family farms. Most have all but abandoned raising crops and are building their fortunes on pure real estate speculation.

Howard Morrison was one of those who saw the boom coming. Morrison’s family had farmed about 3,000 acres at Elliott and Higley roads since World War II.

But like other longtime farmers turned land brokers, Morrison knew his family’s lifestyle was quickly drawing to an end.

By the mid-1990s it was clear to the Morrisons that they could either be poor farmers or rich land sellers. They split the difference, forming their own land investment companies that allowed them to cash in on the boom while controlling how their family farm is transformed.

"You can’t really make a living farming here," Morrison says. "We needed to be the ones to make the decisions rather than just have the growth happen to us."

The Morrisons have largely confined themselves to managing the sell-off of their family’s holdings as development encroaches.

One of the definitions of baron is:

1. One having great wealth, power, and influence in a specified sphere of activity: an oil baron.

And the dictionary definition of speculator:

2: someone who risks losses for the possibility of considerable gains.

I presume this is the definition for land baron that the reporter is using as he refers to landowners. And there is definitely wealth in the land, for whoever owns it. And you can surely use the term speculator to define a typical farmer, although most farmers would tell you they aren't risking losses, they are planning on them, and that the considerable gains that are possible are usually of the satisfaction in good crop variety as opposed to the monetary variety.

I take offense, however, at the tone of the article and the negative connotations associated with the term "land baron." I can assure you, when The Mister's family arrived here in the early 1900's and cleared desert land with horses (before air conditioning), they didn't think of themselves or their future offspring as potential land barons. And they didn't plan together how they would "lock up" all the fields between Mesa and Florence so that someday they could sell them at astronomical prices and wield great power and influence. Truly, their thought was to farm, to provide a living for their families (especially in light of the Great Depression), and perhaps to leave a legacy.

There are two issues I have with this article. The first involves a generalized view of wealth that the reporter seems to hold. When I read this article, it feels like these landowners are bad people, and probably very greedy, just because the numbers involved are so large. What is the difference between these landowners and my neighbors who buy fixer-upper houses, fix them up and then sell them? The only difference is the number of zeros in the deals. What makes one scenario bad, and the other scenario good? There are landowners who are honest and upright, and there are those that are dishonest and fraudulent, just like there are small businessmen of both stripes. But owning the land and then selling it for a profit isn't wrong on the face of it.

My second issue is the feeling that the reporter greatly misunderstands the farm families with large holdings. He does not say anything about their intent, and the implication is that they came here and hoarded all this land so that someday they could make a fortune. Sure, the wealth is nice, but most of these families would rather still be farming, just like the old days. The land has been accumulated over many years, and usually is owned by lots of family members, rather than a single landholder. The decision to sell is excruciating, and not all family members agree on the timing or means of selling, or whether to start over again in another remote area. The Morrison family is greatly blessed and we don't take that blessing lightly, nor that responsibility. I don't want a reporter to paint us with the brushstroke of some feudal lord overseeing his many acres with no thought for others.

I would have to say that the reporter is accurate in his factual reporting, which is admirable. But his use of loaded words such as "land baron" and other inferences (I don't recall the family coming to the conclusion that we could either be "poor farmers or rich land sellers") leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Read the series, but please read it thoughtfully.

A Concrete Sighting

The Mister snapped a picture yesterday of a truck delivering concrete to pour footings at the additional shops at Lakeview Village:





This is always good news. We hope for more concrete sightings, especially out at Highland Groves, very soon.

Grandma's Original House

I was talking with The First Cousin's mother yesterday about the wallpapering happening in our office, which was Grandma's house before serving the current function. I tend to think of this being Grandma's house forever; but The Mister reminded me that the house she lived in before this one is still around and still occupied. He went and got a picture for me:




This is currently sitting next to the Ashton Woods sales trailer at Highland Groves; it is sitting on the site of future apartments at Highland Groves.

This is the house that was next door to our current office; it was moved to another field (the site of the current Circle G development on Recker) to be used as an employee house, and when that field was sold, was moved again to its current location.

I haven't seen any of the normal sentimentality toward this house that I have toward other relics of the past; I guess that's because nobody in my generation remembers anything about the house since it was before their time.

More Paper, Not Less

In this sense, I have failed at my efforts to reduce paper in the office: today the wallpapering preparation starts. We are actually putting MORE paper on the walls than is presently here. At least it doesn't have to be filed.

So no real posts today, unless there's breaking news I must share.

On the Cutting Edge

Back in the day (way back!) when The Mister's father and uncle started farming, they soon became known as the guys who were willing to be on the cutting edge. They educated themselves and thought of innovative methods to try and tried other folk's innovative ideas. They installed 2-way radios between the employee's trucks and the office for more efficient communication. Here's a snapshot of The Mister's uncle on the left and his father on the right, at their office, next to the radio:



They also kept very precise records for each field, tracking the inputs and returns on every field. You might hear one of them say, "Well, you know, field 29's yields are always lower than the others because of that sand bar through the field." They ended up knowing the tendencies of every patch of dirt on the farm.

Another innovation on the farm was to use test plots, just like the Universities do, only smaller. They would use very precise applications of fertilizer on these test areas and then track the results. Very scientific, I would say.

The Morrison Brothers were early adopters of 4-row equipment, when the norm was 2-row, and then later 6-row equipment when 4-row was the standard. They figured that the increased expense in machinery was worth it for one man to accomplish more work.

In the 1970's, they entered the dairy business, and Arizona Dairy (on Elliot and Sossaman) is still in operation today. The dairy was state of the art; every single cow was artificially inseminated, though that was a new way of doing things. They had an IBM mini-computer (which was not "mini" by any means - picture two rolltop desks put together) that kept track of every animal ever on the place, including each cow's milk production. For a while, they used the methane produced by the cow's manure to generate electricity for the dairy.

The entrepreneurial and innovative spirit got passed down to the next generation as well. When The Mister and his brother started farming together, we bought a computer (looking back, of course, we laugh at the fact that our cell phones have more power and capacity than that first computer) and invested in a bale tracking program. We knew which bale of cotton came from which field and the quality of that bale, and that helped us plan for the next crop. We bought a module builder when most farmers were still using trailers to take their cotton to the gin. Yes, the trailers got ginned faster, but our labor and vehicle expenses were less, and soon all the farmers were using module builders.

Now another generation has received the innovative genes. The First Cousin's sons, who currently run our farming operations here as well as their own farm in Gila Bend, are looking into GPS-guided tractors. Apparently, these tractors can be programmed to adjust precisely for any part of the field that is troublesome. Need more fertilizer on one part? Got a sandy area in one corner? The tractor can "remember" that every time it crosses that field.

Okay, I feel better now. It's been 3 weeks since we started the great Computer Overhaul and Foray into Less Paper; the last few days have been filled with some frustration as things "almost" work, yes, we're very close, but not quite, this works but not that, and now we must de-bug this... The Mister and I have been spending our evenings tweaking things so everything works as advertised, and then much of the spare moments of the day doing the same. So it's helpful to remind myself that this innovation and entrepreneurial spirit stuff really is worth it, even though it takes some work. Thankfully, one of The Mister's greatest qualities is his persistence!

Schools Rule in Gilbert

I got an email from a woman whose family is moving to Arizona from Kansas, and she liked the way that Morrison Ranch looks. She asked for some information from a resident's point of view on the schools and shopping and such, and so I thought I would expand my answer to her today concerning schools in Gilbert.

The Mister's family has always placed a premium on education. The Mister's father served on the school board for several years, as did our sister-in-law; and The Mister's father has been a frequent donor to the ASU program (we have a culturally diverse family including attendees of both ASU and UA, as well as NAU and Grand Canyon University; all rivalries are friendly). Being very high on education is not exclusive to The Mister's family, however; it has been the norm in Gilbert for as long as I can remember. The School Board has been one of the most influential bodies in Gilbert, and arguably continues in that role today.

Back in the day, each school district was responsible for funding their own schools, and so Gilbert used bonding to do that. We built really nice schools, from Elementary through High School, and it was noticed. In fact, one of the comments we heard (said with disdain, I might add) was that our high schools look like junior colleges! Personally, I took that as a compliment; are we supposed to make our buildings and facilities as mundane as possible?

Then came the various lawsuits from folks who felt that the funding for schools should be distributed by the State rather than individual districts so that the poorer districts could have better facilities. Thus was born the Students First legislation in Arizona, which dictated that school funding would come from a statewide sales tax, and those distributions would have state parameters. This actually resulted in less need for Gilbert residents to fund the schools in our district, but it increased the state's oversight on what schools are needed at what time. For example, Gilbert's capacity for elementary students is now greater in areas where the population has aged, like Gilbert Elementary or Houston Elementary. But the capacity in the newer areas, like Morrison Ranch (4 miles away), is decreasing due to an influx of younger families. Under Students First legislation, the solution is not to build more elementaries in Morrison Ranch, it is to bus children to Gilbert Elementary. Not surprisingly, most Gilbert residents (especially in Morrison Ranch) don't agree with this policy.

Thankfully, one of the provisions in the Students First law allows individual school districts to go ahead and bond if they desire to build or expand facilities that Students First doesn't fund. Gilbert parents still want to provide the best facilities (and most convenient - we have a very high rate of parental participation) for their kids, and so we have continued to use bond issues for that purpose. As a matter of fact, that is precisely what is on the November 8 ballot, and it very much affects Morrison Ranch kids. The AZ Republic has an article today on this issue:

Gilbert's latest elementary school, now called No. 27, could go from desert landscaping to finished classrooms in eight months.

But the ultimate timing on school construction will be up to voters, who will decide a $120 million bond and override initiative Nov. 8.

If passed, the school opens its doors in August 2006; if not, 2010.

During a regular meeting last week, School Board President Helen Hollands asked about community support for the school, which is on 10 acres in the Holliday Farms subdivision, on the northwestern corner of Cole Drive and East Park Avenue.

"They've been very supportive of it," Superintendent Brad Barrett replied.

Paul Holland of HDA Architects presented the architectural rendering of the $7.4 million school, which will have a medium-size capacity of 830 students.

The school, however, could handle more students. The rendering showed where three portable classrooms could be located.

The longer it takes to build the school, the more it could cost. Schools cost about $85 a square foot last year, but that has risen to $98, Holland said.

Most of the students will walk to the school, which sits adjacent to the Higley Groves and Morrison Ranch areas.

School officials said they expect about 2,000 students from new homes in the coming years.

This school site was donated by the Holliday Family as they built the Holliday Farms community next door to Higley Groves. It has been waiting to be built for several years, and it sits at the very eastern edge of Higley Groves. We have also donated an elementary site within Lakeview Trails North to serve those residents. One of our desires has been to provide a community where kids can walk to school without crossing major streets. This seems attainable because, once again, of the value Gilbert places on education.

I hope you will vote, and I hope you will vote yes on both questions on November 8.

Fall In Arizona

I spent most of my early years in Wyoming, where we had basically two seasons: winter for 9 months, and spring for 3 months. I have friends who are transplants from the midwest or the east coast, and they sometimes bemoan the lack of seasons in Arizona. Not me. You could argue that I don't really know what it's like to have 4 seasons, and you might be right, but I do enjoy fall in Arizona. There really are leaves that change color; there's even a website that can direct you to the best places to see Arizona's Fall Leaves. The temperatures start to get cooler at night and through the morning, the heat during the day doesn't slap you when you walk out the door, and you can sit out on the back porch for dinner.

Fall also means planting rye grass (my favorite type), getting up in the dark, watching high school football games and getting cold before the game is over; buying interminable products from kids fundraising for school events, and seeing yard sale signs every weekend.

In the early years of our marriage, October meant the beginning of cotton-picking season, and very long days in the field, but still with the joy of the harvest (well, usually joy at the actual harvesting process; rarely was there much joy in the price of cotton).

And of course, it's the beginning of the holiday season, and the beginning of planning for the next three months. In short, it's the beginning of a new season.

In Morrison Ranch terms, Fall means the beginning of construction on Panda Express and the other shop space at Lakeview Village; Ashton Woods should begin actual sales at Highland Groves sometime this month; preliminary discussions continue concerning apartments at Highland Groves; discussions also continue on the industrial park along Power Road; the engineering work continues apace for Lakeview Trails North on the south side of Elliot; and the cleanup of the corrals and the old mill east of Higley Road next to the grain tanks is coming along nicely.

In our office, our fall sprucing up continues with wallpaper hanging commencing this week; the outside being repainted in the next month (same color); rye grass being planted soon; and of course, the continuation of our march toward a paperless office.

That about sums it up. Welcome to Fall in Arizona.