The on-again, off-again ballot measure to give Marana authority to own and operate a disputed sewer plant is on again.
The Marana Town Council voted Thursday to place the question on the March 12 primary election ballot along with the Town Council candidates.
Voters will be asked: "Shall the Town of Marana be authorized to acquire and operate the Rillito Vista Wastewater Reclamation Facility" and some connected systems?
The Town Council previously authorized the ballot measure in June for the November ballot, canceled it in July, and then acted in November to get it on the March ballot.
The dispute over the wastewater treatment plant at 14393 W. Luckett Road began five years ago, when the town tried to annex the plant. When that plan was rejected in Superior Court, the town asked for - and won - a new state law last year to allow it to take over the plant by paying only the outstanding debt.
Marana took over the plant in January, but then lost a series of court battles to Pima County.
Now the county has given the town options for settling the matter for $18.2 million, and the Town Council has agreed to negotiate a settlement.
The settlement depends on the March election results and on the state Senate repealing two laws that allowed Marana to take over the plant.
"The other option we had is to pursue a citizens suit, which was to compel the federal and state agencies to enforce the Clean Water Act," which could have forced the town to give the plant back to the county, said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. "We chose not to do that in the hope that we'd get a settlement."
He said he needs an answer within a couple of weeks.
"We haven't been paid anything for the plant, and they still have it and they're still collecting user fees, and we're being financially harmed. It just can't go on indefinitely."
The council also changed the town's election code Thursday to eliminate the regular pre-election publicity pamphlet.
The pamphlet would have listed arguments for and against the ballot initiative, but the town received only one argument, which was in support of the initiative, said Marana Town Manager Gilbert Davidson.
Cutting the pamphlet will save the town about $10,000 and prevent any possible claims that the town tried to influence the election by distributing only favorable arguments, Town Attorney Frank Cassidy said in a memo to the council.
The town will provide other information about the ballot measure, including on the town's website, Davidson said.
Huckelberry said, "I think people need to be informed. It's a very complicated subject, and it has a huge fiscal impact on the town."
On StarNet: Go to azstarnet.com/news/local /govt-and-politics to read more about local and state government and political news.
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 573-4346. On Twitter @BeckyPallack.
