TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There a little less mystery about a multi million dollar project proposed for Pima County land just south of I-10 and Houghton. But we still don’t know the company behind Project Blue.
The patch of land may not look like much but Pima County says a project proposed for the site could lead to about three thousand jobs just to build the place and when its done expect roughly 200 jobs at very good pay so who’s this big new employer? We can’t tell you. It’s a secret.
Pima County owns the land at Houghton and Brekke. There are big plans for it. It’s just south of Houghton and I-10, on the edge of the Pima County Fairgrounds. The sort of corporations behind such big plans love their secrecy so Pima County will only call the plan Project Blue.
What’s the project, and why blue? No one is saying because there’s a non disclosure agreement but a memo from the Pima County Administrator makes it clear why they absolutely they do not want to let any loose lips sink this ship.
The County estimates more than three thousand direct construction jobs and about two thousand indirect jobs, across two years of construction.
Once it’s operating, the facility, what ever it is, is expected to have about 180 employees paid an average of $64,000 a year.
Pima County and other taxing districts expect to collect $152 Million in taxes over ten years time.
The memo does spill a few details about the facility. It’ll be big, about 290 acres, and it seems like it will use a lot of water. It will be reclaimed water, not drinking water, but the facility will use enough of it to require large water lines to handle the demand.
The mystery may end in a few weeks. Pima County Supervisors may consider the deal in a meeting either the middle of next month, or in July.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
