Council to discuss gaming money requests

The Maricopa City Council is set to discuss and possibly approve requests for three grant applications totaling $423,000 in gaming funds from the Gila River Indian Community.

The largest of the grant requests is $300,000 for design and engineering for rail siding on the Amtrak Station Relocation Project. Railroad siding is a section of track that allows a train to pull off a mainline through rail switches at both ends.

Amtrak uses the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and its current station is near the crossroads of North John Wayne Parkway and the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The city plans to relocate the station to the Estella Gin property.

The second grant request is $100,000 for a third community cleanup and façade improvement within the Heritage District redevelopment area.

At its last regular meeting on April 17, council members tabled an ordinance to require Heritage District residents to comply with many of the same city codes as do homeowners and renters in the newer housing developments. The proposed ordinance is not on Tuesday’s agenda.