Gilbert, AZ

After years of delays, Gilbert is getting closer to building its first water park.

According to its updated timeline, Cactus Surf Park could open by September 2025. The 25-acre attraction at Higley and Queen Creek roads is described in a news release as a “much-anticipated state-of-the-art water park” within Gilbert Regional Park.

The updates were made public on May 2 when the Gilbert Town Council approved an amended agreement to a private company’s plans for the water park.

If this sounds familiar, it might be because the project has been in the works for years, before the regional park was finished. The water park project, then called The Strand @ Gilbert, was first announced in 2019 and predicted to open in summer 2020.

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What to expect at Cactus Surf Park in Gilbert

According to the surf park’s website, Cactus Surf Park would be inspired by “the world-famous East Cape Baja region of Los Cabos.” The latest available information about the project shows that the facility could offer activities including:

What we know about Cactus Surf Park’s water use

Last spring, the surf park had an expected opening date of April 2024. Since then, the developer has redesigned the amenities to reduce the amount of water used and pushed back the project’s development schedule.

During its May 2 meeting, the Gilbert Town Council approved the new timeline and amendment to water-credit use. According to the Town Council’s agenda, a “more efficient design” uses 60% less water than previous plans. The venue would require 100-acre feet of water credits each year rather than 200.

“This was achieved by reducing the depths of the lagoons, while maintaining the same desired effect,” the public document reads.

An acre-foot is approximately how much water would be required to fill a football field with a foot of water. That’s a little less than 326,000 gallons.

The water used at the park will not come from Arizona’s Colorado River water supply. Instead, the park “will purchase and use recovered water credits delivered through the town’s potable water system,” according to a news release.

The change was made after the developer received community feedback during an August 2022 meeting as well as comments from town staff.

What's next in the Gilbert surf park's timeline

Another community meeting about the development will be added to the town’s calendar, which can be found at https://www.gilbertaz.gov/residents. According to the development schedule, Cactus Surf Park’s public outreach deadline is June 15, 2023.

Current plans are for construction to begin in December and finish by July 31, 2025, for a September 2025 opening.

The wait for Cactus Surf Park has been prolonged

It’s been four years since Gilbert residents were told they would be getting a water sports complex.

In 2021, investment group Cactus Surf Park LLC took over the project through a full asset purchase. The LLC is registered in Delaware, and one of its members has an Orange County, California, address.

The town owns the land at 3005 E. Queen Creek Road and is leasing it to Cactus Surf Park LLC in a public-private partnership. The investment group takes on the cost of building, operating and maintaining the park.

“The public-private partnership with Cactus Surf Park LLC will be a financial benefit to the Town of Gilbert by providing a community amenity while also serving as an additional revenue stream for the parks system,” the town’s Parks and Recreation business manager wrote in a document to the Town Council.

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Surf and water parks being developed in metro Phoenix right now

Similar developments are in the works across the Valley in Glendale and Mesa.

VAI Resort, which is under construction near State Farm Stadium in Glendale, will be home to the state’s largest hotel. It also promises a white sand beach, rooftop pools, a “swimming oasis” and a party island, among other amenities. The Arizona Republic reported in April that the entire venue is expected to use about 5 million gallons of water from a yet-undetermined source.

Also, Cannon Beach is under construction at Power and Warner roads in Mesa. Plans for the mixed-use venue include a hotel, salons and spas, restaurants, an “indoor action sports playground” and a nearly 1.9-acre wave lagoon.

Details: http://cactussurfpark.com.

Reach the reporter at kimi.robinson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.

Usually, you’d have to go to a zoo to see a peacock, but a Gilbert neighborhood found one in their backyards.

GILBERT, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- It’s blue and green and on the run! A peacock is on the loose in the East Valley. After the community found its owner, they’re teaming up to care for the exotic bird.

Usually, you’d have to go to a zoo to see a peacock, but a Gilbert neighborhood found one in their backyards. It’s taken a whole community effort to figure out where it belongs. “I was working and looked outside my window and saw its tail, and it really caught my eye; it’s blue,” said Mike Leathers, a Gilbert resident.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Only this time, one is on the run! “It’s as if he’s looking into my office and wants to come in,” Leathers said. Last Thursday, he says the peacock took up residence in his courtyard. “I couldn’t believe it. I was yelling for my kids, you got to see there’s a peacock down here. I’m just like, where is everybody? This is incredible,” Leathers said.

But it wasn’t long before his feathered friend was on the move again. This time, the bird found a home in a different neighborhood. “Here’s one at my door; here’s a peacock on the roof. Yesterday my neighbor said, ‘Hey, it’s on your fence’ and sent me a really great photo. And I thought, ‘okay, someone is missing their peacock,’” said Christine Hough, another Gilbert resident.

Hough was determined to find out who owned the beautiful bird, so she posted it on Facebook. “It’s been a fun little thing for the community. Like hey, I have the peacock in my yard,” Hough said.

Shortly after, someone had a hunch as to where he came from. David Barraza has a ranch with tons of peacocks about a mile away. “Over the years, we’ve had close to ninety. Ninety, yeah, peacocks,” Barraza said. He’s raised them for 26 years. They have a fence and usually stay put, but it’s mating season. “There’s so many they’re all over the neighborhood. Everywhere. They’re birds so they can fly away,” he explained.

Barraza is disabled and can’t catch the peacock himself. “I can’t walk too much. So that’s why. Unless they bring it over here,” he said. He’s thankful the neighborhood is caring for his outdoor pet and hopes the bird finds its way back soon. “I haven’t heard anyone complain; it’s more of a novelty,” Hough said.

So if you stumble upon one, what should you do? Barraza says they don’t require much, but you can leave out some berries and water or leave them be.

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GILBERT, AZ — Get ready picklers, Pickleball Backyard is set to open this summer in the East Valley!

The new indoor pickleball facility that’ll debut in Gilbert is family-run and will feature six courts and will be open 24 hours.

Here’s what Justin Turley, chief marketing officer of Pickleball Backyard, shared with ABC15 regarding the first Arizona Pickleball Backyard facility.

PICKLEBALL COURTS AVAILABLE 24/7

According to Turley, here’s how the location can be accessed by guests since it’ll be a 24/7 facility: “People can get on through the website, but it eventually goes through what’s called court reserve. They will have to reserve a court on court reserve and then being a 24/7 facility, we’re not always going to have an employee there and so how it works is you reserve the court and then you get either a text message or an email and it gives you a code and you can use that code to get in the door. And so, if people want to play at 2 in the morning, they can.”

FIRST LOCATION AND A FRANCHISE IN THE MAKING

The indoor facility is set to open this June in Gilbert.

“As long as construction stays on track, we’re hoping that our soft-opening will be the week of June 12^th and then we’re planning on having a grand-opening tournament about the middle of July,” said Turley.

According to Turley, the team behind Pickleball Backyard sees a need for indoor pickleball facilities in Arizona with the possibility of rolling out more locations in the future.

“Our goal is to expand and have probably at least two facilities there in Gilbert… look at Mesa, Scottsdale,” shared Turley to ABC15. “Our goal is to eventually have ten facilities, not all in Arizona necessarily- but probably four or five in Arizona.”

According to Turley, they hope to make Pickleball Backyard into a franchise to “help other people all over the country open-up facilities" that are indoors of the sport.

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MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — If you saw a plume of smoke all day Wednesday in Mesa, it was a mulch fire that started in the morning and was finally brought under control around midnight. The fire at CTS Greenways Recycling on Sossaman Road near the Loop 202 began around 9 a.m. and while Rural Metro Fire confirmed the fire has been contained, it could smolder for days. Investigators believe spontaneous combustion sparked the flames.

Matt Pace, a meteorologist at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality joined Good Morning Arizona to discuss air quality concerns around the Valley. He says it’s not uncommon to see smoky skies like this linger around. “Some of that smoke does loop back down, and make it to the ground.” Still, the department notes that air quality shouldn’t be much of a concern for Maricopa County residents.

All of our air monitors and even our purple air sensors are actually showing values below the federal health standards,” Pace said. “It may look bad, but air quality is actually not bad outside”

Arizona’s Family reporter Sarah Robinson spoke with one woman with valuables at a nearby storage facility.

Happy Wife storage and RV back up to the facility. “You said you tried to get in. How bad was the smoke?” asked Robinson. “It filled up the truck. It was so bad,” said Pamela Rist, who has her RV and food truck stowed at the storage facility. “It’s probably $75,000 that’s in it. The RV is probably the same. If nothing else the trailer is going to have smoke damage.”

But what worries her is not the monetary value but the sentimental one. “Me and my daughter started the food truck business so we put our heart and soul into it. We’ve been raising money and getting it together. It’s been up and running since September. Everything we’ve got is in that food truck,” she said.

Click/tap here for a live air quality conditions by ADEQ

Matthew Garder stored his hand-built Cadillac at Happy Wife until Tuesday. “I told my wife, we’re getting ready to do some moving, and I said, ‘You know what, I’m gonna pull it out.’ I was gonna wait til today but just happened to pull it out one day earlier. I told my wife for years that I thought it would catch fire and I’ve always been afraid of that because it goes all the way around that side,” Gardner said.

Others like Joe Sitter are mainly worried about air quality. “It’s a lot of particulates and of course CO2. It’s a windy day, that stuff is spreading far and wide,” Sitter said. We did speak to a firefighter who told us these types of fires produce smoke that can be hazardous. So they’re encouraging people to avoid the area. Crews from Rural Metro, Mesa Fire and Medical, Gilbert Fire and Superstition Fire and Medical were all at the scene at one point.

It’s unclear how the fire started or how wide it spans. Shortly after 1 p.m., Maricopa County road crews closed Sossaman Road in both directions between Elliot and Warner roads.

CLOSED: REACT is closing Sossaman Road North and South bound between Elliot Road and Warner Road due to a incident. #phxtraffic #mesa

— Maricopa County Department of Transportation (@MaricopaRoads) May 31, 2023

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Desert Monks Brewing Co. says the purified wastewater helps conserve water... and tastes better.

Wastewater will be part of the brewing process of Desert Monk's newest lager.

Published: Wed May 10 2023

GILBERT, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - A Valley-based brewery will soon use purified, recycled wastewater in its beer.

In the face of Arizona’s ongoing drought and Colorado River water crisis, the owner of Desert Monks Brewing Co. says this is all in the name of water conservation and making the best-tasting beer possible!

How is this possible? Scottsdale Water has what’s called an Advanced Water Treatment Plant that can purify wastewater within 24 hours. Over the years it has hosted showcases and comp

How is this possible? Scottsdale Water is home to an Advanced Water Treatment Plant, the first permanent facility of this kind in Arizona. Within 24 hours, it can purify and treat wastewater so it’s safe for drinking. While it’s not used in the city’s drinking water supply yet, that could change.

“In the next two to three years, by 2025 to 2026, we will be using our ultra-purified water and putting that into our drinking water system here in Scottsdale,” said Brian Biesemeyer, the executive director of Scottsdale Water. Before that happens, he says the department has to go through a permitting process with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Wastewater includes anything that goes down the drain in your home, from the shower to the kitchen sink. The Scottsdale plant puts the water through a multi-step purification process that includes reverse osmosis. It takes about 24 hours from start to finish, and the facility can produce about 20 million gallons per day. Learn more about it here.

The plant was built in the 1980′s and is primarily used for irrigation. “We’ve tested bottled water compared to our direct potable reuse water, and our direct potable reuse water is purer than bottled water,” Biesemeyer said.

Over the years Scottsdale Water has hosted showcases and competitions for Valley brewing companies as a way for folks to get used to the idea of drinking the ultra-purified wastewater. Since 2019, it has had a special permit so it can do demonstrations. Sommer Decker, one of the owners of Desert Monks Brewing Co., was part of that. She says they liked the quality of the water so much, they want to use it permanently.

Starting this month the company will pay for the water and the transportation of the water to its brewery. “It is about the beer,” Decker recently told Arizona’s Family. “We have found that this water, it is so clean. It’s such a clean slate to start brewing our beer with that really allows the flavor of the beer to showcase itself without any other things that come with the water we would otherwise get.”

Decker says it typically takes more than 200 gallons of water to produce five barrels of beer. She believes this is the future of the industry.

“I understand some people will have some apprehension about it, but we hope that they can move past that concern to knowing that we have researched the water,” Decker said. “Scottsdale has done extensive research. We have found it better than what we can make otherwise. And it really makes our lagers that much better.”

Decker says they will start brewing with the purified wastewater this month and it will be on tap this summer.

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