ASU President Michael Crow sent a letter to Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman on Nov. 12 hinting that the City of Tempe should pay for $6 million in infrastructure to support proposed campus expansions.
In the next few years, ASU and Tempe officials will be scrambling to find a place for all of the wastewater generated by an expected increase in students and more research facilities on campus.
"The estimate is what it would take the city to provide the infrastructure," said ASU spokeswoman Terri Shafer. "Normally, a city provides [sewer] services for all of its residents."
Shafer said Crow looked at Tempe's Capital Development Plan and was concerned that it didn't include money to pay for ASU's sewer needs.
The $6 million estimate comes from University architects' and planners' examination of ASU's capital development and master plans, Shafer said.
But Tempe spokeswoman Shelley Hearns said the mayor and council members have yet to make a decision about who will pay for the sewer lines.
"Normally, the city doesn't pay for the infrastructure," Hearns said.
Infrastructure includes storm drains and sewers, Hearns said.
ASU's expansion will include the construction of the Tempe Gateway district in the present space of the Tempe Center on the west side of campus, new residence hall spaces and several buildings for the Arizona Biodesign Institute, Shafer said.
New dorm rooms will be constructed in the $5.5 million space of the Oasis Apartments near Apache Boulevard and Sunset Drive, which was approved for purchase by the Arizona Board of Regents on Friday.
Shafer said ASU administrators think Tempe officials should "take a look at their Capital Development Plan to make sure they are providing services for the University."
But Hearns said ASU's $6 million estimate would not count in terms of the city's costs, because Tempe will need to look at its own capital development studies and examine needs at each development site to find out how expansions at ASU will impact the sewer system in Tempe.
Hearns said Tempe is still in the process of determining costs, so infrastructure costs and responsibilities haven't been determined yet.
"The engineers and the study designers will fill out the cost estimate," Hearns said.
Calls to the Tempe City Council's office were not returned immediately on Tuesday.
Reach the reporter at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
