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A look back at this week in Surprise history
Posted
By Independent Newsmedia
Here is a look at Surprise history through the years on this week, compiled from archives of Independent Newsmedia, Newspapers.com and the city of Surprise historical records:
1968
The Surprise Town Council adopts a fiscal year 1969 budget of $87,813. Residents still aren’t assessed taxes.
1981
Jerry Gaines is appointed to the town council.
1984
The Surprise Town Council approved zoning changes to allow for the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Happy Trails Resort at Bell Road and Cotton Lane and the Sun Village and Sun Village West condominiums. Each development could house 4,000 people, which would triple Surprise’s current population of 3,723.
1990
Work starts on $47 million Bell Road improvement project from Surprise nearly 25 miles to Scottsdale Road. Surprise’s portion will start in April 1991.
1995
Surprise annexes about 600 areas near Peoria Avenue and Dysart Road near land it strip-annexed in 1978.
1998
The city of Surprise gets its first presence on the Internet with the launch of www.surpriseaz.com. It costs the city $1,000 to set up. It receives 86 emails at surprise@surpriseaz.com over the first two weeks.
2004
Ten Willow Canyon High School students and a bus driver are injured when a school bus runs off the road and flips onto its side into an irrigation ditch. The incident makes national news.
2017
John Williams resigns from the Surprise City Council. Patrick Duffy is appointed to replace him a month later.
