The Monday night, July 15 meeting of the Cave Creek Town Council concluded with the approval of a $30 million budget by a vote of 5-1, with council member Robert Morris dissenting. The budget was not approved without comment, however, as both members of the community and several council members voiced displeasure over how it was done, most specifically without public input and lack of workshops.
In other business:
- The call to the public drew a plea from Eileen Wright to address the wildfire prevention situation and submitted a proposal for Cave Creek to consider an Ordinance directed at that issue. Secondly, Bruce Arlen took the podium to remind everyone of the Dark Skies event scheduled for July 22.
- Melissa Paxton gave an impassioned presentation regarding the preservation of Harmony Hollow with considerable support from community members in attendance and a Land Trust representative. Having lived there for 12 years, Paxton shared considerable knowledge of the history and the relationship with Spur Cross. No action was required.
- Council approved, “with conditions,” to amend the zoning of a 4-acre property from a Desert Rural Residential to a General Commercial zone, to accodate a “micro” hospital. Most notably, traffic on 52nd St. was an issue and measures were being explored to alleviate that problem.
- Council approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Phoenix for water service interconnect, backup service, underground storage and recovery. Hailed as a “home run,” much of the credit was given to the efforts of Carrie Dyrek, Town Manger.
