(Editor’s note: due to the number and length of letters submitted, posting has been in the order received and will be restricted to space available in our July 7 print edition)
I find it rich that a group of Boulder residents that the entire Carefree community supported in the decommissioning of a sewer treatment faculty which TRULY affected their quality of life and enjoyment of their property, (we are ALL paying for that in higher sewer utility charges) are denying that same courtesy to fellow Carefree residents on an even more vital issue, a sound, quality water delivery system, by spreading false and misleading information about the condition of the Cave Creek Water System, the costs (investment)of expanding the customer base of the Carefree Water Company, and whining about the placement of a well camouflaged water tank on a utility easement in their community.
The Cave Creek Water System is STILL a mess of hillbilly repairs and bandaids on a single old, decrepit water line, with lift and pump station upgrades that are not scheduled to be completed for years. New connection to Phoenix is a ways off and will be expensive for CCWC on the backside. The leased filtration units were an expensive and incomplete knee jerk quick fix, as well. And let’s not forget the mess that is Desert Hills and the millstone of the debt payments CCWC must contend with.
On the other side, Carefree Water Company has done its due diligence and financial analysis of acquiring the 540 or so Carefree households currently on Cave Creek water. The millions of dollars that will be invested in infrastructure improvements is NOT just money floating around that could be spent elsewhere. This investment will bring the perpetual benefit of adding an additional 540 fellow Carefree households, each bringing along a valuable water allocation, onto the CWC. There are variable and fixed cost to delivering water. 540 new households means that those fixed costs will be spread over more customers in the future. And don’t forget, the infrastructure build out will put Carefree in the driver’s seat for developing the northeast corner of Cave Creek Road and Carefree Highway. Taxes generated by the development of this area will benefit ALL Carefree residents. We ALL live in the beautiful Town of Carefree. Let’s come together as a united community in providing the same water service to ALL households in Carefree.
Lisa Zarins Rinde
Carefree
There are quite a bit of opinions being expressed regarding the transfer of Carefree homes from the Cave Creek to Carefree water. As one of those homeowners positively benefiting from this transfer, I want to weigh in. We are simply asking to be added to the water system of the City that we reside in. We are not asking for favors or a free ride by any means. We simply want a clean and secure water supply for our homes for today and in the future. We simply want the same benefits and water security offered to the other Carefree homeowners. I would ask those Carefree residents opposed to the transfer, please take a step back and look at it from our perspective and reflect upon how they would feel and react if it were their homes.
Lori Wolfe
Considering what I have heard, it would be more efficient and reasonable to move those in Carefree getting Cave Creek water to the Carefree facility.
Patrick Evers
Sentinel Rock Estates
Good Morning – I reside in the Sentinel Rock community which is part of Carefree. I understand that there is some pushback from a disgruntled Boulder resident – which I am not fully understanding which is why I am writing to you today.
Any community of Carefree would be expected to align with Carefree water management. An underground tank doesn’t strike me as a potential take away from the Boulder residents and isn’t a basis for pushing back and denying an expected righting of alignment.
The additional residents will be feeding money into the Carefree water management program which will further enable continued advancements in effective and efficient use and management of our water supply.
It is time for communities to work together rather against each other for the good of all. I believe the boulders received assistance regarding the sulfur smell they were experiencing. Great opportunity to pay it forward and return partnership in kind.
Sabrina Williams
As a resident of Carefree, that gets our water from Cave Creek Water, I would like to ask that you support our right to have our water come from Carefree. Not only does it lower our property values by not being on Carefree Water, we pay additional money to Liberty Utilities so that the treatment plant near the Boulders, which was causing a terrible odor, could be decommissioned. It is our right as citizens to expect our water to come from our town.
Thank you for doing what is right and just.
Cindy Markantes
Carefree
It has come to my attention that folks are reaching out to the Sonoran news with opinions on an agreement that has been in place for some time to get the remaining Carefree residents onto the Carefree water we all deserve as Carefree residents.
It’s sad that the folks who are trying to block what is a legally binding agreement are also Carefree residents. I just wanted to reach out to say when you hear their propaganda please understand that this agreement has been in place for a while and has passed many hurdles to get us to where we are now.
It’s time for all Carefree taxpayers to get the water quality we deserve and too much time and money is being spent fighting what has already been agreed to.
Thanks,
Mario DiFerdinando
As a Carefree resident, living on a Carefree portion of Black Mountain, I am deeply disturbed that other Carefree residents (mostly residing in The Boulders) want to deny us the right to use the same water system that they access. The Cave Creek system has historically not been well maintained and is totally dependent on a single 30 year old 12 mile pipe. I’m sure that if the shoe was on the other foot, those same people would be up in arms if we were trying to prevent THEM from accessing the Carefree water system. As a Carefree resident, I think we should be treated the same as other Carefree residents!
Dennis Lewin
As a resident of Carefree, I find it outrageous that I am not treated equally in regards to obtaining access to reliable and clean water as other Carefree residents. It would seem that those Carefree residents in the Boulders are complaining that the water storage tank that would be used to supply other Carefree residents negatively impacts their development with no benefit to them. The tank will be mostly buried and the part that will be above ground will be covered over and landscaped. The berm will actually provide traffic noise mitigation from the vehicles traversing Tom Darlington Dr. It is interesting to note that the residents in the Boulders reaped the sole benefit when the sewer plant located there was decommissioned, thereby resolving their sewer odors issue that did negatively impact their property values and lifestyle. We other Carefree residents did not benefit from that and yet we are all paying for it with increased monthly sewer charges. As history has demonstrated, The Boulders residents were happy to benefit from the sewer fees paid by other Carefree residents, but when their assistance is appropriate regarding water benefits for other Carefree residents, they are not willing to agree.
Jill Heberling
Carefree
To whom it concerns:
I am writing to you in order to express my concern that the Cave Creek Water Co. (CCW) system is long-term unreliable due to it’s dependence on CAP as its sole source, especially during the current drought and consequent potential for rationing in the future.
According to public sources, there has been an historical lack of maintenance on the CCW system, including the single 30-year-old lead pipe that brings water 12 miles uphill along Cave Creek Road from the Deer Valley CAP station via three aging CCW pumping stations. Carefree Water is not buying that portion of the Cave Creek Water Co. That remains with Cave Creek. The parcel in ‘the Boulders’ development has a utility easement on it and a large water main pipe running through it, indicating it was always meant for a utility use in the future. There is also already a large septic tank buried on the parcel.
A small but extremely vocal group of residents in ‘the Boulders’ is complaining that the water storage tank will negatively impact their development with no benefit to them. According to public sources, the tank will be mostly buried and the part above ground will be covered over and landscaped, and will in fact, provide additional traffic noise mitigation from the vehicles traversing Tom Darlington Drive. It should also be noted that residents in ‘the Boulders’ received the sole benefit of a sewer plant being decommissioned and relocated from their development, thereby resolving sewer odors that did negatively impact their property values and lifestyle. The sewer plant relocation is being paid for by all Carefree taxpayers who themselves received no personal benefit from the relocation, but consequently are paying increased monthly sewer charges to cover the cost.
I am writing to implore you to continue to pursue transitioning those of us in Carefree that are on the CCW system to the Carefree Water system which is the right thing to do. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Natalie Baxter
Carefree Sentinel Rock Estates
This correspondence is being written in the continued support of all Carefree residents to be unified under the Carefree Water Company and the installation of the designated water storage tank. I have been a resident of Carefree for the past 11 years and have significant concerns with the Cave Creek Water System including water quality, water pressure, sediment in the water, delivery infrastructure issues, historical lack of maintenance and the long-term efficacy of the water supply. Carefree residents have no voting control related to the Cave Creek water supply.
The opposition to the substantially underground and landscaped installation of the water storage tank is promoted by a small group of Boulder residents who have absolutely no evidence of declining property values. The tank site is designated as open space with a utility easement and contains a large water main meant to be part of a water system.
Carefree residents were in support of the removal of a Liberty Utilities sewage facility that eliminated odors for the sole benefit of Boulder residents. That action was the right thing to do even though it resulted in significantly higher sewer rates for Carefree residents. This change to Carefree Water supply will benefit over 500 Carefree residents and is being opposed without just cause. It is now time for those who oppose this much needed water resource to also see it as the right thing to do.
Timothy Angelos
Let me get this straight: I’m paying higher sewer bills each month to cover the cost of removing a treatment plant that Boulders residents found objectionable, and now Boulders residents are fighting an unobtrusive water storage tank that will enable our section of Carefree to join the town’s far-superior water system? Talk about community spirit!
Scott Peterson
My name is Mike Johnson and I represent the Carefree Ironwood Estates HOA Board of Directors; consisting of 25 of the 526 homes currently on the Cave Creek Water System. This is our opinion of the issues surrounding the Carefree Water transition project.
So now, we are to understand that FUD people (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) have arrived to spread a message of doom across the Town to frighten people (probably with their wallets and threats of strain on the water supply), talks of petitions, recalls, voter initiatives and derailing project financing; to try and prevent the transition of a very large segment of the Town’s population from enjoying the water available to them in the Town in which they live.
With Covid-19 and every other form of bad news out there, we are told that certain Carefree residents have hired so called outside “influencers” to help their cause to stop the Carefree Water project that will transition its Cave Creek customers onto the Carefree Water System.
Let us digress. It’s well known, that the Cave Creek Water System, whose sole water source is CAP, has suffered from a lack of maintenance which includes a single 30 year old pipe that brings water 12 miles uphill next to Cave Creek Road from the Deer Valley CAP station; utilizing 3 very old and tired CCW pumping stations. Fortunately, Carefree is not buying those assets.
We are told, we the people who live here, by people and interlopers who don’t live here, that the Cave Creek water and supply is adequate. Nonsense, the water is extremely hard, dirty at times, the water pressure fluctuates low and the fire hydrants were not serviced for years. In fact, one of them had become buried in the ground until we complained. Finally, we don’t vote in Cave Creek and have zero control as to how they run their system.
We believe if the drought continues, we will be subjected to water rationing, possibly a 30% cutback; while the other 75% of Carefree’s residents may not as there are multiple sources of supply. Is this fair to 25% of the Town’s population? What about our property values?
We believe the Town has done an excellent job of preparing the engineering for the project. The parcel in the Boulders identified for the necessary additional water storage tank, already has a utility easement on it and a large main water pipe running through it. It was obviously always meant for utility use in the future. In addition, on another parcel designated as open space, there is a large septic tank buried in the area. We believe the town has bent over backwards to ensure the new tank is well placed. The tank will be mostly buried and the part that will be above ground, will be covered over and landscaped. A planned berm there should actually provide traffic noise mitigation from the vehicles traveling Tom Darlington.
We understand that Boulder resident Nay-Sayers are postulating that the water storage tank negatively impacts their development with no benefit to them. The residents of the Boulders were the sole beneficiaries when the sewer plant located in their community was decommissioned thus resolving their sewer odor issues while not impacting their property values or lifestyles. The rest of the Town received no benefit and all Carefree customers were impacted with increased monthly sewer charges.
Have they consider the possible harm that may come by forcing 25% of the Town to continue to remain on the Cave Creek Water System?
Putting the all the Nay-Sayers into perspective, Carefree has an estimated population of 4,025 people, this group can’t even be 1% of the population. The 526 plus homes/businesses that have been marooned on Cave Creek’s water system, is estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 human beings. This represents at least 25% of the Town’s population noted above.
We strongly encourage and strongly support the Carefree Town Council in its fight to complete the project. It’s the fair, just, equitable and right thing to do!
Mike Johnson
Protect our Water Supply.
The Town of Carefree has come under vicious attacks by a small group of people living in the north part of the Boulders whose actions may threaten our water supply if they are successful. The state of Arizona is facing severe reductions in water usage as Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the major reservoirs of the Colorado River on which we & the entire state of Arizona depend, are at their lowest levels in history. The water from the Colorado River reaches us through the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canals you have seen, which will cease to operate if this current “drought of record” continues much longer. Fortunately, in the event this happens, Carefree has developed a very sustainable water supply available to our residents which is not the case in most communities. This is the result of effective water conservation plans put in place by Carefree and the excellent planning and management of the Carefree Water Company since acquiring it in 1999 in order to control and protect our water supply. Key to this plan was building adequate water reserves for our citizens and businesses.
Our reserves are supported by water storage tanks in several strategic locations throughout our Town which are an essential part of our water infrastructure system. The group of people threatening our Town and water supply are operating anonymously under the name “Save our Desert”, a common ploy used by people like this to create the opposite impression of what they are actually doing. They are not saving the desert, only trying to deny other Carefree citizens the benefits of water storage the Town has made available to them. Point of fact, this group is not complaining about the two large above-ground tanks installed in another Carefree neighborhood, containing 550,000 gallons of water that protects and supplies the water going to their homes. They are only objecting to one small, underground tank, located on open space that is necessary for the availability of water to other Carefree citizens.
This group has hired an outside political operative or “story teller”, as he is characterized on his website, to spin their message as seen in the article written by David Leibowitz in the June 16th edition of the Sonoran News. Those Carefree citizens committed to “Saving & Protecting our Water Supply” would kindly ask this anonymous group and their “hired guns” to please stop what you are doing, start caring for those living around you, and become responsible citizens of Carefree.
Carefree Citizens Protecting our Water Supply
Town of Carefree,
I am a property owner (Lot 133) in Carefree Sentinel Rock Estates.
My water supply presently comes from the Town of Cave Creek.
An in-dept engineering analysis was done and it was found to be feasible
to connect our homes to the Carefree water company.
A very vocal group of about a dozen people in the Boulders headed by Don
Schwarzkopf is continuing to raise a ruckus about bringing those of us
on Cave Creek Water into the Carefree Water system. They are claiming
there is no need for this, and are continuing to spread misinformation
using emotionally charged falsehoods. While the parcel in the Boulders
where the water tank will be placed that would service Neighborhood A,
which includes the developments on the south and west side of Black
Mountain, is designated as “open space”, it has always had a utility
easement on it and has a large water main running through it, so had
always been planned to be part of a water delivery system. The water
storage tank will be placed substantially underground and covered with
landscaping. There is already a large septic tank on the parcel.
The citizens of Carefree are being charged significantly more for our
sewer rates, starting June 1st, because the Town of Carefree supported
the residents in the Boulders who were suffering from extensive sewer
odors that had made some residences there literally unlivable. The
sewer plant was shut down by Liberty Utilities, private owner of the
sewer company that services us, at considerable expense, which is the
main reason for our sewer rate increase.
All the property owners in Carefree, both residential and business, are
paying for this so the residents in the Boulders could breathe fresh
air. This group now fighting our water transfer are squealing that the
water tank “hurts their property values” without providing them with any
benefit. Well, our sewer rate increase to get rid of their sewer odors
certainly did not provide the rest of Carefree with any benefit, but it
was the right thing to do, something which does not seem to concern this
group in the Boulders. Somehow we are second class citizens not entitled
to be connected to the Carefree Water Company. I vote for connection.
Rudolf Marso
Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the letters and articles you’ve published regarding the water situation in Carefree. Having been very active and involved in our community during the 20+ years since we built our home in Carefree, it is most disappointing to see the behavior of this group in the north Boulders demeaning our Town and those serving in leadership as being reported in your paper.
Assuring all our citizens a safe and secure water supply was always part of the original plan when the Town purchased the water company in 1999. The plan was all inclusive from the beginning, but needed to be accomplished in stages with everyone’s cooperation in order to be able to pay as we go and not accumulate any debt for the Town. We are now in the final stages of implementation, and the Town has greatly appreciated the patience of the 500+ home owners who have waited so long to become part of the system, to which they are also entitled, and we certainly don’t need the problems now being created by this group as we complete the plan. From the actions we’re seeing, this group certainly does not represent the character and quality of the people I have known in the community who have given so much over many years to make Carefree the special place it has become.
This has always been a very giving community and I, like many others, have supported and served on the boards of many of our great non-profit organizations here. I am currently president of two homeowners’ associations, one in Carefree and the other in the Boulders. I have also served on the Carefree Town Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, and played an active role in the development of our water infrastructure system which has created a near 100-year water reserve supply to protect all of our citizens against the severe water shortages our state is already experiencing. Our reserves not only assure the water available to our homes, but also the water we have available to protect our community against the increasing number of fires taking place. We have done all of this without creating debt, without property taxes, and have the highest per capita financial reserves in the state.
This is clearly an enviable record of accomplishments now being threatened by this group in the north Boulders operating anonymously under the assumed name of “Save Our Desert”. They are not saving the desert, only trying to deny other Carefree citizens the same availability of water which they have been given. I would kindly ask this group to either please stop what you are doing, for the benefit of all our residents, or come out of the closet and tell us who you are as the Carefree citizens who actually contribute and do care about our entire community, I’m quite sure, would like to know so they may have a direct dialogue with you.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Meyer
Carefree
We thought this issue had been settled.
We are Carefree residents. We pay considerable taxes to the town of Carefree. We do not directly benefit from all of these taxes. We understand that. One of the purposes of forming a town is to help spread costs across the many. For example, when the previous sewer plant located in the Boulders subdivision was shut down, all residents absorbed the cost. How is it that the quid pro quo does not exist for those of us who reside on the south and west sides of Black Mountain? Our water service is disgusting. It is Brown in color, tastes poorly and its ongoing access is in doubt. Where is the equity for those of us in service area A when the needs of many can be held up by a few?
Stop the nonsense! Complete the connection of Carefree water to service area A now!
Kevin & Sheryl Blakely
Carefree
