Friends of Carefree, the first Town Council meeting in modern times to be held outside of Carefree [to my knowledge] was held this evening at the Holland Center. Until further notice, all future meetings of the Council and Planning & Zoning Commission will be held at the Holland Center, Building B, Quail Room located at 34250 N. 60th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85266.
Town Council Meeting, August 2, 2016 at 5 p.m.
Items 1 – 4, Consent Agenda: All items were related to routine town business (meeting minutes, bills, financial reports, event permits, etc.), Approved 7 – 0.
Item 5, Call to the Public: No one spoke.
Item 6, Current Events: None discussed.
Item 7, Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Presentation: Councilman Farrar, our Regional Representative to MAG, provided an overview of the Association and its activities. Given the new Council meeting venue, and very few residents in attendance, Mike kept the presentation brief. However the full slide presentation is available on the town website, as part of the ‘Council Meeting Agenda and Information Packet on page 17.
Item 8, Council Member Price’s discussion of real estate, lease, and sale signs: Councilmember Price followed up on her request that a committee be formed to look into certain types of signs in Town Center. An example she displayed showed a ‘Going Out of Business’ 50% discount sale sign. She said that Carefree should not become known as a discount town. She suggested that the soon to be elected ‘new’ council members be part of an effort to meet with and discuss the issues with business owners. [Jim Van Allen has already been doing so for years.] Gary Neiss described the role of the P&Z and Town ordinances, and the associated complexities of keeping Business and Property owners aware of their responsibilities.
Item 9, Town Council Updates: The mayor asked when the Gateways would be completed. Previously the schedule was said to be, “by August”. Councilman Miller explained that some special attention had to be given to the finishing touches in the upper sections, at the Arch itself, because the Arch can move ½ inch. The adjustments should be completed in a few days and then the custom tile can be finalized. Once that work is finished the ground level features and landscaping can be completed as well. Final completion is about a month out.
The Lewis project permits are ready but ground breaking originally projected for mid-July has yet to begin. Finalizing project financing is a pre-requisite.
I believe it was Councilman Orrico who asked when the corrective actions at the Gateway Roundabouts would be completed. Gary Neiss said the removal of deterrent objects [my words, aka white bowling balls] and stripping was completed. Another contractor will have to re-slurry seal those sections, and then a 3rd contractor will have to redo the lane striping etc. [A former boss once told me that “slow is better than no.” I sometimes agree. Fixing this potentially dangerous, self-inflicted, situation is far more rational than to let it remain. The traffic flows should never have been altered because of Gateways.]
Item 10, Executive Session: The Mayor asked that the Executive Session be deferred until research being conducted by the Town Attorney’s Law Firm is completed. There were no objections.
Item 11, Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:25 p.m.
Follow-Up: After publication of our July Newsletter we received a late response to our June QOM regarding the Bicycle Lane project. Ordinarily we would not go back to revisit a ship that has sailed, but this cyclist wrote a lengthy and thoughtful reply which deserves notice. While we don’t agree with all the points raised in that response we felt obliged to acknowledge it. Here is a brief passage from that response: “We had a disruption in town for several months. We ended up with nice roads, beautiful bicycle lanes, new landscaping and a greater feeling of safety. To me, that’s so much better than a loss of a life, or injuries requiring many months of hospitalization and rehab. In fact, I’m not sure why I’m making this comparison – it seems so ludicrous to me.”
I kept my word Joe… Can you ask your fellow riders to obey our laws as well?
Last Month’s Question: Do you feel the $500K investment in two Gateways will be a factor in revitalizing Carefree’s economic outlook?
Comments were numerous and exclusively non-supportive. Here are a few excerpts that ranged from “Half a million dollars for gateways serves no Econ Dev purpose and should not be charged as such,” “… the Town has erected two gateways at a cost of $500,000 both in incredibly poor taste and both utterly inconsistent with the architectural style of the surrounding neighborhoods,” “The structures are way out of proportion to their respective areas and the design is too busy. I feel as though I am entering a circus instead of a town center,” “The justification that the arches will contribute to the economic health of Carefree is ludicrous. My 40 plus years of experience in the business world suggests that economic growth is driven by availability of services, products and excellent customer service, not by an oversized arch that, according to a well regarded architect is neither subtle, well conceived or attractive.” “Has our Town lost its soul ?” “Can you say “Identity Crisis?”
We receive good suggestions for future questions. Please feel free to keep ‘em coming!
Question of the Month: How do you feel about the 26 additional LED Street lights that have been added to the town core?
Let us hear from you.
Respectfully submitted by Jim Van Allen and John Traynor
Don’t forget to visit CarefreesFutureMatters.com.
