CAVE CREEK – Call to the Public brought Robert Brown to the podium Monday night to tell council he researched his property on North 15th Street prior to purchasing and was assured he could get water from the town.
Now, after spending $18,000 to put in water lines, Brown was told he cannot get a water meter.
The denial is based on the town’s recent decision to place a moratorium on adding any new water customers in the Desert Hills service area, since the CAP water allocation being used to blend with Desert Hills well water to reduce arsenic contamination is intended to serve growth in Cave Creek not Desert Hills.
Brown said it is a moral and legal responsibility for the town to provide water.
Town Manager Peter Jankowski updated council on the Taste of Cave Creek event, saying there will be over 30 restaurants participating this year, which is up from last year.
He said ticket sales for the two-day event from 5-10 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 19 and 20 were going well.
Ashley Shiwarski with Utility Service Partners, Inc. made a presentation to the town about the program they offer to address problems of aging infrastructure.
The service line warranty programs they offer are completely voluntary to homeowners at no cost to the town.
They offer three programs: water, sewer and in-home plumbing warranties for just a few dollars per month. Homeowners can enroll in one or all three.
Shiwarski said the program is nationwide and they use all local contractors for their work that are thoroughly vetted.
The water and sewer line programs will pay up to $4,000 per incident, while the in-home plumbing pays up to $3,000 per incident with no annual or lifetime limits and no service fees or deductibles.
She said customer service is available 24/7/365.
The program also provides a revenue stream for the town on $0.50 per month per service per household.
There are currently 15 Arizona cities and towns that have elected to participate in the program, including Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Avondale, Jerome, Kingman and Show Low.
Over 60,000 Arizona residents have enrolled in the water, sewer, and/or in-home plumbing warranties with over $2.5 million paid in repair costs and over 99 percent of the claims approved.
With Councilman John Ford absent, council voted unanimously to approve the reimbursement and lease agreements between the town and Cahava Springs Development Company, with Town Attorney Bill Sims advising council reimbursement is completely dependent upon the success of Cahava’s ability to sell revitalization district bonds.
Councilman Thomas McGuire asked if Cahava were to default, could the town place a lien on the property.
Sims said it wasn’t in the agreement and would have to be added.
Vice Mayor Steve LaMar summed it up by saying, “If the project goes belly up, we’re going to eat this.”
Sims said, if council wished, he could add a lien clause and council could approve the agreement contingent upon its addition.
During public comment, Terry Smith thanked council for everything it was doing and said, “We’ve been extremely patient and want you to approve this so we can get one step closer to finally seeing something moving. We’d like you to sign the agreement.”
J.D. Smith asked if Cahava was required to have a performance bond.
Sims said, “A performance bond doesn’t really help you. But that’s better than a lien.”
McGuire asked Sims if he thought it would be a problem getting Cahava to agree to a lien.
Sims said the town could ask for a lien on the property rather than on the water line.
LaMar, who made the motion to approve both agenda items, stated, “My major concern is we move this along. I see liens and performance bonds as not beneficial.”
Sims agreed that it would not be beneficial to ask the developer to guarantee payment on a water line owned by the town that he has no obligation to do.
However, he said, “I’d be happy to ask for a lien on the property. I don’t know if they’ll agree.”
Esser asked, “Before we take this leap of financial faith, do we know where the project is at?”
Jankowski replied, “No.”
Before voting to approve the reimbursement agreement, Mayor Vincent Francia thanked Sims and Jankowski and said, “My interest is very singular – getting water to the people on the west side.”
As council voted to approve the lease agreement, Francia addressed the citizens on the west side of town by saying, “You are not our stepchildren.”
Council voted unanimously to approve a fund transfer of $4,500 from the contingency fund to the town hall debt service fund in what Councilman Dick Esser stated was basically a housekeeping matter.
Council spent an inordinate amount of time discussing whether or not to approve a $155,821 contract with Markham Contracting to upgrade the town’s water lines on the west side of town.
Jankowski said this would be step two in getting water to the west side.
He said the proposed work was totally on the town’s lines to increase volume and loop the water system.
Jankowski said it would not increase pressure but would improve the system regardless if Cahava builds.
Town Engineer Dave Peterson provided more details about the scope of the work. However, he noted the system would eventually need a booster pump and tank at 24th Street and Joy Ranch Road.
Jankowski said the town was talking to the state land department about locating a pump and tank at the intersection.
Councilwoman Susan Clancy questioned the quality of the existing lines and asked how much it would cost to replace them.
Jankowski said the town was just looking at the short term goal of getting water to the west side.
LaMar asked if the town would be better off replacing the six-inch line now and doing it right.
He said, “The last thing I want is an issue with six-inch line when we can put in eight-inch line. I say let’s just do it now.”
McGuire said he agreed with LaMar and asked if the town had the financial resources.
Jankowski said the town was currently using contingency funds, explaining the town needed to maintain reserve funds as part of its WIFA loan requirements.
Now that the town has documented how much pressure it can attain after fixing the pressure reduction valve, Councilman Ernie Bunch suggested a six-inch line connection instead – work the town could do at little cost.
During public comment, David Smith said he thought council had done a terrific job of coming up with alternatives but stated, “You’re not going to provide adequate pressure.”
While Smith stated there were a lot of alternatives, he suggested just using six-inch line and installing a booster pump and tank.
Bob Morris said, “I think Ernie is right. We should be doing the least we can to get water up there as quickly as you can. Now you’re going to blow $155,000 on something that’s not needed.”
Bill Besore thanked council and said it is huge just having a garden hose that works.
Terry Smith told council that people on the west side needed some notice to get water lines installed to their homes, so if council took another month or so it would be OK just so long as residents know it’s coming.
He told council he appreciated the attention they have given this and didn’t appear to have any qualms with whether the town installed a six-inch or eight-inch line.
J.D. Smith suggested the town investigate what it would cost for the pump and tank. He said he’s heard it was in the $200,000 – $250,000 range.
Smith recommended the town put the $155,000 toward the booster pump and tank and keep the six-inch pipe.
He said, “Maybe you ought to table this and do it right.”
Bill Allen questioned the route of Cahava’s original pipe design.
Jim Welsh asked if the tank and booster pump would help provide water to Desert Hills.
LaMar indicated what Bunch suggested would cost substantially less.
Because he’s always been told motions should be made in the affirmative, Bunch said he was moving to approve the item so he could vote against it.
Francia seconded the motion.
LaMar asked how much it would cost to do Bunch’s alternative.
Francia asked council to take a short recess so they could consult with the town attorney to help draft a motion.
When council reconvened, Francia said they have a solution but he was not comfortable with it under the current agenda item.
Council voted unanimously to continue the item until the Nov. 7 meeting, when they could come back with a new agenda item.
The last agenda item was to appoint 11 citizens to the Open Space Committee to two year staggered terms.
Francia made it clear the resolution authorizing the committee requires those serving to be residents.
Desert Foothills Land Trust (DFLT) Executive Director Patrick McWhortor spoke and asked to nominate DFLT Conservation Director Vicki Preston to the committee.
Francia asked if she was a citizen of Cave Creek.
McWhortor said she was not.
Of the 14 citizens who applied to serve on the committee, Katya Kincel, Reg Monachino and Bob Williams were not selected.
Chosen for the two-year term were: Martha Arnold, Vincent Francia, Steve LaMar, Janet Mohr, Jane Roads and Melanie Williams.
Chosen for the one-year term were: Jim Bruce, Russell Carlson, Kaolin Cummens, Jackie Davis and Robert Klienops.
