The February 2, 2022 edition of the Sonoran News published a letter from Ms. Maureen “Mo” Benedetto, the Chair of Carefree Citizens for Responsible Government. It is the hallmark of good governance for citizens to question and challenge their elected officials responsible for setting policy, but the dialog needs to be based in fact. I would like to address a couple of points raised in the letter. You can go to the on-line version of the Sonoran News to get a more detailed rebuttal.
The letter claims that “deception” was instrumental in moving the Water Consolidation Project forward and the only justification for the project was poor water quality from Cave Creek. Not true. Carefree residents had complained for 10 years about issues with the water service provided by Cave Creek. The complaints from the 1,000 plus Carefree residents on Cave Creek water included water quality, fire hydrant and system maintenance, long term water supply sustainability and most importantly, a lack of a voice in the oversight of their water supplier. It is the Town Council who has responsibility for oversight of a municipal water utility, not the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Carefree residents cannot vote in Cave Creek; therefore, they had no voice in their water utility. There were many public meetings on this topic and two elections where it was the number one issue. Is there another subject that the Town has faced that ever had more public scrutiny?
The letter goes on to say that no complaints were received by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and insinuates that there must not be a problem. ADEQ is not where people go to complain about their water utility. They go to their town where they can hold their elected officials accountable.
You can go to Carefree.org and click on the public safety banner. There you can access all the details on the project, including a history of how we got here and a detailed presentation on project scope, costs and impacts on rates.
The Water Consolidation Project has been in the works for four years and we are now starting the final phase; construction. In August, the Town funded the project with the sale of $21 million of revenue bonds. In September, a contract for the piping materials was awarded. November saw contracts awarded for administration/inspection, and reservoir excavation. In December the contract for the labor to install all the piping was awarded. February will see the mobilization of the contractor on site and actual construction will begin.
The town expects construction of the water reservoir to be completed in 6-8 months and all piping installed by year end.
This will allow connection to Carefree of the 550 accounts being consolidated and the start of collecting the revenue required to pay back the bonds prior to the July 2023 deadline.
Tony Geiger
Member – Carefree Council
