Carefree Truth

Issue #241, April 29, 2013

 

 

 

 

On April 15th, we attended the Cave Creek Council meeting where discussion and possible reactivation of the Cave Creek Water Company Water Advisory Committee (WAC) was on the agenda.  This issue is relevant to Carefree because approximately 600 Carefree residents are serviced by Cave Creek Water (CCW). 

 

 

The WAC was created in 2007 to represent the users who are not residents of Cave Creek but are serviced by CCW or the Desert Hills Water Company (DHW), which is also owned by the Town of Cave Creek.  Members from Carefree and Desert Hills provided independent input, working with the staff in the Utilities Department on system improvements, water pressure, and arsenic levels.  The last meeting was held in September of 2011, at which time there was no discussion of disbanding, and a date was set for the next meeting.  That meeting never took place.

 

 

In March of 2012, the Council officially removed the requirement for the Committee from the Cave Creek Town Code.  Councilman Dick Esser said he thought the WAC was to be ongoing.  Jessica Marlowe, the head of the Utilities Department, responded that it was not required by State Statute, so was a Town decision.  Councilman Esser and Councilwoman Shelly Anderson moved to retain it, but couldn't muster the votes to do so.  Councilman Tom McGuire asked if WAC had made a recommendation with regard to its continuation, and Ms. Marlowe replied that they had not discussed it in a meeting, but indicated she had discussed it with each Committee member and the consensus was that it was no longer needed.

 

 

A DHW customer said she had spoken with each WAC member, and none was aware that the Committee had been disbanded until informed their services were no longer needed, which caught them all off guard.  A former Committee member sitting next to me nodded agreement with that assessment.  The speaker said the Town manager had explained "they" decided it was not needed.  The speaker questioned who "they" were.  The same speaker informed the audience that the Utilities Department had been running a surplus.  In May of 2010, $1,000,000 (one million dollars) was moved to the General Fund, which is used to run the Town and to pay debt.  

 

 

The frustration over the disbandment of WAC was brought to a head by a letter sent to customers of DHW, stating each residence must install a backflow system.  Failure to comply would result in water shut off in 30 days.  At the meeting, it was disclosed that an amoeba had been found in the water, which triggered what was referred to as a "pro-active" decision on the part of the Town.  One speaker asked why they were not notified about the problem when, for a year, every month their water bill contained notices of high arsenic levels.  She lamented that some had "succumbed to the intimidation of water shut off and spent the money for the expensive system", and that the Town manager had called it a "good investment".  She said if she wanted a good investment, she'd call her stock broker.  Cave Creek recently applied a $10 Town fee to the cost of the backflow test reports which are required annually, and are performed by outside companies which are passing on the new charge to their customers.  Normally, only commercial users are required to have backflow systems.

 

 

Speakers from the audience unanimously encouraged  reactivation of the Committee, which they felt gave them a voice that had been taken away.  It was requested that the wording in a new Ordinance be changed from "will serve at the pleasure of the Town manager" to "will serve at the pleasure of the Town Council".  It was also requested that the Council and the Mayor make the nominations, rather than the Town manager.  One Desert Hills speaker, an engineer, opined that WAC members should have technical and/or business skills applicable to the position.  When asked if he would be willing to serve, he said he would. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkdJoggIgi4

 

 

Next, David Schwan came to the podium, stating that he was speaking as the Mayor of Carefree.  He said that over the past four years, Carefree residents had contacted Town Hall, as well as him personally, with suggestions and comments about CCW.  Mayor Schwan offered two suggestions, should Cave Creek choose to reactivate the WAC.

 

 

The first was that Carefree representatives on a new WAC be chosen by Carefree, saying that would answer many of the questions and concerns of Carefree citizens who feel disenfranchised by a Council for whom they can't vote, but which sets their water rates.   They would like a voice in who represents them.  The second was that WAC must have access to the current financial operating data which solely represents the operations of the Water Company.  People would like to know that money is used only for the operation of the Water Company, and not co-mingled with other Town funds or Sewer District funds.  The only way to accomplish this is to keep completely separate sets of books, as is done in Carefree.  Mayor Schwan asked them to consider these suggestions and said he hoped they would implement them. 

 

 

Mayor Vincent Francia made a motion to give direction to Town staff regarding the reactivation of a WAC.  He thought that Mayor Schwan's first suggestion "could be lived with", but thought the second suggestion about the handling of finances  was "crossing lines".  He then stated the selection process should be handled like it is for the Cave Creek Zoning Commission, with candidates submitting a letter of intent, a bio, and a resume to the Town clerk, after which they would be voted on by the Council.  He preferred that selection method because he felt it would activate a relationship not there before.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_qNCBZUopM 

 

Lyn Hitchon

 

 

Prepared by Carefree Truth

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