"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer
Carefree Truth
Issue #937, July 30, 2021
Issue #937, July 30, 2021
Letter From Mr. Schwarzkopf, I’m not vicious. I’m not threatening the town, or its water supply. I am neither a cannibal nor a serial killer. I just don’t believe that Carefree town officials are omniscient and infallible.
There are three main concerns that any thoughtful Carefree resident should have about the town’s “water transition” project:
1) Why does it make sense to completely replace the existing water delivery infrastructure in western Carefree, when less drastic measures could achieve the same objectives ?
Fact Check
All other measures were thoroughly investigated and evaluated by the Carefree Water Company, the Town of Carefree Staff and Council and a professional engineering firm, Coe & Van Loo (CVL), and the conclusion was that adding these accounts into the Carefree Water Company system was the best option by far. Mr. Schwarzkopf was not a part of any of those analyses and discussions, nor was this information ever shared with him or anyone associated with him, so he has no factual basis to state that “less drastic measures could achieve the same objectives.” That statement is sheer speculation on his part.
2) How can it make sense to spend more than 20 million dollars just to make the same Central Arizona Project water flow out of the same faucets, when so much else could be accomplished with this level of investment / indebtedness?
Fact Check
This is a statement made by a person without familiarity of the situation or knowledge of the facts. The IGA with Cave Creek has been in place since 2007, and it has been Carefree’s objective to integrate the remaining 30% of the Town’s residents into the Carefree Water Company system as soon as practical since 2007. Don doesn’t factor into his statements the many primary reasons supporting the integration of these remaining Carefree residences and businesses into the Carefree Water Company system. Things like the purity of the water after treatment, the condition and age of the line delivering the CAP water to Cave Creek, that Cave Creek is very near to exhausting its allocation of CAP water, which is nearly 100% of its source of water, that the Carefree Water Company has substantially more balanced sources of water, maintenance and repairs to the system are dramatically different, particularly including fire hydrants, and the list could go on and on. Beyond that, the $20 million figure includes other expenses beyond integrating just these accounts into the Carefree Water Company system, like upgrades to the existing system of approximately $3 million. And, for every dollar spent fighting the issue of the water storage reservoir with the Boulders HOA and dissidents, it will likely reduce the amount available to be spent on the existing system, including that servicing the Boulders. And further beyond that, and the primary reason is that the Town and Carefree Water Company have obligations to assure an adequate and quality water supply to all Carefree residents, not just 70% of them.
3) Why should the town expropriate privately preserved open space for the above- ground industrial portion of this project, when they admit that other options are viable ?
Fact Check
The controls are required to be above ground because that is a requirement of OSHA. The water storage reservoir will be underground except for a portion of one corner which will be 2’ to 3’ above ground. The reservoir will be covered over with native soil and landscaped, and the control panels will be landscaped to make them blend in with their surroundings This approach will provides the greatest good for the most Carefree residents while causing the least detriment to the fewest Carefree residents. This site was identified by CVL, after a thorough review of 32 potential sites, to be the only site which met all of the criteria and objectives established. There were many factors that went into this analysis, particularly with regards to how the location of the required water storage reservoir would cause the entire system to function and perform. Mr. Schwarzkopf and his group apparently went out on their own site selection expedition and they looked for open land anywhere in Carefree outside of the Boulders, without any consideration in their thinking of how the water system would perform. Their analysis was faulty, because its overriding objective was to support their desire a location for the water storage reservoir anywhere except in the utility easement along Tom Darlington without regard for how the water system would perform.
A series of eight reports to my fellow members of the Boulders HOA examining these questions are freely available here: www.bouldersnorthhoa.com/water- tank My reports are based upon detailed review of thousands of pages of the town’s own documents produced in ongoing litigation, which few others have seen or bothered to examine.
Fact Check
These “eight reports” of Mr. Schwarzkopf contain a mish-mash of mis-statements, and are of little benefit to any one seeking factual information regarding this matter. The Carefree Water Company, and the Town, and CVL, are also well aware of what was contained in the documents and deposition summaries. These documents and depositions are primarily records of the written exchanges between the management of these entities who were actively involved in trying to find solutions to benefit Carefree residents with the least disruption to the fewest residents and at the lowest cost. They are snippets of the overall evaluation and dialogue, much of which was verbal and were elements of an overall project which unfolded over two years, and not of the entire puzzle. For anyone to interpret or suggest that the statements and analyses contained in these documents in any way supports that the water system in Carefree did not need to be integrated, or that there is a viable site for the water storage reservoir other than the site identified by CVL in the utility easement in the open space property in the Boulders along Tom Darlington, would be making a gross mis-statement.
Carefree is a tiny town of just 4000 people, with a small administration and town council demonstrably moving in lockstep under a single decision-maker. The engineers involved in this project have performed only a facilitating role, hobbled by the decisions and constraints that town officials have placed upon them. It would be foolhardy for us to assume that good decisions are being made about every aspect of such a complex and costly project.
Fact Check
Assuming Mr. Schwarzkopf is referencing the Mayor as the “single decision maker,” he is incorrect to assume that all others in the Town and/or Carefree Water Company management blindly do his bidding without thinking of the consequences to Carefree residents. The Town Council, the Carefree Water Company Management and CVL are groups of very intelligent, analytical, fact based and independent people, concerned about the well-being of all Carefree residents - not just those living in the Boulders subdivision who appear to consider themselves to be “privileged”. Based upon the input of hundreds of Carefree residents in a series of broadly publicized and attended open Town Meetings during 2018 and 2019, the Mayor was adamant that 100% of Carefree residents should receive comparable high quality water service. Specific recommendations to the Carefree Water Company Directors and the Town Council of how to achieve this objective came from CVL working in concert with the Carefree Water Company. It wasn’t and could not be any single vote or influencer, as it took a majority vote to move ahead. Let’s circle back to Mr. Schwarzkopf’s primary concern, however, - he wants the Water Company to site the required water storage reservoir anywhere but in the Boulders (the typical NIMBY syndrome). But CVL identified the site in the utility easement along Tom Darlington (within the Boulders open space) as the only one of the 32 sites evaluated fulfilling all of the established criteria. If CVL had conducted their analysis and been able to identify an alternative site other than in the Tom Darlington utility easement that delivered the system performance as did the site in the Tom Darlington utility easement, they would have told the Water Company of this finding. But, CVL did not. No other site in Carefree for the water storage reservoir provides even close to the same system performance as does the site identified in the Boulders open space. It isn’t just an identification of empty properties, as Mr. Schwarzkopf has referenced multiple times in his various letters on this topic and seems to think is the solution of siting the water storage reservoir, it is how a location contributes to system performance and costs that also matter.
In March, Boulders HOA members voted overwhelmingly to replace a board of directors who were unwilling to ask serious questions about the project. The town responded by immediately filing suit for condemnation of our association’s common land.
Fact Check
This is a series of mis-statements. Nothing in the Boulders HOA vote was overwhelming. The previous Boulders HOA Board asked serious questions, but came to a different conclusion following legal advice than Mr. Schwarzkopf and his group were willing to accept. During the recent election, there were 4 vacancies of the 9 member Boulders HOA Board (3 Directors who termed out and one who resigned the week of the vote ). At the first meeting of the new Board at which the new officers were elected, the new president resigned within 3 days. Then, a week later, 4 additional Directors and the entire Architectural Review Committee resigned, anticipating that it be would be unproductive working environment in the future. The new (remaining) Boulders HOA Board has only filled one of the additional vacancies, by appointment, as most Boulders residents are refusing to become involved in this controversy. As for the statement that “the town responded by immediately filing suit for condemnation,” the town was forced to do so by Mr. Schwarzkopf and his group after they filed suit and made statements that if/when they lost in court, and another of them would file the next suit, and repeat this tactic until seeking to delay the construction of the water storage reservoir at the selected location until it’s location had to be changed to complete the integration of the water system.
About fifty years ago, before the town of Carefree existed, developers of the Boulders set aside land to preserve as much as possible of this especially beautiful portion of the Sonoran desert. This land is a benefit enjoyed by everyone traveling on Tom Darlington Drive, and the Carefree General Plan recognizes it as valuable passive open space that “contributes to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the Town . . . benefits local businesses and helps strengthen the local economic base . . . (and) protects the natural flora fauna of the Upper Sonoran Desert, thereby preserving one of the foremost characteristics of the Town.”
This preserved open desert space is also the defining characteristic of The Boulders. Purchasers of homes in The Boulders paid a premium when this land was set aside, and buyers today continue to pay a significant premium over other homes in Carefree because of it. Permanent preservation is specified in the recorded land titles, and for decades local real estate agents have routinely assured buyers that nothing would ever be built there.
Fact Check
What support or factual proof does Mr. Schwarzkopf have or present for review that Boulders residents paid a premium for their property, as opposed to, say, a view lot on Black Mountain? Likewise, what support is there that “buyers today continue to pay a significant premium over other homes in Carefree”? One could argue that some of the highest priced homes in Carefree are on view properties on Black Mountain or on the large estate size properties in north Carefree. What evidence does Mr. Schwarzkopf have that preservation of Boulders HOA open space property is referenced within property titles for individual homes, since the open space in the north Boulders is owned by the Boulders HOA as clearly stated in their CC&R documents? To offer as support for his assertions that “for decades local real estate agents have routinely assured buyers that nothing would ever be built there” is so unfounded in legal precedent as to not warrant a response.
Now the town wants to take a particularly picturesque portion of this land, right in the middle of our public frontage along Tom Darlington Drive, for the price of a good set of patio furniture.
Fact Check
A “buildable” lot in the north Boulders is probably worth approximately $300,000. The subject site for the water storage reservoir has some serious limitations upon it which impact its value. It is zoned as open space and it has a utility easement running through it. It is not a “build able” lot for a home or commercial structure. No individual could purchase the land and hope to build a home upon it. It would have to be left as open space, except for usage by a utility. So, an individual purchasing the land could do nothing with it, but a utility could build underground structures upon it. Property with those kinds of restrictions typically has a value of less than 10% of what the land would be worth if were “buildable” for residential purposes.The Town of Carefree land appraisal and offer to purchase the land are posted on the Boulders HOA website mentioned above. It was done by ZADDACK VALUATION ADVISORS, INC. The Boulders HOA commissioned an appraisal, paid for it, but never accepted it or had their appraisal completed. The town completed and presented its appraisal, the Boulders HOA has not brought forth any appraisal.
Anyone under the illusion that removal of the wastewater treatment plant was a gift to The Boulders should read this news release of May 13, 2013: https://www.carefree.org/DocumentCenter/View/286/Black-Mountain-Sewer-Plant- Closing-Press-Release-May-13-2013-PDF. For decades, without thanks or compensation, The Boulders endured the burden of processing sewage from all around the town at a facility originally built to serve fewer than 50 homes, but subsequently exploited by the town to serve more than 2,000.
Fact Check
This series of statements is unsupportable with facts. The Waste Water Treatment Plant in the Boulders was built in 1969 (long before virtually all of the homes in the Boulders were built) by the owners of the Boulders Resort to provide gray water for their golf course and to serve the few residences (6 - 12) which existed in the Boulders subdivision. Over time, to serve additional residences in the Boulders, to generate additional gray water and to generate additional revenues, this plant started serviced additional residences nearby including those from outside of the Boulders. In 2000, the system was sold to Algonquin Water Resources (currently Liberty/Black Mountain Sewer) and this system currently serves the 80% - 90% of Carefree homes and virtually all commercial accounts as a private sewer company. No one, including the Town of Carefree, forced anything on the Boulders Resort. The owners of the Boulders Resort built the plant and they voluntarily sold it to a private company.
The reverse of our Boulders situation is found in Carefree Sentinel Rock and other parts of western Carefree. Purchasers of homes in these neighborhoods undoubtedly did so with the knowledge that their water would be provided through Cave Creek. They likely paid less for their homes because of that. Yet now they clamor to be saved from their own decision, at the cost of more than $20 million in public funds and the taking of land paid for and preserved by Boulders residents.
Fact Check
Again, this series of statements is unsupportable with facts. All, except for a dozen or so houses in the Boulders were built after the waste water treatment plant was built in 1969. These people (Boulders residents) did know, or should have known, that the plant was there. In contrast, the water system for western and southern Carefree was owned and run very well by a private water company until 2007, at which time it was condemned by the Town of Cave Creek who then started operating it. The problems with this Town owned Cave Creek Water Company have become far more acute under ownership and operation by the Town of Cave Creek than they ever were with the private water company. Most of the homes in the western and southern portions of Carefree, which were on the private water company condemned by Cave Creek, were built in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s - before Cave Creek owned the water company. Therefore, this statement by Mr. Schwarzkopf is in direct contradiction to the facts. Boulders residents should have known about the waste water treatment plant because it was there before their homes were built, but the water company for western and southern Carefree was condemned by the Town of Cave Creek after the homes of Carefree residents in those areas were built.
In reality, no trade-off is required between the public amenity of clean and abundant water and the other public amenity of preserved Sonoran desert. As explained in my eighth report, saving our desert would likely also save millions of dollars. The project’s engineers are undoubtedly capable of devising alternative solutions that do not involve the condemnation and taking of privately preserved open space.
Fact Check
This is total nonsense. No knowledgeable person in the Southwest. let alone Arizona, ever mentions the term “abundant” in relation to water. Further, and as addressed previously, CVL has looked extensively at alternative sites for the water storage reservoir and no site other than the open space along Tom Darlington, in an area without any nearby homes and with an easement running through it for underground utilities, comes even close to delivering upon system performance as does this location. Mr.Schwarzkopf offers no factual basis to assume otherwise. If he claims that he does, he should show us the engineering reports upon which he bases his opinion so that we may all benefit from his information.
The hyperbole and misdirection now being employed to help imperious town officials evade accountability is an insult to every thoughtful resident of Carefree. The appropriate response to a government’s evasion of accountability in our democracy is ballot initiatives. DS’s response in this note, based upon his lack of knowledge, fabrication of “ facts” and his weak attempt to paint a picture of rational reasons why the water storage reservoir should not be in the Boulders open space is an affront to every Carefree resident. Relative to DS’s comments on a ballot initiative, does he not recognize that the last two Carefree elections were primarily about integrating water service for western and southern Carefree into the Carefree Water Company?
Fact Check
What makes Mr. Schwarzkopf think that an initiative at this point, when the Carefree Water Company is well into the project and has expended/committed to millions of dollars in costs, would be supported by non-Boulders Carefree residents, who comprise over 85% of the Carefree residents? Why would the other Carefree residents cancel strengthening their water service while at the same time increasing their costs (through higher rates to pay for the dollars already committed into this effort) with no benefit to them but additional costs to them? What Mr.Schwarzkopf and his group seem to be seeking is a selfish benefit to Boulders residents at the expense of all Carefree residents. All Carefree residents are already paying on their monthly sewer bills for the removal of the wastewater treatment plant which was located in the Boulders and primarily benefitted Boulders residents. Why would they now want to pay incrementally to remove a water storage reservoir from its most appropriate place in the Boulders open space at great cost to themselves?
Don Schwarzkopf
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
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There are three main concerns that any thoughtful Carefree resident should have about the town’s “water transition” project:
1) Why does it make sense to completely replace the existing water delivery infrastructure in western Carefree, when less drastic measures could achieve the same objectives ?
Fact Check
All other measures were thoroughly investigated and evaluated by the Carefree Water Company, the Town of Carefree Staff and Council and a professional engineering firm, Coe & Van Loo (CVL), and the conclusion was that adding these accounts into the Carefree Water Company system was the best option by far. Mr. Schwarzkopf was not a part of any of those analyses and discussions, nor was this information ever shared with him or anyone associated with him, so he has no factual basis to state that “less drastic measures could achieve the same objectives.” That statement is sheer speculation on his part.
2) How can it make sense to spend more than 20 million dollars just to make the same Central Arizona Project water flow out of the same faucets, when so much else could be accomplished with this level of investment / indebtedness?
Fact Check
This is a statement made by a person without familiarity of the situation or knowledge of the facts. The IGA with Cave Creek has been in place since 2007, and it has been Carefree’s objective to integrate the remaining 30% of the Town’s residents into the Carefree Water Company system as soon as practical since 2007. Don doesn’t factor into his statements the many primary reasons supporting the integration of these remaining Carefree residences and businesses into the Carefree Water Company system. Things like the purity of the water after treatment, the condition and age of the line delivering the CAP water to Cave Creek, that Cave Creek is very near to exhausting its allocation of CAP water, which is nearly 100% of its source of water, that the Carefree Water Company has substantially more balanced sources of water, maintenance and repairs to the system are dramatically different, particularly including fire hydrants, and the list could go on and on. Beyond that, the $20 million figure includes other expenses beyond integrating just these accounts into the Carefree Water Company system, like upgrades to the existing system of approximately $3 million. And, for every dollar spent fighting the issue of the water storage reservoir with the Boulders HOA and dissidents, it will likely reduce the amount available to be spent on the existing system, including that servicing the Boulders. And further beyond that, and the primary reason is that the Town and Carefree Water Company have obligations to assure an adequate and quality water supply to all Carefree residents, not just 70% of them.
3) Why should the town expropriate privately preserved open space for the above- ground industrial portion of this project, when they admit that other options are viable ?
Fact Check
The controls are required to be above ground because that is a requirement of OSHA. The water storage reservoir will be underground except for a portion of one corner which will be 2’ to 3’ above ground. The reservoir will be covered over with native soil and landscaped, and the control panels will be landscaped to make them blend in with their surroundings This approach will provides the greatest good for the most Carefree residents while causing the least detriment to the fewest Carefree residents. This site was identified by CVL, after a thorough review of 32 potential sites, to be the only site which met all of the criteria and objectives established. There were many factors that went into this analysis, particularly with regards to how the location of the required water storage reservoir would cause the entire system to function and perform. Mr. Schwarzkopf and his group apparently went out on their own site selection expedition and they looked for open land anywhere in Carefree outside of the Boulders, without any consideration in their thinking of how the water system would perform. Their analysis was faulty, because its overriding objective was to support their desire a location for the water storage reservoir anywhere except in the utility easement along Tom Darlington without regard for how the water system would perform.
A series of eight reports to my fellow members of the Boulders HOA examining these questions are freely available here: www.bouldersnorthhoa.com/water- tank My reports are based upon detailed review of thousands of pages of the town’s own documents produced in ongoing litigation, which few others have seen or bothered to examine.
Fact Check
These “eight reports” of Mr. Schwarzkopf contain a mish-mash of mis-statements, and are of little benefit to any one seeking factual information regarding this matter. The Carefree Water Company, and the Town, and CVL, are also well aware of what was contained in the documents and deposition summaries. These documents and depositions are primarily records of the written exchanges between the management of these entities who were actively involved in trying to find solutions to benefit Carefree residents with the least disruption to the fewest residents and at the lowest cost. They are snippets of the overall evaluation and dialogue, much of which was verbal and were elements of an overall project which unfolded over two years, and not of the entire puzzle. For anyone to interpret or suggest that the statements and analyses contained in these documents in any way supports that the water system in Carefree did not need to be integrated, or that there is a viable site for the water storage reservoir other than the site identified by CVL in the utility easement in the open space property in the Boulders along Tom Darlington, would be making a gross mis-statement.
Carefree is a tiny town of just 4000 people, with a small administration and town council demonstrably moving in lockstep under a single decision-maker. The engineers involved in this project have performed only a facilitating role, hobbled by the decisions and constraints that town officials have placed upon them. It would be foolhardy for us to assume that good decisions are being made about every aspect of such a complex and costly project.
Fact Check
Assuming Mr. Schwarzkopf is referencing the Mayor as the “single decision maker,” he is incorrect to assume that all others in the Town and/or Carefree Water Company management blindly do his bidding without thinking of the consequences to Carefree residents. The Town Council, the Carefree Water Company Management and CVL are groups of very intelligent, analytical, fact based and independent people, concerned about the well-being of all Carefree residents - not just those living in the Boulders subdivision who appear to consider themselves to be “privileged”. Based upon the input of hundreds of Carefree residents in a series of broadly publicized and attended open Town Meetings during 2018 and 2019, the Mayor was adamant that 100% of Carefree residents should receive comparable high quality water service. Specific recommendations to the Carefree Water Company Directors and the Town Council of how to achieve this objective came from CVL working in concert with the Carefree Water Company. It wasn’t and could not be any single vote or influencer, as it took a majority vote to move ahead. Let’s circle back to Mr. Schwarzkopf’s primary concern, however, - he wants the Water Company to site the required water storage reservoir anywhere but in the Boulders (the typical NIMBY syndrome). But CVL identified the site in the utility easement along Tom Darlington (within the Boulders open space) as the only one of the 32 sites evaluated fulfilling all of the established criteria. If CVL had conducted their analysis and been able to identify an alternative site other than in the Tom Darlington utility easement that delivered the system performance as did the site in the Tom Darlington utility easement, they would have told the Water Company of this finding. But, CVL did not. No other site in Carefree for the water storage reservoir provides even close to the same system performance as does the site identified in the Boulders open space. It isn’t just an identification of empty properties, as Mr. Schwarzkopf has referenced multiple times in his various letters on this topic and seems to think is the solution of siting the water storage reservoir, it is how a location contributes to system performance and costs that also matter.
In March, Boulders HOA members voted overwhelmingly to replace a board of directors who were unwilling to ask serious questions about the project. The town responded by immediately filing suit for condemnation of our association’s common land.
Fact Check
This is a series of mis-statements. Nothing in the Boulders HOA vote was overwhelming. The previous Boulders HOA Board asked serious questions, but came to a different conclusion following legal advice than Mr. Schwarzkopf and his group were willing to accept. During the recent election, there were 4 vacancies of the 9 member Boulders HOA Board (3 Directors who termed out and one who resigned the week of the vote ). At the first meeting of the new Board at which the new officers were elected, the new president resigned within 3 days. Then, a week later, 4 additional Directors and the entire Architectural Review Committee resigned, anticipating that it be would be unproductive working environment in the future. The new (remaining) Boulders HOA Board has only filled one of the additional vacancies, by appointment, as most Boulders residents are refusing to become involved in this controversy. As for the statement that “the town responded by immediately filing suit for condemnation,” the town was forced to do so by Mr. Schwarzkopf and his group after they filed suit and made statements that if/when they lost in court, and another of them would file the next suit, and repeat this tactic until seeking to delay the construction of the water storage reservoir at the selected location until it’s location had to be changed to complete the integration of the water system.
About fifty years ago, before the town of Carefree existed, developers of the Boulders set aside land to preserve as much as possible of this especially beautiful portion of the Sonoran desert. This land is a benefit enjoyed by everyone traveling on Tom Darlington Drive, and the Carefree General Plan recognizes it as valuable passive open space that “contributes to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the Town . . . benefits local businesses and helps strengthen the local economic base . . . (and) protects the natural flora fauna of the Upper Sonoran Desert, thereby preserving one of the foremost characteristics of the Town.”
This preserved open desert space is also the defining characteristic of The Boulders. Purchasers of homes in The Boulders paid a premium when this land was set aside, and buyers today continue to pay a significant premium over other homes in Carefree because of it. Permanent preservation is specified in the recorded land titles, and for decades local real estate agents have routinely assured buyers that nothing would ever be built there.
Fact Check
What support or factual proof does Mr. Schwarzkopf have or present for review that Boulders residents paid a premium for their property, as opposed to, say, a view lot on Black Mountain? Likewise, what support is there that “buyers today continue to pay a significant premium over other homes in Carefree”? One could argue that some of the highest priced homes in Carefree are on view properties on Black Mountain or on the large estate size properties in north Carefree. What evidence does Mr. Schwarzkopf have that preservation of Boulders HOA open space property is referenced within property titles for individual homes, since the open space in the north Boulders is owned by the Boulders HOA as clearly stated in their CC&R documents? To offer as support for his assertions that “for decades local real estate agents have routinely assured buyers that nothing would ever be built there” is so unfounded in legal precedent as to not warrant a response.
Now the town wants to take a particularly picturesque portion of this land, right in the middle of our public frontage along Tom Darlington Drive, for the price of a good set of patio furniture.
Fact Check
A “buildable” lot in the north Boulders is probably worth approximately $300,000. The subject site for the water storage reservoir has some serious limitations upon it which impact its value. It is zoned as open space and it has a utility easement running through it. It is not a “build able” lot for a home or commercial structure. No individual could purchase the land and hope to build a home upon it. It would have to be left as open space, except for usage by a utility. So, an individual purchasing the land could do nothing with it, but a utility could build underground structures upon it. Property with those kinds of restrictions typically has a value of less than 10% of what the land would be worth if were “buildable” for residential purposes.The Town of Carefree land appraisal and offer to purchase the land are posted on the Boulders HOA website mentioned above. It was done by ZADDACK VALUATION ADVISORS, INC. The Boulders HOA commissioned an appraisal, paid for it, but never accepted it or had their appraisal completed. The town completed and presented its appraisal, the Boulders HOA has not brought forth any appraisal.
Anyone under the illusion that removal of the wastewater treatment plant was a gift to The Boulders should read this news release of May 13, 2013: https://www.carefree.org/DocumentCenter/View/286/Black-Mountain-Sewer-Plant- Closing-Press-Release-May-13-2013-PDF. For decades, without thanks or compensation, The Boulders endured the burden of processing sewage from all around the town at a facility originally built to serve fewer than 50 homes, but subsequently exploited by the town to serve more than 2,000.
Fact Check
This series of statements is unsupportable with facts. The Waste Water Treatment Plant in the Boulders was built in 1969 (long before virtually all of the homes in the Boulders were built) by the owners of the Boulders Resort to provide gray water for their golf course and to serve the few residences (6 - 12) which existed in the Boulders subdivision. Over time, to serve additional residences in the Boulders, to generate additional gray water and to generate additional revenues, this plant started serviced additional residences nearby including those from outside of the Boulders. In 2000, the system was sold to Algonquin Water Resources (currently Liberty/Black Mountain Sewer) and this system currently serves the 80% - 90% of Carefree homes and virtually all commercial accounts as a private sewer company. No one, including the Town of Carefree, forced anything on the Boulders Resort. The owners of the Boulders Resort built the plant and they voluntarily sold it to a private company.
The reverse of our Boulders situation is found in Carefree Sentinel Rock and other parts of western Carefree. Purchasers of homes in these neighborhoods undoubtedly did so with the knowledge that their water would be provided through Cave Creek. They likely paid less for their homes because of that. Yet now they clamor to be saved from their own decision, at the cost of more than $20 million in public funds and the taking of land paid for and preserved by Boulders residents.
Fact Check
Again, this series of statements is unsupportable with facts. All, except for a dozen or so houses in the Boulders were built after the waste water treatment plant was built in 1969. These people (Boulders residents) did know, or should have known, that the plant was there. In contrast, the water system for western and southern Carefree was owned and run very well by a private water company until 2007, at which time it was condemned by the Town of Cave Creek who then started operating it. The problems with this Town owned Cave Creek Water Company have become far more acute under ownership and operation by the Town of Cave Creek than they ever were with the private water company. Most of the homes in the western and southern portions of Carefree, which were on the private water company condemned by Cave Creek, were built in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s - before Cave Creek owned the water company. Therefore, this statement by Mr. Schwarzkopf is in direct contradiction to the facts. Boulders residents should have known about the waste water treatment plant because it was there before their homes were built, but the water company for western and southern Carefree was condemned by the Town of Cave Creek after the homes of Carefree residents in those areas were built.
In reality, no trade-off is required between the public amenity of clean and abundant water and the other public amenity of preserved Sonoran desert. As explained in my eighth report, saving our desert would likely also save millions of dollars. The project’s engineers are undoubtedly capable of devising alternative solutions that do not involve the condemnation and taking of privately preserved open space.
Fact Check
This is total nonsense. No knowledgeable person in the Southwest. let alone Arizona, ever mentions the term “abundant” in relation to water. Further, and as addressed previously, CVL has looked extensively at alternative sites for the water storage reservoir and no site other than the open space along Tom Darlington, in an area without any nearby homes and with an easement running through it for underground utilities, comes even close to delivering upon system performance as does this location. Mr.Schwarzkopf offers no factual basis to assume otherwise. If he claims that he does, he should show us the engineering reports upon which he bases his opinion so that we may all benefit from his information.
The hyperbole and misdirection now being employed to help imperious town officials evade accountability is an insult to every thoughtful resident of Carefree. The appropriate response to a government’s evasion of accountability in our democracy is ballot initiatives. DS’s response in this note, based upon his lack of knowledge, fabrication of “ facts” and his weak attempt to paint a picture of rational reasons why the water storage reservoir should not be in the Boulders open space is an affront to every Carefree resident. Relative to DS’s comments on a ballot initiative, does he not recognize that the last two Carefree elections were primarily about integrating water service for western and southern Carefree into the Carefree Water Company?
Fact Check
What makes Mr. Schwarzkopf think that an initiative at this point, when the Carefree Water Company is well into the project and has expended/committed to millions of dollars in costs, would be supported by non-Boulders Carefree residents, who comprise over 85% of the Carefree residents? Why would the other Carefree residents cancel strengthening their water service while at the same time increasing their costs (through higher rates to pay for the dollars already committed into this effort) with no benefit to them but additional costs to them? What Mr.Schwarzkopf and his group seem to be seeking is a selfish benefit to Boulders residents at the expense of all Carefree residents. All Carefree residents are already paying on their monthly sewer bills for the removal of the wastewater treatment plant which was located in the Boulders and primarily benefitted Boulders residents. Why would they now want to pay incrementally to remove a water storage reservoir from its most appropriate place in the Boulders open space at great cost to themselves?
Don Schwarzkopf
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
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