(Lyn's note: Please feel free to send us any pictures you'd like included. Here's the link to this week's Pictures of the Week.)
http://carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-112520.html
http://carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-112520.html
Honey "Chowzilla"
Photo by Kelly Charveaux
Here are your bonus rounds from Herbert.
http://aneyeonyouproduction.com/11820-sunset.html
Photo by Kelly Charveaux
Here are your bonus rounds from Herbert.
http://aneyeonyouproduction.com/11820-sunset.html
Photos by Herbert Hitchon
Here's your bonus video from Herbert:
Here is the link to the Maricopa County & Rural/Metro emergency
preparedness presentation from 6/27/19. This is good info to keep saved
on your computer.
Emergency Preparedness Presentation by R/M & County: 6/27/19
http://carefreetruth2.com/carefree-truth-763.html
Fire prevention info:
If you plan to spray a pre-emergent, now is the time to do so. It needs to be done every 6 months if that is your preference. If you are concerned about the environmental impact of pre-emergents, please keep an eye out for the new globe chamomille sprouts. They are a bright green. They need to be pulled before they have a chance to take hold and spread more. They are the worst of the fire spreading plants when they become dry. If they get ahead of you, post-emergents such as Round-up can also be utilized. The next worst are the dried parts of the brittle bushes, so please trim them back too, once their bright yellow flowers finish blooming.
Rural/Metro Fire Department advises the removal any dead brush from your property, and to make sure there is at least a 30' cleared area around any buildings on your property. Trim back tree branches that overhang or come close to your roof. Their good advice helps to keep all of us safe. We've had 2 bad fire seasons in a row, and if we get a lot of rain again this winter, we will have a 3rd in the spring and summer.
Thanks and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Lyn & Herbert
Hi Lyn,
First of all thank you and Herbie for the support you have provided to our veteran healing workshops in the past.
I wanted to let you know our next Healing of Memories Zoom Workshop for Women Veterans will be conducted on Saturday, December 12 from noon to 4pm. As with all of our veteran workshops, this one is free. I am providing a description of the workshop below and also have attached a poster in JPEG.
Please help me get the word out.
Thank you.
Mike
Mike Wold
US Navy Veteran
Regional Coordinator, Arizona
Institute for Healing of Memories - North America
michael_w_wold@msn.com
651-687-9767
www.healingmemoriesna.org
(Lyn's note: See info about the workshop below in Non profit info)
Mayor and Council,
Good morning, Mayor and Council, I wanted to thank you for welcoming us back into the desert foothills community! While the Cave Creek Museum has been in existence since 1970, we have been relatively silent since March, as we have taken the time to undergo key renovations to our pioneer wing and exhibits. I'd like to invite you all to join the museum, and you can start by just getting on our mailing list! We have many great things coming in the next year.
**Also, big thank you to Carefree Mayor Les Peterson, his wife Mary, and Cave Creek Councilmember Bob Morris and his wife Jana for making it out to our open house last week! I'm sorry if there were other members that I did not personally get a chance to thank if you made it out last week as well.... big thanks also to Cave Creek Councilmember Dief for all of his volunteer hours as a key member of the museum "Dream Team." Our goal continues to be to unite our communities while we tell the story of the desert foothills' amazing history! Please Join the museum! We appreciate donations of time and money! https://cavecreekmuseum.org/
(** we took our masks off for the photos and quickly put them back on)
Here's your bonus video from Herbert:
Here is the link to the Maricopa County & Rural/Metro emergency
preparedness presentation from 6/27/19. This is good info to keep saved
on your computer.
Emergency Preparedness Presentation by R/M & County: 6/27/19
http://carefreetruth2.com/carefree-truth-763.html
Fire prevention info:
If you plan to spray a pre-emergent, now is the time to do so. It needs to be done every 6 months if that is your preference. If you are concerned about the environmental impact of pre-emergents, please keep an eye out for the new globe chamomille sprouts. They are a bright green. They need to be pulled before they have a chance to take hold and spread more. They are the worst of the fire spreading plants when they become dry. If they get ahead of you, post-emergents such as Round-up can also be utilized. The next worst are the dried parts of the brittle bushes, so please trim them back too, once their bright yellow flowers finish blooming.
Rural/Metro Fire Department advises the removal any dead brush from your property, and to make sure there is at least a 30' cleared area around any buildings on your property. Trim back tree branches that overhang or come close to your roof. Their good advice helps to keep all of us safe. We've had 2 bad fire seasons in a row, and if we get a lot of rain again this winter, we will have a 3rd in the spring and summer.
Thanks and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Lyn & Herbert
Hi Lyn,
First of all thank you and Herbie for the support you have provided to our veteran healing workshops in the past.
I wanted to let you know our next Healing of Memories Zoom Workshop for Women Veterans will be conducted on Saturday, December 12 from noon to 4pm. As with all of our veteran workshops, this one is free. I am providing a description of the workshop below and also have attached a poster in JPEG.
Please help me get the word out.
Thank you.
Mike
Mike Wold
US Navy Veteran
Regional Coordinator, Arizona
Institute for Healing of Memories - North America
michael_w_wold@msn.com
651-687-9767
www.healingmemoriesna.org
(Lyn's note: See info about the workshop below in Non profit info)
Mayor and Council,
Good morning, Mayor and Council, I wanted to thank you for welcoming us back into the desert foothills community! While the Cave Creek Museum has been in existence since 1970, we have been relatively silent since March, as we have taken the time to undergo key renovations to our pioneer wing and exhibits. I'd like to invite you all to join the museum, and you can start by just getting on our mailing list! We have many great things coming in the next year.
**Also, big thank you to Carefree Mayor Les Peterson, his wife Mary, and Cave Creek Councilmember Bob Morris and his wife Jana for making it out to our open house last week! I'm sorry if there were other members that I did not personally get a chance to thank if you made it out last week as well.... big thanks also to Cave Creek Councilmember Dief for all of his volunteer hours as a key member of the museum "Dream Team." Our goal continues to be to unite our communities while we tell the story of the desert foothills' amazing history! Please Join the museum! We appreciate donations of time and money! https://cavecreekmuseum.org/
(** we took our masks off for the photos and quickly put them back on)
Photos courtesy of the Cave Creek Museum
Regards,
Vince D'Aliesio
A couple I see every morning in the lovely Gardens said that there is someone keying cars in that area. The police probably know but maybe not your readers. Also I really like Patricia who has a yoga class about 5 days a week however I don’t like the A frames with her advertisement. There are two and since the gardens are so lovely the frames aren’t. Maybe she got permission
Don’t mean to complain.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Herbert.
Louise S.
Lyn,
I won’t debate Mr. Gimson’s statistics other than to say that, per his own data, roughly 30% are affected by the change. According to my simple math that is a minority. Furthermore, unless I am in error, it appears based on previous communications that the change under discussion will result in an increase in water rates for all Carefree residents. Carefree water is already some of the most expensive water in metro Phoenix. Therefore, it is in the best interest of all parties affected to ensure that all alternative options will be thoroughly vetted before proceeding with the current solution on the table. That includes evaluating any option long term, i.e. 20-30 years from now as opposed to going with a solution that may not meet the needs of Carefree residents 2-3 plus decades from now.
John Nimsky
(Lyn's note: The cost of the purchase will be spread over the next 20 years, so it won't be a significant hit for those already on Carefree Water. The position of the Cave Creek Water Co. is so precarious that it could crash and burn, leaving maybe not the "majority" you seek, but still a significant number of Carefree residents and businesses without a reliable water supply. This would result in Carefree as a whole having a bad reputation, which is not good for the property values of the entire population.)
Lyn, significant hit or not, water in Carefree is expensive compared to other municipalities and it will only get more expensive. I own properties in three different municipalities so I speak from experience. More concerning is that this, in my opinion, is a short term solution that will have to be revisited in another 10-20 years, if for no other reason than the necessity to address continuing aging infrastructure needs. Why was the option of tying into the Scottsdale water system rejected?
(Lyn's note: I sent this email chain to Gary Niess for his input.)
I do not understand what option John makes reference to that deals with the lack of representation in their water resources that approximately 1/3 of Carefree residents are experiencing. Furthermore, I do not know of a community in the arid desert southwest that seeks to convey their water resources to an outside political entity that it is not accountable to. If John’s option is Scottsdale, this does not address the lack of representation. Just ask the Carefree residents on the Cave Creek system how that is working for them now.
As far as water rates, larger entities such as Scottsdale have a larger base to distribute the large fixed cost of their municipally operated water utility. This economy of scale in combination with funding from property tax helps to maintain lower rates. Scottsdale utility is setup as an enterprise fund which is a dedicated business account. If Scottsdale purchased an outside water utility that utility would be setup in their own independent business fund; therefore, there would be no shared economy of scale nor subsidy from Scottsdale taxpayers. The same fixed costs to operate the Carefree system on top of the Scottsdale’s overhead and system adjustment costs and acquisition expenses would then be passed onto the ratepayer meaning a water rate increase NOT a decrease in water rates.
So I guess I would ask what is the option that is being referenced that will ensure local representation over water resources for all of Carefree’s residents?
Gary Neiss
Hi Lyn,
I don’t know either Mr. Traynor or Mr. Gisom so I have no axe to grind with either of them. I have been equally confused about all the different percentages being thrown around so I went directly to Mr. Crossman, GM Carefree Water, who I have always felt showed a lot of integrity in the middle of a challenging issue. Mr. Crossman very kindly helped me by explaining that as of December 2019 there were 1987 accounts on Carefree Water of which 1755 were residential. Mr. Crossman said they expect to add 535 accounts from Cave Creek once the arbitration hearing was settled of which 527 were residential. So looking at it either way 535/2522 = 21% or 527/2282 = 23% it seems it is about 20%. This is also confirmed very recently by Carefree Water who in their search for a contractor to manage this water transition writes "Approximately 20 to 25% of the Town of Carefree water customers are currently served potable water by the Town of Cave Creek".
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if it is 20% or 30% - if you have serious concerns about your drinking water quality that is really the more important issue at hand. Would you please ask Mr. Gisom why they didn’t go straight to the Federal EPA or Maricopa County Environmental Services Department to intervene if they were concerned about their water? I don’t ask that as a challenge to Mr. Gimsom - I ask it because that is what I would have done. I don’t understand why they went to Carefree when Carefree has no jurisdiction over Cave Creek Water Company? If they did go to the EPA why did they not get any help? I have heard from a couple friends on Cave Creek Water that the quality has improved significantly and they are quite pleased although not exactly happy about the big rate increases - but I guess you can’t have everything.
Anyway, thanks for taking my question. Hope this info from Mr. Crossman helps others who were also confused about how many accounts are in the Cave Creek Water Service Area. Mr. Crossman is the expert and I think he settles the question very nicely.
Kindest Regards,
Stephanie Barbour
(Lyn's note: As one of those on CCW, and as the community liaison for our HOA, I can tell you that I hear from residents in Sentinel Rock regularly about brown water and/or debris in their water. The quality has not improved on that issue.
We were getting quarterly notices with our CCW bills that there were unacceptable levels of chemical byproducts in our water. This went on for almost a year. Cave Creek Mayor Ernie Bunch stated on the public record at a Council meeting that the only problem they had was that the designation for their treatment plant had changed, and now they had to inform customers of these issues with the water quality. Seriously. I couldn't make that up!
Also, there is only one source of CAP water, and that is from a 12 mile 30 year old single pipe coming up Cave Creek Road from the Deer Valley CAP facility, moved along by 3 antiquated, corroded pumping stations. CCW has a limited CAP allocation, and CAP is their only source of water. With the extended ongoing drought, CAP will be cutting back on its allocations. There is nothing good about being on CCW.
It was always Carefree's intention to eventually move the Carefree customers on CCW over to CFW, thus the IGA that was put in place when Cave Creek bought CCW. Cave Creek is fighting what they agreed to at that time because losing the Carefree Service Area will be quite detrimental to them. It is a major asset with a significant revenue stream that will be going from Cave Creek to Carefree.
Should this not take place, and CCW takes a dive, the reputation of all Carefree will be hurt, since not all of the town will have a reliable water supply, which will adversely affect the property values of all the homes in Carefree. This move needs to happen.)
Lyn, that is very helpful. Why is this info not shared more openly so others in Carefree understand about the potential loss of property values being one of the drivers behind some of the decisions? I have read frequent emails wondering why people on CC Water, who keep getting these notices, haven't contacted EPA - either local or fed. I am beginning to understand in talking to you there is a lot more driving this. Thanks as always for responding.
Stephanie
(Lyn's note: The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality was the one driving the notices we were getting in with our water bills about the chemical by-products in our water. That organization is the one responsible for this type of monitoring. The federal EPA only gets involved when it is something catastrophic like the lead in the water in Flint, MI. or that toxic mining mess in CO.)
Thanks Lyn. Did anyone go to AZ DOEQ? I also asked about Maricopa Environmental Services as that is our local EPA branch? From what I understand Carefree has CAP but unlike Cave Creek , Carefree has aquifers too so if an allocation to CAP comes Carefree taps into the aquifers that they are pulling from (like Desert Forest) but also pumping water into now as storage. Is that right Lyn?
Stephanie
ADEQ is familiar with the water qualities issues in Cave Creek. Maricopa County Environmental Services is not an extension of the EPA. MCES reviews new water infrastructure plans over $50K in improvements.
Carefree has a specific allocation of surface water rights from CAP. Carefree also has a deep water aquifer which extends beyond its municipal boundaries into portions of north Scottsdale and into Cave Creek. This aquifer is shallower under Cave Creek and numerous wells in Cave Creek/Desert Hills (also owned by Cave Creek) have run into arsenic issues. Carefree has a recharge program with Scottsdale which has resulted in a significant replenishment of the aquifer under both Carefree and north Scottsdale. This recovery and banking of water ensures adequate water supplies for Carefree in times of drought emergencies and resulting CAP reductions. Cave Creek has not diversified their water portfolio to address this need/requirement.
There will be a CAP allocation coming to the Town of Carefree with the accounts on the Cave Creek system pursuant to the agreement.
The issue of water quality is once it leaves the CAP how a local water utility treats and delivers that water. History tells us how Cave Creek has mismanaged that to the detriment of Carefree residents on the Cave Creek system. These residents have requested the Town seek representation in their water resources as a result of these issues. As you know, this approach is similar to the decommissioning of the Liberty waste water treatment facility that was located within the Boulders community in that the Boulders community sought the Town’s help to decommission the plant because of odors and noise. In this case, there are Carefree neighborhoods/residents that want the Town representatives to have oversight into the water being delivered into their homes and families as a result of Cave Creek’s mismanagement of their water resources and lack of representation in timely addressing the issues.
Gary Neiss
Lyn –
Wonderful pics. I especially liked the new Memorial Monument dedicated on Veterans Day.
A big connect with the community we live in now. Paradise Valley Estates (Browser us at pvestates.com. Think you’ll enjoy it.) was founded a twenty three years ago by four retiring senior USAF officers, for officers of all services. A Planned Life Community that will get you through all stages beginning with incredibly active. We love it, the people, the residences and facilities, and the life style. Sits on 76 acres and is about two-thirds individual homes, and one-third apartment (three 3-story, that blend into the rest of the campus you don’t know they’re apartments) buildings. The new-built residences around Scottsdale and north Phoenix were mostly apartment buildings, else we’d be there. Our only complaint is that it is in crazy, overpriced, bankrupt, high tax everything, goofy-governed California.
Among the activities over the years have been one-hour programs in our auditorium on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Veterans Day, produced by the Patriotic Committee. Featuring inter alia the pledge, the anthem, Posting The Colors by the local high school’s AFJROTC, various presentations, our choir, all the service songs, closing prayer, TAPS, and the signal cannon salute (never fails to cause folks to jump out of their seats.) With the Chinese gift to the world our celebrations have been video taped for the inhouse TV channel. If I can get the link I’ll send it to you. Think you’ll approve.
Wish you and Herb were here to lend your skills and erudition to all that we do.
Fondly,
Ray Arnold, LDCR USNR (Ret)
Chairman, Patriotic Committee (So there!)
Non profit info:
