Cave Creek’s positions on providing out-of-town water service and managing growth.

The idea of Cave Creek’s Councilman McGuire (“Water tank spawns bad feelings,” Sept. 5, 2007) that the town, by providing water and sewer to outlying raw land on Continental Mountain, is somehow managing growth is absurd.

Contrary to Councilman McGuire’s assertions:

The town providing water and sewer service places the growth of any raw land on a faster track for development.  It clearly enables more growth financing because of the reduced risk for investors as the burden for long term water and sewer service is placed on the government (and therefore the taxpayers). Water and sewer service are essential for development and the sooner land is provided these services, the sooner raw land becomes available new development.

By providing the capacity needed for water and sewer for the development of Continental Mountain, McGuire and the rest of town officials are trading the future quality of life for many current town residents for needed water and sewer improvement investments. Why?

The town so overpaid for the emotional purchase of Cave Creek Water Company that it now cannot afford to make the improvements it desires and make payments on the loans they have already made.

You may have recently seen comments by our elected officials that they now know we have a “stressed system” regarding the town’s water. Where was the discussion of the system’s condition prior to the purchase of CCWC?  It simply did not occur and for anyone willing to ask questions prior to the purchase, one could expect the type of indignant treatment most recently experienced by one of own true town leaders, Nan Byrne.

By suppressing the discussion of different relative values (like the condition of the system) of CCWC,  the town  continuously lied to the citizens regarding the true value of the purchase.  Part of that suppression was regarding the town’s current commitments for exacerbating new growth–the “loan repayment plan.”

 The April 2005 Development Agreement between the town, Cahava Springs Development and Arizona Sate Land Department set a precedent for providing water to land outside the town’s boundaries. It states: If the Town of Cave Creek acquires the Water Company, the town shall provide water to all ASLD lands within five miles of the Town of Cave Creek ...” To this day the town says the paragraph means “something else” ... right.

The recent announcement by Cahava Springs Development regarding one of their contributions to the town’s water system of a larger water storage facility than they need,  signifies to me the intent to fulfill the April 2005 Development Agreement on all ASLD land between the town’s boundary and Anthem.

 The latest actions of the town to provide an assured water supply for the Continental Mountain development simply places the monkey on our back and the developer’s hand in our wallets, again.

The town has water and sewer service to sell; it’s the way they planned and structured the repayments of the loans they made to be in the water utility business and expand the town’s sewer.

David L. Phelps
Cave Creek