Cave Creek proposes Desert Hills sewer line
by Kathleen Stinson

CAVE CREEK/DESERT HILLS – Cave Creek may have found some additional customers for its new wastewater treatment plant scheduled to open in early 2009.

Town representatives are currently in discussion with a group of Desert Hills property owners about extending Cave Creek’s sewer line west to 7th Avenue when the plant opens, according to Richard Wallace, superintendent of streets for Maricopa County Department of Transportation.

The proposal is that those property owners would pay Cave Creek an estimated $3.5 million for the cost of infrastructure, Wallace said. He noted that the property owners had already formed a sewer improvement district and were working on getting a design for a treatment plant when the town contacted them with the proposition.

“The town’s new plant needs that (Desert Hills) volume of effluent at the beginning for the plant’s peak performance,” Wallace stated, adding the county is administering the sewer district for the property owners.

Town engineer Wayne Anderson acknowledged Cave Creek approached the property owners with the proposal, recognizing Cave Creek has the closest system to the area.

“We’re willing if they pay their own freight–the cost of conveyance,” Anderson said.

The town would extend its sewer line from 16th Street to 7th Avenue, according to Wallace. The $3.5 million price tag would include a lift station and main line.

“It’s my impression that the property owners are very interested and anxious to get this done,” Wallace related.

The Desert Advocate attempted to contact property owners for comment but was unsuccessful.

The property at issue is a 174‑acre strip extending east from 7th Avenue to about 10th Street. There are several property owners in that area interested in commercial development, Wallace said. Included in this group are businesses at the northwest corner of 7th Street and Carefree Highway, currently on  a package treatment plan.

According to Anderson, the county has never given these property owners any option other than to build their own treatment plant, but building a plant would be costly and use valuable property.  Smaller plants cost customers more per gallon than a larger operation.

“(For Cave Creek) there is potential to add customers along the route so it can get its plant paying for itself sooner than later,” Anderson commented.

On Monday, Cave Creek Town Council voted unanimously to approve spending as much as $6.5 million to pay for a portion of land, for engineering, legal and financial expenses related to the new wastewater treatment plant.

The town has put in a bid to purchase 80 acres of state trust land bordered by Carefree Highway and the city of Phoenix limits to the south, as stated in the council meeting packet.

The town plans to take out a loan from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority to fund the expenditures.

On Dec. 14, the town will find out if its bid on the proposed site for the treatment plant is accepted by the State Land Department, Anderson said.

He pointed out the town plans to stage construction of the plant in phases to meet current and expanding demand.

The Desert Advocate’s call to Cave Creek Town Manager Usama Abujbarah for comment was not returned.