A group of Rio Verde Foothills residents want to stop Scottsdale from shutting down a standpipe that carries water to about 700 homes in a 2,400-family community northeast of the city.
Their injunction, filed Jan. 11, requires the city to reopen services under ARS Section 9-516 C, stating:
“A municipality that acquires facilities of a public utility corporation that conducts public utility business outside the municipality, or a municipality that conducts public utility business outside the ward, must not abolish the business as long as the municipality once established continues the public utility business. owns or controls such utilities.”
The city closed the standpipe on January 1st. This comes a year after he warned residents that he was taking steps as part of phase one of his drought management plan.
“We are asking Scottsdale to follow the law,” said Christy Jackman, one of the Rio Verde residents who pooled money to hire lawyers to fight the city’s lawsuits in court. .
Jackman was one of about 60 Rio Verde Foothills residents who showed up at city hall before a January 10 council meeting to protest the cutoff.
EPCOR, a private utility company, has offered to put water into the system if Scottsdale can treat the water and distribute it through standpipes until a long-term solution is put in place.
However, Mayor David Ortega declined the offer, saying there was no Santa Claus.
That comment particularly struck a chord with protester Bruce Smith.
“Cut it open and pour the salt,” he said.
Smith and his wife Patti purchased an acre of land in the Rio Verde Foothills community about five years ago and built a home about two years ago. They rely entirely on pumped water.
“Nobody said a word about the water problem,” Patti Smith said.
Bruce added:
They are in a terrible situation.
“Without water, your property is basically worthless,” Patti said.
With the city’s standpipes no longer working, water carriers are forced to travel far to the Apache Junction to fill their tanks. This has more than doubled the bills for water utilities as they add hours of travel time to service their homes.
Dynamite Water and Rio Verde Water are currently charging $330 for 3,000 gallons of water. This is up from $120 and $135 respectively for the same amount of water charged before the outage.
And no one believes there is enough water to serve everyone in the community.
“There are a lot of people with horses, kids, etc.,” said Patti Smith.
“Not to mention the fire hazard,” her husband added. “When there is a fire, all the water carriers show up to provide water for the firefighters. If I have to,[the house]will be gone.”
The group carried placards reading things like “Mayor Ortega is inhumane” and entered city hall during the city council’s first meeting of the year.
Former City Councilman Linda Milhaven spoke on behalf of Scottsdale Mayor Jim Thompson, who criticized them for recommending that they ignore the EPCOR proposal.
“Earlier this year, the City of Scottsdale ceased serving residents of the Rio Verde Foothills region,” Millhaven said.
“Most residents had their tanks full by the end of the year, but in a month or two there will be no reliable source of water and taps will run out,” she continued.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing. The people of Scottsdale are good people, especially when we learn that we can help without using our own water and without spending money.” , I know you want to help your neighbor.”
Cody Lime, a Rio Verde Foothills resident who works at a family-owned metal shop in Scottsdale, also spoke.
As he said, his voice was noticeably cracked. we need your help. “
Aside from the lawsuit, Lime said residents will also submit a message to the next state legislature.
However, Re Dave Cook, R-Dist. 7, chairman of the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee, is already working on a solution.
Cook wrote to Ortega requesting a meeting to discuss the matter.
“How a group of Arizona citizens could be placed in such a position is incomprehensible to me,” Cook wrote, adding:
“The people of Arizona depend on reliable, long-term water supplies. As elected officials, we have a responsibility to serve all citizens, especially in our rural, unincorporated communities.
“We need to protect people in this community and find comprehensive solutions that are viable for all involved.”
The Arizona Corporation Board has suspended discussion of EPCOR’s long-term solution for 60 days, and two homeowners have requested the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to create discrete residential water improvement districts by residents. I continue to appeal to dismiss the petition seeking.
District advocates say they can bring water to their communities very quickly, but many homeowners argue that it puts too much power in the hands of a few people, arguing that this I am against movement.
Bruce and Patti Smith attended a community meeting focused on supporting and opposing the water district.
They are concerned about creating layers of government in unincorporated communities, but are more than happy to embrace it if they can see the waters flowing again.
“All we want is water,” said Bruce Smith.
