I was writing the monthly Fountain Hills Times as one of my assignments at the ad agency years ago. I would drive to Fountain Hills at least weekly to take photos and look for news stories each month. My first stop would always be Fountain Hills Project Manager Bill Fisher’s office on Colony Drive. (Today it is the offices of Fountain Hills Mini-Storage.) Each month, Fisher and I would get together and discuss possible stories for the next issue.
As you read this column, you have to keep in mind that you are reading about early 1970 figures, a time just prior to when we had runaway inflation and fast-rising gasoline prices due to the oil embargo.
The community’s original master developer was McCulloch Properties Inc. (MPI). It was a subsidiary of McCulloch Oil, a company that was involved in oil and gas exploration and drilling and was publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange.
Fisher was ready for me when I came to visit him for the October 1972 issue.
“Have I got a story for you this month!?” he said with a big grin.
He had an announcement that some $18 million had been invested in the development of Fountain Hills in the first 12 months of its existence by the developer, special districts and private companies.
Figures showed the developer had invested $12 million in the community in that first year to date. Some of the major projects included the reception and information centers, the MPI office building, planning and grading of the 18-hole golf course, in-tract streets, a major landscaping program throughout the community and installation of the centerpiece fountain and accompanying lake.
He also told me that the second retardation unit in the community’s flood control system was complete. I asked him to define a retardation unit. Fisher explained that it is basically an earthen dam with large (48-inch) drainage holes in it. The units release any runoff at a controlled rate of flow to prevent flooding downstream in the community.
The system got an early test on June 22, 1972, when a morning thunderstorm dropped 3.5 inches of rain in just three hours over the McDowell Mountains. Half of the natural runoff came down from the eastern slopes into Fountain Hills. The other half of the runoff went down the western side of the mountains into Scottsdale.
I remember it well because I had bought my first house near Miller and Thomas roads in Scottsdale. We had thought that the empty field at the end of the block to the east would be good tor running our newly acquired German shepherd.
The field turned out to be a part of the Indian Bend Wash, which at that time did not have any improvements for flood control along its route. The flood waters came down the wash and hit Thomas Road. It acted like a dam backing water into the nearby homes and businesses. When I had come home for lunch at noon, we were high and dry. Two hours later, a neighbor called me at work and said we had two feet of water in our yards. When I got home there was six inches of brown runoff water inside.
There I go again, getting away from my column subject. But I think you enjoy these side stories that pop into my head as much as I enjoy writing about them.
It looks like I’m going to run out of space for my column this week, so I’d better continue the first-year development column next week.
