By Mike Hoops | Fountain Hills
Nearly everyone agrees that Fountain Hills is a great town and a great place to live. Even unnecessary partisanship in local politics cannot change that fact. The number and quality of events from the fall through spring is amazing and they are too numerous to mention. Town staff and the local Chamber are to be commended.
I have two ideas to make Fountain Hills even greater. Those are to repair Fountain Hills Boulevard between Palisades and the Elementary School and to increase the Fountain hours during the summer.
The existing paving schedule is good and streets that have recently been repaired look great. Soon, El Lago will be fixed between Saguaro and Panorama. The road that most needs fixed is Fountain Hills Boulevard between Palisades and the elementary school.
Anyone who rides a bicycle knows this. The 100km Tour de Scottsdale rode through on April 12. That stretch of road is the worst of the ride. The MS Arizona ride is scheduled to come through town in November. I would encourage the mayor or any council member to bike that 1.25-mile stretch and re-evaluate the priorities for the paving schedule.
Secondly, it makes no sense for the fountain not to be running at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. (perhaps even 6 a.m. from May through July). The fountain is our #1 marketing tool and is the centerpiece of the town. The incremental cost (should be way less than $5,000) is a rounding error in the town's $50 million budget.
The majority of folks who walk the fountain are there before 9 a.m. and the winds are normally calm in the morning. The PLC we installed a few years ago automatically lowers to one pump or shuts off totally if the winds are too strong. Not maximizing the utilization of this asset is nonsensical.
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