NE Valley Times

The Fountain Hills City Council received an update on the progress of the city's capital improvement projects as well as the status of the municipal budget during a recent meeting.

Parks Director Kevin Snipes focused his May 16 update on the parks projects that are ongoing for fiscal year 2022-23, specifically those that might overlap into the next fiscal year. The Golden Eagles Sports Field Lighting project will be completed at the end of this summer for a total cost of $700,000, Snipes said. The Four Peaks Park improvements will continue on into the next fiscal year, but the majority of the $325,000 project is already done. The same is true of the $275,000 Desert Vista Park project, Snipes said.

Other council members thanked Snipes for his transparency with the city's funds.

"There have been a lot of questions about the (capital improvement projects) and what happens when there's overages or when there's savings and what debt, where does that go?" Interim Town Manager Rachel Goodwin said. "And where I'd like to point out is staff takes it very personal."

Goodwin said the staff is just as careful as with their own budgets.

"They treat it like it's their own money," she said. "You know, they want to make sure that it does what it's supposed to do. It gets the job done and then some. They take a lot of pride in their projects. They take a lot of pride in completing them on time under budget."

Sharing another bit of good news in his report, Snipes said, the Fountain Park Shade project went better than expected. The city had thought it would be necessary to take out the poles and redo the footings, but on closer inspection, they only had to straighten the poles and reset them, bringing the project in at $9,600 under budget. 

The Fountain Park playground lighting project is also expected to come in under budget, as Snipes said the city is working with multiple vendors for supplies and to reduce the amount of light poles needed for the playground from 12 to two. That could save the city approximately $102,000, he said.

Other park projects were also finished under budget, and several drainage and waterway projects are in the city. Public Works Director Justin Weldy said the focus of most of the Works Department projects is infrastructure rehabilitation, replacing the oldest drainage pipes to prevent any major failures or floods. Weldy also said that while staffing shortages have forced the city to delay its drainage design plan, officials have secured funding for it and support from the regional flood control district.

As a result of those activities, he said, "The town engineer and myself under the direction of the town manager met with the flood control district, and they decided to take a new look at their project processes and have asked the town of Fountain Hills if we would be willing to work with them on these studies moving forward for not only the town of Fountain Hills but other locations within Maricopa County, and design a boilerplate that streamlines, that most importantly allows for more seating at the table for the stakeholder. That's you folks."

Previously, he said, the city had little control over the process, but "we are delighted that this process is going to move forward. We have a seat at the table, and it's still being paid for by the flood control district. There is a long-term benefit to this manual whenever we receive it.”