The barbecue and pool party for Chino Meadows residents at the Chino Valley Aquatic Center went swimmingly Aug. 17 - or almost.
Children and some adults splashed around and cooled off in the swimming pool, and staff from the Phoenix engineering firm of DMJM Harris served hamburgers and hot dogs.
"Getting the grill lit is the most difficult part - because we are engineers," quipped August Hardt, vice president/construction services manager for DMJM Harris. Hardt is program manager of the Chino Meadows sewer project.
Town officials hosted the barbecue/swim party for the Chino Meadows residents.
As of the pool event, more than one-third of the 1,100 Chino Meadows homeowners had granted temporary permission to project team members to enter their properties. Chino Meadows is located east of Highway 89 between Center Street and Perkinsville Road.
In fact, 33 homeowners submitted the forms that evening, said Amy Rosar, public involvement coordinator with KDA, a Phoenix public relations firm. The town government hired KDA to do public outreach for the $15.4 million, government-financed project to replace septic tanks with sewer service.
The forms enable project team members to enter private property and do a survey to locate septic systems, said Kristin Darr-Bornstein, managing partner with KDA. The team members also determine how the septic tanks are hooked to homes and examine the elevation differences between the septic systems and the streets.
The three-year project is scheduled to begin in January or February at the subdivision and be done in three phases. Voters this past November approved the sewer expansion, which entails obtaining financing from the Rural Development branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona.
Despite voter approval, some homeowners expressed continuing opposition to the sewer project. Town officials contended the project is needed to protect the groundwater from nitrate contamination from septic systems, and believe the sewer work will enhance property values in Chino Meadows.
James "Red" Murphy, a 30-year homeowner in Chino Meadows, questioned the fact that the entire community voted on the sewer measure, and expressed concerns about the escalating costs of one-time sewer hookups.
"I still think it is wrong taking that one section of town and having the whole town vote on it," he said.
Town Manager Bill Pupo responded that the project will benefit the entire community.
"All rate-payers are paying for it," Pupo said.
Existing homes outside of Chino Meadows pay the same amount for hookups, according to a town policy. The town also requires hookups of homes and businesses if a sewer line comes within 400 feet of septic tanks.
The hookup fee as of July 1 amounts to $1,575, up from $1,499 at the time of the election. Murphy, who voted against the sewer measure,
criticized the inflationary increase in costs when he spoke out at an open house June 27 at Chino Valley High School.
"Why am I against it?" Lynn Vega, a homeowner of Chino Meadows for about three years, asked rhetorically. "Because the streets are so narrow. I think they (town officials) should leave well enough alone."
Vega continued, "I have seen too many areas where they (crews) have worked and created a mess."
Responding to Vega's comments, Interim Public Works Director Jim Confer said, "Anything that gets disturbed or destroyed (on private property) as part of the project will be replaced in kind. We tear out three bushes. We put three (new) bushes in."
Vega's neighbor, former Mayor Kate Nelson, disagreed with her in part.
"I think the sewer project is wonderful," said Nelson, a Chino Meadows resident for 20 years. "It has been a long time coming."
However, Nelson said, "I don't understand why they can't use trenchers instead of backhoes."
Confer retorted, "I don't know what (equipment) the contractors are going to use. I don't think you are going to have any less disturbance with a trencher than a backhoe."
The Town Council is scheduled to award a construction management at risk contract Aug. 31 to Fann Contracting, which built the developer-financed sewer plant off Old Home Manor Drive. Owner Mike Fann is the brother of Mayor Karen Fann.
