The residents of the unincorporated Rio Verde foothills area of Maricopa County are one step closer to securing water thanks to the passage of HB2561.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Alex Kolodin and Sen. John Kavanagh, addresses the needs of Rio Verde foothills area residents who get water from Scottsdale via a standpipe and trucks that bring the water to underground tanks on their property. They have been without water since January 1st when the city of Scottsdale ceased providing them with water. These people cannot get well water.
The EPCOR private water company has agreed to provide a long-term solution to install their own water standpipe but this cannot be accomplished for about two years. In the interim the City of Scottsdale has agreed to provide water to the residents through EPCOR but states that they will only sign a contract with a government entity as the go between party between them and EPCOR.
This bill creates a temporary standpipe district that can be that go between entity.
“Every special interest in the world threw everything they had at our efforts to get our constituents water,” said Kolodin. “Bombarding the people’s representatives with lobbyists galore. But the Freedom Caucus and other key members of the house on both the left and right held firm to get water for the people of Rio Verde Foothills. I am proud of what we managed to achieve.”
PROVISIONS:
1. Provides for the formation of a standpipe district with limited powers necessary to resolve this crisis.
These include the powers:
a. To enter into an IGA with Scottsdale, reimburse it for the use of its system, and see to it that the supplier of water is compensated.
b. To see to it that billings, collections, and deliveries are properly facilitated (The Standpipe District may contract with a third party to do these things.), and
c. To levy a surcharge on residents’ water bills not to exceed 10% without unanimous board approval to carry out its obligations.
2. The standpipe district may serve up to 750 households. It will be governed by a five-member board made up of members of the district who live in the community. The district can, if needed, reduce the amount of water delivered to each hauler on a pro rata basis and enact conservation measures for voluntary customers. The standpipe district is not a special taxing district. It gets it revenue from the water fees charged to voluntary customers.
3. This situation was caused by poor enforcement against wildcat development. The bill tries to reduce this by clarifying the circumstances under which a developer is illegally “acting in concert” to circumvent the subdivision laws of the state – leading both to greater legal certainty regarding the rights of property owners and greater clarity regarding when existing law is being violated. These changes do not alter existing law, but rather, incorporate the definition of “acting in concert” already recognized by judicial precedent concerning existing law.
The bill next will go to a vote in the Senate on Monday.