Water plant talk has Cattletrack area boiling

Speculation about whether Arizona American Water Co. plans to build a new treatment plant in Scottsdale’s rustic Cattletrack neighborhood is raising hackles among some neighbors already upset with the private utility.

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Despite Arizona American’s claim that nothing has been decided yet, the issue has created some resentment toward the nearby town of Paradise Valley as well as over a planned new hotel and residential development there.

Some, including Scottsdale City Councilman Ron McCullagh, question why the city should host a potential water treatment facility that would be built for the sake of the planned Ritz-Carlton hotel and residences.

The development would straddle the town’s border with Scottsdale, but most of its acreage would be in Paradise Valley.

“(Arizona American) will alienate and further antagonize the neighbors,” McCullagh said.

The Cattletrack neighborhood, typified by dirt driveways and natural desert landscaping, is centered around Cattletrack Road, an extension of Miller Road between McDonald and Lincoln drives.

Some residents say they already consider Arizona American a bad neighbor, ever since the company built its offices and its Pleasant Valley Arsenic Removal Facility on the east side of the road.

McCullagh, an outspoken critic of the company, said a proposal has been floated to build a surface water treatment plant on vacant land the company owns on Cattletrack Road to serve the new Ritz-Carlton development.

Todd Walker, Arizona American spokesman, said the company has no plans right now to build a treatment facility on Cattletrack.

The company has had discussions with Ritz-Carlton developers Five Star Development about providing water to the project, he said, but the talks are preliminary.

Arizona American would need a use permit from Scottsdale to build a new treatment plant, Walker said.

“It’s too early to determine the type of facility, if any would be needed, and the location of it,” he said.

RITZ-CARLTON PLANS

Ritz-Carlton development plans call for a 225-room hotel surrounded by a 110-acre residential development comprising villas and estate homes situated northwest of Scottsdale Road and Lincoln Drive, according to the project’s Web site.

Richard Alt, a resident of the 7600 Lincoln gated community at the north end of Cattletrack, accused Paradise Valley of using Scottsdale as a dumping ground for its utility sites.

Cattletrack residents shouldn’t have to accept a treatment plant that doesn’t serve Scottsdale, he said.

“Let Paradise Valley put those facilities on Paradise Valley land, rather than Paradise Valley pushing all of their issues into Scottsdale,” Alt said.

Glenn Smith, homeowners association president for the Casa Bella community on Lincoln Drive, agreed.

“We’re not too excited with Paradise Valley,” Smith said. “They seem to want everybody else to have these utilities.”

P.V. DOESN’T RUN UTILITIES

Paradise Valley Town Manager Jim Bacon denied that the town has any policy to locate utility sites outside the town limits.

Paradise Valley relies on operating agreements with Scottsdale and Phoenix to provide utilities like water, sewer and fire protection, and does not operate any of its own utilities, he said.

“The decision on where facilities are placed is not one we make,” Bacon said.

He said Arizona American’s Cattletrack land lies within the company’s service area, which includes portions of both Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

The company provides drinking water to about 12,000 people.

“The Arizona American service area is shared between the two communities,” Bacon said.

Walker said the company hasn’t received any requests from Paradise Valley to build utility sites outside the town limits.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that,” he said.

McCullagh said tension between Cattletrack neighbors and Arizona American goes back several years, beginning with the company’s decision to sell off land adjacent to its Miller Road Treatment Facility, on the southeast corner of Miller Road and McDonald Drive, and build its office and arsenic facility on Cattletrack.

McCullagh said the company could have consolidated its operations on the south side of the road rather than moving into the neighborhood.

Alt and Smith said the construction on Cattletrack took an unreasonably long time.

“They drug that construction out for years,” Smith said.

They also say high water pressure from the company’s nearby Miller Road plant regularly breaks fixtures like toilets, faucets and pipes in the neighborhood. Smith said Casa Bella spends $10,000 to $20,000 a year to repair broken irrigation lines.

Walker said Arizona American has hosted several community meetings in an effort to resolve issues with neighbors. Depending on where one lives, there could be higher or lower than typical water pressure, he said, but water delivered to customers meets the requirements for pressure.

“We’ve had significant outreach,” Walker said.

“We’ll continue to work with our customers and address any issues they have.”

Scottsdale officials began considering a potential takeover of Arizona American’s local system, with an estimated value that is well in excess of $50 million, after two recent drinking water contamination scares.

In January, Arizona American customers were forced to switch to bottled water for several days after the company found that a mechanical failure at the Miller Road plant allowed quadruple the maximum allowable limit of trichloroethylene, or TCE, a suspected carcinogen, into customers’ drinking water supply.

Arizona American has since disconnected the problem well from its system and paid $69,000 in fines.

Scottsdale recently hired a consultant to conduct an engineering and financial appraisal of Arizona American’s system.