Being Honest

Being Honest

I’m told that being honest and forthright to voters is a kiss of death. For candidates, it’s best to be vague, get elected, and then do what’s needed, rather than be honest with one’s intentions. How did we ever get to that? I’m trying to dispel that belief by being upfront before asking for your vote.

In a nutshell, if elected, my focus will be preparing the incorporated Town of Dewey-Humboldt (D-H) for twenty to fifty years from now. No one worth listening to will conclude that that future will be what we have today. Nearly a third of privately owned parcels in D-H are vacant. Few if any of their owners envision leaving them permanently that way. And as long as we’re a capitalist society, most every parcel that can be split will eventually be split. Our population may very well double. And thanks to our Constitutional property rights, there’s very little to be done to prevent that growth.

The biggest challenge in Lonesome Valley (the Quad-Cities) will be water. Everyone in Lonesome Valley (apart from those that collect rainwater), get their water from a well. Those wells either have a pipe into the Prescott Active Management Area (PrAMA) aquifer or into a fissure through which water flows from our local hills to the aquifer. Our local Citizens Water Advocacy Group (https://cwagaz.org/) is very clear that the PrAMA is being depleted and wells will go dry. Larger cities in our valley will be the cause, but D-H will be a victim. If D-H is to continue to be viable, it must secure sufficient water to maintain the population.

Like it or not, sewer water is envisioned as a big contributor to maintaining the aquifer. Little to no amount of septic water reaches the aquifer; nearly all of that wastewater is lost to evaporation. However, after treatment, a significant portion of sewer water can safely be returned to the aquifer. Other than incredibly expensive pipelines to other water sources, recharging the aquifer is the most likely option for the long-term survival of the PrAMA. D-H will be expected to do its fair share. Those in the hills may be exempt, as sewer lines to those locations will be incredibly expensive, but costs and technology will be major factors in determining those possibilities.

Our town is not a real town unless it is a community concerned with the health, safety, and quality of life of us all. Demographic histories indicate that we’re becoming a retirement destination instead of a location to raise one’s children. Children are obviously the future and in order for a community to thrive, it needs to be a great place to grow-up. Whether it’s playing sports, riding one’s bike, walking, running, or riding the trails, enjoying a good library, meeting one’s friends, having quick access to medical assistance, or being hired for one’s first job, the kids need to have local options to excel, and our town needs to provide all those things and more.

So, we’ll need the infrastructure for those activities along with the funds to support them. Funds require income and that comes either from Federal, State, or County taxes that flow down to us, Town fees, grants, or sales tax. I believe that that last source is our best option for the future. For significant sales tax revenue, we need one or more locations from where businesses can make money. The two Super Fund sites (Humboldt Smelter and Iron King Mine) are certainly future options, but my favorite suggestion is the State property through which N Outback Road travels. It’s adjacent to two highways and Prescott Valley, so much of the sales tax may actually come from our neighbors. Additionally, we may work out an option to tie into the Prescott Valley water and sewer services.

On the health side, the Super Fund sites need to be resolved. Working with the residents, property owners, and the EPA, the yards of dwellings and the two sites need to be made safe forever. This shouldn’t be too hard nor too contentious. Let’s define success and determine how to achieve it but have the contingency clause that covers the unexpected. Discuss with all involved the options and limitations for the two big sites, and from acceptable usages, let the owners choose. This stain on the Town must be settled as soon as possible.

Another health issue, with the large portion of senior citizens, is giving them excellent options for enjoying life. There needs to be lots of opportunities for interacting with those of the same age, along with transportation to and from gatherings. We need support services or agencies that can do what old muscles and bones can no longer accomplish. We possibly need a local Pioneer Home, where folks can move to when they can no longer care for their home but don’t want to depart their beloved friends and neighbors. We need to envision and enact an excellent path for our citizens’ good and full life.

The last health issue I’ll touch on is our animals. This seems so easy. Centuries ago, it was determined that animal waste was the cause of death and destruction. It was mandated then that farm animals must be moved away from homes and waste needed to be managed. With a broad brush, D-H needs to limit the number of animals from one’s property but also allow for renewable waivers in cases where owners validate that their animal management practices prevent excessive waste buildup and abuse of their neighbors’ property rights.

On the safety side, my tenure with Firewise has convinced me that wildfire is our Town’s greatest safety issue. From too many sources, our climate, geography, and landscape have been determined to have a Very High likelihood of a devastating wildfire. The first step in resolving this is for the Town to include within their codes regulations preventing one neighbor from endangering another. It’s fine that a homeowner is not concerned if their home burns to the ground; however, the embers, flames, and radiant heat from that burning cannot make it impossible for their neighbor to mitigate wildfire danger to their own home. Amongst the international building codes, there is one for properties within wildland/urban interfaces (WUI - homes within natural vegetation). The International Wildland Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) needs to be edited as necessary and adopted as an additional building code requirement for those D-H properties designated as being within a WUI. Besides making the community safer, it’ll also likely put a halt to the increasing costs or denials for home insurance and the increased costs may limit some building altogether, thereby reducing density.

The other big safety issue is our roads. Beyond being how we get home, they are how our first responders get to us. It already takes way too long for an ambulance, fire truck, or sheriff to respond to a call. What we don’t want is the condition of our roads to add to that time. We need a standard for the width, slope, and irregularity of all of our town and private roads, and we need those standards enforced. For private roads, I propose a Private Road District that homeowners can join that would manage private roads to the town’s standard. Not inexpensive at first, it would survey and improve roads to the standards. Then costs would go down as regular maintenance is provided. Everyone within the Private Road District would then share in the costs.

The other road issue is emergency egress. Within the building codes, the Town needs to mandate that community areas with more than 200 dwellings must have a second, viable egress. Until that second egress is approved for use, no additional dwellings can be installed. Cries from those that want to build will then hopefully get our Council’s attention and the road from the Blue Hills to Stoneridge may finally be created.

Another big issue currently within our Town is a cry for property rights and against HOA codes. I’m unabashedly for my property rights; however, I must understand them differently from many. But it’s a subject upon itself and so I’ll discuss it with a separate blog entry. Regarding no HOA codes, that’s just silly. If there’s a Town code that is objectionable, note what that is and let’s discuss it. To broad brush “the Town Codes” as being objectionable solves nothing. Let’s get together and resolve the issues and then understand that they are the TOWN codes and not your neighbor’s codes and the town has no right to deputize us all to be the law enforcement of those that live next door.

My vision for Dewey-Humboldt is one of self-sustainment along with Town focal points that make it a destination. Prescott has its courthouse square and Whisky Row. Cottonwood has its Old Town and Verde River Park. Dewey-Humboldt of course has Mortimer Farms, but all of one’s eggs should never be in one basket and the town needs at least one more. It could be a renowned equine center, or the area’s preeminent sports complex, or an impressive Agua Fria River walk, or its own, significant Old Town (even if it isn’t old), or an excellent place to work, or the best integration of public and private trails in the state. Options need to be presented, big heads need to figure out the business plans, and those with gumption need to make the decision a reality.

There’s of course more, but the above are some of my primary focal points. If you’d like more added, please let me know.

Respectfully,

Mike Donovan