According to last week’s Times, a small group is exploring the possibility of creating an aquatic center in Fountain Hills. How exciting! As I have encountered people in my attempt to be elected to the Town Council, I’ve stressed the need for our citizens to be engaged in these types of activities.

We have been blessed to have so many volunteers in Fountain Hills. As a result we have a botanical garden, the Greening Committee plantings, a Farmer’s Market and more than 100 beautiful sculptures as examples.

Many have expressed the desire to have an aquatic center to serve our entire population from young people to our seniors.

At this point it is a germ of an idea. But with citizen support an aquatic center could become a reality.

The Town Council has approved a comprehensive and aggressive economic development plan. The intent is to attract more small, non-retail businesses to help prop up our tax base and increase the number of patrons for our retail stores.

A combination of reduced revenue sharing by the state, a loss of 2000 citizens in the last Census, and the effects of the recent recession have had a major impact on the town’s ability to maintain and improve the services and amenities the public desires.

If we want to attract people and businesses to our beautiful town we must look for new ways to invest in our future. To do less will result in stagnation, including lower property values, and an inability for us to compete with other Valley cities and towns for the types of citizens and businesses we so sorely need.

The town should do everything possible to pave the way for such ventures, especially when there are hurdles such as zoning, permitting and such.

An aquatic center would be right in line with our community’s needs.