I encourage the people of Fountain Hills to proceed with caution with regards to future road improvements with what happened to Saguaro Blvd.

On Oct. 27, 2009, Sunland Asphalt provided the town with several options regarding pavement on Saguaro Blvd., the most expensive was item six for an amount of $2,385,000. The information was passed on at a council meeting in February of the next year. The town proceeded to ask for an $8.2 million bond issue to perform this work.

Obviously, there is a significant difference in paving the roads and what happened on Saguaro. The new project included not only the road, but it also included curbs, sidewalks and any other things that the town could think of. It is true that the curbs in many sections of this town were poured on top of the asphalt, which is not a good idea. So much for history. The cost of these types of improvements regarding an average street in this town would be absolutely absurd. We cannot change the basic roads to comply with streets, curbs, sidewalks and anything else they can think of.

Should this go to a vote of the people, they need a clear understanding of the scope of road projects in this town. They should vote at a general election and not a special election to get the broadest participation of the citizens in this matter. Political consultants who wish to get their point across always go to special elections when we have a normally poor turnout. With these points in mind, I can only ask tax-payers to exercise some caution.

I have left a copy of the Oct. 2009 letter with the newspaper or you can request a copy of this letter from the Town of Fountain Hills.