“So what do you think of this lagoon idea?”

I’ve been asked that questions quite a few times over the past couple of weeks. I’ve also heard it being discussed all over town. After overhearing one person sing its praises at 4 Sons, I’d hear another person list their concerns at Target. Grab a meal at a local restaurant and you’re likely to overhear folks at a nearby table discussing this very topic.

I’ll get to my thoughts on the lagoon in just a moment, but I’d like to start by saying that potentially the biggest benefit to come out of all of this is that it has gotten folks talking. For it or against it, people are buzzing about the lagoon and what they think might be best for Fountain Hills.

No matter what the Council decides in the coming months, it has been a while since I’ve heard this many people talking about what they’d actually like to see accomplished here in town. Recent years have boasted a lot of vision planning, but it’s taken a potential swimming hole in Fountain Park to get people past the discussion of “Fountain Hills should be –fill in the blank–” and onto “these specific things need to be done in order for us to get there.”

I’m not saying every idea is a winner, but what matters right now is that those ideas are being thrown around. Folks who like the lagoon have started sharing their ideas of what else might help bolster downtown life and those who oppose it are starting to offer their own ideas of what might achieve the same goal of bringing more folks to Fountain Hills.

My major fear following last year’s big visioning push was that the conversations would die down and nothing would actually happen. All this lagoon chatter is giving me hope that that will not be the case.

As for my actual thoughts on the lagoon, well, they may be a bit anticlimactic right now.

My kneejerk reaction was to list my concerns in regards to funding, upkeep, safety, etc. After that, I settled into pondering the benefits of such a fun feature in a centralized location.

In the end, I decided that I have nowhere near enough information to make any sort of judgment just yet. Thankfully, the Town Council agrees, which is the entire point of the upcoming feasibility study.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I don’t have many concerns, but I also can’t pretend that, if the lagoon becomes a reality, it doesn’t have the potential to achieve a lot of positives for Fountain Hills.

Also, I’m sure the folks who are responsible for the feasibility study have already thought of my list of concerns and added about a hundred of their own to be considered. I don’t expect any major stones will be left unturned moving forward, and I’m extremely interested in hearing what the study turns up.

In brief, rather than go with my gut reaction or talk myself into one camp or the other, I’m going to wait and see what comes out of all of these conversations and studies.

I don’t know if the lagoon is right for our community, but I’m willing to have an open mind about it moving forward.

And, if nothing else, at least we’re all talking about “what’s next” for Fountain Hills.