My car broke down about a half mile from my house; my wife was still stuck in rush hour traffic and so I decided that I would just hoof it home. I figured a half mile trek would be a healthy, easy venture.

What I encountered was a disjointed patch of walking paths on both sides of the street. Actually, some of the sidewalks were quite nice and ADA wheelchair accessible. However, there were sections along Fountain Hills Blvd. (both sides) where the sidewalks simply stopped and I was forced to walk into the bike lane facing oncoming traffic in a dusk situation.

I understand that a path could be expensive where the washes empty out, but I’d like to see the city finish continuous paths to the downtown/Fountain areas on Fountain Hills Blvd. and Saguaro. This will encourage more residents to leave their cars at home when coming to the city center for events, no longer elevating parking issues.

As for as the lagoon, I would simply let that group pay for the study and set up a 10-15-year lease with the company paying for all their water use and have them pay a common area maintenance fee to keep the area around the lagoon clean and free of debris.

If it’s such a great idea, they would probably jump on it, especially if they think it’s profitable. This would give the city an income source without giving the city something else to maintain, fund and create studies about.

Also, this would probably need a provision that if they choose to close down, funds are set aside to undo the change after they close so that the city isn’t stuck with a large bill to bring the park back to its original condition.