A Town Council decision to approve plans for Daybreak, a 400-unit apartment community, went to the citizens for a vote in May of 2020 and was rejected by Fountain Hills residents.

There were two decisions to be made at the polls; one resolution challenged the amendment to the town’s General Plan, and the second related to the zoning amendment for the property. Both were soundly defeated on a margin of roughly 72 percent to 28 percent.

A third item on the ballot for the special election would have changed the mayor’s term of office from two to four years. While faring somewhat better than the apartments, it was also defeated.

The Daybreak developer had proposed the apartment community on a hillside off Palisades Blvd. just north of Shea Blvd. Nearby neighbors, and many others in the community, objected to the project citing traffic congestion and a plan inconsistent with the site.

When the council approved the plans in 2019, following a unanimous rejection by the Planning and Zoning Commission, a citizens’ committee was formed to petition to have the proposals referred to the ballot in the special election.

The election held later in the year for Town Council seats and the mayor’s office was far less dramatic. The election, decided in the primary vote in August, was uncontested. There were just three candidates for the three expiring terms, and incumbent Mayor Ginny Dickey ran for re-election without a challenger.

Incumbent council members Dennis Brown and Art Tolis chose not to run for re-election. The third seat, held by Sherry Leckrone, became unexpectedly vacant after Leckrone resigned when she found she had to suddenly relocate out of Fountain Hills.

Gerry Friedel, the candidate who received the most votes in the primary election, was appointed to complete the remainder of Leckrone’s term. Sharron Grzybowski and Peggy McMahon were elected to the two remaining seats. All three were sworn in for full four-year terms, along with Dickey for a second two-year term, in December.

Also on the ballot but receiving little attention for the election was the ratification of a new updated General Plan for the community. State law requires General Plan updates be sent to voters every 10 years, and it was due in 2020 for Fountain Hills.

Voters had no issues in approving the new document.

Projects

With the sudden onset of COVID-19 early in the year and restrictions that went with it, town officials became very cautious in budgeting for the fiscal year that began in July. Among the adjustments that were made in the budget presented to the council were reductions in the proposed capital improvement projects scheduled for the year.

There were priorities set that included construction of a traffic roundabout at the intersection of La Montana and Avenue of the Fountains, completion of a shoulder paving project on a little over two miles of Fountain Hills Boulevard and replacement of a storm drain along Panorama Drive that was failing after about 30 years in the ground.

The roundabout has been a proposal in discussion for several years, but finally received council approval with the 2020/21 fiscal year budget. With a price tag of around $750,000, the project fully opened earlier this fall, thus far to positive review from motorists.

The Fountain Hills Blvd. project also wrapped up within the past month and is a welcome improvement to drainage on the hilly street as well as providing safer shoulder access for pedestrians, bicyclists and emergency stops.

The Panorama storm drain work began earlier this month and will extend into the new year. The old drainage pipe was collapsing and creating sinkholes along a well-travelled area adjacent to Fountain Park.

As part of the 50th anniversary for the start of the Fountain in Fountain Hills, new and upgraded lighting equipment was installed for viewing the Fountain after dark. That project was unveiled on the anniversary date of Dec. 15.

A project to promote traffic safety was implemented with the creation of “safety corridors” along major streets through town. Those include portions of Saguaro, Palisades and Fountain Hills boulevards, as they converge near the center of town.

During 2019, the Town Council approved and implemented a sales tax increase which had the effect of softening the impact of the COVID-19 economic downturn. It has also allowed the council to direct staff to begin work on some of the project deferred in the current budget.