Cave Creek Town Manager contract renewal

THe Scottsdale Republic had something to say about this topic here.

....gone

...and the last tank is gone. It was taken apart in place, and the pieces of it trucked away.

Taken 2008-6-1

Old pre-existing tanks going, going...

Here is the first tank being hauled away in toto.

Taken 2008-5-29

Starting Landscaping

Starting to dig up the berm to install landscaping.

Taken 2008-5-18

Reply to former mayor

Published in Scottsdale Republic 2008-5-1

Refreshing Mozillo's memory

Ralph Mozillo states there are hidden agendas for removal of Cave Creek Town Manager Usama Abujbarah ("Manager in bull's-eye," April 23 Your Views).

The Neary tank land purchase was brought about by decisions made by the town manager last fall. Perhaps Mozillo has forgotten this information was first presented by me to the Water Advisory Board (that he chairs) in February rather than being presented by any town staff. One wonders why it took from October to February for this information to be presented to Town Council and WAB members.

Perhaps Mozillo has forgotten that this small mistake by town staff is an unbudgeted expense of $1.2 million in the current fiscal year. Perhaps Mozillo has forgotten the financial presentations in both the WAB and Town Council meetings where it was announced that in the next five years, Cave Creek is expected to be close to not having enough money to meet expenditures.

Perhaps Mozillo has forgotten that town citizens authorized expenditures of $50 million, but Cave Creek has already spent $68 million, with another $40 million expected in the next five years.

Maybe he does remember. Maybe the ends do justify the means in Cave Creek.
Maybe they shouldn't.

— Charles Spitzer, Cave Creek

Former mayor letter to the editor

Published in Scottsdale Republic 2008-4-22

Manager in bull's-eye

It appears a hidden agenda is afoot to get rid of the Cave Creek town manager as Scottsdale did with Jan Dolan. Having read critical letters from Charles Spitzer and Terry Zerkel and then Councilwoman Grace Meeth's accusations (“Town manager's end-around play was bad move,” April 16 My Turn), it appears there is a serious move to undo the hard work and great reputation of Usama Abujbarah, Cave Creek's longest-tenured town manager.

At a council meeting last month, Meeth in essence called the town manager and his staff liars regarding the installation of the water tank on Hidden Valley Drive.

I am also aware that a non-resident of the town has been sending e-mails to instigate more animosity toward Abujbarah. An ex-mayor of the town is spreading false rumors about the town's finances.

I chaired the committee that did a national search in 2000 for a new town manager and was on the Town Council that selected Abujbarah as town manager. Until his tenure began, we had massive turnover of personnel and a poorly run town staff. He has brought Cave Creek into the 21st century as it relates to technology, methodology and financial integrity.

— Ralph Mozilo, Cave Creek

Tank is partially buried

The tank is now completed and an 8' berm was placed around the bottom.

Taken 2008-5-1

Shenanigans replies

There were numerous replies to the recent editorial in the Scottsdale Republic dated 4/5/2008.

A response from Cave Creek Councilman Tom McGuire printed 4-9-2008:



A letter to the editor (#5 on this page) printed 4-10-2008.

A letter to the editor (#3 on this page) printed 4-14-2008.

A response from Cave Creek Councilwoman Grace Meeth printed 4-16-2008:

Cave Creek Shenanigans?

An article in the Scottsdale Republic here talks about the Neary tank and the land it is on.

The Scottsdale Republic editorial board then took the Cave Creek Town Council and Manager to task for proposing, and passing, a resolution to purchase the land. The need for this resolution was hidden from both public and town official view until very recently, and indicates that the Town Manager made deals behind the elected offical's back.

You can read it here.

Waterproofing the outside

Tank is coated with a tarry substance up about 6' above ground level. This will be behind the dirt berm that is going to be built up, and is to protect the concrete/steel from water intrusion.

Taken 2008-3-18

Shrinkwrapping

The tank is now shrinkwrapped. This prevents water from escaping the concrete, which results in a harder concrete.

Taken 2008-3-9

More concrete

Another 2" of concrete has been sprayed on the outside of the steel cables. This is to protect the cables from water intrusion, which would cause rust and failure of the cable.

Taken 2008-3-7

Wire Wrapped and Pre-tensioned

The tank has been wrapped with approximately 20 miles of 3/8" steel cable and pretensioned to 15,000 lbs. This has tightened up the vertical seams so that the tank is structurally more sound and watertight.

Taken 2008-3-5

The Rest of the story

Wll, here's the smoking gun and the rest of the story. The Arizona Republic article can be found here. All of us believed from the beginning that the ultimate purpose of the town placing the tank in our neighborhood was to provide water to the developers outside of the town limits. Guess we sorta knew this all along even if it we being denied by the town for such a long time.

Comparison

I was able to find a picture of the proposed tank that was distributed by the town. The tank designers were asked to provide a computer rendition of the completed view. I took a picture off my back patio, and they use rendition to add a view of the proposed tank.

Note the difference between this picture and this one. Either the town (and architect) was lying, or they were really inaccurate. I'm not sure which is worse.

Hydroblasting being done

The hydroblasting is about 50% complete. This process uses an enormous and very noisy diesel engine to do water blasting on the outside of the tank. The purpose is to provide a very rough surface. The tank is next cable wrapped, and then another 2" of concrete is power sprayed on the outside to protect the cable from damage and corrosion.

Taken 2008-2-26

WIre installation machine

The machine that does the cable installation is installed. Thi smachine rotates around the tank wrapping it every 1" with about 20 miles of 3/8" steel cable. The tank in the foreground appears to be some sort of intermediary tank that is to be installed later.

Taken 2008-2-25

Ceiling form removal

Tank ceiling is completed, and they are removing all the internal structures through a 4'x8' hatch in the ceiling.

Taken 2008-2-20

Ceiling pour in progress

Here are ground level and top level views of the ceiling pour.

Taken 2008-2-9

Ready for tank ceiling pour

All the rebar is ready for the pour, which is tomorrow morning starting at 3AM.

Taken 2008-2-8

Almost all of the form decking is in place for the ceiling.

Taken 2008-1-20

Ceiling work

The catwalk around the tank is in place, allowing workers to be able to get to the edge and work on the forms for the ceiling.

Taken 2008-1-17

Size comparison

My house is the one to the extreme left of this picture. Note that the tank is far larger than my house.

Taken 2008-1-12

Top view

Here's a top view of the tank. Notice all the internal columns that were poured. I wonder how they will prevent rust on the steel embedded in the concrete columns, since concrete is not waterproof.

Also note the size comparison between the old 2 tanks to the immediate right and the new tank.

Taken 2008-1-12

Walls completed

Here is the completed tank wall. Work is now progressing for the steel structure that will be embedded in the ceiling. Pouring for that should be in a couple of weeks.

Taken 2008-1-12

Wall 9 completed

Removing the last forms for the walls. Next to be done is the ceiling.

Taken 2008-1-7

Yet more money for Cave Creek

Not satisified with $62 million, Cave Creek has authorized borrowing $5.5 million to help pay for this year's capital improvements. One of those improvements is this tank.

You can read the full article here

Wall 8 completed

Wall 8 is completed, and wall 9 (the last one) is being formed.

Taken 2008-1-3