Cave Creek council expands IFB to include Desert Hills and Cave Creek utilities, authorizes $114,000 contract amendment

The Cave Creek Town Council on March 24 voted unanimously to expand an invitation for bid (IFB) to include the Desert Hills Water System, the Cave Creek Water System and the Cave Creek Wastewater System and to authorize the town manager to amend the professional services agreement with Rafelis for an amount not to exceed $114,000.

Town Manager Grady told the council the step is meant to produce the financial and operational analysis needed before any decision about sale or ownership change. He framed the work as an information-gathering exercise driven by prolonged drought and expected reductions in Colorado River deliveries. "First of all, this is not a done deal," Grady said, adding that the IFB would yield numbers the council and the public could review and that some sensitive data would likely be considered in executive session prior to public disclosure.

The manager recounted that Cave Creek recently lost the delivery of 386 acre-feet of CAP water and that the utilities master plan identifies a long-term need of roughly 1,800 acre-feet at buildout. Staff recommended Rafelis, the firm that assisted with the Desert Hills IFB, be retained to prepare bid documents, perform appraisals and financial analysis, evaluate bids, and analyze an alternative such as an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to provide bulk treated water. Staff estimated work and a report back to council would be available in late summer or early fall.

Utilities Director Cruz Weisner described short-term groundwater options: "our goal is to try and get of the three wells that we've tested, at least two of them up and are operational by the end of this calendar year," he said, while cautioning that local aquifer limitations could constrain yields and provide only limited multi-year relief.

Council members and residents pressed several themes during question-and-answer and public comment: protecting employees during any potential ownership transition, preserving the new Phoenix interconnect as a resiliency asset, exploring cooperative agreements with larger providers, and the potential effects on rates and town finances. Several public commenters noted the interconnect near Cave Creek Road as a "multi-million dollar insurance policy" and urged that operational infrastructure or the Phoenix interconnect be excluded from any sale unless explicitly included and publicly reviewed (David Smith, Cave Creek resident). Resident Bob Anderson, citing mergers-and-acquisitions experience, warned a private buyer would likely raise rates to achieve a return on investment.

The motion approved on a 7-0 vote authorized the town manager to expand the IFB scope and to amend the town's professional services agreement with Rafelis for up to $114,000 to coordinate the IFB process. Council members emphasized that the IFB and associated analysis are steps to gather options and figures; any final decision about sale, transfer, or an IGA would be subject to further council review and public engagement.

The council also outlined scheduling: staff expects a Bureau of Reclamation 24-month forecast by midsummer and anticipates returning to council with supply and options analysis ahead of an October drought-plan checkpoint. The council adjourned after the vote.