Re-Vegetation Efforts

RE: 69 kV Improvement District

Mayor Campana and Members of the Scottsdale City Council,

Thank you for approving the Improvement District that resulted in the burial of power lines and poles along Scottsdale Road. It was a huge step in the right direction. I also appreciate your efforts to keep the assessment low. The final numbers are much lower than we had expected.

Unfortunately, the job was not finished. The area on the west-side of Scottsdale Road from Jomax to Dixileta where the lines are buried now looks like a dirt road. A great deal of plant material was removed and not replaced. The impact of this is currently most apparent between Jomax and Pinnacle Vista where the Monte de Paz development is located. Plants used to screen walls and homes from the view of passing motorists. Now the screen is gone. As time passes the impact will be more apparent in other areas as well.

What can be done? Well the entire scarred area can be hydro-seeded and large plants moved in where walls and homes have been exposed. It has been pointed out to me that large trees are now being removed from the Scenic Drive by the City of Scottsdale to install a turn lane at Bellasera. Perhaps these could be put to good use on the other side of the Scenic Drive? If the energy field generated by the buried lines prevents planting big trees, we will settle for smaller plants. We really need to stop the gradual degradation of the area.

For our part, Friends will assist in any way it can. If our upcoming Cookout at the Ranch is a financial success, we will be glad to pay part of the cost of restoring the visual beauty of the Scenic Drive.

Thank you for your past support,

Les Conklin

March 31, 1999

Bob Cafarella
Preservation Director
City of Scottsdale

Bob,

Thanks for getting back to me regarding the re-vegetation project along Scottsdale Road. Over the weekend I spoke to the president of the Monte de Paz Homeowners’ Association and the other people who have been involved in the project. I just spoke with Brad Benhart of Benhart Landscaping and this is what we would all like to do.

Benhart Landscaping will be giving us another quote within a few days. He is revising his plan to include a mix of large City trees and smaller purchased 15 gallon trees rather than the 43 36"-54" trees that he selected from the nursery. His quote will include transporting and setting a number of free City trees. He needs to determine how many of these trees we can afford. His original plan also included purchasing and planting 204 1-5 gallon plants, and the purchase and planting of an allotment of cholla, prickly pear and cacti plus installation of the required irrigation system. All of that will remain the same or vary slightly. His quote will not exceed his previous quote of $25,137.

When we did the exhibits and signs for the Scenic Drive, we worked closely with the vendors and obtained their quotes. They then submitted their invoices to the City for payment. We could do the same thing here. We have gotten two quotes and we would like to see Brad Benhart do the work.

I will be sending you Benhart Landscaping’s plan and quote next week and we can go from there. Thanks for your help. I know you have better things to do with your time than be in the landscaping business.

Sincerely,

Les  

PS I think the June 4^th cookout is a great place for council recognition. Forget the symbolic check, if we use any prop at all we could use a small desert plant.