There is discussion from the town council about changing the Fountain’s operating times to cut the budget As of now the Fountain spurts water every hour on the hour for 15 minutes, 7 days a week between the hours of 9 am – 9 pm . The proposed changes would help the town of Fountain Hills reduce costs in the budget. The community Service Director Mark Mayer says the annual budget for operating the Fountain is $138,500.
Early in history the Fountain was used to attract visitors and offer incentives for people to move to a remote area of the desert that was miles from the city. At that time the Fountain was operating for 10 hours a day.
It seems to be that it takes more energy to turn the Fountain on and off every hour than to have it run continuously. Below are some of the options to reduce thousands of dollars to the budget. Salt River Project ( SRP) is asked to evaluate the data and provide cost estimates before any decision is made.
1. Leave the operation as is.
2. Operate the Fountain continuously from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. using one pump. A second pump would be turned on to operate at a higher level four times each day — 9 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The estimated cost of this option is $126,613.
3. Add 15-minute run times to the schedule. Staff is estimating this would add $55,327 to the annual cost.
4. A continuous eight -hour run each day using two pumps. The cost estimate for this option is $142,573, or $4,268 over budget.
5. Run the Fountain on one pump for eight hours, which would cost an estimated $71,286, an annual cost savings of $67,019.
6. Operate the Fountain as it is now, using one pump on windy days (over 10 mi les per
hour). This compensates for times the fountain shuts down due to winds. There is no cost estimate as it is dependent on wind conditions.
There is nothing like our Fountain and it is a landmark that I never get tired of. If you have never seen the Fountain, make th trip up here to Fountain Hills and take a look.
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