• Dennis Brown    3,004
• Nick DePorter      2,670
• Cecil Yates         3,414

Click here to access a short questionnaire.

The questionnaire can be emailed or dropped off at Town Hall to Paul Mood, Development Services Director. The deadline to provide input is June 4, 2012. Thank you for your participation in this exciting Town project.

Note - To use the "Submit by Email" functionality on an Apple computer, Adobe Acrobat Reader is required (a free download from www.adobe.com).

Names Fountain Hills Among 213 “Playful City USA” Communities

 - Communities Recognized for Fighting Play Deficit by Implementing Pro-Play Policies -

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today’s children spend less time playing outside than any previous generation, but 213 cities and towns, including Fountain Hills, earned recognition from national non-profit KaBOOM! as 2012 Playful City USA communities for their efforts to increase play opportunities for children.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, play is critical to healthy brain development. It allows children to use their creativity while simultaneously developing imagination, dexterity and physical, cognitive and emotional strength. Yet today’s children spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 live within walking distance of a park or playground. The resulting play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically, socially and academically.

Presented by The Humana Foundation, Playful City USA is a national program advocating for local policies that increase play opportunities for children and is a key platform in combating the play deficit.  

KaBOOM!, the national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play, created Playful City USA in 2007 to help local governments address the play deficit and it is through mayors, city council members, parks and recreation departments, school districts and community leaders that the program succeeds in benefitting children.

“The Town of Fountain Hills is excited to receive this honor for the third consecutive year,” stated Mayor Jay Schlum. “Recognition as a Playful City USA community is just one more reason Fountain Hills is one of the best places to live in Arizona.  The Town is proud of our Community Services Department and the recreational opportunities they provide, which contributes to a high quality of life for our residents.”

Hailing from 41 states, the 213 Playful City USA honorees range in size from six-time honorees such as Orlando and Phoenix to first-time recipient Independence, Oregon (population: 9,607). These Playful City USA communities are making a commitment to play and physical activity by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community.

“Some of the most innovative concepts and cost-effective programs are being developed in Playful City USA communities,” says Darell Hammond, Founder and CEO of KaBOOM! and author of The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. “Cities like Fountain Hills are key allies in the fight to combat the play deficit and serve as outstanding role models for government and community leaders across the country.”

In the sixth year of the annual program, 19 Playful City USA communities received recognition for the sixth consecutive year, while 24 earned honors for the fifth time, 27 for the fourth time, 29 for the third time, 45 for the second time and 69 claimed their first Playful City USA designation.

For the fifth consecutive year, Florida paced the nation with 29 Playful City USA communities. California earned second-place with 24 communities, while Texas finished third with 14 Playful City USA communities.

Each of the 2012 Playful City USA communities demonstrated creative commitments to addressing the play deficit.Playful CityUSAcelebrates and highlights these unique initiatives developed by communities across the country. A primary goal of Playful City USA is to encourage cities and towns to share ideas, concepts and programs in an effort to increase play opportunities for children. City initiatives include:

• Ferguson (Mo.) - The city hosts Sunday Parkways, a free community play street event in neighborhoods on Sunday afternoons. Streets are closed to cars in order to allow residents of all ages and abilities to play in the streets.

• Houston (Texas) - The Volunteer Initiatives Program engages residents through service and community projects to promote volunteerism in neighborhoods and city playspaces. By utilizing Love Your Block Grants, citizens have the opportunity to revitalize neighborhood parks, transform civic spaces and advocate for quality open space.

• Pico Rivera (Calif.) - The city recognizes the need for play and is regularly researching ways to improve existing playspaces or add new opportunities. In September 2011, more than 200 volunteers rallied together to transform an empty lot into a beautiful playspace using the community-build model.

• Providence (R.I.) - The parks and recreation department offers extensive programming for all children and families to play together, including the free Fun Bus initiative that travels to various communities to engage children with fun games and sports equipment.

• Starkville (Miss.) - The parks commission, local school district, civic groups and businesses continue to collaborate to set tangible goals to invest in play. These partnerships created a joint use agreement resolution to open school playspaces for public use during non-school hours.

KaBOOM! also selected Fountain Hills for its outstanding dedication to play. Fountain Hills used its play day to form partnerships with local Noon Kiwanis Club and Key Club, Soccer Club, Pickleball Club, and Disc Golf Club. The town found that the established agenda for play helped to get the conversations going with these groups. More than 700 people enjoyed the play day, with the help these organizations and over 30 volunteers at multiple play sites.

The 213 Playful City USA communities are now eligible for $15,000, $20,000 and $30,000 grants via Let’s Play, a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, to get kids and families active nationwide. Grant recipients will be announced on June 4, 2012.

For more information on the KaBOOM! Playful City USA program, including Let’s Play grants and applications for 2013, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.   

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Click here to watch the FHCCA candidate forum.

The forum will also air on Fountain Hills Channel 11 at 11AM Monday to Friday and 9PM daily starting Thursday April 26th and will run to election day, May 13, 2012.  The video will also be available on-demand on the Town's website at http://www.fh.az.gov/channel-11-schedule.aspx.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day which will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity for those who missed the previous events, or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted, unused prescription drugs, to safely dispose of those medications.

Americans that participated in the DEA's third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on October 29, 2011, turned in more than 377,086 pounds (188.5 tons) of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at the 5,327 take-back sites that were available in all 50 states and U.S. territories. When the results of the three prior Take-Back Days are combined, the DEA, and its state, local, and tribal law-enforcement and community partners have removed 995,185 pounds (498.5 tons) of medication from circulation in the past 13 months.

"The amount of prescription drugs turned in by the American public during the past three Take-Back Day events speaks volumes about the need to develop a convenient way to rid homes of unwanted or expired prescription drugs," said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. "DEA remains hard at work to establish just such a drug disposal process, and will continue to offer take-back opportunities until the proper regulations are in place."

"With the continued support and hard work of our more than 3,945 state, local, and tribal law enforcement and community partners, these three events have dramatically reduced the risk of prescription drug diversion and abuse, and increased awareness of this critical public health issue," said Leonhart.

The Fountain Hills collection site will be at Town Hall, 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268.

Source - http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 from 7:30 – 9:00 A.M. in the Town Community Center located at 13001 N. La Montana, Fountain Hills, Arizona, The Planning & Zoning “Sign Regulations” Subcommittee will hold an “Open House” to inform and receive comments on proposed amendments to the Town of Fountain Hills Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 6.  

A complete copy of the proposed zoning amendments are available for viewing in the Fountain Hills Development Services Office, located at the Town Hall, 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Monday through Thursday.

For more information, contact Bob Rodgers, Senior Planner, Planning & Zoning Division, Town of Fountain Hills, 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268, or by calling 480-816-5138.  All interested citizens are encouraged to attend.

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A complete copy of the proposed zoning amendments are available for viewing in the Fountain Hills Development Services Office, located at the Town Hall, 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Monday through Thursday.

For more information, contact Bob Rodgers, Senior Planner, Planning & Zoning Division, Town of Fountain Hills, 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268, or by calling 480-816-5138.  All interested citizens are encouraged to attend.

The new extrication equipment will not only benefit people in an accident, but it will also increase the safety for public safety personnel. Firefighters, along with police officers, encounter problems removing people from vehicles when there is an accident on our busy road ways. With having the ability to cut, pull, bend new metals and intricate vehicle designs of modern cars and trucks, will increase operational efficiency and decrease extrication time, which will require less emergency personnel and equipment to be on the
Emergency scene.

"Removing people from an accident as quickly and safely as possible is always the goal of the Fire Department, said Chief LaGreca. "The new equipment will allow us to be tactically efficient, and do our jobs safely in the shortest time..."

This equipment will be available for support of the following partner agencies: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Salt River Pima Maricopa Nation, Rio Verde, and Scottsdale.

The Weekly Report to Town Council for the week ending March 29, 2012 is now available on the Town of Fountain Hills website.  Click here to download the report now.

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