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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSAC.2023.0952.MinutesCOMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 A Regular Meeting of the Community Services Advisory Commission was convened at 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains in open and public session at 5:00 p.m. Members Present: Chair Natalie Varela: Vice Chair Carey Reddick; Commissioner Barnes; Commissioner Craig Rudolphy; Commissioner Ron Ruppert; Commissioner Rory Wilson Absent: Youth Commissioner TBD Staff Present: Interim Community Services Director Kevin Snipes; Executive Assistant Patti Lopuszanski AUDIENCE: Recreation Manager Ryan Preston, Senior Recreation Program Coordinator Skylar Thomas; Recreation Program Coordinator Steven Heinsma and Mayor's Youth Council 1 https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES VARELA: Okay, we're going to call our meeting to order and welcome our Mayor's Youth Council and we have Ryan Preston, the Recreation Manager, who is going to make a presentation. Okay, it will be our Mayor's Youth Council giving our presentation. Okay, great. So, Roll Call, please. LOPUSZANSKI: Chair Varela? VARELA: Here. LOPUSZANSKI: Vice Chair Reddick? REDDICK: Here. LOPUSZANSKI: Commissioner Barnes? BARNES: Here. LOPUSZANSKI: Commissioner Rupert? RUPPERT: Here. LOPUSZANSKI: Commissioner Rudolphy RUDOLPHY: Here. LOPUSZANSKI: Commissioner Wilson WILSON: Here. LOPUSZANSKI: Thank you. VARELA: Thank you. Alright, so am I just going to go in order then with Reports by Commissioners? All right. So, do we have any Reports from Commissioners? Any updates? REDDICK: None. RUDOLPHY: I have nothing. VARELA: Okay. All right. So, then we're going to move on to our Presentation from the Mayor's Youth Council. Great. Welcome back. PEDDI: Hello, commission. Today we're going to present what the Mayor's Youth Council did over the past year. So, our first event together was a BAM Kazam. It's like a puzzle -solving event. So we did it basically, as an exercise to see what the future leaders did, I think we were able to divide people into different teams, whether we were going to run for President or Vice President was really good because we could build a group dynamic. We worked on our leadership. And we were also able to do a lot of creative problem -solving. And it was one of my most fun events. I think a lot of people can agree that it was a lot of fun. And then we went to the League of Arizona cities and towns, a lot of people were here. Some people were here this year, as well, as a really great opportunity to meet a lot of the other town councils and stuff and present on issues that matter to us like mental health, we were able to networking with other people and share our knowledge with others. We were even able to hold their flag. I think some of the people here, like Chris, were able to some others were able to hold the flag. So, it was a lot of fun. And then whatever favorite event to do is the Mayor's Youth Council Teen Takeover. I think last year was our second year in a row doing it. We had a lot of people come out we had a lot of different vendors like the Fountain Hills Coalition, the Sipps Eatery, and the Fountain Hills Library, which did a tie-dye event. And we had a lot of different activities, whether that's like video games, or board games, or like even a bouncy castle. So, we were able to get a lot of young people there and just a great way to join and have fun with our community. And here are some fun photos we took. Yeah, we took funny photos then. And then we had a presentation on public speaking, which some of us enjoyed, and some of us didn't really enjoy as much. But it was very useful. We had two sessions we had like one where we learned about - 2 - https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES what we were doing. And then we had to make presentations ourselves on an issue that mattered. We receive feedback on our hand gestures, vocal dynamics, how we explain stuff just for us to become better speakers, it was really helpful to get this personalized information from Toastmasters. And it was just fun to you know, give critique on what other people we're talking about and learn about ourselves as well. And we had a lot of different community service events. Every single year, Fountain Hills, Mayor's Youth Council members had to do around 20 hours of service, and a lot of people do more. Our first one is Back to School Bash, which is popular where we just introduce people and have inflatables, and a lot of different activities. We have Make a Difference Day, which is just cleaning up the yards and helping people as you know, really be involved. And then Spooky Blast, which is Halloween-themed and New Year's Eve. And then other Mayor Youth Council events. Apart from the teen takeover, we have the Irish Fest, and we have Adopt a Street, but usually, our streets are kind of clean so, we don't have much trash to pick up. But it's still fun. We have Eggstravaganza on Earth Day. I liked Earth Day, but not a lot of people showed up. So, I don't think we're going to be volunteering at that next year. And then in total, we served 296 hours, which is a lot and I think we did a great job. So yeah, thank you. VARELA: Thank you, that was great. I think this is the first time we've ever had the whole Mayor's Youth Council present here and I'd had no idea that you did as much as you guys do. I think it's fabulous. Any other comments? WILSON: I just wanted to say a great job to all of you and Sruti, you did a great presentation. Back in my day, I was on MYC, it was not as cool as what you guys are doing now. So great job, keep serving your community. Thank you. REDDICK: Yeah, job well done. I mean, what you're doing right now will help set you up as you progress throughout high school and college and just later on in life. And who knows, maybe you're looking at the future president in this room. So, I think what you're doing is great. And we need more people involved in government and politics. So, kudos to what your kids are doing. LOPUSZANSKI: This evening MYC will be staying with us for the whole meeting as they wanted to observe what a commission meeting looks like, how it runs, and what happened throughout the process. So, they will continue to observe for the rest of the meeting. VARELA: Great, perfect. Thank you. Okay, Called to the Public. LOPUSZANSKI: No Calls to Public. VARELA: All right. Thank you. So now we're going to look for Consideration to Approve the June 26, 2023, Verbatim Minutes. May I get a motion? RUPPERT: I make a Motion that we Approve. RUDOLPHY: Second. VARELA: All in favor? ALL: Aye. Motion Passed 6-0 VARELA: Thank you. Okay, so now we're going to move on to the Appointment of the new CSAC Commissioner Chair. Do we have anyone who wants to throw their hat in to make a nomination? RUDOLPHY: I would nominate Natalie to continue as Chair. REDDICK: I'll second that. VARELA: Okay, anyone else that would like to step up and be the Chair? Okay, we have a second. All right, then we can take a vote on that. All in favor? - 3 https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES ALL: Aye VARELA: Anyone opposed? ALL: (Silence) Motion to Approve 6-0 VARELA: Okay, thank you. I'm going to be your new Chair again. Alright, now what about the Vice Chair? Do we have a Motion for the Vice Chair? RUDOLPHY: I would move that Carey to continue as Vice -Chair. WILSON: Second RUPPERT: I'II second that. VARELA: Okay, wow. Let's take a vote then. All in favor? ALL: Aye. Motion Passed 6-0 VARELA: All right. Passed unanimously. REDDICK: Thank you. VARELA: Okay, Review and Discuss our Environmental Plan Workgroups. So, this was from Rory's presentation, correct? Great. So, let's see where we are in here. Did everyone have a chance? I haven't even gotten to that part. LOPUSZANSKI: Natalie, one of the things I had requested from commissioners was to give three points that were the top interests they would like to explore. What is in the packet or those responses I received, so you can either work off of that if that helps or get input from every commissioner on how you want to proceed with building workgroups. VARELA: Okay, did most people respond to that? LOPUSZANSKI: The names in the packet are who I heard from. So, from yourself, Commissioner Rudolphy and Commissioner Wilson. VARELA: Okay. Did everyone else have a chance to look at this then and see if there's anything else that would appeal to them? Or do we want to work off of this? BARNES: We're going to work off this when everybody gets off break. VARELA: Okay. All right, great. So then let's look at who has an interest in what and then we can assign? So, Number 1. Is: Continue to promote the vigilance and guardianship of the natural desert. And then Number 2 would be provided to maintain an open space of network throughout the community, and I'm assuming everyone has a right here so I'm not going to read what it's all about. Okay, great. Then Number 3 provides open space, linkage with the town and to the regional systems beyond its boundaries, and where feasible and appropriate, then identifies and preserves historical and archaeological resources. Continue to promote programs that encourage environmentally friendly alternatives and improve air quality. Continue to promote environmental stewardship, and support waste reduction programs and proper management of hazardous waste, and then encourage the Biophilic design goals and design principles into the town practice and development within the community. RUDOLPHY: So, Madam Chair, I would just like to offer that our role is to provide guidance and assistance to Community Services, not necessarily create more tasks for them, or to give them things that we want them to do for us. I would suggest that as we look at this, we be careful and do things that are within our scope, and not overreach and perhaps infringe on some other Commission that are doing something similar, as well as providing something meaningful that when we get done, we can take pride in what we have, as opposed to just the here's some ideas. Town, why don't you do something with it? - 4 - https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES VARELA: No, that's great. Does the town have anything in particular out of here that you think would be most beneficial for us to tackle? And not to infringe upon another Commission? SNIPES: Not particularly... I think the big thing is like Craig was saying, as we're looking into these, finding something that has more of a full look to it, and not, where you go find out the answers is the type of things that will be most helpful. And so, for diving into something, let's carry it from the beginning to the endpoint. And then that can be something that can either be an adopted type of a measure, or it can be brought to the Council for recognition. I think that would be more the line that I would try and go down. VARELA: So, do you have any insight as to who we would step on people's toes? SNIPES: I would say that you know, with the MMPC being a trails group, they're going to cover a lot of that heavily. Yeah, and so that would be the biggest one that I would think would be a more overlapping type of thing to run with. So, I would steer away from that probably. RUDOLPHY: And we also have the new committee, I think formal committee for historical and cultural that the Town has appointed. So, I would suggest that we kind of stay away from that also. VARELA: Okay, so how about if we mark off the ones that we want to stay away from? And then that's going to narrow us down? So, I think Number 1 is one that we will steer clear of. SNIPES: Yeah, I think that that will be covered with the MMPC group. VARELA: What about 2, I feel like that. But also yeah... SNIPES: MMPC will be heavily into that as well. VARELA: Okay, then maybe Number 3 or Number 4 is going to be the new committee, I would think. SNIPES: So, let's say the one thing with 3 providing linkages within the Town. It's one that has come up in the past, we've worked through trying to get some trails, through our washes and things like that. It was one that was brought to a vote a while ago. And there are differences of opinions on how that actually went. But it may be one that could use a multi -group attack on if we were so inclined to want to help push that. I know, the MMPC group has thrown it out there in the past. And like I said, there, there were some issues with it. But it's one that we also have communities that are asking for it, I know that we have some communities that are over by Four Peaks, that would love to have trails through the wash to get them to Four Peaks. And that happened right after it kind of lost its steam a little bit. So, there is a possibility that something may be able to be looked into as well. VARELA: Okay. All right. So, what about Number 5? Do you think 5 can stay on our list? SNIPES: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's one that could. VARELA: And Number 6, I think, yeah. VARELA: Number 7 and Number 8. Are we going to overlap? No, probably not with eight. Definitely. SNIPES: Yeah, I think you're good with 7 and 8. VARELA: All right. So, with this being the extent of our commission, right, we're not missing anyone. LOPUSZANSKI: We will have a newly appointed Youth Commissioner, that will be appointed by the Mayor at the October 3rd meeting. So, in October, we will have a new Youth Commissioner joining you. VARELA: Okay. I almost think we should pick two. I feel like if we pick three are we going to be? Then we're only going to have two people on it. Okay, so let's go for your top two, you guys. Does anyone have one that they're like? Yeah, I definitely.... - 5 - https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES WILSON: I think Goal 5. Probably the second policy or initiative that is continued to require the utilization of native drought -tolerant landscapes. And that's just essentially working off of the list, which I believe the Town already has consolidated. It's just updating it to make sure that it reflects the current native plants and the environment. VARELA: Okay. All right. So, I'm sorry, that was five. All right. Do you want to work on that one? WILSON: Yeah, I can do that. VARELA: And anyone would definitely want to work on that. Or, Hey, I'm RUDOLPHY: I am willing to join Rory on that one. VARELA: Okay. Anyone else? REDDICK: I would like to do Goal 7 Support Waste Reduction Programs and Proper Management of Hazardous Waste. VARELA: Okay. Great. All right, Ron, then I'II defer to you, who you're going to jump on with and then I'll jump on the other. RUPERT: Oh, seven would be great. VARELA: Seven for you. Okay, I'm five. VARELA: Great, plus I worked with you too on one of the first ones we ever worked on together. So good RUPPERT: Point of order. Kevin is in town here. Is there a I know it's encouraged. But is there some kind of law or statute that prohibits intrusive plants, such as Russian thistle or tamarisk, or desert broom? I think I could be included somewhere in here. Because, you know, we can talk about beautiful landscapes all we want. But, you know, these intrusive plants if they're not kept under wrap will overtake anything and, you know, most of the Town and most of the washes, add habitats on some point. SNIPES: Yeah, our Development Services side definitely has a list of plants that are not acceptable for any architect to bring into the Town when they're doing a designer plan. RUPPERT: And would that, also include exotic plants, you know, palm trees, you know, different kinds of hybrid cactus or, you know, things that would not be native to the Sonoran Desert? SNIPES: Its potential depends on what it is specifically because it's geared more towards something invasive, and less towards something, if it's going if it's something that's not invasive, and isn't normally found in the Sonoran Desert doesn't mean that it's on that list. VARELA: Okay, so we have our groups, and then when the new person gets appointed, we could see... All right. Let's discuss the next agenda item CSAC 2024 Meeting Dates. And see if they all work for everyone. VARELA: Did everyone take a look at them? Yes, any conflicts? RUDOLPHY: I think if we just put them on our calendar, they should be okay. Pretty much standard from what we've done in previous years. VARELA: Yep. Okay, so can I get a Motion to Approve the 2024 CSAC Meeting Dates? WILSON: Move to approve the 2024 Meeting Dates? second. I'II second. VARELA: All in favor? ALL: Aye Motion Passes 6-0 VARELA: Sorry, you guys. I keep flipping back and forth here. Okay, Discussion and Possible Action and Future Agenda Items. Does anyone have anything that they want to see on our agenda? 6 https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES RUPPERT: I think that we should keep touring if we can. You know, if we have any suggestions or spots, we haven't hit or need to revisit. I think it's a valuable thing that we all at least do every other month. So, if anybody has any ideas on that? SNIPES: Well, with it being nicer in the winter, maybe we do a heavier load in the winger because it was getting warm when we were doing the last couple. So may increase our attendance and likeability of the tour. VARELA: Okay, does anyone have anything that they want to add to the list or that they want to see? Well, Ron, are you going to please continue to arrange those tours? RUPPERT: Sure. But, I would want some input from everybody here. You know, things that we would like to see that pertain to this committee and we'll arrange it. VARELA: Yeah, thanks. Okay, so anything right now that anyone wants to throw out to Ron? WILSON: I just have something else. A few meetings ago, we talked about possibly just getting an update on what the Council is doing with the equipment project that Carey and I worked on, like the outdoor equipment for the different levels of exercise at Desert Vista, so I wasn't sure if that like moved forward or anything. SNIPES: So, we did get approval through the budgetary process to do our second year of improvements at Desert Vista. Currently, the week before last we installed the shade canopy that was donated by the American Legion. And then it was sent out to get refurbished by Shade N' Net. That's who went through and filled holes drilled and stuff for a whole bunch of different things that they had hanging from it. And so they filled all the holes re -powder coated it, stripped it down to metal and re - powder coated it and brought it out and put it up. So that's now out there. So, you can see that in the part right now, we put a bright green top on it, so you won't miss it. I have been receiving quotes from Kompan on their exercise equipment. They're our provider that has done our playgrounds for all of our 5 to 12-year-olds stuff at Four Peaks as well as Fountain Park. They are certainly an industry leader in fitness equipment, in parks. And so, I just met with them two, three weeks ago and got a quote back actually just this last week from them on that. I'm meeting with our concrete vendor, Vincon tomorrow to go out and look at getting a pad poured and discuss some different options as far as we can either pour thicker, concrete so that we can surface mount, which is the way that I want to go, because it makes it so that down the road versus doing an inground and then pouring the concrete around it. Because down the road, if that piece fails, then you have to cut out the concrete to get to the piece that's buried. It means we have to go thicker with the concrete. But my experience with Jeff Kerr has been that concrete numbers aren't what other people pay for concrete. And so with that in mind, I think it'll end up being well worth it down the road. If we ever have to swap out a piece. It'll just be an unbolt and bolt something else down. We're looking at a small section where we have heavy weights, needing to be eight inches thick, and we'll be six inches thick everywhere else. So, I think that'll be our best way to go. But I'm going to meet up with him tomorrow and discuss it and pick his brain a little bit as well. So, it's been moving along rather quickly now. So, we're hoping by... I'm hoping early spring to get that up and running. We have a lot of the pieces, I was able to source from Texas, they had a bunch in there, which is kind of why we started moving rather quickly as they had several pieces that were in Texas that we could get. There are a few that I wanted specifically that they're going to have to ship which I'm picky, Craig may know this more than anyone. But we're going to get them shipped over. So we can start the process and then we can put those in later, which is another advantage of doing surface mount is we don't have to do it all at once. In the future down the road, if it becomes a popular amenity, we have a 7 https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES ton of space on the other side of the light pole that we're working on now that we could add another section and you know, the other section may end up being more obstacle -oriented versus this side being more weight training or cardio training. I think it's going to be a unique project, and I think all the projects we do are unique because that's I may be biased. But I think it's going to be cool and it's really going to activate that into the park where we never had activation. It's very hard to get people to go to that end adding the sidewalk to the other end last year or a year before last really started that push and we're now getting lots of walkers that are walking the loop over there. And so, adding this in I think is going to bring a whole new element of people to that park and get them exercising and walking for fitness. So, I think it'll be great. WILSON: Thank you. I appreciate that update. REDDICK: And just curious about the presentation. What pieces did you select that we're placed just curious? SNIPES: I'm happy to look at the list to say, so thank you again. VARELA: Can I go back to just number 11? I completely forgot. In April I met with Patrick Garmin. He's the Fountain Hills Advisory Commission. So, they do the Strategic Planning. He wants to he wants to come here to present to our commission and then wants me to go present to their commission. So can we add him to the future to our one of our future agendas? Is everyone okay with that? Okay. All right. So um, do I have to pick a date now, Patti? Or can I discuss it with him and then do I have to get a vote to pick a date? LOPUSZANSKI: We can plan a future presentation based on his schedule. If you all agree on having presenters, we can also add additional names for the coming meetings. REDDICK: I would like to have someone from Planning and Zoning one of the commissioners come in, I know that it would be very useful for us to see what they're doing. There's lots of work and improvement that they're doing within the community. So, I'd like to see how we can partner on our end with someone from that committee. LOPUSZANSKI: You're talking about the commission itself, the Planning and Zoning Commission? REDDICK: Yes. WILSON: It would also be interesting and good for us to know what MMPC is up to. I mean, we don't necessarily have to work with them, but just to give us an idea of what they do. VARELA: No, true. And then we can tell them some of the things that we're going to plan on working on. Okay, great. The next item is Upcoming Events and Volunteer Opportunities, I think we have our sheet here. Anything else that's not listed on here? This is the start of our busy season when things start going crazy. SNIPES: So just a reminder that we have Make a Difference Day coming up here shortly and Kim would love to have any of you volunteer there, that can be done online, you can just fill out the form online to do it. Also, there's a list of our special events. So, you get a full year's worth. That's been put out to where that you can look out and see what's coming up. So, you can get that in your schedule as well. We'd love to have volunteers whenever we can get them. WILSON: I have a question. Do you know any events that you specifically want volunteers for right now? SNIPES: We may have people in the audience who may have that answer SNIPES: Do you need the volunteers just 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Spooky Blast at Four Peaks Park since you're not talking into a mic and one of us has to do minutes it could be anyone to my left. So just five 8 https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES to 8. Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving morning as well. I thought that would help. So, what we're planning on doing is continuing this the bigger calendar of events will be in our packet every single time that we come in, so it won't be something that will go away and then we'll continue to do our closer up ones in the form that you're seeing as well. VARELA: This is great. I love that. Yeah, thank you. SNIPES: We also want to introduce a new Recreation Coordinator. Steven with us today is his first day so we're making him stay later. Then he should on purpose break him in. It's working well. So yeah, so feel free to welcome him as well. VARELA: Yes, welcome, REDDICK: Welcome. VARELA: Any other updates for Future Events or volunteer days? SNIPES: The only other thing that you guys might hear the complaints start coming is that we're getting ready. We're in the middle of scalping right now for our overseeing timing here, which increases our dust load substantially. And so if you do hear, that's what it's for we are, we're starting cutting down lower and the lower we go, the more dust will kick up immediately followed by it feeling like it's raining all day, every day, because we'll be running the irrigation system from 7 am to 7 pm on a daily basis, until our seed germinates, which will be about the month of October into the first week of November, potentially, depending on how quickly everything gets scalped. So, if you hear something from someone, please let them know that that is why and the duration and encourage them to go to other parks where if they have problems with the irrigation, they can go to Desert Vista, Four Peaks, or Golden Eagle. Each of those has looping sidewalks as well that they can walk. And hopefully, that will help minimize our people being frustrated by getting hit with water. VARELA: This is a question that I know the answer to, but I just want to get it out there. Oktoberfest is not on here. Because it's a chamber event. SNIPES: It's every other year. So, it's not this year, but it is a chamber event. You are correct, but it's not this year. VARELA: Okay. RUDOLPHY: I have a comment. Perhaps it might be helpful for the commission to hear from Kevin. Each meeting on the status of CIP projects and what is happening, what's upcoming, and an update on things that are underway. SNIPES: I can certainly do that. RUDOLPHY: Off the top of your head. I'm sure you can. SNIPES: Yeah, I'm sure I can do that too. VARELA: Great. That goes right to our Future Agenda Items. So perfect. Okay, that's it. Can I get a Motion to Adjourn? WILSON: Move to adjourn. VARELA: Second? BARNES: Second. VARELA: All in favor. ALL: Aye. (6-0) 9 - https://otter.ai COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 VERBATIM MINUTES COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION Natalie Varelh, Chairman ATTEST AND P,IZEPARED BY: Patti Lopuszanski, I✓xecutidr Assistant CERTIFICATION 1 hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Fountain Hills Community Services Advisory Commission in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 25th day of September 2023. I certify that the meeting was duly called and a quorum was present. DATED this 23rd day of October 2023. Patti Lopuszanski, E cutive Assistant - 10 - https://otter.ai