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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPAC.2023.1129.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION November 29, 2023 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Patrick Garman called to order the meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission at 3:01 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Chairman Patrick Garman; Vice Chairman Geoff Yazzetta; Commissioner Kevin Beck; Commissioner Jill Keefe; Commissioner Bernie Hoenle; Commissioner Joseph Reyes; Commissioner Phil Sveum Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin (telephonically); Executive Assistant Angela Padgett -Espiritu 3. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.01(H), public comment is permitted (not required) on matters NOT listed on the agenda. Any such comment (i) must be within the jurisdiction of the Council, and (ii) is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. The Council will not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during Call to the Public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. At the conclusion of the Call to the Public, individual councilmembers may (i) respond to criticism, (ii) ask staff to review a matter, or (iii) ask that the matter be placed on a future Council agenda. No one from the public was present. 4. UPDATE: New Commissioner Chairman Garman introduces and welcomes New Commissioner, Joe Reyes. Commissioner Reyes introduces himself, highlighting his 50-year career and extensive experience in strategic planning in both the public and private sectors. He mentions completing the Leadership Academy and expresses readiness to contribute to the commission. 5. REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER Commissioner Sveum: Attended the Contractors, Builders and Developers Forum on November 1st. The online building permit mechanism is working well and there were few questions from contractors. Commissioner Reyes: Briefly mentioned a conversation with someone interested in using art as a common element in Sister Cities interactions. Vice Chairman Yazzetta: Announced the groundbreaking for the International Dark -sky Discovery Center in late March 2024. Commissioner Hoenle: Participated in surveys with the Chamber, Rotary, and Kiwanis. Suggested reporting survey comments back to staff for potential action or awareness. Commissioner Keefe: Attended the grand reopening of the Fountain Hills Community Garden. Commissioner Beck: Welcomed Joe Reyes and reiterated the potential for collaboration with Sister Cities on Dark Sky initiatives. Town Manager Goodwin: Announced the start of budget season and its alignment with the Strategic Plan. 6. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 25, 2023. MOVED BY Commissioner Jill Keefe to approve the minutes of October 25, 2023, Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting, SECONDED BY Commissioner Kevin Beck. Vote: 7 — 0 passed — Unanimously 7. PRESENTATION: The Inspiration Academy by Lisa Ristuccia, Director - Lisa Ristuccia is the Director of the Fountain Hills Inspiration Academy, a private K-12 school in Fountain Hills. - The academy provides educational options and hands-on, field trip -based learning for students who may not thrive in traditional school settings. - The school has around 50 students currently, with small class sizes and multi -age grouping. They aim to cap enrolment at around 60-70 students. - Most students are from Fountain Hills, with a couple from Scottsdale. There are around 13 staff. - The academy relies on scholarships to make tuition affordable for families. Donations help fund field trips and extracurriculars. - Students take trips to places like Washington DC and participate in community service. Academics focus on individualized learning. - The school aims to teach leadership, respect, volunteering, and making a positive difference in the world. - The director works collaboratively with the district when appropriate to determine the best school placement for each child. 8. UPDATE: Progress Report of the Fountain Hills 2022 Strategic Plan. Town Manager Goodwin suggested that updates from the Economic Development and Community Services departments on implementation of the Fountain Hill Strategic Plan would be beneficial. The Economic Development department recently had their strategy for implementing the plan approved by the council. Director Jacobs will provide an update on their progress and new projects for the coming year that align with the strategic plan. - The Community Services department has a New Director, Kevin Snipes. Director Snipes will present their 3-year plan for integrating with the overall Strategic Plan, including accomplishments so far and new goals based on the plan vision. Implementation updates will be coordinated with the commission in the new year. 9. UPDATE: Workgroups. Vice Chairman Yazzetta provided an update on the Commission's Open House: Potential dates are January 27th or February 3rd Outreach list includes community leaders and businesses, with promotion through various channels In December they will finalize workshop sections and questions Chairman Garman provided an update on the workgroup reaching out to community organizations: They have met with Rotary, Kiwanis, and the Community Services Advisory Commission to get input on strategic priorities - Additional upcoming meetings are scheduled with the Chamber, Republican Club, Liberal Ladies, Elks Club, Lions Club and others - The Democratic group declined to meet Commissioner Beck mentioned that the Dark Sky Committee would like to hear from the commission at their January 10th meeting but will confirm the date. Commissioner Hoenle reported they interviewed Tammy Bell at the Chamber on how businesses can better communicate with other groups. Commissioner Keefe suggested mentioning the Commission's Open House during outreach meetings. 10. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: on Proposed 2024 Meeting Dates of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission. MOVED BY Vice Chairman Geoff Yazzetta to approve the amended 2024 Meeting Dates of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting, SECONDED BY Commissioner Joseph Reyes. January 24 May 22 September 25 Vote: 7 — 0 passed — Unanimously February 28 June 26 October 23 March 27 July(no meeting) November 20 11. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics April 24 August 28 December(no meeting) Chairman Garmin: Mentioned strategic plan implementation, Community Services Advisory Commission, Avenue Merchants Association, Roads Committee and public schools' presentations. Vice Chairman Yazzetta: Suggested a presentation from Plat 208 board about their organization and how they manage parking for businesses in the downtown area. Commissioner Keefe: Suggested inviting Julie Ewald, with Toastmasters and Fountain Hills Leadership Academy to discuss the Blue Zones community designation and how it can be aligned with the community well-being and safety strategic priority. Commissioner Hoenle: Supported Blue Zones idea and suggested inviting a representative from the Scottsdale project to give a presentation. Commissioner Reyes: Suggested inviting neighboring communities' SPAC groups to a meeting to introduce themselves and explore potential synergies. 12. COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN Chairman Garman commented that the overall goal for the next six months is to gather data from the workshop, outreach sessions, and potential survey to identify the strategic priorities. 13. NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 2024 14. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY Commissioner Jill Keefe to adjourn the meeting of the November 29, 2023, Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting, SECONDED BY Commissioner Bernie Hoenle Vote: 7 — 0 passed — Unanimously Chairman Garman adjourned the regular meeting at 4:25 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTA,N HILLS Patrick Garman, Chairman ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: gela Padgett -Espiritu, Executive Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 29th day of November 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DAT t is 2491 Day of January 2024. / / f(ta1a ' adgett-Esiritu, Eycutive Assistant TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Post -Production File Town of Fountain Hills Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes November 29, 2023 Transcription Provided By: eScribers, LLC Transcription is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * * * * Page 1 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GARMAN: All right. So I want to call to order the town of Fountain Hill Strategic Planning Advisory Commission meeting of November 29th, 2023. I'm going to hand it over to Angela for roll call. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you. Chair Garman. GARMAN: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Chair Yazzetta. YAllETTA: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Beck. BECK: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Hoenle. HOENLE: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Keefe. KEEFE: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Reyes. REYES: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: And Commissioner Sveum. SVEUM: Svuem. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Sveum. I'll get it right one if these days. I'm so sorry. SVEUM: That's okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: All right. We have a quorum. Thank you. GARMAN: All right. I think everybody's here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. GARMAN: Outstanding. I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. All right. So we're going to move on down to agenda item 3, call to the public. Do we have anything written from the public? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, we do not. GARMAN: All right. Great. Then we can move on -- so the next couple of items on our agenda, we have Page 2 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES introductions for our new commissioner. We want to welcome him and hear his introduction or background a little bit. And then we'll probably move into reports by commissioners and town managers. So I think what we'll do is we can -- we start with you and we'll all just put these two agenda items together so you don't have to go twice. REYES: Okay. Sounds good to me. GARMAN: So over to you. REYES: Well, I'm Joe Reyes. I've been around five years now in town. And what I bring to -- and the reason I wanted to become part of this body was that I have -- I've had lots of experience throughout my entire 50 year career. I can't think of any place where I wasn't using strategic planning in one form or another. And that goes in, both, my public sector and private sector lives. So I got to take it one step up just recently. Here's my -- what's happened in the last -- since the last meeting. Since the last meeting, as you mentioned, I did complete the Leadership Academy here. And that really added a lot of dimensions and other things and brought back a lot of good memories. So I think I'm ready to go. I saw in the last minutes, it was referenced, that you were still looking to fill this spot. Well, I'm here. I'm ready to go. And I thank you all very much for your support. GARMAN: Questions. REYES: Thank you. GARMAN: Thank you very much. Well, we'll get together -- now that you're official, we'll get together and talk in the future as well, fill you in on all the great things we're doing here. All right. So I start on my far left to -- Phil, did you want to start? Do you have anything to report? SVEUM: I guess so. GARMAN: Good. SVEUM: On November 1st, I went to the Contractors, Builders and Developers Forum that was held here. And you know, first of all, I think it's wonderful that this town does this. There are probably about 30 -- 30 plus people here, I think, from the private Page 3 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES sector. The building inspection department and John Wesley also talked about some new ordinances regarding building inspection, some of the code enforcement that they are implementing or have implemented. There are only a handful of questions from the contractors and vendors. So I think it's very well received. It seems that the online building permit mechanism is working really well. So I was pleasantly surprised that there weren't issues that raised, you know, a long, long discussion because it was a pretty short meeting, actually. So again, I think it was a great idea by the by the town to put that together. And I hope to -- they continue these. I think to talk about maybe once a year. I think it kind of depends upon how busy the -- the industry is, what issues are out there to -- to schedule them. But it was well done. GARMAN: Awesome. Great. Thanks. I think we'll skip by Joe for today. REYES: Yes. GARMAN: So generally, yeah, we the first gen item or five today's reports by commissioners and town manager. And it's just things of interest, things that they might have participated in over the over the last month that they wanted to bring to everybody's attention or include in our minutes. REYES: I have one point actually. GARMAN: Awesome. REYES: And it's kind of related to -- what brought it up was I was looking at item 4,and with regards to the mention of the Sister Cities, and it reminded me that on my graduation evening for the Leadership Academy, we had to do a presentation. And following that I was visited by someone on -- I think there's only three people on there, but I got this card and I had a very interesting conversation. The reason she approached me is she like the topic and it spurned an idea that maybe they could do something related to using art as a common element in what their -- in their interactions with one of their sister city members. Anyway, I. I promised her that we'd get together and chat about that. And so something may come out of that later that finds its way. And I'll keep you all informed Page 4 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES on what goes down -- as I go down that path. Thank you. GARMAN: Yeah. Great, great, great mention. Thanks. All right. Geoff? YAllETTA: Good afternoon, everyone. First, Joe, welcome. I got to know Joe a little bit through the Leadership Academy this fall. I think he brings a lot to the table and looking forward to seeing what you have and working with you. Real quick, I and Kevin Beck serve on the board of the International Dark -sky Discovery Center. You may have received the email update that went out yesterday morning. We decided to move forward with the groundbreaking scheduled for late first quarter. We're looking at end of March. Stay tuned for more details. But it's going to be a tremendous asset for this community and we're real excited about it. So thank you. GARMAN: Wow. That was -- that's big news. I'm going to reserve -- most of my comments have to do in the workgroups and then at the end comments from the chair. So I'll move on to Bernie. HOENLE: I attended three different surveys that we've started, and the first one was with the Chamber and then Rotary and Kiwanis. And I know Kevin and our astute chair were parts of these. And what we have done is, I think it's maturing as we go through, getting some of the questions refined. The toughest thing is having individuals think strategic. The easiest part to do is bring it back to current environment. What's going on now? What would you like to see changed? What's the impact of some of the intersections? And what is the counsel doing today? Things like that. So it's -- it's interesting and the type of dialog that we can have and what we're getting back and we're taking reports on each one of them and I'm sure they're going to be refined and we're going to get back as a group and take a look at them. But -- so I won't get into any of the details. But I think it's a very good discussion. And it also shows that there are some incorrect understanding of what's going on around the town. So that -- that's going to be good to try and figure out how can we contribute to better information sharing about current events and who's doing what. And the other thing is what we might think about is, as we do the surveys comments are Page 5 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES coming up. And should we actually report them back to the staff members? Because some of them are things that are going on that maybe could be fixed, or touched, or changed now,. Or are they aware and just doing it in a manner of awareness? Here's what we heard and leave it up to the staff if they're going to take action or not and leave it as a feedback mechanism. So that's a question that I have for us to decide on. And other than that, looking forward to a holiday season already. GARMAN: All right. Thanks, Bernie. Appreciate that. Jill? KEEFE: Welcome, Joe. It is great to have you sitting over there. Yeah. Yeah, the wrist is doing well. I had -- we've been very heads down in our business, but I did get out of the house. I did get out of the shop to participate in the grand reopening of the Fountain Hills Community Garden. It looks great, and it's definitely a win -win for the community garden as well as the Dark -sky. And it was extremely well attended. It was packed. And that was just -- it was great to see that kind of support for the community garden. And that's it for me. GARMAN: It's great. Awesome. Thanks, Jill. Kevin? BECK: Well, welcome, Joe. We haven't met, I don't think, officially, probably by phone or something. But I'm kind of here and also another place closer to my grandkids. Kind of depends what my wife wants to do, frankly, but -- that's a joke. But it's true. So anyway, welcome and looking forward to working with you. And I do appreciate you bringing up the Sister Cities. I think I mentioned that last meeting and I think there's opportunity where we were thinking about the Dark Sky and the center -- Discovery Center as well. You know, that's an area that maybe there's a synergy with some of the sisters that, you know, in Italy or some dark sky areas around the world. And we know them and we know them through the Smithsonian. So I appreciate your idea on the art, too, that that would be I'd love to talk to you more about that. And I also reiterate what Jeff said about the opening. It's fantastic and doesn't mean we stop asking for money. We're going to keep -- we'll doing that. And we still have some Page 6 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES to go. But we've got a great plan and it will start in March. Well, yeah, which is really good. That's it for me. GARMAN: Great. Thanks. Kevin. So I didn't know, Rachel, are you on the line? Did you have anything you wanted to put out for us? GOODWIN: I am here. I want to say thanks for your patience with me calling in today. I appreciate it. Joe, welcome to the team. It's exciting to have you here. The only update I wanted to share is that the staff is going to be heading into budget season. Not only is it holiday season, but it's budget season for us. We held a pre -budget kickoff meeting with the counsel in early November to start identifying some of the priorities. But of course, the priorities always align with the strategic plan and how they integrate and how we develop that. So I just wanted to keep everybody up to date that those, obviously, drive some of the initiatives, whether they be operations or capital improvements or other things moving down the line. So we'll keep everybody up to date as those conversations develops. But tis the season, so that's kind of my update. GARMAN: Great. Thanks. Thanks, Rachel. And I think we have to remind everybody that might be interested tonight or this evening at 5:00 o'clock here -- right, Angela -- here in this room, they're having the town's financial update to the public. And just to remind everybody, that came out of our current strategic plan, where it used to be. I think once a year, kind of as a council meeting, now they've broken it off and are doing it twice a year, open to the public review of the finances. So things from the strategic plan that the town actually is implementing. So thank you very much for that. Angela, do you have anything for the group? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, just reiterate what everybody else said, welcome. It's nice to see you a full commission. GARMAN: So we're going to move on now to the minutes from last month's. We're moving on to Agenda Item Number 6, for everybody who's following along. So consideration and possible action approval in the minutes of the regular meeting for last month, October 25th. Does anybody have any comments before -- anybody have Page 7 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES any -- wait before I ask for a motion, my comment was, Angela, I noticed that the first part of the minutes were your notes and then afterwards were the verbatim transcription. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. GARMAN: And it just reminded me how much better it is with the notes than the verbatim transcription. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, I added that. GARMAN: I just was going to ask about. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah, and I hope that helps. I went ahead because I know, I know. And I thought I would add that in to kind of, at least, give you the highlights for any one too. I know the verbatim minutes are -- is a lot to read. So if you like them we'll keep them with the verbatim. At least you have that at the beginning. You have the summary you know that I'm doing. If everyone's okay with that. Did you find it helpful? GARMAN: Yes. That's why I -- KEEFE: Is it more work for you? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: On the summary? No, not really. KEEFE: If you're taking notes anyway, this was really helpful. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Okay. KEEFE: It was. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. KEEFE: But I don't want to add to your burden. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, it's not. It's not more work doing it. You know, I have to read the verbatim anyhow. So -- so it's okay. KEEFE: Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: So because there is -- there is times -- the verbatim is not perfect. There is times I've caught errors on there, you know, so I have to read them. So it's no big deal for me to throw that over there. Yeah. Just want to make sure. I was going to ask if you thought that was helpful having that just brief summary. Then you have the detail to fall back on if you need it. All right. Good. Page 8 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GARMAN: Yeah. You all get tired of hearing in my comment about that. I don't know how much the town is paying for that transcription service, but the notes were great. Okay. So can I entertain any motions on the minutes from last month? KEEFE: Move to approve. GARMAN: Do I have a second? BECK: Second. GARMAN: All right. Any more conversation or discussion on the minutes? Nope. Okay. We're going to go ahead and move to a vote then. All who approved -- want to approve the minutes from last month, say aye. ALL: Aye. GARMAN: Any opposed? Hearing none, the minutes are approved unanimously. Thank you very much, Angela. Okay. So we're -- now we're going to move on to our main presentation for today. Those of you know, down on our agenda items, we talk about future agenda topics. I write those down. I work on those. Some of them get done quicker than others, but I tend to try to get those at some point on our agenda. And I was successful when we were talking about education. I looked around, you know, we have the Government or the public school here in Fountain Hills. And you know, I did a little research and found that we do have private schools in town, right at this time anyway. So I thought that might be good to start talking about the topography of education and Fountain Hills. And Lisa -- and I know I'm not going to pronounce your last -- you can come on up, please. -- Lisa -- RISTUCCIA: Ristuccia. GARMAN: -- Ristuccia -- that's how I would have said actually -- is the director of the Fountain Hills Inspiration Academy. RISTUCCIA: Yes. GARMAN: A private school, I think right here, pretty close to where we are today. And she agreed to come in and talk to us a little bit about her academy. And also, I think Page 9 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES from talking to her that she has a certain amount of expertise on private schools and funding of education overall that I found very, very interesting. So Lisa, thank you very much for coming to our commission today. And I'll turn -- the floor is yours. RISTUCCIA: Thank you for inviting me. And just kind of a side note for other things. I'm also on the Sister Cities Commission and the board of directors for Sister Cities. So I have a lot of connections there. We're actually having from Zamosc, two of the students coming over to stay for about a week and a half, two weeks, with us for the Inspiration Academy in February, March from Zamosc, from Poland. Also, we work a lot with Dark Sky Discovery Center, Tony Pistilli. So we worked with him and our students helped develop some of the ideas for the Discovery Center last summer. We also went to the National History -- the National Museum of Natural History, and saw the display for Fountain Hills there too. Some of you I know already. Other ones, thank you for having me here. We'll see if I can get this to work. So our tagline is Bring the Heart of Education to Fountain Hills. And we found it at last, it was in 2022. And it's my husband, my son and myself. And it's a way to provide educational options. We have nothing against the District. I used to work for the charter school in town, Fountain Hills charter school that was in operation for about 22 years. And then 2021, they closed. And basically it was -- it was taken over by a management company. They packaged the charter in with the mortgage and sold it to bondholders rather than a bank. New investors came in, bought it for like, I think, it was eight or ten cents on the dollar. And then as business person, they decided they should sell it rather than keep it as a school, because financially, as a business person, it made more sense to them. But it was devastating to the teachers and the families. So that's how -- so my background was at the charter school and then the families came there like, well, what do we do? Like, we don't -- like, our kids don't fit well in the District. They didn't do well there. You know, we need some place for them to go. So I help start Adamo Education, which is by Water and Ice. And then at the end of the year, our visions didn't really align. The one that I went into it with, Tamara Baker. She Page 10 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES wanted to do a lot of online learning and half days, partial days, a couple of days a week. And I'm like, the families that I work with, we need to do hands on learning, field trips, not a lot of online, and they want to be full-time because a lot of the families work. So we parted ways. And then August of 2022, we started our school. We started with -- we had 27 students last year. We have -- we had 52. Then a family moved out of town because the mother got married. So now we're down to 49. But then we have another couple starting in a couple of weeks. So we're around 50 right now. We are at Shepherd of the Hill. So just up the road here. When we started, I had gone to a lot of the different churches. I'm like, okay, we need a place for these kids to go. So I ask around to a lot of the churches and at Shepherd of the Hills, they're like, we've been praying that you'd come. Like I had never met them before and they're like, we've been praying that you'd come. We need some children here. So it was just like a great match for us. We also -- last year because they couldn't do five days a week for us there, we were actually at the community center and the library and the River of Time, two days a week and up there, three day. But now we're there three days. So we really try to get them involved in the hands on learning, interdisciplinary, shared learning experiences, try to get them out into the field. That picture is that the Air and Space Museum in Virginia last year. And then this one was at Lost Dog Trail Head. And in addition to learning the traditional academic subjects, the students are -- have been very active at school and in the community the past year and a half. The students did a junior docent program at the River of Time Museum, hosted two short-term exchange students from Japan through 4-H, hosted Matsiko World Orphan Choir from Liberia, took guitar, yoga and dance lessons, learned about astronomy, studied Japanese drumming and learned about nutrition and wellness. They've started a garden project. So talk about the community garden. So we have four of their previous garden beds that we're working to get things planted there. We work with the Lions Club, so their art contest. And they're actually doing vision screening for us on Friday. So we try to incorporate a lot of the community organizations to what we do. Page 11 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES This picture, there was them disassembling the ones from the community garden to move them to our place. And even the little ones, I think, Joe you might know the Tifo (ph.) family. Brandon Hayes (ph.), yeah, they're great. And the students like to participate in different projects and help out in the community. They have made food for the homeless, participated in the Food for Kids food pack event and Operation Christmas Child. And -- with their pretty hairnets there. And they volunteered with Fountain Hill's Sister Cities, Deb's Dragons, Make a Difference Day, and at the Dark Sky Festival. So some of you may not like snakes, but we get them over the fears of different snakes and reptiles, and that's them helping with Octoberfest. So they help Sister Cities. The students have taken several field trips and learning excursions, including trips to Baltimore, Gettysburg, and Washington, D.C. And we just got back from a trip from Washington, D.C. We did an 11-day trip. One of the unique features of the Inspiration Academy is its community module program, where students are connected to local professionals who share their expertise and passions to enhance the curriculum and teach the students about health, nutrition, gardening, culinary arts, character development, entrepreneurship, environmental education, performing arts, STEM and more. Through the school's personalized, holistic approach., students experience transformational learning where they are inspired and empowered to think critically, believe in their abilities, and make a positive difference in the world. So that was -- we just did Operation Christmas Child. We worked with Stitchers of Hope, and they donated some of the things. We did sewing kits. This one is at the Desert Outdoor Center in Peoria, where we checked out what's inside some of the pond water. And you can see all the microbial organisms that are in there. So here is a list of some of our community modules. So that's just like STEM and gardening, culinary arts, nutrition and wellness, environmental education, service learning, personal finance, performing arts, historical studies, visual arts, character education, entrepreneurship, cultural studies, civics, and career modules. And this was one of the brochures that we had put out. So we have the CSO program. Page 12 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES I'm not sure if you've heard of that. That's the Chief Science Officer program through the SciTech Institute. So they did training at the University of Advancing Technologies and did a personalized tour of Avnet, which is an electronics manufacturer. Attended a stem day at the Arizona Science Center, volunteered at the SciTech Festival events, and competed in the space settlement competition at Biosphere 2. So the Black Jackets were at Avnet, so they had to wear these special ones so that it reduces the static electricity because we're around a lot of computer parts. And then at Biosphere, we stayed, I think it was, three days and they did a competition. She had actually won to go to National, but then it didn't work out with our schedule. Rotary Interact Club. The students of -- at the Inspiration Academy join forces with the Gifted Hands Homeschool Interact Club. Interact as Rotary International Service Club for young people. The students made blankets for Love for Dogs, Dog Rescue, and hosted a bake sale to raise money to purchase diapers and baby items for new moms. The students delivered the baby supplies and volunteer their time to bundle diapers and wipes at New Life Pregnancy Center. So yeah, they brought the little puppies. And then it turned out that one of our students adopted one of the dogs because he was like, it was two years since my dog passed and he was like, can I call my mom? So he called his mom. And so now he has a new puppy. But yeah, the kids did the baking and then they did the bake sale, and then we went and volunteered to help. So this was at the New Life Pregnancy Center, helping to stock things there. Field trips and learning excursions. They make the academic content relevant and meaningful, especially when it comes to learning about history. The students were brought back in time to the civil rights period for meeting -- by meeting Merritt Long, the author of My View from the Back of the Bus. So he did about growing up as a kid in the civil rights era. So he was telling them what it was like during that time. And then the students also talk with a Holocaust survivor whose Star of David from when he was six years old is on display at the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. And some of the students went on a 12-day trip to be immersed in history. Last year we did 12 days. This year we did 11 in Baltimore, Gettysburg, and Washington, D.C. They went last year. Page 13 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES While in Gettysburg, the students participated in the Great Task Leadership Program through a generous grant from American Battlefield Trust. The students also did local field trips to the Zoo, Science Center, dance performances and plays. The class went on hiking and fishing trips, and did a tour of town hall in the sheriff's office. So they were enjoying here. They -- they were happy to be locked in jail here, too. So. And culinary arts module. Through a generous gift grant from Fountain Hills gives to the 4-H program at TIA, the students were able to participate in a Healthy Foods culinary arts program with Vida and Jonathan (ph.) from Vida's Vegan, where the students' final exam was to prepare and serve a four -course meal for sixty people. Sips Cafe also worked with some of the students to teach them how to serve and cater events. We're really sad when Vida and Jonathan moved away. Did a great time there. And then we've been working with Debbie Elder (ph.), I'm not sure if you're familiar with her. So she helped us this year to put on a fundraising dinner. Here are some of the kids that were helping with Sips at Sami's Fine Jewelry. Reigning Grace Ranch. Students of the Inspiration Academy participated in a student leadership and service learning program at Reigning Grace Ranch, where they learned how to groom, feed, and care for the animals, as well as how to help around the ranch and with permaculture projects. Some of the students were also able to participate in the afterschool mentor program at Rain and Grace Ranch, thanks to the scholarships raised by the Fountain House Crisis Response Team. And we do a lot with Reigning Grace Ranch, so we were out there on Monday doing service learning, and we're going again tomorrow. And then ways to fund our school. When families consider private schools, they often worry about how they can afford it. The good thing is that in Arizona, there's ways that parents can use scholarship funds so that they pay very little, if any, out of pocket money for tuition. The two main forms of private school scholarships in Arizona are empowerment scholarship accounts, ESA, and student tuition organizations, STO scholarships. And actually, I think at school tuition organizations, I had a typo there. The Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. Arizona recently expanded the Empowerment Scholarship Account, ESA, program from providing flexible scholarships Page 14 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES to students with disabilities to be a universal ESA program in which parents of all K through 12 students have the right to choose the education option that best fits their family. If parents feel that their student would do better in a program that is not part of a district or charter school, the Universal ESA program allows a portion of the student's allocated state funded education dollars to follow them to whatever -- whichever school the parents choose for the child, including private schools. So this is about half of our funding. The other ones, the STOs -- so it used to just be ones that had disabilities could use it and then their siblings. But it was, I think, September or October of last year that they changed it to the universal. And then the school tuition organizations, STOs are certified nonprofit 501c3 organizations that are established to create tax to receive tax credit contributions that fund tuition scholarships for students in grades K through twelve who attend qualified private schools in the State of Arizona. Scholarships are made possible. The generous support of individuals and corporations who receive a dollar for dollar credit on the Arizona State income tax they owe, up to the annual allowable limits. And I think it's 1,000 something per individual or 2,400, or somewhere around there, for families. It's important to note that students may be funded through the ESA program or STO scholarship program, but not both. So they have to choose one or the other. And I help them figure out which way is best for them to do. So if they have a disability, generally ESA will pay a bit better. Otherwise STOs. If they're low income stock is a better way for them to go because they can get corporate donations. Yesterday was actually with Arizona Tuition Connection, which is one of our main partners for the STOs. They were doing giving Tuesday and they were doubling the donations. So they collect the donations and then they allocate it for scholarships. And how community members and businesses can help. There's many ways that community members and businesses can help students at the Inspiration Academy, and we have a lot of information on our website about how you can do that and stuff that we do. My husband does IT, so he designs the website. Tax credit donations. Individuals and businesses can make a tax credit donation to one Page 15 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES of the school tuition organizations that the Inspiration Academy partners with for funding student tuition. And then the dollars -- the donors receive a dollar for dollar tax credit on the Arizona State income tax that they owe, up to the annual allowable limit. So they can -- if they have a tax liability for Arizona, you have to pay state taxes for Arizona. You can designate where your dollars go. And some people are under the impression that if you donate to the District school, then you can't do the - donate to the private schools. But there's actually different category buckets that people can donate to and there's a limit for each. So for the District school, it's like there tax credits school. I think it's 400 or at least it was when I was at the charter school. So you can donate 400 dollars there. You can also donate to different 501c3 companies. That's a different bucket. Then you can donate to foster care organizations. That's a different bucket. And then the STOs are a fourth bucket. So there's different buckets and you can donate to each of them and get that off of your state taxes. And for ones that aren't in Arizona or don't owe taxes for that, you can get it -- like you can write it as a deduction from your taxes. Not a tax credit, but a deduction. And then individuals and businesses can help with student lunches, supplies, field trip expenses, special events and extracurricular activities. Individuals can also donate airline miles for a student field trip. So that's how we were able to get a lot of the students that we took, because most of the students that are at the school are actually very low income. So they don't have the money for the field trips, they don't have the money for extra things. So we asked people in the community and people have been very generous. And you can become a mentor for a child, a guest speaker, or a community module leader., or you can attend an event. So we have different fundraising dinners. We have the children's business fair that we worked with the Chamber with. We also are having a holiday business fair on December 15th. So you can come buy things from the kids as part of their entrepreneurship part. Matsiko World Orphan Choir, and I'll explain a little bit more about that. They raise funds for their siblings and friends in other countries to be able to go to school. But they do a Page 16 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES great performance. We do a talent show. We're going to do a multicultural night, an art show, open house, the bake sale fundraiser, Earth Day Festival, and Science Fair. And I have lots of photos to show you, but I want to see if there is questions before I continue with some of it. Jill? KEEFE: Thank you so much for this. This is just such an impressive undertaking and it's wonderful to hear about it. What is your current capacity? If you were rushed with students, when would you have to say no more? RISTUCCIA: We really wanted to cap it somewhere around 60 or 70 because we're in a small place if we get another place to do it, we had talked about maybe splitting up the younger ones and the older ones. But we always want it to be small because we want it to be family -based in, like, that small, everyone's a family member, that close-knit community. So we don't want it to grow too big. And if we do, we want to split it into a couple of smaller places. So. KEEFE: And that being the case, if that occurred, you would need a new location? RISTUCCIA: A new location, yeah. KEEFE: Or a second location, an additional -- RISTUCCIA: New or second location. KEEFE: Thank you. RISTUCCIA: Yeah. And we'd love to have our old charter school back at some point. We love that place too. And one of the things I want to note is that we're not against the District at all. I have nothing against the District. And I think the District does a great job with kids. But there's some kids that don't fit into that mold. And I think that we need to provide an opportunity and different learning environments for those kids that don't fit into that. Most of our kids that are at our school are not from the District. They are ones that were at my charter school and they followed me. So some of my students, I -- have been with me three or four or five, six years that I've been their teacher. So it's a family like that. Other ones are from other charter schools, so we're bringing them -- they're Page 17 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES families that live in Fountain Hills and that had left to go to other charter or private schools outside of Fountain Hills. So we're bringing them back into Fountain Hills through the private school. And then another big portion of our population is homeschool families, that they're just like, okay, we like home schooling, but we're missing that social aspect of it. So that's been working out really well with them. And we have a lot of parent involvement, so it's kind of like home schooling, a mix of home schooling with the school. GARMAN: So I'm wondering, though, how many slides do you have left? RISTUCCIA: I have a lot, but I can go through them really quickly if you want. GARMAN: Yeah, because I think we've probably got quite a few questions. So maybe we just get through the slides and then we can have one discussion. RISTUCCIA: So this one was when we went to the White House. So we got a tour of the White House. So I made them dress up nice in that. This is inside the White House. This one was the Museum of Natural History. This was Arlington National Cemetery. This was the Challenger exhibit. This was Arlington National Cemetery, talking to veterans for the honor flight from Kansas. And I think -- I try to teach them a lot of respect and a lot about government. Every morning we're doing the pledge, we're doing the preamble, we're doing the first ten amendments. So like all the kids, even from kindergarten, pretty much know all of those and including the amendments. But when we were in D.C., I'm like, if you see a veteran, your automatic response is you go up and you shake their hand and you tell them, thank you for your service. I'm like, That is the proper way to do it. So he was there talking with them and then they actually gave him an honor flight going there. And then they got to see the changing of the guards. And the veterans were there. We went to the Martin Luther King Jr. And this one was one of the attorneys in town. He's actually a judge. So the kids were actually really excited to talk with him. And we do a lot of guest presenters. And he was like, I really enjoyed him the best. And I think bringing in the presenters, you may not know what career option they want, but if you bring someone in and they connect with them, that opens up a whole possibility for the kids. Page 18 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES This was the art contest. This is Interact Club. Operation Christmas Child. This was making sewing kits for kids in other countries. So this is with the Stitches of Hope. And this is partnering with ladies at the Cornerstone Church. This one is Sister Cities. So this was at Elizabeth and Boga Mills house. And this is the -- they call him the president of Zamosc, but it's kind of like the mayor, the equivalent to the mayor. So he was visiting. And with Boga Mills and Elizabeth's house, they have the elevator, but it's a little bit tricky. So you have to, like, close the door and get it -- the right thing. So they ask if I could bring some of the students to help operate the elevator. So that's what two of our students came and help with that. This one was a retired geology professor. He came to -- to -- to do a presentation. This is out at Reigning Grace Ranch. Also Reigning Grace Ranch. They love connecting with them. And then we had the mentor program as well. This one, we have a retired chemistry professor and he used to do math tutoring at Scottsdale Community College. So he works with our high school kids to give them extra enrichment. So we have really small groups when we're working with kids. This is Mr. C (ph.) working with the kids. And the kids are like, no, I want to work on math, which is really exciting. And right now -- today I was covering kindergarten through second and it was kind of like, okay, we can take a break now. They're like, no, no, we want to continue doing math. I'm like, okay, sure. We'll take a break after we do more math. This is at the Chamber, at the business fair. And if you see the candles in the background, one of our boys from Costa Rica had made those, and he made all of those. And he did a video of like, okay, this is how I made it. This is what I melted and this is how I did it, and this is how I added the scent. So really teaching them how to create things and how to sell it, how to market it. That's him. And there's also English and Spanish spoken here. I'm making the posters for the business fair. Vanessa (ph.) helping them. And even the little this is a kindergartner that he was doing it and was he made the pancakes himself self with his mom's help, and he did the business fair, and they made all their stuff. And then this was a kindergarten through second graders. They were counting up their Page 19 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES money afterwards. So they had to, like, actually use real money, not the fake money. Okay, this is how much we earned. And they had to take out what they spent, what their parents contributed, and then they had to figure out how to split it evenly between the four of them. And splitting it evenly, they had $0.03 left, so they donated it to the teacher. So yeah. And then this was working with Debbie Elder to do a fundraising dinner. So the kids are cooking. They are all trained in -- they have to do the food handlers card. So even the young ones, I'm like, no, you have to have your food handlers cards, so you know -- need to know how to safely handle food, especially if others are going to be eating it. They also had their First Aid and CPR training as well. Like actually getting them involved in doing the cooking. They were making dessert. They were making mushroom tarts. And we also get them to clean up. Quinn (ph.) loves to do dishes. Some of the kids absolutely love to do dishes. After the one event, they're like, can we stay with Ms. Lisa so we can finish doing dishes? Like, okay. Like returned some of the kids are like 10 o'clock at night because they were helping to clean up after a dinner. This is at Reigning Grace Ranch, working with the chickens and cleaning up the stalls. So they have to clean up like the sheep, the goats, the chicken pens. They have to clean up after the horses. They love to -- holding the chickens and feeding them. Collecting the eggs. And even the teachers get involved. The goats. And hold on. These ones were just some of the general ones. Church is very welcoming. We work with Pastor Jeff. And although it's not a religious school, a lot of the kids are religious and they want some of that in it and we're not opposed to it. So they do some church songs at an event called Elevate on Thursdays with Pastor Jeff. And we also helped Shepherd the Hills with different events that they do. And the older kids and the younger kids really work together well. And it's a mentor program and. The kids, the younger ones really look up to the older ones. And helping them. I think I showed some of these, baking the cookies. We work with Euro Pizza with Interact Club. Ones I showed before. Yes, we do still do a lot of academics on there, and although we do a lot of other things, we do a lot of academics, too. And Page 20 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES language arts lessons. World Event projects. Prepping the ground for the garden area. We had like, okay, nope, you're going to use this little mini jackhammer, even the little kids. Taking the garden apart to move it. And then they had -- we want to keep it organic, so we mixed it -- vinegar and oil. So we asked the community garden, how can we do it? We don't want to just paint it. So they're like, okay, you seal it with this. So everyone smelled like a salad after. But they work well together. And as I was saying that, they always say the Pledge of Allegiance, the preamble and the Bill of Rights. every morning. They learned about the presidents through the sculptures, different paintings for Earth Day. More with Reigning Grace. They got to wash the horses. That was a lot of fun for them. And this one was really fun because I got to watch them mini donkeys, too. And the little boy was afraid of the donkey. So the older ones are helping him. And the one boy has a little mohawk because he actually had brain surgery. So he has, like, stitches. So he has a mohawk for his hair. And he was explaining to the other boy he was like, but he has a mohawk. So of course he has to be okay. So they -- I love how they interact together. But if -- we make them work. And they're doing planting and weeding. This is part of the mentor program to where they work one-on-one with an adult and a horse. To overcome whatever. And learning how to take care of the horses and how to bandage them, how to ride. The sheep. And I love their saying, you'll be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. More of math. On the computers, learning about community garden and healthy eating. Working with Debbie Romano from Fountain Hills Healthy Heartbeats. And challenging math. More math. But a lot of times we are working in small groups. So it's not like that big lecture of you're just doing it, everyone's on the same page. Everyone's kind of working on different things depending on their level. And then we break them into small groups. And then this were a science fair projects. And again, small group of math. And we did a lot with the library and then one of the mentors from the church. Language arts lessons. And it's like a big family, they really do enjoy being together. GARMAN: So Lisa, do you think we can -- Page 21 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES RISTUCCIA: Yeah, if you want to ask some questions now. GARMAN: Yeah, maybe. All right. RISTUCCIA: Yeah. GARMAN: I'm sorry. RISTUCCIA: That's okay. GARMAN: I didn't know how many pictures you had left, but I know we do have some questions -- RISTUCCIA: Sure. GARMAN: -- we wanted to ask, too. And I know we have to be out of here -- RISTUCCIA: Yes, for the next -- GARMAN: 4:30, the latest. But before that so they can start cleaning up. So sorry. That's my job here -- RISTUCCIA: Yes. GARMAN: -- to be the traffic cop. Sorry. All right. So automatically, I look to my left, I see Geoff has his light on, so go ahead. YAZZETTA: How many families live within Fountain Hills and how many travel in to go to -- RISTUCCIA: I think we have -- YAllETTA: -- the Academy? RISTUCCIA: -- all but two families live in Fountain Hills. The other ones live in Scottsdale. And they were my neighbors when I lived in Scottsdale. So that's why they're here. YAllETTA: Got you. And how many staff do you employ? RISTUCCIA: We have one, two, three, four, -- I think, like five teachers. And then we have, like, six aids. And then we have ones that teach Spanish. YAZZETTA: Um -hum. RISTUCCIA: So in total, it's about 13. YAllETTA: Okay. And then how many students are in each grade level on average? It's -- Page 22 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES RISTUCCIA: It really depends. YAllETTA: Yeah. RISTUCCIA: You know, some we have. Like one or two per grade level. Other ones, we have like 12 per grade level. We have most of our students probably in 7th and 9th grade. YAllETTA: Got it. Thank you so much. GARMAN: All right. Phil? KEEFE: You're official, Geoff. YAllETTA: Wait a minute. One of us. One of us. SVEUM: Is this year round or is it -- follow the regular school calendar? RISTUCCIA: We follow the same calendar as the District, except for there's a couple of days that were different just because we had planned on going to Florida to participate in the NASA program. So we weren't going to be back in time for it to start. So we had started a couple of days after. So there -- but mostly it's the same as the District calendar. SVEUM: Do you -- do you have more travel than most charter schools? RISTUCCIA: But when I taught at the charter school, we also did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of field trips at the charter school. But we probably do -- SVEUM: Talking about mainly getting on an airplane and going to Washington, D.C. and that's what I'm talking about, not just going out to the ranch. RISTUCCIA: Probably. I mean, I think the District also does a lot of trips, too but with the older ones. SVEUM: Okay. RISTUCCIA: We try to get them out because I think it's really important to get them out into the world and experience different things rather than just here's your book or here's your worksheet. So we try to travel as much as we can -- SVEUM: It's expensive. RISTUCCIA: -- although it's expensive. Page 23 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES SVEUM: Yeah. So -- and I saw there was some grants and so on that are funding some of that travel. What is the tuition for an individual? RISTUCCIA: So our tuition is 29,000, which sounds really high. So we do -- SVEUM: What? 29? RISTUCCIA: 29. SVEUM: Okay. RISTUCCIA: We do not get that from most of them because I give most of them scholarships, in addition to the ESA and the ESA -- I mean the ESA and the STOs. So basically, the families don't pay anything to attend, but you have to set a price and depending on the different students and their disabilities. So with students with autism, the ESA covers, I think, 90 percent of what the state dollars would go to the District for the students. We do not get any of the local funding. We do not get any of the federal funding, only a portion of the state funding for them. We have quite a few students that have autism. So we needed to raise the tuition enough so that we can provide services for them. So that's why the tuition is there and basically it's whatever ESA, STOs will cover and then what it does and I try to do school scholarships for the families to attend. SVEUM: Are any of the older kids would be classified as a junior in high school or a senior in high school? RISTUCCIA: Not this year. Next year they will be. This year the highest we go up to his 10th grade. SVEUM: And how -- oh, so they'll transfer to a high school then after? RISTUCCIA: No. Next year, then we'll offer nth grade. SVEUM: Oh, I see. Okay. RISTUCCIA: So we're in the process of getting accredited through Cognia, which is one of the accredited -- is an international accreditation program. But you have to be in operation for like three years and then you have to do like this one two-year evaluation program with them. So we just have been in operation a little over a year. And you have to have stuff to prove to them before you can be accredited. That doesn't mean Page 24 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES that we're not doing what we're supposed to, but it kind of gives that level of recognition when you get accredited. SVEUM: So will they be potentially applying at college to continue their education? RISTUCCIA: Oh, most definitely. Yes. And we'll help them through that, and through the application, and knowing which way they want to go and helping them apply for financial aid, and all the applications for the college. SVEUM: And one more. Just basic curriculum subjects, reading, writing, arithmetic, et cetera, et cetera, and then are they in multi -age classrooms? RISTUCCIA: Yes, they're in multi -age. And one of the things is, although they're in their specific grade level, we have some that are below grade level in their skills and some that are above grade level in their skills. And we try to look at them holistically and going, where are you at and where should you be and what gaps do we need to fill in, or do we need to accelerate you? One of the things that when I was in school and also when I was teaching that bothered me was that everybody had to be on the same page. It's like, here is your workbook, turn to page six, everybody stay on page six. Now don't go ahead, because otherwise, no, we have to stay as a class. Like, you don't have to stay as a class and that you can be -- okay, you need more reinforcement. Let's pull you out and give you some of those skills. Oh, you already got this. Why are we wasting your time of doing this again? Let's give you something more challenging. So we're working with that. So we do need to meet State standards. So we're working through that -- with it, but in a different way and not through like a dry textbook. But okay, let's get our speakers or let's do projects or let's do research projects. And -- so similar to that. SVEUM: Thank you. RISTUCCIA: Did that answer it? SVEUM: Sure. RISTUCCIA: Okay. GARMAN: I think I saw Jill. Did you have a question? You turned off your light? You had it on for a minute. S8: Phil covered the ground for me. Page 25 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GARMAN: I was doing my peripheral vision here. All right. Thanks. Buddy, looking down. Okay. Okay. What do you think your school is known for? Do you have a focus? What would you like that focus to be? You know, what's the vision? What type of student? RISTUCCIA: And I think training them to be leaders and to being the kind leaders that we want to see, and being respectful and helpful and volunteering their time in the community rather than just being like, okay, this is my school and this is all that we're doing, but really getting them involved with people in the community. GARMAN: Because, you know, we have -- that's good. I got that right at the end. Because, you know, we have bases over the hill. RISTUCCIA: Um -hum. GARMAN: So some folks go there. And of course, our district school here and some people go to some other different types of schools, whether it's religious, religious oriented, non -religious. So I just didn't know what your vision was, what you thought your school should be known for. RISTUCCIA: And I think just making kind leaders that want to make a difference in the world rather than just for themselves. I want them to help others as well. And being more worldly. And I want it to be more of a family type school to where the kids know that I'm like their second mom. Like right after this, I'm picking up a bunch of them and taking them to a youth group because their parents aren't home in time, you know. And just focusing on that of we really care about each of them as individuals. GARMAN: And you said -- do you work with the Fountain Hills School District on sometimes when there's kids that might benefit their parents or wanting them to maybe go to your type of school, or maybe they might benefit from going back to the District or -- RISTUCCIA: And I feel like it's whatever is best for the kid. Like, I have absolutely nothing against the District if some of it -- because we don't offer sports, if they're interested in sports, then that is a better the district's a better place for them. But if they need that smaller learning environment, more breaks, more hands on, then we Page 26 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES might be able to help them in that way. So some of the kids that didn't do well at the District because of their learning style are flourishing with us, you know. But we're not the right fit for everyone. But I think that it's important to give families educational options. GARMAN: All right. Thank you very much. That's all the questions I had. Looking to my left, looking to my right. Thank you very much for taking the time and coming and talk to us. It was great. It really helps our understanding of the town we live in. And hopefully we've been good hosts. And we appreciate you coming and giving your presentation. RISTUCCIA: I definitely have. And thank you so much for inviting me. GARMAN: All right. Thank you. RISTUCCIA: Yeah. GARMAN: Okay. RISTUCCIA: Do you want me to exit out of this or anything? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No. RISTUCCIA: Okay. Okay. Thank you. GARMAN: All right. Thanks. Okay. RISTUCCIA: Do you need me to stay for anything or head out or -- GARMAN: No, we're just going to keep going through our agenda. But I think we're -- I think we're good, though. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you so much. RISTUCCIA: Thank you so much. And my number's on the website. If you need anything, just reach out. GARMAN: Awesome. Thanks. Okay. So the next on the agenda item, we're going to go down to Number 8, which is a progress report of the Fountain Hill Strategic plan. I know, Rachel, will you -- is there anything that you wanted to put out to us about possible -- either the strategic plan right now or possible presentations in the future on the implementation of the plan over? Page 27 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GOODWIN: Actually, that would be a great idea, Patrick, thank you. The two of our departments right now are moving through, or have just gone through, approvals in terms of their roles and how they're implementing their elements of this strategic plan. One of them is economic development. They just had their strategy approved by counsel. But so -- and I'm not sure the last time we had an update from Amanda, but they're going to be moving into a new year, taking on some new projects and making sure that they integrate and kind of highlight the ways that they're fulfilling the overall strategic plan is a good idea. The second one is Community Services. As you guys know, there's a new director in that role and they're getting ready to take over and present their specific plan for the next three years for community services and how that integrates into the town's overall plan. So I think into the New year, as we come back, whether January or February, getting an update from Kevin Snipes and that Department would be a good idea too to kind of show again how they've accomplished some of the goals and some of the new goals they've developed based off of the vision of the strategic plan. And then eventually how that will dovetail into the next planning process as well. GARMAN: Yeah, I saw that. I saw everything on the economic development plan. So that was good. And I was able to talk to the Community Service Commission the other day and I got the -- so I know Kevin is taking over there. He has some very big shoes to fill from what I -- but thank you for that. And then so we'll communicate again going forward for maybe presentations to our commission in the New Year on implementation items. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Okay. So we're going to move down to Commission workgroups. So Geoff, I hope you're prepared. We got two workgroups. Joe, you'll be getting your membership in one of them, so we'll talk to you about that offline. But Geoff, how is your workgroup going? YAllETTA: Yeah, sure. I'll keep it quick, just in the essence of time here. So we're zeroing in on a date. So they're going to be January 27th or February 3rd for Page 28 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES our SPAC open house. We're finalizing a few scheduling details internally with my fellow commissioners, but I've been working on a outreach list that will include key community leaders, businesses. We're going to, you know, spread this far and wide through a variety of email channels. We will put a notice in the Fountain Hills Times, the Fountain Hills -- there's the Fountain Hills Facebook connection online as well. So we're open for a great turnout at that event. I know Jill had chatted with Rachel about maybe getting some light refreshments that, you know, will help attract some people in as well. And then this coming month in December we'll be working on the different sections within the workshop. The questions that we're going to ask, you know, just trying to really dial in the information that we're trying to, you know, get out of the participants. So that's my overview. Jill and or Phil, do you have anything to add to this? Okay. Awesome. Thank you. GARMAN: Okay. So look forward to that with all your free time. I mean, the Leadership Academy is done, so you should just be twiddling your thumbs now. Right? YAllETTA: I have a lot of time. GARMAN: No. We look forward to that. And also we'll be talking. But just make sure, you know, it's in the transcript that you have free reign for support you need for our commission, and we can work together to reach out if you need support from the town and all of that. YAllETTA: Thank you. GARMAN: So it's going to be awesome in the New Year. Okay. So our work group, which is Kevin, and Bernie, and I, have been scheduling with our service organizations and 501cs, nonprofits in town to talk to them and get their opinions on the strategic plan and specifically the big strategic pillars -- I call them pillars -- strategic priorities in our town going forward. So like Bernie mentioned earlier, we've been getting good comments, good conversations. You know, it's always folks who haven't done strategic planning before. It's getting them to raise up and look at the big picture, strategic items. Some of the folks in our meetings get it. It's always that, you know, we have these conversations -- Page 29 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES they're all kind of similar so far, and I'll list some of the places we've talked to -- but then there's always like one or two people who get it and they'll make a comment and you're like, okay, they understand where we're coming from and that's valuable. So I think they have been worthwhile. We've done three so far. Just for the for the minutes, we did the Fountain Hills Rotary on the 7th of November, and that was Bernie and I. We did the noon Kiwanis on the 16th of November and that was Kevin, and Bernie, and I. And then I just did the Community Service Advisory Commission on Monday. So when was that -- 27 November. And I gave them the same presentation I've been giving. I've -- I had been scheduled with them for a while and I kind of transitioned from telling them what our plan is now to, hey, can I enlist your help on looking for ideas for the plan going forward? So each one of those we have minutes that we'll collate and bring back here, you know, kind of in the new year when we really start talking, kind of making the -- what is it making the -- what's the -- I'm -- what is the -- REYES: Sausage. GARMAN: Making the sausage. Thank you, Joe. Making the sausage in the new year. So -- and then I have a list in the future as well. The Chamber of Commerce has asked us to come speak at their meeting. The Republican Club asked us to come speak at their meeting. The Liberal Ladies have spoken -- we're going to speak at their meeting. There's a few others too. The Elks, the Lions. So we are getting out there and starting to talk to different groups in Fountain Hills. And so they have been receptive so far. And I'm going to put this in a minutes too if anybody has connections. The Democratic Party, or Democratic Group said, no, they didn't want to hear from us. They're the only ones that's turned us down so far. So any connections there to kind of needle them a little bit to say, hey, it's in your best interest to give us -- to let us present to you and so we can hear your ideas, I welcome that. Okay. I don't -- yeah, that's what I was going to do, turn it over to the folks who were there with me. Kevin, any comments? Page 30 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES BECK: The only addition is I know the Dark Sky Committee on the 10th, I believe it is, you know, if -- and we'll plan that out a little bit more -- but I know they would love to talk -- hear from us. GARMAN: And 10th of January? BECK: I've got to check the date. I think I said that. Yeah, we got to make sure. I think that's it. GARMAN: And then we're also presenting to the -- one of the monthly Fountain Hills Leadership Academy Board, present to them as well. Bernie? HOENLE: Actually, we started with the interview with Tammy Bell at the Chamber, and that was getting businesses to coordinate in how they can interface with other groups too, and looking for a better way to communicate. So yeah, I don't have anything else to add in my previous comments. GARMAN: Just so -- for the other commissioners, we've been -- so far, you know, I produced some PowerPoint slides which I need to show all of you. I'll probably include in maybe the meeting -- this meeting's minutes so you can see them. I've just been standing up and giving the PowerPoint, and then Bernie and Kevin help with the conversation and help take notes. So that's the team so far that we've been doing. So if you all have other meetings organizations within Fountain Hills. I mean, I know if we have time, the VFW, the American Legion, folks like that, as well. If you all think that there's organizations that we should go and address, please let me know. I have no problem going out and talking to really anyone that they would like to hear us here in town. All right. Any the comments on that? That's the two workgroups. Okay. Thank you very much. KEEFE: I have a comment. GARMAN: Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, Jill, I didn't see you. KEEFE: And as you go forward, when we finalize the date for the open house, if you could put in a plug for attendance at those two, I think that would probably be a good Page 31 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES idea. GARMAN: That's a great idea. Open house. Is that what you call the workshop? It's a open house? Open house. Sorry, that's important, I wanted to write that down. Okay. All right. Then I'm going to move on, then, to the next agenda item. So -- oh, here's the big one. Consideration of possible action for our calendar for next year. This is our last meeting for this calendar year. And so I don't know how much discussion, you know, just I want to hear all of your opinions. And this is the truly democratic decision. I don't have any -- I'm just doing the traffic cop for this one. I have kids in school, so I'm here every month, so I'm not going anywhere. But -- so I'm open to any configuration that we would we would like to do. So last year, you know, we took we -- of course, we took off December and then last calendar year we took off July as well. So that was in the past. So I want to know if there's any comments or -- and then we can progress to a motion on what our monthly schedule might look like for next year. KEEFE: I have a comment. GARMAN: Yeah, Jill. KEEFE: November 20th, the third Wednesday is right -- the day before Thanksgiving. And it's typically brutal schedule wise just to fit things in the day before. People are wrapping up their work life to take a few days off. I know in retail we're extremely busy. So if we could bump that one a week, I think that would be wise. GARMAN: Yeah, we did that on the fly this year, today, right. So that worked. So I know -- you got that, Angela? I think that's an easy one. I mean -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah, so do -- GARMAN: -- that's just within a month. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. Do you -- so you want to move the one that is scheduled for November 20th to the 27th? Is that what you're saying? GARMAN: Is that the Wednesday after Thanksgiving next year? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: That is the -- yes, that is the week after the 20 -- well, actually, Thanksgiving next year is on the 28th. BECK: I was going to say the 20th is way too early for Thanksgiving. Page 32 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah, it's on the 28th. It's the fourth Thursday, correct. I'm looking at -- KEEFE: Oh. BECK: Yeah. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. KEEFE: It's not the day before Thanksgiving then. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, the 27th is -- KEEFE: And in that case, this is golden. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah, I had to look at it, too. It's -- GARMAN: Okay. We're going to have -- when we get to this, we're going to have one vote. So I -- what I took out of that conversation is leave it the way it is? KEEFE: Um -hum. GARMAN: Okay. Thanks. YAllETTA: And I would suggest we cancel the December meeting. A lot of people are traveling and -- KEEFE: Um -hum. GARMAN: All right. I wrote that down. The elephant in the room is the summertime. Any thoughts on the summertime meetings? KEEFE: I'll throw out an opinion. I propose we strike it and not have a July meeting. GARMAN: July? KEEFE: Yeah. GARMAN: Discussion. Kevin? BECK: Yeah. Yeah. Telephone works, unfortunately, you know. But the July meeting's a tough one when you're here, so. GARMAN: All right. Phil? SVEUM: I -- July. Delete July, fine. But I don't think we should delete any other months Page 33 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES except the December because of Christmas. GARMAN: All right. Agree. Okay. Any other comments? So any of the comments right now we have, of course, November leaving alone. We have December in July. Any other course of action? Bernie? HOENLE: I think that if we really needed to have a meeting, we could do it according to the business rules and give an announcement and get together anyway. So I say this is a guide which should be more than just a what if. But a guide that we follow. And if we need something in between, we can do that. It's flexible enough. So -- GARMAN: It is. HOENLE: -- in other words -- GARMAN: But Angela -- HOENLE: -- I accept this schedule. GARMAN: But Angels will have to make sure we book the room. And so -- I see you, Jill, too. So I just wanted to make sure we're all good with Jull, because some people take all of August, you know, in Europe, they take all of August off and other people have other ideas. BECK: We need a lot more than that off. GARMAN: But we see July is what we settled on. This last year seemed to work pretty well. Jill, do you have any comment? Do you -- okay. All right. So what I heard was going into the next calendar year, so not this December, but next -- 2024, my goodness, we would not schedule a meeting in July and not schedule a meeting in December and leave everything else intact. I don't hear any other alternatives from the group. Can I have a motion on that? YAZZETTA: I move to move forward with this calendar, with the amendments that we discussed. GARMAN: All right. Is there any second. REYES: I'll second. Page 34 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GARMAN: All right. So the discussion, just for me to clarify again, is July and December. Any other discussion points you want to talk about? All right. Let's go ahead to a vote on that motion. All in favor of the motion we just discussed. Say, aye. ALL: Aye. GARMAN: Any opposed, say nay. It looks like it's unanimous, Angela, so you can go ahead and book the room for next year. Thank you for that, everyone. Okay. So now we're moving down to agenda item Number 11, which is discussion, possible action on future agenda topics. And just to preface it, we have, of course, strategic plan implementation. So you heard me talk to Rachel about that. And members from the town can come in when they have items that they'd like to brief us with as far as implementation. So that's always on the docket. I'm going to have, or I asked, the chair of the Community Service is -- Community Services Advisory Commission, Natalie, to come in and address us. So that is probably going to be on our agenda -- that's Parks and Recreation and all of those types of things -- probably on the agenda as early as January, but maybe as late as February. Two that I still have on the docket that we're going to fill in. One is the Avenue Merchants Association and another is the Roads Committee. The -- Bernie and I still have to talk about. And then I thought that sometime during the new calendar year, as well, since we just heard about private schools today, I'll probably try to work up a presentation from our public schools here in Fountain Hills too to say, kind of, the state of the public schools as well. That's kind of the short list that I have right now. Anybody else have any comments of things that they might want to discuss? I see Geoff. YAllETTA: Yeah, the Plat 208 board, they oversee that large swath of land. It kind of makes up the downtown area of Fountain Hills. I think it would be good to get a presentation from them because I don't think many people know what, specifically, they do and how some of the rules as it relates to parking for businesses in that area work. So I think it would be good to get an overview of their organization. GARMAN: Plat 208? Page 35 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES YAllETTA: Plat 208. GARMAN: Is that a -- YAllETTA: Yeah, like a real estate plat, P-L-A-T. Yeah. GARMAN: So it's not a homeowners association or something like that? KEEFE: Kind of is. YAllETTA: Kind of is, yeah. KEEFE: Yeah. YAllETTA: But they have a board of directors and I can get you contact information. But I think it would be valuable for us as we move into the next iteration of the plan to hear from them. GARMAN: Yeah. Thanks. Jill. KEEFE: There's a group of individuals who are looking into getting Fountain Hills designated a Blue Zones community, Blue Zones. And what -- yeah, blue zones are where there is a disproportionate amount of folks living beyond the age of one hundred. And it's a global study of what is unique about these towns that -- or these locations that is causing people to thrive. And I think that's very much in alignment with our community well-being and safety, strategic priority. I can pass on contact information for the primary person leading up that effort. It's Julie Ewald. GARMAN: Yeah, that was one of the projects that the Fountain Hill Leadership -- KEEFE: Yeah. GARMAN: -- Academy, right? KEEFE: Yeah. GARMAN: I grew up -- they brie -- I don't know. I was at the -- their graduation ceremony and they briefed that. KEEFE: Yeah. Julie Ewald is already -- you probably know her, Toastmasters, FHLA. You've met her if you've seen her. I bet you would. But she has some of that already underway. And so if we could gather her and the students in FHLA that were sponsoring that idea, I think it would be helpful as we look at that pillar and pursuing updating that Page 36 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES part of the plan. GARMAN: That's great. Yeah. If you can send me a POC for that. Awesome. That's a great one. Actually, I was very impressed with that. Bernie? HOENLE: Now, if you want to see the slide deck for that, I've got it right here on my iPad because I was going to talk about the same subject. And they actually have completed part of a project in South Phoenix, and they're starting to start one up in Scottsdale. And they've had some of the first meetings this month and they've got more scheduled public meetings for January. So I was thinking it'd be really good to see what they're doing from the ground floor up in our immediate area. And yes, it is global. They started by looking at pockets of longevity of people that are living one hundred and over and looking for common elements. And of course, in all the presentations that are on the internet and everything, there are certain things that are left out. But it still has a basis on the environment. Making healthy choice is the easy choice, and it's got different models. It's got a whole strategy behind it. And it's for nudging people towards healthier choices. So it fits in with a lot of things we've been listening to, that I've been listening to, on the Arizona Alliance for Livable Communities. Biophilic, the whole concept of fitting in with the natural environment. Just a lot of different things that are going on, bundling them together in a meaningful process to come up with a better environment. And anyways, so right on. The other thing that I wanted to add is that I mentioned early on about activities and looking forward to December and the holidays. Just a quick rundown. I'm playing in a concert tonight, Arizona Wind Symphony, our holiday concert, on the second breakfast with Santa in the community center. I'm working that one, taking pictures. On the third and 4th of December, playing with the Fountain Hills community course on the 10th of December, found his community band free concert in a community center. And then on the 19th of December is the Fountain Hills High School and Middle School holiday concert. I've been working with the middle school for the last year. So that's it. Page 37 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GARMAN: Got it. Phil? SVEUM: I was just curious, who's sponsoring the blue zone? Where's this -- is there a group that's backing it or -- KEEFE: There's a ragtag grassroots group of individuals who are interested. And Debbi Romano, Julie Ewald, me, and then like to fold in the students from L.A. But after this meeting, I was going to reach out and send Julie an email and connect her to Patrick to. -- yeah. Um -hum. REYES: I've got one idea, but I'm not sure if we've talked about it, Patrick. I'm sorry. I should get recognized -- need to get recognized. Sorry. Now, I know before we talked about the neighboring communities for their SPAC groups such as Scottsdale, North Scottsdale, maybe Mesa. I know that they probably are very tight in their agendas as well and their schedules, but maybe it might be something to go to one of their meetings or they come here just to introduce ourselves and see what kind of synergies are that they're looking at. GARMAN: Yeah, I agree. I wrote that down. I've had that on my list for a long -- probably a couple of years now. We'll get to it. We will. Yeah. Okay. To my left, to my right. Okay. Thank you for all the suggestions. I wrote them all down. Okay. Agenda item Number 12, Comments from the Chair. I wanted to cover a couple of things. One is with Angela's help town meetings. Again, I know we're doing the financial meeting at 5 o'clock in here today. What's the plan again for the, I call it the legal brief, where the lawyer tells us what we can and cannot do as commissioners? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Oh, yeah. The open meeting law training? GARMAN: Right. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. That's going to be held here actually, on Tuesday at 4 p.m. here in the council chambers. Yes. GARMAN: So this coming Tuesday? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, at the -- December 5th. It's before the council meeting. Page 38 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES GARMAN: Oh, that's before the council meeting. Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Um -hum. GARMAN: So that -- so everybody should take note of that. That's like required viewing. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. REYES: I have one question. I understand that's not -- no way to telephone everyone in that -- if we're not here. There's -- I don't believe so. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: I don't -- you know, I don't know. I'll have to check with -- REYES: It's okay. If there is, let me know. But if not, I'll take the notes -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. REYES: -- and I'll definitely go through. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. REYES: Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. And there's some stuff also on the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, too, that has a lot of that information. And then any of the presentations they use, I'll be sure to get a copy and I can share those as well, if that's helpful. REYES: Yeah, it was a pretty short presentation last year, so it was -- in other words, the PowerPoint slides, they were easily -- easy to digest. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. GARMAN: Okay. So that's Tuesday before the council meeting. I also wanted to mention -- or if you could clarify, Cynthia, is she getting recognized? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: She is. I'm glad you brought that up. She is getting recognized at that same council meeting. So -- GARMAN: During the council meeting, like for mayor? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, during the council meeting, yes. And it should on -- time wise it should be -- you know, the council may start at 5:30. I'll have to look at the agenda to see where that's at. But it's usually before they get into the regular agenda. So it should be before 6 o'clock. And she will be here. GARMAN: All right. Page 39 of 40 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NOVEMBER 29, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES PADGETT-ESPIRITU: She's excited. GARMAN: I wanted to get those two things. And then -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. Thanks. GARMAN: Thanks. Overview. Once we come back from Christmas holidays, the overall goal -- remember, this isn't like hard and fast, but it's you know, we're having the workshop, we're doing these outreach sessions. We're still looking at a type of a survey, maybe, using the town's website. And then we're going to accrue that data -- remember, for this big picture items, big ticket items -- excuse me, the strategic kind of priorities -- putting that together to bring back to us to discuss and kick around, you know, as early as like April and in May. And when we leave our May meeting, we have a very good idea of what we think the 90, 95 percent confidence strategic pillars would be going into the next year. Come back in June and kind of lay out a plan for when we come back after July break and we start the, kind of, the new session in August with the next level on this building the strategic plan. That's very loosey -- kind of loosey goosey overview, but that's what I think is going to happen in the next six months. Okay. That, believe it or not, is all of my notes. So anybody else have any comments? I'm looking to my left? No. No. Looking to my right? Nope. Hearing none. I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting. Oh, excuse me. Entertain a motion for ending the meeting this afternoon. Is there a motion on table? KEEFE: I'd move to adjourn. GARMAN: Is there a second? HOENLE: Second. GARMAN: All right. Any other discussions before end the meet -- vote on ending the meeting? Hearing none. All in favor of ending the meeting today, say, aye. ALL: Aye. GARMAN: Any opposed? Hearing none. I will see everybody in January. Thank you very much. Page 40 of 40