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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024.0521.TCRM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
MAY 21, 2024
A Regular Meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened at 16705 E.
Avenue of the Fountains in open and public session at 5:31 p.m.
Members Present: Mayor Ginny Dickey: Vice Mayor Brenda J. Kalivianakis;
Councilmember Gerry Friedel; Councilmember Peggy McMahon;
Councilmember Sharron Grzybowski; Councilmember Hannah Toth;
Councilmember Allen Skillicorn
Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Town Attorney Aaron D.
Arnson; Town Clerk Linda Mendenhall
Audience: Approximately sixty-nine members of the public were present.
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MAY 21, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Post -Production File
Town of Fountain Hills
Town Council Meeting Minutes
May 21, 2024
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.
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MAYOR DICKEY: Good evening everyone. Welcome. Please stand for the pledge. And
remain standing, if you choose, for the invocation.
ALL: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Today we have Grace Holbert, Fountain Hills resident.
Come on up.
HOLBERT: Thank you.
Father, we just come for no other reason today, Lord, but we ask for your guidance in
this meeting, 0 God. We ask that everyone's heart will be married to your heart, Lord.
That this community will be stronger as of today. In Jesus' name. Amen.
ALL: Amen.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please?
MENDENHALL: Mayor Dickey?
MAYOR DICKEY: Here.
MENDENHALL: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis?
KALIVIANAKIS: Here.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Present.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Here.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Grzybowski?
GRYBOWSKI: Present.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: Present.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: Here.
MENDENHALL: Anyone wishing to address the council regarding items listed on the
agenda or under call to the public, should fill out a request to comment card located in
the back of the council chambers and hand it to the town clerk prior to consideration of
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that item.
When your name is called, please approach the podium, speak into the microphone,
and state your name for the public record. Please limit your comments to three
minutes. It is the policy of the mayor and council to not comment on items brought
forth under call to the public, however, staff can be directed to report back to the
council at a future date or to schedule items raised for a future council agenda.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Linda.
Before we start with our reports, I just wanted to mention that the first mayor of
Fountain Hills, John Cutillo, passed away on Wednesday the 8th of May. He led the
hard-fought effort for incorporation, with many of us helping in support of
incorporation and the third time was the charm and we became a municipality -- a town
in 1989. We want to express our care and our comfort to Joanne and the family at this
sad time and we will probably have a proclamation and more at a future meeting.
We'll start our reports with our town manager, and then I think we'll start with this side
because I keep forgetting to do that.
GOODWIN: Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. I just have a couple of quick
updates. One, I wanted to thank a number of our council as well as our residents that
came out last Wednesday for our community input meeting for our downtown visioning
process. We had over 100 folks out with lots of comments and feedback. So we really
appreciate that engagement. Council will be getting an update on that later this year; I
believe in the fall Amanda will be bringing back those findings.
A couple of other things. This Friday is graduation for our Falcons down at the park. So
graduation is Friday evening and then throughout the evening Friday night the fountain
will be blue to honor all of our grads.
Also on Monday, just a reminder, it is Memorial Day. Special thank you to our VFW for
all of our poppies that we all have up here tonight. So Monday at 9 a.m. at the
Veteran's Memorial will be our Memorial Day ceremony. And the fountain will be red,
white, and blue, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to honor that.
Last update: as we do close out the school year, we'll be heading into the summer,
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there's Tots of activities and things going on for the summer, including our parties in the
Park, our Whacky Wet Wednesday, our ice cream social, and a whole myriad of other
things. So if you don't already have that, check our social media, head out to our
website. There's Tots of things to do and you want to get them on the calendar now. So
lots of excitement.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
GOODWIN: Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Councilman?
SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mayor Dickey. Yeah, welcome everyone. Welcome students
and welcome families that brought your students here. I'll be brief because I knew you
guys want to celebrate the recognition tonight.
But I do want to point out a couple of great things that happened. Well, one thing was
great that happened in the town. Well, obviously, Law Enforcement Week was last
week, so on Thursday we had the fountain lit up blue in support of law enforcement.
But also, I was able to join on a couple of occasions residents, not just from Fountain
Hills but from over the Foothills, up in the Toto National Forest, because we had the
fires over the weekend. So that was -- we saw the smoke here. A very large -- over
14,000 acres, and I was able to see some of that first-hand, see the aircraft and
helicopters. And then I do want to let people know that I was actually at the same
location yesterday afternoon and really it looked much, much different; there were no
flames. I saw one little plume of smoke. And -- at least the south end of that it does
seem to be that it was wrapped up.
I can't speak to, like road closures or what was happening up by the lake. But I can tell
you that 12 miles north of Fountain Hills it looked like it was extinguished completely
there. And I didn't see much activity other than I hear a few firefighters or chainsaws in
the area. So I just want to give people that update. Thanks.
MAYOR DICKEY: Vice Mayor?
KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. And hello everybody, thanks for coming tonight.
We always appreciate your presence. I'd also like to thank the people on Cox Channell
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11, YouTube, and livestreaming. An informed citizenry is our best chance for good
governance and by the citizens in this town, we have that.
A couple of things. The Chamber Gala was this week, and it was a 70s theme. For
decades, the Chamber has shone a spotlight on business owners, employees, non-
profits, and volunteers in Fountain Hills. From Betsy LaVoie at the Chamber, she says:
"The Chamber Gala Awards shine a spotlight on the remarkable talent, dedication, and
passion present throughout our community, fostering meaningful connections and
aspiring local businesses and non-profit relationships". So I'd really like to give a
heartfelt congratulations to the winners and also the nominees for all those
classifications. Congratulations.
We also did, like Rachael said, we had the ADOG ribbon -cutting this week. ADOG
started 25 years ago, when the people who loved dogs were walking in the parks and
they were sharing the parks with the ballfields and that didn't work out too good
because the ball players didn't like all the doodie and the messes. And so they formed a
committee, the ADOG people, and they said we need our own dog park; wouldn't that
be great? And so 25 years ago they formed a committee. They talked to the town and,
together, we created this dog park which is really nice: big dogs, little dogs, separately.
There's shade structures, benches, and all this was done by a combination with the
town and private funding. And so I just -- shout out to ADOG and for all that they've
done for our dog owners in this community.
Teddy Roosevelt said, "Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called
whining". And so these people, they saw a problem and they created a solution
themselves. And so they made things the way they wanted to. So congratulations.
Teddy Roosevelt will be proud.
This week, I also had a chance to attend the public safety military affairs and courts
policy committee, PSMEC, I don't want to throw a bunch of acronyms at you. It was
interesting this week, because we explored legislation or administrative options to
create a statewide impediment driving disability program. This program will better
assist disabled people with neuro-divergent conditions. This program will allow for
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anybody with a neuro-divergent condition or other disability to put that on their license
or registration and that will be through the Motor Vehicle Division and ADOT. So
essentially, I know that sounds kind of, while divergent -- it's tough to take in. People
that are on the spectrum for autism or other diseases that affect your congenital (sic)
abilities and your mind, when they get pulled over by police, sometimes they don't act
normally. They don't put their hands on the steering wheel, wait for the police officer,
when told get this stuff, and so sometimes they panic; sometimes they become
argumentative; sometimes they don't know what's going on. And so sometimes this
creates a situation -- a dangerous situation with law enforcement. And somebody that's
just not processing the information correctly in their brain. And so our committee, we
passed a recommendation to take this to either the Arizona State Legislature or
administratively to get this on people's driver's license. And so when the officer
approaches a vehicle with a neuro-divergent person, they will understand that they
might have to be treated a little differently than a normal stop. And this will result in
public safety. So that's a good committee to be on and I'm really proud of the work that
we're doing there.
The one last thing I'd like to address is, this past Saturday there was a -- well, at the
Chamber gala, we celebrated Discount Air and Mike Jones who passed away, one of our
community leaders. And then this past Saturday, there was a remembrance service for
Mike. Mike was a friendly face behind Discount Air. He's been one of our town's icons
for over 20 years. And, in fact, I, myself, was one of his satisfied customers. Great men
are known by certain traits. These traits include strength, courage, independence,
leadership, and assertiveness. By any definition, Mike Jones was a great man, a good
husband and father, and he made a difference in our community that he lived in. So our
deepest condolences to his family, including his business family and his customers.
Mike, we miss you.
Thank you, Ms. Mayor.
MCMAHON: Good evening, everyone. And thank you, again, very much for coming.
I attended a few business meetings: the AZ League of Cities and Towns, looking at
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transportation and electronic vehicle potential tax; just like gas tax, not known yet.
The Youth Coalition Committee got together, it's their last meeting in the summer and
they showed off the selection of the posters that were drawn by 6th graders, 7th, and
8th graders, that -- one or two of them are going to be -- actually, three of them are
going to be picked to showcase the Youth Coalition this year.
And the Valley Metro board meeting as well. And also the Chambers 70 Disco Night
Gala, it was a blast. I mean, it was so much fun to see everybody. Everybody dressed
up. You couldn't recognize half the men for all their wigs, their mustaches, and their
trying to be John Travolta. It was really, really fun. So thank you Betsy and the
Chamber; I appreciate it. And congratulations to all the nominees and the winners.
And tomorrow, there is a East Valley Partnership board meeting and we've invited Joann
Bill and the International Dark Sky to present to them and showcase what's going to be
happening and what's going to be built here in Fountain Hills. And they're really excited
to see that presentation.
So thank you very much.
FRIEDEL: Thank you, Mayor.
I also attended the downtown strategy planning session, and a lot of good ideas and
comments were exchanged there. And as Councilwoman Brenda K. mentioned, ADOG
had a ribbon -cutting and 25 years -- that went by so fast for those people. So Denise
and her crowd has done a tremendous job with the help of the town staff at that dog
park. It's one of the best in the area. I mean, we have people coming from all over to
use that dog park. And I've spent a little bit of time down there helping them pull some
weeds, so I know first-hand all the work that they're doing down there.
And also, I see Betsy in the back. A shoutout for the Chamber Gala. Great food, great
time, and great awards and all the nominees, well -deserved every one of them.
And as Brenda K., mentioned, Mike Jones, one of the pillars of the community, and he
never met somebody he didn't want to help out. So this man was really something and
the celebration of life was really good. So thanks for doing that, Betsy, at the Chamber.
And Monday morning, we will be setting up flags around 6 a.m. We do that all around
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the fountain. So if you haven't seen that, it's quite a spectacle. We get together with
The Rotary people, and we go around and plant all those flags every Memorial Day. So
it's a great event to attend.
And then, congratulations to all the graduates for graduation coming up on Friday night.
That's it. Thank you.
GRYBOWSKI: I missed the grand opening of the McDowell Mountain Elementary School,
the library planetarium, so Dr. J. let me have a personal tour and that place is as fun and
cool as it looks like in the photos. And he also says, if you contact his office and talk to
Krista, he can do the same for you. Of course, hopefully, not everybody will call him
right now because he might need to spread some of those out.
We also had two Arizona League of Cities and Towns calls over the past couple of weeks.
And today is our favorite day of the month: it's Stellar Student Day. We love it when
you guys come. It's great to celebrate you. We appreciate seeing the families. We love
seeing a packed house and we know that it's because of you.
Thanks so much.
TOTH: Thank you. Well, I also want to give a shoutout to the Chamber for a beautiful
gala. It was so -- such a wonderful event. I really enjoy watching the leaders in our
community get recognized. And it was a really, really special moment when Mike Jones
received Businessperson of the Year. In truth, I got a little emotional at that part; I think
some people saw that.
But Mike was a friend of our families for some time, and I really think it's beautiful how
many people can say the same. He was a really special part of this town. And I thought
we did a really good job of honoring him this weekend.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you all very much.
Little Sister City news. We sent a note from our office to the new mayor of Zamosc,
Rafal Zwolak and thanks to Mayor Wnuk who had come here a few months ago. And
they send their warmest regards.
Similarly, there was a change in Ataco, El Salvador. We reached out to send thanks to
Mayor Oscar Gomez, who's been here several times. And greetings to Mayor Luis Carlos
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Milla Garcia and so we look forward to those relationships continuing.
Again, the veteran's organizations will hold the Memorial Day service, 9 a.m. Boe James
and some others came over and gave us the -- what they call the Buddy Poppies. Boe is
the VFW post 7507 -- adjutant? Is that how you say it? Yes.
And then also there's the National Moment of Remembrance, which was created and
occurs at 3 p.m. our time and it's in conjunction with Taps Across America. And
residents will be there, including our Vice Mayor at 3 o'clock at the Memorial.
I attended two League Executive Committee meetings; we had two this time. The DAR
Liberty Tree event, Mayor's Youth Council graduation, which was very fun. They have
some graduates coming out of the high school this year. The ADOG groundbreaking,
East Valley Mayors' Quarterly Lunch, which was in Carefree this time. And I was proud
to present the Tourism Award on behalf of the town and our economic development to
the Chamber, which I think surprised some people and that was a fun thing to do. And
the Mayor's Award to Dr. J. And yes, it was a very, very fun event.
Right now, we're going to do the Stellar Students, which I read all the nice things about
the kids from up here and then, we go down. We give you the certificates, Angela. And
we'll take a picture. And then, after that, I'II go right into the National Travel and
Tourism Week, which the Chamber, as a tourism award honorees, are going to accept
that proclamation.
So let's start with our Little Falcons. And the first Little Falcon is Ava DuFour. Is Ava
here? Come on up. I forgot to say everybody stay up here and we'll take the picture
afterwards.
"Ava represents kindness and compassion. She comes to school every day with a hug
for her teachers and a smile on her face. She's always willing to share whatever she's
playing with or doing with others. She's loving, kind, and gentle. Everybody, children,
and teachers alike, love Ava. We're so proud of her and that's why Ava is a Stellar
Student." Ava.
Our next Little Falcon is Drayven Smith -Miller. Is Drayven here? Come on up. "Drayven
brightens everyone's day. He comes to school with a big smile, energy, and enthusiasm.
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He always wants to help. He's compassionate and kind and a real gentleman". There
you go. "We can't wait to hear about his continued progress when he goes to
elementary school. He is a Stellar Student". Drayven.
Now we move to McDowell Mountain Elementary and Hadley Greenman. Is Hadley
here? Hadley? All right. We're going to read good things about Hadley.
"It's an honor to nominate Hadley for the Stellar Student Award. Hadley is a positive
role model for other students and lends a hand when she sees a need. She shows great
respect and responsibility in and out of the classroom. Her smile is contagious, and her
kindness is appreciated by teachers and students. Hadley goes above and beyond to put
her best effort into all that she does and exceeds all expectations." Congratulations to
Hadley for being an exemplary student of McDowell Mountain.
Our next student from McDowell is Ian Pierce. Is Ian here? Come on up, Ian. "Ian is
everything a Stellar Student should be. In my STEM class he's always an active
participant. His ideas are amazing and outside the box, which we love. He's never
afraid to dig into something new and he gives his all to everything he does with a smile.
He's always willing to help a friend or teacher whenever he can. When his class has
STEM, like clockwork when we're wrapping up our sessions, Ian starts to make his
rounds through the room, pushing in chairs and making sure the classroom is all set
without being asked. He's such a pleasure to have in class and I know he'll be an
outstanding middle school student next year." Ian.
Our next student from the middle school is Audrey Del Mundo. Is Audrey here? Come
on up, Audrey.
"Audrey: she's such a friendly student to both students and staff. She's helpful in the
classroom. Audrey's very kind. She strives to do her very best. She always goes above
and beyond. She follows direction, completes tasks, and cares about her work and
others. Audrey is a true Stellar Student."
Now we have the high school -- oh, I'm sorry. The middle school. Don't want to skip
that. Angel Rivera? Is Angel here? Come on up.
"Angel has made great accomplishments in his academic performance this year. He
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strives to achieve excellence and is a great role model to his peers. Not only is he a
pleasure to have in class, he's also an asset to the Fountain Hills Middle School baseball
team as a pitcher and a third -base player." That's Angel.
Next, we have the high school. Did I skip one? No, I didn't. Oh, I got the middle school.
The high school. We have Hadley Chandler. Is Hadley here?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Hailey (ph.).
MAYOR DICKEY: Hailey? Duh. I'm sorry. We just read about you in the paper. "Hailey,
a senior, is known for her friendly demeanor and compassionate nature. With a
constant smile on her face, she radiates kindness wherever she goes. Her genuine
warmth and caring attitude make her a cherished member of our community. Hailey's
willingness to lend a helping hand and her positive, upbeat presence has a great impact
on those around her. She truly embodies the essence of a good-hearted individual."
Hailey Chandler.
And from the high school, Canon Lipps. Is Canon here? Come on up, Canon. Yeah. It
says, "Canon, our senior, has a habit of being the first to greet others as they pass by,
exemplifying his friendly and approachable nature. Not only does he acknowledge
people, but he also actively listens to what they have to say, showing genuine concern
for their well-being. His accomplishments academically are truly commendable,
reflecting his determination and growth. Canon's sincere care for others and dedication
have already made a difference within our community and there is no doubt he'll
continue to positively impact others beyond high school." That's Canon.
All right, it will be in the paper you guys. Uh, oh. There you go, Honey, hold it like that.
Can you do that? Perfect.
All right. Ready? Smile. (Indiscernible).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Grandma.
MAYOR DICKEY: I can wait. Thanks, you guys.
Okay. Who's here from the Chamber? Come on up. Busy, busy weeks for you guys.
Here you go.
So we're going to start a new tradition of giving this award because it's always at this
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time this proclamation to the winner of the Tourism Award, which was you guys.
LAVOIE: Great. That's awesome.
MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah. I'll read it here. It says: "Whereas the travel industry is essential
to the success of every industry and will continue to be a critical part of Fountain Hills'
economy, development, and workforce and travel is an economic powerhouse for every
state and destination across the country, with an economic output of $2.8 trillion
supporting 15 million American jobs. And whereas, travel spending supports vibrant
and safe communities in Fountain Hills and across the U.S. by generating $89 billion in
state and local tax revenue in 2023 to support essential services such as: education,
emergency response, public safety, and more. And whereas, America's travel industry
cannot be globally competitive without maximizing growth in leisure, business, and
international inbound travelers, increasing travel to and within the United States, drives
our economy to a more prosperous future and connects America. And whereas, small
businesses account for more than 60 percent of leisure and hospitability employment
and travel is an essential industry, we must continue to communicate that growing
travel leads to economic growth, benefits businesses, fosters mutual understanding,
and connects the nation.
So now, therefore, let it be resolved that I, Mayor Ginny Dickey, on behalf of the Town
of Fountain Hills, recognizes the week of May 19th through the 25th as National Travel
and Tourism Week and urge the residents of Fountain Hills to join me in recognizing the
essential role this industry plays in Fountain Hills.
That's a mouthful. There you go. Thank you guys.
LAVOIE: Thank you, yes. Thank you so much, Mayor, Vice Mayor, council, staff. It was
truly, as I stated on Friday on behalf of the board of directors and our staff, I'm not often
without words and it was truly an honor to receive this. And so we thank the town for
your partnership in tourism and economic development here in Fountain Hills. And
thank you for this.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Thanks so much for everything you do.
All right. Thank you. Thanks, guys.
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Thank you all so much. We have a presentation tonight from our Capt. Kratzer.
Welcome. Thank you for being here.
KRATZER: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council. Tonight I
just wanted to speak a little bit on a topic that we have received a lot of questions and
concerns about from residents, and that's the issue of squatters. I know it's come up
quite a bit. There's been quite a lot of national conversation about issues related to
squatters and the ability of law enforcement or the inability of law enforcement to
address or help residents address those squatter issues.
Many of you may know, I think it was discussed here in council, House Bill 1129 was
vetoed by the governor. It was stated that the intent of that was to strengthen the
rights of homeowners. So with that bill being vetoed, there is some good news. We
have spoken to the town prosecutor, also MCSO's legal team, and in the State of Arizona
the trespassing laws and some of the squatter laws are a little bit more -- they're a little
bit more strict. So we have ability to enforce our trespassing laws that are currently on
statute.
There are some caveats to that, but there's been a lot of concern over, you know,
people who live here that are snowbirds, that leave their home for three - four -plus
months a year and the concern of whether or not, you know, people would be looking
to move into their property while they're gone. So that's probably the biggest concern
we've heard and if that happens, you know, what can they do? What should they do?
So we've been trying to be consistent with our messaging to people and we wanted to
make sure we push it out today, especially after the recent conversations with town
prosecutor and our legal. That if they notice that, if that does happen, absolutely and
quickly call MCSO and we'll investigate that.
There is a difference and there are sometimes confused, people sometimes believe that
if they have a renter or someone who leases the property that overstays, that that
would fall into a squatter situation, and that's not the case. That would fall into the
Landlord -Tenant Act. And there's all kinds of laws that govern those and procedures.
A squatter situation would be where somebody moves into a property, onto a property,
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into a residence without any sort of lease or agreement or knowledge of the owner,
with the intent to reside there. And so again, we have tools that we could enforce the
current trespassing laws if that were to be the case.
There are scenarios where squatters, over a long period of time, that magic number
seems to be a little bit elusive, but it's been stated in the ballpark of years, you know,
five to ten years, they're on a property without any knowledge of the owner, without
any contention, that they would then fall into a category where they do have certain
rights and potentially have some claim to that property.
So what we encourage people who are concerned about going out of state or leaving a
property, maybe they have an investment property that has been vacant for some time,
is to just, either -- you know, be diligent in checking on that property. Having family or
friends check on the property. There's all kinds of companies out there or private
people who you could pay to check on a property for you. And at the first sight of
anything that's suspicious, report it to law enforcement so that we can get on top of
that as soon as possible.
We did have a scenario, it was probably about three years ago now, where something
like that happened and we were able to charge the people that moved into the
residence unbeknownst to the homeowner's property. And we were able to charge
them with trespassing and a couple of other charges.
So we do have tools. But I think people are concerned that, you know, with some of the
stuff and the conversations they've heard nationally, that they would be in a
predicament where they'd have to go through the eviction process. But we do have
some ability to curb that.
The other thing I wanted to talk just briefly on is, we do have a vacation patrol that
people could put in for. And that's found on the town's website. There's a form that
you fill out with your information. It asks how long you're going to be gone and it asks
for some specific information so that law enforcement, when they go by the residence
during our routine checks, knows if, you know, there's not supposed to be any vehicles
in the house, if there's lights on, things of that nature. Those are good for 30 days at a
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time. So that could be a problem for people who are gone for three or four months, but
they could go online and fill that form out again if they're gone for multiple months and
they can email it to our community services webpage. They can email it, they can mail
it, they can stop in in person and get the form and fill it out and give it to our
administrative assistant. And our deputies, our posse members, and our deputy service
aides all take part of going by the properties and doing welfare checks on the property.
So that is a good tool that people can utilize and rely on a little bit. Maybe, it gives them
a little peace of mind while they're out of town.
So that's all I have for you tonight. If there's any questions, I'm happy to answer them
for you.
SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Captain, you mentioned the vacation crime
watch and I actually pulled it up here on the website. It looks like a pretty simple form.
Is there any reason we can't -- you know, if someone chooses to be longer than 30 days,
that -- you know, there's no legal reason to not do that?
KRATZER: No, there's not. And that's something that we probably could tweak
ourselves a little bit. It's more of an internal thing. It gets hard to track some of those.
Like, we ran into, I think, at a time where people were gone for eight, nine months and
it's just keeping those requests fresh if somebody does come back and then we go by
the residence, there's a car in the driveway when there shouldn't have been, and they
came home early.
So the, I think, the mindset behind that was just making sure that they're updated and
they're up to date so that we have good information and we're not unnecessarily
scaring residents or homeowners. But that's something that we could consider.
Because I know, for us in Fountain Hills and some of the snowbirds, three to four
months is pretty typical. So we could look at extending that time frame. That's not a
set -in -stone policy.
SKILLICORN: And Mayor, Captain, this is something that I'm looking into, and I've been
doing a little research. There is some tiny latitude that we could have, and we could
also define what a renter is and what a squatter is, things like that. I look at what the
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State of New York did, and this is something that I'm currently looking into. But this is --
yeah, this is also another thing that we could open up dates to and look at a little closer
to.
KRATZER: Yeah. And I think there's been some conversation with the town manager
and town attorney, kind of going down that road of what -- and I've heard council talk
about that at times as well. And I think all that's being looked into and obviously, MCSO
will be a good partner and work with our legal and just make sure any ordinance that's
passed is enforceable by us, for sure.
SKILLICORN: Okay.
KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor.
Thank you, Captain, for your informative report as always and thank you for your service
for our community.
Do we have a ordinance on the books on leave -behinds and peddlers and people that
leave things on people's doors? This is the political season now and I know there's a lot
of people that like to leave leave -behinds. And with the nature of our residents being
going back to Minnesota, Chicago, here; could you just explain why, policy -wise, what it
does to the seasonal visitors when people stack unwanted flyers and things on their
property?
KRATZER: Yes. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I think you're speaking to maybe the concern
that people then -- it's easily -- it's easy to identify that maybe people aren't home. So
when those stack up: newspapers, things of that nature. And plus, you know, those
pamphlets tend to blow away, so it also creates an issue with littering. But definitely
the concern from law enforcement is it makes that house obvious that it's vacant or no
one's there and it makes it an easy target for someone to select to burglarize the home
or -- you know, maybe, even squat in the home.
I'm not sure if that's where you were hoping I'd go with that, but --
KALIVIANAKIS: No. I just want to let people know that, you know, this is -- you're trying
to get a message out there but it's doing a disserve to the people that you're visiting at
their home, that if they're not here and you put a leave -behind out there. So just thank
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you for addressing that.
KRATZER: Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: All right. Thank you so much for everything you do.
Okay. Our next item is call to the public. Do we have any speaker cards?
MENDENHALL: Yes, Mayor, we do. First in your packet, there is a comment from
Jennifer Brown. And then, in person, we have two speakers. First is Barry Wolborsky
and on deck is Lori Troller.
WOLBORSKY: I am Barry Wolborsky, as you all know. And I have a topic today that
might surprise you. I'm going to talk about the wayfinding signs. I think the wayfinding
signs are a total waste of the town's money. Although the town decreased the cost of
the signs from $1 million to a mere $550,000, 300,000 of which has always been -- has
already been spent on design studies. It's still a bad idea. In business we say never
throw good money after bad. In other words, take the loss on the $300,000 and don't
compound it by spending another quarter million.
Wayfinding signs will not bring one dollar into this community. They are a generations -
ago -idea before smartphones and automobile navigation units. Nobody uses them
anymore. If you pull into a new town and want lunch, you take out your phone and type
in "lunch restaurant Fountain Hills", and you get your choices. You examine the menus,
then click on your choice, and voila, directions to the front door.
No one uses wayfinding signs anymore. The signs add to sign pollution, which detracts
from the landscape. Also it detracts from drivers seeing important traffic signs.
But it even gets better than this. Not only do the signs need to be maintained and
replaced as they wear and look even worse, but every time an entity closes, moves,
changes its name, or gets added, the signs have to be updated and replaced, adding to
the real cost of the signs.
Please remove this antiquated costly item from the town's budget.
TROLLER: I'm just going to get that to stay there. Please stay. Please. Please.
By now, just about everybody here knows what I'm about to say. Broadband, not
cellular, small wireless facilities, we need to update our ordinance. And I'm not talking
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about big antennas. Mr. Wesley knows it too.
For the record, anyone on the council who needs to know the exact verbiage to give
P&Z direction to work on this: P&Z needs to update Resolution 2018, and, in turn, that
that will codify our code. At this time, we should make sure that gets into all of Chapter
17, and not split like it is now into Chapter 16. All of that needs to be updated. And yes,
P&Z does have purview on ROW and the sign ordinance is an example of that.
I'm going to jump back two years. Fountain Hills recognized we did not have the
technical or legal expertise to write a strong enough ordinance to hold its own against
teams of telecom lawyers. So we contracted with the top lawyer in the country, who
writes these ordinances across the United States. That contract had roughly seven
steps. The first step was, we contracted with him. We got that done and he gave us
questions to fill out, a template of sorts. We do our best to fill it out, we give it back to
him, he writes the draft, he gives a series a presentations, more drafts, Q and A sessions
until we're all happy and Campanelli stays with it through the codification to our code.
Then he's done. That's what this illustrates right here.
So what happened? He gave Fountain Hills the same template that he gives everyone
else: Houston, Chicago, Gilbert, it doesn't matter. It's just a template. It doesn't have
state or municipal code in it yet. Were you under the impression that that was a draft?
If so, I ask you to revisit the document because if you were expecting more from the
process at that point, you weren't there yet, and that document needs to be passed to
P&Z and they need to continue the process.
We know Aaron and his law firm spent up to eight hours writing questions for Attorney
Campanelli, but that's the last we heard of Campanelli. Why is that?
Then, in steps P&Z. P&Z didn't get anywhere without help from the lawyer or at least
the documents the lawyer wrote. We've been asked -- or they've been asking for help
for over four months, only to be told repeatedly no. They aren't permitted the
Campanelli's document, they aren't permitted the questions Aaron already asked
Campanelli, and they aren't allowed to talk to experts. Why is that?
Why was Campanelli, literally, contracted to codify Chapter 16.2 into 17 and P&Z is
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refused to do the very same? Why is Mr. Wesley saying P&Z doesn't have purview of
the broadband ordinance when they are allowed to work on the sign ordinance, that's
on ROW? The same situation, and easily ten more examples of that in the code.
Council, please take control of this two-year stonewall. Please don't allocate your
power to Aaron and give P&Z the tools they need so they can get an awesome
ordinance to you, and you can vote on it and have an amazing accomplishment.
No whining. All facts. Thanks.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
Our next item is our consent -- I'm sorry.
MENDENHALL: No.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. Our next item is our consent agenda. Do I have a motion,
please?
GRYBOWSKI: Move to approve.
MCMAHON: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please?
SKILLICORN: I'd actually like to take item E off. Because I'd like -- is Chief Ott here?
Aha, I would like -- I'd like to have some more face time with Chief Ott, because it's such
a pleasure.
MAYOR DICKEY: I'm sorry. You want to take --
SKILLICORN: Yes.
MAYOR DICKEY: Item B off?
SKILLICORN: I think it's E. Yes, item E. So I would like to amend that motion to approve
A through D.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. That's fine. We can do that. And then we can take a roll call on
the amendment. Yep. He amended to pass the consent agenda without item E.
ARNSON: Yeah. Right. So it's just approval of consent A through D. Did we get a
second?
MAYOR DICKEY: We had a second on the original. But I don't think on the --
TOTH: Oh, I'll second it.
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MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. Okay. So roll call on --
MENDENHALL: Amendment?
MAYOR DICKEY: -- I keep hearing people talking but I can't -- you have to talk to me if
you have to tell me something. Go ahead.
MENDENHALL: Allen's amendment; we're voting on that?
MAYOR DICKEY: Yes. We're going to vote on the amendment to pass the consent
agenda on item A through D. And then we'll put item E as the first item on the regular
agenda.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Grzybowski?
GRYBOWSKI: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis?
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Mayor Dickey?
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you.
Our first item is approval of Resolution 2024 for an intergovernmental agreement with
the Department of Forestry. Is there anybody prepared to speak on this?
GOODWIN: I believe Chief Ott can probably step up and give us some background. If
there's any particular questions, Mayor or council had.
OTT: Good evening Mayor and council. The IGA is just another tool for us to be able to
work with our interagency partners. And moving forward, the IGA with the FFM helps
us in a wildfire situation in areas like the state trust land, McDowell Mountain park,
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who's actually the purview of DFFM. It kind of establishes the relationship pretty much
as a mutual aid agreement, but it also establishes some cost for either side. So if we
were in a situation where we needed to pull assets in, that would also kind of give us an
idea of what that could cost us if there was a charge on that. And as well as, if they
required assets from us, that we would be able to bill those back. There's a billing
mechanism and a rate in there as well.
It also establishes some training criteria for us to meet that wild line criteria. Really, one
of the biggest things is that it helps pull us into that interagency realm of when we do
have something, if we needed other assets.
An example would be using the fire that was on the Beeline last week. That the Pima
agency, which is BIA, also has an agreement with DFFM. So if those lines overlap, we
have the ability to have a duty officer be able to do things, like, call in air support and
that. Without that relationship, we would pretty much be on our own for that area, the
state trust land, which is incorporated into Fountain Hills.
So we worked on this -- kind of 2019 was the worst fire season we'd seen up to that
point. We were in the process of formulating this relationship between the town and
DFFM at that point, we all decided that it was -- we were busy, we were tired in
October. We would move forward with it coming into the following spring and get that
relationship set up before fire season started and then we all know what happened in
2020. We no longer had the meetings. They felt that our word and handshake deal that
we kind of had before, would suffice if we needed it in the meantime until we could
actually get back in -person. There was also a change in the state forester. And some of
their paperwork process had kind of changed a little bit at that point and stalled.
We got back to the point where, now that Rural Metro is not really in the mix anymore,
there was a little sticking point between the private side and DFFM. With that, we had
clear lines cut starting in January and the fire that we had had last July, up in Eagle's
Nest -- or August in Eagle's Nest, we had kind of worked out some of the relationships
with one of the duty chiefs for DFFM at that point. That once we moved forward and hit
January, we would start moving forward with that IGA between the town, Fountain Hills
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Fire Department, and DFFM. So that gives us a lot of resources available from the State,
that, again, we might not necessarily have if we didn't have that IGA.
So it just helps us cement the relationships with our other interagency partners.
SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Chief Ott. So obviously, I mean, I read in there
about mutual aid. I read in there about sharing equipment. Do you think that --
probably one should wonder -- and I'm sure that your answer is satisfactory. But if
we're receiving more aid or giving up more aid? Kind of what's your thoughts there?
OTT: Mayor, Councilmember, I think at this point that we would be receiving more aid.
SKILLICORN: Okay.
OTT: I think it's a better deal, as most of these agreements will be moving forward to
us. That I think we're going to be receiving more with those resources available to us.
And there's some things that we couldn't do on our own without that relationship.
Where if we needed air assets, like we almost had called in in Eagle's Nest last summer,
we can't do that without having that interagency agreement with DFFM. So they're our
link to the Southwest Coordinating Group.
SKILLICORN: And Mayor, Chief, so thank you. That's very helpful to know. I am
curious -- let's say there was a fire either at McDowell Park or State Trust, and previous
to this, you know, what assets and who would be fighting that? Is that going to be
Scottsdale? Is that going to be someone else? How would that work?
OTT: Mayor, Councilmember, past history has had us being the first responders in
there.
SKILLICORN: Okay.
OTT: So what we call IA, which is initial attack. We still have that arrangement moving
forward. And then, the -- wasn't the Diamond Fire. It was -- yeah, there's been too
many fires, I can't keep the names straight. But the fire that we had at McDowell
Mountain Park almost three years ago now, we were there on the initial attack. Kind of
had set that up. I coordinated with the State duty officer at that point. They were
already rolling assets for it. We just added some support until they came in and took
over. There were five agencies, I believe, that responded to that fire as well.
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So the State took care of that. If it was a state trust land, again, our responsibility will be
initial attack and coordinating with the state to bring in other assets for that.
So between Fort McDowell, Rio Verde, Salt River is also a part of the Pima agency. That
gives us some resources that even though it's not BIA land, we would still be able to get
some resources from Fort McDowell and Salt River, wild land -wise. We've got two type
6 wild land trucks, but in a situation like that, you need a few more assets to get it under
control early. So.
SKILLICORN: And then, Mayor, Chief, do the two last ones here. One is the training, you
know, kind of give us a rundown of where we are with the additional training that's
required because of this. And then, is there anything that you learned and can
implement for our own town safety over the last weekend, and will that -- you know,
obviously, the fire we had last weekend?
OTT: I'll start with the first question last, Mayor and Councilmember. I didn't really
learn anything that I didn't know before on the Wild Cat Fire. It kind of started, it
burned, it moved away from town. And, again, they were on it and had a type 3 IMT
team come in to manage it quite early. Which is key right now. We're lucky, at this
point, that it's early in the fire season; there's a lot of resources and assets available in
town. I think I saw three different VLATS, which are very large air tankers, flying on
Saturday. Which, sometimes we don't always have that. When there's other areas that
are on fire, a lot of those assets will be moved towards that area. And then, as things
progress and they're available, there would be other assets to move in to back them up.
And as far as the training goes, part of that asset availability, if you will, is to be red card
certified. And that's just another level of training for a firefighter, but it's wildland
specific and it deals -- some of the simple things are, you have to pass a Pack Test, which
is a 45-pound pack, you have to be able to do three miles in 45 minutes with that pack
without running at a steady pace. Which kind of shows your conditioning. And then
there's a couple of classes, 130/190 to start with that are wildfire behavior classes. And
it's -- once you end up being kind of seated in as a structure guy, you think okay, we
have a house fire, a couple of hours we're back taking showers, everything's good.
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Wildland fire, you could be out there on a campaign fire for 14 days before you rotated
out of your operational period. So the training is a little bit different. The mindset's a
little bit different. And without having that red card training, we would not be able to
provide assets as a staffed type 6 response vehicle to the state or any other agency that
would be billing that.
So any fire that stayed or national forest or BIA or BLM, you would have to have red card
certified firefighters. So through this process, of our 30, we've got 9 people that have
kind of stepped up to be able to fill those roles and provide service on the brush truck if
we need.
With that in mind, that's not our business moving forward, would be to supply a staffed
brush truck. It's to maintain the level of security for the town and provide public safety
for the town first off. But with that additional training we've got some urban -- wild
land/urban interface that that training is valuable for anyways. So even though not all
of our people will do the Pack Test, they all have to do the wildland refresher, so they
have that training in their pocket. It has terminology with it. It also teaches you the fire
behavior: upslope, downslope, those types of things, wind direction. So it's a valuable
training all the way round, even though we might not have all of our members red card
certified so.
MAYOR DICKEY: Any further questions? Can I get a motion?
GRYBOWSKI: Move to approve as written.
MCMAHON: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Roll call, please?
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: Yes.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Grzybowski?
GRYBOWSKI: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Toth?
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TOTH: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis?
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Mayor Dickey?
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you.
SKILLICORN: Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thanks, Dave.
Our next item is -- I can see Justin coming up. Is there any intro here?
GOODWIN: Nope. This is a Justin show from here on out. I think we're starting off with
Golden Eagle Park; is that right?
WELDY: Yes, ma'am.
GOODWIN: Alrighty.
WELDY: Good evening. How's everybody?
I'm trying to decide how to approach this. This is a long time moving forward here, as
you all well know.
This is directly tied to a grant that we applied for now almost seven years ago, for debris
mitigation on the face and the bottom of Golden Eagle Dam. Refresher: Golden Eagle
Dam is adjacent to Golden Eagle Park. Was originally constructed to protect life and
property downstream. As the dam began to age and Mother Nature did as well, and
storm frequency and the intensity changed, modeling showed that the potential for
overtopping of the original dam and, possibly, outflow of the spillway, which is on the
south end adjacent to the high school, could cause problems downstream. So there was
a -- the flood control district and the town partnered, raised the dam, and added length
to the spillway to protect life and property downstream.
At that time, there was an agreement in regards to the maintenance related to
sediment. Sediment are the fine particles that flow in stormwater downstream, and
they historically pond and pile at the bottom of the dam. Over the years, that has
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become increasingly challenging to address that migration of material onto the dam. As
you all know, we have been working on a project to help ease some of the backwatering
concerns in Golden Eagle Park related to the impoundment and the intensity and
frequency of some of the storms.
There's a grant that covers part of that design and the eventual part of the construction.
Staff has been before this council and others and asked for permissions to spend
additional funding and allocate additional time for the Golden Eagle Park impoundment
project. That is now approved. We are about ready to release it onto the street.
Ideally, staff will return in August and ask for a notice to award a bid to start
construction.
Having said all of that, this grant is tied to the next phase, which is just the face of the
dam and the very bottom of the dam. Each year we get an extension on it and this year
we simply ran out of time. We believe, based on the progress, that this is likely to be
the last amendment to this and we'll be able to utilize this funding in FY '24f 25.
With that, if there's any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
MAYOR DICKEY: Do we have any speaker cards on this item?
MENDENHALL: No, Mayor, we do not.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
Any questions or comments? Sure.
FRIEDEL: Move to adopt resolution 2024-23.
MCMAHON: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Any further discussion?
A roll call, please?
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Grzybowski?
GRYBOWSKI: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: Aye.
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MENDENHALL: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: Yes.
MENDENHALL: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis?
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Mayor Dickey?
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you.
Next item is about an amendment for our active transportation plan. Justin?
WELDY: Thank you. Madam Mayor, Councilmembers, tonight we're asking for an
amendment to the active transportation plan. And not the entire plan, just one small
part of it. And that small part is tied to the sidewalk infill and gap elimination. The
original sidewalk infill and gap elimination site plan that you see here, in front of you,
was originally put together by town staff in the early 2000s to address obvious gaps in
areas where it was needed.
Each year, some priorities were identified that would take one to five years to fill those
gaps or eliminate those areas. This one that you currently have in front of you is the
most recent addition of the sidewalk infill and gap elimination plan. It included one to
five years, which we have completed the majority of that work over the last five years.
There are two areas that we're facing some challenges with. The first one is on Fountain
Hills Boulevard, north of Palisades. When we had originally included that, it was prior to
staff receiving direction to apply for grants to bridge that area, so putting in a sidewalk
there. And then, obviously, if we ever receive federal funding to fill that gap with a
bridge, then the sidewalk and that good money would be -- you know, be good after
bad.
The second one has a negative impact on some homes just off of Saguaro, south of the
intersection of Fountain Hills Boulevard. It would impact their mailboxes and their
driveways and be very costly. So those two sections have been eliminated.
The third one, which is a short, little piece that was tied to the Ashbrook Wash project
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off of Bayfield that ties it to Ashbrook, we've simply decided there's not enough benefit
for those couple of hundred feet right now. That addresses the one to five year that
was on this.
With that, this document is used as a short- and long-range planning tool and we're only
talking about sidewalks and trails and connectors to them. The area that we're
discussing primarily is circled in red on the map that you can see. That is the downtown.
We're going to draw some limits on that: La Montana to Saguaro, El Lago to Palisades.
What we're looking at primarily is to eliminate the gaps on Verde River between The
Avenue and Palisades, on Parkview between La Montana and Saguaro, and on La
Montana between Avenue of the Fountains and Palisades on the Basha's side.
Everybody kind of got their bearings about those locations?
These are the areas that have been determined by the mayor and council and citizen
input to be the priority at this time. There is another little section that isn't properly
circled right here on this map. This is not the area. The area that we're talking about is
actually off of Eagle Mountain at Summer Hill. In my own personal opinion, this is an
underserved area because not many of us get down there. In fact, myself -- and I've
made multiple trips into that area -- as part of our visits and design to eliminate a gap
there and provide for a safer crossing, we got a plan approved by the pedestrian and
traffic safety committee and to deal with the homeowners' association and the adjacent
golf course, made one more trip out there to take a look around and I discovered I
errored, and I errored badly because I did not recognize that there was a sidewalk ramp
there, or a curb ramp that was simply not usable. We went back to the drawing board,
went back to the pedestrian and traffic safety committee. Asked for their blessing to
make a change to create what I would call is not quite a mid -block crossing. Met with
the partnering agencies, the homeowner's association and, obviously, the golf course;
these are the stakeholders. And then came to this council in its position as a board of
directors for the Eagle Mountain Improvement District and asked for funding of the
unspent balance in there.
With that said, the area on Eagle Mountain adjacent to Summer Hill is approximately
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$119,000 to complete that project. The board of directors, through the homeowners'
association, has agreed that we can use $19,500 out of that unspent fund balance. The
adjacent property owner is the golf course. They have also offered up an additional
$19,500. The balance to finish the project would be the town's share, and that's
approximately $81,000 for that.
As we're working through the budget process, one of the projects in there is a multiyear
for sidewalk infill. That $81,000 of the town's funding portion would come out of that
project for next year. Keep in mind, that is a relatively small project and something that
we can tackle. However, the balance of this amendment is multiple years because it,
again, once it involves the downtown area, we first have to establish the design and
how we want it to look when we're finished. And as part of that, begin the process of
applying for grants.
A short break right there. We will utilize this document just like we have in the past, to
apply for grants. The town is currently the recipient, and a project is soon to start on
one of those grants that now totals $4 million for the gap elimination project on Saguaro
Boulevard and Palisades.
KALIVIANAKIS: (Indiscernible)?
WELDY: We're talking about the amendment, and I spent a little bit of time on that
other portion, Madam Vice Mayor. But now we're right back up in the downtown
because it's a much larger and much longer duration. But did we have questions about
the lower section?
MAYOR DICKEY: Vice Mayor?
KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. Thank you, Ms. Mayor. It was supposed to be $119,000 minus,
say, 20, 20 it's going to be 80,000; would that qualify for grant funding?
WELDY: Madam Mayor and Madam Vice Mayor, I don't -- I'm not aware of any call for
grants for that right now. Would it? Absolutely. There's certainly a possibility that we
could apply for either design assistance or construction after the design assistance. But
I'm not aware of any of those on the horizon.
KALIVIANAKIS: So could we tap the brakes and apply for grant funding?
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WELDY: Madam Vice Mayor, if that is the intent of the council, absolutely.
KALIVIANAKIS: Because it seems like these infill projects, just like the drainage projects,
normally qualify for some kind of grant funding. And if we could do that here, I think
that would be preferable. That would be my desire.
And then, skipping back to the downtown. If you look at the appendix 6, slide 3, it's all
the way in the appendix area at the end. No, all the way down.
WELDY: On the bottom of this graph?
KALIVIANAKIS: No. It's actually -- it's in the active transportation plan in the appendix 6.
It's probably not in this slide. It's actually in the active transportation plan. Do you have
that?
WELDY: I do not have that open, Madam Vice Mayor.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. If you look at appendix 6, slide 3, it shows the downtown area
that would be the prospective infill project design. It says the downtown cost estimate
would be $1.1 million. Is that what you have in mind?
WELDY: Madam Vice Mayor, we currently do not have an estimate because the infill at
that time was substantially different than what we are proposing or, at least, what
we've heard from the mayor and council and the citizens in regards to that. So I'm not
comfortable giving a number for any of the sections in the downtown right now.
KALIVIANAKIS: Well, it's in the plan. So the number's already -- is already in there. It's
just in the appendix under "priority projects option, opinion of probable cost".
WELDY: Not having that in front of me, can you provide a little bit more detail about the
location on that?
KALIVIANAKIS: Well, this just has all the different projects and estimated expenditures,
like Saguaro Boulevard, cost estimate 3.7 million; Palisades is 710,000. It's just a
breakdown of all the costs for the infill projects. And the downtown, which would be
just what you described, was $1.1 million. I'm just trying to get a handle on the cost.
It's part of the active transportation plan. It's part of our packet.
WELDY: Admittedly, I'm a little bit lost on that one. I'm not having that exhibit up and
in front of me right now.
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KALIVIANAKIS: Okay.
WELDY: So I'm --
MAYOR DICKEY: Excuse me. Maybe -- Rachael, could you maybe help us with this
whole overall thing? Because what the active transportation plan was, how it came
about, where these amounts are, and what we're actually doing today?
GOODWIN: Absolutely. I'd be happy to. So to our Vice Mayor's point, Justin only has
the map in front of him right now. In our packet -- he doesn't have the full packet in
front of him.
But Justin, for your reference, the packet includes the entire active transportation plan
that was adopted in 2021. In that, there's some mapping and one of them details
downtown and it does have a downtown cost estimate, at that time, of being 1.1.
Today's conversation -- and, Justin, please feel free to jump in. Today's conversation is
about the priority. Not necessarily the cost of it but moving the priority to say the next
project that the staff will focus on will include the golf course area, which is what we
talked about a second ago, and the downtown. The downtown was not originally
identified as being a project that we were going to tackle right now. It was further out
in terms of the vision.
But based on the feedback that we've heard and the efforts that we have been putting
into our downtown visioning process, it makes sense to move up the project timeline for
our downtown improvements.
Now, 1.1 was based on a very -- well, I'll say, probably a very basic idea of adding
sidewalks only. I don't know that it had lighting. I don't know that it had any type of
ADA accommodations. I don't know that it had any type of other improvements.
Because we're anticipating looking at the downtown as a full-fledged project probably
later this fall. This is just specific to the sidewalk application.
The cost of this is still TBD. It will depend on to what scale we want to build out and
what the cost is today, versus in 2021 when this plan was originally put together.
KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. I'm sure it would be more now.
GOODWIN: Oh, absolutely.
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KALIVIANAKIS: That was three years ago. And again, it's just Parkview and Rio Verde
and right in front of Basha's, that's it?
GOODWIN: Correct.
KALIVIANAKIS: So it would probably be now, like, $1.5 million or more.
GOODWIN: Again --
KALIVIANAKIS: So I'm just saying that --
GOODWIN: Um -hum.
KALIVIANAKIS: -- and then, if you look at all the projects and their projected costs, it
looks like it's more than $30 million. And so it's just that huge price tag. And again, I'm
all for grant funding.
GOODWIN: Absolutely.
KALIVIANAKIS: And if to provide the guidance for you guys to apply for the grants. But I
just don't know if I'm comfortable at this point spending that kind of money on infill --
GOODWIN: And I don't think that's the --
KALIVIANAKIS: -- when we have road projects.
GOODWIN: Absolutely. And I don't think that's the ask tonight. The ask is not for
money, the ask is not for an allocation of funding. It is simply to update the maps so
that we, when we do go for grants, the map reflects that this is our priority area. That
it's not reflective of an outlying project in future years that we were in; it's not identified
until 2030 or otherwise. The ask tonight is to update the map and the plan. It's not an
ask for cost or an expenditure of any kind.
KALIVIANAKIS: So it's aspirational?
GOODWIN: Indeed.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. I can live with that.
GOODWIN: Okay.
WELDY: And now, that -- and I realized which exhibit you're looking at. Please note,
when that estimate was put together, it was tied to a plan that was developed almost
seven years ago now and only included sidewalk on part of Parkview on the south side,
extended to Verde River and only on one side of Verde River, and then the opposite side
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of Park View.
I'll make a long story very, very short. As this plan has evolved and developed over the
years, the staff more often than not, until just a few years ago, met an incredible
amount of resistance in regards to sidewalk infill and gap elimination. So any time there
was a parking lot -- let's pick the one in front of the Tap House, there was no sidewalk
considered for that part of the road. It was determined that anyone walking would walk
in the parking lot. That also applied to any location where there was a service road.
And the intent at that time of the town engineer, was to minimize the amount of denial
when asking for funding for that. So a little bit of clarification. That 1.1 or 1.3 million
would have only been for portions of it, not the entire area that we're describing
tonight.
And, again, staff is not here asking for any funding. We are simply asking for an
amendment to the plan that will become a part of the total active transportation plan
and then we'll start the process of applying for grants with not only state, but federal
governmental agencies. And having an amendment and/or an up-to-date active
transportation plan has a very positive impact on those grant applications.
MAYOR DICKEY: Councilman Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. And Director and also Town Manager.
Actually, your explanation was very helpful because when I was looking through the
packet, I saw the memo and I saw a map and I saw the plan. I didn't actually see an
amendment. So explaining that all you're doing is adding that particular map to the plan
was helpful. My only objection would be, I just don't think Eagle Mountain is the
priority. I just don't see the traffic there. I think this is probably a responsibility of the
HOA and not the town. And again, I don't see a lot of traffic there and I don't see this
benefitting our businesses. And yeah, theoretically people could be walking up to
where Fry's is, but I don't see them carrying -- I don't see them carrying ice cream on a
118-degree day, walking that path. So I just don't see it as a priority.
MAYOR DICKEY: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: I'm sorry. I kind of lost my train of thought. For Eagle Mountain, I think I do have
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a question now, though. Did you mention that the amount by the Eagle Mountain
board was already approved?
WELDY: Madam Mayor. Yes, councilmember, I did. The board of directors approved
19,500.
TOTH: And was that the same for the Golf Club as well?
WELDY: That is correct.
TOTH: That's already -- okay. So while I do agree that it is not in our downtown, it
might not necessarily have a bunch of traffic, this is something that you identified as an
issue and have already secured some of the funding for. I don't see why we would -- I
guess pushing it back wouldn't be the right term because we technically haven't brought
it forward yet, but you get what I mean. Move it down on -- or keep it down on
priorities.
So anyway, considering that we are -- just as a review for those following along, we are
simply changing the plan. We are not approving any projects or any additional funding.
If a project is presented to us and it has a crazy price tag, we still have the ability to say
no. However, this plan is utilized to apply for grants -- please do correct me if I say
anything incorrect here. But with all of that context, I would like to move to approve
the amendment as written.
MAYOR DICKEY: Could I -- wait. I didn't get speaker cards yet because we started asking
questions --
TOTH: Sorry.
MAYOR DICKEY: -- so once we make a motion we can't take speakers. So do we have
any? Yes?
MENDENHALL: Yes, Madam Mayor, we do. We have two. First is Craig Rudolphy and
on deck is Gayle Earle.
RUDOLPHY: Good evening, Mayor Dickey, and councilmembers. My name is Craig
Rudolphy. I'm a resident of Fountain Hills, currently residing in Eagle Mountain. I'm also
a member of the board of directors of the Eagle Mountain Community Association and I
am speaking for the board as well as a resident this evening.
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We are advocating for the new sidewalk, as well as a relocation of an existing crosswalk.
Residents that are out walking and wish to go to breakfast or lunch at Eagle Mountain
walk up Summer Hill. When they reach Eagle Mountain Parkway, they must walk in the
street, facing oncoming traffic, in order to get to the driveway of the golf course, which
leads them to the clubhouse. Residents also walking to Fry's need to cross Eagle
Mountain Boulevard and encounter the steep slope that Director Weldy had mentioned,
on the opposite side of the street. Residents and I, myself, have slipped and fallen on
that slope due to dirt and small pebbles that just happen to wind up on it because of the
environment. The ramp is not ADA compliant.
Relocating our crosswalk would remove the steep slope as well as address the golfers
crossing the street to go to the driving range. Golf course statistics from the Eagle
Mountain Golf Course show that on average, for the past three years, the golf course
issued 6,000 driving range passes. That means that there are 6,000 golfers crossing
Eagle Mountain Boulevard to get to the driving range and 6,000 golfers crossing Eagle
Mountain Parkway to get back to the golf course in the opposite directions.
The golfers do not use the crosswalk. They cross mid -block, which is where we're
proposing to place the relocating of the sidewalk. We've been fortunate that there have
not been any serious incidents or injuries to either pedestrians or golfers crossing Eagle
Mountain Boulevard.
As Director Weldy mentioned, there are funds remaining in the Eagle Mountain
Community Facilities District that arise from the defeasance of last outstanding bonds
and that amount is 19,500. In conversation with the Eagle Mountain Golf Course, they
have also agreed to contribute 19,500 to the project. The golf course will install a
pathway from Eagle Mountain Parkway to their clubhouse so that they have an easier
access to the clubhouse.
We are requesting that the council approve the project to improve the pedestrian and
traffic safety on Eagle Mountain Parkway. Thank you for your consideration. And I'd be
happy to answer any questions if you have some.
EARLE: Thank you, Madam Mayor and council and staff. I am Gayle Earle; a Fountain
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Hills resident and I also live in Eagle Mountain. And I ask that you make this repair a
priority. I know some of you don't think it's a priority because you haven't been there.
That steep, non-ADA compliant slope is very dangerous. I have slipped on it. And just a
couple of months ago, while parked, ready to turn, drive past there, I stopped because
there was a man in a electric wheelchair trying to get across. He was going up forwards,
turn around, up backwards; back and forth and back and forth. Could not get up and
thank -- I was going to try to help him, but a gentleman working in our neighborhood
got over there and pushed him up. So I don't know what he did to get back.
I go past there -- when you go to walk -- walk our dog every morning, we have to cross
there. It's not safe. We have golfers going back and forth. And we have a lot of
wonderful weather in our town, so we do have a lot of people that walk to Fry's and get
some groceries. Maybe not in the middle of the summer, but we have maybe nine
months of nice weather and -- please make it a priority. Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Councilwoman?
TOTH: For all the reasons I said about five minutes ago, I would like to make a motion to
approve the amendment as written.
MCMAHON: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Just -- thank you. And to clarify that is public -- that's a public street, so
it's not owned by any HOAs or anything. And also the board that made the decision to
spend the $19,000 was us. So thank you.
We have a motion and a second. Could we have a roll call, please?
MENDENHALL: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: No.
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MENDENHALL: Councilmember Grzybowski?
GRYBOWSKI: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis?
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Mayor Dickey?
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you.
Our next item is Justin again, and we'll hear your report. Thanks.
WELDY: Thank you, Madam Mayor, councilmembers. Tonight we're going to talk about
doors. Recently when I was reviewing this contract and discussing it with our facilities
supervisor, I asked for a count on doors. How many doors are we actually working on
and responsible for? How about 366? For three individuals and a contractor, that's still
a large number of doors.
I'm delighted to say that this one GPA agreement that we have been using since 2019
had nine original submittals to the one GPA agreement. Of those, five were selected.
Of the five selected, the one GPA committee and review committee asked that they
tailor the pricing to the individual states and/or locations because there is a substantial
difference in the type of doors utilized in climates where you have freeze/thaw
environments and environments where the doors may reach 120 degrees or more on
the exterior. So this agreement actually includes the Arizona pricing.
We have been working with D. H. Pace as a whole for the majority of about 15-plus
years. They have provided the service for the specialty doors that we have, not only on
the town hall and some of the fire stations, but certainly the community center. And
let's just pick that location just briefly. For the number of auto open and close sessions
that those doors go through on a regular week basis when the weather is nice, I'm
surprised that it honestly doesn't fall off the rails on a regular basis because of that use.
But in the interest of saving funds, note that the underlying agreement is not to exceed
$150,000. That includes all of the past agreements and amendments and renewals.
Currently, there is just under $59,000 remaining until December of this calendar year for
this contract. Sometime before that, we'll be coming back with the new contract. So
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we're asking for the authority to utilize that $49,000 in funding, or a portion of it, if we
need it for maintenance repairs and/or replacement of all of those doors.
With that, if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
MAYOR DICKEY: Do we have any speaker cards?
MENDENHALL: No, Mayor, we do not.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
Councilman?
SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve.
KALIVIANAKIS: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please?
KALIVIANAKIS: Ms. Mayor?
MAYOR DICKEY: Yes.
SKILLICORN: I lost my connectivity with the computer. I can't reboot.
SKILLICORN: Yeah, yeah. Adobe support is --
KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. Hold on a second.
MCMAHON: What would you like to see?
KALIVIANAKIS: Agenda item --
MCMAHON: It's right here.
KALIVIANAKIS: -- is this agenda item --
MCMAHON: Right here, the dollar.
MAYOR DICKEY: 9-C.
MCMAHON: $49,000 if we spend it.
KALIVIANAKIS: Yes. It's (indiscernible). Thank you.
Director Weldy, just -- one thing I just want to kind of clarify. As part of the annual door
maintenance and as -needed repairs begin, the facilities supervisor provides a list of
locations and time frames where the vendor is required to perform routine
maintenance on all town -owned buildings. I just want to know what that means. Is this
going through public works? Or is each of these 366 doors being directed by different
people to spend these funds? I guess, is there a review process?
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WELDY: Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, yes. So the facility supervisor works
directly for me; he's a direct report. He has two plant mechanics. They go around all of
the buildings, and either are doing on -call or tickets for door service that are received
through our process and/or they know that there is wear and tear on a particular door.
If that work can be done in-house, then it's done by staff. If not, then the door company
is called to perform those types of work. So yes, it's being tracked by not only myself
but the facility supervisor, also procurement and the finance department.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Because it just seems like the vendor is required to perform -- it
seems like it should be "requested to perform".
WELDY: When we give work orders to them, they're required to fill those work orders,
especially if we need fire department doors to open.
KALIVIANAKIS: But that's under the direction of your staff?
WELDY: Correct. Under the facility supervisor.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. And then the other thing was, when it says the "unencumbered
amount of $49,000", was that the 150 but the unencumbered amount was -- or
encumbered amount was 49,000?
WELDY: So the unencumbered amount is 49,000. The unencumbered amount is the
balance of that, which is 101,5. So that's what we had already allocated over the last
several years.
KALIVIANAKIS: And that's been spent?
WELDY: Not all of it. But that was in the original agreements. Annually, we typically
don't spend that much unless we have a pretty challenging situation. And we've had
those situations at the community center. On average, we're probably about 30 to
40,000 a year for maintenance.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. But by "encumbered" I'm assuming you mean that it's already
been allocated towards something?
WELDY: It's in a budget, but it's not encumbered because the contract does not allow
for that. So after this contract is approved, as work orders are received, the facility
supervisor will encumber small portions of that unencumbered money.
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KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: I think we had a second, did we?
FRIEDEL: Yes.
MAYOR DICKEY: Roll call, please?
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Skillicorn?
SKILLICORN: Yes.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember Grzybowski?
GRYBOWSKI: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis?
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
MENDENHALL: Mayor Dickey?
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you.
Thank you, Justin.
WELDY: You're welcome.
MAYOR DICKEY: Our next item is the legislative bulletins. Any comments about
anything? Yes, Hannah?
TOTH: I do have one. It's not necessarily municipality related, but I think it's important
for everyone to know. There was a almost unanimous passing of HB2623, which was
presented by Matt Gress. We had 57 yesses and three no votes, so I'll just call it
unanimous. But the bill was to defend victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking,
where, if someone was prosecuted on charges of prostitution, that they can now have
those revoked from their record should they have been victims of sex trafficking. And
that is now on the governor's desk. I know that's not technically town related, but these
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issues do touch everybody and I think it's important to give kudos to our legislature
where it's due.
KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. I'd just like to know the name of the three that didn't vote the
right way.
TOTH: Sorry. I'm not throwing anyone under the bus. It's not that they voted no, it's
that they didn't vote. Sorry. There's not three of them that are in trouble or anything.
MAYOR DICKEY: So the governor just signed that. She signed the all-important
Backyard Chicken Bill which now, everybody's -- you know, we always talk about
chickens. So maybe this will be the end of it. So they'll be allowed -- minimum
allowances for single-family homes on lots of one-half acre or Tess, they can have up to
six. But it's very -- has reasonable limitations on enclosure size and such.
I think -- I'm reading that she signed 2720, the ADU Bill, which is 75,000 or more people.
But I'm kind of surprised, but that's -- you know, I'm sure there's a lot of ins and outs to
that. So that's the one that -- the League obviously opposed that. Allows the ADU's,
casitas, and if you're above 75,000, it preempts already established ordinances that
cities may have. The casita doesn't have to look like the house. But there is a good
thing that the person has to live in the house, I think, who has the casitas. But it's quite
impactful.
She did -- oh, and she signed 2721, which is another middle housing municipal zoning
bill that the League could get behind, so they supported that, and she passed -- and she
did sign that. And she signed the bill that Hannah was talking about. So we wait and
see. They meet on Wednesdays most of the time.
Just real quickly. We got the second most bills introduced ever: 1,761. And second
highest ever. The League tracked 570 of them and registered in to testify on 25 of them
and registered an opinion on a 100 of them. So it's been a busy, busy week -- or session.
Anything else about that? No? All right.
Our next item is discussion of items that were brought to us, call to public. I don't
think --
TOTH: I actually do have one.
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MAYOR DICKEY: Okay.
TOTH: Or three, but all about the same thing. For the 5G ordinance with all of the
confusion with requests that we're getting from planning and zoning, I would like to add
to our next agenda to have a discussion about -- or a discussion about waiving our
attorney -client privilege on Campanelli's proposed ordinance, so that planning and
zoning may review that. I do think it's important that they're able to see what has been
said about the 5G request.
And also for consolidating Article 16-2 of the Town Code with Chapter 17, therefore,
expanding the project to include Article 16-2. I understand that this is adding a little bit
more work on our plates but for some background, our original code regarding these
was passed on a federal deadline that was given to us. It was not really reviewed. It's
over 100 pages of information that does deserve a thorough look and I know it's been a
couple of years, and everybody wants this done, but we also want it done right. So
that's my argument for that.
SKILLICORN: I would second that.
MAYOR DICKEY: Aaron, I would ask, does any of that require executive session, as far as
waiving rights or that kind of thing?
ARNSON: The advice regarding waiver of attorney -client privilege would -- I would
suggest that it be in executive session. The discussion about whether to formally act to
do so and whether to consolidate 16-2 with 17, that would be public.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. The -- okay. So we would have an executive session that
meeting you're here.
ARNSON: Yes.
MAYOR DICKEY: To discuss --
ARNSON: To come forth, correct.
MAYOR DICKEY: -- the waiver. And then possibly take action on it. The other item, I'm
not sure we could get that done in this amount of time. You know, that would be up to,
to have to talk to John and such. But I think we'll -- you know, we can move those items
forward if legally that seems like the process we can follow. I mean, I think at this point
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we're waiting for P&Z. There's all these, you know, time deadlines and things like that.
But they're not meeting now until July. So I'm looking to see if you think this is okay,
and it looks like you're saying yes.
ARNSON: It is. This is ultimately a policy directive from the council.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay.
ARNSON: And I -- you know, in terms of the agenda item, I think that I can probably put
something together for discussion.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. Okay.
Anything -- yes, sir.
FRIEDEL: I have something. I know that we passed the parking for at-home businesses,
but I think we need to bring that back and clean that up a little bit. Rachael and I had a
little discussion about that. And I know John's not available to do that right away, but
we want to rework that and take a look at the six visits being three roundtrips and that
kind of thing too. And then the enforceability of that, it's going to be complaint -driven, I
believe.
GOODWIN: Correct. And then I think there was some question about on -street parking
as well?
FRIEDEL: Yes. Yes. On -street parking, yeah. Right.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay.
TOTH: I'll second that if it's necessary.
MAYOR DICKEY: The timing is just the question.
FRIEDEL: Yeah.
MAYOR DICKEY: Just to make sure --
FRIEDEL: Correct.
MAYOR DICKEY: -- I mean, I understand --
FRIEDEL: Yeah.
MAYOR DICKEY: -- wanting to do it, but --
ARNSON: (Indiscernible). Sorry. I'll turn my mic on. And it would seem as though,
given the timing of summer recess and planning and zoning's meeting, that Hannah's
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item would be timely for that. Is that fair?
FRIEDEL: Yes, that's fair. So this will be after we come back then, correct?
MAYOR DICKEY: Probably.
FRIEDEL: Yeah.
MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah.
FRIEDEL: All right. That's good.
MAYOR DICKEY: It's our slow time too.
FRIEDEL: Yeah.
MAYOR DICKEY: So, okay. Thank you very much.
Page 44 of 44
Having no further business, Mayor Ginny Dickey adjourned the Regular Meeting
of the Fountain Hills Town Council held on May 21, 2024, at 7:07 p.m.
ATTEST AND PREPARED BY:
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
Mt. �!G
Gin Dick di, Mayor
Linda G. Meddenhall. Town Clerk
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the
minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the
Town Hall Council Chambers on the 21st day of May 2024. I further certify that
the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 18'" Day of June 2024.
nda G. Mendenhall, Town Clerk