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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDApacket__03-22-23_0704_446       NOTICE OF MEETING REGULAR MEETING STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION      Chairman Patrick Garman  Vice Chairman Bernie Hoenle Commissioner Kevin Beck Commissioner Mary Edman Commissioner Jill Keefe Commissioner Cynthia Magazine Commissioner Geoff Yazzetta      TIME:4:00 P.M. – REGULAR MEETING WHEN:WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2023 WHERE:FOUNTAIN HILLS COUNCIL CHAMBERS 16705 E. AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS, FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ Commissioners of the Town of Fountain Hills will attend either in person or by telephone conference call; a quorum of the Town’s Council,  various Commission, Committee or Board members may be in attendance at the Commission meeting. Notice is hereby given that pursuant to A.R.S. §1-602.A.9, subject to certain specified statutory exceptions, parents have a right to consent before the State or any of its political subdivisions make a video or audio recording of a minor child. Meetings of the Commission are audio and/or video recorded and, as a result, proceedings in which children are present may be subject to such recording. Parents, in order to exercise their rights may either file written consent with the Town Clerk to such recording, or take personal action to ensure that their child or children are not present when a recording may be made. If a child is present at the time a recording is made, the Town will assume that the rights afforded parents pursuant to A.R.S. §1-602.A.9 have been waived.    REQUEST TO COMMENT The public is welcome to participate in Commission meetings. TO SPEAK TO AN AGENDA ITEM, please complete a Request to Comment card, located in the back of the Council Chambers, and hand it to the Executive Assistant prior to discussion of that item, if possible. Include the agenda item on which you wish to comment. Speakers will be allowed three contiguous minutes to address the Commission. Verbal comments should be directed through the Presiding Officer and not to individual Commissioners. TO COMMENT ON AN AGENDA ITEM IN WRITING ONLY, please complete a Request to Comment card, indicating it is a written comment, and check the box on whether you are FOR or AGAINST and agenda item, and hand it to the Executive Assistant prior to discussion, if possible.             Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting of March 22, 2023 1 of 2 1.CALL TO ORDER – Chairman Garman     2.ROLL CALL – Chairman Garman     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 Commission, and (ii) is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. The Commission 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 commissioners may (i) respond to criticism, (ii) ask staff to review a matter, or (iii) ask that the matter be placed on a future Commission agenda.     4.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 22, 2023.       5.REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER     6.PRESENTATION: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office by Sgt. Philip Asiedu.    7.DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics.    8.COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN     9.NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 2023.    10.ADJOURNMENT     CERTIFICATE OF POSTING OF NOTICE The undersigned hereby certifies that a copy of the foregoing notice was duly posted in accordance with the statement filed by the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission with the Town Clerk. Dated this 15th day of  March 2023. _____________________________________________  Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant   The Town of Fountain Hills endeavors to make all public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities. Please call 480-816-5199 (voice) or 1-800-367-8939 (TDD) 48 hours prior to the meeting to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting or to obtain agenda information in large print format. Supporting documentation and staff reports furnished the Commission with this agenda are available for review in the Town Manager's Office.    Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting of March 22, 2023 2 of 2 ITEM 4. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/22/2023 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant to Manager, Mayor/Council Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 22, 2023.   Staff Summary (Background) The intent of approving meeting minutes is to ensure an accurate account of the discussion and action that took place at the meeting for archival purposes. Approved minutes are placed on the town's website and maintained as permanent records in compliance with state law.   Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends approving the minutes of the regular meeting on February 22, 2023. SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on February 22, 2023.. Attachments SUMMARY MINUTES AND VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT  Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/22/2023 02:32 PM Final Approval Date: 02/22/2023  TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION February 22, 2023 1. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairman Garman called to order the meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission at 4:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Chairman Patrick Garman; Vice Chairman Bernie Hoenle; Commissioner Kevin Beck; Commissioner Jill Keefe; Commissioner Cynthia Magazine; Commissioner Geoff Yazzetta Members Absent: Commissioner Mary Edman Staff Present: Deputy Town Manager David Trimble; 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 spoke. 4. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 25, 2023 MOVED BY Commissioner Cynthia Magazine to approve the minutes of January 25, 2023, Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting, SECONDED BY Commissioner Jill Keefe. Vote: 6 – 0 passed – Unanimously 5. REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER 6. PRESENTAION: McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission by Chairman Scott Grzybowski 7. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics 8. COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN 9. NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 10. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY Commissioner Kevin Beck to adjourn the meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting at 5:03 p.m., SECONDED BY Commissioner Cynthia Magazine. Vote: 6 – 0 passed – Unanimously TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS _________________________ Patrick Garman, Chairman ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: __________________________ Angela 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 in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 22nd day of February 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 22nd day of March 2023. _____________________________ Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 1 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 1 of 31 Post-Production File Town of Fountain Hills Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting February 22, 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. * * * * * TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 2 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 2 of 31 CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. I'm going to call to order. Fountain Hill Strategic Planning Advisory Commission meeting for Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023. I'm going to have -- and ask Angela if you could do roll call, please. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Sure, thank you. Chair Garman. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Chair Hoenle VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Beck. COMMISSIONER BECK: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Edman. Commissioner Keefe. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Magazine. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: And Commissioner Yazzetta. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Here. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: It looks like we have a quorum. Awesome. Okay. So I'm going to go to agenda items number 3 and see if there's any call to the public. I don't see anybody here right now. Anybody -- any comments from the website or any -- MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No one. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: No call to the public this afternoon. Okay. We we're going to move on to number 4, which is a consideration and possible action. It's the approval of the minutes of our regular meeting from January 25th, 2023. So I'll open it up for, if there are any -- COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: I -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- any motions or discussion points on the meeting -- minutes. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: I move that the minutes be approved. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: I'll second that. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Second, we have a second. Any discussion -- discussion on the minutes from last month? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 3 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 3 of 31 COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: I just want to say, it took an hour and half to read them, the minutes -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: We're going to talk about that -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Yup. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Okay. But I've -- it was fascinating to go back and read some stuff that I'd completely forgotten. So thanks, Angela. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: You're welcome. Yeah, these are actually verbatim now. We're using the Auto (ph.) software. So it has a time saver for assistance for these boards and commissions. And it actually gives a little detail, more information for the public as well. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Yeah, I've used Auto before. So that's why I saw it -- MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yea. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- I was, like, oh, oh, we have to clean up how we speak -- MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- because we sound terrible. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No. COMMISSIONER BECK: Permission to speak. So I read mine, and I couldn't even understand what I was saying. So you know, I figured well, it's a good lesson learned to speak in complete sentences. And if that's verbatim how I sound, I apologize. So any way, I'll articulate it better. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. Looking for my letter, right and left, I don't see anyone. So I guess we can put it up -- the motion up to a vote. The vote is to approve the minutes from January 25th. So all in favor say, aye. ALL: Aye. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All opposed say, nay. All right, looks like unanimous approval, Angela. Okay. Thank you, all. And thank you for bring up the -- the verbatim transcript. That's what I was going to bring up later in the meeting but we got that out of the way. Okay. So we're going to move down to our agenda item 5, which is reports by commissioners and the town manager. So I'm going to start on my far left, Jeff. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Nothing to report. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 4 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 of 31 CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Thanks. Cynthia. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Bernie will love hearing that I attended the community band on Sunday. And I kept looking at my calendar saying, Sunday? The Community Center isn't open on Sunday, until I pulled into the parking lot and saw all the cars. It was a trip. It was music from around -- on the third planet, which is us. Three planets from the moon. It was from Japan, India, Spain, Italy, and it ended up, of course, with the U.S. It was just -- it was a foot-stomping, wonderful experience. And I would love Bernie to tell Jeff on my left, exactly what kind of horn he played. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: I had the opportunity to play trumpet and a flugelhorn and do a couple solos. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Flugel? CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Sounds like a Dr. Suess instrument. But okay, anyways. Bernie, over to you. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: I received an email from the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists. And it's a subject near and dear to our hearts. Revision of a general plan. And this is for a 2050 revision of the Mesa General Plan. And what they were looking for is input on a survey for alternate transportation and cycling enthusiasts. And since I'm on the Board for Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists, that's one of the reasons I was on that list for survey input. And if anyone is interested in seeing how that plan is going and what they're working on, they do have a website and you can contribute if you, in our case, if we even bicycle through Mesa, they want our input on the survey. And it's called mesalistens.com. And it's open to the public. And it's really an interesting way to approach getting out their revision of the general plan. Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Thanks, Bernie. Jill COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Couple things. First, I wanted to thank Jeff for -- we, Good Living Greens, we had our -- our blue -- our ribbon cutting a couple of weeks ago. And it just absolutely warmed my heart to see Jeff in the crowd. My SPAC teammate and FM -- Fountain Hills Leadership Academy Teammate. I appreciate the support and encouragement. And it's a shoutout to the Chamber of Commerce who just does a wonderful job acknowledging the businesses in town. It's a special thing. So that's kind TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 5 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 5 of 31 of what's news in the Keefe household for us. The -- and I think that's it. I think I'll stop right there. Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Thanks, Jill. Kevin. COMMISSIONER BECK: For the last couple months, I've been kind of working off and on with the International Dark Sky Center. And as we know, Joe Bill (ph.) came and talked with some detail last meeting. Just as an update, I went ahead and joined the Board of the Dark Sky Center and we've been really primarily looking at the site. And you can see some work being done there. Jill talked a lot about it, so we don't need to repeat a lot of that. But we're -- we're definitely looking at different ways to fund. And hopefully, what I can offer is trying to work with some of the corporate funding groups and so forth. So I'm going to try that, hopefully. And I think this week, we'll be talking to ASU, president of ASU. And in time, Grand Canyon University, Arizona, so forth, to try to see what kind of educational grants can possibly help this, too. It -- it's kind of a longshot at this point, you know, I -- my opinion. You know, we've got 8.5 million of the 25 million. And we think that once, you know, we get going a little further, it's going to be more attractive. We're still looking for private investors but's pretty tough. That's a tough call, asking people to put up quite a bit of money. So any way, I'd be happy to give out dates to this commission here if you would like, you know, one that -- maybe every two or three months if you would like. Or something that's pertinent. Be happy to. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Yeah. I think that's important issue here in the town. I think that would be great, you know, we'll communicate on that venture, awesome. Okay. Dave, if you're filling in for -- for Grady, comments from the Town. MR. TRIMBLE: Sure. Thank you. Happy to be here. Filling in for Grady. Pinch hitting. I think I've been here once or twice before. He is up at a streets commission meeting. So he's definitely preoccupied today. So I'll pinch hit for him. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: I'm sure he'd rather be here. MR. TRIMBLE: I'm sure he would. Absolutely. I keep forgetting it's verbatim. The one thing that did occur at last night's town council meeting, the regularly scheduled meeting was the environmental plan was brought forth. And I know that you guys probably know about it more than I do. It kind of emanated from this group. And the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 6 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 of 31 town council did approve it. Largely intact. They did make some changes. But I think it still gets the main points across of what the group wanted. I know you guys worked on it hard. John Wesley (ph.) brought it forth and presented it. Did a great job as usual. And Angela went ahead and printed it out so we have those changes. I don't think we need to go through them all, unless you want to. But, you know, it was a spirited debate back and forth. But in the end, a few words here and there. And I think, like I said, it's got the -- the main idea of what was probably wanting to get done by this group. And a lot of it was already in the general plan. So that's my impression and my report of what's going on right now. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. Thank you very much. MR. TRIMBLE: Okay. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. I think that's it, then, for that agenda item. We can move on to our main presentation for this afternoon. I think many of you know that, in looking ahead, to look at strategic issues that are affecting the Town and to educate us more about those issues, one of the things is, I've been reaching out to other commissions and their chairs to see what kind of strategic plans that they're putting forth in their areas. And -- and one of them that really I think is impactful for the environment and for the Town is the McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission. And so we're able to get the Chair, Scott, to come in today. I -- we're kind of trading. He's briefing us today on -- on his Commission and their plan. And then I'm going to turn around and -- and brief his -- his Commission on -- on the Town's approved strategic plan as well. So this has been a long time in the making, getting our schedule to match up. So really glad, Scott, you could come today and brief us today. So thank you very much. And without further ado, the floor is yours. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Sure. So thanks. So again, Patrick, we have to give him credit because he reached out to us. I think it's a great idea. So I think we as commission members should, you know, maybe once a year, once every other year, at least, go talk to the other commissions. What are we doing? So that's what we're here for today. I won't take a lot of your time. But if you notice the title of this presentation is "Move More and Eat Less," right? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 7 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 7 of 31 So again, trails are very important as part of the strategic plan. And if you ever want to lose weight, you really need to just follow these basic principles. You need to move for and eat less. That's -- E = MC squared, right? It's very simple, right? Energy cannot be created in our bodies; it can only be transformed. So when we get out and we do the work and we hike and -- and it helps a lot. So with that -- so a couple of things before we just jump into MMPC, which I am the chairman of, and we've been around for quite a while. We've got some different organizations in town that help run our trail system. A little confusing so I listed them here on the slides. So of course, we have McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission. We're going to talk about that. We just go by MMPC, just like you guys go by SPAC. We also have the Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills, SCFH. They are a nonprofit organization run here in town. And with that, there's a suborganization of that called the Trail Blazers. Again, a bunch of non -- volunteers, nonprofit. And, of course, we have the Fountain Hills Parks and Rec Committee. So these four organizations are really what oversees our trails and parks in the town. So we're going to talk a little bit more how they -- there's not really a hierarchy but there is a little bit of confusion as to who does what. So with that, you know, let's talk about the MMPC. So the most important part of the MMPC is that our goals, these are the guiding principles, and towards the end of the presentation, I give you a lot of links that you can actually go and read all this online. But the most important part of this is, we have to maintain the natural beauty of the preserve. So what we say is preserve the preserve. You may hear us say that, right? There'll be discussions about, well, we need park benches. This is a preserve. There should be no park benches in a preserve. Right? So we have these discussion, much -- I'm sure, much like you have on your Commission about what -- what's good or not good for -- for the Town and the Commission. But with that, we need to minimize the human impact within the preserve. So that means, you know, nonessential facilities within the preserve. We do have two trailheads, which are terrific. We have the Golden Eagle Trailhead. So that does have a restroom. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 8 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 of 31 And also, we have the Adero Canyon Trailhead, which is a phenomenal feat -- the town work with Toll Brothers to get that done. It's awesome. Right? But we have to make sure we minimize commercialization in the preserve. Again, no park benches. No flags flying. Things like that. And we want to prioritize conservation over development. So if you've been out to Adero Canyon Trailhead recently, you could see all of that Toll Brothers construction. So if those before us weren't smart enough to come up with the preserve and buy all that land, that would all be houses right now. So yeah, right, we figured that out, way before my time, right? But within that, the guiding principles, we also have to provide public access to and within the preserve. And then we have to maintain a positive and safe experience within that. So we're going to talk about trails and how we build trails and why that's important, but we have to provide that safe experience. So that's the key or guiding principles of the MMPC. So with that, we recently did a 10-year trail masterplan. That was approved last year, right? The -- the trail masterplan goes along with many of our other plans. So one, it was consistent with the community services park trails and recreation master plan. If you remember that plan, the number one thing that was requested by most residents were more trails and con (ph.) activity. Not necessarily hiking but more trails, con activity, walking paths so they can get around town. Number one thing. So you know, that also highlighted in our plan some potential new trails which could be a little controversial. And so we did highlight that and it's in the plan. We also provide a trail vetting procedure in that plan so that, you know, if you wanted to -- how do we decide to make a trail, right? There's a vetting procedure now in that masterplan. So that we highlight all the procedures we have to go through. Who do we have to ask? How does it affect the preserve? We also have a good history of the preserve. DJ (ph.) is on our commission. He did a lot of good research. Those before us, you know, put it all together, so there's a great history now in that trail masterplan of how the MMPC was founded, how the preserve was built. And then, there's a link here, if you wanted to jump into the masterplan, it's on the Town website, again, if you wanted to read that. So I think that was a big feat of ours to get this 10-year plan put together and, you know, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 9 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 9 of 31 we do have three potential new trails. We call them PNTs, potential new trails, that we could build in that preserve. It's -- don't quote me on the acreage but we're somewhere almost 880 acres in the MMPC, right? So if you think about where Golden Eagle is in Eagle's Nest, all the way around to Adero Canyon Trailhead, there's kind of that -- that's our 880 acres. So it gets confusing, like I said, like, the Lake Overlook Trail, and the Botanical Gardens are not under MMPC purview. So the Botanical Gardens, as a matter of fact, is run by the Sonoran Conservancy. And then the Lake Overlook Trail is run, actually, by the Town. So, you know, one of the things we would like to do as a commission is to strategically figure out if there's a way to kind of bring some of that together. Just throwing that out there. But we all know that that could be a challenge to get that done. So with that, let's talk about the Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills. I think it's important to note what this volunteer organization does. Again, there's there website right there. Again, a nonprofit that does the similar thing as the MMPC but they want to protect and promote all of the Fountain Hills -- the trails, the Desert Botanical Garden, Lake Overlook Trail. And they also, gain, they have trail stewards. They do trail hosts. They do hiking throughout the year. So again, you can subscribe to their email newsletter. They do a great newsletter once a month. You can go to a guided hike. They just did a bird watching in Riparian and it was, wow. I wish -- I didn't even see that email. I wish I would have went. So it was great. So there again, they're a nonprofit organization. They have a board of directors like any other nonprofit. And they work with the MMPC and the Town to try to come up with a plan for the trails, how it all works. So here's an example of their newsletter. This was the one form last year, right? But basically it talks about, you know, how to become a trail -- if you want to become a trail host. If you want to become a trail steward. If you want to join to become a trail blazer. You know, it all -- they all need help, always, right? So then, nice thing about what we do here, even in these commissions, it's all volunteer. The MMPC is volunteer. The Trail Blazers are volunteer. The Sonoran Conservancy. So the cost to the Town is zero dollars for all this work we do. See, I got to put that on the record. Zero dollars. Cost nothing. So it's phenomenal. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 10 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 10 of 31 So that brings us to the Trail Blazers. So again, if you haven't been out on our trails recently, we just did a full maintenance starting in November. So we went through all of our trails. All of us Trail Blazers went out and did maintenance. Cleaned up. Got rid of the sluff, you know, if there's any water drainage, try to help reroute that. Sometimes you can't beat mother nature, you just got to -- just got to work with where the water goes. But again, this falls under the Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills as another nonprofit. So again, a bunch of volunteers, we go out, usually on Saturday mornings and sometimes during weekdays. Some of us still work for a living, so I can't do weekdays. But Saturday mornings in season is a great way to go out. We work three to four hours total. We either work on maintain trails. We may build new trails. It's all done by hand. It's all done with hand tools. So Scottsdale, you know, they have a lot more acres than we do. But they pay people, professional trail makers, builders. And they sometimes use machinery. That's why, if you ever notice, if you go down to -- if you go up to the Adero Canyon Trailhead and you look to your left, that's the Sunrise Trail. It's carved in the side of the mountain. You can see it. There's very few part of the McDowell Mountain Preserve that you can see from -- from your car. The Promenade, which is that one main old jeep road, is really the only thing you can see. That wasn't really done by us by hand. That was done by a previous owner who owned the land. It was called the Jeep Road. But we do a great job because we don't use, you know, heavy equipment to dig into the side of the mountain. It's all done by hand. So to me, it's always a great way to spend your Saturday mornings. When you're out there working, you always get terrific feedback from hikers, oh, wow, you guys are out there. This is great. You guys do a great job on the tails. Thanks. We now have these really bright-lined T-shirts so that if, you know, we're very visible for safety as well so you don't get hurt on the trails. People see us. So the Trail Blazers are fun. And again, it's another nonprofit under the Sonoran Conservancy. So this a -- this a view from the Sonoran Trail. And I -- I nicknamed this the Saguaro Canyon. So these are a lot of baby saguaro. They're only two-feet tall. And I just happened to be out here doing trail maintenance in November, December, and I TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 11 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 11 of 31 looked down and I was, like, oh, wow. That's a lot of saguaros in one spot. There was actually one Gemini in there which is weird because they usually don't grow up together, next to each other, because one will take over the resources they use. So we have, actually a Gemini or a duplex, whatever you may call it, saguaro. It's really cool. So again, I just love being out there. Love our trails, working on it. Then, if you ever wondered, how to we build trails, right? I threw a couple pictures in here. So first of all, if you notice over here, I joke about Bill Craig (ph.), he's our leader of this. But this is a big rock that seemed to be in the way, right? So I circled that there. But Bill says, oh, we got to move that rock. So he goes, how -- how do we move that rock. Well, if you notice, it's not moved. So that's me and Nate (ph.). We basically, I have a video, if you ever care to watch, about ten minutes of us with rock bars and moving this thing. Then you can see me out there, because I'm the rock guy because I still have some strength left and I move a lot of rocks. So I do like moving rocks. That's what I do. But it's all done by hand, you know. And that's how we build our trails. And we always enjoy it. So right now there is a north leg being built. We will finish this season, maybe next month. So if you take the Promenade, heading out to the Sonoran Trail, kind of where it does a left turn, that -- that -- that ridge line that goes on the other side of Eagle's Nest, we're building a leg of -- about a one-mile hiking leg there. So it's -- it's going to be a phenomenal trail. Because it's a whole different view point. You're kind of viewing down into the valley. It's a lot of fun. We have now, maybe ten miles of trails in the Preserve, between all the trails. So again, with that, you know, we've got a lot of options to get out there and hike. Again, we've mentioned -- I mentioned the Lake Overlook Trail. Now, this is very easy. There's parking right there by the -- by the Town Lake, accessible via the Panorama Drive. We got the desert Botanical Garden. Again, right off of Fountain Hills Boulevard. It's only, like, a one-mile hike. It's very short but it's beautiful. You got a lot of -- this is going to be a great Spring. As you all know, we had a lot of rain. We had a lot of -- we were out there last week, we already saw tons of flowers blooming. A lot of yellow poppies, the blue dicks, the blue pins, the purple-blue flowers, it's -- it's going to be a beautiful Spring. And then we have the beautiful Adero Canyon Trailhead, which is off of Eagle Ridge, you go past the Marriott Adero, right? That hotel. Great -- even just being up there, it's a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 12 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 12 of 31 great little promenade. You can hang out, have other -- there's a little picnic area. That really gives you access to almost ten miles of trails off the Adero Canyon Trailhead. I -- I have not used much of the Golden Eagle because you've to drive all the way down Eagle's Ridge. There's a smaller parking lot. And really, there -- your main hike there is to get out to the Dixie Mine Trail or to McDowell Mountain Park. So I usually tend to go to Adero Canyon Trail because you have so many options. So again, if you wanted to see the maps, they can always be found online. We're trying to minimize printing, wasting all that paper on the maps. So at the trailhead now, there's big signs. We just say, hey, take a picture of it. Most people use the All Trails App, which I put a here on for additional resources. All Trails, again, has all of the Fountain Hills trails, the -- the McDowell trails over Scottsdale. And then, links for you. Kind of website wise, you know, what we do for the MMPC, the trails, the masterplan is there, links to the Sonoran Conservancy, and All Trails, again, the mobile app. That's what we do at the MMPC. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Good. Is that it? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: That is it. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: That's it. All right. Thanks, Scott. So usually we have a -- a discussion or question and answer if you're okay answering some questions. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: No, that's fine. I didn't know if you -- some commissions we don't do that. But yeah. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: No, we -- yeah. So I started on my left last time, so I'm going to start on my right -- right to today. I'm looking at you, Kevin. And like I said, if you guys have comments and stuff, make sure to use your red light and I'll call on you. Kevin. COMMISSIONER BECK: So roughly, how many members do you have that help you on the trails for ten miles? Hopefully more than a couple. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Yeah, so the email list we have, we have well over 50 people on that email list. COMMISSIONER BECK: Okay. Yeah. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: And there some Saturdays we have almost 20 people that show TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 13 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 13 of 31 up. COMMISSIONER BECK: That's good. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: So like, right now on the north leg, we're doing a very steep area with a lot of rocks, so we've been limiting them to a few crews. So no more than 12 people just because of safety because of where we're at. But on maintenance in November, you know, most people like building new stuff. But maintenance is still good. We've had 22, 24 people on a Saturday. I think Bill maintains the list, Bill Craig, at least over 50 members. COMMISSIONER BECK: Wow. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: And we -- and this year is phenomenal, we actually got a few new members. So it's nice to see new people show up and do trail blazing to get out there and do some work. COMMISSIONER BECK: Thanks, yeah. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Cynthia. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: I have several questions, Scott. The first is, sometimes new people here are confused between Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills and Sonoran Conservancy of Scottsdale and where do they meet. And are any of our trails on Scottsdale property or are they all Fountain Hills? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Well, okay, so history wise, there is one section of the Sonoran Trail that cross into Scottsdale territory. It was a mistake. It was not done on purpose. And it is okay. Scottsdale says, okay, we got it, a mistake. We do have the Andrews- Kinsey Connector. So you can connect into Scottsdale through the Andrews-Kinsey Connector. So again, you would go up the Adero Canyon Trailhead and you start going to the Promenade then you would take a left turn. There's a sign. That actually will get you all the way into the Sunrise Trail, which goes along the ridgeline in -- in Scottsdale. We would love to have, in our trail masterplan, we've asked for a quartz connector, which would be up by that Sonoran Trail section. But we would -- from a Fountain Hills perspective, we only need to do like a couple hundred feet. And then, Scottsdale would have to do almost like a mile and a half to connect to the rest of their trails. We've been working on that for many, many years. I don't know if it will ever come to be. But it would be great to have another connector into Scottsdale. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 14 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 14 of 31 COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Now, aside from the trails, the organizations. There's Scottsdale Sonoran Conservancy and Fountain Hills Sonoran Conservancy. Do they work together or are they completely separate? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: They are completely separate but they do have liaisons, right? Even with the McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission, we usually have at least one member that's on also the Sonoran Conservancy as a liaison. It's not a requirement. But we've been very lucky over the past ten years, there's at least one or two members at MMPC that are also part of the Sonoran Conservancy, you know, so we usually have a liaison. It works the same way with the Scottsdale side. They have a liaison. Sometimes, they'll go to each other's meeting. But at a minimum, there's at least communication. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Okay. And then my final question is, it may be beyond your scope, but people are confused about, the Marriott Hotel, the CopperWynd Condos that are connected, or used to be connected to it, legally, I'm not sure they are anymore, but is -- so the hotel is considered Scottsdale but it's on Fountain Hills property, right? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: That's how I understand it, yes. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: The hotel is on Fountain Hills. They just call it Scottsdale's to get name recognition. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: They do it but they use a Scottsdale mailing address, so it's very confusing. I would agree. So but yes. They do say Adero Scottsdale and they do use a Scottsdale mailing address but they are on Fountain Hills property. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: So all the new housing back in there, that's Scottsdale? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: No. So -- it depends on -- so if you're coming up the Eagle Ridge Drive, those on the right are Fountain Hills. Some of those on the left are Scottsdale. Not all of them. It's very confusing. So -- because, like our Preserve actually starts going up -- as you come into Adero Canyon Trailhead, you know, you keep driving up. And then there's -- you can see all the new construction actually going on -- on the left. Some of our -- our Preserve, actually goes a little bit over to the left on top of those houses, right? And we -- we border a course up to Scottsdale. But we don't -- so if you look at TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 15 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 15 of 31 the top of the Scottsdale ridgeline, Scottsdale actually owns over on the Fountain Hills side. So there's, like, we don't have -- we can't go all the way up to the ridge, which would be really cool. We could build a trail right up on the ridgeline. But we can't, because that's Scottsdale property. It's very interesting -- COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: But the Sunrise Trail is Fountain Hills? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: That's Scottsdale. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Oh, okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Because that neighborhood down there in Hidden Hills is also Scottsdale. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Right. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: But we -- the good news is, we do have a connector, right? So we can get from the Fountain Hills side over to the Scottsdale side through the Andrews- Kinsey trail. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Okay. Thank you, Scott. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Sure. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Jeff. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Thank you. Scott, thank you for everything you do. I'm an avid hiker. I spend a lot of time over the Dixie Trail and the Thompson Peak. That one's a real leg buster, yeah. And what you do is a labor of love. Having to pack all the tools in and out and everything. So thank you for everything you and the volunteers do to keep the trails looking sharp. I wanted to ask you about the trails potentially in progress. How many additional miles is that going to add to the ten total that we have right now? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: That could be -- I'm just going to do some math on the fly. It could probably be another four miles of trails. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Oh, wow. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: So the -- the nice thing is the one that we would love to do would be very high up -- so have you been on Western Loop? COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: I have not yet, no. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Okay. So coming up the western side, that is almost straight up right to the top of the peak. So it's a lot -- it's a good climb. And then the back side of TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 16 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 16 of 31 the loop is a little easier, you know. It's a little more gradual. But one of the goals would be, at the very top of that Western Loop, to have a connector, another trail that comes off and goes up to almost 3,000 feet up the very top of the ridgeline. Almost at the -- right to the Scottsdale property. Then another shorter one, kind of in the middle between the Sonoran and that upper one, again, that would add a couple of miles. That would be really awesome because it would be almost at 3,000-foot elevation. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: No kidding. That's wonderful. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: And it -- it's just. I've been up there couple of times. We call it bushwacking, you know -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- just trying -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Yeah, following the ridgeline up, yes. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- right. And we usually file -- find animal hoof marks -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Yeah. Sure MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- to remember how to get down because -- how do we cross this thing -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Yeah. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- you just start looking for it. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Yeah, look for clues. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Animal prints. Animals know what they're doing. And so that would be a lot of fun. That was one. And then we have the one we just worked on and almost -- is the north leg (ph.), which we talked about. And then there is another potential where we can take the easy trail and connect it with the Overlook. Right now the easy trail is just kind of ends. It's just a lake. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: There's an option to kind of connect it back to the Overlook. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Um-hum. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Those are the ones that are in the master plan that we'd like to get approved. But each one of these has to go in front of the Council. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Yeah, that was my next question was, how they get TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 17 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 17 of 31 approved and that's -- you answered my question. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Follow the vetting procedures which are in the -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- guidelines. And then we -- we go to the Town Council with our recommendation -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- and say, here is what we can do. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: So north leg was approved last year and that should be done this year. But usually about -- the north leg, it's only one mile. And since it's a leg, you got to just come right back. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: There -- there is a potential for a loop on that one -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Um-hum, yeah. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- I don't know, that's controversial because it's got to be a little lower to Shadow Canyon -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- homeowners don't like trails, you know, they think it's their backyard -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Yeah. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- even though it's a preserve. But so -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- well, those are the three that we -- that are in the masterplan that we'd like to move forward with in the next couple of years. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Wonderful. Yeah, there's a great variety here of, you know, easy trails and more strenuous ones. So it, you know, takes -- takes everyone, so -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: The only one that's really considered difficult is that western loop. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: I'm going to have to check that one out. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: It's, like, straight up. A lot of switch backs. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Love that. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: So that's why, if we could build this other trail that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 18 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 18 of 31 connects off of that one, that would be phenomenal because it would be -- COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Sure. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- much more difficult and -- and -- in elevation as well. COMMISSIONER YAZZETTA: Excellent. Thank you so much. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Sure. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: So the western loop is shorter, though? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: It is -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: But steeper. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- but it's straight up. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Bernie. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: Two areas. One on your connectors. Have you looked at or do you connect in with some of the other major trail activities for the state, like, from Las Vegas down to Douglas or Maricopa County Loop? That sort of thing? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: We have not done that. There's been some discussion but usually the Sonoran Conservancy is the one in charge of that. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: Okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Not the commission. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: Second one, how do you handle, deal with, or program for use by the robust trail biking community? VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: Ah, very good question. So it's interesting because I'm on -- so if you on to the Adero Trailhead at -- going toward the, what we call the easy, the Overlook Trail, which takes you to the ridgeline, that is a no bike sign. No biking on that side. Then, for some reason, the left side, which is the Andrews-Kinsey Trail, which goes into Scottsdale, Western Loop and lower Sonoran, biking is allowed. And these are -- these are all multi-use trail, however, they are very narrow. If you haven't been, they're only about two-foot wide in most of Fountain Hills. So they're not, like, very wide. And especially, you know, if you're on there, hiking with your headphones on, and a bicyclist comes around the corner, you know, someone's got to pay attention. So you know, it is -- it is -- I don't remember the reason why the right side of the -- when you're coming up to Adero Canyon, up to Promenade was no bikes. That was before my TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 19 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 19 of 31 time. And then, the left side is bikes allowed. So but again, like anything else, it's one of those -- it's very difficult to enforce. We don't -- we don't have any law enforcement up there. We don't have any trail -- we don't have any rangers, park rangers, so. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: That's good. The other part is, are there any connections through the reservation? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: No. No connections through the reservation. The best connector we have would be, you could go to the Dixie Mind and to McDowell Mountain Park, State Park -- re -- no, it's a Regional Park, not a State Park. Which one is that -- it's a regional park, right? Regional Park. So it's under Maricopa County, not -- not a State. But nothing goes through the reservation. As a matter of fact, the Adero, Marriott Adero really wanted to make a connector from their little trail into the Preserve. And we -- we were all for it. That'd be great. However, the homeowner's associations involved in that area said, no. No, that's a no go. Because Arero is Marriott, not a Curios collection, whatever Marriott -- they have their premiere level, because they have the most outdoor activities of any Marriot is what they -- they claim. They have their own trail but it's really, again, it only goes about a half a mile and it ends and then you got to turn around. So they asked if they could make a connector, and we said, that'd be a great idea. However, homeowner's associations are involved because they own some of that property behind the hotel. So that -- that did not happen. But no connectors. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay, Jill. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Thanks, Scott. First, thank you for the work on the trails. I -- I live on the corner of Grassland and Dixie Mind and so we use the Trail quite bit -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Very good . COMMISSIONER KEEFE: -- and grateful for it. So -- so statement first. Question is, what are your observations, or the team's observations on humans' respect of the Preserve? Are you seeing evidence of litter or -- or how would you size up the human impact? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Yeah, I mean, I would say the -- it's quite low. I've always been impressed, the -- the cleanliness of our trails. You know, we -- we couldn't give a lot of credit to the stewards. We have a lot of stewards that are part of the Sonoran TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 20 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 20 of 31 Conservancy. And when you're a steward, they -- that's their trail. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Yeah. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: And they really take ownership of it. And they'll do maintenance when they're working on a weekday, just because it's part of their trail. So I -- so I give credit to them as well. The stewards may be helping clean up, this is, you know, is part of it, but, you know, I go out weekly, not in the summer, but in the off season I go out, you know, quite a few times. And I've rarely seen trash. I think it's well maintained, well respected. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: I would -- I would agree that, you know, our privy is kind of limited. We -- mine in back. And I've also noticed, I've seen bow hunting there. Is hunting allowed? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: No. Hunting is not allowed in the Fountain Hills Preserves. However, by state law, you can traverse with a bow to get to some -- so if they wanted to go to McDowell Regional Park via Dixie Mind Trail through the Golden Eagle, they could. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Oh, okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Okay. However, they cannot hunt in our trail systems. And that is -- is one of our Town ordinances. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Yeah. They hunt in the McDowell Regional which borders the Preserve. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: I don't know why they would walk there but they can walk through there and we have seen people with bows walking through. And that's their answer is, we're commuting. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. All right. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: I just want to make an observation. Scott, this is really an incredible thing for this town. And when you consider that it's -- as far as I understood you, 100 percent volunteer. I've -- I can't imagine a city, a town council ever turning you down, unless -- unless homeowners start objecting -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: I think we're all a little nervous right now. If we want to come and ask for a new trail this year. So -- but yeah, thank you for that. Yeah, and again, it -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 21 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 21 of 31 it is -- it is all volunteer. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Incredible. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: You know, the only time the town may have to spend money is if there's some kind of maintenance at the trail head itself, right? That trail head was put it as part of an agreement with Toll Brothers. But if there's any kind of maintenance or the plumbing goes bad, okay, the Town, Parks and Rec may have to do some work on that, but -- they actually had -- they had to do some rerouting of the water coming down the Promenade. So we did have to spend some money on that because the -- the water was just coming down. It was actually clogging up all the drainage anyway. So they -- last year, Kevin (ph.) from Parks worked with the contractor to do a reroute. Put some riprap in and -- and put some water drainage. It's been phenomenal. It's worked great. So a little -- little bit of money on the park side of things. But in general, all the trails, once you're past -- the kind of trail heads is all free. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. So I got a couple of things. You mentioned that the master -- masterplan a few times. Has that been approved to your commission -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Yes. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- by the Council? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Correct. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. But not everything in it was approved, you're saying. Because you said they're parts of it that you're -- you're going back to the Council for? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: So the way -- the vetting process was -- yeah, so -- so every trail has to be vetted. Even though we put it in the trail master plan as a potential new trail, we already did a preliminary vetting process. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Um-hum. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: If we decide we want to go try to build this trail, we have to now go back to the vetting process and then go to the Town Council with all of our reasonings and get that -- that new trail approved. But the good news is like any master plan, at least we got it out there. It's a ten-year plan and was already approved. These are what we're thinking of over the next ten years. Like, we already kind of added one in to the upper level, right? That was not necessarily in the trail masterplan. But it's in the same area. So we have -- we would have two now. The very high one was the one we kind of put in TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 22 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 22 of 31 the plan. And then there's that middle one that would go from the Sonoran, between that upper -- whatever we call them -- so that is kind of how we kind of had to put it together for the plan. So you know, it's hard to plan something for ten years, right? Do we really need the trails in ten years and -- or maybe things change. So -- so yes, we do have to go back and -- and get approval. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay, thanks. And then, strategically speaking, how is the relationship with Scottsdale? Do we border with the preserve or whatever they call their side? I mean, they have vast amount of land up there compared to what -- what we have. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: It's a -- it's a -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Is it an open and honest communication? Or is it just hit-or- miss? MR. GRZYBOWSKI: It's hit-or-miss. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Yeah. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: It really is. And we -- we're very lucky because Janice Holden (ph.) and Bill Craig, they've been around for so long. They've been around -- they are part of the Sonoran Conservancy as well, so they know a lot of people. So we kind of have a hit-or-miss relationship with them because of that. But we have never had any formal discussions. I have never -- they've never come to our meeting, we've never gone to their meeting. So it is, I mean, I met this Scott -- another Scott Hamilton (ph.) I think he's the director of the -- of their Preserve, once. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Are they generally pro-trails -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Yes, yes they are -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- anti new trails -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: -- correct. I would say they generally pro-trails. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: You know, but if, you know, if we want to get a connector into Fountain Hills, you know, how does that benefit them? So we'd have to -- because they're going to spend money to build that trail. So that's why we've been working that relationship for a while. We'd love to have that quartz connector from the Sonoran kind of into the Fountain Hills. But most of the work would have to be done on their side. So TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 23 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 23 of 31 it would cost them money because they don't have a lot of volunteers. Well, they do but they don't build the trails usually by hand. They -- they hire someone and they come in with machinery, build it. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. Okay, so the last thing then, to finish up, is -- so we, you know, our strategic plan is, ten-year plan, we open it every five years -- it's really kind of every five years, we rejigger it a little bit. So you have an open invitation. Either anything you want to talk about today or in the future that you think will benefit, you know, Fountain Hills, your Commission, you know, things that we -- we collaborate on, that is a strategic issue that we can put into our plan, you know, tends to get visibility as well, when -- when the Council approves them, as we were just talking about, the environmental plan, and it was initiated in our Town strategic plan. So the welcome mat is always open for you to come back and talk strategic issues and say, hey, this is something that we should maybe include in the Town strategic plan because it is so important to the entire Town. So anything that rings a bell today and then, the welcome mat is always out for you to come back and -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: That's a very fair offer. And I do have something on my mind right now. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: As we discussed about the three -- four different oversights to our trails, I think it would be good to have a strategic plan to have a -- a combined trails commission, something like that, right? Because like I said, the Overlook Trail is all Parks and Rec. However, we still have Trail Blazers volunteer to fix it and -- and reroute if needed. Then we got the Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills. So it'd be really good if we had a -- you know, either we change the scope of the MMPC to have more purview into those others, I don't, you know, we don't ever want to get rid of the Sonoran Conservancy. It's a great nonprofit, a lot of great people. But we need better communication. We -- we don't, you know, and -- and people get confused. Like Cynthia -- who's in charge of what and where, who does what? So it would be really nice if we had some type of a -- yeah, either we expand the scope of the MMPC, you know or with another commission. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Yeah. I wrote it down. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 24 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 24 of 31 MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Okay. Oh, Jill. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Why is the Overview Trail called out as a separate ownership or -- MR. GRZYBOWSKI: I think it was -- the way it was approved, because of the -- the homeowner's association and there are so many houses around that area and it was town property, they have the easement through that area, so it was the Town. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Oh, okay. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: There was a -- there was a proposal years ago to expand it and go behind -- wouldn't even affect any homes. And that was like a, oh, heck no. Not expanding trails around us. So, like, okay. Right? Because you can go right along the reservation, there is another potential -- Bill Craig came up with another two-mile that would take that Lake Overlook Trail and just go right along the reservation. Wouldn't even affect the houses. But anyway, it was voted down. No, no new trail there. But it was Town property. That easement is the Town, correct. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, my friend. MR. GRZYBOWSKI: Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Have a good afternoon, good evening. Okay. So we're going to move on to the next agenda item. Agenda item number 7. This is a new agenda item, just so you all know. And also be cognizant of the time. We -- we take a long time because that presentation was so interesting. But we're talking about discussion and possible action on future agenda topics, okay. So the way I envision this, which doesn't mean, you know, a plan falls apart at first contact, right? It's a -- so is that we, you know, kind of make a motion to talk about -- or -- or we have a discussion, we talk about something, and then, if somebody really feels strongly that there's something we want to pursue in the future, you know, we can make a motion and -- and vote on it. And then Angela and I can get to work it -- get to work in making it reality. So we'll try to do this an orderly process. But I -- I have the red light right now. So I wanted to mention so we don't duplicate things. Next month we have the Maricopa Sheriff's Office is coming in to brief us on law enforcement issues from a strategic bent. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 25 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 25 of 31 So it's a report that they've given to the -- the Council, the Town Council as well. So they're going to -- going to come in and brief us. So I'm looking forward to that presentation. Also, we have an annual legal update that we get as commissioners every year on, you know, open meeting laws and other things to be aware of as -- as commissioners. So that is also going to be on the agenda in the future, probably through the summer. I talked to Grady as well with -- with Angela, talked about the Town is going to brief us on the Town planning process, which includes our strategic plan, but also includes the general plan, and I think there's other issues in there as well, to give us a grasp on all of the future planning that the Town does and how we fit into that. How the -- how the strategic plan that we work on fits into that. So I think Grady is going to present that late Spring, early summertime. I'm still working on communicating with other commissioners and talking -- and bring them in to talk to us. And the Community Service Advisory Commission is -- is one that I am high on to bring in -- that chair in to talk to us as well. And we'll see if other folks are equally, you know, equally volunteer their time to come in and talk to us. So still working on other commissions and board in the Town to come in and talk to us. And then, lastly, and I'll shut up, is the history of the SPAC, too. I have a couple folks who've been on the SPAC since it was started, so I think they're going to tag team a little bit so that it's not just, you know, hey I remember when. And we'll put a little structure to it. So we'll have a -- a couple folks, old SPAC members. And probably Grady will help facilitate a little bit from the Town's perspective as well so we get a history of the SPAC, going back 10 years, 12 years. It hasn't been in action very long. But, all right. So that's what I have on the table. So who's first? Cynthia. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Well, what was occurring to me is that the -- the Town Council voted in November or December to bring the fire department fully into Fountain Hills. I think it would be very good to hear about the planning for that and what the differences will be, having it within our own management as opposed to having it be -- I keep, in fact having it be under Rural Metro, which is where it has been for a long time. Apparently, when Fountain Hills was brand new, we had our own fire department. And then we decided against that and signed a contract with Rural Metro, which has been our TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 26 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 26 of 31 fire -- it's been our fire department provider. But we own all the equipment and the only real difference is that we need a system for emergency notification because right now your -- Rural Metro handles that. I had a personal experience recently where 9-1-1 was called. It happened at Bashas' and they wanted the address. Well, if it's an in Fountain Hills Fire Department, they'll know where Bashes is as an example. I'd like to be hearing more about this and the affect it will have on us. Fire Department update. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Any more comments -- Commissioners heard about that, been reading up on that? The Councils made the decision, right? I think -- COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: They have made the decision CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- made the decision, so we are going away from Rural Metro -- COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Right. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- and we are going about creating our own fire department. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Right. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: That's an excellent topic. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: The biggest change is payroll. Because we have to start paying the fire staff. And we haven't had to do that. That's been part of the contract with Rural Metro. So there's a cost element. It's a big one. But the Council, after much information, decided it was worth it. So I do have a concern, I hope I'm wrong, that if it comes again before the new Council, there may be a lot of -- excuse me -- CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Discussion. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: -- discussion. That says it nicely. Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. Go ahead, Kevin. COMMISSIONER BECK: So two questions, really quick. Right now, I imagine, I'm assuming, that we're paying Rural Metro a contract fee for that. So hopefully, it may not balance that but it least gives some reprieve of the salaries, I hope. Is that correct? COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Dave, do you know the answer to that? MR. TRIMBLE: Say again, I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: David, do you know the answer to that? MR. TRIMBLE: You know, it's a -- it's a good question. And I know that the budget TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 27 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 27 of 31 folks are working on that right now. I think some of the preliminary numbers that are coming out are a little bit better than we initially thought. When you compare what we're paying Rural Metro versus what we would potentially pay to have our own employees. And it's -- it's coming out close to a wash -- COMMISSIONER BECK: Good. MR. TRIMBLE: -- which is way better than we initially thought, I think. So a little bit of previews and good news that you'll hear at the retreat next Tuesday. So don't quote me on that but if the numbers hold together from the preliminary stuff that I kind of looked at, it's going to be a little bit better than we thought. COMMISSIONER BECK: That's good news. And my second question, I'm -- also from the comments, and so it does include the emergency services. I mean, you know it depends, and Arizona pretty much as part of the fire department, at least most of these municipalities, but all of the ambulance and EMTs and all would be included in that to be local, correct? COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: That's right. COMMISSIONER BECK: Yeah. Thanks. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Jill. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: So under that -- the topic of, how do we utilize and pack this backlog of content we want to work through over the course of our next meetings. As we spend our time together, but I'm hoping is that every minute we spend together is toward the investment in gaining knowledge to update the plan in 2024. And so I'd like to be able to trace everything back to the why of that. And I -- hopefully, you mentioned that Grady would come in and talk through the relationship of all the -- all of the plans and how they hang together. After that, I -- I -- after we've gotten that level set, I'd like to see us do a little bit of a gap analysis and then say, okay, what do we need to hunt down to make sure that we comprehensively covered the ground. So I don't know that we can fill the backlog, we can get ideas today, but I think once we get that level set, what's comprehensive but not duplicative in all the other plans. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Right. Okay. Thank you. Any other topics. That's a good one. Remember, some of these are contingent on my ability and Angela's ability to pull a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 28 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 28 of 31 rabbit out of a hat, you know, to get people to come and talk to us intelligently about the topic at hand. So some are, like, great, I'll do it tomorrow. Others are, like, I'll be available in September. So it's -- so just understand we're -- we're trying to facilitate and work on these topics. Jill. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: I do actually have a topic to suggest, though, after I just said let's wait until we, you know, covered the ground. But still, I -- I would love to have a session on the downtown plan. Specifically, around the nighttime lighting as it relates to the Dark Skies Observatory coming in. If we're going to have a lot of nighttime traffic here, and I hope we do as a business owner, then, they need to be able to walk from A to B. And specifically walk to my store, if you don't mind. I'm teasing. But -- but we -- we need to be mindful about the safety of our -- our visitors that we intend to attract. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Downtown plan -- there's also a Shea -- Shea Corridor Plan, so we can look at these -- no -- COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Yes. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- and -- and just to add on, you know, we do have the flexibility, that's the good thing. I mean, we look at the past and, you know, we start with the, we have four pillars, right? The finance and economics, environmental, health, and safety. You know, there has been other pillars before that. We can change those if we want. So -- so we're trying to get a good foothold so that we can come at this and start building that structure exactly as you said. So I'm -- I'm tracking. COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: I'm -- I like structure, too. So what we'll do -- all right, thank you for that. All right. Get to my left. Things look good for now. I don't -- oh, go ahead, Bernie. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: It's -- it's sort of interesting, we're a planning commission, not an operational commission. So there's a fine line, a lot of things that we hear about coming in are pretty operational oriented and we just need to see where they fit into the Council-approved planning process. As far as a topic goes, it's very current and it's more along the operational line. But as a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 29 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 29 of 31 member of the Citizen's Street Committee, it's getting a great deal of attention. I will have a presentation to the retreat, but I think it's -- it's important that we understand what's going on with that commission also. Citizen's Street Committee -- fixing the roads. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Is that a commissions or -- VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: No. It's a Citizen's Streets Committee. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: I -- I've heard of that. I didn't see -- COMMISSIONER KEEFE: Bernie, could you say more about what that is? I -- I -- no? Okay. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: I will look it up. I've heard it. It's not on the Town's website under commissions and boards so -- but I will look it up now. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: No. I was facetious. Yes, I can say more. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Oh. VICE CHAIRMAN HOENLE: It is a group of individuals. We started off with about 14 and we have meetings to look at various aspects of what it's going to take to fix and repair the roads. And that's a simple and high level as I can get. We've been working on it for sort of 18 months now. It started as a three- to six-month get it over. But it's a very complex issue. And there's lots of moving parts. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: So last couple of minutes to close this off, just remember, different commissions and -- and commissioners have looked at ways to understand strategic issues in the Town. They've done it different ways. They've had big citizen meetings where they had paper, you know, and had -- split everybody up in groups and wrote down topics and tried to figure out what the town was looking for. We've done online surveys. Several -- quite a few of those to -- to ask questions. Done one-on-one, things like that, what we've done today. So the -- the sky's the limit as far as trying to understand in a way that's doable, what's important to the folks of -- of Fountain Hills. And -- and for us to -- to try to echo that the best we can in our commission. Okay. That was my -- looked like you were going to hit -- COMMISSIONER KEEFE: I -- I do have -- one more request related to that. Besides the presentations and hearing the other perspectives, I -- I -- I'd like us to spend some time doing an inventory of the data that we would need around what ten years from now TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 30 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 30 of 31 is expected to look like demographically, economically. I think we have to understand where the puck is going so that we meet it there ten years from now. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. All right. So we're going to -- I don't think we need to -- to vote on those. I wrote those down. And like I said, it'll be the path of working through these to try to present these to us. So I'll work on them and I'll get back to you and tell you what -- what my progress is, both good or bad. But all real good ones and I wrote them all down. Thank you very much. Okay. So at the end, you guys have already heard a lot of comments from me. So let us move on to number 8 on our agenda, which is comments from the chair. So I did want to mention, which they already -- we already talked about but I wanted to echo that my -- my statement that I make over and over again is that things that we put in our -- our, the Town's Environmental Plan that it is approved by the Council tend to get done. And the -- what we put in the plan that was just approved 11 months ago, it was in March last year, was that the Town should have a stand-alone environmental plan. Well, the Town approved a stand-alone environmental plan Tuesday night. So last night. So check mark to -- to the Town for doing that. So just so everybody knows, things -- things do get done that's in our plan. I want to mention, too, steal a little thunder so that you call be thinking about this, but odds are pretty high that -- that Mary (ph.) is going to be moving on this year, this Spring into the Summer. So I, you know, if you see her, you know, I think she's going to be moving out of Fountain Hills. So we'll probably have at least one opening on the -- on the commission as we move into the Spring. One more thing. Where I'm going after this, we are doing -- we are having a Fountain Hills Leadership Academy meeting this evening. Part of that Board, which recruits folks from our Town and teaches them about the Town, how the Town operates so that they can be good steward to the Town in the future with whatever position they choose, whether it's a volunteer position, elected position, or -- or working for the Town. And that has been going on for at least six years now and going into the seventh year. And starting at the end of this month, applications will be open for Fountain Hills Leadership Academy Class 7. So we will see that in the Times. So you can start talking to your friends, people that will TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS Page 31 of 31 FEBRUARY 22, 2023 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 31 of 31 be good. We got a lot of them last year in the class. Jill and Mary were in the class, of course, Jeff. I -- I'm an alumni as well. So think about that. It's a great -- also a great way to -- to be part of the Town. And it sets you up to be very knowledgeable about the Town going forward. So those applications will be open starting next month. Okay. That's the end of the agenda. Did -- did I miss anything. Is there anything else anybody wanted to bring up? Anybody have any motions? Anybody want to make a motion as far as the -- ending the meeting? Or continuing the meeting? COMMISSIONER BECK: Move to adjourn. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Have a second? COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Second. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of adjournment, say aye. ALL: Aye. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Any opposed. COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Hearing none -- COMMISSIONER MAGAZINE: Thank you. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- meeting is adjourned. Thank you all very much. [MEETING ADJOURNED] ITEM 5. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/22/2023 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant to Manager, Mayor/Council Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/22/2023 02:32 PM Final Approval Date: 02/22/2023  ITEM 6. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/22/2023 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant to Manager, Mayor/Council Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  PRESENTATION: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office by Sgt. Philip Asiedu. Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/22/2023 02:32 PM Final Approval Date: 02/22/2023  ITEM 7. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/22/2023 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant to Manager, Mayor/Council Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics. Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/22/2023 02:32 PM Final Approval Date: 02/22/2023  ITEM 8. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/22/2023 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant to Manager, Mayor/Council Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/22/2023 02:32 PM Final Approval Date: 02/22/2023  ITEM 9. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/22/2023 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant to Manager, Mayor/Council Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/22/2023 02:32 PM Final Approval Date: 02/22/2023