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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024.1015.TCRM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL October 15, 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 5:30 p.m. Members Present: Mayor Ginny Dickey: Vice Mayor Brenda J. Kalivianakis; Councilmember Gerry Friedel; Councilmember Peggy McMahon; Councilmember Hannah Toth; Councilmember Allen Skillicorn Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson; Town Clerk Angela Padgett-Espiritu TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 1 of 72 Post-Production File Town of Fountain Hills Town Council Meeting Minutes October 15, 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. * * * * * TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 2 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: Good evening, everyone. Welcome. Please stand for the pledge, and remain standing, if you like, 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. Tonight, we have Rev. Cathy Northrup from Community Church of the Verdes. Hi. NORTHRUP: Good evening. Would you bow your heads with me? Let's pray together. Almighty God, we know that you are present everywhere, but we pause to invoke a special measure of your presence at this Town Council meeting tonight. May your spirit descend upon us now, and may it quiet each person here. May it unite each person with each other. May it calm any anxiety within us, quell any frustration we feel, instill in each of us any voice but yours, the voice of reason, of grace, and of wisdom. May we be slow to speak and quick to listen. May we discern wisely and well. May we each be blessed by this time together, and may the Town be blessed as well. Hear this, our prayer, in Jesus' name. Amen. ALL: Amen. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: And Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Here. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 3 of 72 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: 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 that agenda 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 the 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 very much, Angela. Just before we get started, I wanted to say that item 9A regarding the appointment process, the 1487 challenge, was only allowed to be listed on the agenda if the challenge had required further discussion and decisions, and since the 1487 statute didn't apply in this case, the item will not be heard, but if anyone who had planned to speak to it would still like to, the -- we would have the Call to the Public. So just wanted to let you know before we got started. And as always, we start with our reports by our Town Manager and our Council. Rachael. GOODWIN: Mayor, Council, good evening. Good evening, everybody. It's been a busy week around Town Hall. There's a couple of things I wanted to highlight. First, I wanted to welcome one of our newest staff. Today is day number two for Mike Pelton back there in the back. Mike joins us. He is our new community relations director, so you are going to be seeing quite a bit of him and his handiwork. So we're excited to have him. So welcome, Mike. One of the biggest programs we have going on is this Saturday. It's our annual Make a Difference Day. For those of you who are joining us, thank you. We appreciate it. There are more than 400 volunteers that contribute over 1,800 service hours on Saturday alone. It's a really big day. We have 38 residential projects as well as a number of projects around town, including Desert Vista Park, Fountain Hills High School, as well as here on the Town Hall campus. We'll have opportunities at the Community TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 4 of 72 Center to make cards for our -- holiday cards for our seniors as well as write letters to our veterans. So there is plenty of opportunity to be involved. And a reminder that Make a Difference Day is a great opportunity to strengthen the ties in our community and address needs, and in short, we can all make a difference. So I look forward to seeing many of you there on Saturday. And then a reminder that next Saturday, the fun doesn't stop. It will be our Spooky Blast. We'll be celebrating Halloween over at Four Peaks Park next Saturday. It is a darn good time. It is usually packed with kids and candy and fun. But we could still use a few volunteers, so if you're around and want to join us, I know the staff would love to have you, and you can volunteer through Kim Wickland, our volunteer coordinator. With that, that's my update. MAYOR DICKEY: Well, thank you. Councilwoman Toth? TOTH: Well, hello, Fountain Hills. I dressed to theme, kind of. Ballots are out. If you haven't received it yet, I did speak with the County Recorder. He says there wasn't any delays in mailing them, so you should have them by tomorrow or Thursday. Make sure your voice is heard this election. And I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of these deadlines. If, on tomorrow or Thursday, you did not receive a ballot and you did want one, there's still time if you log into beballotready.vote to request a mail ballot by the October 25th deadline. Please remember to drop your ballots either in the mail or here at Town Hall by October 29th. This is extremely important to ensure it is received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. October 25th also begins the early in-person voting. That's going to be at the Methodist Church in town. It will not be at the Community Center or Cornerstone. If you'd like to wait until Election Day, just do me a favor and, like, check your tires, like, the 1st or the 2nd, make sure that you're good to go. But we'll see you at the Community Center, Methodist Church, or Cornerstone Church on November 5th. On a personal note, please do not hesitate to contact me should you need any help, wanting any advice. You all know where I stand. There's no secret what bias might be there, but I'm more than happy to offer myself as a resource. I literally spend day and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 5 of 72 night researching these things, so if you need help on judges, propositions, if you want my advice, please reach out. If you don't, then don't. Thank you. FRIEDEL: Thank you, Mayor. Recently, I attended the Domestic Violence Regional Council [sic] where we heard from some survivors, and it's -- it was very heartbreaking, and it's just very important to know that their voices are very important. So again, Wednesday night, our fountain will be purple in honor of remember domestic violence in our town. Please support the cause. I attended a ribbon cutting for Healthy Heartbeats here in town, Debbie and Al Romano. And Debbie's got a new cookbook out. It's very healthy and very -- some very good recipes in there, so check that out. I also had the privilege of attending the October 7th memorial service of the terrorist attacks against Israel over at the Chabad here in town, and that was very, very heartbreaking, some of the videos that we saw. And so we are in full support of Israel in the Town of Fountain Hills, so again, I was honored to be there. And as Rachael mentioned, Make a Difference Day. I look forward to volunteering again and helping on one of the projects here in town. So that's this Saturday, so if you're available, come on out and join us. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: (Indiscernible). MCMAHON: Good evening, everybody. I was able to attend the Chamber's successful Health Walk this past weekend and helped to host the Town's Dementia Friendly table. It was very interesting, and a lot of people came by. Also, I was fortunate today to be able to attend a business retention on-site visit with Dr. Jay from our Fountain Hills schools, also with Betsy from the Chamber, and of course, Amanda Jacobs, our Economic Development Director. And there are a lot of successes going on at our schools, very -- and very, very impactful for our kids in a positive way, and there'll be some great announcements coming up in the future. Also, I will be also attending the Make a Difference Day, and in fact, we're usually assigned cleanup at the high school, which is a lot of fun. So anyway, you know, there's so many things going on with Spooky Blast and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 6 of 72 everything, so, you know, I hope you guys all attend that because that's always a very special event. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Vice Mayor? KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. It's good to see you all tonight. Thank you for coming. For you people at home, we have a really nice turnout tonight, which is always wonderful. I'd like to greet the people on Cox Channel 11, YouTube, livestreaming, and of course, live here in the audience. Meaningful forms of citizen engagement and social accountability can result from better governments, which means open dialogue and mutual respect. So I appreciate you all being here so we can dialogue and make our town the best it can be. I share the thoughts with Gerry. I stand with Israel. On the 6th of October, I posted something publicly. Some of the people said that it would be nice if you -- if you could read that at the Town Council meeting. So in honor of those constituents, my sentiment was one year ago tomorrow, on October 7th, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip leading to at least 1,189 deaths and the abduction of 251 people, including 44 seized from the Nova Trance Music Festival and at least 74 from the Kibbutz Nir Oz community according to Israeli figures. Let's please keep Israel in our prayers. They've been under siege for over a year, and I just can't imagine what it would be like to be living there today. So I pray for them. I am also on the Public Safety, Military and Courts Commission [sic], which I really love being on. Being on that commission, it broadens the horizon from doing local politics and nonpartisan potholes and infrastructure, and it -- they involve themselves with international, national, and statewide affairs. And so it's a great fit for me. I love being on that commission. This week, we're going to be covering 2024 elections and the foreign influence on our American elections. It's a -- it's a real issue with foreign governments trying to tilt the scales one way or another, so it's something that we always have to be meaningful, we always have to be aware and pray that our government officials are watching out for TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 7 of 72 foreign invaders to coming here and trying to manipulate our elections. Lastly, I will be, also, at the Make a Difference Day this weekend. I've got the really great task of visiting all the different sites and providing food and snacks and thanking them for participating, and so I'm really looking forward to that, maybe taking some pictures. And there's going to be a website that you can go and look at all the pictures of people making a difference. So thank you, Ms. Mayor. That's all I have. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Hey, I want to acknowledge there's -- I see some guests here in the crowd. Actually, welcome to our meeting tonight. But I see students. Feel free to stay after your recognition. You can stay for the whole meeting, if you like. You're very welcome. But I also see some Italian flags there, and I see Steve. I want to just say, you know, thank you for coming. I know you have your proclamation tonight. You know, I do see there was -- over in Scottsdale, they're having, like, an Italian festival. BAGGIO: (Indiscernible). SKILLICORN: I know. Wouldn't it be nice if it was Fountain Hills, right? So on that, you know, there's a couple other things that are going on. Last Friday, I did happen to stop by the Falcons football game. There's another one this Friday. And the evenings are so nice temperature-wise. It's nice to get out and enjoy that. And a couple other things. I know Rachael mentioned Spooky Blast on the 26th. If anyone has a little too much candy, the next day, there is a hiking challenge -- or for the month of November, there's a hiking challenge, so go ahead and go to the experiencefountainhills.org website to check that out. That's all. Thanks. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. So you can see, obviously, the weather changes is what makes us start getting a lot of action here. I got my fall shirt on, so I figure we -- finally, we're going to get some good weather. The 23rd annual Arizona Cities and Towns Week is October 13th through the 19th, so it started on Sunday. Cities and Towns Week is set aside each year to recognize the services cities and towns provide as well as honor elected officials, staff, and volunteers TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 8 of 72 who serve in municipal government. More information at azmag.org [sic] and at our site. And speaking of volunteers, again, I want to thank for Kimberly Wickland and for Rachael and all of the staff and, obviously, all the people that come out and do it, and I do appreciate that. Vice Mayor will be -- I usually get it off easy because I do a little bit at the high school, but then I get to wander around and say hi to everybody, but I'll be at my 50th high school reunion, so I won't make it this year, but she's going to be doing that for me. But we really sincerely thank everybody for doing it. I'm just going to say what I'm doing because we have a lot of Stellar Students and proclamations and stuff, so I'll just set -- kind of set the table, and then we'll do it. So we'll do the Stellar Students. I read your -- read what your teachers say about you up here, and then Angela will give you your certificate when we're all done, and I'll come down there, and we'll take a picture of all the kids for the paper. And then while I'm down there, we will do recognition for our Sister Cities commissioners who -- to thank them for their work, then I will be doing proclamations. So one of the proclamations I was going to do -- I'm not going to actually do the whole thing, but I do want to announce that it is Energy Efficiency Month, as requested by Valerie Shaffer and Jen Springman from Horizon Strategies, which is -- they have colleagues there, including Jessica Pacheco, who was with the Arizona Chamber, and past Gilbert mayor, Jenn Daniels, and they do this on behalf of businesses and organizations. They could not be here, but they do call upon residents, businesses, and organizations to join in the effort to make our community more energy efficient. By working together, we can create a brighter, more sustainable future for generations to come. Apropos today. Italian Heritage Month. Steve Baggio will be coming up, as he mentioned at our last meeting. So my family name is Russo (ph.), which is kind of the Smith of Italy, and so I'm very happy that you're going to be doing this. We'll be lighting the fountain green, white, which is easy, and red on Thursday, October 24th. And then after we're done with that, Councilwoman Peggy McMahon, who is a member TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 9 of 72 of the Fountain Hills Coalition, will be presenting the Red Ribbon Week proclamation to Jackie Needham of the East Valley Young Marines. So we're going to start with the Stellar Students. So I'll say your names. You come on up, and then stay here, and then we'll take a picture. So we have a Little Falcon this time, Emma Marcetta. Is Emma here? Emma? Come on up. Heard that little "yes". "Emma is a pleasure to have in class and is so eager to learn new things, and she's always lending a helping hand to her classmates." Mom and Dad -- everybody can stay up here with you. "She's kind, responsible, safe, and respectful and really exemplifies the Falcon way. " Emma Marcette, yeah. We move on to McDowell Mountain School, and we will start with Brody Braswell. Is Brody here? Come on up, Brody. "Brody exemplifies what it means to follow the Falcon way. Each morning during playground duty, Brody takes the initiative by picking up around the school and showing great care for the appearance of our campus. In the classroom, Brody demonstrates an eagerness to learn and a strong work ethic. He's attentive and enthusiastic about mastering concepts and puts forth his best effort to create outstanding work. Brody's kindness shines through his interactions with peers and teachers making him a role model in and out of class." That's Brody. Our next student from McDowell Mountain is Isabella Garcia. Is Isabella here? Oh, well, I will read about her. "Isabella is always courteous and considerate in the classroom and with her peers setting a positive example for others. Her dedication to her studies is commendable, and she consistently puts forth her best effort and approaches each task with a strong work ethic. Beyond academics, she's a kind-hearted individual, fosters a supportive environment, and is ready to lend a helping hand. According to her art teacher, whenever Isabella is in art, she's eager to begin her projects, takes her time to ensure quality, and maintains a positive attitude. We are proud to celebrate her accomplishments and contributions to our school community." Isabella, we'll clap for you. From the middle school, Sky Madero. Is Sky here? Come on up. "I am pleased to recommend Sky Madero as a Stellar Student. I have the pleasure of teaching her this TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 10 of 72 year and have consistently been impressed with her academic abilities, her positive attitude, and dedication. Sky is a bright and motivated young individual who demonstrates a natural curiosity and a passion for learning. She's kind, respectful, and always willing to help her peers. Sky always shows the Falcon way." I see a theme here. That's Sky. Also from the middle school, Carson Adams. Is Carson here? Come on up. "I'm pleased to recommend Carson as a Stellar Student. It's a pleasure to have him in my class. He's a dedicated and conscientious student who does his best. Carson consistently shows initiative, works well independently, and collaborates effectively with others. Carson is always kind, respectful, responsible, and safe." That's Carson Adams. Last, we always do the high school. Nolan Saylor. Is Nolan here? Come on up, Nolan. All right. Now, "Nolan is someone who embodies a genuine passion for learning and a relentless pursuit of knowledge. Nolan approaches each concept with curiosity and dedication, consistently going beyond the requirements to deepen his understanding. Nolan has definitely shown himself to be responsible, respectful, safe, and kind." Nolan Saylor. And our last high school student is Jacquelyn Ahern. Is Jacquelyn here? Well, we're going to read about her. "Jacquelyn is a poised, polite student, respectful, and one of the most hard-working. I work very closely with her, and I can personally attest to her kind demeanor and her Falcon work ethic. She's always willing to help out when needed and will greet you with a smile when doing so." Let's give a hand for Jacquelyn Ahern. All right, guys. Torture's almost over. We'll look at the newspaper guy here, Bob, and smile. Now, you're famous. Thank you so much. All right. Very good. We're going to start with honoring our members of the Sister Cities Advisory Commission. And I'm going to see if Bev Tall is here. Is Bev here? Wasn't sure if she was going to make it. Well, her colleagues said this about Bev. "We would like to recognize Bev Tall, who was appointed to the Sister Cities Commission on June 2016. Bev served as Chair and contributed her time and considerable talents to the Sister TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 11 of 72 Cities Advisory Commission, and she's sincerely appreciated by Council, our fellow commissioners, and all of the town residents." So let's give a hand for Bev, who's not here. We'll get her her certificate here. So next, Lisa. I know you're here. Come on up. Come on. Come on. She's always taking the pictures, and now she's going to be in one. You can hold this, and I'll read all about you, and then just hang out and we'll get a picture. Okay? RISTUCCIA: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Perfect. So Lisa Ristuccia. "We'd like to recognize Lisa, appointed to the Sister Cities Advisory Commission by the Town Council in September of 2018. During her tenure, Lisa served as Vice Chair and generously contributed her time and talents to the Commission. Her dedication to Sister Cities and the Town of Fountain Hills is evident through her many hours of volunteer service, which are deeply appreciated by the Council, her fellow commissioners, and the residents of our town." Thank you, Lisa. Would you like to say a few words and then we'll take a picture? No? Okay. I guess we'll just take the picture, then. RISTUCCIA: Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. You're off the hook. And is Zarrin here, Zarrin Caldwell? Come on up, Zarrin. You can say a few words, too. So here is yours. It is kind of heavy there, see. So Zarrin, "We would like to take this opportunity to recognize Zarrin Caldwell, who was appointed to Sister Cities by the Town Council in November of 2021. During her time on the Commission, Zarrin was actively involved in projects and all their initiatives. The Council and her fellow commissioners appreciate Zarrin's knowledge, dedication, and contributions to the Commission and to the Town of Fountain Hills." Thank you so much. CALDWELL: Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Want to say something? Oh, here. CALDWELL: No, that's okay. No, just we had a really nice Sister Cities heritage celebration on Saturday. We had music and food from Poland, Germany, and El Salvador, so that -- well, you were there, so yeah. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 12 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: It was very wonderful, yes. And I wanted to say that out there. I forgot. But it was, like she said, music, food, dancing, or better known as a Saturday night in Fountain Hills, so it was awesome. Let's take a picture. Thank you so much for everything. CALDWELL: Thank you. Thank you, Ginny. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. All right. Now, we're going to do Italian Heritage Month. So you have to come on up here. I do have it, Steve, written in big writing so that you can carry this. So come on up. Nice hat. You look awesome. BAGGIO: Thank you. Thank you very much. MAYOR DICKEY: Hold that, and I'll read that. So, "Whereas the Town of Fountain Hills is proud to acknowledge and celebrate the many contributions made by the Italian- American community to the growth, development, and enrichment of our nation; and whereas, throughout its history, the United States has been home to millions of Italian- Americans who have shared the rich cultural traditions and unique heritage with our country; and whereas Italian-American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to honor the history, culture, and contributions of Italian-Americans and to honor the legacy of generations past and present who have worked tirelessly to promote and preserve Italian socioeconomic, political, and cultural heritage; whereas the Town of Fountain Hills is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse community where all cultures are celebrated and respected. So therefore, I, Ginny Dickey, Mayor of Fountain Hills, do hereby proclaim the month of October as Italian-American Heritage Month in Fountain Hills and encourage all residents to join in celebrating the contributions of Italian-Americans to our community and nation." All right. BAGGIO: Thank you. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: (Indiscernible). BAGGIO: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. MAYOR DICKEY: All right. BAGGIO: I'm an Italian in a few words. That's a good one, Mayor. Anyways, I would like to thank the town. I would like to thank Mayor Dickey for making TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 13 of 72 this possible. Thank you very much. And also, I would like to thank the members of my Fountain Hills Italian Interest Group that came out here today to support me and our great Italian culture. The Italian, Cicero, said, gratitude not only is the greatest of all the virtues, but it is also the parent of them all, and I thank my parents for instilling that upon me, for the things I love are not things; they are the town, the businesses, and, most importantly, all of you, the members and residents of Fountain Hills. So I know a lot of people have differences. I suggest everybody gets together, meets up, and comes to a conclusion of some common ground. That's the Italian way. Let's help each other, help the businesses, and let's fill the streets of Fountain Hills with amore. Grazie a tutti. Gracia. Gracia. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: I wish I had (indiscernible). BAGGIO: Oh, I got one. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you so much. (Indiscernible). So now, we're going to present the Red Ribbon Week, and -- on behalf of the Coalition. Peggy? MCMAHON: Can you hear me? Hello? Jackie and team? Here you go. And then I'll read it for you guys. Okay? Thank you very much. "Whereas alcohol and drug abuse in this nation have reached epidemic stages, and continued visible, united prevention/education efforts by community members must be launched to eliminate the demand for drugs; and whereas the East Valley Young Marines, the local unit of the United States Young Marines, is a youth education and service program for boys and girls that focuses on promoting the mental, moral, and physical development of its members, including character-building, leadership, and encouraging a healthy, drug-free lifestyle; and whereas the Young Marines is the official youth program of the United States Marine Corps and is the focal point for the U.S. Marine youth drug demand reduction efforts and is open to youth ages eight through high school completion who are in good standing in their school; and whereas the national Red Ribbon campaign and East Valley Marine program offers citizens the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to a drug-free lifestyle, no use of illegal drugs, no illegal drugs; and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 14 of 72 whereas the national Red Ribbon campaign will continue to be celebrated in every community in America during Red Ribbon Week, October 23rd through the 31st of 2024, business, government, parents, law enforcement, and media, medical institutions, religious institutions, schools, senior citizens, service organizations, and youth will demonstrate their commitment to healthy, drug-free lifestyles by wearing and displaying red ribbons during this weeklong campaign. "Now, therefore, I, Councilwoman Peggy McMahon, on behalf of Ginny Dickey, our Mayor of the Town of Fountain Hills, do hereby proclaim October 23rd through the 31st as Red Ribbon Week and encourage you to participate in drug prevention education activities not only during Red Ribbon Week, but also throughout the year making a visible statement that we are strongly committed to a drug-free lifestyle." Thank you. Would you like to say anything? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: (Indiscernible). Thank you. Thank you, Peggy. Thank you, everyone, for coming. Ciao. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. All right. A lot of stuff there. Okay. So we do begin with our proclamation -- I mean our presentations, and we are having a presentation on our capital improvement projects program, are we? Yes? GOODWIN: Yes, Mayor, we're having -- this is our quarterly update. So it's our first quarter to kind of check in, share with Council and the public the status of all of our capital improvement projects. If you recall, this was kind of the discussion we had about wanting to make sure that our Council was up-to-speed with where we were, what projects -- what was happening so that you felt like you understood where we were making progress, what delays may be out there, and what the expectation was and what our community is seeing. So I think Kevin's going to start us off, and then Justin's going to follow up. MAYOR DICKEY: Sorry, Kevin. I didn't realize you were doing it. Thank you. SNIPES: No problem. I think there's a combo today, so we're all going to be coming up TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 15 of 72 to visit. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. SNIPES: So yeah. So we'll start off with our capital improvement projects for the Community Services Department. Lot of starter slides. So our first one is the Golden Eagle Park playground. Here, you'll see our latest rendition. I'm excited about this one. We're working with doing some light integrations as well. With this being over closer to the high school, we kind of decided we wanted to increase some areas for the kids to hang out, visit as well as have some really good place -- accommodations as well. So this -- you'll see something similar to this. This is not our final rendition, but it's getting closer to being that. We're hoping next week to get this finalized. This is our panorama park design. It is about ready to start. I think it's going to start next Monday. And I think this is really going to add a cool setting for people to just walk through. There's a few benches in it in the middle. To make sure that we maintain visibility from the street, you can see there's a trail that comes in and goes right back out there in the middle. That way, if you're driving by, you can also see in, but yet, it also allows it to be a little bit private when you're back in there and you're in a nice, shaded area. So I think it's going to be a nice added section to that corner. Little bit better than the dirt that's there now, so. This is our multi-year project for the Linear Park. This is a design that I started working on. Our shade company asked why we can't do any simple projects. I've never really done any projects that were simple. So I've shared this a little bit with our -- some members of our TAMA group, and it's gone over really well. I think it's going to be a great section there. This is just outside of Sofrita's where the two fountains that look the same are there in the middle. It'll provide a lot of shade for the picnic tables that we put out there here recently. If you've noticed, those haven't been mounted yet because I wanted to get this design finalized before we made those permanent, and so we'll be getting those put in place to where it can go along with this. The other thing to remember on this is that with this being a multi-year project, it makes it so we can kind of overlay -- so this project, the -- we're hoping to get started in June TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 16 of 72 and carry over into July, so this'll carry over into a two-fiscal setup. And then we have some other projects to go in along with this. It's our Four Peaks pickleball court. We've done some preliminary grading over there. We're getting ready to start probably in the next week or two. They'll come in and start putting in the actual structure. The grade work is complete, so we're ready to get this project under way as well. We're looking at, hopefully, getting this open 1st of January, and the Rec Department will be extremely upset if we don't because they're planning on having their first leagues there in January, so there's a race against the clock on this one. This is the Pleasantville Park, and we are still in the design phase of that. We're working with Jay, too, on this one, coming up with some final plans on this, hopefully, in the next couple of months. We're looking forward to starting this project later in the year as well. This will be towards the end of the year as well getting the design finished and under way, so. With that, that's the end of our community services project. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer them at this time. MAYOR DICKEY: Vice Mayor? KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. Yeah, just one question on the Linear Park shade canopy. As everybody knows, there's people walking their dogs there 24 hours a day. How will the shade canopy affect the natural grass that's growing there? SNIPES: So this is actually over the paver section. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. SNIPES: So what we did was you'll notice that it extends beyond even the paver section, and the idea was it would also provide shade to our pumps and filters that run those fountains to extend the life of those because right now, they're out in the sun about -- you know, all day long. There's about zero time that it's in the shade. So we thought we'd take advantage of doing the shade structure, extend it out a little bit, and that'll also make it so when the sun's off the edges a little bit further, we'll also gain more TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 17 of 72 shade inside. And as you can see from the height of the guy that's in the middle of it, it's not going to be a low-down-on-you shade. It will be a high structure having it be open in the middle. I wanted some sunlight to kind of shine through to give it a more artistic look. We did some overlaying kind of an idea over at the Centennial Circle, and if you walk in there, it definitely has some cool designs just from the shade on the ground as well as the overlaying shade provides extra protection, and the more layers of shade there are, believe it or not, it makes a big difference in how much cooler it is underneath. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Is that $600,000 total? SNIPES: The shade? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: The whole thing. SNIPES: No. No, that's for -- it's 200,000 each year for the entire project. GOODWIN: So Mayor, if I can jump in and say -- I was just going to add, and Kevin can chime in if he'd like to as well, that the shade was a hot topic, I guess, from feedback from our merchants along the avenue. That was something we heard loud and clear, that they felt like there needed to be more shade opportunities and more seating along the avenue, so trying to preserve the green space while providing shade. This is sort of the -- where those two ideas intersect. And then this is also -- and correct me if I'm wrong, this is where we also do our Concerts on the Avenue, one of the -- SNIPES: Yes. Yeah, this is where the band plays. GOODWIN: Okay. So during the season. And perhaps it gains us a little more usability when it gets a little warmer at the end of April. SNIPES: Yeah, we're looking to extend our seasons on both ends and, hopefully, be able to program more things within that space as well. MAYOR DICKEY: And to the point of the gentleman, the 200,000 every year is for the avenue park improvements overall, right? SNIPES: Correct. MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 18 of 72 SNIPES: Yeah, there's a lot of other things that are planned. This is just step one of the process as we're at the first quarter of this year, so we're just showing you where we're at now and what we've -- what we've done so far. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. SNIPES: You're welcome. With that, I'll hand it over to Justin. WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmembers. For those of you that are not up-to-date with the progress on the gap elimination project, the northern portion north of La Montana on Saguaro is about 95 percent complete. There's a considerable amount of cleanup that still needs to be done, and you may or may not have noted most recently that there's been some restriping in that area temporarily narrowing the travel lanes and the two-way left turn lane. The project is primarily on schedule, still managed by ADOT. In the coming weeks, they will begin to work on Palisades between Saguaro and Fountain Hills Boulevard, and also on the southern end of Saguaro near the Kiwanis area. This is one of the projects that are, again, multi-year. It started many years ago. This year, we were able to complete the balance of the multi-use path, MUP, along Tioga adjacent to Desert Vista. The next portion was completed on Eagle Mountain, including a midblock crossing there. We have a little bit of funding remaining in this year, but not quite enough funding to make a big impact, so we're working with the Town Manager and the engineering team to see if there's a smaller project that falls within our active transportation plan that we may be able to tackle. If not, this is the fund balance that we will have at the end of the year for this project. This is our town-side guardrail replacement and repair. We are working with our vendor and Maricopa County on a location on McDowell Mountain Road, finalizing the details as we speak. This is a new project for this year. This is the pedestrian-marked crosswalks. For those of you that may not have had an opportunity to see these yet, there is one on Palisades at Verde River Drive, Saguaro at Parkview, Saguaro at Paul Nordin, and Saguaro at Gunsight. It's important to note that all the infrastructure in regards to curb-opening TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 19 of 72 ramps and the refuse area, which is in the center of the median, have mostly been completed. However, the pavement markings and the signage will not go up until we complete our preservation seal on Saguaro later -- early next year, but later this fiscal year. This is another multi-year that's been in process. This is the storm drain rehabilitation. We are working on a couple of locations and trying to determine the best place to spend this funding that will benefit the community for the longest duration. This is the Community Center. This is a multi-year project. Some of the items that we have done this year include the work adjacent to the O'Flynn room, which is now storage and public seating. And also, the photo you see here is the southern end between the Community Center and the event circle. You'll note that we removed all of that concrete, sloped it away from the building, and put in an area drain and made some other minor changes around there with the intent of continuing the dewatering process to move water further away from the building. This also included redoing the landscaping along the southern edge, and also taking necessary actions along the west side of the building to lower that grade there and place granite so we have additional storage for runoff. This is one of the Shea Boulevard projects. This one is on the south side. That's eastbound between Palisades and Fountain Hills Boulevard. We are working through some geotechnical issues right now, so this project is temporarily delayed until we can reach a resolution and the ability to move forward. MAYOR DICKEY: Is this an ADOT one, also? WELDY: Madam Mayor, this one is not administered by ADOT. The design selection process is, but this will be -- when the time comes, be managed by the Town. MAYOR DICKEY: And what's geotechnical issue? WELDY: The geotechnical issues on the south side relate to the multiple years that we received fill material from developers and single-family home builders and allowed them to place that material there and, basically, let it self-compact over the years with all of the traffic, the water, and the rain. There's a couple of minor issues with one TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 20 of 72 section near the area where the old evaporation lakes used to be that we need to deal with. This is the next phase of that -- TOTH: (Indiscernible). I'm sorry, Justin. If you could go back one slide again. Just to be certain, with that delay to fiscal year '26, does that affect the state share of the cost of that project at all? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, it's not going to have an impact on the funding because the funding has already been allocated. TOTH: Perfect. Okay. Thank you. WELDY: You're welcome. This is a separate section of Shea. This one is on the north side. And this year, we will do -- rather, start the design process. We are currently working on a scope. Once the scope is put together, it'll be turned over to Rob in Procurement. He will publish that, and then we'll be receiving requests for proposals, and selection will be made after that. This one is a project that we stumbled onto. When completing a project adjacent to this last year, we discovered the infrastructure between the cul-de-sac and the greenbelt on the lower section was in very, very poor condition. We have made some progress on this one. The challenge we face here is the pipe that runs between the cul-de-sac and the lower greenbelt lies nearly underneath the masonry wall that separates these two homes. What we're working to try and achieve is to be able to place a liner in this pipe as opposed to having to rip through there and both of their yards and impact both of their homes. Not only them, but also the neighborhood as well. Whether or not we can achieve that, we are not at that goal yet, but we're still working to see if there is a product manufactured that will meet the minimum needs for the durability and the structural strength. You'll recall a considerable amount of discussion about federal funding. This was one of the locations, and we have several locations. We simply have not been selected for TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 21 of 72 these federal grants to date. Oftentimes, they are very, very challenging because we don't meet some of their minimum criteria, so they place the Town on a waitlist for the next round, and each time we are selected to participate in the next round, Town staff spends a considerable amount of time revising and resubmitting those applications. This project right here is a separate one. When we sent this out to a consultant to get some design estimates, we were a little bit surprised at the total cost of $2.3 million. We've opted, after discussing this with the Town Manager, to move this out to later years. This project right here has been on the books for seven years, and we're going to be having some more discussions about that tonight as a separate agenda item, which is the wayfinding. This project here has also been underway for multiple years. We are also going to have some detailed discussion about that as a separate agenda item tonight. As you can see, we've done this year what we do every year. We've taken the funding that is allotted and worked towards achieving the goals of the Council to finish the capital projects. You can see where we are at currently financially and the fund balance that is still remaining in those projects. Please note, under the direction of the Town Manager, we will be back at a later date for additional discussion on these projects, and also, to share with you, as we get closer to the end, what the fund balance and/or savings will be for that. With that, this was a lot of slides and a lot of information. I'll certainly do my best to answer any questions you may have. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Justin. Vice Mayor? KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. Yeah, Justin, the $500,000 on the Community Center phase 3, is that strictly just to regrade so the water runs away from the Community Center? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, no. The $500,000 is also for the interior, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 22 of 72 to address some of the issues that remain in there, including additional work associated with the structure in regards to dewatering. There's also going to be some discussion in regards to the roofing. Right now, we are working with Allana Buick & Bers and Gensler, an architectural and engineering firm. They are reviewing everything that we've done since their initial assessment, and then they're going to come forward and provide direction on the next steps. But the $500,000 covers several things on the interior and exterior. Right now, we do not have anything singled out except for a little bit of funding that we have encumbered, again, for the architectural and engineering firm. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Because I know that there was a process that we were eliminating the leaks through the windows in the Community Center. Has that been completed? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, the wet ceiling was done year before last. And I think it's important to note at this time, while the wet ceiling and other remediation action that has been taken has proven to be very successful, some of these are short-term, and I'll be a little bit more specific about that. The windowfronts are -- or the storefronts, excuse me, are still in poor condition and, at some point in time, will need to be replaced, but again, the wet ceiling has been working as it's intended to, keeping the water out. We still have some minor issues related to the doors and the sweeps, and it's primarily affected during blowing rain, but we're certainly making headway on it. KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. Do we still need to put sandbags by the doors for large storms? WELDY: Madam Vice Mayor, occasionally on the south side. The Community Center, including facility staff, if we do believe it's going to be a pretty hard rain, we'll put sandbags up there. We have not had sufficient rain to test the improvements that you see on this slide, so as a precautionary measure, we'll most likely put sandbags there. The intent is that we won't have to moving forward if we're successful. KALIVIANAKIS: And then hopefully, with this phase 3 improvement, you'll fix the drainage? WELDY: The intent is to correct all of it over time, yes. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 23 of 72 KALIVIANAKIS: Right. Thank you very much. It's unfortunate because when this building was built so many years ago, they didn't understand how drainage works, even though it doesn't rain very much in Arizona, and that we have to spend all this money to have the water run away from the building. It's really unfortunate. But thank you. WELDY: You're welcome. MAYOR DICKEY: Well, I'm not seeing any more questions. We probably will have questions as we go through these next items. But thank you. Thanks very much. WELDY: You're welcome. Thank you for the opportunity. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible) questions? MAYOR DICKEY: We don't take questions for presentations, but maybe it'll end up being something we talk about. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Okay. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Thanks so much. So our next item is our Call to the Public. Do we have speaker cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, Mayor, we do. First up will be Shelby Blecker followed by Crystal Cavanaugh. BLECKER: Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers, staff, my name is Shelby Blecker. I'm a new town resident, and I'm here tonight to speak about a few things that are on my mind and some observations that I've been seeing. MAYOR DICKEY: Sir, sorry. Could you put the mic -- thank you. BLECKER: Is that better? MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah. BLECKER: Okay. First, I'd like to say that moving here in February from the war zone called Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, my wife and I really love this town and the community. We're getting involved in many opportunities we have found to help keep this town from ever becoming what we left behind in LA. Second, I'd like to thank many of you for being able to pay attention and look me in the eye while I'm speaking. After attending a few Town Meetings in person, it became apparent that one council member doesn't feel that this is important. It almost appears TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 24 of 72 to be a deliberate attempt at being obtuse, and it's shameful. Lowering your head, diverting your eyes, and shaking your head back and forth while members of the public are speaking to you isn't a look I appreciate seeing during Call to the Public by my elected officials. So Councilmember McMahon, thank you for paying attention to me tonight. I haven't seen this type of engagement with you in the past. Next, since we're on the subject of elections and candidates, this town is a nice town with nice people that live here. Recently, I had friends come from California. They were in town to see their son, who's attending ASU, and they were in Scottsdale at the Penske Museum, and then they came to see me. On their drive into Fountain Hills, they saw all the wonderful election signs. Wow, the questions I got when they arrived at my house. What's ROT? Who's Dickey? I thought you told us this town was filled with wonderful people. If that's what both sides of the eye wish to display to visitors, well, you all did a great job of doing that. Personally, if I'm going to throw mud, I'll put some facts in there somewhere and not just name-call like I'm in fourth grade. Maybe you can all talk to your campaigns and see if this is really the image you want visitors coming to Fountain Hills to see. Lastly, I'd like to share that I've had some offline chats with Clayton Corey, someone I've been worried about before, but now I'm gravely concerned about. I questioned him publicly on his platform numerous times on Facebook without ever receiving an answer. MAYOR DICKEY: Sir, I'm not sure that we -- that what -- Call to the Public is for things that are under our purview, so I don't think we want you to be talking about another citizen who's not on the Council. BLECKER: I understand. MAYOR DICKEY: He's not here to defend himself. BLECKER: So let me just say I look at this job as -- TOTH: Didn't we just have several talk about Gayle Earle? MAYOR DICKEY: Excuse me? TOTH: Didn't we just have several talk about Gayle Earle? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 25 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: No. FRIEDEL: You had Kim Bartman up there dressing her down. TOTH: We had all these comments. This is Call to the Public. MAYOR DICKEY: Excuse me. The Call to the Public is for items that have to do with the purview of the town, and Clayton Corey's not on this council, and he's not here to defend himself, so I don't know what you mean. TOTH: Neither was Gayle Earle when people on this council were talking to her and she couldn't respond. What's the difference? MAYOR DICKEY: Excuse me. I thought -- I believe that that was an agenda item. TOTH: Where you addressed her directly? MAYOR DICKEY: I did not do anything. Let's -- okay. Sir, I'm sorry. Go ahead. TOTH: I have it on tape. BLECKER: Let me just -- let me just finish with saying that this is not councilmember on training wheels, so I'd like to see people on the Council have answers and facts to be able to talk to us with. Thank you. I'm sure I'll have more conversations with all of you at a later time. CAVANAUGH: As you know, many of us are in disagreement that half of you, three of you refuse to seat Gayle Earle after she won the election, and it's also confusing to many residents in this town, apparently, that she's not waiting to be elected in the November election. She won. And I was a little concerned, even, at the last meeting because Mayor, even you seemed to almost dismiss her win. You said something about 4,000 votes that she got out of 10,000 voters. Well, she got 4,226, and there were eight candidates, and she still won. So I do want to make that perfectly clear to all the people who continue to state online and in emails that it's unfair for her to be seated early. So last night in Avondale, do you know what happened? Their mayor stepped down early this month, so their council needed to replace their mayor, and they pull somebody from their council, and guess what? That leaves a vacancy. So do you know what they did? They placed Jeannette Garcia in there, and I think that she was one of TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 26 of 72 two choices, even, that could have been seated. She was a councilwoman-elect. They did not have a problem filling their vacancy. And so all I want to say -- I wasn't even planning to talk tonight, but other councils seem to get it. And this one was such a political decision because that's what I read in all those comments, that they didn't want to shift the balance of power. Well, guess what? You don't really have a balance of power. Oh, it's so balanced. It's three to three. And so you don't really know how Gayle's going to vote. She's not an extremist. And I still urge you, after multiple opportunities to do so, to seat her, even if it's for one meeting. That extra experience is valuable. She's new to sitting on a council. Why wouldn't you want her to join you for the last few meetings? Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Please don't applaud. Thank you. Is that it? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: We have two more. First up will be Amy Pajic, and then second will be Betsy LaVoie. PAJIC: So my apologies for the way I am dressed today. I was in the stockroom, so I was told change, but hey, that's what happens when you come straight from work sometimes. So my name is Amy Pajic. For people in the back, I am Mrs. Amy Pajic, not a Ms. Please make sure you get that straight when you're addressing me. That is to a very specific person that I'm dealing with in your Zoning Department. And Aaron, I come to you, before lawyers and before all this. I need to understand clarity on what it means to have special use in a zoning area, and is that related to special use, related to specific use in a building, and/or is that just in a zone? Let me continue. So last -- the last time I met everybody, as you know, I'm into the dogs. I'm into a lot of puppies. And I would like to open up a business here in town, and it's on the upper side of town, in the newer portion of town, and I have been special selected to follow rules that do not apply to the type of business I'm in. I have even, by the Town, been ignored in information that I've asked for, on public information, and every single time I ask, I am told, John will not allow it through. John in Zoning will not give you the information. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 27 of 72 My business license was withheld for ten days plus without as so much a reason why, and finally, I had to come back down in the email century to find out why. John gives you the face. Donna (ph.) is always telling me, well, you ask too many questions. Excuse me? I am a day care, not a kennel. And let me explain that in a very large, broad spectrum of things. In the day, when you would have a dog and you bring your dog to either a friend's house or to a kennel, a kennel is a kennel boarding. What you do is you bring your dog, and your dog goes behind a -- inside a kennel, actually, and stays there until you come back. They take him out for a walk or two. That's a kennel. It's overnight boarding. What is new is no longer overnight boarding. It is called on trend. It is a day care. What is day care? We, in the business, use day care as you would for child care. It's an operation -- daily operation. Monday in the morning, business day ends, you take your dog home. And if you don't, unfortunately, we, the owners, have to make arrangements within the hour to have someone pick up the dog. You're not allowed to keep it overnight. Insurance will not allow you, and you do not have a safe place for the dog. Okay. I understand. I get that. You can give me one more minute. So here's the thing. I would like -- MAYOR DICKEY: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, ma'am. PAJIC: I would like very much the information to be given to me. That's what I want, Ginny. MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. We'll follow up. We will. PAJIC: Okay. MAYOR DICKEY: But everybody has to have the three minutes. Sorry about that. PAJIC: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. LAVOIE: Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, staff. I'm Betsy LaVoie, almost a lifelong citizen of Fountain Hills, since 1978. I'm here to provide two letters. One is an official TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 28 of 72 endorsement, and one is a letter of support. The -- on behalf of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Fountain Hills Chamber Public Policy Committee, we are writing to express our strong support for Arizona Proposition 138 in the upcoming November election. This initiative represents a significant opportunity to modernize the wage system for tipped workers in Arizona, supporting both the hospitality industry and its workforce. We believe that the passage of Prop 138 will have a positive economic impact on our local restaurants and service-oriented businesses, helping them keep operational costs in check. This will enable them to continue offering high-quality service to their customers without passing the significant price increases on to their consumers and which could otherwise result in high labor costs. For these reasons and many others, the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce fully endorses Arizona Prop 138 and urges voters to vote yes this November, and thank you for your consideration of this endorsement. The other one is a letter of support. I'm talking fast to get through them. "Dear Mayor and members of the Town Council, on behalf of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, The Avenue Merchants Association, TAMA, and the Chamber of Public Policy Committee, I'm writing to express our support for the approval of the $100,000 budget transfer to implement key elements of the newly-approved Downtown Strategy. The Chamber believes these enhancements will serve as a crucial step towards bolstering Fountain Hills' reputation as a vibrant, thriving destination, particularly as we approach the holiday season. The proposed light-up-the-avenue initiative, the 3D design to understand proposed zoning changes in our downtown business district, signage, and event programming and marketing are all critical investments to drive foot traffic and economic activity for our downtown. These coordinated efforts will help bolster and stimulate local businesses, retail sales, and more after a very long, extended summer heat. The Chamber fully supports the requested budget transfer recognizing that's an essential component for the successful execution of your already-approved shared vision for a revitalized TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 29 of 72 downtown." I've also included for your reference a full current list of all the board directors and a full current list of all the public policy committee members, so I have that for you. I apologize. I know that is 9F on the agenda, but I have another engagement to go to, so I wanted to provide that in advance. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: That is it. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Angela, very much. Next is our Consent Agenda. Can I get a motion, please? FRIEDEL: So move. MCMAHON: Second. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Sure. MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. I'm looking at the Regular Agenda, and I'm not seeing a B. What am I looking at here? GOODWIN: Guess there is no B. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: C. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. All right. Well, line C, Consideration of a Professional TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 30 of 72 Services Agreement for the wayfinding signage. Who's going to do that? GOODWIN: Actually, Mayor, I'm going to ask Paul to join us for a few minutes. The next couple of items are all related to our expenditures. This is our quarter update. You just had our CIP update. You heard we have a couple of projects that have had some changes, some cost changes, and that was our agreement with the Council is to come back and talk to you if there are projects that change in cost or scope. So that's what we're here to do tonight. You're going to hear a number of conversations about specific projects, but the bigger conversation comes back to this is not a discussion about funds. We have the funding to do the projects. We actually are in a very healthy situation in terms of our funds. The conversation is about expending them, the ability to expend the money and not exceed our limitation. So I think everyone's a bit aware that we have a set number that we cannot go over, so if one project goes up in cost, another project we need -- we need to reduce cost somewhere else so that we always maintain that balance. And so that's what the conversation really is about tonight, how do we maintain that balance, and how would we like to approach that. So I'm going to ask Paul to give us just a quick, brief rundown about how that works, and then we'll jump into each of the projects. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. GOODWIN: Thank you. SOLDINGER: All right. Thank you, Rachael. Actually, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers, Rachael pretty much explained what I'm about to explain, which is great. Makes it easy for me. So tonight's agenda items 9C through F all include requested budget transfers, so we thought that it would be, really, a good idea to just give you a real brief refresher on budget transfers and our budget in general and how they work, and so that's what I'll do over the next couple minutes just to refresh you. So Council adopted the current fiscal year 2025 budget on June 4th of 2024. And it's important to note, when you're considering these budget transfers, that budget TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 31 of 72 authority -- what we're transferring tonight or requesting to transfer is not the same as fund balance or monies within these funds. Subject to our financial policies, fund balance is basically cash in the bank within these buckets that we account for them. Whether it's the general fund, capital projects funds, downtown fund we'll be discussing tonight, there is money in those funds that is sufficient to move forward on these transfers. However, budget authority is what we're requesting to transfer tonight, and that's really the permission to use those monies. It's basically asking Council to redirect permission to use monies on different things than what you originally approved in the budget. So real quickly, the fiscal year 2025 adopted budget is 45.2 million, 9.1 million for capital projects. As Rachael mentioned, we cannot exceed that adopted budget amount. We also have to comply with the expenditure limitation, which is another consideration. So any time we increase budget in one place, we have to take from another place, and so again, it's just a balancing act. We're taking budget authority from one place and we're putting it somewhere else, and that's what we'll be discussing. So going back to the buckets we talked about during all the budget presentations, really, these transfers we're discussing tonight do not affect the cash in these buckets at all. Again, it's just unlocking the ability to use that cash. It's providing permission to use that cash on different projects. And this is just a really easy illustration. If we're taking $50,000 and increasing one project we discuss tonight, like we've talked about, we're taking that money -- we're taking that $50,000 away from another project. It could be from other places other than projects, but this is a simple illustration. And so that 50,000 will come from another project. And so we'll get into those ins and outs during each of the agenda items. So with that, we'll move on. GOODWIN: With that, Justin, you're kicking us off tonight. WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmembers, we've had numerous discussions over the years related to wayfinding as part of the budget process and the discussions and then TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 32 of 72 allocating funding, and once the design was done, staff presented an engineer's estimate to the Mayor and Council. That engineer's estimate for the wayfinding, manufacturing and installation, was considerably higher than we had imagined at around $700,000. Taking direction from the Town Manager, Mayor, and Council, we went back to the drawing board working with Rob, our Procurement Officer. We put together an invitation for bids. Tonight, we are going to discuss that invitation for bids and the results of it. As a reminder, the wayfinding sign project will provide signage to replace the outdated, antiquated, oftentimes missing and misleading signage that exist throughout the town that was part of the original infrastructure right after and prior to incorporation. Considerable amount of time. There will be larger signs out on Shea, slightly smaller signs on Palisades, Fountain Hills Boulevard, and Saguaro. Once we get to the core or the downtown, there will be considerably smaller signs, but each of these are intended to provide guidance and information to visitors and residents alike as they enter our community and they want to come north of Shea and enjoy the amenities. As you can see from the list of bids received, the Town received a total of four with the highest one being just over $700,000, the next one right at seven, and then we had two of them in the $200,000 range. Excuse me. One in the $300,000 range, and one in the $200,000 range. The clear reason that we selected Duncor for this is one: they were the responsive bidder. But they also have an incredible amount of history in this valley manufacturing and installing signage. They have been very, very professional in regards to discussions about this project. Under direction from the Town Manager, to make sure that we had our bases covered, we had an open discussion with the bidder to determine whether or not they would be willing to work with us and divide this up into two years should it become necessary. With no hesitation, they agreed to that. However, we're here tonight to ask the Council to approve not only the agreement, but the additional funding necessary in the form of a budget transfer, which the CFO just shared some of that information with you. The reason for that is they have also agreed TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 33 of 72 to stay on with their expertise and their background and support next year's endeavor, which will be including some of the Downtown Strategy signage, some of which we have discussed previously on this wayfinding project. Primarily, the kiosks that were not included as part of this year. With that -- and this is a lot of information -- I will certainly do my best to answer any questions that you may have regarding this agreement. GOODWIN: Mayor, if I can jump in, I just wanted to clarify a couple of the numbers. Justin, thank you for the recap. The -- if you recall, we budgeted 250,000 for this project with the hope that if we came in at a reasonable number, we may be able to get it all done in one year versus breaking it up across two. Given that the -- we were expecting a very high number, in the 700s, it was concerning. The fact that we got a number that's just under 300,000 was far more palatable. We have 250 budgeted. The request tonight is for the difference that would be coming from our contingency, which we have 675 available. So that's what the ask is for tonight, is for the difference so that we can complete the project based on Duncor's bid amount of 269 -- excuse me, 296,744. MAYOR DICKEY: Councilman? SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. I have less of a question, more of a statement, comment. I know that there's a member of the public that's even here tonight that said that, hey, this is kind of outdated. People use, you know, map programs and they use their phone to find things nowadays, not wayfinding signs. And since the Council already approved a quarter million dollars, I mean, this is, you know, a pretty significant hike. I would feel more comfortable just telling the vendor to, you know, go -- you know, sharpen your pencil, see what you can do instead of moving forward with raising it. That's where I am. That's what I would like. And frankly, I don't think we need even a motion to do that because we've already approved it for a quarter million dollars. That's all. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Vice Mayor? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 34 of 72 KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. Thank you for your presentation. Really appreciate it. You know, I think we all expected the cost of this to be much more than 296,744. I would be for this. I would be for the budget transfer as Paul explained, and my reasoning would be the Chamber of Commerce supports it. I believe TAMA supports it. Our business owners support it. Our out-of-town visitors would support it so they could find our businesses and even where our lake is. I literally had a guy last week said, I came to your town. I never found the lake. So Fountain Lake, over there. And then, of course, our Fountain Hills General Plan calls for it. So this seems like it's close enough to get the job done. It's not too much of an overrun, and it's a simple balance transfer to cover the expenditures. And so to me, this one's kind of a no-brainer. I'm definitely voting yes. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Councilwoman? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). MCMAHON: Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: I'm sorry, sir. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). MCMAHON: Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: I'm sorry, sir. You can't ask questions from that way. If you wanted to fill out a card to speak to this item, you could have -- you could do that. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). MAYOR DICKEY: Councilwoman? MCMAHON: Thank you very much, Paul, for your explanation about the transfer and clarification how this is going to work, and thank you for your explanation, Justin. And I would like to make a motion to approve the Professional Services Agreement. MAYOR DICKEY: Can I -- can I ask you to hold off on the motion because -- MCMAHON: Okay. MAYOR DICKEY: -- we can't take public comments after that. MCMAHON: Okay. I'll hold off. Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 35 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: But thank you. Yes. Why don't we just -- TOTH: Could I ask a question? MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah, sure, Hannah. TOTH: Just for the sake of the public, that 46,000 that would be added -- that's right, right? WELDY: Right. TOTH: Okay. 46,000. What do we consider that as coming from? So is there a specific project that that 46,000 was tied to? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, that 46,000 will be coming from the capital projects contingency fund. GOODWIN: Yes. So just a reminder, we set aside some monies that are unassigned that are available for specifically if we need to -- if we do go over or if, heaven forbid, something comes up that we didn't anticipate. A good example of that was when we had a very large sinkhole happen on Panorama Drive a couple of years ago where we had to get that addressed. We -- so these are available monies that are unassigned that can go to supplement this, so that's where this would come from. So it would reduce our unassigned balance. It would not come from a specific project. But that's a good question because there are other ones. TOTH: Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: Did we have other speaking cards besides the -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, we do. MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. We'll go ahead with that, then. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Sure. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: First up will be Barry Wolborsky, followed by Kim Wolborsky. B. WOLBORSKY: Barry Wolborsky, resident. And you know where I'm coming from. It really thrills me that Brenda is in favor of this because now I can be against it. The wayfinding signs are a total waste of the Town's money. Although the Council decreased the cost of the signs from $1,000,000 to a mere $550,000, this has now TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 36 of 72 grown to $600,000, and I predict before the project's done, it'll be close to $1,000,000 again. I wonder how many streets could have been paved for that money. Also, $300,000 has already been spent on design studies for this project. Do you believe that? 300,000. In business, we have a saying, never throw good money after bad. In other words, take the loss of the $300,000, and don't compound it by spending another $300,000 and going up. Wayfinding signs will not bring one dollar into this community. They're a generations- ago idea before Smartphones and automobile navigation systems. If you pull into a new town and you want lunch, you take out your phone and type in restaurant, Fountain Hills. And by the way, if you type in lake, Fountain Hills, it'll also tell you how to get there. You examine the menus, then, and then click on your choice to get directions to the front door. No one uses wayfinding signs anymore. The signs add to sign pollution, which detracts from the landscape and also detracts from drivers seeing important traffic signs and other cars and things, people and stuff like that. But it gets even better than this. Not only do the signs need to be maintained and replaced as they wear -- and I never hear this council ever talk about maintenance costs for the good ideas you have, and there are maintenance costs. Okay? 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 signs. I have another problem. I looked at the bids. The low bid is 30 percent lower than the next lowest, 50 percent lower than the other -- actually, over 50 percent lower than the other two. For me, this is a strong warning that there will either be cost overruns or inferior product. This needs to be looked into by the Council before you're making the decision. I think the Council really needs to go and look at these bids and see what the others were offering that we're not getting. I don't think it's just a matter of sharpening a pencil. 790,000 to 290,000, that's a big difference. Wayfinding signs are bright and shiny at their worst. Please scrap this costly mistake. K. WOLBORSKY: Hi, I'm Kim Wolborsky, and I don't always agree with my husband, but I TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 37 of 72 agree with him on this one. I think that wayfaring signs will be a blot on our landscape, a distraction to drivers, and yet another long-term maintenance expense. He stole this part from me, I think. So I think that there's a great way to get extra money for the other projects, which would be to drop this one, and that would give us an extra $250,000 to put towards other projects that we need more. I have talked about maintenance expense before this dais. Whenever the Town adds a new piece of infrastructure, we get some information on the cost of installation, but I don't ever remember seeing data on product life or the cost of maintenance. These signs have the possibility of an additional replacement/revision cost since they have to be changed and replaced if any of the places they point to move or close down or if we add new ones. All of this is added to the original cost, which is high and getting higher. And taking an extremely low bid often leads to poor quality or cost overruns. What's more important, people don't use wayfaring signs. They use navigation on their cell phones and cars to find their destinations, and these applications take the users to within a few feet of where they're going. They even tell you how to correct if you make a wrong turn. If we feel like we need something for walkers downtown, let's be creative and, instead, use something that will be useful in the 21st century. There are so many options now. Couple of ideas came to mind after five minutes of thought, and I'm sure there are tons more. We could laser print small signs or placards on metal with a QR code that leads to a map of these Fountain Hills highlights. Then we'd be maintaining a simple online map instead of large metal signs. We could give printed maps to vendors and offer them a sign to display that they have the maps available inside, which would encourage customer traffic. Wayfaring signs were cool in the last century, but please, let's move into the 21st century, and, in doing so, save some money for street repairs. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Next up is Nick Pajic. N. PAJIC: Thank you very much. I have been an entrepreneur for 40 years plus, and the budgets that I'm hearing about tonight, including the cost of signs, blow my mind. I TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 38 of 72 mean, I cannot fathom spending this kind of money on the signs. You guys already addressed what I was going to say, so I don't have to repeat it and waste anybody's time. But as an entrepreneur, and this is not to boost my ego, I built one company and sold it for $38 million. I've been living in Fountain Hills ten years now, and I -- this is my first meeting, so shame on me. Don't know who's making these decisions, but to spend $300,000, round numbers, on signs blows my mind. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: That's it. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Discussion from Council? Councilwoman? TOTH: Thank you. I wanted to ask you another question, if it's all right, Justin. If this were not approved, if we said, no, we said 250, let's keep it there, is there a realistic outcome that we can still get this project, even in part, done? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, if, indeed, that was the direction the Council decided, we would work with the Town Manager and encourage her to select manufacturing and allow for all the manufacturing that could possibly be done for the budget allotted, and then have that material delivered and stored by the Town, and then revisit it as part of a budget for next year for the installation. TOTH: Okay. So just to reiterate that, that would mean that no signs get installed unless we approve the 46,000? WELDY: Councilmember, it's not likely that we would -- TOTH: Not likely. WELDY: -- get any installed. We would obviously have to visit the manufacturing with the vendor, and then, based on their cost and time frame, work backwards from there with the Town Manager on a solution. TOTH: Okay. WELDY: I can't -- I cannot guarantee you there would be any installation at -- if we elect to go forward at this time. TOTH: Okay. Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 39 of 72 WELDY: You're welcome. TOTH: To move that into a comment, I am going a little back and forth because a quarter of a million dollars is already a lot of money. I am very supportive of wayfinding signs. I know that it's not that we're technically spending extra money. It's money coming out of a contingency fund that already exists. But it is $46,000 that could be used elsewhere, and we have other agenda items we're going over tonight, as well. All of this to say if we were, as a Council, to decide to not approve this, I would like to see follow-up steps of ensuring that the 250,000 already approved is either brought onto our next agenda to consider, or we have something in there that's a stopping point of, okay, we'll go to manufacturing, we'll see how much that alone would cost, we come back to the Council and vote on that because what I don't want to be the result of this decision tonight is that we manufacture those signs and we store them, and then nobody approves installing the signs. That's a really concerning possibility for me. So just a thought. I'll let everybody else talk now. MAYOR DICKEY: I just wanted to go back to the whole decision-making on this. So we said the 700,000, and then, I think, we all thought that was a lot, so I think we went back to the 500,000. I thought we were going to do it all in one year because we saved that money -- we had that conversation -- from not doing the restrooms on the avenue, so -- which that was, like, 496 or something. So one of the discussions at that point was, okay, we're not going to do the restrooms, maybe we could do the signs in all one year. There was -- that was -- but the original 700, I think, we were a little ehh about, but the 500,000, we thought, hey, maybe we could do it in one year. So to just make -- just get it straight, this 296 was -- would be everything, correct? I mean, it's not that -- like anything would go to next year; is that right? WELDY: Madam Mayor, that would include manufacturing and installation prior to June 30th of 2025. MAYOR DICKEY: So at some -- so this is a project that we approved for 500,000 thinking it would go over two years, and part of that discussion had to do with saving the money TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 40 of 72 for the restrooms. And also, just in a general question, and I can ask Rachael this, too, when we approve anything, whether it's a vehicle or a building, don't we have -- isn't there, like, a ten percent or something over the years where you know there's maintenance built in? Because I know at MAG, they do that, and, you know, ADOT, anything else, they have, you know, life cycles, so you don't just, like, buy a truck and know you're not going to have to repair it. Is that something that's kind of baked into some of the things that we do? And I'll ask you, Rachael. GOODWIN: Sure. And I think that's a valid question, and I appreciate it being brought up because maintenance is a thing, and we find ourselves talking about the maintenance of buildings. I mean, we were talking about the Community Center earlier and, you know, the maintenance we're having to do on that. So in these cases, we've been working to design a product in this case that is consistent with what are our conditions here, our temperatures, our, you know, heat, all of those types of things can sustain. I think that's what Justin was mentioning, why. We had concerns about the number, too, that it came in low and -- substantially low and why so low. It does send up a red flag for sure. But Duncor has done projects in the -- in our valley and has a proven track history of providing that. In terms of maintenance, again, we're designing something, hopefully, that has that durability and long term. But absolutely, when we come back and we build our annual budget, I think you guys are pretty familiar with how we do our green sheet request where we say, this is the year we need to budget for replacement, or this is the year we need to anticipate, you know, a one-time up to say, this needs to be replaced or refreshed or redone. It certainly is baked into a administrative year to year. But yeah, there's definitely going to be a time when things have to be refreshed. A good example is the Centennial Circle and the five Cs. Those signs were out there for ten, 12 years. They were done. They had to go. We're talking about playground equipment. Playground equipment has a life span, too. All of these things have life spans, and we do have to budget and anticipate those costs. No doubt about that. In this case, our staff does a bang-up job of making sure that what we're getting is TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 41 of 72 quality for the price, serviceable, that they -- it meets the needs and/or exceeds the needs that we have out there. So again, we're not -- we're not going into it eyes closed. Justin, did you have any input on what you found when you worked with Duncor or any of the research you did? WELDY: Yes, ma'am, I do, and thank you for the opportunity. I discovered, with talking with the manufacturer, and then they do the installation as well, and they're a family- run business, that their approach to this is considerably different because when we started this, believe it or not, almost ten years ago now, technology was considerably different, and materials that were used to create the weathered steel effect, which it's rust, for lack of a better description, has since changed, and you can actually achieve that utilizing aluminum and different treatments. In regards to the maintenance, when -- and the Town Manager alluded that when we are preparing our green sheets, we show a five-year horizon. You'll note that on this one, that the maintenance doesn't appear in that five-year horizon. The reason behind that: excluding vandalism and conflicts with vehicles, I do not anticipate any maintenance for the foreseeable seven to ten years and possibly longer. Obviously, at the five-, six-, seven-year mark, we will begin to, more in-depth, review them, use the reflectometer, if necessary, and do physical inspections. But the durable material and the process that was designed, for me, I believe that we're looking at above the ten-year mark prior to any real maintenance issues, and they'll be minor after that. Again, that's excluding vandalism and conflicts with vehicles. MAYOR DICKEY: And Gerry, I'll call you, but I just want to say -- to follow up on the whole process, because Rachael mentioned it and you mentioned it, as far as who's making the decisions. You know, this procurement and all of the things that we do have processes, and what we are relying on are the expertise of those with all the years of experience that you have to evaluate the bids as they come in regardless of what the project is. Gerry? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 42 of 72 FRIEDEL: So when I first saw those signs, I think we cut down the number -- total number of signs that we were going to install around town, too, did we not? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, that is correct. The overall number was reduced as part of the process over multiple years. FRIEDEL: So we're doing the bare minimum. And when I first saw those signs, I figured they were probably 15 years, maybe more. The signs we have now, I don't know how long they've been there, but they're a mess. And I get the fact that there's GPS and people have phones and they have it in their car. Not everybody uses it, though. I'm not against this. And when I look at the 15-year maintenance record or product life on these things, what are we talking? 20 grand a year overall. So I'm not against it. If we can get it done in one year, I think we should do it. I think the businesses probably want that in our town. So again, I'm looking at that cost over the life span of these things, and I don't think it's that bad if we get that kind of time frame out of it. And looking at the presentation you did before, my guess, initially, was 15 years on these signs because they're weathered metal, and they'll hold up a lot more than these wooden things that we had out there for the last 25 years, so -- and I was right. We did cut down the number of them, as well, so that brought our cost down, as well, because we gave instructions to you to go back and refine this and come back with a bare bones number of signs, which I think you've done, and so I'm not against it. MAYOR DICKEY: Councilwoman? TOTH: I just wanted to bring up a point that was mentioned not that long ago, that as you said, Mayor, we approved this for two years, 250 each year, so according to my math, I have 104,000 that we could put toward streets or toward downtown for next year. Just throwing that out there. We're sure that that 104,000 is, you know, free to play with? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, I'm not sure where that number came from. TOTH: Oh, sorry. So I'm saying if we spend 296 this year instead of the 250, and we had approved 250 for next year, that means I've got 104, right? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 43 of 72 GOODWIN: What you'll see is that it'll come off the books for next year, so it won't even be a project identified as next -- in next year's budget. TOTH: So yes. GOODWIN: So yes. MAYOR DICKEY: I just wanted to piggyback on what Gerry said, too, about the signs themselves and whether you can look on your phone and such, and for sure, that's true, but since we do have a lot of visitors here, they may not know that we have a museum or that there's lodging someplace or -- so they won't, maybe, know what to look for, especially when we have our dark sky. I doubt people will know for sure, you know, let's -- there's an observatory here or another -- or our art walk, the things that we can say that maybe people who are visiting us don't necessarily know that we have, and maybe a sign would spur them to go deeper into town. So Councilwoman? TOTH: I'm just going to fact check myself real quick. In my defense, I'm running on four hours of sleep. That's actually 204. MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. Thank you. TOTH: Sorry, everybody. MAYOR DICKEY: Anything else? So I believe you had started to make a motion. Would you like to make one? MCMAHON: Sure. Make a motion to approve -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). MAYOR DICKEY: No, sir. I'm sorry. We're -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). MAYOR DICKEY: After we -- no, sir. Thank you. Go ahead. MCMAHON: Finally. Move to approve Professional Services Agreement 2025-024, excuse me, with Duncor, LLC, in the amount of 296,744 and any associated budget transfer. KALIVIANAKIS: Second. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 44 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Motion passes five to one. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Thank you, Angela. Thank you, Justin. WELDY: You're welcome. MAYOR DICKEY: Are you the next one, too? WELDY: Yes, ma'am. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmembers, this one right here is another project that has been many, many years in the making and design. As a little bit of a background, in 2018 and '19, excuse me, we had unusual storm events that inundated the impoundment area of Golden Eagle Park. The impoundment area is the majority of the park with little to no exception of the area around the tennis courts and the upper level of the concession stand area. We immediately began cleanup during that time while we were also working on a drainage study for the area above Golden Eagle Park. That study was completed, brought to the Council. There was a considerable amount of data. The gentleman that explained it did an incredibly good job. While all of this was going on, we were -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 45 of 72 working as a staff with the Town Manager, Mayor, and Council to clean up some relatively large messes in that area. Over time, there have been many obstacles related to this design, including but not limited to the lack of as-builts for when these original improvements were put in, and the ones that we did have were inaccurate. We also had to deal with county and state regulations and oversight because it's a drainage area, and we were simply conveying water from the McDowell into the Verde River. Aside from all of those delays, the Town Manager, myself, and Kevin have been in front of this elected body and others explaining the process and providing updates for many, many years. Tonight, we're actually here to discuss the bidding process. Once the project was completed, we put together a scope and released it for an invitation for bids. And this particular one -- and I will share this. I rarely share my personal opinion because it's mostly not relevant to this agenda. I believed, after comments that I heard from others in the industry and most recent bid activities related to or similar to this, I would be reporting to the Town Manager that the bids came in at four-plus million dollars. I was truly delighted when Rob opened them and began to read them aloud and share the information that the one that we got that is the responsive one -- and we received two. The numbers are in the staff report. I will certainly read them momentarily. The lone bidder that was responsive is right at the budget number. We are going to be asking for some additional funding tonight for a couple of reasons. The primary reason associated with this contract is so we have an owner's allowance that allows us to deal with additional unknown items and conditions as the project moves forward. We've had a considerable -- when I say "we", primarily myself has had a considerable amount of conversation with this bidder. As you can see, the one that we are asking you to consider for award tonight came from B4 Enterprises at $2.4 million. The only other bid, and we only received two, was 2.9. We've done our homework on this as a staff and under guidance from the Town Manager, and we firmly believe this contractor, the responsive bidder, has done the necessary homework to accomplish this. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 46 of 72 And let me explain a little bit about that. For those of you that may or may not spend any time around Golden Eagle Park when the weather is nice, it is a very well-respected tournament field for baseball. I don't know all of the terms to describe it. I can just say what I know is the parking and the traffic. We've actually made improvements in that area recently that the Mayor and Council are aware of to allow for on-street parking. Keeping in mind that this contract has a large number of blackout dates, those are dates that the contractor cannot work in the park for obvious reasons and must leave it in conditions that are clearly spelled out in the specifications and the bid documents and will be ensured by not only Town staff but others associated with the project. Taking all that into consideration, I once again reiterate that I am delighted that the bid came in where it did at $2.5 million. As you can see in the staff report -- and I'll stay close to this microphone so I don't get as many emails and texts -- we're asking for additional funding primarily to cover the owner's allowance, and then there's a little bit of additional funding in there -- let me read this back again. The total bid is 2,619,996.75, which includes an owner's allowance of $200,000. The contract amount exceeds the approved budget by 119,696.75. This is why it's necessary for us to ask for a budget transfer. In this particular case, the funding that we are asking you to consider transferring is a portion of the CIP portion, not the development fee portion, for Pleasantville Park. Kevin will certainly provide additional information on that as we go forward. He did provide some of it tonight. The project is not being canceled. It's simply just being slowed down slightly to allow a little bit more time for design, which also allows us an opportunity to ask the Mayor and Council to consider moving a little bit of the CIP -- again, CIP funding, not the development funding, into this account so we can move forward. There is another agenda item just after this that we'll discuss that also includes the transfer of funds but is directly tied to this project. With that, a lot of information. I will certainly do my best to clarify or provide any additional information you may need. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 47 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Why don't we start with speaker cards so we don't get bogged down? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: We do not have any, Mayor. MAYOR DICKEY: Oh, okay. Thank you. Councilman? FRIEDEL: Justin, can you refresh everybody's memory as to what kind of damage was done down at that park before all this analysis and staff time? I mean, how many tons of sediment did you remove from that field? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, I don't have the exact number. It's in one of my past either PowerPoints or staff reports. I will certainly tell you that it was -- it exceeded 600,000 tons of material, including landscape material and other household items from a long ways upstream. I will say that it cost three-quarters of a million dollars just for the initial part. That didn't include all the additional work performed by staff, including the Community Services staff, park staff, and Public Works staff, which we've continued maintenance on it to minimize the backflow of water over time. But it was -- it's a considerable amount of work and funding. MAYOR DICKEY: Councilwoman? TOTH: Justin, I know I give you a hard time, but you have a proven record of coming in under budget, where possible, so I'm confident that we'll find a way to make Pleasant [sic] Park still happen. I'm a bleeding heart. I really love that project. It's very adorable. But this is far more important, and we've all seen the pictures of what this flood mitigation is preventing from happening again, so I'm in full support of this. I trust you. Thank you for bringing this to the Council. WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, you're welcome. First, thank you for the kind words. As a reminder, I'm just a spokesperson for a team. There is -- a team that -- not only the Town Manager, but all the directors and a lot of different departments and divisions that are -- combined to bring these efforts forward. So we appreciate that, and we will share your kind words with them. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 48 of 72 Now, this park originally was designed for, you know, floodwater -- you know, for drainage, and obviously, the design has not worked out. There's been some problems there. So I absolutely agree this is a significant project that needs to be done, but I am skeptical that the scope of this project actually reflects what the people of the town want. This is a lot of money. If we spent half this, we could spend over $1,000,000 catching up on a deferred maintenance in roads. If we -- you know, we would have money to do plenty of Economic Development projects. We'd have money to do something, you know, in a -- you know, we've got, you know, the avenue here. We go the next street over that we want to do stuff to help out the businesses, help out and make our town just thrive and make it vibrant, and this is a very expensive project, and this really takes away from that. And when I see that the project adds footbridges, it doubles the width of the paths, it adds a whole bunch of things that really aren't in the scope of drainage, that really doesn't have anything to do with drainage. So I am -- very skeptical that the people of the town want to spend this kind of money on this project. Now, granted, it might take a huge engineering solution to prevent the -- all the sediment from overcoming the baseball fields. I understand that. Maybe that'll cost $1,000,000, maybe it'll cost a million and a half dollars, but it won't cost almost three. So that's what I'm going to go -- and you know, frankly, I'm consistent on this. I voted against the budget because I saw too many projects like this that weren't really focused on the needs of our town. And you know, again, this is a nice thing to have, but we have -- you know, we have a, you know, downtown to develop. We've got deferred maintenance. I don't think this is part of it. So I'm going to be a no. And I also want to point out that there's a lot of people that want to use those baseball diamonds, and they don't have the opportunity to do so, and I think it's poor judgment on our part that people who live in our town, who paid for the town -- paid for this park, paid for the baseball fields and are probably going to be paying almost $3,000,000 for these improvements, they can't use the baseball fields because they're not -- because TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 49 of 72 they're locked off to people that, you know, are not part of tournaments, and I think that that's a mistake. At least one of those diamonds should be open to the public. Thanks. MAYOR DICKEY: Vice Mayor? KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. When I first looked at this as an agenda item and I looked at the numbers, it was very confusing to me, and I think that confusion still permeates the room tonight. If I'm right, which I believe I am, we've already approved $2.5 million on this project. So even though I think Allen makes a very good point that there might be things in this project that might go far beyond flood mitigation, it's already been approved. We've already voted on it. And all they're looking for right now is $119,696.75 to put it into the bid that we have from B4 Enterprises. So they ask us for 119, not for 2.5. So for that reason, just to fit in the bid parameters, I'd be for it, even though, like Allen said, I do have reservations about it overreaching, but I would be for it. WELDY: Madam Mayor, if I may, during this brief discussion, I realize that I failed to mention something. This is only phase 1 of this project. Phase 2, which will be much less expensive, will deal with the toe, the face, and the throughput of the dam. For that, we have approximately a $100,000 grant from the Flood Control District to help with that. So this is phase 1. Phase 2 is under design. That's basically stabilizing the front of the dam and the toe of the dam, which is the bottom next to the park, and then the large culverts that allow the water to flow through. And we'll have more information on that as part of our budget process as we move forward. FRIEDEL: Justin, if that dam fails for any reason, there's a lot of homes that would be at risk. Am I correct? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, correct. Basically, everyone east of Golden Eagle Dam on either side of Ashbrook Wash could potentially be inundated in floodwaters to some extent, but the further downstream you go, once you get closer to Hamilton, Saguaro, and east of that, we would have outflow into the neighborhoods, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 50 of 72 and we know this based on modeling from the worst-case scenario that was provided as part of the flood control/Town of Fountain Hills project that did the Ashbrook improvements at Saguaro Boulevard. FRIEDEL: So -- and I am sensitive, Allen, to your comments about eight-foot sidewalks from five-foot. If we're ripping this thing up, we may as well get this stuff done and get it done right to start with and solve this problem once and for all so that there's at least some mitigation and stopping anything from going further downstream. So I am sensitive to your comments, Allen. I agree. But if we're ripping this all up, we may as well put it all back together the right way. WELDY: And if I may again, Madam Mayor, this project not only includes all of the necessary drainage improvements, but in order to accomplish this, the majority of the infrastructure which is built in the washes and drainage channels has to be removed and replaced. As part of that, we are also bringing the facility up-to-date in regards to accessibility. The lion's share, if not all of the physical barriers related to accessibility, including the pedestrian bridge, will allow the entire facility to be used by all regardless of their condition. So there's -- while we're pulling it out and we're having to fix it, we're not putting some of it back in the same place, but the improvements are making substantial upgrades to not only the infrastructure as a whole, but the accessibility. MAYOR DICKEY: Rachael? GOODWIN: I'm going to piggyback because you're exactly right, Justin. I wanted to share some of the -- some of the things that you're noting in the scope are actually what we learned sort of is a best practice during the cleanup process. When we were -- when we were inundated with all of that mud and muck and debris, we couldn't get vehicles in there because the side -- it wasn't wide enough. Five-foot side -- they're not wide enough to get some of the larger equipment in that's needed to excavate. And as we do this, we want to build smarter so that if we do have issues and as we do our regular maintenance to prevent these from happening again, we want to be able to get the right equipment down there to maintain the spaces. Same thing with the pedestrian bridge. I was not a super fan when we brought that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 51 of 72 concept up, but as we worked through how do we make sure that we create these drop basins and these storage spaces to slow the water down, that was another problem. It wasn't just the sediment that was coming through, but it was the speed of which that water was moving. How do we slow that down? The best way to do that is to create these catch basins. You need space to do that. If those are filled with water, we have no way to navigate over those spaces. And even if they're not filled with water, they're deep. We certainly don't want to encourage, you know, access through there. So these were a little bit lessons learned on the back end of the cleanup process, so there is some foresight and some thought put into that. But I can certainly see why that looks like that on the surface, so I wanted to make sure that you guys understood and knew that there was some intentionality there, too. MAYOR DICKEY: And we had this discussion when we approved this item, and really, you anticipated 2.5 million, and a project of that magnitude that's coming in at 2.6 is quite impressive to me. I think that earlier, when we looked at the whole presentation of the CIP, we saw where $94,000 was not going to be spent on sidewalks, I think. We saw where $50,000 wasn't going to be spent on some of the -- I think it was low rows or something. There was another big project that I can't remember how much we were saving on that. And I don't remember what the project was. It was, like, a $2,000,000 project that we were saving a large amount on, and then, obviously, the 1.5 million of the Shea Boulevard, which will all come into play as we move forward this year and we're seeing things maybe coming in higher than we thought. But this is incredibly close. The scope of the project and the decisions that were made on how to go forward with it were made by engineers and professionals in order to, hopefully, prevent what happened back then, which is -- was quite dramatic. And maybe you want to look in The Times and look at some photos from -- he's saying no, don't look. But it was -- amazing. And at the time, I think, the Town saved 600 grand, I think it was, by doing the work ourselves. So I am absolutely in favor of this. It's necessary. And I would take a motion if anybody has one. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 52 of 72 MCMAHON: I'll make a motion. Move to approve Professional Services Agreement 2025-026 in the amount of 2,619,696.75 and any associated budget transfers. KALIVIANAKIS: I'll second. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The motion passes five to one. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Sorry about that. Okay. Next is another -- about the same project and about how the process works to go forward with it. WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmembers, and I thank you for your patience tonight. Each of the projects that we have discussed are important to this community, this council, and the staff as we work to bring them to fruition to ask for your approval to fund them tonight or the balance of funding. This one right here is directly tied to the Golden Eagle impoundment project. We have discussed, certainly, over the months and years, the complexities and challenges associated with a civil engineering project of this size. We simply do not have the staff available to dedicate the time necessary to ensure that all of the plans, specifications -- so policies, plans, and procedures that are part of this project and the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 53 of 72 approved plans, we don't have the staff to cover that. Even if we divided it up between several of us, it then becomes more cumbersome and complicated because we can't not all be there when the key items need to be addressed and concerns need to be addressed. The decision to solicit a construction management team has taken a considerable amount of time, over a year. During that time, we have discussed different options with the Town Manager, with Procurement. We've talked to others, including some peers of myself, and we've gone back and looked at history for larger civil projects in the Town of Fountain Hills. With little to no exception, there has always been a construction management company that would oversee a project of this size for obvious reasons. They're going to be there every single day, and they're going to have their eyes on all of the project as it moves forward. Not only that, but they're going to be sending reports back to myself, the town engineer. We will share that with the Town Manager. Kevin will certainly be involved moving through all this because it's impacting part of the infrastructure he's responsible for overseeing with his staff and crews. With that, there are still going to be some complications, and we are aware of this, and I'm bringing this up now. We have had a relatively dry last couple of years, or, I should say, we have not had a substantial amount of backwatering into Golden Eagle Park, partly due to the weather, and part of that due to the ongoing maintenance by Public Works, the Streets Department, and Community Services and Parks. It should be noted that when we released the request for proposals, I don't have the exact number of people that pulled the documents to read them, but it was a relatively large number. Rob would certainly have that, and we could provide it if you request it. However, I was personally surprised that we only got one solicitation, and it was from a company that we had not only worked with in the past, but they've also done a considerable amount of design over the last 25-plus years for the Town of Fountain Hills. Tonight, we're simply asking you to consider approving funding for a construction project with Wood Patel. The staff report goes into a considerable amount of detail. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 54 of 72 I'm going to hit on a few of the key items here, including but not limited to the amount of funding that we are asking for. The construction cost for the contract is $261,000. Of that, we have a little bit of contingency in there should we need to make any adjustments along the way. And I believe for this one, it's ten or 15 percent. I thought I spelled that out here, but I'm not seeing that now. MAYOR DICKEY: 96,967? WELDY: Correct. So we have not the budget for this in the Golden Eagle project, but we have identified other places in the CIP where we don't necessarily need that funding now, and it will benefit this project and, at a later date, allow us to go forward with the other project. And it's been a while since I wrote this one, so I'll have to go back and look at it. Well, there it is. I finally found it. So the lion's share, in fact, all of the funding for this will come from the CI [sic] portion of Pleasantville. Again, not the development fees. That's a separate pot of money. But from the CIP portion. As I explained earlier, and Kevin as well in his update for the capital projects, it's not going to stop that project. It's going to slow it down and allow him a little bit of time, which he described, to complete the design. As you all know, the budget process is coming up. We are going to be starting that here in just a few days, believe it or not, and that will be part of the budget discussions is the Pleasantville Park and the funding for that. And also, when we come back and report closer to the end of these projects in the fiscal year, we'll also be able to more closely define the unspent fund balance for each of the CIP projects that were approved this year. Again, a lot of information about a project. A lot of challenges. A lot of complexities. But I'll certainly do my best to answer any questions you may have. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Do we have any speaker cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, we do not. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Councilman Skillicorn? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 55 of 72 SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Director Weldy, so even though I'm critical of the project, I understand that there's a need to manage it. Even though this is, like, ten percent of the cost, it adds a considerable amount of money, but, you know, run us through. I mean, I know that Town staff is probably not the best equipped to manage this through the actual project management, so I'm trying to, you know, weigh the concerns of -- you know, imagine if you're at the site. If our building inspector -- actually, our building inspector is probably not qualified for this, but actually inspect that things are done correctly, managing it. You know, what kind of staff resources are we saving and actually be able to do on other things instead of -- with this project, how much -- what are we saving staff-time-wise? You know, does it equal the -- you know, the $260,000? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, I mean, I can't speak for everyone. I certainly have a background in project and asset management, so I'm going to share my experience in that field, plus as a Public Works Director. It would be myself, the Town Engineer, the Assistant Town Engineer, and our Civil Engineering inspector. So that's the entire Engineering division and the Public Works Director. Each of us would be contributing a few hours either a day or a week. And then, it would also impact Kevin and a good percentage of his staff, including Brandon and several others, as we work through the complexities of their irrigation system because keep in mind, during this project, there are several areas of this park that simply cannot go without water. They have to have water because we don't want the current infrastructure to die, the landscaping. I would estimate a week, total, staff time. We would probably have upwards of 40-plus hours over the entire staff for every week. SKILLICORN: And that's if we do not approve this, or if -- WELDY: Correct. SKILLICORN: Now, if we approve it, how much staff time is our Engineering Department going to be spending there? WELDY: Initially, for the submittals -- I would estimate probably about ten to 15 hours a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 56 of 72 week reviewing submittals. In regards to the balance of the contract, I will serve as the contract administrator, so I will review all the pay applications and approve them prior to them being processed, so probably ten or 15 hours every couple of weeks for me related to that. And then, obviously, one or the other of the Town engineers, either the Town Engineer or the assistant engineer, will likely attend along with our Civil Engineering inspector and Kevin and whoever he designates, either weekly or biweekly (indiscernible). SKILLICORN: And what is your confidence that we're not duplicating work that we're basically paying for in this contract? WELDY: I have an incredible amount of confidence in that simply because we don't have the staff to go out there and stay on the job for eight or ten hours a day, and I think they're going to work four tens to try and maximize their efforts while minimizing the disruption. Really, all we're going to be doing is reviewing the submittals and the payouts. We have someone else that's ensuring everything else is done correctly. SKILLICORN: Okay. And even though I'm critical of the scope of the project, I know it needs to be managed, so I'm in between a rock and a hard place. MAYOR DICKEY: Councilwoman Toth? TOTH: I echo that. I'm also finding myself in between a rock and a hard place, and for a slightly different reason. I think about the amount of projects that our Town staff manage in a year, and for this one project that is a large scale, we'd be paying a manager over a quarter million dollars. The scale isn't quite making sense to me. I understand that this is more hands-on than you would be able to do with the staff time we have. I want, obviously, the project to be managed. I want to be able to save you what extra labor that would be. Is there anyone who would do it for less than a quarter million dollars? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, if there was, they would have submitted to the RFP. TOTH: Fair enough. WELDY: On average, this type of contract is equal to about ten percent of the bid for TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 57 of 72 the project that they're looking at. I will admit that our Procurement Officer did an incredible job of negotiating because they did ask for 12 to 15 percent. He talked them back down to ten. So thanks, Rob. We appreciate your help on that. TOTH: Thanks, Rob. Okay. MAYOR DICKEY: Councilman? FRIEDEL: Justin, is the cost of this going to be 261 or 241? Because your agreement -- your agreement on line 3 says 241,969. SKILLICORN: Make a motion. WELDY: Councilmember, I'm not seeing that on my staff report. Is it in the -- in the Professional Services Agreement? SKILLICORN: In the actual -- FRIEDEL: Yeah, the actual -- SKILLICORN: -- the actual agreement. FRIEDEL: Yeah, the actual agreement. WELDY: Rest assured, we will correct that. It should be 261,969.67. FRIEDEL: Okay. WELDY: So prior to Rob sending that out for signatures, that will be corrected. FRIEDEL: Okay. All right. I just thought maybe we were getting a discount. SOLDINGER: (Indiscernible), Justin. MAYOR DICKEY: (Indiscernible). SOLDINGER: Mayor, Council, that was something that I specifically talked to the Procurement administrator about when we were going through the staff report reviews. The extra 20,000 to make it the 261 includes the owner's allowance, so it's, really, just in case we need to dip into that, so we can go up to that extra amount. WELDY: Thank you, Paul. MAYOR DICKEY: All right. So that's the amount, then, what we're seeing, but again, the 20,000 is for just in case. FRIEDEL: Yeah. (Indiscernible). MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah. Okay. Any further discussion? Motion, please. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 58 of 72 TOTH: Move to approve -- I lost it. I'm sorry. Okay. Move to approve Professional Services Agreement 2025-027 with Wood, Patel & Associates, Inc., for construction management services in the amount of $261,969.67 and the associated budget transfer. KALIVIANAKIS: Second. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: A painful yes. MAYOR DICKEY: Yay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Passes unanimous. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Angela. Thank you. WELDY: You're welcome. Thank you for your patience. MAYOR DICKEY: Next, we are going to have Amanda come talk to us about downtown. Are you -- GOODWIN: This is the last one, hopefully, in terms of our budget conversation over the evening. MAYOR DICKEY: Money -- the last money one, then. JACOBS: (Indiscernible). MAYOR DICKEY: And then John will be explaining some changes to us, but hopefully, that should be pretty easy. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 59 of 72 GOODWIN: Yes. MAYOR DICKEY: Thanks, Amanda. JACOBS: You're welcome. You guys still hanging in? MAYOR DICKEY: Yes. JACOBS: All right. One, first, I want to say, usually I provide the PowerPoint presentation as part of the packet. I wasn't going to do a PowerPoint, but there is a few questions, so I did this last-minute, so it is not in your packet. I will make sure to provide that to the clerk, and we'll make sure it's part of the official packet, but everyone will get to see what I'm doing here. And then, because, again, we have spoken about a lot of things, so a couple things. One, last month, the Mayor and Council did approve unanimously a downtown strategy. Going into that meeting, everyone was excited seeing that unanimous approval. There is even more excitement. Hopefully, you're hearing about it, feeling it, and are like, when are we going to start getting stuff done? So admittedly, we have $700,000 in the downtown fund, but as staff, when we went before Council and requested to spend some monies in this current fiscal year of '24-'25, we only presented 90,000. So we've got 90,000 that Council has approved. There's 700,000 in the fund. As your Director and then your Town Manager, we do not have the authority, even though the money is there, to use $100,000, so before you to request, can you please allow me to use $100,000? And we'll break down quickly what that is for. So one, we've had multiple requests, not just from The Avenue Merchant Association but other property owners, of wanting to wrap our palm trees that are along the avenue and along the commercial part. And so as you guys heard probably about a month ago from Manager Goodwin, folks were starting to ask questions like, are you seriously putting up lights on the Linear Park already? Yes. It takes a while. So while we have that vendor, we think, why not pull the trigger, if you will, and wrap the palm trees? And we have been working the last couple of years, and Economic Development and Community Relations, to get more photography, videography to make sure we are just TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 60 of 72 lighting up the downtown and people are coming here to shop and dine. And again, that connects to our local sales tax base. So the 25,000 would allow us to wrap 52 palm trees, about one to three gazebos. And what we're also wanting to do is some folks aren't understanding, believe it or not, twinkly lights or wrapping, or some folks think, well, Amanda, if you wrap the palm trees -- me not specifically -- that we don't need to do pedestrian lighting or solar lighting. That is not the case professionally. But to start to do this, we're hoping, again, to inspire folks. You'll see meeting invitations from me to invite Council on a walk-along; again, there are some folks from the TAMA association, so to have conversations. Some folks think because we're a dark sky community, we can't write these -- wrap the palm trees. That is also false. But instead of just hearing from me, we'll have representatives from the Dark Sky Association. So we are hoping, if we get approval tonight, we will be texting the vendor this evening, and tomorrow or Thursday, we will start wrapping these babies up and hope to light up not the Linear Park, just, again, the palm trees beginning in November. And November is also Small Business Saturday, so again, to just be promoting shop local and, as Councilmember Skillicorn said, really make it a vibrant downtown. The second request for 25,000 is for 3D design specifically for the Avenue District and the Business District. If you look to the far right, so plan view, it's potential revised avenue, some folks -- I get it. It's hard for me, too, to picture. So when we talk about sidewalk cafes, expanding the sidewalks for more commerce, people get the idea. And then you'll see to the left, that sort of a 3D, that has nothing to do, obviously, along the avenue or Verde River or Parkview. And so we're wanting to make sure, when we come before Council in January and February with some of the zoning changes, that we have the support from community members, again, residents, businesses, and there's a clear understanding of what we're trying to do. And again, from the Business District, you guys have heard from day one that I have felt that the zoning is not correct, especially if we're wanting to attract healthcare and bioscience, so having something like this, again, helps me pitch to these types of TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 61 of 72 businesses. And again, we need that diverse economy. When you attract those type of industries, that's a primary job. They have the wages to, again, shop, dine locally. Next, entryway signage. So there was a question, is this related to wayfinding signage. No, that is not correct. So again, we're hoping to start to pull the trigger on Entryway Sign Package. So again, if you think of the boundaries of the entire downtown, what is that going to look like with permanent entryway signs to, again, just welcome and say, this is downtown Fountain Hills. The same with the various districts of what is that going to look like. Again, sometimes I don't like to use examples, but there was questions. I did this last-minute. It does not mean this example is what we're doing, but just to give an idea. And then last, this is actually -- I knew I was coming before Council and then added this, and I am responding and trying to be proactive instead of reactive. But again, as you guys know, myself and Betsy, with the Chamber of Commerce, do business retention site visits. Earlier this month, we met, again, with TAMA -- they meet once a month -- and have just shared the summertime was really tough, can we activate the avenue and the downtown? And then they also brought up -- and it's something that I wasn't thinking about, but they're like, Amanda, it's still flipping hot. I'm like, yeah, you know, I'm bothered by it, too. But what they're thinking about is our winter visitors are going to be delayed in coming to Arizona and Fountain Hills because it's so hot, so again, will the sales start suffering, the visitors, the shoppers going in, and so requesting 25,000 to then make up the $100,000 to do some new events. So live converts. They've talked about doing maybe some arts, murals at Avenue District and then Plaza Fountainside. And then, of course, if you're going to have these events, there is going to need to be some marketing. Some of you did call me over the last couple of days and, like, do you really need all of this? I'm hoping you know, myself and my colleagues, that we try not to go all the way up to, you know, the very penny and we'll do our best to negotiate, but want to ask for it now and not have to come back and ask for more. And so with that, Mayor and Council, happy to answer any questions, but not sure if you TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 62 of 72 want to open to the public first. MAYOR DICKEY: Yes, I was asking if we have any cards. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, Mayor, we have one. James Bourdamis. MAYOR DICKEY: And also, the Chamber had spoken earlier because she had to leave. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. BOURDAMIS: Good evening, Mayor, Council, staff. My name is Jim Bourdamis. Been a resident of Fountain Hills for 20 years. My wife and I own four businesses on the Avenue of the Fountains, and I'm the chairperson of The Avenue Merchants Association, known as TAMA. I'm here to support the investment of the $100,000 to the downtown fund proposed by our Director of Economic Development. Our town relies on sales tax and fee income. Nearly two-thirds of the town's funding source comes from local tax and fee income. Stimulating economic activity is imperative to the financial health of the town. Investment in the promotion of our local businesses is not a luxury. In my opinion, it's a necessity. It's time to help our small businesses rebound and grow. Recently, the Town CFO provided a '24-'23 comparative recap of revenue by industry. Our restaurants and bars are down over four percent from the prior year. Nonfood retail, if you exclude the Internet sales, is also down two percent, and construction is down as well. If you factor inflation on top of that, two to three percent, the downtown businesses -- the downturn is actually even more pronounced. Our population remains flat, making it even more difficult to increase revenue and tax income for the town. It's time to prioritize the economic revitalization of our downtown. I believe all of you have expressed a commitment to supporting business in our town. Certainly, we can afford 185,000 for a pickleball court, which really doesn't generate revenue. It's a nice thing. I'm not opposed to it. But I would think that, you know, this is -- a reasonable ask. If you think about it, we have 200 merchants -- I had asked Betsy how many merchants we have downtown. She thought maybe even in excess of 200 merchants. But if you're TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 63 of 72 talking about a $100,000 investment by 200 merchants, that equates to, what, $500 per year. I mean, you think of a sign or an ad, it's gone, right? So I don't -- again, I don't think that's a giant ask. Our merchants do their fair share to promote business in the town. We do wine walks, we do health walks, art shows, fashion shows, charity events, and most of us are members of the Chamber. But we really need visual appeal and promotion. You know, everybody's trying to do their own thing, but if we don't improve that appeal down there -- it's pretty much looked the same way for four or five years. That's a tough sell. And you guys are all consumers as well. You know, I don' t know how often you get downtown, but, you know, we don't -- always see their faces. So we really need appeal is what we're talking about. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Jim. We're out of time. BOURDAMIS: Yeah, you got it. MAYOR DICKEY: Thanks a lot. BOURDAMIS: Yeah. MAYOR DICKEY: Appreciate it. That's it. Councilman? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: That's it. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Director Jacobs, a couple questions. JACOBS: Yes. SKILLICORN: The lit-up palm trees, is that -- what's the useful life of those lights? That's not -- that's not a annual occurrence where we need $25,000 to rewrap them. They should last a few years, right? JACOBS: Madam Mayor, Councilmember Skillicorn, that is correct. And then in doing this -- again, it'll be through November. Is it to the spring? Is it longer? Again, by doing this, we're then going to get that feedback again from the community, so residents, businesses, visitors. SKILLICORN: And Director and Council, Mayor, I've seen it, yeah, yearlong, so it's more TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 64 of 72 than just the Christmas season for those. A lot of this excites me. I -- you know, when you said doing events there, that's something that, you know, kind of -- my heart kind of skipped a little bit. I'd love to see -- you know, I have a vision for this -- these two blocks being a culinary district and bringing in people that not only will just visit, but they'll visit in multiple places when they come, and I think that that's a great idea to have them come here. And actually, I would love that the intent of this council is to give you -- you know, if you have money left over in one area, you can, you know, spend more money on advertising, right? That would be my intent of this. So I'll make a motion to approve for $100,000. TOTH: I'll second that, but I did just want to make a comment, if that's all right. I wanted to point out, for anyone who didn't catch that, the go-getter attitude that Amanda showed a minute ago. She said, if we approve this, she will text the vendor tonight to get those lights on the palm trees. That's incredible. I just wanted to make sure that was pointed out and you got your kudos. JACOBS: Well, thank you, but -- SKILLICORN: The exception -- now, the standard's been set. TOTH: Yeah, but I think you can live up to it. JACOBS: Admittedly, though, it's -- Kevin's going to do the texting, so we'll give -- Kevin some of the credit, too. But we're told -- TOTH: Thank you, Kevin. JACOBS: Yes. We're told sometimes in government, we're slow, and I try to say, oh, really. FRIEDEL: Is 100 grand enough? Do you need a little more? JACOBS: Is there a second? Was there amendment to the motion? Is there 150? MAYOR DICKEY: Oh, gosh. Vice Mayor? JACOBS: No, if you're being serious -- KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. JACOBS: -- Councilmember Friedel, 100 is enough. We appreciate it. But I appreciate the offer. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 65 of 72 KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor. Yeah, I'd like to also make a motion -- or second to approve this budget transfer. When we were talking about wayfinding signs earlier, I mentioned a group of people that were for it, and again, I see the same group for this downtown improvement, and that's the Chamber of Commerce, TAMA, the business owners in that district. Out-of-town visitors would love to come to our downtown area and have it more vibrant, especially at night with the lighting. And also, it's called for in our Strategic Plan and our General Plan. And so I think this is a great idea, and I hope we pass it tonight. And good luck. JACOBS: Thank you. MAYOR DICKEY: We have a -- we have a motion and a second. Could we have a roll call, please? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Motion passes. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. JACOBS: On behalf of staff, thank you. We appreciate your support. MAYOR DICKEY: Thanks, Amanda. Our next item is a public hearing about some zoning ordinance. I think it's kind of some housekeeping and some language. So the hearing is open. We'll hear from John. We TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 66 of 72 can ask questions, I'll see if there's any speaker cards, then we can discuss, close the hearing, and have a motion. WESLEY: Good evening, Mayor and Council. Hopefully, we can move through this fairly quickly. We have been in the process of updating each of the sections in Chapter 2 of the Zoning Ordinance, which is the Procedures chapter. You've already done Sections 201, 202, and 204, and so this evening, we have Section 203, dealing with temporary use permits and updating it. We've had to set a -- now I lost my words -- organization for each of the sections so they can read the same and it's easy to find the information in each of the sections because they all flow the same, so that's been one of the purposes with each of these. So you see -- if you look back over what you've done in the other sections and look at this, and you'll see a lot of the language is very much the same. But one of the things that we're proposing to add in Section A of the ordinance, there's an existing purpose statement, but we're adding a statement about requirements because it's not clear in the current code, necessarily, when a temporary use permit is required and what distinguishes a temporary use permit from a special event permit that's handled through the Community Services Department, so we're trying to clarify some of that with this requirements statement at the beginning. And just some example of some of those things that are in the Zoning Ordinance that do require temporary use permits. Here's a list of some of them that are in there, including the temporary banner permits that we approved, the latest update to the sign ordinance. So Section B, then, covers application process. Again, this is very much like the other sections of the code that we've done. Applications are filled out online. Provide a project narrative. A site plan is needed for what's being proposed, any additional information that might help us to understand what is needed, and then, also, provides a distinction between when we collect the temporary use permit fee that's in the schedule of fees and the administrative use permit. So it's one of those items that's listed in the code as needed, temporary use permit. Those are the ones that take a little TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 67 of 72 bit more time that could potentially come to the Council if it's -- there's an appeal, that type of thing, so that has a higher fee than those that are just handled purely administratively, have a use permit request. So in the ordinance as it was presented to you, you find in your packet, as we continued to review that and got a little bit of feedback on it, did notice a couple of words that would probably be better if they were changed, and so staff would make these changes. As shown here, the word changed marked out for the word request, and then correcting some language in that later. For applications requesting a temporary use permit, they could read a little bit better with those changes. Wanted to make Council aware that that would be in the ordinance going forward. Section C, then, of the section has review and approval criteria. Again, similar to the other sections in Chapter 2, there's initial staff review, did we get what we need. If not, going back and forth with that. They make sure we have the correct information, and then once we have it, then able to move forward with action. In this case, these are approved administratively, as stated in the code, and adding some language to the copy that the approved temporary use permit should be maintained on-site, so if there's ever a question whether or not they've gotten approval, it's easy to find that out. And then a statement about transferability was relocated to this particular section. And then, again, as we were looking through it again, we noticed that in this section -- usually we talk about a filing fee, but for some reason, right here we're using the word application fee, and so just for consistency, there's not two different types of fees. Proposing to change that from application fee to filing fee. MAYOR DICKEY: (Indiscernible). WESLEY: Yeah. Okay. Or a filling fee. We could have one of those, too. Yeah, we'll fix that. Thank you. Yeah, all caps, doesn't catch that very well. And then another change later on in Section D on appeals, it says that the matter shall be appealed, but the applicant may not want to appeal, so we don't mandate the appeal, and so we'll change the "shall" to a "may". And that's done by the applicant. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 68 of 72 And then time limits, Section E of the code, a minor change there. So the -- when it's working well, an applicant knows what they're doing, they apply for their permit at least a few days, if not a few weeks, in advance so it's all in place, and so it's not necessarily effective the day it's issued. It's effective the day we put on the permit. So I think that will work better. Section F on revocations, there's no proposed changes in that section. So those are the proposed modifications to the section of Chapter 2. Any questions? MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Does Council have any questions? Do we have any speaker cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, we do not. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Councilwoman? TOTH: I just -- I see this as pretty straightforward. And thank you, John. So I'd just like to make a motion to adopt Ordinance 24-15. MAYOR DICKEY: Consider the hearing closed. TOTH: Sorry. MAYOR DICKEY: That's okay. KALIVIANAKIS: And second. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. MAYOR DICKEY: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 69 of 72 MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Motion passes. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Angela. Our last item -- I'm not sure. Is this Rachael, or -- GOODWIN: Actually, I think Kevin's going to take this one -- MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. GOODWIN: -- and give a little background. I'd just like to clarify that Kevin's already sent the text. I saw the screenshot. SNIPES: I mean, I've heard of stealing your thunder, but man, I didn't even get up here. Yeah, so we are confirmed for tomorrow. They should be starting the tree wrapping tomorrow, so that's exciting. So thank you guys very much. Appreciate it. Madam Mayor and Council, I'm here tonight at the direction of Council. There was a request to look into bringing the formal processes that the Public Art Committee has been doing to an internal committee, and with working with Aaron and John, with Development Services, this was actually more complicated than we thought it would be just because they were weaved into a whole bunch of different aspects of how we do business. After doing the review, we found that we do recommend moving the public art processes to an internal commission, mostly because we're transitioning more from doing the purchasing side of public art to maintaining our public art that we have. What's this mean for the Public Art Committee as we know it? It really makes it to where that they become a lot like most of our 501(c)(3)s are today, and that means they're more advisory. If they -- if someone comes to them and they -- and has a piece of art and they still want to present it to us, they still will. And then once it becomes the formal side of things, it will come to our historic and culture commission, and then they'll vote on it to move it forward. That will go with the developers, as well, will move into the historic and culture. It'll help streamline things. It will make it more transparent. We'll have meeting minutes that are actually verbatim versus more of an agenda-sized as the Public Art Committee had been done, and I think it'll help make it to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 70 of 72 where that if the public does want to come and talk during that meeting, it does open to the public to where they can have conversations around new art pieces that are being brought up as well. The other thing that was brought up was, well, what happens if we decide, as a town, that we would like to purchase a piece of art or if someone's offering to donate it, we need some expertise? Well, we still have those people available in town, and we would just form an ad hoc committee to have them take a look at it along with staff and then be able to come back and present that to the historic and cultural committee and then bring it to the Town Council as a whole. So we think this can function really well. And basically, what we'll do is repeal the resolution that went to -- that had it go through the Public Art Committee, and it will now go through our historic and cultural. And with that, I'll take any questions that you have. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Do we have any speaker cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, we do not. MAYOR DICKEY: Thanks. Any questions or comments? Councilwoman? TOTH: I support this for so many reasons, but to save everybody time, I'd like to just make a motion to repeal Resolution 2023-11 and to approve Resolution 2024-41. Thank you, Kevin. FRIEDEL: Second. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. I just want to say that we definitely appreciate everything that the Committee's done already, you've accomplished for our community over all these years. We have a reputation for all of our beautiful scenery and our fine attractions, and I think that the public art collection is one of the really special things about our town, and they had so much, obviously, to do with that, so I want to thank them. And I don't know if we'll have anything or if they're just going to meld into that, but I just want to make sure that we appreciated -- our appreciation or that we expressed it. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 71 of 72 Anyway, roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon? MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth? TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel? FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey? MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Motion passes. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Our last item is about the discussion direction to the Town Manager. We had one speaker talking about temporary uses or special use permits, so we might want to get a little follow-up on that for us, please. Was there anything else that we heard that we need to get back? Any future agenda items? Or whatever you -- have there. TOTH: It applies to one of those things. Councilmember Skillicorn had mentioned the baseball -- I almost said courts. Geez. Baseball fields. Four hours of sleep, guys. It does a number on you -- the baseball fields being locked up. I -- being sappy and being someone who was a softball pitcher and was on one of those fields almost every single day, like, every summer of my life, I relate to that a lot, and I think it would be wonderful if we found a way to make that available for the public when -- obviously, when there are not tournaments going on. So if we could explore that. I don't believe that's something that would require an agenda item, but if it is, let's do that. GOODWIN: There's quite a bit of background on that conversation, so what we'll do is we'll get a -- we'll get a memo out to the Council, kind of exploring the background and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS OCTOBER 15, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 72 of 72 how we got here and then, you know, moving forward. Does that work? TOTH: Okay. Um-hum. GOODWIN: Okay. Great. MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you very much. Is that it? We're adjourned. Thank you.