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Home My WebLink AboutAGENDApacket__04-01-25_1208_695 NOTICE OF MEETING REGULAR MEETING FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL Mayor Gerry M. Friedel Vice Mayor Hannah Toth Councilmember Gayle Earle Councilmember Brenda Kalivianakis Councilmember Rick Watts Councilmember Peggy McMahon Councilmember Allen Skillicorn TIME:5:30 P.M. – REGULAR MEETING WHEN:TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025 WHERE: FOUNTAIN HILLS COUNCIL CHAMBERS 16705 E. AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS, FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ Councilmembers of the Town of Fountain Hills will attend either in person or by telephone conference call; a quorum of the Town’s various Commission, Committee or Board members may be in attendance at the Council meeting. Notice is hereby given that pursuant to A.R.S. §1-602.A.9, subject to certain specified statutory exceptions, parents have a right to consent before the State or any of its political subdivisions make a video or audio recording of a minor child. Meetings of the Town Council are audio and/or video recorded and, as a result, proceedings in which children are present may be subject to such recording. Parents, in order to exercise their rights, may either file written consent with the Town Clerk to such a recording, or take personal action to ensure that their child or children are not present when a recording may be made. If a child is present at the time a recording is made, the Town will assume that the rights afforded parents pursuant to A.R.S. §1-602.A.9 have been waived. REQUEST TO COMMENT Instructions The public is welcome to participate in Council meetings. TO SPEAK TO A CONSENT OR REGULAR AGENDA ITEM, complete a Request to Comment card and hand it to the Town Clerk prior to discussion of that item. Include the agenda item NUMBER on which you wish to comment. A separate submission is required for each agenda item. Request to Comment cards will not be accepted once the Council deliberations begin. Submit a Request to Comment card prior to a public hearing agenda item. TO COMMENT ON A CONSENT OR REGULAR AGENDA ITEM IN WRITING ONLY, complete a Request to Comment card, indicating that it is a written comment, check the box on whether you are FOR or AGAINST a consent or regular agenda item, and hand it to the Town Clerk prior to discussion on that item. A separate submission is required for each agenda item. TO SPEAK TO CALL TO THE PUBLIC, complete a Request to Comment card and hand it to the Town Clerk. Speakers will be allowed three contiguous minutes to address the Council. Verbal comments should be directed through the Presiding Officer and not to individual Councilmembers. TO COMMENT IN WRITING ONLINE: Visit https://www.fountainhillsaz.gov/publiccomment and submit a Request to Comment card by 3:00 PM on the day of the meeting. These comments are shared with the Town Council. This Request to Comment card, and any information you write on it, is a public record subject to public disclosure. NOTICE OF OPTION TO RECESS INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice is hereby given to the members of the Town Council, and to the general public, that at this meeting, the Town Council may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public, for legal advice and discussion with the Town's attorneys for legal advice on any item listed on the following agenda, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(3). 1.CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Mayor Friedel 2.INVOCATION - Pastor Tony Pierce, Cornerstone Family Church 3.ROLL CALL – Mayor Friedel 4.STATEMENT OF PARTICIPATION 5.REPORTS BY MAYOR, COUNCILMEMBERS AND TOWN MANAGER A.PROCLAMATION: Designation of the Week of April 5 - 11, 2025, CASA Volunteer Week. 6.PRESENTATIONS 7.CALL TO THE PUBLIC Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.01(H), public comment is permitted (not required) on matters NOT listed on the agenda. Any such comment (i) must be within the jurisdiction of the Council, and (ii) is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. The Council will not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during Call to the Public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. At the conclusion of the Call to the Public, individual councilmembers may (i) respond to criticism, (ii) ask staff to review a matter, or (iii) ask that the matter be placed on a future Council agenda. 8.CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS All items listed on the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine, noncontroversial matters and will be enacted by one motion of the Council. All motions and subsequent approvals of consent items will include all recommended staff stipulations unless otherwise stated. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a councilmember or member of the public so requests. If a councilmember or member of the public wishes to discuss an item on the Consent Agenda, he/she may request so prior to the motion to accept the Consent Agenda or with notification to the Town Manager or Mayor prior to the date of the meeting for which the item was scheduled. The items will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. Town Council Regular Meeting of April 1, 2025 2 A.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approving the Minutes for the Town Council Retreat Meeting of February 25, 2025, and for the Town Council Regular Meeting of March 4, 2025. B.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approving Resolution 2025-05, an Amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement with Fountain Hills Unified School District. 9.REGULAR AGENDA A.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the recommendations for the appointments of members to the Town's Boards, Commissions, and Committees. B.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the application for the T-Mobile Hometown Grant. C.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of Resolution 2025-14, the Amended Public Art Master Plan. D.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of Community Center Improvements. E.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of Resolution 2025-06 modifying the Town of Fountain Hills Political Sign-Free Zone Map established by Resolution 2012-31. F.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Relating to any item included in the League of Arizona Cities and Towns' weekly Legislative Bulletin(s), or relating to any action proposed or pending before the State Legislature. 10.COUNCIL DISCUSSION/DIRECTION to the TOWN MANAGER Item(s) listed below are related only to the propriety of (i) placing such item(s) on a future agenda for action, or (ii) directing staff to conduct further research and report back to the Council. 11.FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 12.ADJOURNMENT Town Council Regular Meeting of April 1, 2025 3 12.ADJOURNMENT Dated this ______ day of ____________________, 2025. _______________________________________________ Bevelyn Bender, Town Clerk The Town of Fountain Hills endeavors to make all public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities. Please call 480-816-5100 (voice) or 1-800-367-8939 (TDD) 48 hours prior to the meeting to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting or to obtain agenda information in large print format. Supporting documentation and staff reports furnished the Council with this agenda are available for review in the Clerk's Office. On the day of the Council Meeting, the Council Chamber doors open at 5:15 p.m. for public seating. Town Council Regular Meeting of April 1, 2025 4 ITEM 5. A. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Reports Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): PROCLAMATION: Designation of the Week of April 5 - 11, 2025, CASA Volunteer Week. Staff Summary (Background) Mayor Friedel will proclaim the week of April 5 - 11, 2025, CASA Volunteer Week. Attachments PROCLAMATION: Designation of the Week of April 5 - 11, 2025, CASA Volunteer Week. Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 03/20/2025 04:46 PM Final Approval Date: 03/20/2025 ITEM 8. A. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Consent Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approving the Minutes for the Town Council Retreat Meeting of February 25, 2025, and for the Town Council Regular Meeting of March 4, 2025. Staff Summary (Background) The intent of approving meeting minutes is to ensure an accurate account of the discussion and action that took place at the meeting for archival purposes. Approved minutes are placed on the town's website and maintained as permanent records in compliance with state law. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle N/A Risk Analysis N/A Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) N/A Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends approving the Minutes for the Town Council Retreat Meeting of February 25, 2025, and for the Town Council Regular Meeting of March 4, 2025. SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve the Minutes for the Town Council Retreat Meeting of February 25, 2025, and for the Town Council Regular Meeting of March 4, 2025, as presented. Attachments 2025.0304.TCRM.MINUTES 2025.0225.TCSM.Minutes Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 03/06/2025 05:49 PM Final Approval Date: 03/06/2025 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR L MEETING OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL MARCH 4, 2025 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 Gerry M. Friedel; Vice Mayor Hannah Toth; Councilmember Gayle Earle; Councilmember Brenda Kalivianakis; Councilmember Rick Watts; Councilmember Peggy McMahon; Councilmember Allen Skillicorn Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson; Acting Town Clerk Angela Padgett-Espiritu TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 1 of 76 Post-Production File Town of Fountain Hills City Council Meeting Minutes March 4, 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 MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 2 of 76 MAYOR FRIEDEL: Rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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 FRIEDEL: Please remain standing if you choose. We're going to have an invocation by Pastor Rod Warembourg from Desert Creek Fellowship. WAREMBOURG: Thank you, Mayor, councilmembers. Please join me in prayer. Father, I come before you tonight, found in Christ. Father, I come before you as a representative of a kingdom that is unseen, but Father, we ask for your help tonight. Father, I pray that you'd be made wisdom to this council. I pray, Father, that you would help to lead them so that they could lead us well. I pray, Father, that you'd give them wisdom so they could guide us as the people of this town well. I pray, Father, that you would help them to do so in justice and in righteousness. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. ALL: Amen. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Town clerk, can we have a roll call, please? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Here. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 3 of 76 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: We have a quorum for the record. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Can you please read the statement of participation? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. Anyone wishing to address the council regarding items listed on the agenda or under call of 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. Once the agenda item has started, late requests to speak cannot be accepted. When your name is called, please approach the podium, speak into the microphone, and state your name for the public record. Please limit your comments to three minutes. It is the policy of the mayor and council to not comment on items brought forth under call of 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. It's also requested that applause be kept to a minimum to avoid disruption of the meeting to maintain decorum, and provide an equal and uninterrupted presentation. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Now we'll have our reports by the mayor, councilmembers, and town manager. Rachael, I'll start off with you. GOODWIN: Thank you, Mayor, council. Good evening. I have a couple of updates. I'm going to try to move pretty quick, but I did want to take some time. It's a very busy time of year, so I wanted to -- first of all, I wanted to thank all of our staff and all of the guests that joined us for our teen takeover. We had over 120 teen at the community center this past weekend, enjoying activities, and games, and prizes, and food, and all kinds of stuff. Special thanks to our sponsors, which was the Fountain Hills Coalition, the Fountain Hills Library, and, of course, the Mayor's Youth Council, for making the event possible, so a lot of fun there. This Thursday, we'll be celebrating the grand opening of a new trail within the preserve, the Mesquite Hollow Trail, so join us at noon at the Adero Canyon trailhead as we recognize this new addition and show our appreciation for our volunteer trail builders. Also, upcoming, if you haven't already marked your calendars, I see an Irish Fest shirt out there, so shout out to -- or Irish fest wearer. All right. That's coming up on March TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 4 of 76 15th, so not this weekend, but next weekend. There's lots of music, food, beer, all kinds of things, and, of course, the greening of the fountain. We'll also have the greening on Monday the 17th for Saint Patrick's Day as well. If you want to find out more information, including the lineup, including the menus, all that kind of stuff, visit us on experiencefountainhills.org for more information. Friday. This Friday is recognized as National Employee Appreciation Day, so I wanted to take a second to recognize our staff. Here in Fountain Hills, we are fortunate to have a dedicated team of over a hundred staff members who work tirelessly to provide essential services and programs to our community. Their hard work and commitment make a tremendous impact every day, and I want to express my gratitude to each of them, so thank you for all that you do. Lastly, I want to take a moment to recognize and bid a fond farewell to two of our outstanding team members and partners. That's Captain Larry Kratzer back there, as well as Lieutenant Mike Lawson. Both have been exceptional partners in our community, serving with dedication and integrity. As they transition to new roles with MCSO, we are truly grateful for their service here in Fountain Hills. While we will certainly miss them, we're excited to cheer them on as they take on new challenges. So Captain Kratzer, Lieutenant Lawson, thank you, and we wish you all the best. Those are my updates. Thanks. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Councilwoman Gayle Earle. EARLE: Yes, I attended the Fine Arts Fair, and it was a really nice fair, and purchased some fun goodies, and also we had a council retreat last week that was 6 and a half hours long. We worked on how we're going to take care of the roads, capital improvements, projects, budget, and more, and then I've been listening to the legislative updates on Mondays with the Arizona League of Cities and Towns. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Greetings, everybody. Thank you all for coming here tonight, and whether you're live, or streaming on YouTube or on Cox channel 10, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 5 of 76 hi. Welcome to our meeting. I'll try to make it really quick. Tonight, we're going to have a proclamation for the American Red Cross, and I want to give a big thank you to our town manager, Rachael Goodwin. It was a couple months ago, and I went to her with this, and you know, the people in the Red Cross, you know, after the cameras leave and the trucks go, they're still working. They're helping the citizens of our country through earthquakes, fires, and all the tragedy that you've seen in the past year, and so not only did she agree to it on the spot and very decisively, but she also was the one that recommended we do the fountain in red, so thank you for a job well done. You're good at what you do. I also attended the Night of Hope, and that was -- we did the proclamation for that a couple of weeks ago, and that was attended at Grace Church, and there was 1,300 people there, including Andy Biggs, our county attorney, Rachel Mitchell. Warren Petersen, who is a president of the Senate, and it was on that night that they decided that they're going to put a task force together at the Senate and state level to combat human trafficking, and so it was an inspirational night with many law enforcement, with many clergy, and with a lot of elected leaders. You know, there was a round table, and all the elected leaders went on stage. I sat next to Mayor Hartke from Chandler, and they prayed over us, and it was quite an experience, and so I just wanted to keep people aware of the human trafficking. It's an ongoing issue, and there's a lot of people around the site that are fighting that -- state around fighting that. We had the Firewise conference. This time, it was 30 minutes long, and then around an hour and a half worth of questioning, and it was a great presentation. Again, very topical with the Hawaiian fires, with the California fires, and people are very concerned and are concerned in our community about fire management. We get a lot of emails from the citizens about various overgrown washes and stuff, so this mayor has been very, very on top of that. The council is on top of that. Our staff is on top of that, and I just want everybody in this town to know that that's one of our top priorities. Again, like Gayle said, we went to the retreat. It wasn't very long, but very TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 6 of 76 productive. We had a lot of -- we talked about a lot of different things, and just so you guys know, a lot of times things come up, and they say, well, that came up awfully quick. You know, we just heard about that on the agenda two weeks ago. You know, some of these things, we've been talking about for a year or two, but they're retreats, and we didn't get much of an audience there, so if you're really concerned about all the upcoming things in the pipeline, please make sure that you attend these things, because that's when you're going to find out what's coming at you in the future. And then the last thing is I went to the Festival of Fine Arts, again, very successful. I talked to the vendors. They were all profitable. They were all very happy with it. I talked about this at the retreat. It was just a splendid success, and I want to thank the town, the Maricopa County Sheriffs, and the Chamber of Commerce for such a job well done. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Thank you, Mayor. Similar to what Councilwoman Earle said, I attended a couple of the Arizona League city meetings. Very informative. Keeping up to date on what house bills, Senate bills are in the pipeline. I attended a day of training at the fire department out in Mesa, which I found excruciatingly painful, so it was very interesting, educational, enlightening. The fair was another event that I went and walked around. Unfortunately, I didn't have to buy anything, but I did get a lot of looking, and last but not least was the budget meeting, which was almost as painful as the fire day, so thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to quickly point out on Saturday, March 22nd, here in Fountain Hills, there is a event going on called lookup, and it's actually in the afternoon, 12:30 in the afternoon, there's a children's event, but in the -- later that evening at 6 p.m., there's an event for all families. That speaker is going to be Will Graham, a bunch of musicians, and a big event for everyone. Everyone that is watching on TV, watching on the YouTube channel, but also here in the audience are TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 7 of 76 welcome to attend. Thanks. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Peggy McMahon. MCMAHON: Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for attending. I also attended a few things since our last council meeting. Like Rick Watts said, we attended the fire department's annual training day out at their Mesa facility, which the facility in and of itself is very impressive, and it was impressive to see the combination of fire departments from other towns and cities and how they all work together to fight fires and car fires especially and work with their EMTs to save our lives. It's very impressive. If you ever have the opportunity to participate in that, I suggest you do so. I also attend the weekly legislative calls and keep up on what our legislature bills are doing or not doing. I also attended the budget workshop, and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a business meeting with our economic director, Amanda Jacobs, and a business owner, Rich Barker (ph.). He is a developer. He owns the Pony Express building, and if you haven't been in that building, it's really amazing. He has really renovated it and is really utilizing the space, and he is very pleased to be in Fountain Hills and have business here. In addition, being on the Fountain Hills Youth Coalition, I was able to attend their annual essay contest writing award ceremony, and what those students wrote and said, their intuition, and their perception of themselves and others was very, very touching, and I congratulate all of the contestants and the winners, and I look forward to next year's essay contest, too. And in addition, the Irish Festival is coming up, and I hope everybody attends. Like Rachael said, it's a blast. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Vice Mayor. TOTH: Well, to avoid repetition, I went to several of the things mentioned, and I hope everyone had a great week. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. I also attended the Festival of Fine Arts. I was down there actually five times over the weekend, just walking around, talking to vendors, looking at the crowds, and making sure everything was okay, and it was pretty well attended. We did have the Firewise seminar, and we have one HOA that I think is designated Firewise, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 8 of 76 and that's Sunridge right now, so we're looking for more HOAs to jump on that and get that done as well. Also as was mentioned, the budget retreat, we went over a lot of capital improvement projects, and looking forward to getting a lot of work done for the residents of this town. I also attended the food for kids event in the community center. That event had over 400 volunteers, and they literally packaged thousands and thousands of meals for for youth and people around the country, so it was really good to see the community come together, and it was packed, and it was only two hours and I saw a little bit of oatmeal on the floor, but otherwise, it was a fun event and it was very well received. And I also attended the Drug Coalition essay winners recognition awards ceremony, and I have to say that that was such a moving event to hear these kids, these students, and their stories was really moving and very humbling. A lot of thought and a lot of emotion. You could just feel it in the room that night. I also had a meeting with our law enforcement committee, going over some things that we're going to work on with the sheriff's contract. They also had a meeting with our Veterans Committee, so we'll be rolling that out next -- at our next meeting, and I'd also like to recognize our staff since it is staff appreciation week. So we have a great staff here in this town. They work tirelessly for all the residents of this town, and they put in a lot of extra effort without even being asked in a lot of cases. So we really appreciate our staff and kudos to them, and I'd also like to recognize Captain Kratzer and Mr. Lawson as well. Captain, I've had the pleasure of working with you for several years. We're going to miss you, but I know it's better for you. You're moving up, so we appreciate your effort here in this town and what you do for the residents and for our community, and then I have one, one housekeeping thing I want to -- I want to bring up. This is the second time I'm bringing this up. I rewatched the last council meeting twice, and I have to say that I was embarrassed by the behavior on this dais by some of the council members in this last meeting, so here's what's going to happen. If there's a point of order called by somebody, it has to be recognized by the chair. Whether I'm TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 9 of 76 here or the vice mayor is in charge, they have to recognize that point of order, and then it has to be decided whether there's footing for that point of order. If it's decided that there isn't, whoever appealed for the point of order can appeal to this body for a vote on it, and that's the way it's going to be done. Also, if there's disorder on this dais, I'll politely ask the person if they need to leave the meeting. If they don't and it continues, we will take a recess. We will call a time-out. We're not going to have that anymore. It was very embarrassing, so I'm apologizing to our residents, the rest of this council, and our town staff for what happened in this last meeting. So going forward, we're not going to deal with that. So that's all I have for this right now, and now, we'll move on to the proclamation for the Red Cross and Vice Mayor Hannah Toth, is there anybody here from the Red Cross? I don't see anybody here. All right. So we're going to read the proclamation, and then we'll make sure that that gets delivered to them. So Vice Mayor? TOTH: Whereas during American Red Cross month in March, we recognize the compassion of people in Fountain Hills and reaffirm our commitment to care for one another in times of crisis, and whereas this generous spirit is woven into the fabric of our community and advances the humanitarian legacy of American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, one of the most honored women in our country's history who nobly dedicated herself to alleviating suffering. And whereas today, kindhearted individuals in our community exemplify Barton's commitment as they step up through the AZNM region to provide a beacon of hope for our neighbors in need. Through their voluntary and selfless contributions, they make a lifesaving difference in people's darkest hours. Whether it's delivering shelter, food, and comfort during disasters, providing critical blood donations for hospital patients, supporting military families, veterans, and caregivers through the unique challenges of service. Saving lives with first aid, CPR, and other skills, or delivering aid and reconnecting loved ones separated by global crises. And whereas we hereby recognize this month of March in honor of all those who lead with their hearts to serve people in need, and we ask TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 10 of 76 everyone to join in this commitment to strengthen our community. Now, therefore, I, Gerry Friedel, mayor of the Town of Fountain Hills, do hereby proclaim March 2025 as Red Cross Month in Fountain Hills as we illuminate our famous iconic fountain in red on this day and encourage all citizens of Fountain Hills to reach out and support its humanitarian mission. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Now, we'll move on to presentations. Rachael? GOODWIN: Wonderful. Director Weldy is going to give a brief introduction, and then I believe we have our guests that will lead us through the presentation. WELDY: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, and councilmembers. During fiscal years '19, '20, and '21, during the renovations of the community center, we discovered some water intrusion issues and other things that were needed corrected in that building. I think it's important to note, under the direction of town management and the mayor and council's, every single year since that time, we have planned, budgeted money, and tackled one or more of the challenges that have been faced, and we've made substantial progress. This year, we asked for a considerable amount of money as we were planning to move forward, a half million dollars. As part of our planning and discussions with the town manager, the CFO, and procurement, we decided to take a step back and let's get an evaluation of everything that's been done, and I have Allana Buick and Bers representative, and I'll introduce him shortly. Give us an update, and at the same time, we recognized that we needed to do an assessment of all of the roofs of the buildings, so that wasn't included in the original one, but kind of skimmed over, but we recognized that it's also important. With that said, this will be the second update directly from Mr. Buick to this council regarding his assessment and their professional opinions. Well, I said I would open his PowerPoint. Here we go. WELDY: We're going to try a new one. BUICK: Okay. WELDY: Let's try this one. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 11 of 76 BUICK: Yeah, I'm a little more familiar with this one. WELDY: There you go. BUICK: All right. Thank you, Mayor Friedel, Madam Vice Mayor, and councilmembers. My name is Jean Buick with Allana Buick and Bers, and we were retained by the town of Fountain Hills to -- approximately about three years ago to evaluate some leaking conditions in the community center, which I'm going to give you an update on how those repairs are performing, and then I'll also give you our preliminary findings on our roof evaluations. So what we have here is an overview, and our team had an opportunity to revisit the community center window repairs. We also evaluated the roofs of the library and museum, community center, town hall, and central plant. Our scope of work was, as I described, to evaluate the window repairs and then evaluate the roofs, so let's talk a little bit about what we observed on the window repairs. Here's an overview of your community center. We were brought in a few years ago to understand and study why you had extensive water intrusion through the window assemblies and door assemblies and whatnot, and essentially, the original construction was poor, and water was able to get through the window assemblies. There was reverse slope on the hardscape, and so there was excessive water intrusion into the interior at various locations. We performed a lot of testing to verify the concerns and then developed some repair options, one consisting of potentially replacement, and the other, which was more of a exhaustive wet sealing solution, applying silicone sealants to help stop the water from getting in. So in May of 2022, we had developed a report with our findings and provided recommendations. Again, the recommendations went from one extreme to replacing to another extreme of repairing, so to be proactive, the town retained a contractor to perform a wet seal approach, and you know, I'm pleased to report that it is performing and it's helping keep most of the water out of the building. This is just an example of what we went through to test the windows. We had spray racks and replicated leakage. This photo represents a wedding paper that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 12 of 76 shows how much water was getting into these assemblies, and you can imagine with the monsoonal rainstorms, at times, water can easily penetrate these areas and introduce a lot of moisture into the interior. During our survey of the recent repairs, we did notice some leak stains, but to the best -- to the best of our knowledge, there may be one or two leftover leak stains, but not nearly the dozens upon dozens of leaks that you had been experiencing. Those have been abated. Some of the other repairs that occurred, aside from sealing, was the installation of a trench drain. The trench drain helped assist with removing water away from the building, so you didn't have water flowing into the door assemblies and intruding into the interior, and that's been quite successful. This trench drain has a pipe, and that pipe connects into a storm system to evacuate the water. Also, there was another area over at the (indiscernible) room. This was actually an open patio, had reverse slope issues, and an opportunity was taken here to create a new storage area, and so that patio, which was quite problematic, was enclosed with a new storage area, which has been well received. Here's an example of what I mean by wet seal. So what is a wet seal? So a wet seal is application of sealant over joinery between the glass and the frame and between frame joints, and that helps keep water out. What was used as a product is silicone, and silicone lasts a long time. I mean, I've studied silicone that's 40 years old, and it's still performing to this date, so this is at least a 15, 20-year repair. Now, nonetheless, it can be imperfect, so at some point, you may have to plan for a replacement project, but this has given you some life and sometime before that needs to take place. There was also adjustments to the door sweeps at the doors to prevent water from traveling beneath the doors, and there was also some localized grinding of the concrete to create slope, to have water evacuate away from the doors instead of flowing towards the doors and pooling, so that's been quite successful. So in summary, there were temporary repairs, have prevented a lot of water from getting in, and it's given you some extended life. Regardless, like any repair, you have to have maintenance and inspect regularly to be TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 13 of 76 sure that the sealant is still intact and performing, so ultimately, someday, you know, there will have to be a permanent solution in place, but this will give you some time. Any questions on the window repairs, and -- no? Let's jump into the roof. So in general, you have polyurethane foam roofs with a granulated coating system. A pretty common roof system, particularly in the desert environment. Commonly used, has great insulation value, generally can perform well with maintenance. As an overview, you have the community center and central plant buildings that were constructed approximately in 2001 with 32,000 square feet, you have the town hall building built around 2005, 17,000 square feet, and you have the library museum building built around 2001 with 23,000 square feet. So all in all, we have approximately 70,000 square feet of roofing. Some of our observations are this. You know, maintenance has been on top of either a leak report or some delamination of some areas, but it continues to get worse, you know, as this roof continues to age, but the staff has been proactive. With the community center, what we saw -- we did see some stained tiles, and that may not necessarily be a roof leak. It may be an issue with chilled water lines or other mechanical-related leaks, so roof leakage isn't a big issue. However, there are several signs of distress that need to be remedied. Here's a roof overview. Here's your white coating system, has granules in it, and that's over a foam spray application over a metal deck. We did do some roof course just to understand what the roof assembly consisted of, and what we have here is a core foam roofing, and we took the liberty of making a cross-section. I don't want to bore you to death, but essentially, you have a coating. That's the thin line on top with the granules. You have foam roof that gives you insulation value and some slope. You have a gypsum board on this particular deck that gives you fire-resistant construction and a metal pan deck. Some of the issues we see are failed roof patches at tie-ins. You know, at some point, you can only patch this roof so many times. They're coating, delaminating, and you really don't want to do a patch over a patch. At some point, you have to do a more TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 14 of 76 exhaustive repair. We see some cracks and desponded blisters. So what's a blister? A blister in foam roofs happens either due to some moisture that was trapped. There could have been some UV exposure between the lifts of the foam as it was being applied that caused delamination. So you see these sort of --- let's call it mini eruptions on some of the roof areas that need to be remedied. We also have coating cracks. So this is a harsh environment. You have UV attack, hot weather, and you can expect the coatings to degrade over time. Other miscellaneous things. We see some unsealed mechanical penetrations. We also see some holes in the foam. That's likely due to a bird attack. Birds sometimes like to look for worms in the foam roof, so they'll tap it and start poking into it, and then, unfortunately, sometimes bees will burrow into the roof insulation, so you have constant maintenance. There are some isolated areas of what I call ponding water. So where water can build up, and there's a lack of a roof cricket behind units, and you know, water is nature's natural solvent. Over time, it can break down anything. And it's time to implement some repairs. We have other details where you have parapet walls, abutting walls, and there's some open joints, so an opportunity for water to eventually leak into the building through the roof. One other note, some of the parapet walls are short, and you have roof drains, you have scuppers that need to be maintained, so one potential consideration is to implement some fall protection as well, to make it safer on the roofs where the walls are low. Town hall, so here's an overview of the town hall building. Interestingly enough, I mean, we did see some stained tiles. That may be a roof leak. We did roof course. Again, there's a coating system. Polyurethane foam over a metal pan deck. This roof, although a little younger, built in 2005. We did notice some popping sounds and a lot more blisters on this roof. So the popping could be a separation of each respective layer of foam or a popping between the coating and the underlying foam system, so there's an adhesion issue. There are some isolated low spots on the roof which can hold water, and there are TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 15 of 76 blisters, and you can see that someone has been patching some of these blisters when they erupt to keep water out from the system, and here's an overview of a shot. You could see these little eruptions and with the yellow arrows and also the roof patches as well. There's a closeup of the coating. It's cracking, and there's some patches over some of the cracks. Here's one where we put a metal roof and insert it into the crack. The concern here is over time, eventually, water can break down that underlying coating foam and then get into the interior. There's some improper terminations, voids, more roof patches. I'll jump onto the library and museum roofs. Again, we see some spot- stained ceiling tile. Again, could be mostly addressed to mechanical issues. There may be a spot roof leak or two, but to the best of my knowledge, the roofs haven't been profusely leaking. Here's a roof core, and this particular roof, interestingly enough, they inlaid a Visqueen membrane before they put the foam roof. It's an attempt to keep the foam roof from undulating and filling the foam metal panels, but we did see some telegraphing, and what that means is you start getting little pools of water on the roof deck, so this area will likely require more extensive repairs. Your typical drainage consists of roof drains and scuppers. There's some rusted components at coatings and penetrations, some holes at unsealed joints, some failed and desponded coatings at both walls and roof. Another item of note, and as part of any repair program, we did note that some of the curbs are low and some of the curbs may need to be raised. It's to help prevent water from entering easily into and through the curbs. You can see the fractured roof coating. We inserted an arrow into a crack, so that's an opportunity for water to rest and eventually leak through. So you know, based on our professional opinion, after observing these roofs, we think they're in need of some extensive repairs or replacement. You have two options. One is recoating, which is actually a common approach for foam roofs. Usually, that consists of prepping the roof. One method of preparing the roof is to scarify it. Basically, you're TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 16 of 76 grinding the upper surface of the foam roof. You apply one inch of foam and then you apply a new coating system. An alternative to that is replacement. I don't know if I necessarily recommend replacement. I think it's pretty intense, and it can expose your interior finishes to leak intrusion, so I'd say given our experience, this would probably lean towards being more of an extensive recoat with a good quality coating. That can get you 10, 15, 20 years of life. So at this point, what are our next steps? So it would be to go into a design phase, develop some preliminary cost engineering estimates, construction documents, go out to bid, and find a contractor or award a contractor to perform these repairs, and then head into construction. And I was asked, well, Jean, you know, what do you think the duration of the work would be for the coding project? That would be between, you know, three and six weeks. It depends what some -of -- what some of the other repairs we have to do. We have to remind ourselves that aside from the coating, there's things like low curbs, parapets, other sealant transitions that need to be remedied as part of an overall project. Any questions? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Just a couple of questions, and I'm not sure whether these go to you or to Justin, so whoever. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Sure. WATTS: When you say there's significant reduction in water intrusion, on a scale of 1 to 100, what percentage are we talking about from where it was to where it is? BUICK: 95 percent, 98 percent. WATTS: So we don't have a lot more to do because -- BUICK: For now, the sealants are holding up. WATTS: Okay. BUICK: Yeah, and my understanding there may be -- is it one or two leaks. WATTS: Two that have been identified at this point that are just intrusions, though? BUICK: Yes. Correct. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 17 of 76 WATTS: And the remediation that you did? I assume you had an industrial hygienist in. BUICK: We didn't perform the repairs. I'd ask -- WATTS: Who did the remediation? BUICK: We were the engineer assisting with developing a repair approach. WATTS: But it says remediation was done, so -- BUICK: Correct. WATTS: Who did it? BUICK: I'd have to ask Justin. WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Watts. We did have an industrial hygienist that came in and did all the repairs, and their name escapes me right now, but we will get that information off to the mayor and council. It was a pretty extensive -- not only in the lobby but also in the soffits of the hallway between the ballrooms. WATTS: Okay. So we know that from a comfort level, that the public is protected from airborne contaminants that the industrial hygienist would have identified? WELDY: That is correct, and we did before, during, and after tests, and we have also tested the exterior of the building during that time frame, so we had comparisons. WATTS: Okay. And the leaking -- the leaks that weren't identified as leaks, we don't know whether they're a water line, condensate, or roof leaks; is there a reason we didn't identify those? BUICK: Right now, our preliminary scope was to evaluate the roof, and I think the next plan of action would be to work on the design of the roof and in parallel, open up some of the ceiling tiles and see if there's some insulation or condensation issues with some chilled water lines, or maybe a leaky sprinkler line, so. WATTS: I just want to make sure we capture that before we have an award for moving forward for all the other repairs. BUICK: Yes. WATTS: and a performance bond, I think, is -- looks like it should be included because the performance that was done by the original contractors on all three buildings, you know, the gypsum board that is on the one roof, maybe a water board, maybe a soffit TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 18 of 76 board, maybe, but if it's half inch drywall, that's probably not a good substrate. So the performance bond component, I think, is going to be imperative for us to make sure that, again, we protect our investment, so just a suggestion. Thank you. GOODWIN: Mayor, if there's no other questions, and not to hurry this discussion, I just wanted to kind of share that this update really does coincide with our budget process, our CIP. We'll be working to figure out next steps in how we integrate this into our budget process as well. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And we've got a meeting coming up to up to discuss all that. GOODWIN: Correct. MAYOR FRIEDEL: If that's it, no other questions. Thank you, and we appreciate it. BUICK: All right. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: We'll move on to the call to the public. Town clerk, do we have any comment cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, mayor. We do. First up will be Ben Larrabee (ph.), followed by Larry Myers (ph.). LARRABEE: Howdy, y'all. So the following will be addressed to Councilmembers McMahon and Kalivianakis. Several weeks ago, you both withdrew your endorsement from the council's letter of support for HB 2164, known as the Arizona Healthy Schools Act. The bill bans harmful dyes and chemicals from school lunches to protect children from the effects of ultra processed foods. Why is the bill important? Well, for the simple reason that the food we currently feed our children is killing them. Over the past 20 years, it has been revealed that one-fifth of children are now obese. Type 2 diabetes has doubled. Autoimmune disorders in children have tripled, and most shockingly, there is now a 23 percent increase in cancer diagnoses in children. All of this is directly related to the food we feed them. Now, in your opposition, you claim that the bill and your fellow councilmembers failed to specify exactly what would be in it and what would be banned. This is a lie. The bill clearly spells out exactly what would be removed from school lunches, which include potassium bromide, titanium dioxide, brominated TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 19 of 76 vegetable oil, yellow dye 5, red dye 3, red dye 40, among others, and all of these are known to cause, you guessed it, cancer, autoimmune disorders, hyperactivity, mood disorders, kidney damage. And you also claimed in your response that this bill you could not support was because it was a partisan endeavor by the Republican party. This is also a lie because this same bill just passed unanimously in the Arizona House of Representatives. Why? Because it should be universally recognized that the fight to protect our children knows no party, yet both of you still found a way to land on the left of every single member of the House of Representatives. Now, I accept that you've already made your decision, and I see you smirking as I'm talking about the health of our children. That says it all. I also acknowledge that both of you have made your decision and that you're unlikely to change it from my speech here tonight, so let me put this away that both of you will understand. Elections are next year, and both of you just punted on the health of our children, just to spite the adults in the room, and we will remember that. Thank you for your time. KALIVIANAKIS: May I address? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yes. Go ahead. Address. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll make this very brief, but this is the problem I've been faced with since being elected. People are getting their facts from Facebook and not from the record. If you're going to come here and make public comments to this body, I suggest you get your facts straight because if you look at the record, talk to the mayor, and talk to the town manager, I supported that bill, and I supported it publicly in this council meeting, and you're just wrong. I'm sorry about that. Check the record if you'd like, but I was in support of it. I did have a few comments that I added, but my vote was indisputably yes. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman McMahon. MCMAHON: You know, I appreciate you coming and standing up here, but some of your accusations are incorrect. I did my homework on that bill. I spoke with the school superintendent and a board member of the school, and I learned that we already have TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 20 of 76 rules and laws against processed and ultra-processed food in our schools. It is nonexistent. There isn't even vending machines. The kids hate the food. You know, the pizza's made out of wheat crust and something else, and normally, the kids love pizza. They don't love this pizza, so in doing my homework, I found out this was already prevented in our schools. I didn't see the need for the bill because it addresses all those things that were in the bill and the operative word that you said -- I don't know your name, is that we feed our kids this food. Parents feed our kids ultra processed foods. The schools are working hard not to, and our schools don't have processed food, so I didn't see a need to support that particular bill. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Next speaker, Town Clerk. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Larry Myers. Larry Myers declines, so next we have up is Shelby Blecher (ph.) and then followed by Crystal Kavanaugh. BLECHER: Good evening, Mayor, councilmembers, staff. Happy to be here tonight, and there's -- I wanted to say that there's other people in town that are happy that I'm here tonight. People have been thanking me for coming up and bringing up subjects to you. They're either not able to come or they don't feel comfortable coming over here and talking to you, so I'm getting thanked by more and more people. I did want to say I'm happy about the MCO contract and the cost reductions that you all fought to get for the town. I'm also thankful that, along with the $60,000 we didn't spend on doing a doing a study, maybe that money will be put to good use fixing the roofs and the chillers that apparently we need to be done. In general, I'm just happy that we finally have a fiscally responsible town council that looks at things and knows what they want to fund and doesn't go off on tangents like our former mayor did that's supported by a small group of mean women and other people, and I'm very happy to say that there are more people in town that support your fiscal responsibilities than you're hearing snicker in the crowd right now. Please, Mayor, please, councilmembers, continue to be the fiscal responsibility body TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 21 of 76 that you have shown in the last month and a half. The next thing I wanted to bring up, and maybe you can all talk about this, is the use of single-use plastic bags in town. I don't want to see a ban on them. I don't want to see a bill that, you know, prevents people from using them, but if we can gently nudge our vendors towards some type of way to go back to using recyclable paper, renewable paper products as opposed to plastic bags, that would be a great thing for the town to do. When I was at the art festival last weekend, just going to vendors that were selling food products, one bag for each food product, put inside another bag to protect it, put inside another plastic bag, and I get home, and I've got three bottles of product, and I've got seven plastic bags, so if we could just try to coerce people in some gentle way to move towards paper, that would be great. Thank you. KAVANAUGH: I'm bringing this up now because I know this will be coming on your plate one of these days, and this is my opinion about the sanctions that were placed on Councilman Allen Skillicorn, and he's had one year of these sanctions restricting his interactions with staff without a babysitter, restrictions on paid conference attendance, and restrictions from holding the vice mayor position. One supposed violation included him inappropriately asking fellow councilmembers on the dais whether they had taken part in any one-on-one private interactions for town-related business with the (indiscernible) developers. A few on the council feigned outrage, but in fact, it was later revealed that there were indeed ex parte communications taking place with the developers through the use of a councilmember's own private email, which kept it out of the public domain and a secret from the other councilmembers. That councilmember had not disclosed this even when asked. Once discovered, sanctions should have been reversed at that time in my opinion. Also, anyone viewing the video of the Code enforcement and deputies interaction with Councilman Skillicorn regarding the removal of his political signs could see that there was no threatening behavior demonstrated by him. Simple frustration from an unclear sign ordinance was on display, however. The irony of sanctions being applied to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 22 of 76 Skillicorn regarding fearful staff interactions is that even at the present time, there are staff that could tell you they have indeed felt bullied or intimidated by some in this very room, and not by Councilman Skillicorn. A simple apology for any perceived hurt feelings would have been sufficient. It's definitely time to remove these politically motivated sanctions and move forward. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: There are no others. CULP: May I state for the record -- yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, yes, you may. She actually had submitted on one card more than one item to speak to. CULP: Good evening. My name is Beth Culp (ph.). I'm a resident of Fountain Hills. Before I proceed, I just would like to point out that I found Mr. Larrabee's attack on these two councilwomen to be out of order and against the rules of procedure. We're not allowed to mention councilmembers by name or call them out by name, and the gavel wasn't tapped, and I think that's unacceptable. Now, I'll get to my point. There's been a lot of talk during the election and since the election on transparency by this body. And to me, transparency means not having to fact check your elected officials and not having to do records requests to verify that what your councilmembers and your mayor tells you is true. And I want to go back then to February 5th, the day of the mayor's coffee, and I was in the audience when Mayor Friedel stood up in front of the group, and it was a very pleasant event, and he said, I met with Sheriff Sheridan. I expressed my concerns to him, and I'm happy to announce that as a result, we have a six percent reduction in our cost effective July 1. Well, that made me very confused because I spent a lot of time looking at that contract, and I knew that the mayor and the sheriff didn't have the power to unilaterally negotiate a contract reduction, so I thought about it. Then the next day, I read a press release, and the press release said, I am pleased to announce that the MCSO contract for Fountain Hills residents will go down roughly six percent, said Mayor Gerry Friedel. A short time after being sworn in, Sheriff Jerry Sheridan and I met. I expressed the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 23 of 76 concerns I had with the contract, and to say he listened would be an understatement. This is a win for our entire community. Now, nobody will argue that it was a win for the community, but the problem was that it was misleading, and the next day -- or not the next day. A couple of weeks later, the mayor put a letter to the editor in the paper and he took credit, direct credit. He said, my meetings with Sheriff Jerry Sheridan resulted in a year-over-year savings of six percent of approximately 370,000. That wasn't true. That was not true, and if people want to see the whole record, they can go and look at the Flourish Fountain Hills website, but I had to get a letter I had to request from the county, and I requested from the town, and I have the letter from Mr. Prindiville, who's the COO of the MCSO, and it clearly states that the reductions were the result of cost savings that the MCSO realized because it paid off pension benefits. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Any other speakers, Town Clerk? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, there is not, Mayor. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Okay. We'll move on to our consent agenda items. We have one consent agenda item. That's the approval of the minutes for the last meeting. KALIVIANAKIS: Motion to approve consent agenda. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Second, anyone? WATTS: Second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Second roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 24 of 76 MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The agenda item passes unanimous. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. We'll move on to our regular agenda, and we've got a public hearing for consideration of possible action, so I'm going to open the public hearing. Are there any speaker cards for agenda item A? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, Mayor. MAYOR FRIEDEL: No? Okay. Farhad, go ahead. TAVASSOLI: Yes. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, members of the council, this case that I'm presenting before you on John's behalf. Unfortunately, he couldn't be here tonight, is a special use permit request to allow outdoor vehicle displays. Let me get this started. All right. Again, a special use permit request to allow outdoor vehicle display. The subject property for this use permit request is at the northeast corner of Fountain Hills Boulevard and Glenbrook Boulevard. It is a property that's a little bit over two-thirds of an acre. It contains a 10,000, give or take, square foot multi-use or multi-tenant commercial building. The applicant, who sells golf carts, occupies about 4,400 square feet of that building and is requesting the special use permit request. The applicant currently has an indoor showroom of golf carts on display inside, well within the parameters of the zoning ordinance for the C-1 zoning district, and again, the special use permit request pertains to the outdoor display. A little bit of background to provide to you tonight. You might recall, I guess, the chain of events that led up to this use permit request that the applicant has been operating golf cart sales at this location for well over a year, and, again, desires to display vehicles in the parking lot. The applicant initially came in with a rezone request at the time from a C-1 to a C-2 with a special use permit to accompany because, at that time, that was the only instrument TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 25 of 76 or mechanism that would allow outdoor display. The SUP couldn't be granted without the rezoning, so council denied the rezone request. This was late last year and directed staff to proceed with a text amendment that would allow the use in a C-1 zoning district with an accompanying special use permit. I already went over that first point, and again, this is really the last step in this process for the applicant to obtain all the necessary entitlements to continue with the outdoor vehicle display. As I mentioned, the property is zoned C-1. Also, the same zoning district located to the north and the same in the state land property and community commercial to the south, but as you can also see, it is on either side. It is largely residential, of a single-family nature. Much of the area known as plat 106 -- I should say, much of the commercially zoned area of plat 106 is vacant. It has been platted -- actually, it was originally platted in 1970. There are some existing uses there, such as the Scottsdale Bible Church across the street, as well as a couple of restaurants, but largely, it is a mixed neighborhood with some low-intensity commercial uses. So again, the C-1 following this text amendment allows vehicles by right with all display and sales indoors, outdoor display of nongasoline vehicles of one ton or less in size allowed in the C-1 with the approval of a special use permit that -- after the text amendment approval back in January. So the business owner occupies three suites operating as golf cart business, and is requesting the SUP, and would like six parking spaces adjacent to these suites along Fountain Hills Boulevard to display his vehicles. Now, based on the required parking, and I can go over the -- you know, the calculations if you wish. There's only one space available for a display area, but considering the fact that the building is largely unoccupied, in fact, about 60 percent of the building is currently unoccupied, staff believes there's adequate room or ample room for vehicle displays on six parking spaces. Now, again, as I mentioned earlier, the general plan designates this subject property and the surrounding environment as a mixed neighborhood character type, primarily residential, with some low-intensity commercial, primarily intended to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 26 of 76 serve the adjacent community. This here is largely a continuation of that point, and it does reinforce the fact -- the general plan does that any use must be compatible with the adjacent neighborhood and done in a way that both supports the continued health and residential area, and I'm reading the last phrase, by the way, and makes a more viable and sustainable commercial node. The zoning ordinance about the topic of special use permit says that any special use permit should not be detrimental to the public health, safety, peace, comfort, and general welfare of persons residing or working in the neighborhood, so that is the criteria that staff has looked at in analyzing the merits of the special use permit request and whether or not it is appropriate for this area. We believe that there are -- the use is more or less compatible with the area, the use in particular being the outdoor display. Following the text amendment that was approved not long ago, the use has been operating for over a year, and there have been no known issues from the neighborhood. In John's review and analysis, he had looked at, the impact of those residing or working in the neighborhood, and again, has not identified any negative impacts that would occur. There was a citizen participation plan carried out, which, again, did not reveal any concerns from the public. So the use permit request considers -- excuse me just a second. Let me take a look at John's -- technically, only one space, as I mentioned, is allowed for vehicle displays, based on the parking calculations, but because, again, the building is currently unoccupied for this use, there's plenty of parking available, and again, the applicant is requesting up to six stalls for vehicle displays. The area that you see on the lower right-hand corner, the aerial photograph, highlights the area in red in which those vehicles are -- the applicant plans to display those, and actually, those were the areas that were approved by or recommended for approval by the Commission. Again, no concerns from the public during the citizen participation process. Boilerplate language for a good neighbor statement will be included in the special use permit, and will be displayed in an area at the business where it's visible. Staff and the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 27 of 76 Planning and Zoning Commission believes that the standards set forth are consistent with the special use permit criteria for granting such a request, and staff supports recommendation for approval as well as commission, and with that, I'll conclude my remarks. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Since there were no public comment cards, I'll close the hearing, and we'll have discussion. Councilman Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor and planner Tavassoli. When is the effective date if the council approves this? TAVASSOLI: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Skillicorn. As I mentioned earlier, the applicant has been operating this business with outdoor display for quite some time now, so in effect, almost immediately after approval. SKILLICORN: Immediately? Okay. And Mayor, planner Tavassoli, I see your presentation says the Planning Zoning approved this. Do you recall what the roll call was? TAVASSOLI: No, Councilmember Skillicorn, I don't remember. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And I can answer that because I was at that meeting. It was unanimous. SKILLICORN: Oh, it was unanimous? And Mayor, I do see two members from Planning and Zoning are here. As long as no one's shaking their head, I'll make a motion to approve. TOTH: Second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts, did you have something? WATTS: I had a question about the parking spaces that you said were six? It looks like there's actually five. Did I did I miscount something there? TAVASSOLI: We'll go back to that aerial photograph. WATTS: I know why you're looking for that. TAVASSOLI: Sure. WATTS: Because the applicant occupies a space 103, 104, 105, that suggests that 101 and 102 are available. What would be the likelihood of some high parking requirements TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 28 of 76 from those, or is that going to be something like retail, similar to what the applicant is today, so we're not going to have a huge impact on parking? TAVASSOLI: Yeah. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, without having had anybody inquire recently about those units, don't really -- can't really predict, you know, what types of uses might go in there, but if, you know, say, something that has more parking demand, like, such as a restaurant which requires 1 to 75 -- 1 stall per 75 square feet. Well, you know, that's -- WATTS: We're not going to make it. TAVASSOLI: And essentially, this may preclude such a use from locating on this particular parcel. WATTS: But we wouldn't preclude somebody that wanted to lease that space based upon the applicant having occupied all the spaces. Wouldn't we have to find another reason to do that? It sounds a little bit discriminatory to me. TAVASSOLI: Right, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, that's certainly something, you know, a potential discussion that might occur, you know, if such a business were to -- a more intense business were to locate in that building. WATTS: So maybe we ought to lean more towards four spaces as opposed to six spaces? TAVASSOLI: Right. Well, the applicant, yeah, did request six spaces, but the Planning and Zoning Commission, in their recommendation for approval, specifically stated that this area that you see here on the aerial, that those -- I don't know what you want to call them, one, two, three, you know, four and a half spaces, and that one immediately, you know, way down south there is actually -- doesn't provide the dimensions for one full parking stall. But that area specifically is the parameters they have to work, so -- WATTS: So maybe five is it, then? TAVASSOLI: Yeah, yeah. WATTS: Okay. I could support five. Thanks. TAVASSOLI: Yeah. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So we have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 29 of 76 GOODWIN: Mayor, just as a point of update, generally speaking, when an SUP is approved, it generally goes into effect 30 days after as a general rule. WATTS: Okay. So is it too late to amend the motion? So I can amend the motion at this point to amend it to five spaces in lieu of six spaces? ARNSON: Or you can ask Councilman Skillicorn if he's willing to consider that amendment to his motion, and we can just go about it informally. SKILLICORN: If I'm acknowledged, Mr. Mayor, I would like to amend my motion to the shaded red area, which appears to be something like five spaces. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. Councilwoman McMahon? MCMAHON: Thank you, Mayor. What if the other shops are leased and they need the parking space? Will this preempt them in perpetuity, or what happens? I mean, hopefully, that space will be leased, and this won't prevent them from being leased for lack of parking in front of their stores. TAVASSOLI: Yes, Mayor, Councilmember McMahon. Yes, approval of this use permit may preempt certain uses to use that parking within that area. Now, that may offer the potential for some kind of cross-parking agreement within the larger Plat 106 area as one of the conditions, so yeah. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So we have -- WATTS: One more. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: If I'm not mistaken, the area behind the suites is wide open, and they also adjoin what used to be Flapjacks and the Mexican food place, but that that's all part of 106 as well, isn't it? So that's when you said you might be able to find a joint lease on parking spaces if the other spaces didn't have the sufficient number of spaces. TAVASSOLI: Correct. WATTS: Okay. Then that would work, I would think so. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. So we have a motion that's been amended and a second. Can we roll call, please? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 30 of 76 KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Nay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The amended motion passes, six to one. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Agenda item B, consideration and possible action on resolution 2025-04, proposing a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy for the Town of Fountain Hills. Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I like to very commonly talk about how Fountain Hills is open for business, and I just want to read off a list of businesses and businesses and companies that have recently reduced or eliminated DEI programs. So Amazon, Accenture, Amtrak, Caterpillar, Disney, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, and many more, and I do want to point out that ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that many elements of affirmative action are actually unconstitutional, and as a public sector entity, I think that we need to think about that. Also, I want to point out that the Department of Education, the federal government, and even many state and local municipalities, including the City of Scottsdale, have also done the same activities. So to keep us in line with the business sector, to keep us in line with the federal government, and keep us in line with the wishes of our people, I'd like to make a motion TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 31 of 76 to approve this as drafted. EARLE: I second it. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Discussion here now. Councilwoman Kalivianakis? KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I'm a little perplexed why we're even hearing this tonight. The staff summary states the town has no plans to create an office of DEI administration and adheres to all state and federal nondiscrimination laws. If you were to look at our town code, article 3, section 2, it's entitled, merit system. There is hereby created and adopted a merit system governing the employees of the town, except for those enumerated in this section, for the purpose of regulating conditions of employment and removal of town's employees. The merit system does not apply to the council or the mayor, and so I'm kind of struggling to know why we're even hearing this tonight because it just seems -- it just seems like it's redundant. It's telling us we're not going to do something that we're not doing, and it seems a little bit politically charged, and I've used that term before, that, you know, we're bringing up DEI, and we're bringing up immigration, and those type of things, and I would just like to warn the town that this is a slippery slope, that this could lead to debates on abortion. This could lead to debates for a town council and national issues that are just extremely divisive in nature, and that I'm not sure there's any place in a small town community like ours to even deal with these issues. If you were to Google what a town council should be dealing with, our responsibilities are to create policies, enact ordinance resolutions, set the budget, provide services, manage resources, and post taxes, make appointments to town manager, attorney, municipal judge. Ensure compliance. Our departments are carrying out our wishes. Listen to the community and recognize achievements, good deeds, and local citizen's awards, and also cooperate with other governments which which we do. And even with 9D, I think that we are going to cooperate with the federal government that wants to take criminals out of our community, which is another redundant measure that we're going to discuss later tonight, and I guess the reason that I have to discuss TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 32 of 76 this tonight, and I'm reticent to, because if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I could use those same adages. Problem, solution seeking a problem, but I do see mischief in this too, and maybe for the sponsor of the bill, he might be able to alleve [sic] some of my fear, and those fears being if you look at the staff report, the proposed ordinance currently includes the following clause that could impact town activities and how it is interpreted. Now, I know this isn't an ordinance. This is a resolution. It's stronger than a proclamation. It might not be as strong as an ordinance, but it's still giving direction to this town and to the staff, and so this is nothing that we should just take lightly, like, maybe a proclamation that you might let it go. This is directing our staff, and if you look at section N, use of public funds for political subdivision, membership organizations, and everything that comes later, would this affect our relationships with GPAC, with the League, with East Valley Partnership and Mag? Would this limit our ability to contract for cement companies, for people pouring sidewalks, for people, for heating and air conditioning committees? Even the firm tonight that did the study on the community center. If they had a DEI policy, their business, could we even do business with them? Could you address, Mr. Mayor? Could you happen to address that? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, if those organizations that we belong to are in violation of and have active, divisive DEI policies, it appears that, yes, our town does have a problem with divisive DEI policies, and if the fact that it might affect our current business tells me that we do have a divisive DEI problem in town hall, and we need to correct that. KALIVIANAKIS: So your answer would be we couldn't contract with those companies, if I may just clarify? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman? SKILLICORN: Mr. Mayor, I think that we should be in compliance with what this council says. KALIVIANAKIS: Maybe I should seek the guidance of our town attorney. Could you TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 33 of 76 explain what he just said to me and how this is going to affect -- [LAUGHTER] ARNSON: Mayor and council, respectfully, and in fairness, there are some parts of this ordinance that I think could be a little bit -- elaborated on a little bit more further, a little bit further. I do think that, in general, speaking to expending funds on the establishment of a DEI office and not contracting with individuals for that purpose, for the purpose of establishing such an office and following merit-based hiring, is perfectly legal and aligned with legal norms. So the resolution on the whole to me doesn't present -- yeah, I understand. It doesn't itself present a legal problem, but you're talking about specifically subsection N, and after discussing with the town manager earlier today, that is something that if this is approved, the town would -- we would be seeking clarification on about the council's direction and how to enforce this policy. So I think in fair -- I think that is a fair question. We do need direction in how to interpret subsection N. KALIVIANAKIS: So since I still have the floor, I might suggest that possibly this is tabled, or we go into executive session so we can discuss the legal ramifications of this proposed ordinance. ARNSON: It's up to you, Mayor. MAYOR FRIEDEL: All right. Let's adjourn to executive session. ARNSON: You'll need a motion and a second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: I need a motion and a second, please. KALIVIANAKIS: I'd like to make a motion to adjourn to executive session. MCMAHON: Second. WATTS: Are you talking about right now? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Right now. ARNSON: Right now. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah, yeah. Right now. ARNSON: And then we can call for a vote. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 34 of 76 MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah, we have to vote on it. Roll call vote, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Okay. Councilman Watts. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: To clarify, we're voting to go to executive session? ARNSON: Correct. EARLE: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Given that our attorney specifically stated there weren't legal concerns, no. WATTS: And Mayor, before you -- I'm going to change mine because I misunderstood, very much like -- just like Councilwoman Earle asked for clarification. I misspoke, so I do not want to go into executive session. I want to vote on this now and whatever amendments we come up with. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: For the clerk, can you can you please say again? Councilman Watts? WATTS: I'm going to say no (indiscernible) but I do have a question for town attorney when we're done as well. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel? MAYOR FRIEDEL: And I wanted to go into executive session. WATTS: Great. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: It fails. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. So we decide right now. So Councilman Watts has a question for Aaron. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 35 of 76 WATTS: So I have I also have concerns about Section L and N. ARNSON: Yes. WATTS: It seems to me that we could simplify this a lot by one or two line items that basically say, we are not now, nor were we in the future going to engage in any DEI office administration. Some verbiage to that extent, including some of the vendors that we were not going to necessarily support, but wouldn't it be simpler than -- some of these things really give me heartburn. Am I misreading L and N as well or no? ARNSON: Well, first of all, there's a J. I don't see an L, actually, in the ordinance. There's a J, but not an N [sic]. WATTS: There's an L. ARNSON: Oh, is there an L? WATTS: Yeah. ARNSON: I apologize. WATTS: Public use of funds for political subdivision memberships and organizations. ARNSON: Thank you. I was looking at the other -- at the other document. I apologize. WATTS: It's okay. That to me, that would give -- the heartburn there is because some of the organizations like Mag, some of the organizations like the League of Cities and so on may have those leanings, and we sometimes, occasionally, not always, but -- ARNSON: Correct. WATTS: I just don't want any affiliation with it. ARNSON: Well, and Mayor and Councilman Watts, if you're asking if simpler is usually better, the answer is usually yes, and so I think that that would be an appropriate suggestion in this instance. It's certainly up to the council what policy directive that it wants to take, but that can be an amendment to the motion that's been made. Likewise, you could move to take any other course of action with respect to this resolution. It's a policy decision of the council, but if that's your preference, my suggestion would be, let's take a five-minute recess, work to put -- I can work to put a one-liner together consistent with that direction, and then you can come back because I don't want to draft on the fly. Does that make sense? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 36 of 76 WATTS: It does. I would like to ask Councilman Skillicorn if that would be amenable from the standpoint of this is complex. If there is an overriding statement that we could come up with to make this simpler by saying we don't now, or in the future, want anything to do with DEI. SKILLICORN: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Watts, you know, I think that is the objective of it, and I think the language is clear. If there are entities that are involved in divisive DEI, that's a problem for our town, and frankly, I think that this is a wake-up call to those organizations that are practicing divisive DEI, that they need to clean up their act and start complying. WATTS: Okay, okay. Thank you. TOTH: May I have a point of clarification, Mayor? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yes. Go ahead, Vice Mayor. TOTH: Thank you. In our packet, the use of public funds is marked as N, but I believe it is L in the actual resolution. I just want to make sure that -- is there another paragraph that we're discussing at the moment? Okay. Sorry. I just want to make sure. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just so the people in this audience and the people at home and the people that review these tapes have a reference point of what we're doing here tonight, based on a principle that Councilman Skillicorn wants to gnaw down to the bone. He thinks that us not hiring contractors and us being removed from all these Mag and all these helpful -- you know, we do this League report that we all attend every Monday morning. We wouldn't even be invited to listen to those reports anymore. So we are not going to be inflicting punishment on them, and cement contractors, and HVAC companies. We're going to be inflicting punishment on us because when we contract out for bids, we are going to have to look at those companies and do a re -- and we might even have to get a separate compliance officer to see if the people that we're dealing with have DEI or woke policies so that we will not do business by punishing them, that you're not going to get Fountain Hills money. This would probably result -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 37 of 76 and when we bid out projects, either not getting bids at all or the highest bid because there might be only one company that doesn't have woke policies. And so it's going to cost us a lot of money. It's going to cost us a lot of credibility throughout the state that we're not going to be a member. You know, we go to the GPAC Arizona Cities and Towns conferences every summer, which we -- it's a four-day conference, which we learn so much. We would not be invited to those conferences. We would be the unwanted stepchild in Arizona. What we're doing here tonight is going to hurt this town beyond what you can even imagine, and so if the gentleman says about elections count, well, this vote counts, and if anybody votes for this, what was your admonition? See you at the ballot booth because this is ridiculous. This should be voted now six to one, and we know who the one would be. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Let's keep those comments to ourselves next time. Don't be nasty like that, please. Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Thank you. Mayor. Do we know if the League right now is participating in the DEI policies? ARNSON: Well, and Mayor and council, that is one thing to consider, right, is that we're here sitting -- we're kind of speculating one way or another whether any group, one way or the other, engages in these types of policies or has a majority membership, right? We actually don't know that as we sit here tonight, and nor do we understand what the definition, necessarily, of DEI policy specifically entails. So that's why this provision, L, Councilman Watts. That's why this provision, L, does raise concerns for the staff. It has nothing to do with the policy behind it. It has to do with, we're not completely sure how we'd go about enforcing or complying with council-directed policy, should that remain included. TOTH: Mayor, if I may? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Vice Mayor. TOTH: Thank you. I apologize. It's just relevant to the question that was just asked. I did some research prior to our meeting, and I do not see any DEI-related anything on the website, not even a policy or a statement on League of Arizona Cities and Towns or TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 38 of 76 Mag. On top of that, I will add that despite the fear tactics that everyone was just witnessed to, Scottsdale actually just passed something very similar to this, and Scottsdale is a huge city. Also a member of these organizations. We're going to be okay, everybody. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman McMahon. MCMAHON: Thank you very much, mayor. Wow, what a politically charged resolution that personally does not belong in our town. You know, when I first read this agenda item, my immediate reaction is, what's it trying to do? What's it trying to mandate we do? It's not clear. It's full of buzzwords that are undefined and purposely, I think, to add confusion and chaos, and there are legal concerns with it. Many. In my opinion, the whole document. You know, as councilmembers, we took an oath to uphold the State and the U.S. Constitutions. Quota-based hiring was outlawed in 2014, and to continue this practice violates the United States and state Constitution, our Bill of Rights, as well as numerous federal and state laws. This is why our hiring practice in this town does not give preferential treatment to any individual. It has always and will continue to hire qualified candidates based on merit alone and not through alleged discriminatory methods proposed in this resolution. In essence, to me, this resolution has nothing of substance in it because the town does not engage in or spend any money on any programs that uplift diversity. In fact, they don't even define diversity. And further, as Kalivianakis stated, and the attorney, this resolution does raise concerns about dissolution of our long-standing and respected partnerships with other towns and entities, including Mag, GPAC, the League of Arizona Cities, East Valley Partnership, Mayors Council, and others due to these organizations' potential or perceived involvement with diversity initiatives. Wow. These relationships and memberships provide significant benefits to both the council and the town. Preventing them based on politically charged diversity concerns is not only disrespectful and irresponsible, it's reprehensible. If any councilmember does not want to be involved with these organizations or attend events like the League, don't. That's your TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 39 of 76 personal choice and that's your personal political belief, but don't tell me not to, because I have this -- I am afforded the same courtesy you are in allowing my own political beliefs and interpretation, and whether or not I want to associate myself and the town and other councilmembers with these organizations. This resolution will also prevent the town from entering into inter-governmental agreements or applying for grants that could help us maximize our tax dollars. If so, the financial consequences to our budget in town could be disastrous. It will be disastrous. It will also harm the town's reputation and our well established relationships with other towns and vendors throughout the valley, making it difficult and much more expensive for us to work or even attempt to get a contract with others. You know, think streets and budget funds. Think what the inter-governmental agreements have done for us financially and paving our streets. We've gotten certainly a heck of a lot more for our buck. We've already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money due to this politically negatively charged diversity narrative. You know, the council has already voted down grants because of perceived diversity problem. I have no idea why this resolution is is spreading fear about diversity. Diversity already exists in our community, on this dais, and our staff, rightfully so. It's legal. Let's continue to hire employees based solely on merit and trust our staff to operate within the law, respecting all applicants regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, physical and mental disabilities, culture, or veteran status, not based on distorted or perceived diversity perceptions and allegations. And in addition, if you look at the paragraph, what is it -- below N, it talks about, you know, there's words, "confession" in here, and it talks about in compliance and ordinance staff shall promptly issue directed to end invented identification based pronoun usage in our emails and stuff. That's an infringement on my freedom of speech, which Skillicorn famously continually uses to defend his actions and some of the things he's brought before council. So again, there's legal ramifications for that as well, so I am against this. I think this is the wrong place and time to discuss it. I wish we would have gone into executive session, and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 40 of 76 again, I respect our staff, and I respect that the fact that they have the hiring policy that they have. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: I'm really glad we didn't go into executive session. I think this is exactly the kind of transparency that the town needs to see, whether you like it or not. I fully respect everybody's right to do what they want to do, and I also am concerned about protecting staff, and I would have a question for town manager. How many times am I going to put you on the spot? How many times have we been asked, are you guys a member of any DEI organization, affiliation, or do you have a DEI office statement, something in your normal protocols when you qualify contractors? GOODWIN: Not that I'm aware of, no. WATTS: No. I don't think any organization has ever asked that question. I think it's incumbent on us to continue to hire people based upon your merits, how good you are at what your job does, what your job is, what you're hired to do, and I think moving forward, there's nothing wrong with saying that we won't now and we won't in the future weight the scales of justice based upon some DEI predication that doesn't have any merit. So I'd like to see this go to a vote with one exception. I want to eliminate L only because I don't want to prohibit staff members, councilmembers, commissioners to be able to attend organizations that are identified as being DEI compliant because half of the world, if not all of it, is going away from the DEI mandates, including the federal government and state governments, local governments. They're all moving away from it, so base it on people's capabilities. Base it upon their merits. I'm completely supportive of that, but why would you want to weigh the scales of justice differently? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: I was going to say something, but can I let Allen go first, if he was going to answer that, Allen, then I will. KALIVIANAKIS: I think I was next. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Skillicorn. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 41 of 76 SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I don't see any prohibition from an elected official or someone using their own resources for attending any kind of meeting or training they want to do. It's just using taxpayer money to attend or be a partner with some sort of training or activity. Specifically, it says activities. So that really is, you know, someone could attend that. They just can't use taxpayer money to do it above $50. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: How do we get reimbursed? Sorry. EARLE: May I go now, Mayor? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Sorry. Thank you. Everybody's had a chance to speak, so I would like to call the question. MAYOR FRIEDEL: We have not taken any public comment yet either, so. KALIVIANAKIS: May I speak, Mayor? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I promise I'll make it brief, but I just want to -- MAYOR FRIEDEL: You promised that like an hour ago. I'm just kidding. SKILLICORN: Point of order. There is a motion and second on the floor. KALIVIANAKIS: What I'd like to do is just just discuss what Councilwoman Toth said to just straighten out the record. Scottsdale actually did have a DEI office and was hiring on DEI policies, so this is an apples and oranges deal. They had a new council, a new mayor, and they did vote to get rid of the offices of the DEI, which we don't have, and so I'm not sure if that's a sound analogy. And I also would like to say that I don't think that saying I'm fear-mongering is an adequate characterization of what I'm doing here tonight, and I don't like that term. I'm trying to say possible legal complications that we could have. I'm trying to provide a reality check of the possible consequences of what we have here, and I would just like to state that if I'm fear-mongering, then our town attorney and our town manager, and the staff report that identified this as a problem, they must be fear-mongering, too. So I'm not the only fear mongerer [sic]. It's the staff. It's the attorney. It's the manager TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 42 of 76 that also have deep concerns about this. MCMAHON: I'd like to clarify your comment, please. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Councilmember Watts, the executive session was solely for legal. It wasn't for lack of transparency and to discuss this whole agenda item. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Do we have any comment cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, Mayor, we do. For the record, the town received 20 comments in writing with the position of against and 2 in writing with a position of for, and then we also received two who would wish to speak. So first up to speak will be Benjamin Larrabee, followed by Beth Culp. LARRABEE: Howdy again, everyone. So I speak today in support of the resolution banning DEI, and I urge councilmembers to pass it as is. During the past few years, our nation has witnessed what happens when you value race and gender over content of character. The military is lowering combat standards to become more inclusive. Colleges are excluding gifted individuals based on their skin color. Corporations and governments are refusing to hire qualified candidates to satisfy diversity goals. Our illustrious former vice president was a DEI hire herself, and thanks to four years of incompetent governance, I cannot afford a home for my family. Yes, boo, people who want to buy homes. That'll win you elections, Democrats. Now, there are real-world consequences to fixating on race and gender at the expense of merit. Now, many have questioned tonight, why do we need this resolution? After all, we don't hire based on skin color. We don't even have a DEI office or policies, so why would we need to ban it? Because every single one of the institutions that I just mentioned once hired solely on merit and then were infiltrated by the worst cultural arsonists to advance their own interests, which is what will happen here if we failed to safeguard against it. Now, many will further claim that DEI is actually a good thing because diversity of all stripes is exactly what strengthened us. Great. Then I would ask, how many open Trump supporters do you advocate that we hire? How many Republicans do you want TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 43 of 76 influencing key positions and bringing their talents here? Are you seeking to recruit evangelical Christians to help run the government because, after all, real diversity, true diversity means recruiting all Americans from all backgrounds, but not a single DEI advocate will ever propose this, and we know it. Because DEI is not meant to increase diversity. It's meant to recruit people that think and act just like its partisan ideologues. It is a naked power play, and it will be wielded here if not stopped. So in short, this is exactly why DEI must D-I-E. Thank you very much. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Town clerk, do we have another speaker? ARNSON: Mayor, I'd suggest that while Ms. Culp is making her comment, maybe a town clerk can sift through and get her name and see if we have her (indiscernible). MAYOR FRIEDEL: Go ahead. CULP: Again, my name is Beth Culp. I live in Fountain Hills. I think what we just witnessed here is a perfect example of what happens when culture warriors take over local government. It's not lost on me that Mr. Larrabee, who spoke on two topics here, is, like Councilmember Toth, employed by Turning Point USA, and both of the things he spoke to are big talking points for Turning Point USA, and Mr. Larrabee also is Ms. Toth's fiancee, which may account for the fact that our mayor was very deferential in treatment of him in his earlier comments. I don't want to take this council's time trying to educate anybody on what DEI is, or how it's made a difference in my life and the difference in so many lives of people that I know. I can tell you this. DEI is not affirmative action. All DEI tries to do is level the playing field so that people who walk in the door who don't look white, who don't look male, are not automatically excluded from opportunities, but my bigger concern, and the one I really hope we can get to, because these meetings are miserable not only because people behave badly, but they're miserable because we're we're talking about all of these inflammatory topics. And as far as I can tell, the only reason is that we engage in this kabuki theater is though certain councilmembers who want to advance their political careers and their agendas TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 44 of 76 want to establish their right-wing bona fides, their turning point bona fides, their MAGA bona fides, and that's not what this town should be about. We should be about fixing our streets, supporting our schools, supporting our businesses, and not promoting the political careers of town council people who want to go on and seek state office or national office. Thank you. TOTH: Mayor, may I respond to that? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Can we take a recess? Five minute recess, please? (Recess taken) KALIVIANAKIS: Mr. Mayor, I just have a point of order? Very brief. MAYOR FRIEDEL: What's your point of order? KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for recognizing me. It's come to our attention that somebody had a speaker card that they thought they filled out today, and I guess it wasn't logged in correctly, but I would just ask if maybe we can offer some leniency and just tear the speaker card? MAYOR FRIEDEL: No. We're not. That speaker card came in late. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. I've already cleared that with the town clerk. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you for asking, though. Councilman Watts. WATTS: I'm suddenly confused because I think there was a motion on the table. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah, they called the question. WATTS: Okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And it was seconded. WATTS: Okay. So once we do that, then if it fails, then we can move to an alternate. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah. WATTS: Thank you. ARNSON: Okay. So now we're voting on whether to call the question. MAYOR FRIEDEL: We're voting on whether to call? ARNSON: If you want to force us to vote immediately, this is the time to vote on TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 45 of 76 whether to force it to a vote immediately. MAYOR FRIEDEL: All right. Roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: No. ARNSON: It still does not carry, Mayor. It's a two thirds vote. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. ARNSON: So the -- MAYOR FRIEDEL: So we're back at square one. ARNSON: So we're back -- we're back to -- MAYOR FRIEDEL: Back to discussion. ARNSON: -- discussion. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah. WATTS: So -- MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Sorry about that. So at this point, I'd like to move forward with the vote to approve striking item L. ARNSON: So you're moving to amend? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 46 of 76 WATTS: To amend the motion as presented. ARNSON: Okay. WATTS: Striking line L, item L. ARNSON: You'll need a second, and then we'll vote on the amended motion. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Can we have a second for that? I'll second it. ARNSON: Yeah. Mayor seconded. So we need to -- we need to call for a vote on the amended motion. MAYOR FRIEDEL: This is a vote on the amended motion. Town clerk, roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, thank you. Councilman Watts. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Nay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: I'd like to explain my vote. As Hannah said, she looked into those entities that we were concerned about, people were concerned about. They are not doing anything with DEI, so -- to not do the amendment is a no. ARNSON: Is a no? EARLE: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The amended motion passes, four to three. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. And then regular item C is to appoint a review, a three person council -- three person work group to review for possible revisions to our town code, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 47 of 76 section 2-4-1, which is our rules of procedure. MCMAHON: Can I ask a question, please, Mayor? I'm confused, okay, because I thought we were voting on the motion to amend to take out N, and we haven't voted on the whole motion. ARNSON: You're actually right. Oh, you are. You're actually right. MCMAHON: I mean, so am I -- ARNSON: Mayor and council. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah. ARNSON: We voted to amend the main motion, I apologize. The main motion is now amended, so we now have to vote on the main motion. I'm sorry. We skipped the last step. Thank you. MCMAHON: Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. Thank you. MCMAHON: Where are we? MAYOR FRIEDEL: All right. That's right. I missed it, too. Okay. So now we have to vote on the main motion -- ARNSON: Which is now amended. Right. ARNSON: So my understanding is that, as according to Councilman Watts, and as seconded by the mayor, it was to approve the resolution as written, with the exception of subsection L. MAYOR FRIEDEL: L. Right. ARNSON: So that's what we're voting on. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Town clerk, roll call, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Nay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: I'll vote present. Present. I'll abstain. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 48 of 76 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The motion passes. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Now, we move on to consideration of an appointment of a three-person work group to review on possible revision of our town code, section 2-4- 1, our rules of procedure. Vice Mayor. TOTH: Thank you. I wanted to kind of introduce the topic, if that's all right. What my original motion was actually for article 2 of the town code, and the reason for that is that when we put a work group together, I want to make sure we're coming up with a holistic product that covers any of the concerns that we're referring to. Those include issues that this council in the past has ran into and issues that we're open to in the future, such as an actual procedure for filling a vacancy, such as updates to our ethics code. Actually, things like -- actually, the motion that we talked about earlier originally could have been kind of folded into this section. However, I want to put a route work group together of three of us who look at this as a whole, come up with a product to present to the council because I hear with each election cycle, especially the candidates, the people that advise the candidates, everybody has suggestions for ways to make our meetings especially run smoother, and we need to finally just sit down and work it out. So I would -- first of all, like to motion to approve my own suggestion, but with the change, so approve the appointment of a three-person council work group to review and consider potential revisions to town code section 2. EARLE: Second. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 49 of 76 MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman McMahon. MCMAHON: Thank you, Mayor. You know, this is really an important topic, and it impacts the mayor, the council, the staff, and it's pretty significant, and therefore, I respectfully request that the formation of this committee be reconsidered, and I've asked -- I said something to the mayor about this as well, because based on my council experience, I believe this issue would be better addressed through an all-inclusive council, staff, and the town attorney work session. This would allow for a broader range in exchange of ideas and discussion of any potential revisions to this particular article that affect all of us, and after all, it is responsibly of the council and staff to implement these rules with legal guidance, and since the council will eventually be reviewing and discussing these proposed revisions in detail at a future meeting, I think it would be beneficial to involve all councilmembers in a more informal, productive, transparent work session because I think that would facilitate a more relaxed discussion of proposed revisions, the rationale behind them, and allowing for us to address our concerns, questions, and staff -- and provide staff with a clear direction before placing any suggested revisions on a council agenda. Ultimately, I think that this would streamline the conversation, save time, and prevent the need for multiple council meetings that could result in time-consuming, back and forth revisions between staff and council like we've seen in the past, like the sign ordinance. So you know, I would like a holistic approach to it. I would like to be involved in the discussions, and I would like to see this as a work session, council session, like we did on the budget, et cetera, because of the impact that it's going to have on council and staff. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Vice Mayor. TOTH: Thank you. I just wanted to give a reminder that what the work group comes up with will be presented and voted on at council, so this is us saying, hey, we're going to work on this, work on a proposal to do, and then propose it to the council, and then we vote on it. The reason that I'm talking about a three-person work group is because I TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 50 of 76 think I could call for a moment of honesty here, and if we really ask ourselves if we schedule a work session without any prior written proposal with this council, who has behaved in particular ways over the past couple months, do we honestly believe anything would get done? MCMAHON: Yes. TOTH: I disagree, and that was out of order. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Please stop. Do we need a -- do we need another recess, Ladies? Councilwoman Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I do concur with what Councilwoman McMahon said. I am very uncomfortable with this three-person work group. Again, through the election cycle and everything I see is transparency, transparency, transparency. That's what they keep telling us they're doing. You know, earlier today, in another agenda item, I put up, what is the town council's responsibilities? What are we tasked to do? Nowhere in this document or any document, does it say that the town council writes town code and town ordinances. We have staff for that, and town manager, isn't that -- from your education and all your experience, isn't that the normal way things are done in a town council? GOODWIN: Normal, I guess, is a relative term, but the idea is that the staff and the council have had multiple iterations of this document, being questions, concerns raised, whether it's about particular portions, the ethics policy has come up multiple times, about how do we do it, how should it be done, what changes can we make, and we've kind of gone around and around on that conversation. I had a chance to talk to the mayor about changes that the staff would like to see, particularly in this portion of the ordinance. I had a chance to meet with the vice mayor about it as well. She had quite a bit of information and thoughts on it. The conversation evolved to the idea, okay, a work group might make sense in the sense that we have council participation. They can meet with staff to get the staff participation. They can help draft something that would accommodate all of the different perspectives. Now, that being said, that's not the only TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 51 of 76 tool in the toolbox. We certainly don't have to do it that way if the council would like to move in a different direction. At the end of the day, though, this portion of our town code often gets criticized and is due for an update. How we want to achieve that is certainly up to the council. KALIVIANAKIS: And that I agree with. I've been a proponent to change parts of the town code myself, including section 2. On the other hand, putting a three-person work group together, or they take this, they discuss it, it gets brought before in a moment of honesty, like the vice mayor said, it would be rubber stamped five to two by this council, and I don't think the two would have any say, and I doubt if the two would even be one of the people that would be recommended of the three. That would be my suspicion, and so this just has a sense of a dark room deal, writing part of the town code as they see it and then getting rubber-stamped to the council. I much prefer this to be a work session between the town staff or town attorney and all seven on this council to provide input like we do in everything else, at every retreat, every work group that we give to the staff, and then they write the code amendment based on their expertise. Because, you know, once again, I remind everybody that the people that serve on the town council have no particular area of expertise except for what they did when they were in their jobs. I was a lawyer. I have expertise in the law, but I don't have expertise writing. I've never written code. I've never written ordinances, and I think that we should trust the people that are paid a lot of money, a lot more than $400 a month that will do right, write the code correctly based on the input they have from this council, and proceed forward. And so again, just in the name of transparency, you know, I would suggest that this three-person work group either be changed to a seven-person work group or just have discussions with councilmembers on what they would like to see done directly to town staff. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you, and that will be transparent because it will be brought back to the council. You'll be able to weigh in. I'll be able to weigh in, so we'll -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 52 of 76 Councilwoman McMahon, Skillicorn, everybody will be able to weigh in, so it will be very transparent, but thank you for your thoughts. Vice Mayor, do you have any more to add? TOTH: No, sir. Ready to vote. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. MCMAHON: Excuse me. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Ready to vote. Who is on the committee? There's no transparency in this particular motion or anything, so I'm not ready to vote on it. I need to know whether I'm on the committee or who's on the committee. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So the participants on this committee will be Councilwoman Earle, Vice Mayor Toth, and Councilman Watts, Rick Watts. [LAUGHTER] MCMAHON: Then once again -- KALIVIANAKIS: When was that decided, Mr. Mayor? MAYOR FRIEDEL: It was decided right now. MCMAHON: May I please be recognized? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: This is to me, out of line. You seem to be picking people other than the most senior councilmembers. This is a nonpartisan council, and I am uncomfortable with the continued picking of friends and fellow Republicans, and I'm going to say it because you're not picking me, and you're not picking Brenda, and we are -- and this is the reason -- one of the reasons why this is not going to be a transparent committee. This involves every single councilmember, and we should be in a work session discussing it and in addition, speaking of committees, I have no idea who's on the police committee, who's on any of the committees that you, the veterans committee, or any -- MCMAHON: -- so there's no transparency. MAYOR FRIEDEL: You're out of line right now. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 53 of 76 MCMAHON: Excuse me? MAYOR FRIEDEL: You're out of line. MCMAHON: You're out of line. MAYOR FRIEDEL: I didn't want to go there tonight, but the reason you're not on this committee is because both you and Councilwoman Kalivianikis are under investigation right now for ethics violations. Councilman Skillicorn has got sanctions against him. That's why he's not on the committee. Who's left? The three people here that I just named? I'm not on there either. MCMAHON: Excuse me. MAYOR FRIEDEL: No. MCMAHON: You are sitting here telling me that I'm excluded because there's allegations against me. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Correct. MCMAHON: Nothing has been found. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Correct. MCMAHON: Well, that does not exclude me from serving on a committee. MAYOR FRIEDEL: It does. It does. MCMAHON: No, it doesn't. MAYOR FRIEDEL: It does, in my eyes. MCMAHON: No, it doesn't. MCMAHON: Show me where the rules say that. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Do we need another recess? Okay. Do we have a motion? KALIVIANAKIS: I do have a point of order, if I may. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Do we have any speaker cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, Mayor. We do. The town received twelve written comments with the position of against and one written comment with a position of four, and then one request to speak, and that is Larry Myers. MYERS: Mayor, council, children. You prove yourselves time and time again. Before the mayor had to explain it to you, I was going to explain why I thought he made that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 54 of 76 decision without having any conversation at all. There sits a man who's had sanctions on him for a full year. This month is a full year, and we have no procedure for lifting them or discussion about how you lift them, and that would go for Councilmember McMahon and Councilmember Kalivianakis if they were under in the same situation as Councilmember Skillicorn. What if you got sanctioned and there were no provisions to discuss about lifting them, and that's just one part of the town ordinance that the town manager says everybody questions. That's just one tiny part of it where people go, well, what's the procedure? So to take the only three other people and stick them on a workgroup and then come back to you all and have a discussion about it doesn't seem out of line to me. It seems like a common sense move because there's three people sitting on the dais right now with a shadow. Yes, I get it. Councilmember McMahon, you've been accused of something, and nothing is proved. The same goes for Councilwoman Kalivianakis. I'm just saying, going forward, what happens if you are in Councilmember Skillicorn's position? Wouldn't you want the procedures to be fair and clarified so that we don't have this bitter confrontation all the time, and we exclude people for extenuating periods of time over something that was -- well, I've seen the video, and I didn't see any aggressiveness, and I saw the transcript and the video of his questions at that meeting. So I don't understand why he got convicted if you want to use that word. It's not my position. It is what it is, and he got his sanctions, and he can't sit on the work group, and neither can you at this point. If it ends tomorrow, maybe you can. That's common sense to me, and there's no sense in yelling at each other about it, because common sense tells you that you can't deal in this realm at the current time. Thank you. KALIVIANAKIS: Mr. Mayor, I was called out by name, so I'd like to respond, please. I think that's our procedure. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you. In case it has gone unnoticed in this town, I have had 11 ethics violations charged against me. I have been under ethics investigation since I took TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 55 of 76 the oath of office. It's not by accident that I'm always under ethics investigations because the ethics investigations were all initiated by the group we named ROT, or they named themselves. Crystal Cavanaugh, Liz Gildersleeve, and our Mr. Corrigan, who I've mentioned before here, who was the was the ROT candidate that failed to win the election, are the three people now that have me under investigation. Not hardly a fair group of people. They've been jamming me up ever since, and so if I can't do my job because they continue to file ethics violations against me, which are completely without merit and should have never even survived the scrutiny of a cursory investigation by our town attorney. I think that's a little bit ridiculous, and so to say that I can't serve in any other capacity because I'm constantly jammed up by the ROTers is ridiculous. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to call the previous question. TOTH: Second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. You know, I listened to what the public speaker said, and there's a significant difference. Skillicorn has been found in violation. They are merely allegations against me. I have not been found in violation, so basically, I've done no wrong, and it should -- and I should not be prevented from serving on the council as an elected official and doing my job, and I personally -- and I don't mean to insult you. I think it's an excuse, and I think that's unfortunate. You're not treating the councilmembers equally. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. We have a call for the question and a second. That ends discussion. We need a a vote, please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 56 of 76 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: I have a question for our attorney before I vote. Are we going to be provided with all the evidence of what transpired prior, which would be MCSO's reports, the inspector, what transpired even in executive session with the council? Are we going to have documentation, or are we doing this on our own merit? I know we're doing the call to the vote, but -- ARNSON: No, well, sorry. I think substantively, though, I think we're talking about the revisions to the rules of procedure. WATTS: Just the revisions at this point? ARNSON: Yeah. WATTS: Okay. Aye. ARNSON: And now -- WATTS: Aye. ARNSON: Okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Did you vote? He voted yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you, thank you. Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: What are we voting on, please? ARNSON: Voting on whether to call the -- Mayor and council, what you're voting on is whether to limit or -- excuse me, to terminate debate and then we'll vote on the underlying motion. MCMAHON: Okay. Aye. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you. Vice mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Passes. ARNSON: Okay. Now, we vote on the main motion. The underlying motion. No more TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 57 of 76 debate. It's done. We're voting, if you please. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Okay. Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Nay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Same question for town attorney. ARNSON: I'm sorry, what was the question? WATTS: Are we going to be provided with information that preceded this for the decision-making that went on? ARNSON: So with with respect to that question, I'm assuming that what we provide was what has been proposed before. WATTS: Okay. ARNSON: What's come before council with the revisions to the rules, and you can read the transcript or video about why those were rejected, come up with additional options for how to proceed, and Town Manager, if I'm stepping out of line with that, that's what I anticipate. GOODWIN: That's accurate. I mean, I think that historically speaking, there's been a few revisions recently adopted, but nothing of substantial quality. So if you were mentioning background on executive sessions and things like that, I'm not sure that there's anything to be shared from that. I don't know that we've had anything related to that unless I'm overlooking something. ARNSON: Literally, it's just revisions to the rules of procedure. WATTS: Okay. Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you. Vice Mayor Toth. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 58 of 76 TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The motion passes five to two. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you, and then we move to item D, which is resolution 2025-03, declaring the town's intent to comply with enforcement of federal immigration law to the legal extent permissible for the sole purpose of removing violent criminals from our community. Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It wasn't all that long ago that I used to be a state legislator, and I would work on solving presents, both the present and the future and that is still my commitment today. My commitment is to our town, and my commitment is to protect our town, so on that note, I will make a motion to approve as drafted. EARLE: I'd like to second that. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Do we call for comment cards first or do we speak? MAYOR FRIEDEL: We can do it after you're done. MCMAHON: Thank you very much. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Are there any comment cards? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The town received only written comments. 16 with the position of against and 1 with the position of for. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Thank you very much. You know, I read this, and I thought to myself once again, here we go. This is under the guise of public safety, adherence to the rule of law, and the prevention of violent crimes. Councilmember Skillicorn is proposing a resolution that involves federal immigration law enforcement, including ICE, border Patrol, the town, and Maricopa County Sheriff's Department. He suggests that the town and MCSO comply with federal law to the fullest extent possible and avoid obstructing federal law enforcement efforts as some sanctuary cities are doing. However, it's TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 59 of 76 important to note we are not a sanctuary city, and after reading the proposed resolution and conducting some research, I have a few questions. Are you suggesting that the town of Fountain Hills and staff and Maricopa County Sheriff's staff are impeding law enforcement? Are you saying that they're not doing their job in enforcing the laws? Are you implying that the town and the sheriffs are not committed to cooperating with and enforcing laws to protect the health, the welfare, and the safety of our community, and that a resolution about federal immigration law is needed to address this? Are you accusing the Sheriff's office of allowing violent crimes in our town due to an alleged criminal's immigrant status? Are you asking the town and the sheriffs to engage in racial profiling, assuming that immigrants in town could automatically be suspects of intending to commit violent crimes? I mean, it seems like that in what you're asking, and regarding enforcement of federal immigration laws, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is already doing its job, and it's enforcing laws that are within its jurisdiction and authority, and also the sheriff's office in town already fully cooperated with the enforcement of laws within the jurisdiction, regardless of the perpetrator's identity, immigration statute, or other crime -- type of crime committed. And I did some research and have facts that support this. Fountain Hills is consistently ranked as one of the safest towns nationwide and in Arizona. We have very few violent crimes and even fewer attributed to immigrants and gang involvement, drug distribution, which, due to the Fountain Hills Youth Coalition, is way down, and these are all shown by the Maricopa County's annual monthly reports and statistics. The police and police and census reports show there is no significant immigrant issue or population in our town. And in researching this agenda, I also discovered that the Trump administration issued over 700,000 ICE immigration warrants, which, in your document, you failed to state that most of them are unconstitutional and unenforceable and are not being forced by law enforcement agencies across the county, including Arizona. In fact, Sheriff Sheridan TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 60 of 76 has publicly stated that he will not enforce unconstitutional federal immigration laws, and Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, like other police agencies, are legally enjoined from doing so due to court orders, federal court orders, and former Sheriff Penzone made a similar pledge, and the state attorney general in Arizona has also stated she cannot and will not prosecute these cases. Additionally, the Melendres -- excuse me if I mispronounce the name, litigation arose from Arizona's legal battle with Sheriff Joe Arpaio's unconstitutional racial and immigrant profiling, which cost us, the taxpayers, over $314 million in litigation. The case resulted in a court order preventing our sheriffs from continuing these practices. In short, this resolution is not only ineffective, but also legally questionable. Maricopa County Sheriff's Office cannot unconstitutionally enforce federal immigration laws because they lack the jurisdiction over them and again, are legally enjoined from doing so. Also Maricopa County Sheriff's Office does remove violent crimes and criminals from our community 24/7. It's their job, and we keep thanking them for it every time we're in the council meeting. Accordingly, the resolution to me is moot and legally unenforceable, so I don't even know why we're talking about it tonight, but I would like to say that let's continue to respect Maricopa County Sheriff's officers for doing their job 24/7 and appreciate their commitment to keeping our town safe, welcoming, respected, and one of the safest towns nationwide because they do do their job, law enforcement. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I'll probably vote for this one, but I'm going to get a few licks in first. Once again, this seems like a solution looking for a problem. This isn't a problem that we have in this community. It seems like a case of just virtue signaling of, you know, here I am. I'm going to lead the way, going to deal with immigration, DEI, all these nationally divisive issues, and then I'm going to appear in some small newspaper tomorrow and be called a hero. It suggests that the town refrain from interfering with law enforcement to remove violent criminals from our TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 61 of 76 town, and I would ask the question of the public. Does any rational person listening to me right now really believe that our town would interfere with removing dangerous figures from our community? I think that's self- evident. It says that we declare that we are not a not a sanctuary city. Why would we make such a foolish and redundant statement of fact? We are not -- we are not a sanctuary city. If we had been designated a sanctuary city, it would have been done by a previous council and a previous mayor, and I think we all know in the room. I won't have to even bother you tonight, Rachael, and ask if we are a sanctuary city. We're not. So why are we here? Instead of watching the presidential thing or playing our saxophone, why are we talking about things, again, what Councilwoman McMahon, said really don't matter. This isn't pushing the ball forward. You know, I ran for this council job, as with my Coast Guard job, doing shore patrols, and life jacket exchanges, and doing vessel inspections to make sure people's boats were safe, and when I got this job in this town council, the reason I did it was so I can improve the people's lives, not just people that boat on lakes, but 25,000 people to the town I love. I was thinking that I was going to get together with likeminded people, and I think the people here are all in love with our town, but I don't know why we're having conversations that aren't helping people more and sticking with our charter and what we should be doing, and that's what I'm a little concerned about, is all the time that we pull away from our staff, from our town attorney, and from this council to talk about things that don't matter is time stolen away from things that need to be attended to, that won't be attended to because of this time sink every week that we have to deal with. And so it's my speculation that these issues have been brought, foisted upon us for political and partisan reasons. I don't think this is really related to the needs and the progress of Fountain Hills. I think it's about future aspirations, reputation, and future goals from our councilmembers, but like I said, I will be voting for it because how can I not? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 62 of 76 MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: I'm not going to be short winded, just so you know. A question for the town attorney, again. If I read this correctly. A resolution is simply a testament that we're going to follow the law of the land, whatever the federal laws are. This isn't an ordinance. This isn't law. This is just simply an acknowledgment that we're going to follow the guidelines consistent with federal immigration laws; is that correct? ARNSON: Mayor and council, it's a resolution. It's a statement of policy, and that's more or less what this says, that we're going to act consistent with the law. WATTS: Perfect. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Any public speakers? No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. Do we have a motion? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: We do. CULP: Okay. Last call. I'm surprised, actually, to hear councilmember Kalivianakis said she's thinking about supporting this one because it's so poorly written. I mean, this resolution is a true word salad. This is one of the paragraphs, paragraph 3, resolve that the town will seek assistance, if necessary, from the United States Attorney General's Office to indemnify the town and its employees for any assistance or cooperation with federal immigration authorities, as permitted by law. What does that say? Does it say the town is going to seek assistance from the AG to indemnify it for assistance or cooperation? The whole resolution is like that. It needs to go back to the drawing board. Somebody needs to flyspeck it because statement of policy or statement of law. We should be proud of what we put in writing and it should make sense, and this one makes no sense whatsoever. Another paragraph. Another concern, too. Has the town considered that people, residents, might look at this and see it as encouragement that they should, as residents, undertake to enforce because it doesn't just say we're going to going to remove violent criminals. What it says is that we are going to provide assistance and cooperation to ICE. We, the town are. Now, who's going to provide that? Who's going to provide that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 63 of 76 assistance and cooperation? The MCSO isn't. Are we going to have posses? Is one of the councilmember -- any of you going to lead posses, and are you going to go out and are you going to arrest people you suspect of violating immigration law? And if so, where are you going to put them because you can't put them in the jail here. That's not allowed. There is a direct conflict between what the state has said in this proposition and what's happening on the federal front, and you're asking to get caught right in the middle. It's not, is there? There is a conflict. It's not in the case of a conflict, which is what this resolution says. Don't make more trouble for all of us. Don't lead people to believe that they can -- in reliance on this town's resolution to support and cooperate with ICE, that they can go out and start arresting people, or go to our schools and harass our kids, or go to our shopping centers and harass people there that they suspect of being immigrants. Because when you start looking for immigrants, you are, by definition, going to be involved in racial profiling. You're an official entity. If you're engaged in racial profiling, you'll be right there in front of Judge Snow with the MCSO, and it won't be good for the taxpayers. So at least take a second look at this. If you want to say, we want to support ICE by saying good job, you know, we appreciate what you're doing, that's fine, but this isn't what this says. TOTH: Mayor, I'd like to call the question. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Do we have a second? SKILLICORN: Second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Roll call, please. MCMAHON: Mayor? Excuse me. I was going to ask Larry Kratzer -- I was going to ask Captain Kratzer to make a comment. MAYOR FRIEDEL: It's too late. MCMAHON: Of course. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Okay. Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Nay. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 64 of 76 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: No. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: The motion passes. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Now we go to the main motion. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I thought that was it. MAYOR FRIEDEL: No, that was just to call the question. ARNSON: So we move to -- so they moved to call the question, which means we terminated debate, which means the underlying motion to approve has to be voted on. MAYOR FRIEDEL: We need a motion and a second. ARNSON: I thought we did have a motion and a second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Did we have that? Okay. ARNSON: All right. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, we have the motion from Councilmember Skillicorn and a second from Councilwoman Earle. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Nay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 65 of 76 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman -- Councilman Watts. Sorry. WATTS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Motion passes six to one. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. Next up is our item E, amendment number 5 to the Cooperative Purchasing Agreement 2022-062 with Mesa Energy Systems and Justin, I think you're on deck for that. WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Madam Mayor, and councilmembers. If I may, Mr. Mayor, I would like to make a statement of correction. Earlier this week, when I was discussing this item with other councilmembers, I misspoke and noted that two weekends ago we replaced the two compressors associated with this project. I was mistaken. In fact, the compressors that were replaced two weekends ago while the community center was closed down were on another chiller. Having said that, the facility's reserve study that was done in 2016 identified the three chillers in the physical plant as ideally having a 30- year lifespan. While I am not a professional in that particular type of mechanical product, I will note over the last several years, we have spent at least over $100,000 repairing them, and it's evident by the most recent testing of this one that they're failing. What we are here tonight to discuss is the replacement of one of the three. There has been a considerable amount of discussion between the town manager, myself, and the facility supervisor on how best to proceed with this. Using guidance from the chief financial officer and looking at other options or other possible solutions, the one that we bring for you to -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 66 of 76 before you tonight is the most cost effective, long and short-term, using the 30 year lifespan, that will benefit this community With the least amount of impact in regards to the amount of work that is necessary to repair the unit. Having said that, these are some really big numbers, and we are well aware of that, and we have certainly shopped around, and thanks to the facility's supervisor and the two plant mechanics, we were actually able to shop around using some expertise and make recommendations, and get some of the fees lowered slightly. However, you'll note in this ask tonight that we are asking for a little bit of additional money in an amount not to exceed, and the ask for that additional money is just in case. Some of the piping and components that operate this system may or may not be damaged as part of this project, or when the new one is being installed, it may be discovered that some of the valves or some of the gauges are simply at the end of their life expectancy. Please note there is one number that is solid here, and that is the number to replace the chiller. It is clearly explained in this staff report. Any other changes will be discussed in great detail with the town manager prior to making any decisions. This isn't a two or three hour project. This is a multiday project, and we take it to heart to do the best that we can with the limited funding we have. Another part of the discussion was in regards to how to fund this. The facility's reserve is underfunded, to say the least, and we are using that money on other facility reserve items, and some of them come before this council on a regular basis because of their price of $15,000 or above. Others are a little bit lower than that and within the town manager's purview. However, we have decided, because of the price tag of this and savings in the capital improvement fund from other projects, to utilize that fund to pay for this project. That's a lot of information. There is a considerable amount of information in this staff report, and there are also attachments to that staff report. Knowing all of that, I will do my best to answer any questions that you may have related to this item. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Earle. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 67 of 76 EARLE: Just for people listening and with a concern, I just want to say that I had a discussion with you, Director Wesley [sic], before, and this 300K that you're asking is a one-time deal. It's not in the contract or yearly contract, correct? WELDY: Mr. Mayor, councilmember, that is correct. This is a one-time ask for this repair. We will be returning to council at a later date for an amendment to this contract that will cover our preventative maintenance and other items and an owner's allowance that may or may not -- may or may not be not be needed next fiscal year. EARLE: Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Justin, thanks for all the information. You say you got a couple of bids. How did this bid compare to other bids? WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, there's not a noticeable difference in the dollar threshold. The biggest impact on that would be the amount of time necessary to do the work and the requirements in regards to shut down and start it up to keep the system online or operating, but most importantly, get it done before the hottest part of the year. So the dollar amount was a minimal, not enough to make a big enough difference in regards to the schedule. WATTS: What's the lead time? WELDY: I do not have that information, but if you'll allow me a moment, I will turn to a friend. WELDY: I understand from the consultant from facility, 16 weeks after a purchase order and notice to proceed is received. WATTS: Okay. And I saw that there's a five-year warranty, but it doesn't specifically say -- is that labor and materials or just materials? WELDY: Historically, that is for the materials. WATTS: So what's the warranty, labor warranty? WELDY: I'm not sure that I have that information, but I can certainly look into the underlying agreement from the state and see if it's covered in there. WATTS: Okay, and the two remaining chillers. Does this new chiller utilize the same TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 68 of 76 refrigerant as the replacement chiller is going to utilize? WELDY: No, Councilmember. It does not. It uses -- WATTS: I can see Steve (ph.) shaking his head, so. WELDY: -- a much more modern refrigerant. WATTS: Okay. WELDY: There was a lot of technical terms that I removed from this staff report. I personally didn't understand them and knew I would not be able to stand here and explain them to you. WATTS: Okay. WELDY: But it's the latest in refrigerants. WATTS: And I understand and appreciate because some of the refrigerants are evaporating before our eyes, but my question really is, are we recovering the refrigerant, leaving it on site so we can use that refrigerant in the other two chillers?, because refrigerant is effectively liquid gold these days. WELDY: Another question I don't know. BARTLETT: They have, I believe, salvage. I don't know that it included the refrigerant, but it didn't include the equipment, like, we can find out. WATTS: The refrigerant -- as long as there isn't -- it isn't contaminated, and even so, they can still refine it (indiscernible), I believe. Okay. And so if it's not contaminated, then we should store it on site because how many pounds of refrigerant are there, and again, that's liquid gold these days. So I would appreciate that. WELDY: So if I understand the ask, it is to see if the vendor can recover the refrigerant, if it's clean, and we would store it on-site and own it? WATTS: The vendor has to recover it in one way, shape, or form, presuming -- assuming that it is clean today because the chiller is still operating, so there wouldn't be any reason that we shouldn't store it on-site and be able to utilize it in the other two chillers. That's a significant amount of refrigerant. WELDY: Understood. WATTS: Okay. Believe it or not, that answers my questions. Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 69 of 76 WELDY: You're welcome. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aaron, I see your light on. ARNSON: Thanks. Mayor and Councilman Watts, I just wanted to point out while Director Weldy was up there, I took the liberty of looking at the warranty. There's a one-year labor and warranty -- excuse me, labor and materials warranty from date of beneficial use stated in there. WATTS: Thanks. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Mayor, Director Weldy. One quick question I had is comparing the bids. Did anyone engineer this differently, you know, have different SEER units? I was talking to someone that knows a little more about HVAC than myself, and they mentioned that it may not be the chiller. It could be something that's under-engineered or you know, some other design issue with it. Did anyone respond to the bid in something that was a little bit different, even though the price might have been similar? WELDY: Mr. Mayor, councilmember Skillicorn. So we did not issue an IFB, an invitation for bids. What we did was go out and look at cooperative use agreements with comparative pricing for the units, and then speak to professionals in the field and get their opinion on the modern equivalent of our 20 plus year old ones. So the short answer is this is more efficient, which some of that is described in their proposal, but we did not actually solicit bids. We relied on professional opinions and unit pricing. SKILLICORN: Mayor, Director. My only concern is that maybe we're not addressing that correctly. Maybe it is something that going to bid and actually dealing with, you know, people that know a little more than ourselves might be a better way of going. That's all. WELDY: Understood. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve Amendment Number 5 to the Cooperative Purchase Agreement 2022-062, with Mesa Energy Systems in the amount of $300,000, and authorizing for capital improvement and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 70 of 76 authorizing any associated budget transfers. EARLE: I second that. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Roll call, please, clerk. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Aye. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Aye. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Motion passes unanimous. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. And our final agenda item, regular agenda item, is any conversation relating to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and Angela, did you get any comments on any of the -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you, Mayor. We only received one written comment, and it was a position of against, and you can find that in your packet. MAYOR FRIEDEL: In the packet. Thank you. Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and part of this may be directed towards council and town manager. I did a day or two ago have a discussion with a -- I just want to look up their name here. The Arizona Municipal Water Users Association on a particular bill -- it's the HB 2299, and what this bill is, it's like a specific carve-out, and if we bear with me. I have to kind of read the detail to express it, but effectively, what it does is it TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 71 of 76 creates an emergency proclamation, and any emergency in the State of Arizona will actually -- takes away the voter citizen initiative to undo something. So it actually is part of our Constitution that the people cannot undo it, so it's very significant, and what it does is it allows applications that are submitted between January 26th, 2021, and May 31st, 2023, and what this pertains to is the governor created some water authority for certain areas, and there's a couple people that don't like this, and they want to get their applications approved via the legislature, kind of in a back door way. So this is a special carve-out for just a couple projects which kind of undermines state law and also some of the authority that our governor has in some of these issues, and even though we may agree or disagree on some of the things that our governor has done there, this is, like, a special carve-out for just two different applications. You know, and if we also look -- so after we took a look at the -- basically the industry standard for municipal water, they're against it, and you know, they put some time into talking to people about it, but the town of Gilbert is against it. The Sierra Club is against it. Avondale is against it. Glendale is against it. Mesa is against it. Phoenix is against it. Chandler is against it, et cetera, et cetera. Scottsdale is against it. I would recommend -- I would really encourage our council and our town managers to draft a letter opposing 2299, and I was just if -- I guess if we have someone object to it, feel free. I did ask if we could add it to the packet. I didn't get an updated email, so I'm going to guess it was too late, but -- oh, okay. I think it was -- today's -- all day is kind of (indiscernible). I believe it was yesterday morning that I sent over an email asking to add it to the packet because I know some people like to read over stuff like that, but you know, it appears that, you know, we get a lot of emails. GOODWIN: So if there's a consensus, we can certainly do that, and it's up to you guys. EARLE: I support it. KALIVIANAKIS: If I may, I would just like to restate what I said two weeks ago that if we're going to support or deny House bills, Senate bills, you know, I think that we should be noticed. I think that we should have a chance to look at the legislative TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 72 of 76 history, and so we can make an informed decision. I don't know anything about this bill other than what I just heard tonight, and so I hate to vote for things, whether yay or nay that I just haven't researched before. If I could have notice, even three days in advance, I could go to the legislative record. I could see, you know what my state reps are voting for, what the other state reps are voting for. I could do my research, and then I could sit here proudly and do a yes or no, up or down vote, and so it's the same thing, you know if we're -- and I said that last week, Mr. Mayor, that if we're going to do a cancer, you know, count me in, but if we're going to do complicated legislation, I just think that we just need the information so we can make a thoughtful vote. EARLE: Yes. Okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. Thank you. Mayor and councilmember -- Councilman Skillicorn. Excuse me. Was this discussed on the League phone calls on the Mondays? SKILLICORN: Mr. Mayor, Councilwoman Earle. The League does not take a position in water bills. That's why we -- there is the Arizona municipal water users that calls in on this, and to add -- there was another question about noticing making decisions. This very well could be put on the board tomorrow and passed the whole house, so just there's urgency. Waiting two weeks might be -- actually, you know, since we're at crossover time, two weeks could be too late. TOTH: May I ask a question? If we have a majority consensus, are we able to go through the same thing that we did with the food bill that was about cancer? GOODWIN: Certainly. TOTH: Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman McMahon. MCMAHON: Please don't include me in the letter. Thank you. I want to prefer to do my homework and then weigh in on it. Thank you. KALIVIANAKIS: And Mr. Mayor, thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Is it going to be short? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 73 of 76 KALIVIANAKIS: Very short. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. I'm just kidding. KALIVIANAKIS: And just just just to clarify my point, if we got the information today and it was voted on tomorrow, I understand Councilmember Skillicorn's concerns that it's not going to be timely, but what I'm saying is, if this is something that we anticipated that it could have been sent to us, you know, four or five days ago, and then tonight, I would have been ready to -- you know, I'm not I'm not trying to jam you up by saying, you know, I want two-week delay and it's going to not be timely. It'll be moot by then. I'm just saying that if this is on your radar, if you're down in the legislature and you think, I think I want Fountain Hills to get on board with this, I think you could relay the information to the manager. She could relay it to the council. This is something we're going to be seeking guidance letter guidance on at the next council meeting, and then I think we'd all feel prepared, and I know I would, and then I would be willing to vote on it because Allen, I'm sure that what you're proposing is sound legislation. I don't deny that, but again, it's what I've been harping on all night long is how we got here, the procedure that we got here, and I just would appreciate it if I could just get a heads up so I can make a thoughtful decision. That's all I'm asking. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Councilman Skillicorn, can you give me the cliff notes version one more time? I mean, it sounds like the sense of urgency is now, and I kind of get that, but I also think that I'd like to have a little more insight, so I'm going to rely on your cliff notes if you can do it one more time for me. SKILLICORN: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, and also to answer the other question. I was not aware of this until yesterday. That's why I tried to send the email with some details to the town manager, and you know, obviously, you know, we have to -- we're all human. So a little bit of the cliff notes is that -- I'll just go right back to the language, which is probably best, and it is 2299 if anyone wants to look it up online. First thing, it's an emergency measure, so there is no is no recourse. If the legislature passes this, it TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 74 of 76 cannot be changed. There's no citizen's initiative. In any other law that's passed, the citizens could get signatures and stop it. This (indiscernible) cannot, and what this does is that it allows applications that were submitted in between the date range of January 2021 and May of 2022, and it's a very specific -- a certificate of shared water supply in the Phoenix active management area, so there's very few of those applications that exist. So it's really just two carve-outs to effectively undermine what the governor did. You know, the irony is that I don't agree with what the governor did in these areas, but this is not the way to do this. The way to do it -- there is a proper way of doing it, not an emergency measure and not something that is just for these couple of applications. Is that enough information? WATTS: Yes, thank you. I think the concept of emergency motion says it all. If there's no recourse, then I've got a problem with that. SKILLICORN: Sure. WATTS: Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So Rachael, I think we probably have a majority of the council that supports it. Okay. We'll move on now to the council direction to the town manager. Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Yes. I would like to direct staff to start working with P and Z to implement the changes for the sign code requirements during election season, business signage, utilizing direction that they've received from councilmembers, and bring it back to council for discussion and vote. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman McMahon. MCMAHON: Thank you. I would like to see on the next agenda the information about the police committee and the veterans. I'd like to see when they're meeting, what they're talking about, and who are on the committee, and how they were selected. And in addition, are we going to know when the meetings for the committee that was just formed tonight are going to be available, and are any of these going to be open to the public and the public notice about them? Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 75 of 76 MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Watts. WATTS: And Town Manager Goodwin, as we spoke the other day, when we look at the budget, any of the things that are not absolute needs that become wants or desires, that money, I'm going to heavily lobby for addressing the washes. Having walked a couple of the washes, this washes this weekend, they're in a terrible state of disrepair, and I think we need to do something sooner than later. I know we just had $140,000, and after walking one of them, the one down by Sherwood, I don't know if you could do that one for $140,000 by itself because of not being able to afford a yard dumpster and the logistics of personnel. So as much as we can move into the washes, I'd like to focus on that, if we can. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And technically, since we're on staff direction, I actually want to applaud staff because there's a couple of washes that I was down in, you know, down by Shea, and it's a different world. I mean, all the trees are gone. You know, I see stumps down there. I mean, I see that there has been maintenance done, and it was significant. I mean, very much so. So there was a lot that was done. I'm sure there's others that need it, right, but the ones that have been addressed, I was actually very impressed of the condition they were in, and frankly, the couple that I were in just recently -- there's two that are not maintained. I mean, I didn't see major fire hazards there, so I know that we're directing the staff resources, you know, where they're critical. So I just -- I was actually really impressed when I saw, especially south of Shea there. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I'd kind of like to reinforce the new committees that were formed, I guess law enforcement, veterans, economic development. Yeah. I haven't had an email or a memo on that, and I would like that to be in future business, too. You know, and maybe even the three-person committee that we're assigning tonight could put it as part of the town code, you know, how do we pick the people? Are we doing it in collaboration with MCSO with the Economic TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MARCH 4, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 76 of 76 Development Committee? What are their goals, what's their mission statement, and how often will they be reporting and giving reports to council? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Don't overthink it. We don't have a mission statement. We're not writing a book. Anybody? Anything else? Can we get a motion to adjourn? WATTS: Move to adjourn. TOTH: Second. MAYOR FRIEDEL: All in favor? TOTH: Aye. Having no further business, Mayor Gerry M. Friedel adjourned the Regular Meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council held on March 4, 2025, at 8:29 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS _______________________ Gerry M. Friedel, Mayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: __________________________________ Bevelyn Bender, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 4th day of March 2025. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED 1st day of April 2025. _________________________________ Bevelyn Bender, Town Clerk TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT FEBRUARY 25, 2025 A Council Retreat of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened at 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains in open and public session at 8:31 a.m. Members Present: Mayor Gerry M. Friedel: Vice Mayor Hannah Toth; Councilmember Gayle Earle; Councilmember Brenda J. Kalivianakis; Councilmember Rick Watts; Councilmember Peggy McMahon; Councilmember Allen Skillicorn Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson; Interim Town Clerk Angela Padgett-Espiritu TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 1 of 154 Post-Production File Town of Fountain Hills Town Council Retreat February 25, 2025 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 FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 2 of 154 GOODWIN: Sure. That's all right. Thank you for calling us to order. As I think most of you probably saw via my email yesterday, Angela is going to be serving as our interim town clerk for a little bit. So Ang, would you mind doing roll call, please? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Thank you. Mayor Friedel. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth. TOTH: Present. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis. KALIVIANAKIS: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilman Watts. WATTS: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon. MCMAHON: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn. SKILLICORN: Here. GOODWIN: All right. Thank you. I just wanted to do a little brief introduction and then we will get under way. I know we have a lot to cover today. But thank you for being here. Thank you to everybody for being here and being part of this process. It's a very important process. You know, as elected officials and staff, it's essential that we work together to align our resources and our goals that best serve Fountain Hills. I wanted to take the opportunity to encourage a couple of things today. I have some notes so I don't forget, but I wanted to remind everyone and emphasize that the budget is another word for plan. This is a plan. This is our financial plan that we're putting together for next year of how we want to use our resources, what programs and services we want to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 3 of 154 provide to the community, and what projects we want to tackle. But like all plans, it has to be adaptable. The town budget is intended to give us the guidance, but it's adjustable if circumstances change. That's why we adopt the plan, but we seek to refine it, update it, and alter the budget based on needs, project changes, and unforeseen circumstances. That's what we do each week when we have our Council meetings and we bring things back. We alter that budget as we move forward. Secondly, I wanted to share the reminder that as we talk about the budget, when we reference funds, that is the actual money or the currency that is in the town's buckets. So funds is just another name for money. The budget is how we plan to use this money, so the budget allocates the funds. Sometimes you'll hear comments like, well, there is no budget for that. What that really means is it's not to say that there is no money, but that we didn't adopt a plan that includes spending for that item. So what we're talking about today is where do we want to spend our money and plan for that? A good example of that is the recent increase in the wash maintenance budget that we approved a couple of weeks ago. The plan, the budget, didn't have enough allocated, therefore we requested, and the Council approved a budget increase, and we used available funds or money from other savings that we had. So just kind of some terms, because I know it can get really, really muddy fast when we talk about all these different words. But I hope this helps as we move forward in our discussions today. And lastly, I wanted to offer a reminder to both the Council and the staff that today is intended to be a dialogue. It's intended to be a back and forth. This setting is not the ideal because it feels like a Council meeting. Right? It feels very formal. We're up here, the staff is down there. Ideally, we would all be sitting down on the main floor together in a more collaborative format, but our cameras and our audio equipment don't allow us to do that and broadcast the meeting at the same time. So we work with what we have, but I want to encourage you guys to interact, to talk, to ask questions. The staff is here specifically for that reason. Same thing, if our staff is -- if there's a conversation going on and you have some clarity or you have some insight into what we're talking about, you know, if Justin's talking about the downtown plan and Amanda needs to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 4 of 154 jump in, please do. That's why we're all here today. I look forward to a productive conversation and want to thank in advance the staff for all of their work to get to here today, to get this together and thank our Council for the direction you're going to provide so that we can pull the budget together and present it in April. All right. With that, I'm going to turn it over to Paul to kick us off. SOLDINGER: All right. Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers. So we're going to kick off this second Council retreat for the fiscal year 2026 budget process starting with a revenue update for fiscal year 25. We're going to talk about the second quarter of this fiscal year and how revenues have been coming in. And we'll talk about fiscal year 26 and some key important budget considerations and an outlook for 2026. So we'll start off with the revenue update. And before we get into this, I do want to say it's pretty clear that our revenues are starting to slow. I kind of had mentioned this in some of my previous revenue updates that revenues are starting to slow down a bit. There's some dips, some -- the words I used in the past were headwinds and we're seeing more of that. December of 2024 was actually what I would call a bad month. We had a decrease in our retail sales taxes of 8, which are going to show up in some of these numbers. So I did want to say that ahead of time to kind of forewarn you. But one thing to note is we are still bringing in our revenues above our conservative projections, about 10 above our local sales tax projections. So although our revenues are dipping, we're still above our projections and we're still able to carry out town objectives with our budget at this point. So our net taxable activity -- basically all the sales taxes that were reported -- or the activity, the taxable activity in our town for the second quarter was $179.3 million. That was a decrease of $9.4 million compared to the same period in fiscal year 24. As you can see on your screen though, it is closely coinciding with fiscal year 23, two years ago. Fiscal year 24 was a really good year for the town and especially from a construction sales tax perspective, fiscal year 24, there was a big jump in those. So TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 5 of 154 while a decrease year over year is a little bit concerning, at least we see that it's stabilizing with fiscal year 23. So it's not -- I wouldn't say this is overly concerning, but it's showing the revenue slowing. MCMAHON: Paul, I have a question if you don't mind. SOLDINGER: Sure. MCMAHON: That's a big number, 9 million. Do you have an idea? Can you explain it a little bit as to why it went down that much, please? I'd appreciate it. SOLDINGER: Yes. So I'll get into -- so Mayor, Councilmember McMahon, I'll explain a little bit on the next slide, but essentially the main categories that went down a little bit are construction sales taxes and retail sales taxes. Construction sales taxes are still doing pretty well based on historical norms. But like I mentioned, the last two years have been a lot higher than previous years. So we've had a bit of a boom in construction activity. Our retail sales though, December, like I mentioned, there was a dip. We brought in less revenues than expected. And one thing I do want to say too that you'll see in the next revenue update is that our January revenues actually recovered quite nicely. So it's a one month lag. January revenues that just came in are based on December sales activity. That recovered quite nicely. So that -- you know, I'm hoping that's a trend getting back in the right direction rather than a broad overall continued decline. But that's the basic explanations for the dip. MCMAHON: Thank you. SOLDINGER: So our total sales tax, local sales tax collections, we projected $4.7 million, and we brought in $5.04 million. So as I mentioned, a little bit more than projected -- 340,000 more than projected for the quarter. But this was a decrease of 6.8 percent compared to fiscal year 24. So as you can see on your screen, that 5.04 million was compared to 5.4 million from the previous year, same quarter. And almost the entire difference is related to construction sales tax and retail sales taxes. Some of the other categories dipped as we'll get into, but our construction sales taxes are still doing well, but they were $250,000 less than the same quarter last year. So that's the main difference here. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 6 of 154 Retail sales, this category actually came in below our projections, 2.64 million, 25,000 less than projected, and a decrease of almost 0.6 percent from the previous year. Like I mentioned, December was bad, January recovered and showed actually an increase over the prior year -- about I believe 2 percent last time I looked. Retail sales without food sales. We've started doing this recently because we believe it's a good indicator -- when you take out the food sales, it's more of an indicator of actual retail sales, people going into shops, buying goods, other than groceries or food at the grocery stores or retail establishments. And you'll see that it's pretty -- let me compare that. It's pretty closely coinciding with retail sales, including the food tax, still a slight dip, a decrease of 0.38 percent compared to the same period last year. This one I would say is a little bit concerning. Our remote sales, they've been really consistently increasing year over year, the last few years, quarter over quarter, but this last quarter we had a decrease of 3.22 percent compared to the same period. I think that is a good indicator that there may be some slowing down of our residents and how they spend. They may be becoming a little bit more conservative with their own personal finances. Construction sales tax. We've been mentioning in the last few presentations that fiscal year 23 was a bit of an anomaly. There was a couple of large taxable events in town, a large audit tax collection, but fiscal year 24 was booming. We had a really good fiscal year 24 related to construction sales tax. So although, yes, our construction sales taxes for this quarter decreased by 23 percent, I wouldn't find that overly concerning. Actually, as you see on your screen, we collected $275,000 more than our conservative projections. So as I mentioned, yes, there's a decrease, but this category has actually done very well the last three years compared to historical norms. Utilities and communications. This is really the one you can rely on. It's pretty consistent. It's increased by about 3.6 percent compared to the previous quarter. No slowdowns in utilities revenues. Real estate. So this will be the last report I provide you that includes the long-term residential rental taxes. Actually, the last month that those taxes are being collected are TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 7 of 154 in January based on the December activity, so you'll still see that in January. But after that, those revenues are completely going away, which we've worked into our projections, and so the next time you see this report, the chart will go way down because that's a little bit more than half of this category, I believe. I have it noted here. So this year, we brought in $246,000 through the first six months in long-term residential rental taxes. For this quarter in particular, 165,000, so a little bit more than half of this revenue source is going to be going away -- is going away currently. Restaurants and bars. This one is also another concerning report. I am happy to report that January is much better for our restaurants and bars, but as you can see, people are eating out less. I think that's a fact, looking at the data, a decrease of 17 percent compared to the same period last fiscal year, and less than our conservative projections as well. Services. This is a category that we are outperforming quite a bit, and January was very strong for services, so this includes our hotels, short-term rentals, golf, amusement-type activities in the town. We collected $558,000 compared to our projections of $419,000, so 139,000 more than projected. It was a decrease from the prior year, but this category does fluctuate, and this is not an overly concerning indicator. We've been doing quite well, as you can see, based on historical norms in our services category. And our State Shared revenues, they've all come in pretty closely aligned with our projections. Just as a reminder, we base our -- for our State Shared revenues, we base our projections on the Arizona League of Cities and Towns. They do projections for all the municipalities. So they're -- at least since I've been here, which isn't that long, you know, they're very closely aligned with the actual revenues that come in. And just some additional insight on that, like for the State Shared revenue income taxes for urban revenue sharing, that's set at the beginning of the year by the state, so we get that notification -- I believe it's in May or June -- of how much it will actually be based on the income taxes collected two years ago, and we just get the same amount every month. So it's consistent, same amount coming into our coffers at the beginning of each month. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 8 of 154 HURF and vehicle license taxes. They've come in very closely aligned with projections as well. So before I get into fiscal year 26, do you have any other questions on the revenue update? Anyone? No? Okay. Some good, some bad, but we'll work through it. So -- Sure. MCMAHON: So how do you -- knowing what you know, pull out your crystal ball, and kind of give us an idea of what you think, you know, moving forward with this? I know there's concern with people not spending as much, not going out, et cetera. From a financial aspect, how do you think that that's going to be for us in the future? SOLDINGER: Sure. Mayor, Councilmember, part of our budget process, we have an objective revenue forecasting process that considers the seasonality and looks at the actual revenues. So it's bringing in these recent revenues into the projection. And it's hard to say. It's a little uncertain at this point, but we have an objective process. And kind of what our buffer is, is our contingency that we talk about. Even this year with what we've worked through in some of our budget reductions, we're in a good place from a contingency standpoint. The contingency really doesn't exist. We talked about this in the last retreat. It doesn't exist unless our revenues are meeting our projections. So right now our revenues are meeting our projections. Not as -- we're not going well above our projections as we have in the past couple of years, but we're still able to use contingency at this point. If we get to a certain point where our revenues start coming in below our projections, then we may not be able to unlock that contingency as much. And we might not be able to do some of the things that we've been trying to do. For example, like the Town Manager mentioned, we asked Council to increase our budget authority for the wash maintenance. Well, if we don't have our revenues coming in above our projections, there may be a chance that we might not be able to do something like that and come to you and ask about that. So there's a lot of considerations. And I think we always harp on that. We have conservative revenue projections for a reason. The reason being when we have the excess General Fund TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 9 of 154 revenues at the end of the year, we're able to use that on other things such as our capital projects, streets maintenance and things of that nature. And I will give credit to my predecessor. He did a really good job of maintaining that conservative approach, and we're continuing that today. GOODWIN: Paul, can I jump in one second? SOLDINGER: Yeah. GOODWIN: I just wanted to kind of piggyback on what Paul said. And as we move forward and we start looking at FY 26, Paul and I have taken a specific view of what this is forecasting so that when you see the numbers and when you see the projections, they're based on that very conservative model. They are based on, you know, the methodology that we've developed to make sure that we aren't creating a situation where that contingency hopefully is not put at risk. We're putting together a budget based on those very conservative principles, so when you see these numbers, they're based with that in mind already. So I wanted to make sure, because we do intentionally go that route so that if, hey, if we're too conservative, great, we come in well over. But if we are right, then we are still operating with good fiscal policies and we're not short-cutting anything or undermining anything by overestimating. So I wanted to make sure that that was aware of. WATTS: Paul? SOLDINGER: Yes. WATTS: When we compare period to period, year over year, do we do anything for normalization of inflation? Because if we're over in certain areas and it's an inflationary period, it's not a good representation, I don't think. Or do we just say that it is what it is and we're comparing dollars to dollars? SOLDINGER: Yeah. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, great question. So we don't add an inflation factor. It's a simple comparison year over year. I'll definitely take that comment under consideration though for future. Okay. So just some budget milestones to make you aware of. We've already completed our initial revenue projections in early January. The thing to note though is we don't TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 10 of 154 complete these revenue projections and finalize them until early April when we come back with the proposed budget. So there are a few things that do change, which are the State Shared revenue projections that we get from the Arizona League. And also if our, for example, if our revenues start to show decline in February, March, more so than even in December, we could consider reducing our revenue projections for our sales taxes. So those things we take into consideration. Our departments have already submitted their supplemental budget request to the Town Manager. So our process is typically in January where the departments have an opportunity to say, hey, this is the budget we had last year. We'd like to do some additional things this year. And this is what we'd like to request additional budget for or permission or authority to do additional things for our residents. And so we've gone through that process. We have our initial list that have been vetted by the Town Manager and Finance that we believe, or that we will propose to the mayor and Council to include in the budget for this coming year. So we'll explain that at the next meeting in early April. We have today's Council retreat. We have a budget open house, which is open to the public in a couple of weeks where I'll -- actually our last open house was relatively well attended. So I was pretty happy about that. Just trying to promote more transparency over our process. Bless you. And then our Capital Improvement Plan work session. Like today, we will get into some kind of highlights or some things that we're considering for the CIP plan, but we'll really do a deep dive at that work session in a month from today. And then our proposed budget work session on April 8th. That's where Council will discuss the proposed budget, and that's really a culmination of all these work sessions and discussions based on your feedback and direction. We've implemented these things into the budget, and we'll bring forth that proposed budget to you on April 8th. And at that point, you'll provide additional direction. And the tentative budget option is really kind of almost the most important one. It's not the final budget, but it's really the maximum amount that we can budget. So once we TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 11 of 154 adopt that, that's during a public hearing during a regular meeting, that's the maximum the town can spend the following fiscal year. The only changes that really happen between the tentative budget and the final budget are reductions or changes if needed based on that final feedback that you provide. And then we'll bring forth the final budget for adoption at the June 3rd meeting. So initial revenue projections. I'm just going to talk about the General Fund Streets Fund. As we've talked about at length, you know, we're required to have a balanced General Fund budget. We balance our revenues with our expenditures and for fiscal year 25, our current year, our General Fund, we projected $25.8 million of revenues. We're still exceeding that. I don't want to put too much doom and gloom in you. Yes, our revenues are slowing, but we're probably -- I'm throwing out a figure. I'm kind of putting myself on the spot, but we're probably going to bring in about $29 million of General Fund revenues this year based on what we've been bringing in. So it's still above our projections. We're still projected to have some General Fund excess reserves at the end of the year that we could either transfer to capital projects in accordance with policy or make some determinations on that money. But just as a comparison, our local sales taxes were projected at 14.9 million. Remember, this is the General Fund portion, which is 2.6 out of 2.9 percent of our local sales taxes go into the General Fund. So for this year, it's 14.9. State Shared income taxes for urban revenue sharing was 5.1 million. State Shared sales taxes, 3.6 million. And Investment Income was 100,000. So for fiscal year 26, our initial revenue projections have our local sales taxes coming up by $15.2 million, so that's just a slight increase. Our State Shared income taxes is actually decreasing. Now, this is the final year of the impacts of the flat tax, the flat income tax at the state level. So the Arizona League is projecting that starting in fiscal year 27, this revenue source will start to increase for municipalities. And I actually monitor the state's JLBC reports every month, and the state is bringing in income taxes higher than expected. So I'm hoping that this revenue source will increase more than expected the following year. State Shared sales tax is just slightly going up, by I believe about 2 percent based on our TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 12 of 154 initial projections. And Investment Income, this one I do want to explain. We're projecting $349,000. This is a little bit of a change in methodology with the way we did it. As I mentioned, we've been doing our revenue projections quite conservatively. But for the past three years, we've been bringing in quite strong Investment Income based on short-term and long-term U.S. Treasury rates. So even with this increase in this methodology, this is really conservative, I would say. We're still on track to bringing in over $700,000 into our General Fund this year in Investment Income. So, you know, as things change, of course, we'll make modifications to this approach. But we did increase this as a change in methodology. So overall, I believe it's like 1.7 percent we're projecting of General Fund revenue growth for next year. And that's really being dragged down by the revenue losses that we've talked about as well, which is number one, the full implementation of the flat tax at the state level, and the complete loss of the residential long-term rental taxes, because this year, we did consider half of that going away. Next year, it's the full effect of that going away. WATTS: Paul, excuse me. SOLDINGER: Yes. WATTS: So if I understand this, there's the four components of the General Fund, that 25.82 million for last year. But those numbers total up a little bit, about $2 million less. Where's that? SOLDINGER: Right. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, it's a good question. So I should have mentioned that before I got into these numbers. These are the major components of the General Fund. All the other items are kind of -- they're just smaller and they just change nominally. So we'll actually talk about some of them today, the Community Center rental fees and things like that, renting the Ramadas out. We project all those revenues. And for most of those revenues, it's basically looking at the trend over the past few years, considering any other factors. Like for example, today, we're going to try to obtain Council direction on possibly looking at the Community Center fees. We TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 13 of 154 haven't implemented any increases into our revenue projections because nothing's been decided yet, but if things are decided, we could take a look at that and slightly increase those and things of that nature. WATTS: So what's your threshold for inclusion or exclusion? I mean, if you got $100,000 in Investment Income -- SOLDINGER: Right. WATTS: That seems to be a low threshold. SOLDINGER: That one I included -- it's not so -- so it's a little bit more -- I don't want to call it subjective. I include that because it's more of a change in methodology. Everything else we've kind of kept with the same methodology. The other bigger one that's not included here are our development fees, not our Development Impact fees. They're different. All the other development fees that Development Services charges. So that one, we did project a slight increase, I think of $50,000 to $100,000 just based on development activity currently and discussing with the Development Services Director and looking at historical norms. Like for example, that one, I think we projected about 750,000 of total development fees coming into the General Fund this year, but last year we brought in 1.3 million. So -- and we still have a strong Construction activity and things of that nature. So we consider those types of factors as well. But I could certainly get into each of the individual. WATTS: I don't want to get to the -- SOLDINGER: Okay. WATTS: I'm not interested in the detail. I was just curious as to why there was a $2 million discrepancy on both sides, 2025 and 2026. And it sounds like there may be some opportunity to incent some of the increasing development by looking at the impact, the fees, that Building Services, the development fees. We might look at those and -- SOLDINGER: Yeah. Absolutely. So it's a good point you make actually. So one of the things that -- one of the reasons why we didn't increase that revenue source substantially as far as our projections go is because we had a large amount of Encroachment Permit revenues last year. I discussed this with Justin and that was kind TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 14 of 154 of a one-time thing. They do come in, but it's more -- it's just kind of random. It's not something that's very predictable, so that was a large reason for the large increase in those revenues. So I appreciate your comments. Definitely -- I definitely think there could be some improvements internally, something that I've already talked to the Town Manager about as far as how we look at our development in the town. But we did take a conservative approach to that, and we didn't increase it too substantially because of that factor that we discussed internally. WATTS: Thank you. SOLDINGER: Of course. EARLE: I also have a question. SOLDINGER: Yes. EARLE: So I'm assuming the Investment Income is based on interest rates? SOLDINGER: Yes. Yeah. EARLE: So -- SOLDINGER: I'm sorry. Go ahead. EARLE: Looks like they may be coming down possibly? SOLDINGER: Yes. EARLE: So then that will change for 2026, I'm assuming? Or that would be fiscal year 2027. SOLDINGER: Right. Yeah. So Mayor, Councilwoman Earle, yeah. So we do consider that. I monitor the U.S. Treasury rates really on a daily basis. We still have several long- term investments in longer-term U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds that have kind of locked in some of those investment earnings, although not a ton of the General Fund money is in those long-term investments. Right now, we invest a majority of our General Fund excess monies into short-term U.S. Treasury rates in the State Treasurer's Investment Pool, LGIP7. They publish their short-term rates every month. Right now, it's about 4.3 percent. It has decreased. It has been decreasing, and so we consider that in the projection. We applied a 2 percent conservative factor on that. I don't want to get too much in the weeds, but the General Fund is a little bit complicated because we TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 15 of 154 get a lot of General Fund fund balance towards the end of the year, and then we sweep it because our policy requires us to. So at the beginning of the next year, or more like October, it kind of goes down to our required balances, and then it creeps back up. So we consider all these factors into that projection. EARLE: Thank you. SOLDINGER: Yes. All right. And so for the -- KALIVIANAKIS: I just have one question, too, if you don't mind. SOLDINGER: Sure. KALIVIANAKIS: On the Investment Income, had it not been for the change of methodology, if that was just like a graph, would it be pretty level, but for the change in methodology? SOLDINGER: Mayor, Councilwoman Kalivianakis, could you clarify your question? KALIVIANAKIS: Well yeah. Anytime there's this kind of a lurch between 100 and 349, you said it was a change of methodology. I'm assuming that's just the way you're calculating Investment Income. And so had it not been for the change of methodology, would this graph be more level, or are we increasing or decreasing that revenue source? SOLDINGER: So the projection is increasing. Our revenues have been coming in consistent the last couple years, so I think -- I just looked at this. We brought in about $720,000 of Investment Income in the General Fund last year, and this year we've already brought in, I want to say 400,000 something. So I took it -- so what I'm trying to present today -- or on this slide in particular -- is just the way we're projecting our revenues, because as I mentioned, really this is probably my most important job, is our town's revenue projections. It really is, because it drives what we can do as a town, and because we have to balance that General Fund. So I didn't take -- the reason I put that on the screen is yes, it's not as big of a revenue source as maybe some other ones, but it's really important to note that this is really something that we decided, but we're still being very conservative with, but it's given us a little bit more wiggle room, or more TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 16 of 154 ability to get the work done for our residents that we need to. And it's still appropriate, and within our objective approach. So that's -- I probably should have explained it better, but I appreciate your clarifying questions. KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And Paul, for a long time, the interest rate markets were flat. We're in a period right now where we're really seeing the Investment Income jump, because of your shrewd investments, and the nature of the market. SOLDINGER: Yes, Mayor. That's correct. Actually, the U.S. Treasury market -- and I've learned a lot about this since I've started this position -- but actually during the pandemic, it was pretty funky. It went all the way down to almost zero. You weren't really making any money on them. But historically, back the 10 years prior to that, you're seeing those rates around 2 to 2.5 percent, a lot of times, sometimes jumping up to three, sometimes a little lower. So I think that's more the historical norm. We'll see if we get there. I know the Fed is reducing interest rates on an ongoing basis considering that on a quarterly basis. I monitor that as well, but I feel comfortable with what we've presented as far as our projections go. So I just really wanted to touch on Streets. The Streets Fund, it's our -- I believe it's our second biggest fund by fund balance. It's one of our more important funds that we talk about a lot. And it'll be, to Councilmember Watts' comment earlier, I'm just presenting the main revenue sources, but I believe this might be all the revenues that go in the Streets Fund. There might be one or two really minor ones I left out, but I'm just trying to present the major components and what's changed. So for fiscal year 2025, our Streets Fund was projected to have $4.4 million of revenue, including 1.2 million of local sales taxes, 1.8 million of HURF revenues, 1.2 million of vehicle license taxes, and $10,000 of Investment Income. So again, we're projecting an increase in the Streets Fund of revenues, just slight increase to the local sales taxes of 1.26 million. Our HURF revenues projection at 1.85, vehicle license taxes 1.26. And again, this one is a little bit more stark. You're seeing a large increase in Investment Income. Again, it's just using a conservative approach of projecting a 2 percent investment earnings on our fund TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 17 of 154 balance. The complicating factor with the Streets Fund is next year we've been talking about -- or we've been presenting Council options on spending down some of that fund balance on some of the Streets paving projects, but this is still conservative. I think we brought in $550,000 of Investment Income in this fund last year, and we're doing pretty similar, maybe even more this year because we have a bigger fund balance. So I think we're still on a good position with those revenue projections. This slide is important just to show some of the other funds that are collecting the local sales taxes. At the last Council retreat, we talked about our revenue splits. Just a quick refresher. It's just based on past Council decisions to implement a local sales tax, either for general purposes that go in the General Fund, for streets paving purposes that go in the Streets Fund. And we also have done that for the Downtown Strategy for the Downtown and Economic Development Fund. We also put some of these sales taxes in accordance with policy into the Capital Projects Fund. So for Capital Projects, we put half of our construction sales tax every month into that fund, and at the end of the year, in accordance with policy, we sweep our remaining excess reserves from the General Fund into the Capital Projects Fund to fund those long-term improvements we've been talking about. So this is just important to show that. It also still shows our revenue projections being conservative. As you can see in our General Fund, in fiscal year 24, we brought in $16.8 million of local sales taxes. However, this year we're projecting 15.2 million, which is 1.6 million less than we collected two years ago. Streets Fund, similar, 1.42 million of actual Streets Fund revenues for local sales taxes. This year we're projecting 1.26 million. Our Economic Development and Downtown Funds, they are combined, but on the pie chart, you kind of see that 126,000 is what we're projecting for the Downtown Fund and the 504,000 is what we're projecting for the Economic Development Fund. And Capital Projects Fund, we brought in 1.6 million last year. As I mentioned, that was a really -- that was our best year ever for construction sales taxes. And for fiscal year 26, we are projecting about $1.19 million to go into that fund, and that is the construction sales taxes. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 18 of 154 All right. So Justin is available if you have any questions about these. But for our Environmental Program, we did talk about at the last Council retreat that historically, we used to pay for this Environmental Program that we're required -- we're basically required to do this by federal and state mandates as far as cleaning up our town and taking care of our environment, looking at the washes and cleaning those out and things of that nature. We used to pay for these expenditures out of an Environmental Fund, but that revenue source went away about four or five years ago. Basically, we used to charge a environmental fee to all the residents in our town. That went away at some point, so what we've been basically doing the last four years is still paying for it out of our General Fund by transferring money from our General Fund into this fund to pay for these expenditures, so we're getting rid of it. We talked about this. We actually received direction from Council on this last year. At the end of this year, what we'll do is we'll close down the fund, and we'll sweep if there's any excess monies in there, which I don't anticipate there to be much, we'll sweep it into the General Fund. And what you see on your screen is our supplements to our supplement process of what the Public Works Department would like to spend out of the General Fund for this Environmental Program. And so these amounts you see on the screen are for the brief descriptions there. He can answer any questions if you have them, but essentially, it's to maintain our levels of service. Actually, with the wash maintenance, it's increasing our levels of service over historical norms, so that's a consideration there. But it came in at about $552,000 that were added to the General Fund this year. Questions, yeah. EARLE: What is MS-4, Professional Services? WELDY: Madam Mayor, Councilmember, the MS-4 is our PM-10 permit that helps us comply with the state mandate for PM-10, which is to reduce particulate matter that is created from debris on the streets. And we have an annual permit that relates to that. Because of the mandates of the county, state, and federal government, there are simply too many tasks for the limited number of Engineering and Public Works staff we have to accomplish all of those goals, including but not limited to our audits, our filing of our TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 19 of 154 permits, wet weather and dry weather testing. That's when water is collected at key locations and sent off to laboratories for testing to determine exactly what is the content of the water and what makes up the water, whether or not there are fogs, oil fogs, fog -- excuse me -- which is fats, oils, and greases, which are not typical and should not be in unacceptable levels in a stormwater runoff, whether it's a wet weather or dry weather. EARLE: Thank you. WELDY: You're welcome. SOLDINGER: All right. So this will be included in the General Fund budget, and I will present it as a, you know, brief explanation in the proposed budget, so we just wanted to make you aware of it, and this is where we're at with that. Budget reductions already implemented. We recently had a couple vacant positions open up, and we completed a review of their workload in conjunction with the Town Manager and relevant department directors, and we were able to reduce a couple positions that were previously full-time down to a .6 FTE, and you'll see that this brings a cost savings to the General Fund budget of about $81,000 combined, so we've worked that into our budget at this point. We also found a couple budget line items in the General Fund that haven't been used in years, and we really weren't 100 percent sure what they were there for, so we just did a review of the budget, and we got rid of them because they were not necessary, so it was good for us. We were able to reduce our budget by $101,000 just as a starting point. TOTH: Paul, I apologize. SOLDINGER: Yeah. TOTH: Just out of curiosity, what were those two line items that you discovered? SOLDINGER: Of course. Yeah. Mayor, Vice Mayor, the first one was in our law enforcement budget, but it wasn't related to their MCSO payments. It was just related to, like, something that was discussed as far as a rewards program. I honestly don't know the details. It was just in our budget but not used, and we realized that we don't need this, so we'll take it out. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 20 of 154 TOTH: Okay. Thank you. SOLDINGER: I'm sorry. The other one was in my budget, but it was for a line. I think it may have been a professional service that we hadn't used in the past several years, and it just wasn't necessary, so we took it out. TOTH: Okay. So just to super-duper make sure, I think you've said this, like, twice now, but that money was not used each year. It was budgeted, but it never left our account. Like, this isn't money that's lost. It's just we kept having it left over each year. SOLDINGER: Yes, absolutely. So mayor, Vice Mayor, it was just -- so again, budget authority, when we're talking about budget, it's the permission that Mayor and Council provides the staff to get the job done for our residents, and in this case, this was included in the budget. It just wasn't used and, you know, getting a new set of eyes on something as we worked through the budget, you know, we talked about it, and we're like, we don't really need this, and so we took it out. TOTH: Awesome. Thank you. GOODWIN: To double-check on that, Hannah, just so you know, you're absolutely right in that it was there. It was never used. I always kind of like in the old school, my grandmother used to put money in different envelopes. Right? And this is what all the envelopes are for. This was just an envelope that never got used, so at the end of the year, what Paul just mentioned, at the end of the year, we sweep everything that's left. So essentially, that would be swept into CIP and be allocated there and used as a leftover of monies, which is what we have to do, but to your point, no, it didn't get spent on something else that was unbudgeted or, you know, unanticipated. SOLDINGER: Yeah. And just to build upon that point, when we're talking about budget, that's the maximum amount of money we can spend. Right? So it's really difficult to spend the maximum. Last year, we budgeted 25.8 million in the General Fund, and we spent 3.9 million less than that. So when we're talking about how much we're going to spend, it's going to come in below that. Just, it's a good point to make. EARLE: So Paul -- over here. SOLDINGER: Yes. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 21 of 154 EARLE: That was on the 20,000, but we're [sic] actually are saving the 81,000 on the employment, correct? SOLDINGER: Yes. So Mayor, Councilwoman Earle, yes. That's a real cash savings, because previously we had full-time staff in those positions, and once we -- I'm not sure if either of them have been filled, but once we fill them, we'll be paying them at a part-time -- for part-time hours at a part-time rate, which I believe may be the same pay rate, but there's less benefits involved with a part-time employee, which is a lot of the cost savings in this case. EARLE: And going forward, do you constantly monitor -- or are we monitoring -- I want to say it very gently. I am not talking about getting rid of anybody here. Okay? But that any jobs, when they do vacate or whatever, that each job is actually -- the workload does match the full-time or part-time and then looking at -- because you talked about when we have to redo stuff -- if and when we lose sales tax on food. GOODWIN: Sure. So I think to answer your question, we do look at each personnel position, if it were to be, to your point, vacated for whatever reason. You know? Is this position providing what it needs to? Is there another way to get the same job done? Is this job still necessary? So we do look at each one critically to determine how and best use. A good one that actually the Mayor and I talked about a while back was our Community Relations position and, you know, how do we really want to see this position change and mold, and how do we want to make sure that we're getting the most out of this position? And thankfully, you know, when Mike Pelton came in, he was really on board to help us make those changes and improve what we wanted and adapt that role to -- and I'm going to give credit to both John, who -- I don't even know if John's out here yet. Oh, way over here. There's John. And Mike, who's running the show in the back, because these positions fall under them, and they came forward and said, hey, look, we think based on workload, based on how things have been operating, we think we can potentially look at moving these from full-time to part-time. So they came forward with these suggestions and the savings and the opportunity to see how they can best serve the operation. And so I give credit to them bringing that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 22 of 154 forward, and as we look through it, and how do we make those, you know, smart choices? Long answer for yes. EARLE: Okay. GOODWIN: We do look at each position to make sure that we're getting, you know, what we need out of it. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Let me just add that Rachael and I have had several conversations about staffing, and the staff also gets that. And these are savings that go on forever for this town, so I think the staff gets it. Certainly the Town Manager does too. So it's a good thing going forward for us. WATTS: One more, Paul. SOLDINGER: Sure. WATTS: Just so I'm clear, Public Works has a budget already. When the Environmental budget goes away, is that 552 million -- 552,000 get rolled up into that budget then? So we can look forward to an increase in the Public Works budget? SOLDINGER: Yes. Mayor, Councilman Watts, yes. It'll be in the Public Works budget in the General Fund. So Public Works is the one kind of interesting department when you look at the budget book or the actual budget, if you get into the details, and I'd be happy to walk you through it, they have budget and several funds. And number one's the General Fund, their main operations, the Streets Fund for street paving, but they also have street technicians and staff that are paid out of that fund. And they used to use the Environmental Fund as well. So now that'll be going to the General Fund, make things a little bit easier. And it's not really -- I wouldn't say it's really changing anything. You know? We have proposed a little bit of an increase in funding because of the wash maintenance discussions and the needs for that. But other than that, it's really the same thing other than us including the General Fund, because we used to just fund the Environmental Fund this way anyways. So it's almost -- I wouldn't say semantics, but it's like we're just doing the same thing, just in a different place, essentially. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 23 of 154 WATTS: Thank you. SOLDINGER: And one other good point to make here -- this slide is just about the things that we've done as a staff to, you know, see where we could find some costs and budget savings. But we also take -- you know, we have to look at our budget holistically. And if there's things that don't need to be included, we look at our one times from last year. And I think the good example that comes to my mind is election expenditures, because we had a general election this fiscal year, but we're not going to have one next fiscal year. We don't need to include as large of a budget for next year in the Town Clerk's budget, so we reduced that as well. And then some just administrative things that we've changed. So we've made other changes. We've made some other reductions. These are just the ones to highlight on things that we thought through and took some time and effort to knowing this could be a lean budget with slowing revenues and, of course, the impending food tax discussion as well. So MCSO cost notification. This is important because it decreased our budgets in the General Fund by $373,000. I just want to provide some background on it. Our current contract has an automatic renewal that goes through fiscal year 2029. Every year we receive a cost notification. It's a written letter from the CFO of MCSO that is provided to the Town Manager and myself. And we implement that amount into our budget for law enforcement services. And that's actually -- I was making a comparison or explaining the urban revenue sharing earlier. It's kind of similar. Our contractual amount, it's basically just split up into 12 months. We send the same amount based on billings every month, so it's like clockwork. I got the MCSO billing this morning in my inbox. So that cost notification is the amount we're going to pay next year for law enforcement services in our town. We received it on February 5th, 2025 this year, and there was a reduction of $373,000. And so there's several categories or factors in the cost notification. The substantial decrease this year came from the explanation on your screen. The county paid down its PSPRS pension liabilities for MCSO. And these cost savings decreased our contracted benefit rates, which -- that's not the full amount of the 373, but that is the substantial reason given in the cost notification. So last year -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 24 of 154 or this current year that we're working through, we're paying 6.13 million for law enforcement services to MCSO next year, which is -- it's really a help from a budgeting perspective and planning perspective, being able to have these budget reductions right up front. So we'll be paying $5.76 million next year. EARLE: I have a question. SOLDINGER: Yes. EARLE: So this is for that whole -- just through, let's see. I get confused because to me, January to December is the year. So this is July 26 to July 27? SOLDINGER: This will be July 1st, 2025. EARLE: Oh. Okay. SOLDINGER: So in a few months, this new cost will go into place. And so our -- operationally our -- I think we pay $519,000 a month right now. It's going to go down by $20,000, $30,000 a month. EARLE: Is there anything in the contract that it could still be reduced? Or are we stuck with this unless they make some changes? SOLDINGER: We -- well, so I'll tell you what I know about the facts. Our contract was renegotiated about a year and a half, two years ago. And at that point, they implemented a vacancy credit where MCSO evaluates their vacancies about a year or two a lag. They look at their vacancies at the town level and at the MCSO level, the administrative level, and they provide a credit. So that was negotiated in the contract. We did receive that this year as well. It went down because our overall personnel costs went down because of this benefits rate decrease. So I think it was 400 to 500,000 combined of credits that we did receive. EARLE: So are you saying we received more than 373,000? SOLDINGER: I'm just presenting the total amount. EARLE: Oh. Okay. SOLDINGER: There's all these different components of it. EARLE: Okay. SOLDINGER: So there are -- we are receiving the vacancy credits as renegotiated in the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 25 of 154 contract, but there's lots of components. They charge an indirect cost for their administrative costs. They charge for vehicles and IT equipment, their costs. So it's a cost recovery model in accordance with the contract. So it was renegotiated a year and a half, two years ago. They provided us a credit, and then they continued to do that. And I know it was audited at some point. I wasn't here at the time. But for the most part, when they provide us the cost notification, we implement it into our budget process based on that notification. EARLE: So can anyone else here answer? Are we able to renegotiate any of that? MAYOR FRIEDEL: Gayle, we are looking at all parts of that contract currently. EARLE: Good. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So there could be some other changes forthcoming. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. SOLDINGER: Thank you, Mayor. Okay. And my last slide for this presentation, just making you aware of HCR 2021. I know I had sent an email, and I know you're all familiar with this being on the AZ League calls, but the Arizona legislature is considering or discussing the possibility of eliminating the local sales taxes for food taxes. These are reported under TPT Code 062 through the Arizona Department of Revenue by our local businesses, and this is food for home consumption. This is food sold at grocery stores and other retail stores, but not food sold at restaurants and bars. That's what they're considering eliminating. And just to give you an idea of the possible impact, this, if passed by the legislature, this would not go into effect until fiscal year 28, so two more fiscal years to kind of make plans for it, but it's currently -- or fiscal year 24 in the last three years, it's about 5 percent of our total revenues as a town and a little over 10 percent of our local sales tax revenues, so about $2.2 million a year of what we're currently receiving. EARLE: I may be getting ahead of myself as you'll talk about this later, but did, for instance, the fair we just had and the food trucks, did we make money off of that? Did we get sales tax off of that? We should, but do we? Pardon me? GOODWIN: I think the answer is we should be, yes. Again, it -- and I don't -- it's -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 26 of 154 however, it's in -- they, as the food truck operator, have to report the sales and they have to report the sales as occurring here in Fountain Hills. So sometimes if they are, let's say they're a Mesa-based food truck, they just submit their stuff to Mesa because that's where they're based, not where they -- but truly they should be submitting it based on where the transaction took place. There's not a lot of oversight that -- or ability for us to enforce that. So there's a lot of variability there. So should we? Yes. Do we? Probably. SOLDINGER: It's a very -- yeah. It's a very challenging question. We have a contracted sales tax auditor that does look at data and asks about business license information and things like that. But the state really manages the process. So they -- our sales tax auditor contracts with us, but any time they want to do a sales tax audit, it has to go through the Department of Revenue who has to approve it. So yes, as town staff, we can ask our sales tax auditor to look into things and provide them data or information, but it's not really managed by the town per se. EARLE: Are all the businesses there required to, even the food trucks, to get a business license for the fair? There should be a way that we monitor that, but that's a big loss if we're not collecting that. TOTH: Sorry. I remember having been on kind of the other side of the festival as well. A really big issue in getting vendors and artists to do their sales tax correctly, get their business license, was honestly just based off of understanding. Do we have -- how do I word this right? Do we have, through that contracted service you mentioned, the ability for them to kind of help explain how they do that and how they do their reporting? Because a lot of those artists I will say are older and one of them -- just a funny sidebar, but it'll provide context. At one point, one of them called me and goes, Hannah, what's my Wi-Fi password? So we're starting from zero. Are we able to walk them through this? Because I know that Chamber staff doesn't have, like, that bandwidth and we really need to make sure they're all doing it right. SOLDINGER: Yeah. Vice Mayor, we do provide guidance on an ongoing basis. In our business license application process, we require an update or current TPT license, so at TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 27 of 154 least to have them licensed, so we provide that guidance. Our contracted sales tax auditor does do that at times. If, like, we ask them questions or ask them to look into a particular TPT, I guess, reporter, they have at times called the reporter to ask them questions and, like, just provide them a little guidance but I think for the most part, the most appropriate -- the way the state has it set up -- I'm not sure how it works in other states, but the way the state has it set up is ADOR, the Department of Revenue is really the main key point for that information. They provide tons of guidance on their website. They're able to answer questions on an ongoing basis so, like, if you have a resident calling you and asking you questions, you could definitely direct them to us first and we would be able to provide them that guidance, but ADOR is really the overall authority over the sales tax collections in the state of Arizona. TOTH: Got it. So maybe there's a way that we can brainstorm because those vendors will go to us for the business license but then we might lose them come reporting the sales tax. So if we have, like -- if perhaps the contracted service -- just because I know you guys don't have much bandwidth either, you worked very hard. But if someone could make like a one pager of Step 1, get business license, call this number. Step 2, report it after the festival at this website. Just something to hand them so that they feel -- maybe we can work with the Chamber on that, just a smoother process because I remember that was probably my biggest hurdle when I was running the festival. GOODWIN: Yeah. I'll say too that in my time with the town and working with the Chamber and the festivals, you know, it's been an evolution to where we had trouble getting, just even getting business licenses. We are at a point now where that part runs very, very smoothly. You know? I know Stephanie worked with the Chamber and Chamber has been very helpful in trying to make sure that all of their businesses or all their participating vendors do have that business license. To Hannah's point, it's the next step. It's after that, the reporting that can get a little muddy. But yes, all the vendors do have business licenses and it's been -- again, we've established a much better process than we once had as opposed to, like, standing out there and doing it in the snow or the rain or whatever else we were doing so -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 28 of 154 EARLE: I have my own business. You are required to then have a TPT license for every city or town that you're in. So they would have to get one for Fountain Hills. SOLDINGER: Mayor, Councilwoman Earle, they get one TPT license each year from DOR, and they're required to report for each municipality that they're -- EARLE: Okay. SOLDINGER: Yeah. So it's one reporting -- EARLE: It's a different percentage in each one. SOLDINGER: Exactly. And so how I understand it is the ADOR reporting module, it automatically calculates based on the municipality and the code that you select. For us, we have the same rate for almost all our categories but there are some municipalities that don't. Like, Surprise is a good example. I know they have a higher sales tax rate for their restaurants so they're -- and you go to, like, some of these big cities like City of Phoenix, they do have varying tax rates for different categories. For us, we're pretty consistent and uniform for the most part. EARLE: But I guess what I'm saying, they would have to be reporting just specific to what they sold here in Fountain Hills. SOLDINGER: Yes. EARLE: And that's where it could be a little confusing for them, but it'd be great if they had some notification for that. SOLDINGER: Yeah. We'll definitely -- I know we have some guidance, so I'll look at that and see if we can produce something to provide to the Chamber and that's a good idea. So thank you. And with that, I think I'm done. Thank you. GOODWIN: All right. Mayor, we are right on time. We're at 9:30. Do we need -- does anybody need a quick break or do we want to move into the next? SKILLICORN: Five minutes. GOODWIN: Five minutes. You got it. MAYOR FRIEDEL: We're missing Rachael. If you're ready. Town Manager, if you're ready. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 29 of 154 GOODWIN: I am ready. Sorry. I got interrupted. All right. We're moving on to our next topic. Just for everybody's update, Kevin is only going to be joining us for the morning. He's headed out for some training this afternoon for the next week or so. So we wanted to get his topics that he's engaged with sort of at the front end of our agenda. So with that, we are going to be talking about the Community Center and special event fees and the waiver process. SNIPES: Thank you. Good morning, everybody. I've been asked several times about our Community Center and special event fees and what we discount, how we discount, what happens with that. So with today, we'll just kind of go through some examples of several of each. So this is for the Community Center. I didn't attach any names to it because each one is so different. One of the things that's really difficult for staff to do is deal with inconsistencies in billing. And so ideally what we'd like to do is get it to where that everyone's at either a resident rate, a non-resident rate, a nonprofit rate, and that's it, to where that we can make it to where that everybody's paying the same share of the cost. As you can see on here, like I said, this is just seven of our bigger users. There's substantial differences between the yearly cost with the discount and the yearly cost without. And so if we're looking at how much funding that the -- revenue that the Community Center's bringing in, this is a pretty significant chunk of funding that is not being brought in. So as you can see, there's -- like I said, there's all kinds of different ratios to each one. This gives you a total of those seven that were looked at. So there's 31,000 that's different that could be being brought in. Right now, what we're charging -- we have a resident rate, we have a non-resident rate, and the resident rate and the nonprofit rate is the same. But at the Community Center, the nonprofit resident rate is often dropped even lower to -- for the groups around town, which is fine if the Council would like to do that. What I would like to see is that we get it to where that they're all the same and not all over the place. This group pays for coffee, this group doesn't pay for coffee. This group pays for a microphone, this group doesn't pay for a microphone. Each room being at a different rate. It just makes it really hard to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 30 of 154 make sure that everybody is getting billed correctly and for each meeting that they're in. Some examples of how we do fee reductions. Some groups get their first 60 hours for free and then they get 50 percent off their room rentals after that. Some have free stage installation. There's a group that comes over that's a Scottsdale-based group that was given direction the last time we did fees to allow them to be a local non-profit rate. You know? All of the in-room amenities, the coffee, the projectors, even staffing has been reduced for some of our users where they're only paying for half the staff that are actually there. As you can see, it's complicated. So here's some options that we can do. The first option is follow what the fees say and that's there's a resident rate, a non-profit rate, that's the same. There's the Monday through Thursday rates and the Friday, Saturday rates obviously are more. Whenever we go into a ballroom, we do four-hour rentals. There's some that don't pay the four hours. They only pay two hours of a ballroom usage and that again -- the reason it's a four-hour minimum when we go into the ballrooms is it makes it to where that we want to entice longer usage because the turnaround time is pretty extreme. So it just makes sense to make that a mandatory four-hour run once you get into that big of a space. Option 2 has kind of two options and that's to do a percentage off for our non- profits, either dropping an additional 10 percent below the current resident rates and non-profit rates or drop to 30 percent below those rates. And any one of these are acceptable to staff but we would like to get it to where that it makes it to where that they're all consistent. When we have as many rentals as we've been having at the Community Center, it's a very busy place. Oh. I'm sorry. You can go ahead. MCMAHON: Oh, I don't want to -- I just want to ask, is the highest rate $50 an hour or $75? Because I'm trying to gauge where you're saying, okay, we give non-profit, you know, a resident rate. So where do the rates start and then how do they go down? SNIPES: So are you asking for the discounted rate? Where's that start and where does it go down? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 31 of 154 MCMAHON: Yes. SNIPES: There's -- MCMAHON: Isn't it 50? Is it 50 for minimum of four hours for a ballroom? SNIPES: On Monday through Thursday, yes. MCMAHON: Okay. SNIPES: That's the max that we charge for a resident or a non-profit. MCMAHON: Okay. And then on weekends, it goes up to 75. SNIPES: It goes up to 75. MCMAHON: And it's a minimum four hour you have to pay. SNIPES: Correct. MCMAHON: Okay. That's just the straight rates. SNIPES: Correct. MCMAHON: Okay. Whether you're a resident or not? SNIPES: No. If you're a non-resident, there's higher rates. But all of our groups that are in here consistently are residents. MCMAHON: Local? Okay. Okay. Thank you. GOODWIN: Just to jump in there to clarify, Kevin, I'm pretty sure these are -- what's shown here, particularly under Option 1, the 25 for classrooms, the 50 for ballrooms, weekdays, and then the ballroom rates on weekends are about half of what we would charge if you were a commercial or non-resident. So these are already at a 50 percent what we would charge a non-resident. So I think that that's kind of where we're at. So the Option 2 creates even more of a discount, so it would go from 50 percent to 60 percent or even further so -- SNIPES: Yeah. The -- good clarification there. The -- so, like, the gun show or something like that, they pay almost double what all of this is. So anytime it's a non-resident and a for-profit group, they pay substantially more than what these numbers are. It is about double. MCMAHON: Okay. So this isn't a moneymaker. I mean, the Community -- and maybe Rachael or you can explain this better as far as the theory behind the Community TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 32 of 154 Center, et cetera, as far as being, you know, breaking even or being a moneymaker because we have some new Councilmembers on. So I'd like them to understand that a little bit better as far as the fees and that type of a thing. Okay? SNIPES: Sure. Yeah. The Community Center, as you said, it's not designed to be a for- profit. We're not making money over there. It is for the community. We have a lot of people that go there on a daily basis. That's where they get their social interaction. That's where, you know, they get to learn new activities, listen to speakers. Our new lecture series has been beyond imagination. We've moved all of the impact. It's so big right now that every day of the week, just about this parking lot's been full. So staff has graciously been willing to start parking over in the side parking lot, which has made a huge difference. Our number one complaint at the Community Center is there's not enough parking. So that helped alleviate that quite a bit. I think last year, the Community Center operated at about a 19 percent cost recovery. And so this would help with that, increasing that a little bit if we go this route. But it's not going to make it so that it's a money maker. It's a Community Center designed to help everyone in the community as much as possible. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Kevin, on your example, Number 1 -- well, first of all, I think we put, what, 80,000 people a year through that Community Center? Something like that? GOODWIN: Yes. MAYOR FRIEDEL: I mean, it's huge. So on your example, Option 1 here, $50 per ballroom, four-hour minimum. What would be the price? EARLE: $200. MAYOR FRIEDEL: $200? EARLE: Mm-hmm. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. All right. I just want to make sure people understand that that would be a four-hour minimum. It would be $200 to rent that ballroom. SNIPES: Correct. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And we absolutely have a lot of maintenance left to do and coming up on these buildings. So we need to address this at some point because we can't continue TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 33 of 154 down this road. EARLE: So can you clarify for me -- we're not raising the rate. We're just holding to the rate because we weren't doing that before. Is that correct? SNIPES: This offers multiple different examples of that. EARLE: But if we were doing Option 1. SNIPES: Option 1 would bring it up to the rate and it would -- that this $31,000 that's here would then go back into the Community Center. EARLE: Okay. SNIPES: So that's how much right now the difference is for just these seven groups. EARLE: Okay. Have we considered increasing that base rate or would this just like be all -- upset everybody? SNIPES: We haven't. EARLE: Okay. SNIPES: We'll be discussing some other fees in future discussion. EARLE: Yeah. SNIPES: But for the room rental rates, we have not discussed increasing those. EARLE: So just sticking with what the rate is makes sense to me. Why would we not? And I like the simpleness. Keep it simple. I won't say the rest of it. So -- SNIPES: I think a lot of it -- I'm sorry. EARLE: Yeah. But I think we should be closer to breaking even, not taking a loss. Even though it is for the community, I don't like that little red 31, almost $32,000 there. That's a chunk. SNIPES: Yeah. I think the last time that we did our fee discussion was three or four years ago, something like that, I believe. And the biggest thing was trying to accommodate local non-profit groups where they could come in and use it at a cheaper rate where they could afford it. But there's a point where that cost needs to be recovered as well. And so that's why we're bringing it. EARLE: And when you do the ballroom, like sometimes they open up. I think we have four ballrooms. So if you do all four, then that would be $800 for the four hours, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 34 of 154 correct? SNIPES: Correct. EARLE: Okay. Good. Thank you. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah. I'm still stuck back at the initial slide. You said a Scottsdale group registered and they received residential rates. So I guess my question is, it sounds like something's broken here. Was that a clerical error or did somebody make a judgment call to give their friend a better rate? SNIPES: There was a call from the previous administration to apply that to this group. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay, because it seems to me that if we're going to fix this problem, and I think your Option 1, 2, both are doable. But that kind of deviation, it's going to wreck the whole model. SNIPES: Right. KALIVIANAKIS: And so this straight up has to be eliminated. As far as, you know, it's a 19 percent return on investment. I don't think it's practical to make this a moneymaker. This is a government organization. We're not a for profit. I mean, we're not a business trying to earn a profit and give our shareholders investment. If we increase the fees by, you know, from going to 19 percent to 100 percent, I don't think there'd be a lot of use for the Community Center. SNIPES: Right. KALIVIANAKIS: I think the people would be so discouraged. I know a lot of the bands, the choirs, all that stuff, they wouldn't be able to afford that. So I think that I'm comfortable with having this be a loss, but I think that the fees should be done fairly. Thank you, Kevin. SNIPES: Thank you. WATTS: Two questions. I think we got to start at the top and say what's our overall cost of operation to manage the building? And then back into the rates based upon that and what we're willing to discount. I don't think it's a return on investment. I think it's a recovery of 19 percent, so I think it's significantly understating the overall cost of maintaining and operating that building. That's one. So I'd like to see it from a business TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 35 of 154 model standpoint first. And secondly, what are the qualifications for a nonprofit? Because there's a lot of nonprofits that highly compensated management, so they're not really nonprofits. So if a nonprofit applied for that, I think that we got to do something like you have to demonstrate that you are effectively a nonprofit by some sort of financial disclosure because I don't think just saying I'm a nonprofit. Now, volunteer organizations where everybody's doing everything for free, that's different. But nonprofits, I think that's a -- I don't think that's an accurate description of a lot of organizations so those two things I'd like -- SNIPES: Yeah. A lot of these are 501(c)(3)s. And so they're local -- are local nonprofits that are around town. GOODWIN: Yeah. Just to clarify, we do require -- if they're -- especially if they're new to us -- I'm sorry, Mayor. If they're a new group coming in that we're not familiar with, we do ask them to demonstrate either -- provide a, you know, certificate that demonstrates that they are a nonprofit versus just kind of taking their word for it. WATTS: Right. GOODWIN: Because you're right. There are a lot of -- there's some nuances there for sure. Yes, we'll call it that. I did want to clarify a couple of things because I think, you know, we're talking about a couple different things. What you mentioned, Councilman Watts, was the idea of, you know, what does it cost to operate and then working backwards? And I think that that makes -- there's a lot of logic to that. The challenge there is that there's a lot of other programs that operate out of the Community Center that have no revenue components. I'm going to use our really popular volunteer program. Home Delivered Meals is operated out of the Community Center. Our volunteer coordinators and supervisors are over there. So they house a lot of our components that don't have any revenue projection with that. So if we worked on that model, I would want to back out some of the things that are housed there that are just, that's their base of operations. They're not necessarily part of the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 36 of 154 operational function of the Community Center, if that makes sense. WATTS: It does. I think what I'm saying is that if you got to an overall cost of operation, you said it cost me X, and I have this column that I'm going to discount those, or not include those, then I'm going to look at what the remainder is and I'm going to say, what can I do to recover those? GOODWIN: Right. WATTS: Then you've got something that you can base on that makes some financial sense. GOODWIN: Correct. And I think a first good step, and kind of back to what we were talking about, is, you know, the staff is comfortable where the rates are. If we'd like to adjust those, that's certainly feasible based on the direction. At the end of the day, we would like to at least get to this point of policy where we keep a consistent application of whatever those fees are, because we've gotten so far deviated from that, and Kevin was just giving you those seven examples of how inconsistent it is and how difficult that can be to manage. Because what happens is, you know, well, I was here with this group and we got the stage for free, but now I want to bring in my friend's group and we want to know if we can get the stage for free. Well, no, we can't do that. Well, why not? Right? It doesn't give -- there's not a lot of validity behind it, and so it puts the staff in a difficult situation to navigate. It's much easier if we can say, this is what it is, this is the black and white, this is how we do it, yes or no. You know? And we move forward from there. I understand there will be probably some growing pains with that and some adjustment with that. If we did something like this, you know, we would want to potentially implement or adopt it as, let's say, July 1, so that we have enough time to give notice, we have enough time for folks to adjust. If folks already have an existing contract, because I know we do some year-long contracts, we would obviously let them know that it would be implemented, you know, at the renewal of their next contract kind of situation. So there's some wiggle room there, so it's not so stark and right out of the gate, but at the same time, Kevin's bringing up something that we -- that is a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 37 of 154 challenge on a lot of fronts, and I know you're going to talk about it, but it also applies to the special event process, too. SNIPES: Yeah. The biggest thing is we're trying to reduce some of that gray area, and we did that a few years ago when we made the change to the fee schedule, and we got to where we are, but it's still muddy. And so that's why we're bringing it back. It was -- when I first started here, I think every single group had their own deal that was worked out, and there was a wink, a nudge, and a handshake, and so no one knew who was getting charged what, and it was very complicated to track who's getting -- who's paying what. So we kind of got some things reeled in the last time we did it, and to me, it makes -- it just makes sense to make it to where we have a pay scale of non-resident, resident, non-profit, to where that everybody is in the same -- has the same deal. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Question for you, Kevin. So we're at about a 19 percent cost recovery. Picking up that 32,000 as an example, what does that do to that cost recovery percentage? SNIPES: I don't know off the top of my head. I'd have to run the numbers. TOTH: Yes. I want to partially echo what my fellow Councilmembers have said that obviously we need to, number one, make it even for the non-profits, but number two, as for the cost recovery, I partially kind of sort of disagree on making this entirely recovering our costs through changing this non-profit rate to be even with everybody. I think that our for-profit or non-profit events are where we're able to recover some of that cost. I do still want to see a discount for especially our local non-profits, but I want it to be an even discount among the non-profits, and I understand that this is us undoing probably decades of handshakes and winks and nods. And I get it. We're a small town. We're all buddies, but this just cannot stand, because then if we get a new non-profit in town and they find out that this person isn't paying their venue fee, that this person doesn't pay for coffee or AV or whatever it is, now we're saying to that non- profit, we don't care as much about you. You're not part of the good old boys gang, and we just cannot be sending that message, so I want to applaud the staff for taking this on. I know it's definitely going to have growing pains, but I hope that everyone listening TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 38 of 154 can understand that this is going to be best for the town moving forward. This is the best way to have a positive message to all of our non-profits in the community. SOLDINGER: Mayor, if I could add just a couple of things. I absolutely agree with everything that's been said, and this is something from a legal perspective, something from just a practical. We are talking about these two separate things as the Town Manager, and as Director Snipes mentioned. We're talking about creating parity, and it sounds like the Council is all on board with that. In terms of actually setting the fees, this is certainly not going to be the first bite of the apple that the Council as a whole has. You're going to have to update a fee schedule. That will come before the Council, whether as part of the overall adoption of the fee schedule for the budget year or separately, I'm not sure, probably as part of the overall -- yeah, budget adoption. So less about setting the actual fee today, more about ensuring that everyone's on board with parity in fees. And the second thing that I just wanted to put out there is to encourage you to remain strong as you get the ask for -- we've had it this way for years, can't we just do X? Can't we just do Y? That's typically what staff has seen over the years. It's been the one-off ask, and the behind-the-scenes, can't we just type of thing. And so I think that's what we're really trying to get away from, so hold strong. Okay. MCMAHON: Kevin, another question. In looking at this, if we select Option 1, where it makes it really easy for everybody, and fair, for lack of a better term, won't there -- even if we keep the fees the same, and looking at the volume that goes through the Community Center, won't it increase even more than $31,000? I mean, I would think it would be once this gets changed, even with the fees. SNIPES: I'm not -- if we were to have Option 1 last year, the numbers that you see would be what they are. MCMAHON: Okay. SNIPES: And so by -- if we -- that would be the - including the $30,000 that was in red. MCMAHON: Okay. SNIPES: And so that's basically what Option 1 is. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 39 of 154 MCMAHON: Okay. SNIPES: Is showing that exact scenario. MCMAHON: Okay. For some reason, I would think it would be a little bit more. I mean, it might be so if everybody's treated equally the same way. SNIPES: The only thing that would be a little bit more would be, you know, the free coffees and stuff like that are not included. MCMAHON: Right. SNIPES: That was just room examples. MCMAHON: Oh. Okay. SNIPES: And then I'll show you on the next slide here is -- MCMAHON: Thank you. SNIPES: The optional extras for the meetings. MCMAHON: Okay. SNIPES: And what we'd like to do is just go to a $25 flat fee. Whatever they want to use for our nonprofits, we'll bring in and let them use it. To where that it's not they get coffee for free, but they pay for a microphone. An example, the microphone costs $25 by itself. And so to me, this gives them the ability to change the room every month as they're coming in, because they often do. Sometimes they need the big screen. Sometimes they need a TV and sometimes they don't need anything. Sometimes they need a stage. Well, the stage isn't included in this but, you know, the coffee service, all of that kind of stuff. I think if we make it to where that we have our normal -- our fees to where that they have a consistent feel to them, instead of everything being different, again, it just makes more sense. MCMAHON: I support this one too. SNIPES: Thanks. WATTS: So Kevin, I'm missing one thing. And I see nonprofit, resident, but I don't see nonresident. SNIPES: Correct. WATTS: So we have three categories? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 40 of 154 SNIPES: Correct. WATTS: If we could simplify it to three categories -- SNIPES: Yes. WATTS: And have those rates, that would make your life a lot easier. SNIPES: Yep. It would just be what it is. And the reason I didn't put the nonprofit rate in is -- I mean, the nonresidential in is because none of this has to do with that today. Everything that we're talking about is going from either resident or nonprofit or lower discounted rates. That's why -- WATTS: You did that just to confuse me? You did it. It works. The headwinds that we're looking at, as was eloquently expressed earlier, is concerning, and this would mitigate some of that. We'd get it down to three and simplify your life at the same time. SNIPES: Absolutely. WATTS: Thanks. EARLE: Can you refresh my memory? The one from Scottsdale, was that a nonprofit or that was just a group from Scottsdale? SNIPES: It was a group from Scottsdale. EARLE: Was not a nonprofit? Great. Thank you. SNIPES: To be fair, that group that's based in Scottsdale, there are a lot of Fountain Hills people that were with that group as well. And so that's where that got muddy. EARLE: But in the future, if we go this route, it would not. SNIPES: It would not. No. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. TOTH: I, really quickly, before we move on, wanted to add from the perspective of an event planner and of someone who just booked something at the Community Center. We have very, very reasonable prices. Just for those watching at home or for those who haven't had to plan an event, I can't tell you how generous our pricing grid really is considering how beautiful our Community Center is. I have had to plan meetings of 100 people out in Glendale, Mesa, Cave Creek, any of these, and it's like TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 41 of 154 double what we're doing. So even -- I can sense that maybe some of the clubs or nonprofits or just regular people who book the rooms might be kind of sweating watching this. If they are, just keep in mind we're still looking out for the residents. We just really need to one, make it even, and two, make sure that this is a sustainable pricing grid. SKILLICORN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So the idea that we subsidize this by like nearly 80 percent does not sit well with me. It's fine if, you know, as this role that we do subsidize it some, but I think from -- that amount is excessive. So -- but we also need, obviously clear this up. You know? The fact that we did things in a murky way in the past is not the way to go forward. But also I think that there should be inclusion of a CPI adjustment every year just so we don't -- you know, frankly we could have this discussion every single year. But if we had a CPI, you know, component to this, then we don't have to have it every year. You know? And I'm sure the policy will change. Future boards will have different opinions. But I think that should be added. And frankly, I'd like to see an up or down vote and, you know, maybe higher fees are a necessity to make up the difference on the amount of the subsidy, so I'm fine with that too. And I'm okay with an up and down vote to see where the Council lies on it. So you can go ahead with, you know, bringing it back to Council with, you know, something concrete and then discuss it. GOODWIN: You kind of hit the nail on the head with what I was going to ask next, which is I wanted to kind of get a consensus from everybody. What I'm hearing is one, yes, we want to create a consistent policy, an application of our fee policy. Is that correct? If it's a non-profit, it's a non-profit. And then it seemed like if everyone's okay with the $25 flat rate for each of these items that are up here on the screen. SNIPES: That 25 -- GOODWIN: Yeah. SNIPES: Yeah. It would be any one of those dots. GOODWIN: Correct. So if you get audio and coffee, it's 50 bucks. SNIPES: Yep. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 42 of 154 GOODWIN: If you need a stage, it's 25 bucks per section. But it's just kind of that $25 round number. I'm getting the sense from everybody that everybody feels comfortable with that. The next question would be, do you want us to evaluate the fees and bring back some suggestions on the fee structure? WATTS: Yep. EARLE: Are we saying -- okay. I'll just say Number 1 is the one I would go for. GOODWIN: I'm sorry? EARLE: There's choices 1, 2, and 3. GOODWIN: Yes. Option 1. EARLE: I would say Option 1, and I would also like to look at the fee structure if there needs to be an increase. GOODWIN: Do you mind if I just go down the line and ask of what each one of you would like to see? That way I know exactly where we stand with everybody. KALIVIANAKIS: Sure. GOODWIN: Okay. KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. I'd like to keep the fees as they are, not to increase them. GOODWIN: Okay. KALIVIANAKIS: I'd also like to see the 30 percent discount for non-profit. GOODWIN: Okay. KALIVIANAKIS: That'd be Option 2. GOODWIN: Option 2 at 30 percent. Okay. And no fee. Okay. WATTS: So conceptually, I think standardized in the resident, non-resident, and non- profits makes a lot of sense. I don't think I can -- and the other ancillary fees, that makes sense as well. The actual fees, I don't think we can come to that determination until we know what the overall cost is. And then say, here's the discounts. Here's the things we're going to discount, not include, here's the things we are going to include. What percentage of that do we want to make complimentary, so to speak? GOODWIN: Well, that's what I'm asking. Do you want us to go do that work? WATTS: Yes. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 43 of 154 GOODWIN: Okay. Mayor, do you want to be last? MAYOR FRIEDEL: No. That's all right. Can you do a hybrid between Option 1 and still have the discounts for the non-profit? GOODWIN: Well, remember Option 1 already is a 50 percent discount. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Oh. Okay. Then I'm good with Option 1, 50 percent discount. SNIPES: Yes. So Option 1 is what a resident would pay if they came in, or a non-profit if they came in and didn't have any extra discounts. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So the discount's already built in. SNIPES: Right. So there is a discount there. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Yeah. SNIPES: Each one of the other discounts is just further below that if we want to do that. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. EARLE: State that Number 1 is a 50 percent discount. SNIPES: Off of the -- EARLE: Off the -- SNIPES: Non-resident rate. EARLE: Right. So they're getting a 50 percent discount. SNIPES: Yes. EARLE: Thank you. TOTH: Okay. Yes to Option 1, but also I would like to see that come back with what our cost is and a few creative ideas of how we can mitigate the loss. If I can add a note for recommendation, I would lean toward increasing for non-resident and non-non-profit. I don't know how to say that. GOODWIN: For-profit or commercial. Yeah. TOTH: For-profit, but not necessarily commercial. Right? Because if someone's doing a birthday party or something. GOODWIN: Yeah. TOTH: Non-non-profit and non-resident, that's what I would lean toward increasing TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 44 of 154 more so. I do want to continue looking out for our non-profits. If that needs to increase a little bit too, we'll deal with it. But that's just kind of where I wanted to steer that. GOODWIN: Okay. SKILLICORN: So I'm still concerned that there's money being lost, so I'd like the fees to go up. And also, I just see the non-profits, they're competing with for-profit endeavors. And, you know, frankly, I don't recall that being the vision. I remember the vision was for conferences. The vision was for weddings and things like that. And I think that there's some non-profit organizations that are competing with actual interests that help the town. And I think that, frankly, I think they should both pay the same. And I would reduce any difference between the two. MCMAHON: Okay. I'm fine with the fees the way they are. But like Hannah said, maybe look at out of town, maybe elevating that a little bit. And Option 1 is fine because it's a lot simpler and less confusing for staff in order to implement this. Thank you. GOODWIN: Okay. SNIPES: Thank you very much. On to special events. So there's several special events and we've been asked to share what the discounts are for our special events. This first one is for the Chamber of Commerce. And as you can see, they're 100 percent fee waived currently. And these are the rates that they would be charged if it was a charged event. You can see they have a Stroll in the Glow. It has obviously grown. For those of us that have been here several years, it's grown quite a bit, so it's moved out of our lowest class and into the next tier of event because of the number of participants. So that's why that's showing that next year that would be at that rate, because it's shown a consistency over the last two years that it is meeting that threshold. The Thanksgiving Day Parade kind of piggybacks on our Turkey Trot. And so as you can see there, the town does cover the road closures, the portable restrooms, and the MCSO fees. That's one. MCMAHON: Kevin? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 45 of 154 SNIPES: Yes. MCMAHON: I have a question, please. What's the relation -- there's a special relationship with the Chamber on some of this that's been around for years. Right? SNIPES: As far as? MCMAHON: I mean, as far as using their fee waivers for some of the things that they do. Right? SNIPES: Yeah. These fee waivers have been in effect -- I don't have any idea how long, since before I was here. WATTS: So that bodes the question why? SNIPES: Well -- GOODWIN: I'll chime in. I mean, again, a lot of this was inherited. Right? The relationship between the Chamber and the town is pretty symbiotic, meaning we wouldn't have a Thanksgiving Day Parade if the Chamber didn't do one. Right? And I think the town recognizes the contributions that the Chamber puts out there. We wouldn't have had, I don't know how many tens of thousands of people that were here this weekend if the Chamber didn't do the fair. We would not be able to do the fair, so they provide a service. So there is, again, there is this partnership in that regard. To be fair, most of these things predated the town. The fairs have been here longer than the town was than we have the Thanksgiving Day Parade. So I think a lot of that history has been what developed this kind of contribution. We do get asked a lot, what does the Chamber pay? What is their contribution to the town directly? I said, well, it's not a direct payment. These fees have been waived for what we'll call, you know, the greater benefit of the community. That's at the direction of this body, and that has been the direction of this body. It has changed here and there, but if we'd like to change that, that's where this discussion starts, is with this group. WATTS: And I agree with some of that. I mean, some of these items, like the Thanksgiving Day Parade, I don't see that as a moneymaker for the Chamber. GOODWIN: Right. WATTS: On the other hand, they continue to increase the rates for the vendors at the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 46 of 154 Arts and Crafts Fair spring and fall. And waiving that $28,000 over those two days, or those six days, and that being a burden on the town -- and again, with decreasing revenue streams, we're looking for ways to save things. I'm not so sure that that makes a lot of sense. So I think we got to look closely at the festival, because when they're making money -- and I know their rates have gone up for their 10 by 10 tents, and frankly, for all of the vendors -- why are we paying for something that they make money on? GOODWIN: Sure. And I think that that's a part of why this discussion sort of keeps sort of repeating itself and why the questions keep coming up. So this is sort of that, you know, opening up of the conversation of what the Council would like to do. And there's value probably to both sides of that argument and that discussion of the Chamber does a lot for the community and brings in a lot of activities. At the same time, you know, the town either bears direct costs, such as, you know, some of the costs associated with the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and other things. So where is that happy medium, I guess, is the question. And so I think that that's valid and worthy of conversation. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Can I add something really quick, and then Gayle, I'm sorry. EARLE: It's okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: I don't mean to interrupt you, but I'd be careful with the fees that the Chamber charges, because I'm not sure we know if their fees have gone up or not. Maybe they have. Maybe they haven't. But in any case, if we're looking at these fees, I think it's probably prudent for us to have a meeting with them and have everybody at the table and discuss where we go forward. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Mr. Mayor, can I add to Councilmember Watts' why? Traditionally, between a town or a city and the Chamber, a best practice is to have an operating agreement. The microphone's on? Or can you hear me better now? EARLE: Yes. Yeah. MCMAHON: You're fine. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Okay. So if you didn't hear that, usually a best practice between a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 47 of 154 town or city with the Chamber is to have an operating agreement. In this case, for Fountain Hills, we don't have an operating agreement. I'll speak to Southern Arizona. Most of the municipalities have some type of operating agreement that is 40,000 or a little bit more. I did a little bit of research and would have to dust it off when I first started with the town. There was a request from Council to look at, should we shift to more of an operating agreement instead of these fee waivers? So I just wanted to provide a little bit more why. Fountain Hills is doing it a bit different, but there is a best practice. Just a town and Chamber working so closely, they do provide services, but that is a best practice. WATTS: Amanda, sorry. Does the operating agreement include provisions for shared costs? GOODWIN: Usually. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: So it depends. WATTS: Usually? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: So it depends. So Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, it depends. I'll say operating agreements I have monitored, there is deeper financial audits. There's quarterly reports, so they're able to open up our books if we're giving money, so think again too, just gift clause, taxpayer dollars, there are different clawbacks and priorities, like, listed in there. So we're making sure if we're giving 40 or 50,000, are we getting that in return or more? EARLE: So my question is, every single thing on this slide is the Chamber. Is that correct? SNIPES: Correct. EARLE: And then do they make income on the Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Stroll in the Glow? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: So -- EARLE: Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Earle, that, to the Mayor's point earlier, because we're not seeing their books -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 48 of 154 EARLE: Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: And it's not a requirement, I don't want to answer that. EARLE: Sure. Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Toth may know a little bit of insider information. EARLE: Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: But again, that could have changed the past year or two. So I would rather directly ask them that than to say yes or no. EARLE: Okay. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: It could be $100, it could be 100,000. EARLE: Okay. So at this point, I am one to say we do charge the fees, but I'd like to see the operating agreement. Gofrom there. GOODWIN: I would say, usually the operating agreement is in lieu of fees. It's, you know, it kind of outlines. EARLE: Okay, either one. But so -- well, maybe so then we would know if we had an operating agreement. GOODWIN: Right. EARLE: Which would be easier for the town? Which is easier? Which is the simpler one? GOODWIN: I mean, they're both -- they both have their ups and downs. An operating agreement would give us some definable deliverables. And to kind of piggyback on what Amanda was saying. Right? We agree to a set of terms, whether that is, you're going to give us, you know, an update every six months on your financials, you're going to give us the impacts, the economic impacts of each, you know, fair or each festival. You know, we agree to a set of terms collectively. And maybe there's fees associated with it. Maybe we say, you know, we're going to charge a flat rate of $10,000. Right? To -- and then -- so we come to the table and set these agreements of how these will operate. It also gives us a chance to sort of put parameters on, you know, what we will give or what we will waive and what we won't. So that there's -- it kind of helps eliminate some of the scope creep and some of the, you know, insularity that says, well, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 49 of 154 this year we decided we were going to have hot air balloons. Well, wait a second. We -- the agreement doesn't talk about use of the park. That's a whole other, you know, piece of that. And so, you know, the events themselves have grown. Like Stroll in the Glow, the last couple of years with the addition of the balloons has been beautiful. But that's very new and the impact of that and, you know, that has been a big change on how we operate that event and how we interact with that event. So it does help kind of put some of those guardrails in place if we were to do an operating agreement. The fees are easy because the fees are the fees. They just -- we just collect them and that's it. So there's benefits on both sides of that. EARLE: But like the Stroll in the Glow, we have extra police officers there, I believe. We shut down the road. There's a stage there. Who pays for all of that? GOODWIN: They do. EARLE: Okay. GOODWIN: Yep. They -- the Chamber, the Chamber covers the cost of the road closure and any necessary public safety for that. EARLE: Okay. TOTH: So obviously as Amanda stated, things might've changed since I've been there. Like, I would -- I'm not going to speak to their internal stuff either. But what I will say is that community related events are typically a cost to the group. I mean, as Gayle mentioned, the stage, the road closure, the police presence. Things like the Thanksgiving Day Parade where that's in partnership with the town, that's a little different. I think there is, in this specific instance, there is a lot of nuance here for the festival, for example. That's people staying in the hotels, that's eating in town, that's sales tax -- if we get them to pay it -- sales tax. But we have had before reports of, you know, estimated bumps in sales tax in the months of November -- well, November and February is when it happens, but it would be December and March that we receive it. Without rambling too far, I would agree with the Mayor that we need to have a meeting with the Chamber and discuss with them. As far as the operating agreement though, I think before that meeting, if we could see an example of what that looks TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 50 of 154 like, that would be really helpful. I also wanted to note though that -- And Amanda, please correct me if I'm misunderstanding you. The operating agreement that would -- sorry. The operating agreement of other municipalities and Chambers, doesn't that typically tie with, like, the municipality giving the Chamber money and then on top of that, we'd have fee waivers? Or in our case, would we be just be saying, instead of writing you a check, you have these fee waivers? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: So Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor Toth, if I'm tracking, so no, it wouldn't be -- so let's just say, for the sake of conversation, Council directed, we're going to have an operating agreement for 40,000. They're not now on top getting 80,500 -- so the fee waivers. So under, you know, we'll just say Section 2, Services Performed, that's where we would have to mutually agree of what services are they performing? Does that help? And of course, it fluctuates between municipality and the services that we desire by a Chamber of Commerce. TOTH: Okay. And I know that it is different in other municipality Chamber relationships where it really is just we give you money and you give us these services, but to be fair, we also have a very different Chamber. There's, at least to my knowledge, there's no other Chambers of Commerce who do these large town events every year. So I think it would make sense for, if we do have an operating agreement for that, to look a little different too. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. Absolutely. And we always weigh in events. So an example I'll just use for my municipality, we had a world-class aquatic center, and we'd have national synchronized swimming events. We can't just give restaurants money, but we would say to the Chamber of Commerce, this is actually a tourism event. And so for that particular event that's coming into town, we're going to give you about 5,000. It is laid out, it's very transparent. It needs to go to X community restaurants and then they do that. And then they show that and document it within a report. So there can be events. It's just -- it's not a waiver or in addition to. There is that cap. TOTH: And I'm sorry. It occurred to me, like, just now. I remember in the past at times, the Fountain Hills logo is on the banner or we had a booth at the festival. Was TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 51 of 154 that sponsorship on top of a fee waiver or was that the Chamber saying, oh, because you waived these fees, you're a sponsor? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: So Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, that is correct. So because we were then considered with them, so again, we'll take the fall festival, the 14,000, that then they would come back to us and say, hey, we're going to include your logo if you want to have a booth. If we're doing any print advertising, we will include your logo. So we're calling it a fee waiver. They may be calling it and considering it as a sponsor. TOTH: Got it. Okay. Thank you. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: You're welcome. SKILLICORN: You know, I'm okay with having the Chamber pay their fair share. I mean, I think that's appropriate. I know I've talked to Betsy about -- it's like the Thanksgiving parade. All the businesses down there are closed. It's Thanksgiving day. So there is an economic benefit to that. And I've actually talked to Betsy about, like, what about actually moving it a different day because she has to pay, I think, double time for her employees. And, you know, it's never gotten past this talking stage, but maybe something to consider. Also, I know a lot of families, they're busy, you know, that day. They're traveling or if -- I know in my family, some people are preparing a meal, and they can't come downtown. It actually could be a bigger, better event that benefit our businesses if we move the day. Kind of, that's something, you know, that's up to them and the town to kind of discuss, but that's something we should be open to. But the other stuff -- you know, and maybe the Chamber goes, well, instead of the town billing us for, you know, some of the extra things we need to do, maybe they find a way to do it themselves that's cheaper. That's fine too. But, you know, I think that changing the policy, I think actually works. And we've got a good working relationship, but that doesn't mean policies don't change, so that's all. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think we're on really solid ground when we're talking about leveling out the Community Center fees. I was really glad that we had that great discussion, and we got a consensus on that. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 52 of 154 On the other hand, I'm really uncomfortable with this one on our agenda today. It just comes down to, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Everything that is Fountain Hills is these festivals. You talk to people from out of town. Oh yeah, I went to your Stroll in the Glow. I'm from Glendale. I went to your, you know, Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm from Phoenix. You know? We got a really good thing here and we're really on the verge of getting a problem with the Chamber. This is not a lot of money. If you compare this to our overall budget, it seems to me that we're looking for coins in the back of the couch here, and I just don't think we should be going here. I think that our relationship with the Chamber is already strained because of the tourism designation and what's been going on there. And now that we're going to throw this on that fire, I just think it's a really bad idea. I think we should just continue doing the way we've always done it since the beginning of this town and just leave this one alone. I would beseech the Town Council, just let this one go. Every one of these festivals is great. If you look at this weekend, the setup and the breakdown, it just couldn't have been better. I did talk to some of the vendors, and I said, you know, because I was down there this weekend and I did talk to the vendors and I said, is this a good value for coming here? And they're like, yeah, this is one of the greatest shows ever. And you've got all the porta potties in the world, you've got sanitation, you've got garbage cans, it's well run, it's clean, it's organized. You know? They did an incredible job. And now to come back and say, oh yeah. We're going to hit you with a bunch of fees too. It's cutting off our nose to spite our face and I just wish we wouldn't even be having this conversation today. Thank you. WATTS: Oh. Sorry. We certainly have different views about the value of the fees, but the one thing that I do think that we should do, we don't have a representative from the Chamber here today. And like any negotiations, both parties have to be at the table at the same time in order to have that conversation, to get to a meaningful relationship, retain a meaningful relationship. So regardless if we levy the fees, if we come to an operating agreement of some sort, we need the Chamber representatives here meeting with two, three of us, whatever on behalf of the town, as well as the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 53 of 154 Chamber folks and look at both sides of the coin. So I don't want to rock the boat, but I also want to give them a voice in it, and I want to protect the town at the same time. So that's where I would suggest we go first and foremost. SNIPES: Yeah. And this was at the request to bring this to Council today, and so this is intended to be an educational -- this is what we're at for the special events for some of our biggest ones so that you guys can look at it and know what skin we have in the game. GOODWIN: I think with that in mind -- oh. I'm sorry, Hannah. TOTH: Yeah. GOODWIN: Go -- I was going to say, with that in mind, I have no problem with taking the direction and saying let's set up a joint meeting as a next step. I don't think anybody was expecting final direction today, more of just opening the conversation. Does that seem reasonable with everybody? I think it makes sense to have a joint meeting with their board and their representatives and all seven of you to make sure that we're really -- everybody's grasping, you know, the ins and outs of this because it is a big conversation. TOTH: Yeah. If I can make one quick comment just to level set. I think it's important that both the Council and the people watching at home and once we have this meeting, if everybody keeps in mind, this isn't an all or nothing thing. We don't have to say we either charge the 40,000 or we charge nothing. If we take a look at this, come to a mutual agreement with the operating agreement or something else, this will -- this will again create a structure that I feel is necessary and to be honest, I've been on both sides of that and having decades worth of winks and nod agreements that sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not, or one group understands it one way, one group understands it the other. I don't think it's a fun situation for either party and I think if we can set standards and agree upon them mutually, that this helps us move forward in a positive direction in a relationship that, to the Councilmember's point, has been rocky at times and great at times and awful at times. You know? We're talking 50, 60 years of history that we need to put structure into. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 54 of 154 GOODWIN: I believe since we are broadcasting this, we have a couple of folks viewing from the Chamber, so I believe that we'll be able to kind of get them up to speed on this conversation, and I totally agree with what you said. This isn't an all or nothing and it's not, again, it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of answer. We'll need to consider the nuances of our relationship with the Chamber and the fact, like you said, they provide a service to a community that's very unusual for Chamber. Right? They are the provider of some of our biggest events here and we want to maintain that and keep those events and make sure that they're supported. How do we do that? What does that look like? And maybe it doesn't look like it did 20 years ago or 30 years ago. That may change to Councilmember Skillicorn's point. It doesn't mean that things don't change and adapt as times change. So I think it's prudent to get everybody in the room to talk about what those next steps may or may not look like and what everybody's comfortable with. I mean, if we ask the Chamber board here and they say there's no way we want an operating agreement. Okay. Well, what can we get to? Where can we meet at a common ground and go from there? So to that point, I think Kevin has a few more slides to talk about other events and the concept of fee waivers for events in a more broad sense, not just for the Chamber. SNIPES: Any other questions on that? All right. So some other of our events that currently have fee waivers are listed here. And again, all of these reductions have been Council directive, so this isn't staff going through and making deals with different events. So this is where we're at on each one of these right now. And if you would like to see any of those, have changes made to those, we can certainly look at that as well. EARLE: Can you give an explanation of why they are being given discounts and all these different percentages? Yes? SNIPES: I would love to if I knew that answer. EARLE: Oh. Oh. Okay. SNIPES: So basically, over the years, we've tried several different things, one of which was we did a four year run where we gave 75 percent off the first year, 50 percent off TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 55 of 154 the second, 25 percent off the third, and then full price the fourth. That turned into us being a trial ground for a lot of different events. And as soon as they had to start paying their share, they would run away. And so they would come here, cut their roots, figure out how to run the event, and then they would go somewhere else and run it, and so that didn't work. Some of these got pulled into those same scenarios, and then we were directed to hold them at half off or three quarters off or the numbers that you're seeing here. The Farmer's Market's a little different. And why I highlighted it is it is an event that we invited them to come and do for us. That's why it's at 100 percent. They still cover the -- if they need a quick coupler or a power box or things like that, they do still cover the hard costs. But the event itself does not have a fee associated with it other than the -- they do a permit for it. EARLE: And the Chabad, what is -- is it one event they do a year or is that every event? SNIPES: It's one. EARLE: And what event is that? SNIPES: The -- WATTS: The Menorah. EARLE: Oh, that one. Okay. And then Phoenix Children's Hospital, the Concours in the Hills. So explain that one to me a little bit. SNIPES: So the Concours in the Hills started off as a really small locally run event. And so the original cost was free for the park. And now they're up to paying 25 percent of the value of the park, and it's never gone up above that. So again, it's one where Council directed it to stay at 25 percent. If we want to look at that with as big as it has gotten now, then we can certainly look at that. EARLE: Do they charge fees for people to bring their cars and stuff? SNIPES: They're a fundraising event. EARLE: Oh. SNIPES: So they bring in -- I think the last one was $250,000. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Half a million dollars to Children's Hospital in Phoenix. EARLE: And the regular fee would be for us if we -- so that would, do the math, around TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 56 of 154 $20,000? SNIPES: 15. EARLE: Oh, because that's the discount. Got it. Okay. Does it -- I'm guessing all the cars on the grass and stuff, does it kind of mess up the grass a little? Does it destroy anything? SNIPES: No. EARLE: Okay. SNIPES: We have a little bit of issues here and there, depending on how Mother Nature treats us during the week -- EARLE: Right. SNIPES: That we're trying to guess how it's going to rain or if it's not. EARLE: Kind of why they canceled it would have really tore it up. SNIPES: There are some tires spinning. We've had some lights hit. Some of our pathway lights have gotten broken off or signs hit from trailers over the years. But they've covered the cost of those at the end of the event. EARLE: So they're saying that they make about, was it half a million? So $15,000 isn't a big amount out of that half a million. Okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Let me also point out that that Farmer's Market, I was at a meeting recently and a couple of our storefronts in town said that's the busiest day of the week for them. So they do generate sales in our downtown area as well. So we pick up some sales tax revenue from that as well. SNIPES: Yeah. And that event's grown substantially. Over the last year and a half or two years, it's really grown. TOTH: I'll say the same thing about this slide that I did the last one, that I do believe there's nuance to this in that there's benefit to the town with these events. However, seeing different percentages on here -- I'll give the exception of the town invited event. That's something that I can understand. But the 50 and the 75? I think what the Phoenix Children's Hospital does is amazing. I think they're a wonderful organization. But I also think that everyone who works on a non-profit thinks that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 57 of 154 they're the most important non-profit, as they should. It's their passion. Right? And -- I don't know. I think I'm just thinking out loud. This isn't necessarily a firm decision, but with Concours in the Hills, considering how big the turnout is, that that does bring people to our hotels, that it is a big deal for the town, maybe that is something that we can argue, but whatever -- I think what I'm trying to nail this down to -- whatever we decide on, we need to make a standard. If we say, okay, if we can show that you're bringing this many people into town for the event, your non-profit gets this percentage. I'm fine with that kind of structure. I'm fine with just saying, as if it's the Community Center, all non-profits get 50 percent. Whatever it is, we need to be able to have a black and white standard, because then if another large organization, Feed My Starving Children, or Valley of the Sun United Way, or whatever else it is, wants to do an event at the Fountain, we can't then say, well, you get 50 percent off, but you get 75. We just -- we can't keep doing that. I get it. I love them. I think it's a wonderful event. Whatever it is that we do, whether we change this percent or not, we need to have a firm standard. WATTS: Boy, I don't know how to follow that, Hannah. I see the benefit in the Ministerial Association and the Chabad because it benefits the community directly. And I got to guess 99 percent of the participants are local, and it's almost an insignificant amount of 200 bucks apiece. And I see the Farmer's Market, I think if there was a way to validate that they each had had and remitted the sales tax, you almost need a sales tax. Yeah. You need a sales tax cop. Yeah. To go around and make sure that they have their business license posted and all of those, and so I can see that as well. Phoenix Children Hospital, I certainly can't protest about the benefit that the Children's Hospital gets from that, so I'm torn by that. But there's a couple of them there that just seem to benefit the town directly, and others that benefit outside the town more so, and those are the things I think we ought to look at. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And maybe the Phoenix Children's Hospital, in lieu of that fee, there's a local component as well as the Phoenix Children's Hospital. You know? We've got Extended Hand Food Bank and other good charitable works that are going on in our TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 58 of 154 town, so maybe there's a way to look at that a little bit differently. Councilman Skillicorn? SKILLICORN: Sure. On the Concours, it's $60 a car, so they're collecting quite a bit, and there's other expenses for them, too. You know? They're not even going to notice $5,000. But I also want to know from a -- just for cost, you know, just for our benefit, I would love to see if we have any sort of cost benefit on that. I suspect for most of our restaurants, all of our restaurants in town, that's probably the biggest day of the year for them. Now, does that mean that, you know, we shouldn't collect the total fee? Probably not, in my eyes, at least. But I think that also it would be good for us to know, because I suspect that's the case, and big events like this that bring people, especially on a day that our businesses are open, is good for the town. So that's -- but I don't think it's going to drive them away. You know? I would be very careful. You know? If we were in discussion with them, and they said, well, $5,000, you know, we're going to go someplace else. You know? We're going to -- but I'll tell you what, they go to WestWorld in Scottsdale, they're going to pay millions of dollars for that place for a day. So we have something special here, but we also don't want to chase any of these away. I understand the idea of having to be consistent, and we probably could just do a consistent policy. But, you know, for something that has such a benefit to us, you know, we would also want to be careful. So it could be -- again, I don't think $5,000 is going to drive them away, because, you know, I mean, their advertising budget is more than that an hour. So I'm not too worried about that. You know? I do see that argument in some of the other locals. You know? But if we're talking about -- I hear it complained a lot about, you know, we've got to either put a bathroom downtown, or something like that, because of, you know, stuff like the Farmer's Market. You know? If we're subsidizing it, you know, and we're asked to do additional things, I don't think that's fair either. EARLE: Can I be corrected on the -- the red -- is that what we're paying, or that's what we're losing? SNIPES: Losing. Yeah. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 59 of 154 EARLE: Oh. I thought that's what -- okay. So what are the Concours actually paying? At 75 percent, then it's -- SNIPES: So they're paying the 25. EARLE: Wait. They're -- SNIPES: 25. EARLE: If they paid 50 percent, what would that number be? Oh. He's working it? Okay. SNIPES: 1,750. EARLE: Because that's what I thought, if it was the full amount, it would have been around $20,000, someone said $15,000. So I'm trying to figure the math here. What do we? SNIPES: Hang on just a second. EARLE: Pardon me? SNIPES: That's exactly what it is. EARLE: What is it exactly? SNIPES: Ryan's looking up to see exactly what it is. He runs -- and he's our Event Manager. GOODWIN: I think while we're waiting on Ryan, I'm just going to kind of echo. I think, Hannah, you really nailed what the ask is from the staff perspective, which is consistency, because right now, each event comes in and is evaluated in its own right. Right? Okay. Instead of saying, well, you let Concours do this, or you let this group do that -- and I'm going to be real honest, we -- especially our local groups, you know, when we had our Rotary that wanted -- that did a car show on the avenue a while back, and they said, well, you know, can you give us this? Can you give us that? You give this group this discount, that group discount. And I don't have a lot to stand on to say, this is our policy and this is what we do. Instead, we're judging each one on their own merits. And to kind of what the Mayor mentioned, you know, can you give something to this group? Or can you verify that you have heads in beds and there is this, you know, residual benefit? And a lot of groups say, yeah. We think we're going to bring in 10,000 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 60 of 154 people, and then they don't meet that standard. I don't have any way to really verify that type of thing. And every event thinks they're going to be wildly successful, and I hope that they are. However, we know that that's not always accurate, so operating in at least some sort of framework is far more beneficial. And then I can say, this is why the Easter service is this much, and the Farmer's Market is that much. Right? Right now, when you ask me why, I can't give you a why. It's because this is how it has sort of evolved unofficially. And it is back to a little bit what Aaron said of, hey, can't you just? Hey, this is a good group, and I, you know, they're really looking for a way. Can't we figure something out? And generally, we want to figure something out. But over time, it creates this very unwieldy and very, you know, hodgepodge situation that we lose sight of how to kind of manage that. So consistency is what we're after today, at least some standardized process if we can get there. And maybe we don't have an answer today. Maybe we can take, you know, some of your priority points and come back with some proposed ideas if that's what we want to do, but we're trying to kind of highlight where this is a little bit challenging. TOTH: If I could spark the brainstorming process a little bit to get that black and white standard. And honestly, this might apply for both slides. For established events, we as a town do have kind of an idea of how much they bring into town. We have our own sales tax revenue that we can look back on and say, okay, well, we got a bump of this amount that month. We, you know, we would factor in what would be the natural increase already. You get the idea. We get a good estimate based off their past events. When it comes to new events, because you have a very good point that we have no real way of knowing if it's going to be successful and events are so rocky. You could have a really well-run, well-planned event and then it rains, and no one shows because it's Arizona and people think they're going to melt. And what I'm trying to get to is perhaps we could do something based off of their budget. If we say, hey, you are throwing an event that we would normally charge 25 grand for. And you're an established non-profit. I can tell that you have experience running events. This isn't someone who's just like, I want to run a, you know, whatever. Fill in the blank. I trust TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 61 of 154 Rachael's judgment as an event planner herself and maybe we can brainstorm some kind of process of saying, okay, this is an event that we expect to do this for the town. And if we're wrong, maybe we just have to be okay with eating that. Anyway, I'll let someone else talk now, but I'm just trying to get the wheels turning. SNIPES: So I just got in some information of what they are currently at. So basically they do a two-day rental of the park right now and they pay $1,750 per day for the two days, so $3,509 total. $3,500 total. And what they would pay if it was -- so the full price would be $8,750 if they were to pay the full price. EARLE: Per day? SNIPES: Total. For the -- it's a two-day. Yeah, because they're here several days early setting up for it. It's a massive event and they do a fantastic job and they've been great to work with. I've worked with them every year since I've been here. It's just grown into a massive -- WATTS: So there's already a discount on the second day, the $7,000 on the first day and then 25 percent of the base rate for the second day? That's how you get the $8,750? SNIPES: It's the same price each day of 35, so they're 3,500 -- 3,500 a day is what it should be. WATTS: Here comes your safety net. Here comes your safety net. SNIPES: Sure, if you got it. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Council? SOLDINGER: So the question is, so it's $3,500 a day is the rate and that's already a non- profit rate, by the way, so they pay half of that. And we don't charge them for a half day of setup before that as well. WATTS: Got you. SOLDINGER: So that's why the difference -- it's -- the total is $8,750 is what they should pay for two and a half days. They pay 3,500, which is why in red is what you see the difference there. WATTS: Yeah. I misunderstood. I thought it was $7,000 was the base rate and then there was subsequent days that were discounted as well so -- but when I'm sitting here TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 62 of 154 looking at these things, I thought maybe we can put what I first thought was three, four categories, much like resident, non-resident, et cetera. And then I started thinking about this category, that category, and I'm up to 20-some categories. So I don't envy you, but food for thought. SNIPES: Yeah. And that's -- and what we have right now, just like we do for the Community Center, we have a non-resident rate, we have a resident rate, and we have a non-profit rate. So these are all discounts below the non-profit resident rate. EARLE: Oh. So I would be for the non-profit rate for everybody. SNIPES: All right. So this next rounds are we have a lot of agreements with different groups. So our Dark Sky Festival started out at 100 percent reduction in fees. Starting this April, they will not have a discount anymore. They will be operating at the non-profit rate. The Memorial Disc Golf Tournament is one that gets to use the park for free. And that is in exchange for the maintenance and moving around of the disc golf holes, things that they do for us. And that's been a long-running partnership with them to run the Memorial Disc Golf Tournament. We have an IGA with the high school that we use their facilities, and they use our facilities, amongst other things. That makes theirs 100 percent off. And the Sonoran Conservancy uses the Ramadas every now and then to set up meetings or hikes or anything like that. And we work with them as they do so much volunteering for the town and all the trail building and all that kind of stuff, the stewards and all of that too. So we just wanted to bring everything to the table so that you guys can see where we discount, where we don't, and some of the why, but not all of the why. So with that, is there any other questions on those? TOTH: Yeah. Just in general, if we already have a contract, I'm happy with it. But out of curiosity for FHUSD, for the IGA that we have with them, what are examples of some events where they've used our parks? Just -- okay. Is that pretty much? GOODWIN: Graduation, the Homecoming Parade. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 63 of 154 SNIPES: They've practiced on our fields a few times over the years when they've had fields down. They've used -- I'm trying to think of what all else they've used. GOODWIN: Yeah. They've done a couple different events out on the parks. One time they wanted to do something similar to, like, the Back 2 School Bash, but it was, you know, limited to their students kind of thing. So it's just kind of an ongoing agreement that if they need space for something, we work to accommodate them, but the graduation's probably the most consistent. SNIPES: Yeah. We were in talks with them when they were having their soccer field worked on and their football field worked on. We wrote their contingency plan for them to have a space to use if they needed it. We went back and forth. They didn't end up using it, but it was something that we were working on with them. WATTS: So we have access to their pickleball courts? SNIPES: Well, we have not used them. We have not asked for them. GOODWIN: Well, let's be fair. They're not their pickleball courts. EARLE: Whose are they? GOODWIN: They belong -- they are operated by the Pickleball Club. They are on the school property, but there is an agreement. There's an operating agreement. The school doesn't operate them or maintain them. SNIPES: Any other questions, thoughts? All right. EARLE: I just want to say I appreciate you bringing all this to us. Thank you. GOODWIN: Man, we are right on the nose, 11 o'clock. I'm impressed. SNIPES: Very talented. GOODWIN: I'm impressed. Next up we have the CIP preview. First, do we need a break, or do we want to keep going? Anybody? Okay. The CIP preview, just to kind of tee this up a little bit is preview being the key word. This is not the deep dive into our CIP where we're going to talk about each project and the nuances of it and the costs of them. That is going to be one month from today on March 25th. That's when we will look at each project and officially decide if they are TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 64 of 154 green lit projects, are they yellow lit projects, or are they going to be pulled? Today's preview through both Kevin and Justin will be sort of some of the preview items that you may want to know about. We may need some considerations, some further conversation on so that you can kind of begin mulling. Maybe if you need to do a little field trip and want to see some of these, we can set that up just so that everybody's kind of familiar with them. Does that sound right? SNIPES: Yep. GOODWIN: Okay. SNIPES: So as Rachael said, these are definitely not all of our Capital Improvement Projects. But what they are are ones that were brought up by either promoters, business owners, Councilmembers. So these are ones that came in that we wanted to make you guys aware of ahead of time to see if you were in agreement with them, so we know where to kind of spend our time moving forward. So the first one is the Centennial Pavilion shade structure, adding lights to that. It is a $50,000 ask. Now, I will say you'll be seeing me back here in March to discuss -- we are going to go after a grant for this one as well. But it is one -- it's probably the only complaint that I've gotten about the shade structure at Centennial Pavilion from the people that have used it is that they wish it had lights. Outside of that, they love the space. It's proven to be very functional, and we continue to get asked to reserve it. MCMAHON: I have a question, please. SNIPES: Yes. MCMAHON: Gerry. I received an email from a resident asking about any lighting being Dark Sky compliant like along the avenue, et cetera. He wanted to make sure that it would be so we wouldn't lose that designation. And I said to him that anytime it's discussed, we're all aware of that fact, et cetera. So he just wanted me to bring it up. SNIPES: It is our number one -- so the companies that we've been working with either have Dark Sky people on staff or we've worked directly with our Dark Sky people as well. We had state representatives from the Arizona Dark Sky Association as well. And TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 65 of 154 so what we're looking at doing for the shade structure is doing a track light, which is the picture there on the right, and putting those where the red lines are at on the framework, and they're very small. They're like an inch thick, the track lighting is. And it'll be controllable as far as temperature so we can make all of those adjustments to where that we're staying Dark Sky compliant. We have them up towards the center of the structure, making sure we have minimal light spillage going outside of the shade structure itself. I think these will certainly work really good for that space and provide a good glow without wasting light all over the area. MCMAHON: And is the grant that you're applying for, would that cover the whole cost of it? SNIPES: I'm pretty sure that it will as long as we get it all. MCMAHON: Okay. Thank you. WATTS: Is the power already there or do you have to cut the concrete? SNIPES: No. We have power in between the outer loop and the inner loop that we'll use to run into the pole. WATTS: Any consideration for solar? SNIPES: There was tons of looking into solar and it was a nightmare. The price-wise and the battery packs were the real problem. I wanted to go that way because I thought it would be a cool spot to try it, and it just didn't financially make sense. WATTS: Logistically, you didn't have the location for the battery packs and so on? SNIPES: Yeah, correct. WATTS: Okay. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Kevin, one more question on the grant. Do you anticipate that being a matching grant of any kind or? SNIPES: This particular one does not have a match. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. Thank you. SNIPES: And so it's for towns under 50,000 people. And so like I said, we'll be bringing that back to you here in a few weeks. This next one is one where we've cost some money over time because of having our TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 66 of 154 pump station and our electrical controls in the same room. The room being this little green structure that's out by Desert Vista Dog Park. It's about waist high for me, a little higher for some, a little lower for others. But as you can see in the picture there on the right, the pump's right behind and on the top right corner is the control unit. We had a leak in there last winter, I believe it was. And it sprayed water all over the electrical component, so we ended up losing a pump and the electrical components. What we'd like to do is get the panel that has all the electrical power on it that's on plywood -- which I'm sure is a really good way to do that -- and the pump station and the irrigation controllers all in the same building. So we'd like to put a small building over there. We're hoping to come in under this $350,000, but the unknowns of the electrical moving and what all that would take, we just started diving into the building itself. But we think this would make a considerable improvement not only in how the pump is accessed, worked on, but it'll also give us the ability to do injection into the irrigation system like we do at our other non-potable water use parks. Every other park that we have that's non-potable, we inject into the irrigation system to help the soil, and the plants grow better, and we can't do it here because it's outside, so getting a building where we can put that in it would be a huge asset to this park. It's one of those -- it's not a pretty thing, but it's certainly something that will make a considerable difference to this park. GOODWIN: Kevin, just to kind of point out, Desert Vista is home to both our soccer fields and the jog park, so being able to use that injection system would, I would assume, help sustain those areas and improve the turf and whatnot in those areas. SNIPES: Absolutely dramatically. EARLE: Improving the dog park? SNIPES: Yes. EARLE: Ooh. MAYOR FRIEDEL: It's also home to our skate park. Kevin, the damage that was done, what was the cost to replace the equipment, ballpark? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 67 of 154 SNIPES: I want to say it was right around 10 grand, somewhere in that range. Any other questions on that one? WATTS: And how are you affected by the wash -- the flows in the wash during monsoon time? Is your housekeeping pad going to have to be any higher than a normal four-inch pad or so? SNIPES: Not with the location of this. The wash is on the other side of the street from where this is at, and the actual line, the Sanitary District's line runs on the wash side of the street as well. WATTS: Thanks. SNIPES: This next one's for the Dog Park itself and looking at doing several different improvements. We did a complete re-sodding of it in 2016, and since that time, we've done a lot of maintenance, a little bit of improvements here and there. So this request was a Council ask to do a $50,000 improvement here. We're looking at doing signage improvement, dead tree removal. The picture there in the top middle, that's what they call a splash pad. It's not the same water that we have at our splash pad. This is for dogs to splash in, and so what's happened a lot is they use a lot of pools. Our Dog Park's very unique. A lot of dog parks have -- don't have any water in them. They don't -- you bring your own water. Our ADOG group sponsored this splash pad several years ago, and we've come up with some solutions to some of our splash out problems. Everybody that comes in wants their dog to have fresh water in the pools, so they dump them, and if you dump it in the drain, it's great, no problem. You dump it in the soil or the rocks next to it, now you got a puddle, and then the next person does it, the next person does it, pretty soon the soil can't absorb all the water. So when that happens, then we get complaints that there's algae on the ground and in the water and that we're running a safety risk to the dogs, so you can kind of see we've done some rip-rap along the sides. What we'd like to do is increase our footprint around there, redo some of the drainage around it to help get that water out to alleviate that problem. We'd also like to get in there and level up a lot of the soil that's in there. Some dogs like to dig. It's just a thing they do, apparently. And then when one dog digs, the other dog wants to dig to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 68 of 154 see what that dog was digging for, and then so on and so on, so we've carried that over several different times. But what we'd like to do is get in and help clean it up, get some new sod put in in some areas so that we're ready for the next year. MCMAHON: Thank you. Can you refresh my memory? Didn't we recently do improvements to the Dog Park and how much did that cost, number one? Number two, as far as the tree removal, don't we have a contract with Top Leaf or something to handle the trees, and why isn't it part of that contract? So please answer that. Thanks. SNIPES: Sure. So like I was saying, in 2016, we did an improvement there. We did a drainage improvement in the lower level three years ago, I think. Does that sound right? GOODWIN: Two years ago. SNIPES: Two years ago, to help get some water that was coming down from the upper fields down out of there. And then what was your second question again? MCMAHON: Didn't we put benches or something in? I thought we recently did something. SNIPES: The benches were paid for by ADOG. MCMAHON: Okay. SNIPES: They had a donor that paid for half, and they covered the other half of the benches. MCMAHON: And then my next question is about the trees. SNIPES: Oh yeah. MCMAHON: Why aren't they included in the tree contract that we have? SNIPES: Sure. In Desert Vista itself, as a park, is probably -- between that and Four Peaks -- our most underfunded and they are constantly out of money. And so the budget for the park and the size of trees that we're trying to take out would wipe out that budget, and so -- and what we'd like to do is get them taken out and bring in new trees at the same time where we're replanting. There was a lot of pine trees that were selected for the Dog Park. I'm not sure why that was a selection, but what we're seeing right now is that they're all hitting their end of life, and the heats have increased, which TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 69 of 154 is increasing that speed, and so we're losing several. And so this would help us to help mitigate that. MCMAHON: All right. So you feel that the $50,000 is enough to cover all of that? SNIPES: Yes. I do. MCMAHON: Okay. Thank you. EARLE: So my question is, is there any way included in this to raise a bench? You know what I'm talking about? SNIPES: Oh, yes. EARLE: Is that part of this? SNIPES: Yes. EARLE: Okay. And then my second question is, is this $50,000 padded? I'm asking the opposite question of Councilwoman McMahon. Is there a way to be able to do all this for less money? SNIPES: Today, I don't know that answer. If we can, we will, and it kind of depends. One of the things that we would like to do is do a mow guard along the fencing, which would help eliminate -- And Mayor Friedel, you can speak to the weeds that grew up through there. They put in a snake fence along the lower level -- they being ADOG. And so the problem is is that weeds get in between those, and then it doesn't take much for that to become an eyesore. So what we'd like to do is run a curb down through there, and so we got to check into some pricing on that to see what that'll run us. EARLE: Okay. SNIPES: And make it a little more professionally done so that we can eliminate the eyesores that that was. EARLE: And this is -- it's used a lot, isn't it, both of them? And they have a lot of residents come in there. Like, do we have people coming even from other towns or cities to use our Dog Park? Because it is pretty special. SNIPES: Yes. We do. Correct. EARLE: Yeah. It's a real special place. Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 70 of 154 MAYOR FRIEDEL: I'll just add that I think that the town staff does a good job of always trying to come in under budget and looking for ways to save money. And that Dog Park, it's used a lot. And there are people that come from other areas because it's a nice facility for a town to have, and especially they have two dog parks, large dogs and small dogs. So it needs the attention. It needs these improvements that Kevin's talking about, especially along that fence line. So if we can clean that up, I think it'll make the appearance a lot better as well. GOODWIN: I was just going to piggyback on your question as well as your comments, Mayor, that if the budget is 50, I would imagine when -- we'll go as far as 50 will take us, and it may be include these things plus. Right? If we can come in under budget on some of these, we may be able to do something unanticipated and say, hey, we actually got an additional three things done because, so whatever the budget is set at, we'll work -- these will be the priorities, and then if there's available budget for more, we would want to do that. EARLE: What bucket does this come out of? SNIPES: This is the CIP, so this is a Capital Improvement Project. So that's where you would see that. SNIPES: This next one is the new shade structure over by the splash pad at Fountain Park. And this request, it was something that we planned for, and then I don't know. It just got in the back of my brain somewhere along the way, and we were meeting with a group, and there was a business owner and a promoter in the meeting, and they asked about adding lights to the structure. And I was like, yep. That's 100 percent something that I meant to put in, and it was perfect timing because it was right when we were starting to work on our budget, and so we did. We put conduits in when we were building this structure so that we could easily get across our sidewalks and get to the new shade structure. So this would be a similar idea, and yes, it will be Dark Sky compliant. Adding lights to this area to make it so that it's more usable in the evening hours. I know Economic Development is also working on doing some potential concert series in combination with this area and the Plaza Fountainside business there that's TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 71 of 154 next to it, and so I think it'll really enhance this area as well. MCMAHON: Kevin, you have a grant for the other lighting. Is there any way -- is there any grant that you know that could be used in this, or can you combine these two and ask for a higher grant? SNIPES: Sounds fantastic. MCMAHON: I know. Doesn't it? SNIPES: The max is 50,000, and so that's why we're going for 50 for that particular grant. The answer is -- I mean, you can ask for grants for everything. It's a matter of which ones you can and can't get. They are tough. We've done a really good job, in my opinion, over the years of getting a lot of really tough grants, and relying on grants is very difficult, and that's why you're seeing it in the CIP as well as -- just because it gets voted for in the CIP doesn't mean that we won't go after it as a grant. Our staff does a great job, and they're more than willing. I know right now, Patti's up there working on two grants for us right now, so we keep trying. Every time we see one. This T-Mobile grant popped up. I think Rachael saw it, and then we started trying to figure out how we could use it and what we thought would be the most effective. We worked with Economic Development for that and decided that the shade structure over here would make the most sense for the give for the get. MCMAHON: Thank you. TOTH: I think like four questions sparked from that. I'm sorry. My brain's still organizing it. Okay. So, one, the grant, you said it's from T-Mobile? SNIPES: Yes. TOTH: What does that entail? Like, is there a -- SNIPES: Let's go over that during our Council meeting. TOTH: Fair enough. SNIPES: Because that's where we'll have all that information for you. TOTH: Okay. Fair enough. Now, don't throw any tomatoes at me yet. I'm not saying no, but I will say I'm not entirely convinced it's needed. I've been to the Fountain at night quite a lot lately. I just walk around -- or actually, friends of mine got engaged at TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 72 of 154 the Fountain recently. And so I'm very familiar with the lighting of this area, because I was hiding in a bush to get pictures. And the other two, or at least one of the Ramadas that are right on the other side of the sidewalk here are lit at night, and fairly well. And I'll also note that they've both been empty every night I've been there. So just considering the headwinds that we are facing next year, I'm not entirely convinced lighting that -- I'm thinking playground Ramada, Ramada that's been there a while, and then the new one. I'm not super convinced that third one needs to be a priority for lighting quite yet. SNIPES: And I hear what you're saying as far as the evening hours. And so the request from the promoter and from the business owner was that's why, is that there's not lights there. Otherwise, they would want to use it. And so that's where the request came from. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Kevin, are you looking at the same type of lighting in both places? SNIPES: Potentially. This one, because it's away from the Dark Sky Discovery Center, may be able to be lit a little bit different and a little bit cheaper. And so it'll kind of depend on where we can get the best bang for our buck, to be honest. EARLE: Does it distract from walking in the park where it's kind of like dull lighting? I'm just wondering about it's going to be -- I like to walk around when it's at night when it's really dark. I love my neighborhood because we don't have all the lights, so I'd hate to take away from that. SNIPES: Yeah. That's certainly something that we wouldn't want to take away from. EARLE: Can you put like dimmers on it? SNIPES: We wanted to have more of illumination than a tennis court glow. EARLE: Okay. Okay. All right. And then, if this was approved, when would this be done? SNIPES: It would start July 1st through June 30th next fiscal. Okay. And Hannah, did you want to say that you were talking about the Ramadas that are existing were lit? Is that what you were trying to tell him? TOTH: Councilwoman Earle read my mind. I guess my question is for the business. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 73 of 154 More than anything, if they would reserve it if it was lit, why don't they reserve the other ones? SNIPES: Because part of the idea of this shade structure was that we could provide an extension of premises for the businesses that are along there or for other people to come in and have events in that area to liven up an area that was dead and not used for anything. And so it was part of the grand plan but getting the structure in and the amount of money that we had didn't allow for the lighting through the first round. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Gerry. Yeah. It just occurs to me that since this request was from a promoter and the business community, it seems like maybe they should have some seed in the game as far as the cost. I mean, we're making the taxpayer pay for something that the business community and the promoter wants. It doesn't seem fair to the taxpayer to me. SNIPES: Well and I think the idea would be that through the rental process of renting it out, we would also get some back from that, too. KALIVIANAKIS: Well it'd be, like, a 2,000-year return on investment. SNIPES: It's less. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. And it just seems like if they could come up with some of the funds, it would show good faith on their part that yeah, we're willing to kick in $10,000 if you -- so I'm just throwing that out there. GOODWIN: Oh. That's okay. I was just going to piggyback on kind of the conversation to remind exactly what Kevin sort of shared is that originally, the space was designed to sort of serve the splash pad in the summer months and then hopefully serve the businesses and the Economic Development community in the winter months when the splash pad obviously is not in operation. It would be to be a gathering place for bands or for smaller, you know, events, whether they be public events, you know, where people can come and go or private events where someone may want to rent it for, you know, a company picnic or a, you know, a small reception or a birthday or something of that nature because it can accommodate far more people than our basic Ramadas can. Right? It has 15 or 18 picnic tables under there. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 74 of 154 SNIPES: 15 picnic tables under it, I believe, right now. And it is something that people are just starting to find. And so, I know -- I think it's Mountain to Fountain is renting it out for their finished area where they used to rent out the Great Lawn. So it is something that is on people's radar. It's a matter of good to great, I guess, for lack of a better way to put that. GOODWIN: Yeah. MCMAHON: I think Skillicorn's next. SKILLICORN: I'm actually curious of what the expected lifespan of these lights would be and even the, you know, lights in the tent and even the pump by the Dog Park, what they're expected to be. SNIPES: The pump itself? SKILLICORN: You know? I know that we're at our time, but I see that the price is actually, you know, significantly higher than a pump and things like that, but, you know, I know there's other improvements in that. You know? Just give an idea of -- because if we're spending that kind of money every five years, you know, that's quite a bit. Right? Or if the lifetime is much, much longer -- you know? Just what you think the expected -- or is it becoming something we're building a kingdom and we're going to have to maintain it? SNIPES: The reality with the lights are typically their 12 to 15 year expectancy. And then -- but the replacement isn't the same as the putting in. Most of your money is spent on the front end of having to get the wiring over there and setting everything up. And when you're replacing lights, it's significantly different than having to get everything set up to run it. EARLE: If I may say, I think the intention seems good to ask businesses maybe to help pay for this, but my concern is then they have skin in the game. They might say, oh, that's ours. You know? We need to be able to rent it before anybody else or we don't want to pay rental or something. So I personally would shy away from that. Thank you. SNIPES: All right. The next one here is our Fountain Park Ramadas. As you can see, there's some issues. This is one that I've been looking into for probably four years now, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 75 of 154 five years now, something like that. And every time I get a price quote to just replace the roof on them, it's over $100,000 per Ramada, and I just can't believe that, so I go to someone else and then they say it's $100,000, and then I go to someone else, and they say it's $100,000. All right. It's $100,000. I get it. So what we'd like to do -- these are highly customized, very stout, we'll call it, Ramadas. What we'd like to do is to go to something that's not custom, take these down and then put in a new non-custom Ramada shade structure. We've looked into it and think we can do an entirely new structure. As you can see, the wall there on the right's got a big crack in it and a lot of them do. That's not the structural section, so we haven't been alarmingly concerned of that, but it is something that is getting worse over time. Each one of my pictures over the last four years shows that it is, and so it's something that we need to get addressed sooner than later. Last thing I'd want to see is for a piece of the roofing from the rust to fall and hurt someone, so that's where this one came from. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Kevin, question for you. Can this be done over a series of years rather than all at once? SNIPES: Absolutely. Yep. We can do this any way we want to do it. The big thing that we were thinking as far as if we do all -- I think there's three of them that are in the worst shape. And if we do those three, a single mobilization, when you're talking demo and install, typically it'll save some funding over time as well as the cost of structures that will continue to go up. But I'm fine with any way that we want to go about that. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And the cost that you said that we would save, do you have any idea in dollars what that would be? I know I put you on the spot for that, but -- SNIPES: I'm not sure. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Is it 10 percent, 20 percent? SNIPES: I would hesitate to say for sure. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. Thank you. EARLE: Yeah. You're on camera. You're being recorded. Watch out. SNIPES: Right? TOTH: Kevin, that damage to the roof, is that coming from the state of our water at the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 76 of 154 Fountain? SNIPES: Yeah. It certainly plays into it. I think there was -- the design of it I think leads to it. These actually have an insulation layer in the middle, so as soon as moisture got in between the two layers, rust attacked both layers, so I'm guessing that they wanted to insulate the people outside from the heat. I'm not sure how effective that is, so it's not something that I've ever done with any of the Ramadas that I've built. I've built a lot of them over the years or been involved with them, so it's not something that we would go back to. We would go to something that has the same look and feel so it doesn't look like it's brand new, thrown in, jumps out at you. But we've started looking at several different styles that we'll come back to in a later time. TOTH: Okay. Thank you. EARLE: My question -- Well, first, Hannah, there is a problem if our water's getting up that high on the roof. I don't know. But my question was going to be, what type of roofing would you do or cover? Would you still do the blocks posts? Would you have a solid roof? SNIPES: We're still in an early stage of looking at that. EARLE: Okay. SNIPES: But most of them that we're looking at are powder-coated, steel fabrication, aluminum roofing that we would look at and all the water is considered. The reason the water does hit the top of -- EARLE: Does it? SNIPES: Is because our sprinklers throw 75 to 100 feet. EARLE: Sorry, Hannah. SNIPES: And so when you're throwing that distance, it certainly does. EARLE: And the wind blows. Okay. Okay. Yeah, because I would prefer not to see more of the canvas tent-type things on there. SNIPES: Yeah. They wouldn't -- EARLE: Keep it the way it was. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 77 of 154 SNIPES: No, no, no. They would be hard. EARLE: Okay. SNIPES: These are all -- our Ramadas we try and do all in hard structure. EARLE: Nice. SNIPES: When you get to the larger, the size, then it just -- it makes more sense to go the other way when you can get 15 years out of the shade structure top and then replace just the top. It's not very much to just replace the tops. EARLE: So then, I was -- SNIPES: For these, we're looking at definitely doing solid. EARLE: What are these made out of right now? SNIPES: These are metal. EARLE: Besides -- it is metal. SNIPES: Yeah. EARLE: So even the aluminum will be affected by the water then if it's going to continue to get hit, sprayed. SNIPES: It's going to. Yeah. And we'll have them powder-coated to where that they're protected better than what these were as well. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. SNIPES: All righty. And another electrical building. So this is our Four Peaks right next to the new restroom that we just put in. As you can see, the picture on the right is inside the building that's on the left. There is a pad there where it used to be a restroom that was 3 quarters torn down, I believe, judging by the overhead shots that we've seen. It doesn't look good, and the electrical room is too tight for the amount of electrical that's in there. So what we'd like to do is use the existing pad, put a building on it that can handle both the electrical capacity and provide a secondary storage area as well. And it'll give us room for -- if we need to do more there down the road, it'll also provide that. But this much electricity in a, probably six foot by eight foot room is not ideal, so we'd like to protect that and the Musco Lighting's electrical that's on the backside of that building. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 78 of 154 MAYOR FRIEDEL: Not to digress, but going back one slide to those replacements of the Ramadas, have we looked at just replacing the roof and those pillars that are there cost- wise? Is there -- SNIPES: Just the roof itself was $100,000, and so we were at $500,000 to do the five Ramada roofs only, and so it didn't make sense. And we started talking to some of our contractors about the block, and then that's a special block, of course -- custom block. You can't match it, so then we'd have to come up with another way to do the block. And it just didn't make sense to stay down that rabbit hole when everything was showing signs of wear. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you. SNIPES: Any questions on this one? WATTS: Given the switchgear that's on the side of that building, is that included in that 250? Because it looked like it was in rough shape, and it looked like it had some deterioration as well. SNIPES: Yes. WATTS: So you're going to enclose all of that, replace the switch? SNIPES: Everything inside. WATTS: Okay. Thanks. EARLE: I just have a question. Do we have enough money in the CIP to do all of these things? GOODWIN: We do. So we're trying to give you kind of, like I said, a preview so that if you wanted to see some of these yourself or you want to go out and kind of investigate so that you feel a little more comfortable, you have time to do that before our CIP workshop. But the short answer is yes. We have the available funding. Right? That bucket is full enough that we can do these projects as well as the ones that Justin's going to talk about. We would not put these forward if we didn't. And these have been somewhat whittled down from the original asks. I know to Kevin's point, particularly about the Ramada discussion, we have been talking about it for a number of years, and we keep hitting dead ends. I'm like, there's no way we're putting TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 79 of 154 a roof on for $100,000. Find another option. Find another option. So a lot of legwork has been gone into these before they've made it to this year's budget kind of thing. So yes, there's the funding available. These are the ones, I'll say, that have run the gauntlet and made the finish line to make it into what we're recommending. EARLE: Does that still include -- is there some in there for a road that we had talked about before? GOODWIN: So you're going to hear more about that. EARLE: Okay. GOODWIN: Justin's going to -- so these were just the Parks side. Justin's going to talk more about roads and the Public Works projects. WATTS: But to be clear, these are recommendations that are going to be voted on at a later date. GOODWIN: Correct. WATTS: This is only the wish list. GOODWIN: Absolutely. WATTS: Got you. GOODWIN: 100 percent and that is very true. And what we've tried to take is -- some of the discussion we have is about taking care of what we have. Right? I think to Councilmember Skillicorn's point, we don't want to build things that we can't take care of down the line. A lot of this is taken care of. You know? The Ramadas are 20 plus years old. The pump systems and the housing, I'm like, those are not pretty projects. They're not high-vis public projects, but they do take care of, you know, the longevity of what we have. So that has taken priority in a lot of the projects. The newer ones, especially the two lighting ones, are really an echo of what the community has asked for and brought forward. So we're trying to do due diligence and make sure that those -- you know, if we hear it from the community or we hear it from feedback, we want to at least put it out there and know that we asked and talked about it. Whether we move forward with it or not is a whole different conversation. WATTS: Thanks. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 80 of 154 SNIPES: All right. If there's no more questions, I literally have to fly. So thank you all very much. Appreciate it. GOODWIN: Save travels. WELDY: Are we going to break for lunch? GOODWIN: Depends how brief you're going to be. WELDY: Going to be a while. Yep. GOODWIN: Do we want lunch? WELDY: Have until 6 p.m. GOODWIN: All right. So do we want to get lunch and then work through lunch? So grab a sandwich, grab a pizza, grab whatever we've got back there, and then we'll resume at noon? WELDY: Shortly. GOODWIN: Okay. (Recess from until 11:39 a.m. until 11:56 p.m.) WELDY: Good afternoon. First, a little bit of housekeeping, my Freudian slip when addressing the mayor this morning has been dually noted, and their record reflects it as do numerous texts. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the lunch, it's very generous, and we do appreciate it as a staff. All of the following projects that you are going to be reviewing at a 30-to-50,000-foot level so we can see where you're at on it are generated from meetings with business owners, the public, speakers to this podium during the council meetings, and directives from the council as a result of that information. The first one is the repaving of Palomino, which has been discussed for a considerable amount of time as with several of the other collector streets that we have. People are generating concern about the traffic that travels up and down this road. Unfortunately, they have been the recipients of traffic as a result of watermain failures and other construction projects, driving up the number of concerns and calls and emails related to the unraveling of that pavement. Often times, they're referred to as potholes, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 81 of 154 occasionally there is one more than three quarters or a half inch deep where we get some chunking out from the blocking or the "gatoring" as we refer to it. More often than not though it's the laminate. We certainly understand and we hear these residents' concerns, and we've had this discussion for many, many years. In past meetings when discussing pavement management with the council, the council's direction was to go out and do the geotechnical on this and get more defined harder costs. As you will see, the number as of recent, and this is a pretty accurate number, is about $5 and half million to rebuild Palomino. Having said that, if the direction is to move forward with Palomino, there is a strong recommendation that we take this opportunity to plan for the future. In this next slide, the top one is the strong recommendation. We are simply asking the council to consider moving the curbs in five feet on either side. This would allow for the future installation of sidewalks without all the additional cost to cut into all the slopes and the landscape improvements these folks have made. There will not be a substantial savings at this time to do this work, simply because all of the old street and 99 percent of the curb and where there is gutter has to come out because of its condition and the nature of reconstructing. However, it will reduce the future cost for the installation of a sidewalk and the future pavement maintenance and treatment of this area will be approximately ten feet narrower. As we were going through these slides and discussing them pulling the curbs in just slightly, there was a question on why there are not any bike lanes. The reason for that is there is simply not enough room to accommodate a bike lane. We do have on-street parking in this area, because from Palisades East all the way to Fountain Hills Boulevard, there are driveways that back up to this road. And often times, these folks have overflow parking be it from visitors or gatherings, or simply because they have more children than they do parking spaces. So on-street parking is allowed in this area, and we typically would not place prohibitions on that. There were other discussions in the past regarding utilizing a raised center median along this section. The cost to construct that curb and gutter is pretty substantial, probably an TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 82 of 154 additional one and a half to two million dollars. Also raised medians in areas that is all residential is not a good plan, simply because you have to make so many openings in that raised medians to allow for people to make turns into their driveway. Historically left-hand turns and or occasionally right-hand turns or left-hand turns out. With that said, the bottom slide is actually what the design was intended for. It was designed to have two lanes in each direction with a speed limit of up to 45 miles an hour. I've just put that up there just to let you know that that was the original intent. Excuse me. So the first question is obviously a challenging one, is there a consensus from the council to put this on the list at $5 and a half million for paving that would take place in '26? Before you answer that question, the second question associated with that is are you interested in pulling the curbs in five feet on either side and preparing for the future expansion of sidewalk, for which, there is a big call, a demand, a need, and it's identified in several of our documents, including the general plan, the active transportation plan, and lastly the strategic plan. GOODWIN: Justin, can I throw out two additional questions that might help? One is, if we were to move forward with the project with the repaving, what is it essential -- what is the timeline on when we -- how long it would take to do the project. And then secondly, if the sidewalk -- sidewalks were part of the plan, that means that -- I'm assuming that's ten feet of paving we wouldn't have to do versus additional ten feet of width we would have to do. Does that affect the cost? WELDY: So let's -- let's address the -- the first question. The timeline, realistically, after approval and the budget would be in two fiscal years, simply because the size of the project and the complexities with doing a project that size where you simply cannot prohibit a homeowner from entering their driveway and or garage for an extended period of time, that extends that time. 18 to 24 months would be realistic, so two fiscal years, if you would, because the design is not that complicated, we wouldn't make substantial changes there. You're welcome. The -- the second question and -- and -- and just ask me that question TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 83 of 154 again after you enjoy that lovely bite. So we make sure that we answer the question correctly. GOODWIN: My question had to do with if we were to move the gut -- the curb in to create the potential for our future sidewalks, does that narrow the amount of paving, or does that reduce the amount of paving we would have to do, therefore, affecting the cost of the project. WELDY: It does eliminate a considerable amount of square yardage of asphalt and select base that will not have to be put back. The caveat to that is we will need to make changes to that narrow area for each individual yard. We can't just leave it a dirt hole. And we will also have to address that short extension to their driveway. Each of the replacing of granite or native materials, whatever the adjacent material is, will reduce the overall cost in the future for sidewalk because we're -- we're primarily already graded, all we'll need to do is move the granite back. And the second part of that, is by doing the driveways now, the residents will already be prepared, and we'll have our cross slopes built into it as part of a future sidewalk program. The -- the cost savings is down the road when it comes to the next round of treatment. Which based on the current climate conditions, could be up to ten years before we're back in there to do a crack filling and the first preservative seal. Simply because water has an impact on the asphalt. Mr. Mayor, you have a question, sir. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Those aprons for the driveway then, would they be substantially put in anticipating a sidewalk at some point. WELDY: Correct, Mr. Mayor. We would do the driveway extensions as part of this project, simply because we don't want a five-foot dirt path. And if we use asphalt instead of concrete, then we have all of that removal in the future and regrading. By using concrete we're simply planning for the future of a walking path slash sidewalk. EARLE: Have you calculated the cost of doing the sidewalks at the same time? WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Earle, we have not. Simply because it's -- that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 84 of 154 sidewalk for that area is not in the five-year horizon that is part of the active transportation plan. The first phase would obviously be some concession about what we would like to do in that area, and then we would begin the planning process and looking at opportunities for different grants either for design assistance and or construction. A good example is the $5 million that is currently being used to construct and eliminate the gaps on Saguaro and Palisades. EARLE: And I see -- is this road really busy that it could use four lanes? WELDY: No. EARLE: Okay. WELDY: The traffic counts that were anticipated included a 70-plus thousand population buildout, and it's just not reasonable. And also, in the original Founding Fathers dreams they had imagined that a portion of this would tie into Via Linda. Although the alignment was slightly off, it would have actually tied into Mustang, which is just the next street south of Palomino. That was part of their vision that when the City of Scottsdale developed east, that this would be a second corridor, very similar to Shea, that would carry traffic to and from the two residents or the two city and town. EARLE: Thank you. WELDY: You're welcome. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman. SKILLICORN: Thank you. And you -- you answered the what's going to fill up that five feet, but I think the -- I'm still questioning what it's going to look like. And I'm also specifically questioning what the residents if -- so there's that five-feet shrinkage there, so we got driveway aprons and future sidewalk, is it something that the residents are going to come to us and yell at us because there's just a pile of stones or something. Give us a little bit more of what your vision for that five feet on each sides going to be, and then before you do that, because the second question, but we're going to have you answer it first, is this a capital improvement project budgeted item or is this a street budgeted item. WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember, so the two-part question, we're going to go with TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 85 of 154 question two first, the intent is to ask the Mayor and Council to approve this as a capital project that would be funded from CIP with some alternate funding from Streets. It's simply a project of that magnitude that we would ask you to consider the -- SKILLICORN: Do you know what the percentage would be? WELDY: One more time? SKILLICORN: Do you have a breakdown of what the percentage would be? Here's my breakdown. [LAUGHTER] SOLDINGER: Mayor, Councilmember Skillicorn, it's a good question. So typically, for our street paving program we fund that out of the Streets fund where we've accumulated fund balance. However, for this project, it's such a large reconstruction project, it really fits more in our capital improvement plan, which is paid out of our capital projects fund. And going back to the discussion about carryforward and in the expansile limitation, we've accumulated our HEERF funds for carryforward purposes that don't count. So that -- that's how we kind of explained we could do more work next year on Palomino or another project. So in this case, what we're envisioning, we have a little bit of flexibility, but what we're envisioning is paying for it initially out of the capital projects fund and using those her funds to reimburse the fund. So essentially using Streets funds monies to do the project but initially doing it out of the capital projects fund. MCMAHON: So it would be reimbursed? SOLDINGER: Yes, essentially. MCMAHON: Okay. Because that was one of my concerns is if you're taking it out of the capital improvement funds, how's that going to adversely affect other projects, that's a lot of money. But if it's going to be paid back, that's a different consideration. SOLDINGER: Yeah, and let me stipulate real quick. We have to do it that way if we want to use carryforward because that's -- we've accumulated those HEERF funds that we haven't used so we have to do it that way if we want to use that carryforward. And TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 86 of 154 those ones have to be used for street projects. So that's why we're planning to do it that way. SKILLICORN: Is there an estimate on the dollars and also of the unused or that -- that portion of HEERF funds, how much is that? SOLDINGER: Michael, is it about six million at this time? STELPSTRA: Yes. SOLDINGER: Well, at about 6.2 million we may be able to accumulate a little bit more based on this year's spending as well. So right now, 6.2, this is a $5.5 million project, hence, we feel comfortable that we're -- we'll be able to pull this off. SKILLICORN: But do we have an idea of -- of is it 50/50? Is it 2.7 million from -- from CIP and 2.7 from -- SOLDINGER: So the initial plan, Councilmember, is to do a hundred percent from the Streets fund, it's just first being paid -- we could, if council wanted to use some of the capital projects monies on this project we could make that decision, we just couldn't use carryforward to do that. So it would make it a little bit more complicated, we may have to take a look back at our other CIP projects and see if -- of -- if we need to -- if we -- or if we're able to fit them into the budget or not. SKILLICORN: So we're not planning on using CIP to reimburse the Streets? SOLDINGER: So the initial plan, what we're talking about today, is to first pay out of the -- pay for it out of capital projects but reimburse it from the streets to use that carryforward. SKILLICORN: Reimburse 100 percent from Streets? SOLDINGER: Yes, that's the plan. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible) the Street? SOLDINGER: We have about $14 million in the Streets fund right now, by the end of the year we project about $12 million. We've accumulated monies for the purposes of streets projects, that's -- so that's the whole rationale behind using that money on this project. SKILLICORN: Okay. My preference would be to use more capital, you know CIP, than TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 87 of 154 Streets. Instead of deplete a third of what's in the Streets, you know, because we still have a lot of work to do. SOLDINGER: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Thank you, Paul. Councilwoman. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This might be going back a little bit, but I know that -- I thank you for putting this on -- on the retreat because this council did ask you to put this on the retreat because Palomino's been a topic of a lot of debate. I know a lot of our constituents have -- have brought Palomino up. So we -- I appreciate the conversation. On the other hand, have we discussed this with the Streets committee and get their advice on whether Palomino would -- would be, on their expertise, the next $5.5 million expenditure on the streets or would their recommendation be other streets? And I don't mean to throw you a monkey wrench, but I know the IAS report and that indicated what streets should be next and then we have the Streets Committee and -- and I know -- and then the council's kind of directing you Palomino, Palomino. But just to make sure we're spending the money on the right streets, is there any other input about what streets should go next year? WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember, I'm going to answer that multi-part question right after I finish. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. WELDY: Did -- Councilmember asked two questions, I answered the second one first, now we're going back to the first one. The question was in regards to how to we leave it, the aesthetics. The intent is when we leave that project, there will be a seamless blend between that five feet and the existing neighborhood. We would do our best to blend with the existing surface there. However, we would not do any irrigation, or any additional landscape related to shrubs, trees, or bushes, but rather a seamless. If I could point to an example, would be to look at the sidewalk north of Palisades on Saguaro on either the east or the west side where it was blended in. You can certainly tell there were activities there, but the intent is to blend it and leave it as was or better. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 88 of 154 On to your question. So without being disrespectful to the 13 men that generated that provided an incredible amount of the time it took for future planning and past planning, those individuals are actually no longer seated and part of the discussion. And again, with all due respect, when we handed them their plaques, we thanked them and -- and we moved on. So if this body as a whole would like to pull that group back together or a section of them, that would be at their discretion along with discussions with the Town Manager. KALIVIANAKIS: So -- so they made no recommendations going forward beyond their term. WELDY: They certainly made recommendations, and all of their recommendations are contained in the executive summary that was provided to the body that was seated at that time. If the consensus is this group would like a refresher and we could send that, I can certainly arrange for that. It's a relatively large file so it may be in a file share, or if you would like we could see if we could put together a print copy. A little bit more time consuming and challenging, but we can certainly accomplish that. GOODWIN: If I may chime on that same topic -- KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. GOODWIN: -- I want to say it's the last council meeting, maybe the council meeting prior, we actually had a Call to the Public Item from one of the members of the Streets Committee who sort of applauded the idea of Palomino and recognizing that it's a need, so I don't think that from that he didn't indicate that there was a contradictory information there. He simply pointed out that Palomino represented a small portion of how -- of other streets that were in the same condition or worse. KALIVIANAKIS: Right. GOODWIN: So again, it's sort of six in one hand and half a dozen in the other. We're trying to knock off the streets and prioritize and every -- your street is always your priority, I get that. KALIVIANAKIS: Right. GOODWIN: Right? And so that can be difficult. But Palomino is certainly one we've had TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 89 of 154 a lot of input on, and it's also one that's been directly impacted by the development of Adero Canyon. KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. GOODWIN: And we've had a lot of trucks and additional damage done during that process too. So I think that that's partially why it's gotten all of extra highlight, so to speak. KALIVIANAKIS: All right. Okay. Thank you. WELDY: We're back to the -- oh, pardon me. MCMAHON: Before we move on, my -- I'm concerned about using the capital improvement projects for this for the very reason Councilmember Skillicorn said. Because this is a street fund, this is a street project. And if we move forward this -- with this, and we agreed to loan the funds for lack of a better term, I want to make sure that -- that the Street funds are going to pay for this. This is not, in my opinion, a capital improvement project, this is a street being redone and paved and accordingly Streets fund should pay for that. So if you can assure that that would happen, then I would be open to it. WELDY: Mr. Mayor, Madam councilmember, I'm not in the assurance business, but we have one. MCMAHON: Assurance. Insurance. SOLDINGER: Mayor and Councilwoman McMahon, that's my responsibility. And so, based on the budget and what Mayor and Council approved in the budget we would carry that out. So if the Mayor and Council approves a hundred percent of it coming from Streets funding, we would make sure that that happens and that would be my responsibility and you -- and I could speak to you on that. EARLE: Paul, could you stay there? SOLDINGER: Yes. EARLE: I'm not -- I'm just assuming that maybe some people that are watching or whatever don't -- don't -- may not understand this. We are limited to the amount that we can spend on streets every year. Then there's this that we have built up that we TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 90 of 154 could use, and that's where this is coming from. Although, you say it comes out of capital improvement, but it's going to be repaid by that portion that we have saved up, correct? Can you put that in your proper words? SOLDINGER: Yes, Councilwoman Earle, bringing up some points the public should be aware of. So number one, we're required to stay within our budget amounts that the Mayor and Council adopts in accordance with statute. Number two, we have -- EARLE: (Indiscernible) the number is? SOLDINGER: So for this -- EARLE: Number is. SOLDINGER: For this year it's -- it's not set yet. EARLE: Okay. SOLDINGER: We're going to come with a proposed budget. Last year, this current year we're in, it's 45.2 million, and there's also the expansile of limitation that is below that amount that we have to comply with as well, otherwise the state could withhold certain funds from the -- from the town. So that amount for this year is 35.6, somewhere around there. And next year it's already been set at initially at 36.6 million, about a million dollars more. So these are things that we have to comply with and that's why I know it sounds a little confusing at times, trust me, when I'm explaining it it sounds confusing. But the reason we're doing this, number one, we're trying to follow our policy. This -- we could pay for it out of the Street's fund, but it's more of a reconstruction big time capital project that should be managed in that way, (indiscernible) and we provide updates to Council in that manner. We have to look at the procurement aspect of it and what's best for the town as far as the cost savings, so there's a lot -- there's more accountability in our capital improvement plan rather than a simple update. So that's kind of the rationale behind that. But we do have to do the reimbursement of the HEERF funds to be able to use the carryforward to be able to -- to do Palomino and also do these other capital projects we've been discussing. It would be challenging for us to do much of the Palomino project without taking that additional step. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 91 of 154 EARLE: Okay. SOLDINGER: So sorry for the confusion, but these are things we've thought through, had discussions on, and we're bringing it forth in this manner because of those -- those reasons. EARLE: Thank you. SOLDINGER: Um-hum. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And I would -- I would add that this perfectly fits as a capital improvement project because of the size and the scope of this project. And also the additional accountability which Paul -- Paul -- Paul highlighted as well and the use of that carryforward with the -- the HEERF funds is really important to getting this project done. So I'm a hundred percent behind this. I think it's a good project for the -- for the town, and especially for that collector's street because it's in really bad shape as it was previously identified by our Streets Committee. WELDY: All right. Thank you, Paul. SOLDINGER: Yeah. WELDY: We're up to three questions. The first question is there a consensus to move forward with the reconstructing of Palomino. Question number two is there a consensus to pull the curbs in five feet on either side to allow for a future sidewalk expansion. And lastly, how would the council like to fund this, CIP or Streets fund? EARLE: Are we getting called on or are we going like this? I mean are we going -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yeah. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Go down the line. EARLE: Okay, I'll go -- PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. EARLE: Okay. Are you ready? PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes, I'm ready. EARLE: Okay. The question one -- yes. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: State the question. EARLE: Actually, I'm yes, yes, yes. Oh wait, the last one would be capital funds. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 92 of 154 PADGETT-ESPIRITU: All right. So you agree, CIP. EARLE: CIP. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Um-hum. EARLE: And it was pulling in and preparing for a future sidewalk. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Um-hum. EARLE: And -- WELDY: Identifying the funding source. EARLE: That was a capital -- WELDY: Capital or streets. EARLE: Capital for -- what -- there was three questions though. WELDY: The first question is, do you want to proceed --- EARLE: Oh, got it, yes. WELDY: -- with the reconstruction? EARLE: Yes, okay. And can we start it next week? [LAUGHTER] WELDY: No, ma'am. KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah, I do want to proceed. I -- I would rather just stay in alignment with the original plan which would be four lanes, I think it'd look more tidy, more neat, and we'll deal with the sidewalks thing years from now when -- when and if we ever grant funding for that. Because the reason we're fixing so many sidewalks right now is not because the people demanded it, it's because we had a lot of grant money. And so, let's say if we get grant money, I think it'll be tidy, it'll look better, and it'll look finished as -- as compared to this -- this five-foot buffer. And then I would prefer we do it out of capital as well, capital improvement fund. WELDY: Mr. Mayor, if I may? Councilmember, in the event that there is a decision not to pull the curbs in ten feet, when the street is reconstructed, it would go back in its current configuration, which would be a shoulder, two travel lanes in each direction, and a two-way left turn lane. We would not add the second lanes to this area simply because of the density of the housing and we would have too many cars going at TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 93 of 154 increased speeds -- KALIVIANAKIS: Right. WELDY: -- and -- and increase the potential. I was simply demonstrating what its original design was for, not proposing that we go back to two lanes in each direction. Just for clarification. KALIVIANAKIS: Okay, but -- but if we -- if we didn't do the five-foot curtain on each side, then it would go exactly over what is there right now, correct? WELDY: Um-hum, correct. KALIVIANAKIS: It would overlay exactly? Yeah, that's -- that's what I prefer. WATTS: What's the incremental savings if you leave it the four lanes as opposed to pulling the -- the -- pulling it back for the curbs? WELDY: Councilmember, we won't know that until we get ready to do the maintenance on it in ten years. WATTS: So it's ten years of deferred expense, and we don't know how much that expense is? WELDY: We -- it's -- it's simply too far to look into the horizon to see what crack filling and preservative seal during that timeframe would cost. Again, to pull the curbs in right now still requires the removal of the asphalt that's there. We won't be putting the asphalt and the select material back, but we will be constructing the driveways. There could be some savings, but I don't want to lead down that road because it -- it's just too speculative at this point in time. WATTS: How many other streets do we have that are in comparable condition? Like, I know Kingstree is another one of them. How many others do we have? Are we setting a precedent now that if we do this street in the manner that you're suggesting, does that put us between a rock and a hard place next time we do a comparable street? WELDY: I'm going to answer one of your questions and then I'm going to leave the other one up in the air. So we have several of this type of street, which is minor collector, that are in this condition or worse condition. WATTS: That's it. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 94 of 154 WELDY: Whether or not you are in a difficult position when you make direct select decisions, it's -- it -- I suppose that all depends on one's opinion. KALIVIANAKIS: It's tough. WATTS: I think we ought to leave it on the -- on the books as proposed at this point. As we get further down the road, then we can always recant on that decision and discuss it in more detail. At that time, hopefully we'll have a little bit more insight. WELDY: Understood. GOODWIN: So with -- with that in mind, is that you abstaining from -- WATTS: Yes, yes, yes. GOODWIN: Okay. Just double checking. Just double checking. WATTS: I wish I had more, I don't. GOODWIN: Yeah. WATTS: And that's the problem. GOODWIN: And I think ultimately to answer your question, it's -- it's -- it's sort of a philosophical, again, rock and hard place, in that the challenge to the staff was, can we find a way to get Palomino done? Well, we have found a way to get Palomino done, but does it set a precedent for future, and does it create questions further down the road? Perhaps. But the ask was to find a way, and this is -- this is the proposed way. It's the question of whether we want to do it or not is where you're at. WATTS: This is very similar to the discounted rates on Community Center. Why did you do it here but you're not going to do it here. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Um-hum. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Totally. WATTS: And when once we set that precedent, then I think we have to have the foresight to say when we do the next street, and there's probably another half a dozen streets like this. Those residents are going to say you did it here, and now you're going to patch mine again, why? And I think we have to be prepared to have that answer and much like we have to have the answer why we give discounts and why we don't. So I want to be -- just have that on the table to talk about. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 95 of 154 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Totally agree. WATTS: Thanks. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Going to that, Rick, I -- I would say this, we're going to try and do as many streets as we possibly can when we can. So I think that's being fair. And again, there's a lot of people that use this street that don't necessarily live there. So I'm -- I'm for it and I'm also for not doing the sidewalks just yet either. That's ten years down the road. We can wait on that. We'll leave the roads looking the way -- similar the way it is right now. So I'm on -- I'm in favor from capital, and -- and keeping it the -- the way it looks right now. TOTH: For question one, yes, I would like to go forward with the project. I -- I actually really applaud the creativity that you and Paul probably went through making this possible. Question two. Question two was the curb. I agree with Councilmember Watts; I think I need more information on that. So I'm a yes, I'd like to talk about it again. And then for number three, I'm -- I'm fine with doing the capital -- capital fund and reimbursing with the HEERF, as you said, so we can get it done now. MCMAHON: Thank you. Yes. And I'd like the two lanes highway, and I don't -- and I appreciate the fact that you'll move it out so in the future we can have sidewalks. And I agree with the funding and the carryover for repayment through HEERF. SKILLICORN: So first off, I want to say thank you for listening to residents, they've been talking about this and -- and really, Justin, your department, Paul, really coming together and finding a creative way to solve this and not affect the rest of the town. So very good job. So it's yes, to move forward. Take a different nuance view on the narrowing because I think that your vision is acceptable, I just want to make sure the public hears it. So we -- I mean, maybe even a regular council session we should just bring up the -- the plan how it looks about the narrowing of ten feet. I think your vision is acceptable and I think they'll -- they'll go along with it. But I just want to make sure it's not a surprise to anybody. And then on the funding aspect, I -- I think it is important this -- this does have a capital TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 96 of 154 improvement to our town. I think it's appropriate that it be either mostly or maybe even all capital. And I really want to not take a third of the street fund away. And that's what it would do if we -- funded a hundred percent streets. And then, that means that this also would not compete with the previous list of streets that need to be done. So we don't have to worry about that question, well, you guys did Palomino, but you didn't do the pile of rocks in front of my house. So this would not compete with the existing plan if we fund it as a capital and I think it's -- that would be just a win win and I think the people of our town which we serve, would really like it and really love it. So thank you. WELDY: Thank you all for the feedback and guidance. The next one is Shea Boulevard. Shea Boulevard was gifted to the fledgling community in the early 90s. There were some clauses in that gifting including, but not limited to, the newly formed town would abide by the recommendation and guidance from the Regional Transportation Authority. Which would be, in those case -- in most cases ADOT and, or eventually, the Maricopa Association of Governments. Ever since the inheritance and or the gifting of Shea, it has be under construction in one form or another in one direction or another. There are some exceptions to who paid for it. In and around Eagle Mountain and Shea, on either side, developers paid for that. Around the Fry's grocery center, development paid for that. The balance of that was paid out of state coffers from monies collected through fuel taxing. All of them different numbers. Obviously, we're currently using 400 numbers. All of these different sections of Shea took a considerable amount of time and the section that we are looking at right now, which is east bound, between Palisades and Fountain Hills Boulevard is no exception. As part of this design, we have encountered some minor staffing changes and encountered some geotechnical issues. And obviously, near the corner of Palisades and Shea, most recently you were notified when approving an amendment to the design agreement that we were discussing right away there in regards to either a very steep slope or retaining walls. The number that you were looking at up here is from the engineer's estimate prior to that amendment being TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 97 of 154 approved. So we have some additional geotechnical work that is necessary. The cost will increase overall as a result of that. The decision to either, one, do a steeper stabilized slope or possibly use retaining walls will also increase the amount. We simply do not know why. And admittedly, above my paid grade and parallel, they were concerned that the number's going to be higher than what is being presented right here and wanted to know if there was any way possible that we could possibly estimate or project to that number. The answer is honestly, no. Because we simply don't know what it is, and that number you see there is not only codified in history from previous slides but also today. So we want to be open and -- and honest and clear. We do not know what the future and total cost is going to be for construction for a couple of reasons, design related to Geotech, design related to retaining walls or steeper slope, and then lastly, when we open the bids when we get ready to go construction, we will know what the cost is there. You see Paul cringing a little bit each time I mention a number, he has to project in to next year's budget what we have to spend on this project and then ask MAG for reimbursement in increments. I understand his -- his concern. I share that concern as well. But we're just not at that level right now. This has been on the books for coming up on forty years. The reason it's here is because the not only the discussion internally, management, and directors, but also the Council and several Call to the Public where people have voiced their opinion. We are just simply sharing some timelines and some cost and reminding the council that when you approve an a -- project, it could be two or three years depending on the complexities and the size of the project before it actually goes to construction. Lots of information right there. Does anyone have any questions related to this? EARLE: Is this -- isn't this the one with the grant and we have to use the grant funds in a certain amount of time or am I mixing it up with a different one? WELDY: Mr. Mayor, I -- Mr. Mayor, Madam councilmember, this is actually Prop 400 funding, which the money for this is already allocated in the MAG bank account for lack of a better description. The next phase, which is not part of this right here will come out TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 98 of 154 of the next generation of funding which is 479. So this is a 70-30 split. 70 percent paid for with it -- the MAG money and 30 percent from the town. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Okay. Thanks (indiscernible). EARLE: So this is -- this is not construction cost, is this just development? WELDY: The -- EARLE: This is construction, okay. WELDY: This is construction costs -- EARLE: Okay. WELDY: -- based on the engineer's estimate prior to the most recent amendment -- EARLE: Prior to. WELDY: -- that was approved. EARLE: And so, it's taken four years because? WELDY: We had some staffing changes. In fact, and -- and I say this with some humor. EARLE: Okay. WELDY: The town had one engineer for thirty years and then over the next couple of years went through three. EARLE: Okay. WELDY: So with those staffing changes we simply did not have the ability to keep up with not only this project but all of the other projects that were in queue. And when that happens when you reach back out to the firm and say, okay, here are our comments. Well, it's been nine months since they've heard from us, they now have to ramp back up and get up to speed on that project because it's also not theirs. So there are several factors internally that caused some delays, including, unknown geotechnical reports, which took a considerable amount of time. Some design efforts. We also had to get a LOMR. And -- and that's a little bit complicated. So there's a section of this that falls within the flood plain. And in order to build on that flood plain, you have to get approval from FEMA. That requires an incredible amount of design, data, survey, and modeling to show what the impact will be up and downstream as a result of those changes. That has to go to FEMA and on -- on average, FEMA can be TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 99 of 154 anywhere from 12 months to 24 months before you get your review and, or your LOMR approved. So there -- there's just a couple of factors that impacted the schedule in regards to design. EARLE: Do we have that from them now? WELDY: Yes, ma'am, we do. EARLE: Oh, yay. So at this point, what's holding us back besides us approving it? WELDY: There's currently nothing holding us back. The town engineers and I are going to have a conversation with the design firm today, this afternoon I believe, and we are going to try and hammer down the timeline, the intent, without having all of the pieces in place is to return to the elected body prior to the summer break and ask them to award a contract for bid, and then the -- obviously, the project would start July, August. EARLE: And do you know about how long it would take, or would that -- you won't know until you talk to the contractor? WELDY: I don't want to speculate on the length of time right now, and -- and I'm going to give you a couple of reasons. Most recently, there was some activity on east-bound Shea around the Palisades intersection that required the closure of one lane. In order to close that one lane and get it down to a one lane, you actually have to start at basically a 130 a street, moving people over. So by the time they get to Palisades, they've been sitting in line for a mile and a half or two miles. That backup has a very big impact on motorists not only motoring through but making their way home for dinner or whatever reason. And so, we -- we are going to have to kind of minimize that. And in order to construct this project, we're going to have to impactful -- impact them doing that. So I'm -- we're working with the town manager, the town engineers to see how we can get this safely constructed without those restrictions for east-bound Shea. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. WELDY: So the timeline, that sets the timeline back a little bit. Any other questions related to this one? SKILLICORN: So what documentation do we have that the amount of traffic requires widening the road? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 100 of 154 WELDY: We have the MAG projections and the counts every three to five years for the corridor. SKILLICORN: And they -- they -- I mean, is there an actual -- enough traffic here to -- to go through this? WELDY: The -- the short answer is yes. So the projections that were made prior to the town being a town, those projections have been met, and then additional counts have been taken every three to five years, sometimes seven years depending on the conditions. And each of the projections for the 2050 have been very accurate, so we're within a marginal error of the projections that were made 20 years ago. SKILLICORN: And I'm just kind of wondering about -- because the projections have changed for population. I mean, currently on the MAG's website, it says that Fountain Hills in the year 2060 will only be 26,100 people. So the projections have drastically changed since years ago and I -- I still kind of wonder driving through this area, I've never seen a need for an additional lane. WELDY: So the projections not only include those traveling to and from Fountain Hills, but the tens of thousands of people that use the Shea corridor to get to their favorite recreational spot or to their home that's north of Shea on the SR-87. So there are some peak flow times when the temperature is above 125, and also, when we have longer weekends that the Shea corridor, it goes all one direction starting Wednesday and then returns going the other direction -- SKILLICORN: Okay. Yeah, I mean, I can see that. WELDY: -- Saturday, Sunday and Monday. SKILLICORN: Okay. That's -- I'm just curious because I know when you look at the MAG numbers, they're very difference (sic) then -- then what the -- the original plans for Fountain Hills were 50 years ago. WELDY: I agree. There are some changes in regards to the population. But the overall traffic is impacted by the -- the pass-through traffic as well. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Could you guys talk about the development fees real quick? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Long enough for me to eat a cookie? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 101 of 154 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah. [LAUGHTER] MAYOR FRIEDEL: I was going to ask if there was enough in development fees to -- SOLDINGER: I think -- so Mayor and Council, I think a really key consideration for this project, obviously it's been in the plans for several years now, and what I've learned in -- in our meeting with MAG and discussing the project at length, is we've been charging developers impact fees specifically for this project. For our Streets development fees, we're on a plan-based approach, similar to what was explained in a recent council meeting by (indiscernible). And what we've been charging them for is to do this project. So really, that's what we've been accumulating that money for, and right now, we have about $840,000 saved up for this purpose. So you see that town share of 900,000, when we do the construction similar to what we're talking about as far as reimbursements go, we would do the same thing, we would reimburse the capital projects fund. We have 840,000 to cover the 900,000 town's share if that's what the true amount is. And we would receive those reimbursements from MAG. So in the end for this particular project, for the most part, it would be paid from other funding sources that could only be used for that purpose. WATTS: So Paul before you go away. SOLDINGER: Yes. WATTS: This is -- is two-part question, has actually the timing which is concerning because when the engineers, consultants, and geotechnical people determine what we need, it could be a combination of infill, retaining walls, cut fill, a -- a variety of things that could be as much as our town's share. Do we continue to have that proportional amount from MAG to defer the town's share, so if it is an another $900,000, I don't want to run out of money is what comes down to. Do we have that same 70-30 split on the 900, so we pick up another 270 as opposed to the full 900, if it came to that, worst case scenario. SOLDINGER: Sure, yeah, Councilmember Watts. Justin probably will add on to my explanation. But yes, MAG has a -- they've allocated like $32 million towards this TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 102 of 154 project then the -- then the final phase, which is supposed to -- we're starting the plan for that construction in 2031, so that's a ways out. But there should be plenty of funding. So if the -- the -- the bids come back larger than we expect, there is still that 70-30 split with the allocated funding already approved by MAG. And we would have to cover the town's share, and we have the 837,000, which will -- will grow as we collect some more of those impact fees over the next six months to a year before construction starts or whenever it does start. So I think we're in a good financial position to take on the project. WATTS: So financially we're okay, timing wise it's a bit of an unknown. It could be 90 days, 180 days by the time we contracted with a consultant, the geotechnical aspect of it, they actually get the work done, could be somewhere in the 90 to 180 days. Do we have any conflicts there that would impact funds in the upcoming year, no? SOLDINGER: Okay, you all -- (indiscernible) real quick. So Councilmember Watts, that -- that is partially why we include the contingency in different funds. In -- so I've explained this quite a bit, but maybe not in the other funds. So in the general fund, we balance the budget, right, revenues and expenditures. However, in our other funds, such as the capital projects fund, we can include a contingency as long as we can fit it under the expansile limitation if we have existing fund balance. And our healthiest fund balance is our general fund, our capital projects fund, and our streets fund. And currently, we have about $11 and a half million in this fund, so the only point I'm trying to make is, we'll include some contingency in the budget in case there are some potential overrides or additional costs that -- that we didn't consider, and then we would consider bringing that back to Council to request additional -- WATTS: You'll probably have to remind me of that two or three more times, but eventually I'll get it. So I thank you. SOLDINGER: Yeah, no problem. GOODWIN: Justin, do you mind if I chime in on a couple things? WELDY: Please. GOODWIN: Justin's already alluded to a lot of this, but just to kind of clarify. This is a TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 103 of 154 priority project if it's approved to get moving and get it done. Justin and I, he already knows this, we've already talked about it, that it's lingered on our books for too long, MAG has made it clear that we're behind their projected timeline to get this done. Prop 400 monies have already sunsetted and they're already starting to collect the 479. So they need to kind of clear out their bank account and sunset that fund. So all of this is sort of prompting a we got to get a move on sort of concept. And if I'm wrong, Justin, you can chime in on this. But in a perfect world we're going to have something before this council takes a summer break to begin this -- to award the project, is that right? WELDY: Correct. GOODWIN: So we are absolutely motivated to get -- to get rolling on this and get this done. Now that being said, once it does actually start, and I'm going to say -- use the term when the shovels hit the ground, it's going to be a hiviz (phonetic) and -- and a little bit painful as a commuter in and out of the town over in that area. We are going to work to try to minimize that as much as possible and coordinate during hopefully low traffic times and anticipate high traffic times, those types of things. But it is a -- it is a situation. Lastly on the construction costs, and Justin sort of mention that Paul and I cringe at the three million number, because the reality is, is it's probably is going to be higher than that. To Councilmember Watts, your point about is MAG prepared to take on their proportionate share, absolutely. They're the ones that are telling us they know that the modeling indicates it's going to be probably higher. They've already told us they've anticipated that and expect that to come their way. So I think that we're on the same page with them in that. WELDY: And -- and to dovetail onto that, the town engineers reminded me that we can also apply for closeout funds from MAG for construction costs as well. Any questions before we move on? Any little breaks? Everybody all right? You all right? This project here has -- has been discussed in great detail. This is primarily driven by the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 104 of 154 downtown development group and the people that use it. They have not only met with the economic development director, but the town engineers and the development services director over a period of time. And the thought process and the concepts have been brough back to the mayor and council for consideration based on all the information gathered. This is the concept that we're having the council take a look at and decide if they want to move forward with this as a project for next year. There are a lot of moving parts in here and a lot of different options, a lot of that information was shared in over several meetings and there were speakers to the public and obviously the mayor and council have received emails and comments from the business areas in the downtown related to this project. I will certainly do my best to explain it to the best of my ability, fortunate for me I have the town engineer and the economic development director to provide backup and support. GOODWIN: Looks good to me. MCMAHON: I think this, Amanda, project is part of the downtown improvement, and in order to have that area be more inviting and support businesses and higher level of visitors et cetera in order -- in order also to have our downtown more usable and user friendly -- WELDY: A bio downtown is the target. MCMAHON: -- is an improvement, right. WELDY: And -- and just for some clarification, this was a economic development initiative driven by the elected body and the residents if it's selected to move forward it will then move into capital or into the public works department and economic development will be involved throughout that time. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Please. JACOBS: Thank you, Justin. So Mr. Mayor, councilmember McMahon, that is correct. So last year the council unanimously approved the downtown strategy which also was implementation strategy approved, again, by this body, some new faces with our community economic development strategy. What we heard, I'm skipping a little bit, Justin, because I have control, is what we heard on December 5th at the council retreat TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 105 of 154 is if we can through the capital fund, it's not the downtown funds, we're talking about capital, if we could do it in five years versus eight years, let's go for it. So that was the consensus and so you'll see I've skipped way ahead. Again, those were just concepts. So again, concepts doesn't mean it's 100 percent reality, but we're trying to do it within five years. And then, so working with the finance department and of course, our town manager, we feel like we can do that. And so, the ask the first year, so fiscal year 26 is just the design of the east half of the avenue, and so it's 225,000. And then you'll see the cost starts to increase because then what we're wanting to do which our town engineer shared on December 5th is -- is a bit aggressive, usually you'll see municipalities do design one year, construction the next year, so on and so forth. But what we're trying to do is in fiscal year 27 is start to do construction and then design of the next phase. And then, so I don't know if we need to -- to skip back but are just hoping we receive direction. Has anything shifted or is this still a priority for council to include as part of the capital fund. And again, the ask for fiscal year 26 is the 225,000. WATTS: Do we have the support -- 100 percent support from TAMA? JACOBS: Yes. WATTS: And -- JACOBS: So the -- the mayor, he was wearing a different hat at the time back early in November, but we actually invited TAMA. TAMA was the first stay culture group that came into the council chambers so that we could describe what we were wanting and they loved it. WATTS: And have we talked to a potential project manager, project organization that's going to manage this and they're saying this five-year plan is doable? JACOBS: So we have with these numbers that we're providing, we did seek a third party engineering firm to assist with this. But again, that doesn't mean they'll be handed this project, we still will have to go through our procurement process. WATTS: Who was that? JACOBS: J2 Engineering. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 106 of 154 WATTS: Okay. Thank you. JACOBS: Welcome. EARLE: Would this construction work be done in the summertime and avoiding our busy season in the winter or all year round? JACOBS: So Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Earle, as -- as Justin said, there'll be lots of moving parts. And so yes, we'll want to talk with the business community, obviously whoever is awarded the -- the contract of what we desire. It is also been brought up some of our events, how is that going to be impacted. And so, again, we'll want to take a collaborative approach but also be very data driven. If we're going to reap benefits of -- of sales tax, construction tax, in the longer run is a three-month, six-month pain worth it? We say, yes. But obviously, we need our stay cultures on board. Mr. Mayor, Manager Goodwin, do we want to go -- do we want to go down again or I'm not hearing other questions. GOODWIN: I'm not hearing a whole lot of conversation about -- about this one. I think that the question really is -- I mean, my concern is these are big numbers. This is a $10 million investment and if this is what we want to do, that is awesome and that we will take that direction and get to it. But we have much, much smaller projects that have given pause, so I wanted to make sure that this is something that this is the priority of the council. MCMAHON: I thought it was. I thought when we discussed it before that we thought it was a good idea and it's -- and over the time, it wouldn't hit the budget really really hard all at once. So and we all, as far as I know, understood that it was going to be overtime and include downtown for business purposes and otherwise. JACOBS: Okay. Correct. And so, again, we're showing a five year over an eight year. So it's not 10 million at once, but what Manager Goodwin is saying is, this is -- it's -- it's -- it's going to be a huge investment into the town. But to Councilmember McMahon's point again, in the effort of hopefully revitalizing, looking at Palisades, trying to change zoning, so that's a separate conversation in a -- in a couple of months to get major industry into the town so then they are supporting the local economy. And again, just TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 107 of 154 being an actual vibrant downtown to spur economic growth. So Paul is lingering, so is Justin, I don't know if Manager Goodwin still needs to jump in. SOLDINGER: I -- I can -- well, I was thinking about jumping in a little bit. I -- I just want to talk about the feasibility considerations a little bit and the funding source, the capital projects fund. It's a big number alluding to what the town manager stated. So we just wanted to, kind of, double check. But as far as feasibility is -- goes, we can do this for the following considerations. Number one, we're getting one of our biggest projects off the books hopefully in fiscal year 26, which is the Shea Boulevard widening. That frees up a $3 million project off our capital improvement plan. So if we do get that done, of course, these things are contingent on funding and how the revenues are coming in. We only have -- we have a five-year outlook on our Capital Improvement Plan, of course new things come up. We only have about $4 million, including that amount in fiscal year 27 of 2.4 million plan for fiscal year 27. So they're -- without having to do the Shea Boulevard and considering in that in the budget every year, that opens things up for us. Of course, if there are delays and there are challenges with that, we're going to have to look at it and reconsider it. But the way this is set up I feel comfortable with it because the first year we're doing design. It doesn't mean we have to do the construction in the next year, it's contingent on the revenues and the excess funds that we have that go into the capital projects fund each year. Ideally, we'll get it done in the five-year period or maybe even quicker. But feasibility considerations, I think it is doable and I -- I feel comfortable moving forward with it. EARLE: Rachael, you mentioned putting off some other capital improvements, what were those? Did you -- or you just said -- GOODWIN: No, I think -- if I did, that's not what I was saying. EARLE: Oh, okay. GOODWIN: We -- we were talking through some of the earlier capital projects, whether it's the Kevin's (phonetic) cabinet light or the lighting for some of the structures -- EARLE: Oh, okay, okay. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 108 of 154 GOODWIN: -- and those -- those numbers were pretty concerning, especially like the Ramada replacements, you know, those kind of gave everyone pause, and then when I look at this number, I'm like, oh, it's ten million, right, it's a -- it's a couple extra zeros in there and there wasn't a lot of discussion. So if -- if everybody's like yeah, we've already weighed this and we're good with it to Councilmember McMahon's point, that is great, we will -- we will hit the ground running. With the understanding too that we're kind of laying this out as a five-year look because once we get going, we don't have a lot of opportunity to -- to stop the train. Unless we have funding challenges, which is what Paul was talking about, this isn't going to be a year over year over year effort. So it's not something we can get to FY 28 and go, maybe we don't want to do this anymore. MAYOR FRIEDEL: So what Paul's saying is that it's $2 million a year, basically, and we don't have any real constraints to stop us from moving ahead with this project. GOODWIN: Correct. EARLE: And the other capital improvements were for this next year. GOODWIN: Correct. EARLE: So that's -- that -- I was just looking at the 24 -- 24 -- GOODWIN: 220,000. EARLE: Two -- 2,470,000 for this year, yeah, okay. But no. KALIVIANAKIS: If I may -- SOLDINGER: And just one more statement, it just comes down to the council priority. By including this in the capital improvement plan you're prioritizing this, and of course we're going to consider what we can include in the capital improvement plan on top of it as far as improvements come up. But it's a mayor and council priority in what we include in the budget. KALIVIANAKIS: If I may, one of -- just one of my concerns is it -- I -- I believe this project was presented to the previous council, and we do have new council members, and this -- this -- this is a really large figure, it's a five-year project. It's going to completely change the -- the downtown area, just for moving the palm trees I think it's going to be very controversial. People are going to be very resentful of that. So I think, in all TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 109 of 154 fairness, maybe it should be represented to the council with the new council members, so they know exactly what they're signing off on. Just -- just throwing it out there. GOODWIN: Actually, I was here. Gerry and I were signed on, the only person was Rick Watts who was sitting in the audience. So. KALIVIANAKIS: If you guys are comfortable with that, I -- I -- I just thought that when you're up here and you're looking at the numbers, it might be a little different perspective. WELDY: Mr. Mayor, as we're moving forward in the conversation, the economic development director said it's kind of difficult in regards to impacting the businesses, the town manager mentioned of five years. Now from the person that stands on the street and gets hollered at if there is a fifteen-minute delay on the avenue, let's be realistic. When you start this project, there is going to be multiple years of impact to the businesses that at times will not allow anyone to park anywhere near their business. When you start and stop projects because there's not a convenient time for construction, it -- it -- no matter if you do -- if you do your construction in the summer you're impacting the eight people that were going there this summer. If you do it in the winter, you have ruined their lives. If you do start and stop and construction each time you have to pay that contractor a mobilization, and they have to schedule it. So let's be realistic, you're talking about multiple years of disruption, which doesn't stop projects, it just lets you have that expectation and those listening in understand that. Obviously, for special events and stuff like that, some of them will have to be relocated and start and stop at other locations, you -- you -- you can't simply have it all. But it -- that's not in -- not to be rude, that is the -- the price of progress and improvement. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Justin -- WELDY: Now that everybody's no longer smiling but sad, any other questions? WATTS: I find it curious that much like discussions at home, 10 million jobs are really $11 million jobs, $2.4 million jobs are really $2.5 million, they are all being understated at this point. My concern is sitting out in the audience listening, I was not privy to some of the information that previous council was privy too about the ins and outs and the TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 110 of 154 support or lack of support that has been provided to the council to make a decision. And so, I would like to move forward with it, at least the design side, the first phase, because we don't have to put a shovel to the ground yet, but we need to keep this in the budget, move forward, have further discussion to have this council to look at the ins and outs and impacts. Sounds like a great thing but pretty pictures sometimes don't represent the reality of the project. And I think that's what you're getting at, is now you've -- you've constrained door openings, you've constrained sidewalks, you've made ADA compliant issues a bigger issue. And when people start lighting up phones and emails about what we're doing to them, five years is a heck of a long time to impact a business, and I think we need to have further discussion. So while a supporter in principle, I think it should move forward cautiously. WELDY: And here's another thing to consider, the paving projects from last year in and around Colony and Panorama, that area, some of those business owners asked if they could be reimbursed up to $20,000 a piece for the inconvenience and their projected loss of revenue. JACOBS: What I was going to add to was that we do have the support from TAMA, which is exciting. We have this five-year plan that splits it into quadrants. It's not -- I mean, thank God, it's not five years of construction in front of the same business. That would -- that would not be something that would be easy to support. But I do agree with the concerns, it is a very large number. I also know that everyone in this room has heard me talk my fool head off about downtown, so I am still obviously supportive of this. But I want to give consideration to the fact that we are going to receive complaints, there are going to be growing pains. However, if we do this and do it well and we're encouraging walking down the avenue in front of these businesses, we're -- we need to find a way to encourage our business owners, and it sounds like a lot of them probably already see it in this way, to see it as an investment. I'm taking three, four months of it's harder to get into my business for the next twenty years of higher foot traffic. And if we can -- excuse me while I'm being Pollyanna here -- but if we can get everybody on that page, that would be awesome. I know we'll get complaints. I TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 111 of 154 know it's going to be hard. But perhaps we can all get on the same page for the talking points of, this is an investment, this is to encourage foot traffic in your area, you're going to see long-term results from us doing this over the next five years. WATTS: And I think that's exactly what I was saying is having one more open meeting for all the participants in TAMA to come and understand and -- and having a heart to heart talk about the significance of the impacts, that it is going to interrupt your business, it is going to have these variety of impacts, are you ready to do -- to take this step. Sometimes we have a tendency to sugarcoat things and make them look real pretty, and the reality is, it's real painful. So I -- I'm -- that's why I want to move cautiously. WELDY: So Councilmember, just to make sure we understand, are you referencing the full capital projects in March where you would like to be -- have this revisited, are you talking about a separate meeting that allows for the public to speak? WATTS: I'm open to either one. So I -- I would look to our town manager to say what's the most viable opportunity to have input that says yes you're -- you're comfortable moving forward and you recognize and accept the impact and you're not going to come back to us with a $20,000 bill from everybody. We're not going to accept them, so don't bother. And -- and having those heart to hearts sometimes is difficult, but if you have them upfront it's a lot easier than having them after the fact. GOODWIN: I see. Do you what me to chime in or do you want me to answer it first? JACOBS: So Mr. Mayor, Councilmember, so we have -- I also want to -- to make note, I love TAMA, appreciate TAMA, but TAMA's the avenue, so this is much bigger than TAMA. And so, we've been reaching out to Parkview to Palisades to Plaza Fountainside. Specifically with TAMA, TAMA received the council packet, links to this PowerPoint in advance, they have been told at the council retreat and budget workshops public comment is not allowed, but they are allowed to provide to comments as we are looking at the tentative budget. So they've been invited. There's going to be lots of opportunities for you to hear TAMA and other business leaders speak upon this. The other piece of this that's not a capital improvement project is what John Wesley is TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 112 of 154 working on as far as the overly zoning district, that will be going to Planning and Zoning on March 10th. If there's not a lot of feedback or changes, that will be presented to the second meeting to council in April. And so, as were moving with each phase, we are in lockstep with our stake holders to say here's your -- here's your opportunity, and I always encourage not a one or a two person speak up, but sometimes they prefer a representative, but that the council is hearing from more voices, not just myself, not just Betsy from the Chamber, or Jim the Chair of TAMA, but for other folks to weigh in. If they don't feel comfortable speaking here at the podium, I also invite them to send a message to the council. Because one person doesn't make a decision, the body does. WATTS: So along those lines, and I'm going to get stink eye from Aaron here in a minute, that it's going to be -- I -- I want a mandatory meeting that you waived your rights to complain if you don't attend these meetings. Well, look at the last -- I know you can't, and I don't even -- JACOBS: I know, sorry. WATTS: -- I -- I -- I know Aaron's seen it at all. JACOBS: He doesn't give you the stink eye, we're just going to both shake our heads. WATTS: But -- but -- but -- but it -- but you look at it like -- JACOBS: It can't happen. WATTS: -- how many contractors attended the -- the vendor opportunity meeting? One. And yet, they complain at nauseum about there being disadvantage, they're not -- we're not offering them opportunities. And the same thing applies to the four or five areas when they're affected, they're going to forget about what they originally saw, what they originally didn't participate in, and I think that's my concern. So a little more advertising, one more meeting that is -- is doggone near a required meeting for all of these aspects of the project to come and say, hey, here's my concern and do you really know what you're asking for and we're willing to do it, but you're not allowed to complain when we move. JACOBS: Right. Absolutely, Councilmember Watts. And I'll say too with what Justin was referring to with one of the projects. So sometimes we say we received all these TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 113 of 154 complaints, and I usually ask my fellow coworkers, all these complaints, I want a number. So one of them that I'm aware of was -- was one person. And then so I said, okay, let's see if what they're complaining about is a real complaint. So we went and did a process walk, is what I'm calling, and so there were some errors. And then we fixed it. We did some more banners, we before each then construction project, we're making sure that we're advertising, the town is, and we're in lockstep with the contractor. So my point is there's going to be lots of opportunities, not just one, but unfortunately, we can't mandate anything, Councilmember Watts. That's how the government gets a bad name. WATTS: No, I know you can't mandate anything. But, an awareness component because the pretty pictures, the Gantt charts, the project management, the background and the expertise of the project manager, understanding how you're going to sequence the logistical aspects of it are all null and void when somebody blocks your front door, and you can't get customers in the door. So that awareness, I think we have to be more emphatic about how we convey that message so that there is no room to squawk after the fact, just be aware now. So whatever we can do, and next steps is what I like to see. GOODWIN: To follow up on that, I mean, my suggestion at this point was if you -- if the council feels strongly about that opportunity, is to probably host an open house where it can -- you can solicit that feedback and again, not necessarily on the record, but informally, to be able to say and the council can attend, but the staff would need to lead that conversation and to do that. But you would be able to hear and talk to people, get their feedback, see renderings, ask questions, et cetera. If you wanted to be more on the record of this nature, we would need to schedule something. And yeah, I do think it needs to be before March 25th, which is when we're going to deep dive and decide what CIPs are moving forward and what are not. Waiting much longer after that, we're going to be sort of hamstrung in finishing out the budget process. WATTS: I think if you could do something was informal and -- and advertisement of some sort that said come and share your concerns. GOODWIN: Um-hum. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 114 of 154 WATTS: Understand what the process is going to be -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: And ask questions. WATTS: -- understand -- Q and A. GOODWIN: Yep. WATTS: And it is casual, and we're not going to take names and addresses. But I think there has to be an awareness. And again, I wasn't privy to the prior council's conclusion, whatever, however they arrived at it, so I'd like to see that. But I'd also like to precede that with the input from the -- the public, the residents, the business owners, so they are fully aware, to the best of our ability, and we haven't -- we haven't dropped the ball somewhere. JACOBS: And Mayor and Councilmember Watts, we can share too just before we even got to this phase, the open house, which I believe you attended, maybe you didn't, that was open to everybody. There was a hundred people that showed up at the -- the Community Center, but when we were looking at each phase, the businesses and the property owners were invited, and so, for instance, when we looked at Parkview, I think only two people showed up. So again, we've done some of that pre-work, I understand you weren't there, you were in a different capacity, we can share some of that information. And if you would like us to do another meeting, an open house, we can absolutely do that. But just want to make sure this body, the people who are watching at home know as well that as we're going through this budget process, there are other opportunities to weigh in. Either by sending a note to council via email or coming and doing a speaker card. WATTS: I -- I think was at the meeting, although, I've been to so many meetings that they kind of run into one another. But if I recall correctly, the majority of the attendees at the meetings were residents that marveled at what we were going to do, not business owners. I think it was heavily weighted to residents. And from my -- if I was the resident attending, I'd be 100 percent in favor too, not recognizing the impact on businesses. So that's where I would focus on the business owners and the impact on them and making sure that they -- it was weighted on their half -- their behalf. So. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 115 of 154 KALIVIANAKIS: And -- and that's exactly when I addressed council earlier and -- and I talked about bringing the concept back before this body and I like the idea about bringing it back for the public. I've -- I -- I wrote down what I said, I said this is going to be inconvenient for business owners and I think that -- that was a understatement. But once again, I know that the business community went through COVID just a couple years ago, and a lot of people didn't survive that, now some of the businesses are just getting on their feet and then were going to throw this at them. And the stronger businesses will survive, the -- the weaker ones, they won't . There's a lot of businesses out there right now that are just struggling, you know, Mathnasium just went out of business. So and -- and if this does get presented to the public it -- I think it'd be good to present both -- both sides, the good and the bad. I -- I did go to that meeting, and it was all the good. We -- we never said about cutting down palm trees, we never talked about, again, the inconvenience to the business community. I just -- I do want this to be something that we go into and the business community and the residents of this town with both eyes wide open, because they could run this council out of town with pitchforks -- pitchforks and torches, and I -- I don't want that to happen and be fearing for my life. So this is -- this is huge, it's -- it's -- it's very substantial. And -- and let's let everybody know what we're getting into. That's what I'd suggest. JACOBS: Absolutely. So that is an action item. Justin stepped away if there's no further comments. So right now, the direction is to move forward with the 225,000. But from now until the next meeting to try to pull off an open house with more visuals. Kay. Okay. Yes, so, yeah. Justin had to step away, so he said take -- take the next one. All right. So downtown signage. The council in this current fiscal year has approved wayfinding signage. So that is for the entire town. So it's town-wide wayfinding signage. We have been asked by the business community, and I would say about 80 percent, maybe 90 percent, we say business, their also residents in this town, but we have been asked to have possibly entryway signs or gateway signs introducing the downtown. So that is the only slide. So what we are requesting is $250,000 for signage. And as I mentioned on December TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 116 of 154 5th, what that signage looks like is to be determined. So one, we want to see what happens with the wayfinding signage. So wayfinding is more directional in nature. What folks have been pushing is gateway signage. And so, we shared that on December 5th. And so, we can provide that later to council. But to note, two gateway signs, so if that was off of Saguaro, so near El Lago and La Montana or Palisades, that is just two signs is probably the 250,000. So is that the -- is that the best use of -- of money and signs, or do we want entryway signs. So again, this is part of the capital fund project, where we are requesting 250,000. This will not get started on July 1, there's still lots of work to be done. EARLE: I thought the council approved wayfinding signs is when I was sitting in the audience. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: They did. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah, did. JACOBS: That is -- EARLE: And that was over two years. Is that something different from this and when -- what are those -- JACOBS: Well, it is -- yep. So it is -- it is different, and it's no longer over two years. So Justin and through the procurement process was able to get -- so we started with 750,000 last year, we received direction from council, 750 is not going to cut it, can we look at 500,000 -- the Mayor's nodding. And so, we actually got below 400,000, I believe, Justin. KALIVIANAKIS: We accepted eight. JACOBS: Thank you very much. So below 400,000. So 358. Thank you, Councilmember Kalivianakis. And so that will be done this year. EARLE: Okay. I was going to say -- JACOBS: Before -- EARLE: -- I thought maybe I was missing in my head in seeing. JACOBS: Okay. (Indiscernible). EARLE: So you want this in addition to -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 117 of 154 JACOBS: So before -- before June 30th. Excuse me, Councilmember Earle. EARLE: You want this in addition to? JACOBS: That's correct. EARLE: (Indiscernible). JACOBS: So these aren't wayfinding, this would either be gateway signage or entryway signs into our downtown. EARLE: And where would they be located? This is, I guess, small to me, I can't see. KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah, this is so small. This is so small. I can't make it out either. EARLE: It's tiny. I just want to make it bigger. KALIVIANAKIS: I can't make it out either. I don't know what's -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). EARLE: What? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Sorry. One plus on the board. EARLE: Put this on. Oh, command plus. TOTH: If you press command plus on the keyboard, if you're on that slide it'll zoom in for you. JACOBS: Thanks, Vice Mayor. TOTH: Sorry. Control plus, I forgot this isn't Apple. EARLE: Oh, control. Thank you. GOODWIN: Amanda, is there any -- a simple reference that you can maybe give us in terms of a visual of what a gateway sign is versus an entryway sign that we might be able to be familiar with to kind of visualize? JACOBS: I know, I'm trying to think of a place, but sometimes that's so -- oh, somebody's (indiscernible). UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). JACOBS: So think of a -- a gateway is much higher. So it's going to be above you. So a gateway, entry -- you're entering downtown. An entryway sign, think of a commercial development or a residential development that could be sort of announcing -- help me Justin, or Janover, or John Wesley. Which one? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 118 of 154 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Eagle (indiscernible). JACOBS: Eagle Mountain. So think of Eagle Mountain, a more than an entryway. So as you're entering the various district. So we're -- so we're talking, one, about different signage. And so, we're asking council, because this is again what we're hearing from our residents and the business community, but admittedly we need to do more work on this. And council sometimes talks about the -- the chicken and the egg, Economic Development doesn't really like chicken and the egg, but we want to know that there's some level of support before we dive deeper and get the business community excited. If we think wayfinding signage is -- is good enough, let that be installed, let it be installed for a year and see if we're -- if we need this, and then we come back the following year. But we're just asking, based off of feedback we've received this past one to two years. Vice Mayor? TOTH: I think our town manager was before me, so I was going to let you -- okay. GOODWIN: Sorry, I was (indiscernible). TOTH: Looking at this, and I know I've been the signs big cheerleader lately, but with the wayfinding signs in consideration, I don't know if we need all eleven of these. My inclining is leaning toward our dark blue, our primary entry. Our light blue here -- okay. So for example, number 6, that is right by the Chamber's big LED thing. And so, I would say that installing a second monument there is a little redundant. I know it would obviously say something else, it wouldn't be Chamber events, but that's on its own a pretty good, I'm in a commercial area of town, you know. So then we have Saguaro and Palisades in -- if I'm looking at this right, it -- because there's two circles on number 8. Is that three signs in that same kind of intersection zone? JACOBS: I'm going to defer that to -- to Janover. And I'll also share with you, as we were working with J2 Engineering, we're just showing these as opportunities. This 250 most likely yeah, we wouldn't -- we wouldn't put all of these signs. These are just possibilities just to make sure that that's clear. She's asking are there three, or? JANOVER: Oh, yeah, that -- that would just be -- it would just be one of those locations. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 119 of 154 Those are just possible locations of where signs could go. JACOBS: Got it. JANOVER: But it would be up to us to -- to make a decision as a Mayor and council and staff to -- to see which one of these locations are more preferable. And again, yeah, we wouldn't be putting one sign right next to another. TOTH: Okay. And thank you, I'm sorry, I had missed that those were kind of options for locations. JACOBS: Yeah, that's okay. TOTH: And at risk of getting too far in the weeds, I -- if I'm allowed to give my recommendation for locations, I'm -- I'm favorable to our corners. So that's really mostly our dark blues. Saguaro to La Montana, La Montana -- well, I don't know about number 3. Okay. Saguaro and La Montana, La Montana, El Lago, one of the Saguaro, El Lago signs and I think that's kind of where I would lean if I were to become a yes on this. Thank you. EARLE: Sorry, Hannah. TOTH: That's okay. EARLE: My -- my input is to hold off on this, do the wayfinding signs and get our downtown fixed up and then -- then get these signs. JACOBS: Okay. WATTS: I -- I think I'm in agreement with Councilmember Earle. In between the GPS's that are in vehicles, the GPS on your phone, I mean I rarely have to use my folded map anymore. [LAUGHTER] KALIVIANAKIS: And if I may, yeah, I -- I concur with -- with two councilmembers. We're -- we're going to be in a little bit of a pinch with the deferred tax repeal and the residential tax repeal. You know, I -- I hate to go back to what they used to always say in the former council, but this seems more like a -- a want to have then a need to have. And there are a number of things that I think are going to be coming up on our agenda that are going to be more need to have. And so, I'd like to see the wayfinding signs that TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 120 of 154 we approved reluctantly get put up and maybe we can revisit this in -- in a year or two. And then maybe we can actually see what you're talking about. JACOBS: P.S. we'll send you better versions. I agree, I'm having a difficult time seeing myself. Mr. Mayor, did you want to weigh in? MAYOR FRIEDEL: I -- I would agree with the learned council as well. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I can't follow that up. JACOBS: Councilmember McMahon, Councilmember Skillicorn, did you want to weigh in? I think we're -- I'm getting a consensus of -- of waiting. MCMAHON: I think given -- I think given that we're going to start the downtown street scapes et cetera funding, I think that, to me, has a higher priority than this. I would like to keep it though and take a look at it in another couple years. Because we did just to the wayfarer (sic) signs, and I want to see how -- how they work out. Okay? JACOBS: Councilmember Skillicorn? I know you didn't want to touch something. SKILLICORN: Yeah, I'm -- I'm -- JACOBS: He's -- he's -- he's -- he's good. Okay. So we received a consensus. We'll go ahead and remove the 250,000 from the capital fund for the downtown signage. GOODWIN: I think that's our last CIP to kind of go over. We are a little behind schedule. I know some people may need to take a break, which we can do. Ultimately -- alternately, we would move right into further downtown discussion, specific to some of the smaller strategy items. Which would you like to do, Mayor? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Can we just stand here, two minutes? MAYOR FRIEDEL: (Indiscernible) like ten minutes, five minutes. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Oh. Do you want (indiscernible). GOODWIN: Sounds good. Grab a cookie. (Pause). JACOBS: All right. For the public and my colleagues, the Mayor has given me the signal to start. Mr. Mayor, Council, on December 5th staff presented some ongoing downtown TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 121 of 154 supplements that will come from the downtown fund. So again, we're switching funds. We're not talking about capital anymore; we're talking about the downtown fund. That represented a 150,000, the ask for five years. After we left and spoke as staff and looking at what is currently in the fund, we discussed that the budget will not support 150 in addition to what we're already paying for. So for example, the holiday lights for Stroll, and then just the whole month of December, parts of November and December -- no, it's just December and parts of January, that comes out of this fund. And so, what we've done is we have some proposed cuts, but want to have a conversation with council. And so, we have narrowed that down to 75,000 from 150 the ask. We're wanting to include event programming. What that's going to look like is doing some more concert series during the week, not the weekend. We're trying to bring new people to the community, spend money along the avenue. Kevin mentioned working with Plaza Fountainside and their -- their restaurants to have some live music there. As well as Centennial Pavilion. So it's a little bit generic in event programming, but that's what that means. We're looking at not asking for marketing. Part of that, yes, you want to market an event but the council last year, this current fiscal year, was very gracious and bumped up the economic development fund. So we will use marketing there. Banners have been eliminated. You guys know sometimes it does drive me crazy the whole needs and -- and wants, because what could think is a -- a need you may think is a want or the public does. So right now, we are in the process of replacing the banners on the avenue. And so, is it necessary to replace them every year? The answer is no. Would it be nice as we're getting new visitors? Of course. But if we need to keep the current banners that we're going to be putting up in the next 30 to 60 days for two years or three years, we can live with that. On December 5th, the murals here was for exterior buildings, while there was not a consensus to eliminate it. On December 5th at the council retreat I said I would go ahead and eliminate that. So that is removed. The facade improvement program has been asked by a few council members. And so, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 122 of 154 we are wanting to move forward with that program. So again, that -- if we get approval to move forward with that, a policy would come before this body for approval and just how that would work, and we've been working with some other municipalities to get some best practices that have been in place. I'm going to skip the palm lights for a moment. What is added and what was not discussed is we don't have a line item currently within the downtown fund for maintenance and repair. And so, we're wanting to add 5,000. What that's been for the last couple of years is the clock on the avenue has failed. Pieces of the banner poles have become missing. And so, Justin will ask, okay where are we taking this from? Do we have money somewhere? Yes. But it's nice to have that line item that we know, okay, we have -- we have 5,000, it doesn't mean we're going to use all 5,000, but if there's a need that the money is -- is there and visible to staff and the public. So palm tree lights. We have eliminated this as a suggestion but want to have a conversation with council. Why this was eliminated is as we move along, possibly, with the construction and the improvements along downtown, that construction cost includes lights on trees and -- and stringing lights. Now next year we've proposed to you just doing design. And so, in talking with our CFO if council would like to keep the 20,000 for -- for five years or include it this next year, we're not breaking the bank. There is a budget to -- to do that. But wanted to have a conversation with the mayor and council. So this is what we're proposing, but we'll share too as -- as -- as staff it probably would be good for at least fiscal year 26 and 27 to include the palm tree lights. But we want some -- some direction. EARLE: On the palm tree lights, you're keeping them up all the time, right? JACOBS: That is correct. EARLE: So why -- what's the 20,000 for each year? JACOBS: This -- so this would be just in case. So yeah, we may not need a full 20,000 to fully replace, but as the palms are -- are growing, if lights break, if they start to -- to fall down, that we're prepared to replace those so that it doesn't look bad. Because right TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 123 of 154 now I think you guys were receiving rave reviews of the palm trees. EARLE: It looks (indiscernible) now, yeah. Okay. So we -- I can't imagine -- we paid how much the first time to do them all? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Twenty. EARLE: It was twenty? So that would be the max. JACOBS: Excuse me as I'm getting a paper towel. EARLE: Okay. JACOBS: So you -- so the council said hey, I'm going to give you 25,000. I went to Kevin, we talked about this in December. I don't like to discuss negotiating skills. But to give an example, I said tell the vender we have twenty. The vendor went below 20,000. EARLE: Okay. So that's -- that's a big estimate. So we probably would never go to 20,000 unless everything completely went -- JACOBS: See then I think (indiscernible). EARLE: I don't know. I can't imagine in one year all of them would go bad. JACOBS: Agreed. EARLE: So okay. WATTS: Amanda, what -- can you describe what the facade improvement program is. Is that making all of the business facades the same? Is it -- what -- what is it doing? JACOBS: So -- oh. Oh, he's so sweet. The paper towels a bit rough. So Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, what that would be is targeting some of our older buildings and having a grant program to either improve the whole exterior, doing some fresh paint. It still depends, we haven't gone deep into that because again we want to make sure that we have council support, and that policy will come before council. But traditionally, it's targeting older buildings. So Park Place is fairly new, that's not somebody that would qualify. We have some buildings within the downtown on the avenue that were built in the 70s or 80s, that's what we would be targeting plus some other parameters to be determined. WATTS: So these are buildings that are -- that have individual owners, they're not town buildings? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 124 of 154 JACOBS: Correct. WATTS: And we're going to have a grant process? Is it -- it -- it sounds to me like it's a gifting process to these businesses as opposed to -- you know, why are we providing facades for existing business owners? JACOBS: So this is a -- a best practice to revitalize areas and we of course would work with Aaron to make sure we are not violating the gift clause. KALIVIANAKIS: Can you repeat that? I'm sorry. JACOBS: That's okay. So it's a best practice to have façade improvement programs and specifically when you're trying to revitalize a downtown. So again, we've already been working with several municipalities, can share that information. But we would be working with Aaron to ensure we're not violating the gift clause. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And that would be a matching-type grant, would it -- would it not? So the -- the property owner would put X amount dollars in, we would put X amount of dollars. JACOBS: Possibly. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Possibly. JACOBS: Again, to be -- to be determined. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Okay. JACOBS: I -- we haven't written the policy, we're trying to keep it high level, do you support the concept, and then we would get to work, and council would have another bite at the apple, if you will, for an up or down vote. WATTS: But isn't this much like a pride of ownership? If we did the -- the avenue as proposed, wouldn't you suspect that the businesses wouldn't want an ugly storefront, and they would do their own improvement without us having to fund it? JACOBS: So Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Watts, this sometimes encourages folks to do it and then you'll see somebody else look at it. What we've heard is some shockingly, not everybody wants to do this. Queen Creek, for example, so I've been working with them very closely, they've just sunsetted the façade improvement program, I believe, after ten years. And so, they had $100,000 and you'd be surprised there wasn't a huge line. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 125 of 154 WATTS: Queen Creek is pretty eclectic on their primary streets. And $100,000 for a population of what, 250,000 versus 250,000 for a population of 25,000. What's over the course of the time is 250,000. If they just sunsetted their -- their plan, and it doesn't seem -- the -- the balance, that doesn't -- it seems like we've got way too much money here for that. Where did you come up with the number is what I'm getting at? JACOBS: So we started -- we started with a 100,000, again, not just looking at the avenue, looking at the entire downtown, and then we've cut it to 50. But this is the opportunity, if council doesn't want to do it, we need that direction. If you want to cut it in half, see how it goes the -- the first year, that is in your guy's prerogative, that's why we're -- we're here today for the council retreat. WATTS: Yeah, but where did you come up -- where did you come up with the hundred then? I mean, there has to be a basis for -- do you anticipate on doing ten storefronts, are you anticipating doing five? What is the basis for the $50,000 today? JACOBS: So the best practices of other municipalities. But to your point not doing apples to apples, it could be apples and pineapples. So Queen Creek, we completely recognize that it's a different population, but with the mindset of they've been trying to improve their downtown. So just looking at that, okay, what was this used for, was it used for the entire town or was it used for the downtown? EARLE: Was theirs 100,000 per year or total overall? Queen Creek. JACOBS: So that, Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Earle, let me follow up. But I think it was 100,000 for the entire year for ten years. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible) ten years. JACOBS: So not -- not just 10,000 for ten years, 10,000 each year for ten years. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). JACOBS: A hundred thousand, excuse me. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Okay. JACOBS: Now you're confusing me. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Vice Mayor. TOTH: The palm tree lights I agree with. The strike, however, would you say if a light TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 126 of 154 were to go out that could just come out of the maintenance and repair budget line item? JACOBS: Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, what I would do and why I first presented it as a strike is it would either come from economic development or the tourism fund. TOTH: Got it. Okay. As for the façade improvement program, I -- I assume this comes back to the council one more round any who, so I -- I would be interested to hear how Queen Creek came about their number and any of the other municipalities you came up with. Maybe we'll be able to lower that a little bit and gauge interest from TAMA and Parkview and see who's signing up in that first year. Yeah. MAYOR FRIEDEL: (Indiscernible). KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, on the -- on the palm tree, the lights, it's pretty common place for us to come in under budget on projects like that. So I've got no problem leaving it in there, because I know the town staff will just do it at whatever cost it needs to be done, and the rest will -- will just be -- will -- will not be used. The façade improvement program, however, I'm -- I -- when this was first presented in last council I -- I told her I wasn't a big fan of it, still not a big fan of it. Couple -- couple of reasons, one, it's we -- we seem to be throwing so much money in downtown, I wonder if I owned a business on Shea or what if I owned a business on wherever, it's -- it's like -- it seems like we're picking winners and losers. And right now, if you're in the downtown area you're a winner. It's taking taxpayer money, for -- you know, taxing people and then giving it to business owners. It seems like the business owners should -- if they have a viable business plan, they should be able to do their own facades. And if it's so decrepit, maybe it's a zoning violation and -- and we can send a zoning officer over there. It just -- it just seems like a lot of money for something that -- it's -- it's taxpayer driven. And also, but lastly, is it's subject to fraud. It's -- if we give somebody $10,000 to fix their façade, then are we going to do return trips, are we going to make sure they do the work, if they don't do the work are we -- are we planning on suing them to get the money back? You know there's been a lot of municipalities that have tried to do TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 127 of 154 programs like this to do -- give money to businesses and the money never goes into the business, it goes right into the owner's checking account to pay for their car payment. So I'm not a real big fan of this one. JACOBS: Mr. Mayor, can I just say quickly -- MAYOR FRIEDEL: Can I -- can I just say something really quick too? JACOBS: Yeah. MAYOR FRIEDEL: I don't think that's very business friendly, first of all, to send code enforcement over there, we want to work with these businesses not against them. We want to -- want to show them that we're here to support their business endeavor. They're in our town; they're part of our -- our fabric of this community, a lot of them are. And if a new business is coming in and buying a rundown building, then maybe we want to have some enticement to have them fix that façade up. And if we can match them up to $10,000 and they throw 10 or 20 into it, I mean, we're going to have a much better looking downtown for some of the buildings, not all of them, I agree. But I think it would -- if it's done properly, we monitor that, and we don't -- we don't let them put it into their checking accounts, it's got to be used to pay vendors that are going to do that work and so there's a way to monitor all that. I mean, I came from a town where we had a historic district where we did that matching type thing. And it was monitored, and it worked out really well, the whole downtown area got redeveloped so it all looked historically the same. So not that that's what we want here, but there's something similar, I think, in the works for -- for having said that these facades get updated, and it makes the downtown look more like an entertainment district and it's not rundown and -- and dilapidated looking. Not that they are, but in some cases some of those buildings need a little bit of work. KALIVIANAKIS: I'm just saying that I -- I am very business friendly, but I'm also taxpayer friendly, and that -- that's -- that's -- that's a priority for me, especially in financially dark times. And I didn't mean to send code enforcement after complying businesses, but if -- if -- if what was described, if it's a dilapidated building falling apart, then that might be something to look at. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 128 of 154 JACOBS: Mr. Mayor, I know the Vice Mayor and Councilmember, but before we move, I just want to be clear, I have been a government professional for 23 years, I would never present a council something that was fraudulent or violating the gift clause. So I just want to make sure that is very crystal clear. Because we've talked about fraud, we've talked about violating the gift clause, I will not to do that. And just want to make sure that I'm looking you all in the eye and the public hears that. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Vice Mayor. TOTH: For the façade improvement program, number one, this is to continue creating that sense of place that our facades of our stores are beautiful, that they're somewhat uniform, not the exact same, but something where it's all looking like it's supposed to be there. What -- a couple of the concerns we've heard that I want to address is number one, we should create an idea that business owners are striving, that they want to be in downtown, that they want to be on the avenue. I think that that's a good thing. I think that that does not mean we're not focused on our other businesses as well, that's why we keep bringing back other items and we keep brainstorming ways to be more business friendly. And however, we have heard with a very loud voice from business owners, from residents, from people who are visiting, from people who live here, that our downtown does not feel like a downtown. Even though we have the fountain, even though we have our beautiful avenue with a fountains park, it doesn't -- it doesn't give that stay and shop atmosphere which is what -- why we are trying to invest this money into it. Now as an alternative, it's been forwarded to allow businesses to crumble and then come kick them out. One, it would take a few decades before any of these buildings had that kind of issue. Two, I would be really ashamed to be on a council that rather than helping our downtown be beautiful, chose to allow these businesses to fail. I'll leave it at that. JACOBS: And Vice Mayor, Mr. Mayor, if I could also just state, in the community economic development strategy, what we heard from council as well as the public as we TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 129 of 154 went through that process was to focus on the downtown, Shea corridor, Glenbrook, and Fountain Hills Boulevard. What we've been hearing from council and loud and clear from the community, is the downtown, and so that's why you're seeing the façade improvement program. Again, we can try it. Again, it's going to take a little -- a few months to -- to get there if you guys approve the policy, and then see, do we need to add it into the other targeted areas that meets the community economic development strategy. So just wanted to add to your point, Vice Mayor. TOTH: I appreciate it. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Thank you, Mayor Friedel. You can smile. There we go. Okay. I -- I do like this idea and just to clarify. So I misunderstood Councilman Watts, it was over a five-year period that was 500,000 then in Queen Creek. I don't think that would be a good idea to find out how they did their program, maybe you already know. But so, my understanding is this is a grant, so people would apply for it, and maybe there would be some that, again, would do it themselves or put some of their own money in, we would just pay for part of it, is that what I'm hearing you say? Grant would be -- JACOBS: So correct. Correct. So Councilmember Earle, we, again, we don't have our own policy, but it's been nice to talk to some of my other colleagues of -- of best practices. So what some of the councilmembers brought up of, oh, we should have done a better job, we won't say which municipality. But to actually follow, okay, here was the guideline, did they -- did they paint it gray? Did they use the monies for this? So that's what has been nice is to also not create that public record but have a -- a conversation for an hour of, okay, we want to make sure we do it right the first time, what are some lessons learned that you can help Fountain Hills on. But yes, it would be a -- a grant program. There would be an application process. There would be review process. And then of course doing some due diligence on behalf of development services and then just following up. EARLE: And I -- going along with what we just said (indiscernible) down in -- with the -- the -- the streets down there and the sidewalk and the trees and I think this would go on TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 130 of 154 with all that to beautify the downtown. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilwoman. MCMAHON: Thank you. I'm for it. I think this -- we're talking about downtown and the downtown fund and that's specific to downtown. To me, this is an incentive for the business to participate with the town and fix up their building. You know the estate sale building this moment across from Chase, those guys painted, and they did all their work. And had they had something like this, do you know how more welcome they would have felt? I mean, they would have been really, really appreciative of it. So when you look at it from the business perspective, especially if they're starting out or they're not doing as well, but they really would like to have their building improved, I think this would be a significant partnership with them. Because they're going to see a lot of construction on the building going on, and I think that it would just help -- have -- have them feel more included and inclusive if they couldn't afford to do it by themselves. MAYOR FRIEDEL: Councilman. SKILLICORN: Thank you so much. So I think you know that I have a vision for a culinary district there with more restaurants, and more restaurants will bring quite a bit of tax revenue and then more people into town, all that. So I -- as long as we are in compliance with the gift clause, I think this will have return investment. So I'm for it. JACOBS: Thank you. Mayor, I need -- don't shoot me, a little clarity. So the consensus is, we're going to include the vent programming, the façade improvement, the maintenance and repair. And then I think we're going to keep out the -- the palm tree lights, because we won't need the 20,000, and if there's anything that -- that happens as we're monitoring it with Public Works and Community Services, that will come out of the economic development and tourism fund. So just a message to the council, to the public, we're not taking off the -- the palm trees, and there is budget capacity to make those improvements. Are we good? There's head nods. WATTS: Kind of, with one exception. I don't -- I don't -- I think that if you keep the façade improvement program in there, it has to have bumpers around it. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 131 of 154 JACOBS: Absolutely. WATTS: I think any business that is functioning, good business, it's a cost of operation. But having said that, I think it could be an incentive for people to come to town that we have this grant program for new businesses. But I think it has to be qualified, I don't think existing businesses that are functioning the way a business ought to be functioning, from an operational standpoint, would be able to participate in this program. But I could see it as an incentive program. So I think a little more thought to this one would work as well. JACOBS: Yes, absolutely. So we'll keep the 50,000 and then as I've -- I've stated, we'll bring back a draft policy for council to review and potentially approve. GOODWIN: Yep, that's all I was going to say is that budget wise we've made a decision in terms of operational and those types of things, those are still forthcoming. KALIVIANAKIS: And if I may, Gerry, just -- just make a quick comment. And Amanda, when -- when I spoke before about fraud, I certainly didn't mean you, and I -- I hope you understand that and -- and I wish you'd go back and review the tape. What I was talking about and maybe my years as a prosecutor has made me jaded, but I know when people need money, they do a lot of stupid things, because I've prosecuted them for it. And what I'm saying is if you have a dilapidated business and they have a bad business model they're not making any money, they see a government program, they apply for it, they get five or $10,000 and then they're like do I make my rent payment or do I do my façade, a lot of times they'll just make their rent payment. And so, they're just -- they find themselves in a bad way and they make bad choices and then they go to see a prosecutor. So anyway, but it was not intended to you, you're doing a fabulous job. JACOBS: I -- thank you. No, I -- I appreciate it. But I just spoke to a councilmember yesterday, sometimes words can be shifted. So I just wanted to make it -- KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah. JACOBS: -- very clear. KALIVIANAKIS: Of course. JACOBS: Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 132 of 154 GOODWIN: All right. Our -- our next item, hopefully I'm -- we'll kind of keep it brief, just sort of to direct to the point on some of the maintenance district conversations. I had hoped that we might have a little time to talk about them because I know the maintenance districts come up sort of this time every year. There's questions about them, why we have them, what do they do, could we get rid of them, et cetera, et cetera. So -- but I know there is an update we wanted to share, particularly on the Eagle Mountain one. So Paul, all you. SOLDINGER: All right. So I'll try to be as short as possible, that's what I'm hearing, no. We thought we'd provide Mayor and Council with the just the background of our two affiliated special taxing districts. I think the key thing to know before we get into the discussion is these are legally separate. They're not part of the town. However, for financial reporting purposes, they technically are. And the reason is, is the Mayor and Council also served as the board of both districts. So legally separate, financially together. And that's why we come to you as a board separate from Mayor and Council with both the special district budgets each year and have a brief discussion about them and ask you to adopt their budgets. We also have an update related to the -- I've been told I pronounced it incorrectly, so Quazamire (phonetic) , it's supposed to be pronounced, [ah-sim-ye-are], it's hard to say. But there is an update on Eagle Mountain related to that as well. So the town has two of these affiliated special taxing districts, Eagle Mountain Community Facilities District and Cottonwoods Maintenance District, both are legally separate but both boards are comprised of the full mayor and council. I'll -- I'll let you read from the slide actually, this is a really good explanation from our financial statements of why they're considered part of the financial reporting of our financial statements. Basically, all it's saying is what I mentioned, they're legally separate. But because the mayor and council also serves in the board capacity for those districts, it's considered part of the financial reporting of the town. That's why we have our funds accounting for those monies. But again, legally separate when it comes to legal liability and things like TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 133 of 154 that the town has no liability associated with those -- the special districts. Does anybody need another minute or, no? Okay. So our first special taxing districts, Cottonwoods. It was established by council in 1998 and issued bonds for community improvements which were paid off around 2009. The CMD board, same members as the council, levies the secondary property tax each year on the parcels within the district for maintenance purposes. Really, it's mainly landscaping, sometimes painting, other minor maintenance issues in that community. And for fiscal year 2025, the tax levy was $180 per property owner with 58 parcels in the district. Our second special taxing district, Eagle Mountain. It was established by council in 96 to issue two bonds to build the following projects in the community. It had two additional bonds which were issued to refund, basically, it's like a refinance like you're refinancing your mortgage at some point if there are lower interest rates on bonds you can refund them, and that's what happened. And this debt was paid off about five years ago. Right now, there's no current outstanding debt, and we actually have very little money left in this fund, less than $1,000, and there's no secondary tax levies upon the residents because there's no outstanding debt to pay that would require the tax levy. So just some refresher information. In this lawsuit, there is a 2016 lawsuit against the county affirmed by an appeals court in 2021. It basically required the county to reassess your property if it changed from an owner-occupied residential property to like a -- a rental or a secondary home. And so, after this was affirmed by the appeals court, in state -- the state law was modified in 2023 to no longer require this reassessment. But this created tax liabilities for different municipalities and special taxing districts related to this. And the rationale is just, if they did a reassessment as they were required to there could have been different tax liabilities up or down. So when they recalculated everything like they should have done, there were certain to the special taxing districts that the basically the residents of that taxing district were owed money, they overpaid their property taxes. So for Eagle Mountain, there is a $45,000 liability at the time that we brought this forth TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 134 of 154 to council for the town's portion of 140,000 or so. That was last summer, last August. The county was considering Eagle Mountain a potential disadvantaged district, which is, I don't know if you read the news about, I think, Rio Verde Water District, maybe it was the Fire District. Yeah. The county basically paid off the debt for them. And the county was considering that for Eagle Mountain, but since then they have decided it doesn't fit their criteria, and they've refined their criteria. So we're kind of stuck with this liability of $45,000 with about $10,000 of interest. You can also consider options for closure. Special taxing district boards are able to dissolve a district through the following actions. You need to transfer the property, and the district has to have no liabilities. A town would assume the Eagle Mountain debt if it's not addressed. And then, the board could determine that the district has been active for at least five years and serves no future purpose. Can I just take a minute, I'm sorry, I'm having a little bit of an issue right now. MAYOR FRIEDEL: You can. GOODWIN: Take your time, Paul. Aaron, I don't know if you have the capacity to jump in? ARNSON: I sure do. GOODWIN: Okay, awesome. Thanks. ARNSON: Mayor, Town Manager, or Mayor and Council, I appreciate it. GOODWIN: Take your time, Paul. ARNSON: So council's direction is requested with respect to these issues. You see the options there on the -- on the table. We can consider simply paying off the liability, you can take no further action at this time or consider joining to the extent one is ever presented, a class action lawsuit, or consider pursuing a geobond for repayment. I will tell you from my perspective what at least we've decided sort of at a staff level pending council direction and hopefully there's some -- there'll be correction if the -- if it's changed since the last time we've talked about it. But our perspective was, okay, let's hold off and wait and see and take no further action right now. We are actively talking through our bond council with -- with the county TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 135 of 154 about whether to reclassify EMCFD as a disadvantaged district so that we could potentially get the money back. If it ends up -- or written off, rather. If it ends up being that there is -- that we can't, we can pay off the liability and we still -- we don't -- that doesn't foreclose the option for trying to recover that later. So we have entertained some hybrid approach of options two and three, is where we stand right now. SOLDINGER: Yeah, I apologize. Thank you, Aaron. Really, what we're recommending today is option two, is just taking no further action this time, just notifying you that there is a liability. But there is a chance that the county could still reconsider the debt and basically write it off and that's what we've been advised at this point, and that's -- that's why we're here today. WATTS: So generally, when you're provided options, there's consequences to every option. SOLDINGER: Yeah. WATTS: What are the consequences to each of those? SOLDINGER: Number one, the first option, there's really no consequence, there's no more interest accruing on that debt. So we can just kind of wait. I'm sorry, number one. I'm -- I'm thinking of number two. Number one, the town would have to cover the liability. We'd have to pay off the 45,000 for the district. Remember they're legally separate, so we have no legal liability to do that, but if we're trying to close the district then we -- it would become our liability. So -- WATTS: And the benefit of that would be what? SOLDINGER: At this time, there's not much. ARNSON: We don't see a major benefit, Councilmember. SOLDINGER: Yes. WATTS: Okay. ARNSON: Of -- of the town assuming responsibility for a district's debt, right? When they are in fact legally separate entities. Sorry, Paul, I didn't mean to interrupt you. SOLDINGER: No, perfect. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 136 of 154 ARNSON: But when they are in fact legally separate, they're -- that -- that's why we haven't said oh, we need to rush out to cut a check. WATTS: Right. ARNSON: There --- there seems to be no tangible benefit to the town. WATTS: Okay. And the benefits and consequences of two? SOLDINGER: The -- the -- there really is no consequence. There were a lot of things I've been discussing with our bond -- there's a lot of things -- this is a very unique situation for Eagle Mountain. There's -- most of the other special taxing districts or municipalities that had this issue, they have ongoing tax levies because there's outstanding debt. We don't, either for the town perspective and Eagle Mountain. So this is a unique situation is what I'm trying to explain. But as far as option number two, this is the preferred option because there's really no disadvantage of it, other than we couldn't close down the -- the district at this time. The benefit of is there is a possibility the county could still write off the debt, especially if we keep asking. Ask them a couple more times through our bond council, so there is that possibility. So that's why this is the preferred option. Option three, it's just an option. There's really -- the advantage would be getting rid of the $10,000 of interest, and there is this class action lawsuit out there which is headed up by Maricopa County Community College District. But the legal fees would well exceed that $10,000, so therein lies the disadvantage. It's just an option on the table. And then the fourth one, I would say this is -- would be a challenge. Talking about disadvantages because we would levying a secondary property taxes on residents of Eagle Mountain community. And it'd be unexpected. We'd probably have to do a lot of explanation of why it's needed. And with a bond, it usually comes with a lot of issuance costs. I have talked to our bond council, and he would reduce his cost to help us out. There would still be -- he said -- he -- I don't really want to state it, but it's a lot less than typical. He'd say if we issued a bond for $50,000 to pay off the debt, he was saying he would basically reduce his costs by 80 or 90 percent to help us out with this situation. So it's -- it's an option. It's an unusual option. And it would take a lot of explanation to TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 137 of 154 the public, but it is an option. WATTS: So going back to number two, what -- what are the consequences of allowing the closing down this -- this -- the Eagle Mountain? SOLDINGER: Right. Yeah, so I was trying to explain that earlier when I had my moment. So I apologize for that, I don't know what happened, I don't -- I just don't think I reviewed my slides beforehand, which sometimes gets the better of me. So if you go back here, you are able to close down a special taxing district, but there is a provision and statute that basically states that if -- if we were to close it, the town would assume the liability. Just -- just like the -- the first bullet right there where it talks about conveying the property back to the municipality, the liability would also convey to the town. So if we tried to close it out, then the town would assume the liability and have to pay it off. WATTS: And there's no benefit to us to do that? SOLDINGER: The benefit would be to just get rid of it and be done with it and -- and not have to deal with it anymore. But from a financial perspective, we have much more benefit in going with option number two at this point. WATTS: I think this is so confusing. I'm just going to take your advice and take number two. SOLDINGER: Okay. And I apologize for the way it was conveyed. I'm so sorry about that. WATTS: It -- it sounds complex. I mean, it -- SOLDINGER: Yes. WATTS: -- does. Because when you have risk and reward and benefits, and you have options in here. You almost have to have a table that says here's -- here's what's going to happen, here's the consequences of these actions. SOLDINGER: Right. WATTS: So if we do nothing at this point, that seems to be the safest bet for me. SOLDINGER: I agree. Yeah, I appreciate that. WATTS: Thank you. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 138 of 154 EARLE: Can I please ask Aaron a question? Aaron, you, and you too, you mentioned that you can go back and try and get that to write it off again, is that going to be -- if we choose to do nothing, is that going to be part of the doing nothing? ARNSON: Yes. EARLE: Okay. ARNSON: Mayor and Councilmember, that's what we're actively engaged with the county in right now. EARLE: Okay. All right. That -- okay. I wanted to verify that. ARNSON: So do nothing means stay the course of what we're doing right now. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). ARNSON: There you go. EARLE: And after -- SOLDINGER: Apologies. EARLE: If you did get that written off, then would you want to dissolve this district? Would that be the goal? SOLDINGER: Yes, that would be the goal, council -- Councilwoman Earle. EARLE: Okay. SOLDINGER: All right. ARNSON: The benefit primarily to you all being that once a year or twice a year you don't have to convene as the board for the five minutes before the meeting. So. TOTH: Really quickly, with the county, is that the board of supervisors that we're dealing with -- SOLDINGER: It is. TOTH: -- for this? Okay. SOLDINGER: Yeah. TOTH: I don't have much else to say on it. I agree with option two, but I did want to add that I'm very frustrated that we're still cleaning up the county's mess as individual municipalities. It's infuriating. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 139 of 154 GOODWIN: All right. Moving on. Chief Ott, you're up. OTT: All right. Last but not least. And in my sidebar with the Mayor, I will do my best. I've got a lot of slides to go through here though. Okay. We've talked a little bit about Automatic Aid getting up to this point, we've talked a little bit about Mutual Aid. Mutual Aid is a system that we are currently in which requires us to ask for help from our -- our neighboring regional partners. The Automatic Sid system in the region been ran since 1976. Chief Brunacini from Phoenix had a big hand in getting that set up and it really helped Phoenix in its development to where all of the surrounding areas, Glendale's, Peoria, Surprise, all of that, ended up building fire stations closer to the Phoenix boarder to kind of help offset some of the Phoenix response stuff. It's come a long way since that point, it -- we're not in that situation, our boundaries are -- are well defined in our fire stations with our neighbors are well defined as well. We don't see any development that would cause an issue with the Automatic Aid where we might be required to add a station to help out the regional partners in there. I think overall, this would be a big benefit for the town to -- to have membership in this. The application for Automatic Aid itself doesn't have a cost. There are some criteria's that ends up being an IGA that we would have with the Life Safety Council, which is kind of the fire governing board for the Valley, if you will. It's made up of mainly the big players in -- in the fire service. Phoenix pretty much runs that part of it, but the membership includes chiefs from the west side and chiefs from the east side. Really the benefit for us without having a -- really too much of a downside to it is it they -- our dispatch center whether it was -- the request was from Phoenix Regional Dispatch or Mesa Regional Dispatch, MRDC, PRDC, three letters that I've thrown out quite a bit and some of the things I've talked about, they would look at dispatching the closest most appropriate unit based off of the -- the LVLs which locates the vehicles to the call without having to go to that specific dispatch center if it's not -- Phoenix would not have to ask Mesa to dispatch us to Scottsdale, it would be automatic. They would not have to ask Mesa if they wanted -- if we wanted a unit, if a Scottsdale unit was TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 140 of 154 closer, they would automatically dispatch the Scottsdale unit to a call in -- in Fountain Hills. And last week at council when I talked about, kind of, our Mutual Aid calls, the numbers were pretty close, it was about 130 to 105 or 110, something like that. So it -- we -- we had as much response to Fountain Hills as we responded to other areas. I don't really see that changing. What it does is if Scottsdale needed a ladder truck for a call over by the Mayo Clinic, our ladder truck would be the closest most appropriate unit for that. We would be dispatched to that. At some point, if we had a major vehicle crash at Eagle Mountain and Shea, we would also get units from Scottsdale on that immediately. So if our unit was not the closest one coming out of Station 2, they would automatically put Scottsdale unit on that call, then our other units would respond so the -- the people in that situation would get the -- the quickest response they could. As I said, it's kind of the -- the local resources working through inter-government cooperation. It's been tried and true and it works very well. The cost itself for the application, we already meet all of the requirements in the IGA with the exception of the regional training. And -- and the two people we've hired since our transition, the -- the people were already firefighters and met our criteria for what we needed. Moving forward, as we hire firefighters they would -- probably the only caveat to that would be that they might go through -- if they're firefighter 1 and 2 to begin with, they might go through a bridge academy which is a very shortened hybrid version of what a full-time fire academy would be. But as we move forward and hire new people that may not be firefighters, they would end up going through a regional academy. So we've got IGAs with all of the, now the six regional fire academies and that's -- I'd have to go back on the cost, but it's about $4500 to run a guy through a 12- week academy. And that's kind of a -- we're going to have that cost anyways. So the Automatic Aid portion doesn't really have a big impact of -- to our operating budget. What we are looking for regardless of Automatic Aid is doing some rearranging in -- in the department which, from a safety standpoint and a efficiency standpoint makes sense. In the beginning, we kind of worked out of what our original model had been TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 141 of 154 coming into it, trying not to have too much of a impact with staff. But having a year under our belt we can see the advantage of needing battalion chiefs. I was a little late this morning because I had to fill the battalion chief role and go up to a call on the B-line for a semi on fire, but we're looking towards doing that anyways. That's a supplement in this year's budget as we move forward. Hopefully, Paul kind of helps keep us on track with that, and a lot of help with Michael as well in looking at what our actual operating costs were. Part of what we would like to do, regardless of the Automatic Aid, would be to promote three captains to battalion chiefs, and then we would promote three engineers to captains. We would like to phase that in over a two-year period where the battalion chiefs also have a battalion safety officer, that's an added level of safety and meets the regional standards. And that's kind of our caveat into our Automatic Aid application is that we can provide a battalion chief on this east end of the Valley, which currently there's -- the closest one would come out of Scottsdale, and it's pretty much the middle of Scottsdale where they would come from. So that's an advantage for us to say we're bringing worth to the region in the Automatic Aid system by being able to provide the battalion chief to fill the gap in this area. Also with that, we would look at purchasing one new vehicle. This is also a supplement moving forward, which would be a -- a chief's vehicle that might look similar to what the public works director has with one less dent in the fender. But -- and then converting the truck that I'm currently using into one that -- that meets the needs of what the battalion chiefs are currently doing. And we would probably do that out of our equipment budget anyways. It needs a radio upgrade, an additional radio upgrade, and some -- and different storage rearrangement in the back of the truck for the equipment that's -- that's necessary. With that, I guess the direction that we're kind of looking forward to -- or looking for is moving forward starting the Automatic Aid application, which is getting the IGA over to Aaron for review and then coming up with what our implementation plan is. And initially, when I talked with Chief Duran and Chief Cameli from Phoenix and Mesa, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 142 of 154 respectively, our goal was -- their intention for us was to become part of the Automatic Aid system because it does help out this portion of the Valley. It brings a whole lot of regional consistency, which is what we're -- we are really looking for in this area. And the original plan was to let us get up and -- and be running for a year to make sure that we can provide the best service we can for the residents of Fountain Hills. And being able to do that, I think we -- we've demonstrated that relatively well. At that point, we'd be willing to apply for the application for inclusion in Automatic Aid without being a burden to the system. And I think that both Chief Duran and Chief Cameli fully support that at this point that -- that we've demonstrated the fact that -- that we're here, we're serious, and were not a burden to the rest of the system and we can bring some value to it. So I think that we have their full support and the rest of the Life Safety Council support if we move forward with that. Are there any questions? WATTS: It's a minor detail. What's the cost of Automatic Aid? OTT: The cost of Automatic Aid at this point would be $220,000 for the promotions. Then the next year, $115,000, so were at 335. And then, the vehicles would be about 55 and 40, so under a $100,000 to modify the vehicles. The cost of Automatic Aid in the IGA, it says that it's -- it's reciprocal. There's no monetary value expressed or implied for us running into Scottsdale, Scottsdale running into Fountain Hills. So there would be no change of -- of dollars for those services. If it was a pre-arranged agreement or if we had a HAZMAT spill that required additional funding out of -- or additional monies outside of what a normal HAZMAT call would be. If it was an extended operation, ran into a couple of days, there may be some renumeration along those lines. The fires in Cave Creek a couple of years ago where they had quite a bit of air support and quite a bit of outside resources coming in, they were under a Mutual Aid agreement with Cave Creek, not at -- both Cave Creek and Carefree, there was no Automatic Aid agreement in place at that point, so some of the responding departments that had extended stays on those fires were looking for a little bit of recoup on -- on their outlay of cash to -- to have the support for those fires. Under Automatic Aid that would not necessarily be a -- a consideration. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 143 of 154 WATTS: So the hard costs are somewhere in the $500,000 range, but there's no subscription, so to speak, for the automatic dispatching services? OTT: Correct. We -- we already have the regional dispatch through the MRDC. And that's kind of where it ends up being seamless is in Automatic Aid, the two dispatch centers, Phoenix and Mesa, work together. They don't necessarily see a boundary, they see a -- a -- a call come in and they see a unit that's closest to that call and they'll dispatch regardless of -- of who it is -- where the call is. WATTS: There was talk Friday about Motorola not servicing some of that -- the radios that we use. Does that affect your radios or was that unique to a particular station? OTT: No, that -- that affects all of the APX 7000 portable radios that are in the country. In 2019 or 2020, Motorola kind of did their end of life for service on those. So at some point we had a grant and possibly another supplement just set aside to look at what we can do to start replacing those portable radios. They function. You couldn't tell the difference between the APX 7000 or the APX 8000. If you were in the field, you push the button, you talk, people talk back to you. It's if you -- if that radio gets damaged or has a programming issue or something, we can no longer send it to Motorola for service. WATTS: So we're not under any kind of constraints there that we have to anticipate at this point? OTT: No, those would all meet the Valley standards, and a lot of the regional departments are still using the APX 7000s. They're slowly replacing the -- the APX to the APX 8000s, which we have kind of a contingency plan of how we're going to start doing that if -- if the grant doesn't come through so we're not doing 18 radios at -- at one shot. WATTS: Thanks. EARLE: So my question is, I think I heard you say there is no subscription cost for the Automatic Aid. But you have these costs to promote positions. So is that you -- we are required to have three battalion chiefs and three BSO -- OTT: Battalion -- Battalion Safety Officer. EARLE: Thank you. To be a part of the Automatic Aid. Is that -- is that why we -- I don't TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 144 of 154 see how those can correlate with the Automatic Aid cost. OTT: Well, that's a good question. There is no subscription cost to the Automatic Aid. And moving forward, to be able to continue to -- to function safely and efficiently, the -- the battalion chiefs -- putting in full-time battalion chiefs is the supplement that we're asking for in this budget to bring those up. We currently do bump-up captains into the battalion chiefs. Or Chief Winters or I fill that need but it -- it's not as efficient as it really should be if we had battalion chiefs that are assigned to that battalion. And we have three shifts, so we have three battalions or would need three battalion chiefs. That will allow us to utilize them a little bit better. Also give them specific duties that they can perform easier as being battalion chiefs than than being a bump up captain. Sometimes the bump up captain is like having a substitute teacher, and we want to get some consistency and that works back into our work with the region moving forward and what we can represent and bring forward as as value to that. And then the BSO is a Battalion Safety Officer and they've -- they serve a couple different roles. But they actually end up being the -- the safety officer on a -- on a major incident working with the battalion chief to just have another set of eyes on how dynamic the situations are. EARLE: So to -- to just recap then, what we're actually asking -- you're asking for, is for us to pay for a position in -- upgraded positions, promotions, basically. OTT: Correct. It would be promotions without new hires. And then the second thing I'm asking for is permission to kind of move forward with that Automatic Aid application. EARLE: Okay. So that's -- yeah. OTT: And we would bring that IGA back once it was taken to Life Safety Council and approved or denied either way. EARLE: And the Phoenix -- excuse me, the vehicles as well. Was it more than one? OTT: It -- it was one and a modification to one. EARLE: Okay. Would we be able to go on Automatic Aid if we didn't promote these people? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 145 of 154 OTT: We would, but it's got more of a financial impact. We would still fill those positions, and if I get in the weeds here, I've got Michael that -- that's done a lot of work on what our budget looks like and --- and again, it was kind of a -- we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to be and where we needed to be on the -- the salaries and budgets, and as we're actually working through it, this is kind of where were getting. Our budget right now will most likely support all of these moves in here, but in our next year budget the contingency line will be a little bit lower because we are moving forward and trying to reduce that part of the budget. This -- this just makes it cleaner and putting the dollars where they really should be. EARLE: So you're wanting us to approve more money into your budget. You said it was in the budget but you're -- I'm just trying to get clear with it. SOLDINGER: Okay. Councilwoman Earle, Fire Chief Ott, the steps that he'd like to do and the way we're presenting it is a phased approached. That second bullet on your screen, he's essentially doing some of these things or planning to do some of these things already as far as doing assignment pay. So he can explain it better, but basically, there's a cost. You assign additional duties to certain -- in this case, like for the -- for the battalion chief, you're assigning the duties of a battalion chief to a captain and paying them a little bit additional pay in the form of assignment pay. And so, going back to the Automatic Aid application, my understanding in our discussions is what we're trying to do is get our fire department up to snuff to a better best practice standpoint. Having a little bit more of a top-down command structure. Every time there's a call at each fire station you have a designated battalion chief rather than assigning captains. So there's already some ongoing costs because it kind of needs to be that way to a certain extent. But Chief Ott is asking to make it more official and there is additional costs. Where the calculations come in is what finances work with the fire department on. So if we are going to formalize and turn these captains into battalion chiefs, and there's three other positions there, they would be, I think fire engineers and fire fighters going up to the captain level to backfill those positions. Those six positional upgrades to get to a stronger command structure would cost the town about $220,000. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 146 of 154 And going back to the Automatic Aid criteria, the thought is just that we have a better command structure to align with best practices. So. EARLE: So it's more than just the -- the chiefs, because that's 73,000 a year if you divide that by three, the 220. SOLDINGER: The calculations are very complicated. EARLE: Okay. SOLDINGER: Michael might be able to explain, would you like to get up -- EARLE: I -- I'm sorry. SOLDINGER: He's the -- he's the one that's been the expert on this. EARLE: Okay. STELPSTRA: Mayor and Councilmember, the 220 actually represents nine different promotions because of what they're talking about, backfilling. So you're talking about moving three fire captains up to battalion chiefs. That vacant -- vacates the fire captain position, but we still need them. So three engineers move up to the fire captain, while that then vacates the engineers, which we still need. So you have three firefighters that are moving up to the engineer position. So really that 220 is encapsulating nine total promotions there as people move up to fill the -- the -- backfill the positions from the battalion chief promotion. EARLE: How often do -- would you expect yearly to be asking for this large amount or is this just kind of a one-time thing? STELPSTRA: Well, this would be an ongoing amount. These -- these are -- these reflect the higher salaries from -- EARLE: But I mean, each year, would we expecting to do big increases like this or is this just kind of like a big one right now? Changing -- switching everybody around. That's what I'm asking. STELPSTRA: I'm saying this is just this year. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah. STELPSTRA: For -- for those positions, there's the BSO, that's the third bullet, that's another round of promotions where we'd promote people into the BSO position and TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 147 of 154 then there would be some backfill promotions beyond that. So that's -- that's a second piece looking forward in the second year. But no, as -- as an ongoing, these would get built into the fire department's ongoing budget. So it's not like we're doing these promotions every year, we're -- we're doing them and then that gets built into their base budget going forward. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR FRIEDEL: And this is phased in over a couple years, is that correct? STELPSTRA: Yeah, the way the chief is -- is looking at is doing the battalion chiefs, as well as the six backfill positions in 2026. The BSO and the related backfill promotions for that one would be in 27. MCMAHON: Okay. Can I just -- can I say something? Chief Ott, thank you for presenting this. I attended the Friday -- visited at the training, spent the day out there at the fireman's training session and was fortunate to observe different fire departments go through the role of a housefire, a car fire, et cetera, and watching, and I can't explain it. But watching the battalion chief take responsibility for this, the captain take responsibility for this role, and they all know that that's what happens, and they all commented on why they do that is it's built in structure for safety purposes and for optimum use for every single fire person who is on the scene fighting -- fighting the fire. And so, I'm for this, because like you said, for safety purposes, this is really needed and it's lacking compared to what other fire departments have and utilize in fighting fires and helping people. So to me this isn't all part of the continuance of building out Fountain Hills Fire Department. OTT: And thank you for that. And we're doing this with the -- with these dollar amounts and -- and with the number of promotions at $220,000, if you look at it, that means that we're getting a number of people promoted at a very low cost if you -- if you divide that into it. We're also not looking at adding additional people. We can do it with the -- with the current staff that we have, and it would just be realigning positions with responsibilities as we move forward. So I'm kind of putting a little bit of my supplements into the whole Automatic Aid TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 148 of 154 application approval process, but we would really need to make these changes regardless if we did the Auto Aid application. But what the Auto Aid application does is it gets us another foreman truck with -- with being seamless, being dispatched from the beginning. So these are things just to make it work a little bit more efficiently. It's -- it is a -- a need to keep our people safe and keep our residents safe and -- and have the fire department run efficiently and smoothly. KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, it's the end of the day, I'll make it short and sweet, but I am definitely for the proposed membership in the Automatic Aid. And it's my hope that this council will approve. OTT: Do -- I got one nod over there, do -- are there six more, seven, Angela, you can -- GOODWIN: I'm going to be a little bit of a fly in the ointment on this one. I know you -- Chief and I know this, we've talked a lot about this. For those that are watching this at home and for a reminder for the council, keep in mind that Automatic Aid has always been the goal, hundred percent, no -- no question about that. But we are in an aid situation right now, we have Mutual Aid. So it's not like if we have crash on Shea that Scottsdale won't come. That Scottsdale still has to come, we still have a partnership with our surrounding communities so that we help each other out. Just like we'll go and respond to something in Goldfield Ranch like we did earlier today. So I don't want to overstate this that the fact that if we don't do this we are losing out on something. We still have a highly functional department right now as it is. I think we wouldn't be here a year later celebrating the birthday of the department if we didn't. That being said, this comes with a pretty substantial budget impact, and that's where Paul and I have been working with the chief to kind of evaluate all the different -- all of the different impacts beyond just the staffing, beyond just the one time that it is an ongoing. We talked about going all the way back to this morning, if you can remember all the way back to this morning, we aren't expecting a large increase in revenue. So if we take on this cost, it comes at the expense of something else that we don't do. Not that that's a bad thing, if this is the priority, a hundred percent that's what we should TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 149 of 154 do. That's what we need to know from you guys though, is this the priority over other items in the operational budget. And that's where we're really come down to, because when we come back in April, there's going to be a list of -- and I'll be -- I'll be honest, over a million dollars' worth of supplement requests from the rest of the staff. We won't be able to accommodate, we won't -- we can't accommodate all them anyway whether we do Automatic Aid or we don't. But if we do Automatic Aid the availability for the rest of the requests across all the departments becomes unavailable. So it's a balancing act to say the least. So the question is, is this the priority, and if so, we would like that direction so that we can build the budget accordingly. OTT: If I may, just one point of clarification. The -- this last part here with the budget impact is so that we can -- we can work more safe -- safely and efficiently and effectively. We can make the Auto Aid application without that, we just -- with these components we just add something to the regional system. We're not a draw in the system, we would still staff this to some extent, we would still have increases for out-of- titled pay, but again, that's things that are already in the budget. And we would absorb part of that. Some of these costs are additional. There would be also some costs in our current budget that we would be able to offset a little bit and move them, they're just not in the salary's 5,000 line items at this point. But the Auto Aid application is something that we could do without this. We just -- we're just more valuable if we can provide that battalion chief on a consistent level moving forward, so. WATTS: I think one of the things that I want to make sure that everybody is really aware of is this is one of those universal things that benefits everybody in the community. It -- it reduces response time, it improves our efficiency, and minutes becomes seconds. So we improve dramatically the overall operation and life safety issues as it relates to every single resident in the community. So that's why I would be in support of it because it's such -- does such a good job of bettering what we already have, which is good, but we can always make things better. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 150 of 154 OTT: Yes, sir, and I appreciate that. And a lot of times we have focused on the fire response where it -- Adero or Eagles Nest last year we had over 18 units, but in the -- that was a Mutual Aid response. We had to actually ask them; they would send a unit if they were available. On the Automatic Aid side of it, they're going to send the closest unit regardless, and then that kind of backfills from the rest of the -- the region on both sides as they need units. And there might be a point in time where if there's a event on the west side of Phoenix that we might get sucked into, Scottsdale to run calls because you're moving that way, but then we would have a -- a Mesa unit automatically or the Rio Verde -- the Rio Verde would be an option as well, Fort McDowell was probably the first unit that would move over here. But then they would backfill all of the rest of us from that side of the -- the east side of the region moving forward. And we talk a lot about -- about the fire side of it, but again, it's -- it's emergency medical as well. Again, in -- in cardiac arrest, seconds count, so that would get the closest unit regardless of where they're coming from. So the -- the Auto Aid is -- is kind of -- it's a two-part thing. We've got the Auto Aid application and then we've got the other -- I'll call it the efficiency safety model for the fire department. So maybe I snuck that in there a little bit more on the cost side with my -- trying to get my supplement in there, but just so that you know where it's going. The Auto Aid itself doesn't have a cost impact to -- the cost impact is if we want to add value to the region, which we're going to get back probably tenfold as well. So and another advantage of Auto Aid is they'll stay until -- the unit that comes in will stay until the situations mitigated, where on Mutual Aid they might come dump a tank of water and then they're gone. So and we've seen that in the past. So. But. I think with that if there's no more questions, the last item is yours. Oh, I'm sorry, Vice Mayor. TOTH: It's okay. 335 a year for now on is a lot. However, it -- I have to admit that I came in fully misunderstanding the issue so I'm very grateful for your presentation. Now that we know we're talking about technically two separate things, Automatic Aid and applying for that and then two, building that structure with the Fountain Hills fire department -- TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 151 of 154 OTT: Correct. TOTH: -- so that we promote the chiefs and safety officers. Personally, I feel like I need to sit with this a little longer just because it is a very large budget commitment. But understanding where you're coming from, that this is really less about Automatic Aid and more about just improving the efficiency of our fire department, I -- I lean toward yes, I'm just -- I -- I guess I'm requesting that we talk about this again. I think I need to sit with this a little longer. OTT: And like I said, I kind of snuck this second part in there. But it's really -- it's really tied to the first part on the Automatic Aid, but it's -- it's not. It's -- there's kind of a division there. One makes us more valuable to the region, I -- I think that we've got a good shot of -- of having the support without full-time battalion chiefs, but it just makes us a little bit more valuable and adds to the overall safety of -- of this part of our region. So. EARLE: Thank you. I'm -- I appreciate your explanation, and I'm good with it. And I think that we should move forward with it, because like you said, it's going to make the fire department more efficient, safer, et cetera. So I'm -- I'm -- I'm all for moving this forward. Is there a -- there a increase pay negotiable or is it a set price, you have to give them the 380 or 335,000? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's a union. EARLE: It's a -- oh. OTT: Well, we -- we are, but not -- not to that extent of it. The -- it -- it's really what would be equitable for moving those people up. They're all senior people now that would be filling those positions. There's a base salary that we've got for all the positions. And when we did the initial kind of employee look at what the -- what the department would be, we already had those positions built into it. So it's not -- we're not adding positions, we're just putting people in those positions that were already created. So there's already a pay structure for that, and the -- they'd be within the salary range for that position. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 152 of 154 EARLE: But we are increasing those positions, right, from one to three on the -- oh, it went away. Chief. OTT: Well, currently -- currently we don't have them, we just had -- EARLE: Oh. OTT: -- so the job descriptions are in the department. EARLE: Okay. OTT: So that those are -- those are already there, we don't have to go back in. We're not adding -- asking to add positions, which that would be -- we're just asking to fill the positions that were originally there with -- with the staff that we currently have. EARLE: And then do you have an annual percentage of increase? OTT: I'm sorry? EARLE: And do -- is there an annual automatic increase percentage in their pay? OTT: That is up to the people sitting up here in front of us. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It would be based on the (indiscernible). OTT: We -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible). EARLE: Oh. Okay. OTT: That would be of overall -- EARLE: Living adjustment. OTT: -- cost of living adjustment that you would approve for the whole staff not just the fire department. EARLE: Okay. Thank you. OTT: Yep. That'll turn it over to the last item I think, which is you guys. Right? GOODWIN: All right. The last item is -- oh, go ahead. WATTS: So -- so we're keeping this in the budget then? We're keeping it right now, just so I'm clear again. GOODWIN: It's until otherwise. WATTS: Keeping it in as is. GOODWIN: Um-hum. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 153 of 154 WATTS: Okay. Thank you. GOODWIN: The last item is a wildcard for any other items we didn't talk about, things that you would like to see included in the budget. I know there's been a couple of one- off conversations here and there. I think there was a mention of a parade wanting to be added. I think there was a mention of stipend increases that was mentioned. Now is the time if the council would like to weigh in on anything else they'd like to see in the budget so and kind of get a consensus on those. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: There's like different lights. GOODWIN: You have to look good on camera. EARLE: What would be the proposed stipend increase if there was one? GOODWIN: That would be up to you. I know you had brought it up at past, we have done -- we've shared some research that it runs from fully voluntary, which means zero stipend, to upwards of 30,000 a year. EARLE: You were going to look into some -- a place equivalent or similar to -- GOODWIN: It runs the gamut unfortunately. When we compare it -- when we took a look at -- for instance, we looked at Paradise Valley, it's a completely voluntary position, there is no stipend. When we've looked at other communities, it's gone from below us to above us. It kind of -- unfortunately, there's doesn't seem to be a standard at all across the board. EARLE: Not based on population? GOODWIN: Huh-uh, unfortunately not. EARLE: Okay. GOODWIN: So it's really a question of whether the council would like to do that. I will add, I didn't know this, actually Aaron let me know, if you were part of the council when Sharron Grzybowski was here, she mentioned that if they made changes to the stipend, it shouldn't affect the sitting council, it should be for future councils, right. Not making -- apparently that is the case that if we were to change the stipend it would not go into effect until the next election cycle. So. EARLE: And where -- where is that written? TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 25, 2025 TOWN COUNCIL RETREAT Page 154 of 154 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: In the state constitution. EARLE: The state constitution? Oh, okay. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah. Yeah. So there's a provision in the state constitution, Mayor and Council, that says that during the term of the councilmembers or any public officer's service, which has been interpreted to mean like a break in service when a new group comes on, there can't be an increase in pay if there's not additional services rendered. So you guys are stuck with what you're earning now until the election in 2026, is what that means. That's the upshot. GOODWIN: Any other items that we haven't talked about? I see your light on. SKILLICORN: How is this (indiscernible) on when our raise in 2050? GOODWIN: Noted and we'll put that on the future. SKILLICORN: To keep with inflation. GOODWIN: Um-hum. SKILLICORN: I like that. GOODWIN: Is there any other -- other budget items that we haven't talked about that the council would like to see us consider? All right. I'm going to go once. Going twice. Okay. We're a little behind, but thanks everybody. I think there was a lot of valuable discussion for everything today. Having no further business, Mayor Gerry M. Friedel adjourned the Council Retreat of the Fountain Hills Town Council held on February 25, 2025, at 2:55 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS _______________________ Gerry M. Friedel, Mayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: __________________________________ Bevelyn Bender, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 25th day of February 2025. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED 1 day of April 2025 _________________________________ Bevelyn Bender, Town Clerk ITEM 8. B. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Consent Submitting Department: Community Services Prepared by: Kevin Snipes, Community Services Director Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approving Resolution 2025-05, an Amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement with Fountain Hills Unified School District. Staff Summary (Background) Background: The original resolution establishing an agreement between the Town of Fountain Hills and Fountain Hills Unified School District (FHUSD) was executed in 2003. This agreement was subsequently amended in 2005 and 2007, with the 2007-26 resolution serving as the governing document to the present day. In 2019, the agreement was reviewed during a joint meeting of the Town Council and FHUSD Board; however, no formal action was taken at that time. Since then, Town staff have collaborated with FHUSD to refine the terms of the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), resulting in several agreed-upon modifications. Key Updates and Adjustments to the 2007-26 Resolution: Four Peaks Park Improvements: The resolution has been revised to reflect the Town’s acquisition of Four Peaks Park, which, at the time of the last agreement, featured significantly fewer amenities. Avenue Linear Park Event Space: The agreement now includes provisions for the use of the event space within Avenue Linear Park. Use of District Buses: The Town will be permitted to utilize FHUSD buses, when available, for a fee, to support municipal events and activities such as Teen Trips and other community programs. Insurance Requirements: The agreement’s insurance provisions have been updated to align with current standards and ensure clarity for both parties. Community Center Bookings: A clarification has been added stating that district-related bookings at the Community Center may only be made by authorized FHUSD district office personnel, contingent upon space availability. Removal of FHUSD Palisades Basketball Courts: The former basketball courts at FHUSD have been converted into pickleball courts and are now utilized by the privately operated Fountain Hills Pickleball Club; thus, they have been removed from the agreement. These modifications ensure the agreement remains current and reflective of both the Town’s and FHUSD’s operational needs. Staff recommends approval of the revised IGA to formalize these updates and continue fostering a productive partnership between the Town and FHUSD. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle Community Services Parks, Trails and Recreation Master Plan. A focus on year-round programs, Expansion of opportunities for fitness Greater use of partnerships to benefit and defray costs Gathering places for teens Risk Analysis Updating the FHUSD agreement mitigates risks by clarifying responsibilities, ensuring legal protection, optimizing shared resources, and enhancing community benefits. Proceeding with the proposed updates will strengthen the partnership between the Town and FHUSD while supporting efficient service delivery. Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) N/A Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends the approval of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the Town of Fountain Hills and FHUSD 98 SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve Resolution 2025-05, an Amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement with Fountain Hills Unified School District. Attachments FHUSD previous IGA 2007-26 FHUSD IGA 2024 Resolution 2025-05 Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson 03/24/2025 02:45 PM Town Manager Rachael Goodwin 03/24/2025 05:46 PM Form Started By: Patti Lopuszanski Started On: 02/27/2025 10:02 AM Final Approval Date: 03/24/2025 RESOLUTION NO. 2007-26 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA, APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH FOUNTAIN HILLS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 98 FOR SHARED FACILITY USE. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS as follows: SECTION 1. That the Intergovernmental Agreement between the Town of Fountain Hills (the "Town") and Fountain Hills Unified School District No. 98 (the "District"), relating to shared use of District and Town facilities (the "Agreement") is hereby approved in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference. SECTION 2. That the Mayor, the Town Manager, the Town Clerk and the Town Attorney are hereby authorized and directed to cause the execution of the Agreement and to take all steps necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this Resolution. PASSED AND ADOPTED BY the Mayor and Council of the Town of Fountain Hills, Arizona, June 7, 2007. FOR TH OWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS:ATTESTED TO: W. J.Ni s, r Bevelyn J. B de own Clerk REVIEWE APPROVED AS TO FORM: c i 1 J Timothy G. 'ckering, Town nager Andrew J. cGuire, Town Attorney 735852.1 f 1111111111111111111111Whenrecorded, please return to: I Town of Fountain Hills OFFICIAL RECORDS OF 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains I MAR 1 COPA COUNTY RECORDERHELENPURCELLFountainHills, AZ 85268 I 2007-0703902 06/19/07 12:49 PMI1OF6 Attn: Planning & Zoning I GASTELUfP CAPTION HEADING: Intergovernmental Agreement with Fountain Hills Unified School District No. 98 for Shared Facility Use. This is part of the official document. TAIN. te a 3 4q AST 1989 4 tbat is A 4`a' Copies Routed To: Administration Engineering Planning and Zoning Parks &Recreation ASSOCIATED MYLAR MCR# Magistrate Court BOOK OF MAPS ON PAGE EXHIBIT A TO RESOLUTION NO. 2007-26 Agreement] 735852.1 AMENDED AND RESTATED INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS AND THE FOUNTAIN HILLS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 98 THIS INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT(this "Agreement")is made as of p,....ete 2007, by and between the Fountain Hills Unified School District No. 98, apolitical7subdivisionoftheStateofArizona (the "District") and the Town of Fountain Hills, an Arizona municipal corporation (the "Town"). RECITALS A. ARIz. REV. STAT. §§ 11-951 and 11-952 authorize intergovernmental agreements by and between political subdivisions and political agencies such as the District and the Town. Further, the District is authorized by ARiz. REV. STAT. §§ 15-342.13 and the Town is authorized by Town Code § 2-1-2 to enter into intergovernmental Agreements. B. The Town, from time to time, wishes to utilize District facilities for public meetings and recreational and physical development programs and activities and the District wishes to utilize facilities of the Town for the conduct of public meetings and recreational and physical development programs and activities. sod C. The parties hereto desire to make their respective facilities available for such use by each other as permitted by law and under terms and conditions set forth herein. D. The Town and the District have previously entered into the following intergovernmental agreements with respect to shared use of facilities: (i) September 11, 1994 dealing with general use of facilities); (ii) November 2, 1995 (dealing with the Four Peaks Elementary School Athletic Field); (iii) October 23, 1996 (dealing with the Palisades Basketball Courts); and (iv) July 24, 2000 (merging of preexisting IGA's)(collectively, the aforementioned intergovernmental agreements are referred to herein as the "Prior Intergovernmental Agreements"). On April 7, 2005, the parties merged and superceded those Prior Intergovernmental Agreements into a single agreement(the "Merged Agreement"). E. The parties now desire to amend and restate the terms of the Merged Agreement and provide for automatic renewal thereof. AGREEMENT NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing recitals, which are incorporated herein by reference, and the promises and covenants set forth below, the parties hereby agree as follows: 735117.2 1. Term; Termination. This Agreement shall be effective pursuant to ARIz. REV. STAT. § 11-952(G) on the date it is recorded in the office of the Maricopa County Recorder and shall remain in full force and effect for a period of two years. This Agreement shall thereafter be automatically renewed for additional two-year periods unless it is terminated by either party for any reason and without the statement of cause simply upon delivery of written notice of intention to terminate delivered to the other party 180 days prior to the actual date of termination. This Agreement is subject to cancellation pursuant to AIuz. REV. STAT. § 38-511. 2. Applicability. The Town property subject to this Agreement includes certain facilities located at the following: Parcel "A" of the Four Peaks Elementary School site, as depicted on the survey completed by Project Engineering Consultants, Ltd., dated May 30, 1997(the "Parcel A"), Four Peaks Neighborhood Park, Desert Vista Park, Golden Eagle Park, Fountain Park and the Fountain Hills Community Center (collectively referred to herein as the Town Facilities"). The District property subject to this Agreement includes certain facilities located at the following: Four Peaks Elementary, McDowell Mountain Elementary, and Fountain Hills High School and Middle School, commonly known as multipurpose rooms, gymnasiums, football, baseball, softball, and soccer fields, lecture halls, team rooms, libraries and exterior basketball courts (collectively referred to herein as the"District Facilities"). 3. Joint Use of Facilities. The Town wishes to make the Town Facilities available to the District and the District wishes to make the District Facilities available to the Town, including space upon and within existing properties and buildings as well as that involving new facilities, for reciprocal use for various public purposes including, but not limited to recreational programs, public meetings of councils, boards and commissions, and similar public functions and educational programs. By way of example, the School District wishes to make certain physical facilities at Four Peaks Elementary, McDowell Mountain Elementary, and Fountain Hills High School and Middle School known as multipurpose rooms, gymnasiums, football, baseball, softball, and soccer fields, lecture halls, team rooms, libraries and exterior basketball courts, available to the residents of the Town for use during after-school hours, District recesses, District holidays, District vacation days, and on weekends. Similarly, the Town wishes to make certain physical facilities located at Four Peaks Neighborhood Park, Desert Vista Park, Golden Eagle Park, Fountain Park and Fountain Hills Community Center available to the use of the School District, such as a lighted baseball, softball and soccer fields, control buildings with restrooms, ramadas, bleachers, a span bridge (pedestrian footbridge) and botanical walkways, meeting rooms, ball rooms and kitchen facilities. In addition to the foregoing, the parties hereby agree to such additional facility use as set forth below: a.Community Center. Rooms at the Fountain Hills Community Center may be reserved by either the High School Athletic Director or District Office personnel without fee for up to 15 events per school year; provided, however, that the Town shall have priority in scheduling the Community Center Facilities. b. Palisades Basketball Courts. The Town shall be responsible for the scheduling and use of the basketball courts at all times during evenings, District recesses, vacation days and weekends. The School District shall have exclusive rights of use at other times, and shall have priority for school-related functions at any time. The School District acknowledges and understands that the Town may, in fact, charge an incidental fee to users of 735117.2 2 the facility for the use of the lights, but that the fee is not a rental for the use of the School property. The Town shall be solely responsible for all costs associated with installation, operation, and maintenance of the lights during the term of this Agreement. The Town shall retain ownership of the lights for the term of the Agreement, and if the Agreement is either terminated or not renewed for any reason, then the Town shall have 180 days from the date of such termination within which to remove the lights from the campus. Should the Town elect not to remove the lights from the campus within said 180 days, then the lights shall become the property of the School District. The School District shall make available to the Town and maintain its parking facilities during the after-school, evening and vacation days upon which the basketball courts are being used by the Town at no additional charge to the Town. The School District shall be solely responsible for the maintenance, cleanliness and safety of the court surface, poles, rims, and netting, and shall maintain them in a manner to ensure that the courts will be useable for nighttime activity. The maintenance of the courts shall be equal to that which is provided by the Town at Golden Eagle Park Courts. c. Four Peaks Elementary School Athletics Field. The School District will retain rights of use without payment of fees of the Four Peaks Athletic Field during school hours between 8:00 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. d. Parcel A. With respect to the lighted soccer field and other facilities on Parcel A, the School District shall have a right to use the property and any improvements thereon during all school days and for scheduled after-school activities, as approved and scheduled by the Town, without payment of fees to the Town. The Town shall be solely responsible for all costs associated with the installation, operation and maintenance of the soccer field lights and other utilities applicable to Parcel A during the existence of this Agreement. The Town shall be responsible for the schedule and use of the field at all times. The Town shall be totally responsible for the maintenance of the soccer field and shall maintain it in the standard and to such a degree that the field will be useable for nighttime activity. The maintenance of the field shall be equal to that being provided by the Town at Golden Eagle Park. 4. Facility Use; Scheduling. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, usage of each party's facilities will occur with the mutual consent and agreement of the Town and School District; the terms and conditions of such usage may include times, dates, areas and/or buildings to be used, along with specific provisions for the allocation of responsibility for fees, oversight, maintenance, operation and other issues incident to the use of the facilities. The School District will submit its one hundred eighty (180) day schedule (District calendar) to Town as soon as reasonably practicable to aid in advance coordination of facility use. However, nothing herein shall be construed to bar the submission of a scheduling request upon shorter notice. The Town will provide to the School District its schedule for facilities covered by this Agreement to aid in achieving timely coordination of events scheduled by the Town. The usage schedules for each party's facilities are controlled and/or approved by the Town Manager and the District Superintendent. The Manager and Superintendent will work together to resolve any issues specific to these responsibilities or procedures. 5. Supervision. The Town and the School District will provide adequate adult supervision for any program or activity one party conducts on the other party's premises. The 735117.2 3 party conducting the activity shall have the sole responsibility for the conduct and control of the program or activity being conducted on the other parry's premises. 6. Field Lighting. The Town understands and acknowledges that it shall be responsible for, and use its best efforts to correct, any complaints or problems that may arise from neighbors or surrounding property occupants concerning the use of lights on athletic fields during evening hours. The Town also agrees to indemnify and defend any and all claims or litigation that may arise as a result of complaints or problems filed by neighbors or surrounding property occupants, or otherwise arising from the use of athletic fields or facilities scheduled by the Town during the term of this Agreement. 7. Maintenance. Any facility used by either the Town or the School District shall be left in an orderly and clean condition at the conclusion of the activity by the party using the facility. Any damage, other than the normal wear and tear, done to any building or other facility shall be repaired and/or replaced, as appropriate,by the party responsible for the damage. 8. Insurance. The parties hereto agree to secure and maintain insurance coverage for any risks which may arise out of the terms, obligations, operation and actions provided in this Agreement. The parties to this Agreement shall provide to each other a Certificate of Insurance or a Declaration of Self Insurance indicating as a minimum the following coverage: a.Comprehensive general liability coverage including, but not limited to, personal injury liability and broad form property damage. The minimum amount for such coverage shall be $1,000,000.00 combined single limit. b. As to the employees of each of the parties a Certificate or other evidence indicating that the employees are covered for claims arising out of Workers Compensation as required by the law of the State of Arizona. c. The Certificate of Insurance or Memorandum of Self Insurance shall indicate that the other party is named as "additionally insured" pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement. 9. Indemnity. In addition to the insurance provisions set forth above, each party hereby also agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other, including elected officials, officers, administrators or employees from any and all liability resulting from personal injury or death or damage to property of third parties arising out of the use of the facilities, for claims alleging the negligence or intentional acts of the elected officials, officers, administrators or employees of the party which did not sponsor or schedule the event as to which such claims are made and as to which the indemnifying party was the sponsor or scheduling entity. 10. Annual Budgets. The parties agree and acknowledge that each party has fiscal responsibilities in connection with this Agreement. The governing bodies shall, pursuant to the budget laws of the State of Arizona, make every effort to annually include in their operating budgets sufficient funds for the performance of their mutual obligations contained herein. 735117.2 4 11. Dispute Resolution. The parties agree that if there is a dispute as to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, or a dispute as to the terms and conditions or the relative equity of the operation and use of a facility or athletic field, the Superintendent of the School District and the Town Manager shall meet and attempt to resolve any disputes or concerns prior to the matter coming before the Governing Board or Council of the respective bodies. 12. Posting Information. The parties agree that it's in the best interests of both that the exchange and distribution of materials with information for the public regarding respective programs, classes, athletic events, etc. should occur. Therefore, both agree to the posting and/or distribution of information to students and/or the public be provided by either party as may be requested. TOWN OF F i UNTAIN HILLS FOUNTAIN HILLS UNIFIED SCIJIOOL DISTRICT N%). 98 1# 0 W. J. N. h• s, Mayor I lelen Howaid;President Fountain Hills School Board ATTEST: ATTEST: L_ Bevelyn J. n ,...Town.-CL rk e retary of the S hool Board RpEWED REVIEWED BY: of,e 7/7Z i wxy Timothy . Pickering, Town anager D arian K. Hermie, Superintendent PURSUANT TO the provisions of Aiuz. REV. STAT. § 11-952.D., this Agreement has been submitted to and approved by the attorney for each of the public agencies who certify that, with respect to their respective clients only, the Agreement is in proper form and it is within the powers and authorities granted under the laws of this State to the School District and Town. Ofik c 1110/ 4e4e(lk,a44,e.Z Andrew J. McGuire, Town Attorney aJ 4/ Attorney for District 735117.1 5 RESOLUTION NO. 2025-05 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THE FOUNTAIN HILLS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 98 (“FHUSD” or “DISTRICT”), A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA, RELATING TO MUTUAL FACILITY USE. WHEREAS, the Town and District each have public use facilities that serve the public; and WHEREAS, the Town and District desire to allow for shared use of facilities for public meetings, recreation programs, and physical development programs and activities; and WHEREAS, Town and the District desire to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to establish terms and conditions for the mutual use of their respective facilities in a manner that maximizes public benefit and ensures efficient resource utilization; and WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that entering into this intergovernmental agreement is in the best interests of the Town and its residents; BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS as follows: SECTION 1. That the Town, through its Mayor and Council, hereby approves the Intergovernmental Agreement (the "Agreement"), in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit A. SECTION 2.The Mayor, the Town Manager, the Town Clerk and the Town Attorney are hereby authorized and directed to cause the execution of the Agreement and to take all steps necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this Resolution. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Fountain Hills, Maricopa County, Arizona, this 1st day of April 2025. FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS:ATTESTED TO: ____________________________ __________________________ Gerry Friedel, Mayor Bevlyn Bender, Town Clerk REVIEWED BY:APPROVED AS TO FORM: ______________________________ ___________________________ Rachael Goodwin, Town Manager Aaron D. Arnson, Town Attorney ITEM 9. A. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Regular Agenda Submitting Department: Development Services Prepared by: Paula Woodward, Executive Assistant Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the recommendations for the appointments of members to the Town's Boards, Commissions, and Committees. Staff Summary (Background) The Council Subcommittees for the Towns Boards, Commissions, and Committees conduct interviews to recommend new members based on term expiration, vacancies from resignations, or changes in membership eligibility status. Appointments are made twice a year, in April and October. Planning and Zoning Commission One new appointment to fill the vacant seat expiring on April 30, 2026. Three commissioners' terms will expire at the end of April; they have all requested reappointment. On March 18, 2025, the Council Subcommittee for the Boards, Commissions, and Committees held a meeting to interview residents who had applied for vacancies on the Town's Boards, Commissions, and Committees. Based on the interviews, the Subcommittee made recommendations for appointment to those committees. They also recommended that if an opening occurs on the Planning and Zoning Commission within the next six months, it should be filled by one of the candidates from the March interviews. Furthermore, the Subcommittee reviewed the list of reappointments for the April recruitment and is making the following recommendations. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle Chapter 2A of the Town Code. Risk Analysis N/A Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) Recommendations to the Mayor have been made by the Council Subcommittee. Staff Recommendation(s) To approve the Council Subcommittee recommendations for appointments to the Boards, To approve the Council Subcommittee recommendations for appointments to the Boards, Commissions, and Committees, as well as recommendations by staff for the remaining boards and commissions, as follows: Make the following reappointments of citizens to the boards and commissions as follows: Planning and Zoning Commission Appoint ___________________________ for a term (4/2/2025 to 4/30/2026) Reappoint __________________________for a full term (5/1/2025 to 4/30/2028) Reappoint __________________________for a full term (5/1/2025 to 4/30/2028) Reappoint __________________________for a full term (5/1/2025 to 4/30/2028) SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve the Council Subcommittees' recommendations for the appointment of members to the town's boards, commissions, and committees, as presented: Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Development Services Director John Wesley 03/19/2025 07:41 AM Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson 03/19/2025 04:10 PM Town Manager Angela Padgett-Espiritu 03/24/2025 10:35 AM Form Started By: Paula Woodward Started On: 03/18/2025 06:55 PM Final Approval Date: 03/24/2025 ITEM 9. B. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Regular Agenda Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the application for the T-Mobile Hometown Grant. Staff Summary (Background) Staff recommends applying for the T-Mobile Hometown Grant, a $25 million, five-year initiative in partnership with Main Street America, designed to support community projects that help small towns across America thrive. The grant program awards funding quarterly to up to 25 small towns for projects that enhance public spaces, revitalize historic structures, or create assets that foster community engagement and economic development. Projects that contribute to a strong sense of place and encourage further investment are of particular interest. Examples of community projects that have received funding include the installation of a stage at a rodeo fairground in order to facilitate live music performance in Fresno, TX, and the installation of a building mural as part of a revitalization effort in Murray, KY. Further information about the grant can be found here: Hometown Grant Program: Revitalizing Small Towns | T-Mobile Grant Details: Grant Amount: Up to $50,000 Town Match Requirement: In-kind labor and support, no financial match Eligibility: Towns with a population under 50,000 residents Application Deadline: March 31 at 10:00 p.m. Project Completion Deadline: May 31, 2026 Proposed Project: Staff intends to submit a grant application requesting $50,000 to fund dark sky-compliant lighting, site furnishings, banquet tables, and chairs for the Centennial Pavilion shade structure. The proposal will include draft plans, a project timeline, and letters of support. This project aligns with the town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and aims to enhance the pavilion’s usability by: Providing a welcoming space for residents to gather, eat lunch, and conduct business. Increasing nighttime usage by adding appropriate lighting, which is essential for the pavilion to serve as a functional event space after dark. Next Steps: This project is already identified as a recommended CIP project, and staff is actively pursuing funding through this grant opportunity. If the grant is not awarded, staff will continue to recommend funding for the project through the CIP process. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle Town of Fountain Hills Grant Policy Risk Analysis External funding is critical to enhancing our existing capital funds and allowing them to stretch further and complete more community-oriented projects. Forgoing this grant opportunity limits the capacity of the capital budget and may result in the project being delayed or canceled. Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) Community Services Advisory Commission recommends approval. Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends approval. SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to authorize a grant application for the T-Mobile Hometown Grant and authorize the grant acceptance and all steps necessary to implement if awarded the grant for the amenities requested for the Centennial Pavilion. Attachments T-Mobile Hometown Grant - Centennial Pavilion Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 03/19/2025 09:41 AM Final Approval Date: 03/19/2025 Centennial Pavilion Shade Lighting •$50,000.00 •Dark SkyCompliant lighting Oktoberfest without permanent lighting Centennial Pavilion Shade Lighting Track Lighting System Dark Sky Compliant Attached to Shade Framing (Red line in photo) ITEM 9. C. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Regular Agenda Submitting Department: Community Services Prepared by: Kevin Snipes, Community Services Director Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of Resolution 2025-14, the Amended Public Art Master Plan. Staff Summary (Background) On October 15, 2024, the Town Council approved Resolution 2024-41, which updated the Public Art Master Plan to include associated policies and revised the public art acquisition process by incorporating the History and Culture Advisory Commission into the review process. Following this approval, staff identified the need for further clarification regarding the methodology used to calculate the Total Construction Cost for public art projects. To address this, Resolution 2025-14 has been drafted to amend the Public Art Master Plan and Public Art Guidelines to ensure greater consistency, transparency, and standardization in cost evaluations. Proposed Updates: The amendment removes the option to calculate construction costs based on actual construction expenses, as this method can be subject to inconsistencies and potential inaccuracies. Instead, all construction costs will be determined using objective standards based on the most recent edition of the International Code Council (ICC) Building Valuation Data. This method has already been widely applied to nearly all construction projects within the Town. Key benefits of this change include: Standardization – Ensures a uniform approach to evaluating construction costs across all projects. Reduced Subjectivity – Minimizes the need for staff discretion in determining whether total construction receipts are complete. Increased Transparency – Provides a clear, predefined method for cost assessment, enhancing public trust in the evaluation process. Fairness and Consistency – Projects will be evaluated using established percentages and criteria from the ICC Building Valuation Data, ensuring equitable application of the guidelines. Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of Resolution 2025-14 to amend the Public Art Master Plan and Public Art Guidelines, ensuring a more transparent, consistent, and standardized approach to public art project evaluations. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle Public Art Master Plan- Percentage for Public Art Requirement for Development Town Code Article 2A-8 History and Culture Advisory Commission (HCAC). Chapter 19 of the Town’s Zoning Ordinance Risk Analysis N/A Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) N/A Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends approval of Resolution 2025-14, the Amended Public Art Master Plan and Public Art Guidelines SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to Approve Resolution 2025-14, the Amended Public Art Master Plan and Public Art Guidelines Attachments Resolution 2025-14 Public Art Guidelines April 1, 2025 Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson 03/25/2025 09:10 AM Town Manager Rachael Goodwin 03/25/2025 09:26 AM Form Started By: Patti Lopuszanski Started On: 03/24/2025 10:38 AM Final Approval Date: 03/25/2025 04.01.25 RESOLUTION NO. 2025-14 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA, REVISING THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS PUBLIC ART MASTER PLAN REVISIONS AMENDED OCTOBER 15, 2024 RECITALS: WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the Town of Fountain Hills (the “Town”) acknowledge the important cultural and beautification role of public art within the Town; and WHEREAS, the Town has taken several steps to manage the promotion and acquisition of public art within the Town and to create design guidelines establishing minimum standards for public art in commercial, industrial, and multi-family residential projects; and WHEREAS, the Town desires to adopt a “Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan” to provide a cohesive document regarding public art within the Town. ENACTMENTS: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF FOUNTAIN HILLS as follows: SECTION 1. The recitals above are hereby incorporated as if fully set forth herein. SECTION 2. The Town, through its Mayor and Council, hereby approves the revisions to the “Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan” in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit A. SECTION 3. The Mayor, the Town Manager, the Town Clerk, and the Town Attorney are hereby authorized and directed to cause the execution of the revisions and to take all steps necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this Resolution. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Mayor and Council of the Fountain Hills, Maricopa County, Arizona, this 1st day of April 2025 FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS: ATTESTED TO: Gerry Friedel, Mayor Beverly Bender, Town Clerk REVIEWED BY: APPROVED AS TO FORM: Rachael Goodwin, Town Manager Aaron D. Arnson, Town Attorney 04.01.2025 EXHIBIT A TO RESOLUTION NO. 2025-14 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS PUBLIC ART MASTER PLAN REVISIONS 2025 See following pages 04.01.2025 Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan Apri1 1, 2025 2 | P a g e I.INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND History of Public Art Public art has long played an important role in expressing the identity of a culture. In many cases, public art is the legacy by which we remember an ancient culture. Public art has been a part of the American landscape since Colonial times, but it wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that comprehensive public art programs emerged. After the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts in 1965, the field of public art underwent significant change. As more and more cities adopted “percent for art” ordinances, public art has evolved from a process that placed large-scale versions of studio sculpture in unrelated spaces into the broader understanding that art may take various forms, including being routinely integrated into the surroundings it is placed in, often becoming part of building or structure itself. In cities like Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami and others, artists working in the public realm became more involved in the design of public spaces by working closely with architects, landscape architects and engineers. The result was the use of art to shape a new public space, not just to enhance an existing one. In Seattle, Phoenix and Scottsdale, the art went one step further; it has become an integral part of civic infrastructure including, bridges, waste treatment plants, freeways, parks, sports complexes and other projects. Funding for contemporary public art has come in large part from three sources: (i) “percent for art” ordinances, (ii) funding through local, state and federal grant programs and (iii) corporate sponsorships and private donations from individuals and foundations. History of Art in Fountain Hills In October 1994, the Town of Fountain Hills (the “Town”) and the Fountain Hills Civic Association (the “Civic Association”) commissioned a community cultural assessment, sponsored by the Arizona Commission on the Arts (the “1994 Cultural Assessment”). Nearly 50 citizens participated in either the open forum or in the surveys collected. The community’s strengths and challenges were discussed, and four key issues were identified: The need for a cultural center facility with performance, gallery and meeting space. A need for an arts council to provide leadership for cultural growth. A need to involve the arts in community design and planning. A need for youth services including after school and summer programs. Through the 1994 Cultural Assessment, a clear need for a Public Art Committee was recognized. The Fountain Hills Arts Council (the “Arts Council”) bylaws were formally adopted in March 1995. 3 | P a g e On September 4, 1997, the Town Council adopted Resolution No. 1997-43 designating the Arts Council, then a committee of the Civic Association, as the official representative of the Town in all matters dealing with the promotion of public arts within the Town of Fountain Hills. Shortly thereafter, the Arts Council established the Fountain Hills Public Art Committee (the “PAC”) to administer its public art program. On November 20, 2003, the Town Council adopted Resolution No. 2003-70 confirming this appointment and adopting an official Master Plan for the acquisition of public art. Through various corporate reorganizations, the Arts Council became the Fountain Hills Cultural Council and thereafter merged with the Civic Association to become the Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation (“FHCCA”). The PAC continued as a committee of FHCCA throughout 2024. On December 7, 2006, the Town Council adopted Ordinance 06-23, creating the Town’s Commercial/Multi-Family Architectural Design Review Guidelines (the “Design Guidelines”). Section 19.05(I) of the Design Guidelines established the minimum standards for including a public art element in all commercial, industrial, and multi-family residential projects (the “Public Art Requirement”) providing for either (i) the installation of exterior public art valued at equal to or greater than 1% of the cost of building construction and associated site work and signage of a new or redeveloped commercial, industrial, or large multi-family residential construction project or (ii) a donation to the Fountain Hills Public Art Fund in an amount equal to or greater than 1% of the cost of building construction and associated site work and signage. The funds raised through this process will be referred to hereafter as the “Percent for Public Art” funds. Public Art Fund Development Guidelines were adopted by the Town Council in January 2007 to set forth the process for implementing the Public Art Requirement. The Fountain Hills Public Art Fund is the fund held by the Town for the purchase or installation of public art (the “Fountain Hills Public Art Fund. On October 15, 2024, the Fountain Hills Town Council determined that it was in the best interest of the Town and its citizens that all new acquisitions of public art, maintenance, disposition, and other public art-related projects shall be accomplished through the Town’s History and Culture Advisory Commission and Town Staff. 6 | P a g e II.PUBLIC ART PROGRAM GENERAL STANDARDS Mission: The mission of the Public Art Collection is to promote a rich, diverse and stimulating cultural environment that enriches the lives of the Town’s residents and visitors, and further establishes the Town’s identity. The Town Council intends that all public art in the corporate limits of the Town shall be selected and approved according to the Public Art Acquisition process. Document Purpose: This document establishes policies and procedures for the acquisition, placement, care, and management of works of art for the public art collection of the Town of Fountain Hills. GOALS OF THE COLLECTION: 1. It shall be the policy of the History and Culture Advisory Commission to accept unique, one-of-a-kind works of art with the noted exception of prints, photographs or a desirable high-quality limited-edition work of art by a renowned artist 2. Artwork acquired and maintained within the Public Art Collection should reflect the highest aesthetic standards. Objects accepted into the Public Art Collection must be of known authorship and be accepted based on their value as works of art. 3. The should be diverse in its representation of artists and artistic styles. 4. Artwork acquired and accepted into the should be appropriate in scale, media, and context with its intended location, and be relevant within the cultural, historical, social/political and environmental context of the area surrounding the Town of Fountain Hills. DEFINITIONS: Acquisition: The formal process used to accept an artwork into the Public Art Collection and the recording of an item as a Collection Object. Aesthetics: Artistic merit of the work of art, including consideration of its artistic, social, cultural, and/or historical significance. Appraisal: A professional, certified evaluation of an artwork, i.e. its authenticity, condition, and provenance, to determine its monetary value. Artist: Individual artist or team of individual artists whose body of work and professional activities demonstrate serious ongoing commitment to the fine arts, through a record of exhibitions, public commissions, sale of works and educational attainment. Artwork or Work of Art: For the purpose of these guidelines, Artwork, or Work of Art, is defined as a work in any media that is the result of the unique creative expression of an artist. 7 | P a g e Conservation: See “Preservation.” For the purposes of this document, the terms “conservation” and “preservation” are used interchangeably. Decommission or Decommissioning Policy: The formal process of removing acquired objects permanently from the Art Collection. Donation: An artwork or a series of artworks gifted to the Town for long-term public display with intent to transfer the title of ownership to the Town. Maintenance: Maintenance shall mean a minimally invasive, routine, and regularly scheduled activity that may involve the removal of superficial dirt or debris build-up on the surface of the artwork or the cleaning and repair of non-art support material such as a pedestal or plaque. For the purposes of this document, this definition shall apply generally whenever “maintenance” of artwork is referenced. Maintenance Endowment Calculation: A Maintenance Endowment Calculation adequate to ensure the continued care of gifts of art shall be maintained by the Town of Fountain Hills. An endowment is required for all outdoor artworks and may be required for indoor artworks in order to maintain the gift in a condition satisfactory to the donor, the History and Culture Advisory Commission, and the Town. Scale, material, location, value of the work and potential for vandalism will be considered in determining the maintenance endowment. Monuments: Structures, sculptures, or other objects erected to commemorate a person or an event. Percent for Public Art: Generally, developers of any new professional office, lodging projects, retail, service, commercial, wholesale, transportation, industrial developments, re-developments or expansion projects, and multi-family projects with five or more dwelling units within the Town of Fountain Hills are required to provide public artwork pursuant to Section 19.05(I) of the Commercial/Multi-Family Architectural Design Review Guidelines. Plaque: For the purpose of this document “plaque” refers to identification signage affixed on or near an artwork that identifies the title, artist, media, date, attribution, and other pertinent information. Organizations strive for uniformity in plaque design and text content. Preservation: Preservation shall mean the protection of cultural property through activities that minimize chemical and physical deterioration and damage, and that prevent loss of informational content. The primary goal of preservation is to prolong the existence of cultural property, and should be undertaken or overseen by a professional conservator. For the purposes of this document, the terms preservation and conservation are used interchangeably, and the definition above shall apply generally whenever “conservation” or “preservation” is used. Proposal: The Artist’s design proposal for a project that typically includes drawings and/or models illustrating the project and how it will fit into the site, project description and budget, typically requested from a limited number of finalists as a means of providing the basis for final artist selection. 8 | P a g e Provenance: The history of an artwork and its creation and ownership, which is used to help establish its authenticity. Documents used for provenance include sales receipts, auction and exhibition catalogs, gallery labels, letters from the artist, and statements from people who knew the artist or the circumstances of the creation of the artwork. Public Art Collection: The Public Art Collection is comprised of artworks that have been acquired by the Town. Public Art Fund: The Public Art Fund is made up of the funds set aside by the Town to acquire and maintain the Public Art Collection. This fund is comprised of monies collected through the Percent for Public Art, through donations from private or corporate donors, the Maintenance Endowment Calculation, and monies gained through grants. The Public Art Fund amount shall be noted within the annual budget of the Town of Fountain Hills. III.PUBLIC ART ACQUISITION PROCESS Public art is acquired through four primary methods: 1. As the result of a gift or loan whereby the Town becomes a beneficiary 2. As a result of the Percent for Public Art Contribution 3. By the active procurement of a specific work of art or the selection of an artist for a specific project 4. Temporary or Traveling Art Exhibitions 9 | P a g e IV.ARTWORK DONATION PROCEDURES When an artwork is offered to the Town for donation, such donations are reviewed by the History and Culture Advisory Commission in coordination with Town Staff. No work of art shall be acquired into the Collection unless such work of art shall first have been submitted to and approved by the History and Culture Advisory Commission. Artwork must meet the Art Acquisition Criteria. The History and Culture Advisory Commission nor the Town will establish the artwork value, nor furnish documentation regarding the artwork value to the Donor. Any appraisal must be completed independently. Step 1: The prospective donor submits a completed Artwork Donation Application with required attachments to the History and Culture Advisory Commission. Developers required to meet the Percent for Public Art 1% requirement will submit an application with the Planning and Zoning Department. The proposal shall include information about the artist, written description of the artwork (size, materials, date created, etc.), condition report, appraisal and photograph or drawing of the artwork, and proposed site, if any. Artwork to be donated will only be accepted with restrictions in very limited circumstances. For all artwork located on public property, the Town of Fountain Hills receives full title to the artwork and has the ability to sell or transfer the title to individuals or entities. Step 2: The History and Culture Advisory Commission reviews the application, and gift documents and decides if the gift meets the Art Acquisition Criteria. If necessary, the prospective donor may be invited to give a presentation about the donation to clarify the artwork provenance, the appraisal, and the intent of the gift. The History and Culture Advisory Commission may seek the advice of a professional art conservator or other qualified arts professional to review the proposal and provide recommendations regarding authenticity and the long-term care of the artwork. Step 3: The History and Culture Advisory Commission will make a recommendation to Town Staff to accept, accept with modifications, or decline the gift. If the gift is accepted with modifications, the donor has the option to resubmit it at a later date. If the gift is accepted by the History and Culture Advisory Commission, it is then referred to Town Staff, and then Town Council for review and acceptance. The donor may again be called upon to discuss the donation with the Town Council. The History and Culture Advisory Commission may not recommend gifts that require extraordinary maintenance expense or are deemed unsafe. Step 4: Once the artwork donation has been accepted, the Town and the Donor enter into an agreement regarding the terms of acceptance based upon the requirements of the Art Acquisition Criteria. In general, donations shall be accepted without restrictions or conditions. All accepted donations will be subject to the Town’s Art Acquisition Criteria and Decommissioning Policy. All artworks acquired by the Town shall be covered under the Town’s public art insurance policy for the stated value. 10| P a g e V.ART ACQUISITION CRITERIA Public art is defined as the work of a visual artist located in a publicly accessible space. Public art includes, but is not limited to, paintings, murals, statues, stained glass, fiber art, relief or other sculpture, fountains, arches and other structures intended for ornament or commemoration, carvings, frescoes, mosaics, mobiles, photographs, drawings, collages, prints, landscape art, and crafts, both decorative and utilitarian. Public art may be temporary or permanent in nature. Public art projects may also include visual or landscape artists serving on design and development teams to identify opportunities and approaches for incorporating artwork aesthetic concepts into Town building and visible public improvement projects. Regardless of the method of acquisition, certain fundamental criteria will be universally applied to any work of art under consideration. Aesthetics 1. Artistic merit of the work of art, including its artistic, social, and/or historical significance, as evidenced by the Artwork Donation Application (which includes a written description and drawings and/or maquette if the artwork is proposed and not fabricated) 2. Professional artist's qualifications, as evidenced by the Artwork Donation Application (which includes images of past work, resume, references, and published reviews) 3. Compatibility of the work of art within the context of the proposed site 4. Warranty of originality (in the case of a pre-existing artwork; only original works or limited editions and high aesthetic value shall be considered) 5. Provenance Site 6. Appropriateness to the proposed site with respect to its immediate and general physical environment (district, neighborhood) and audience 7. Proposed works of art must be compatible in scale, material, form, and content with their surroundings. Attention shall be given to the social context of the work and the manner in which it may interact or contribute to the use of the site. 8. Ecological and/or environmental impact 9. Accessibility to the public, including persons with disabilities 10. Text components (e.g., signage or plaque) 11| P a g e Site Criteria: Prior to selecting a site for an artwork, whether purchased or commissioned, the History and Culture Advisory Commission and Town staff shall take into consideration the following factors: 11. Visibility and prominence of the artwork site 12. Public accessibility of the artwork and ADA Compliance 13. Public Safety 14. Interior and exterior traffic patterns 15. Relationship of proposed artwork to existing or future architectural features, natural features, other artworks, and urban design 16. Function of the facility 17. Facility users and surrounding community and interaction of users and community members with proposed artwork 18. Future development plans for area 19. Overall program goal or concept 20. Landscape design 21. Relationship of proposed artwork to existing art works within the site vicinity 22. Environmental impact 23. Social context of artwork (intended use of the work, if any) 24. The History and Culture Advisory Commission shall the from Town Staff and Town Council. Installation 25. Site requirements for installation (Electricity, lighting, water, or other requirements) 26. Method of installation 12| P a g e 27. Documents: Utility connections, site modifications, structural reinforcements or other engineering requirements or site modifications should be described in the gift proposal and reflected in the construction plans and specifications. The donor/sponsor is responsible for providing and submitting engineering and architectural plans, as required according to the Building Code or as requested by the Commission. Such plans must be prepared, signed and stamped by the appropriate design professional licensed in the State of Arizona. 28. Storage requirements, if needed 29. Safety standards (Town Risk Management review) Maintenance 30. Structural integrity (demonstrated through documentation) 31. Review of Fabrication and Installation Method: Works of art that are accepted from maquettes or drawings will be subject to review and inspection throughout fabrication and installation. Specific plans for site design, installation, maintenance and protection will be submitted for approvals. The completed artwork may not deviate in any way from the proposal approved by the History and Culture Advisory Commission 32. Durability of materials and method of fabrication 33. Susceptibility of the artwork to accidental damage, theft, and/or vandalism and security needs 34. Ability or capacity to provide necessary routine maintenance Maintenance Endowment Calculation Contribution 35. All costs associated with fabrication and installation, including site preparation, long-term preservation, illumination, plaque, and unveiling/dedication event, if any 36. For all works of art located on Town property or donated to the Town, the Donor will contribute 5% of the total value of the artwork or $5000 (whichever is less) to the Town’s Public Art Fund. Obtaining an appraisal prior to execution of the agreement is the responsibility of the Donor, unless otherwise agreed upon by Town and Donor. 37. Statement of value of artwork by a certified appraiser for insurance purposes 38. No artwork will be placed or acquired before all financial obligations are met by the Donor 13| P a g e Liability 39. Susceptibility of the artwork both to normal wear and to vandalism 40. Potential risk to the public 41. Public access, in general, as well as compliance with ADA requirements 42. Special insurance requirements (some extremely valuable artworks need additional insurance) Timeliness 43. Allowance of sufficient time for normal review process 44. Timely and appropriate response to the History and Culture Advisory Commission and Town staff requests for additional materials or information Memorial Gifts: Memorial gifts will be judged to the following additional criteria: 45. The person so honored shall have been deceased for a minimum of two years. Events shall have taken place at least two years prior to consideration of a proposed memorial gift. 46. Represents broad community values 47. The memorial has timeless qualities that will be meaningful to future generations 48. The location under consideration is an appropriate setting for the memorial; in general, there should be some specific geographic justification for the memorial being located in a specific site Acceptable Art: Acceptable forms of art (“Acceptable Art”) shall include but are not necessarily limited to, the following: 49. All forms of limited edition or one-of-a-kind original creations of visual art created by an artist 50. Project features and enhancements which are unique and produced by a professional artist such as benches and fountains 51. Murals or mosaics covering walls 52. Professional artist sculptures which can be freestanding, wall-supported or suspended and made of durable materials suitable to the site and the climate 14| P a g e 53. Other suitable artworks as presented in a catalog and previously approved by the History and Culture Advisory Commission. Not Acceptable Art: The following, non-exclusive list describes those items not considered Acceptable Art: 54. Business logos or art that incorporates a logo for the primary purpose of advertising a business 55. Directional elements such as supergraphics, signage or color coding except where these elements are integral parts of the original works of art 56. Mass-produced art objects, such as fountains, statuary objects, or playground equipment 57. Decorative ornamental or functional elements created by the project 58. Landscape architecture or gardening except for elements designed by the artist as an integral part of the work of art 59. Electrical, water or mechanical service for activation of the works of art 60. Art exhibitions and educational activities 61. Security and publicity concerning works of art 62. Standard landscape or hardscape elements that would normally be associated with the project 15| P a g e VI.PERCENT FOR PUBLIC ART REQUIREMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT A.Basic Requirements 1.Developers of any new professional office, lodging projects, retail, service, commercial, wholesale, transportation, industrial developments, re-developments or expansion projects and multi-family projects with five or more dwelling units within the Town of Fountain Hills are required to provide public artwork. See § 19.05(I). The Percent for Public Art contribution shall equal: 1% of Total Construction Cost* for projects of $1 million or less; ¾% of Total Construction Cost* for projects with a value between $1 million and $10 million; or ½% of Total Construction Cost* for projects with a Total Construction Cost over $10 million. * The Town will calculate the Total Construction Cost based on the standards in the building code for purposes of determining the fee. That amount calculated will be posted on the permit application. As an alternative to providing public art, developers may make a donation to the Fountain Hills Public Art Fund in an amount equal to the above calculation. If requested, Town staff will work with the developer to identify an appropriate use of the contribution that will benefit both the developer and the Town. 2.Developers are not required to make a contribution to the Maintenance Endowment Calculation for any artwork located on private property. If the artwork is to be located on public property, the Maintenance Endowment Calculation will apply. 3.The Percent for Public Art must be met prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. Applicants choosing to purchase a piece of art are required to submit a Donation Application and comply with the Art Acquisition Criteria. The art contribution should be approved by the History and Culture Advisory Commission as being in compliance with the ordinance. 4.Artwork selected by the developer to go on site must be integrated with the project, be located on an exterior of the structure or the building site, be visible to the public at all times and be accessible for at least 40 hours per week. The location of the artwork should be in an outdoor location to allow unrestricted visibility by the public 24 hours per day. 5.A plaque will be placed that will identify the art and the artist. 16| P a g e B.Total Construction Cost Calculation Total Construction Cost, as used in the Calculation for Percent for Public Art, includes hard costs of construction, site work and signage costs. C.Eligible Costs for Calculating the Contribution The following costs may be included in the calculation of the developer’s Percent for Public Art investment. 1.Professional artist’s budget, including artist fees, materials, assistants’ labor costs, insurance, permits, taxes, business, legal expenses and operating costs. 2.Fabrication and installation of the artwork, including base and/or foundation if necessary. 3.Site preparation for artwork. 4.Structures enabling the artist to display the artwork. 5.Documentation of the artwork. 6.Acknowledgment plaque identifying the artist, artwork and development, per Town format. D.Responsibility After Installation 1.Art located on the developer’s property will remain the developer’s property, subject to a covenant on the part of the developer that the piece will remain in public view. It will be the developer’s and subsequent property owner’s responsibility to insure and maintain the piece of art. The insured value must equal the appraised value. Developer will be cognizant of the federal Visual Artists Rights Act, which prevents the distortion or modification of an artwork without the artist’s permission. 2.If any changes are considered by the property owner for the previously approved artwork located on site, an application for consideration of change must be submitted to the History and Culture Advisory Commission. All submitted changes are subject to full review by the History and Culture Advisory Commission, Town Staff, or Town Council. 3.Art located on Town-owned property shall become the property of the Town. The artwork location will be reviewed by the Town’s Facilities Division and other staff to ensure compliance with American with Disabilities Act (ADA), and to minimize conflicts with public utilities in Town rights-of-way. The Town will insure and maintain all pieces on Town-owned property. 17| P a g e VII.ACQUIRING ART THROUGH ARTIST'S SELECTION OR PURCHASE The Town Staff will identify potential art projects or art purchase opportunities. Any recommendation to the Town Staff regarding the acquisition of a piece of art shall identify the potential source of funds for such acquisition. Such source of funds may include the funds deposited in the Fountain Hills Public Art Fund. 1. The History and Culture Advisory Commission will decide which projects or purchases will be recommended to the Town Council as required in the Artwork Donation Process. The Town Council will have the final decision, acting in its sole discretion, to determine (i) which projects or purchases will be undertaken and (ii) if the recommendation includes the use of funds from the Fountain Hills Public Art Fund, whether the use of such funds is appropriate. 2. If the Town Council approves moving forward with a project or purchase, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will assume the role of an independent selection panel. The History and Culture Advisory Commission will choose the most appropriate method for a given project or purchase from among the following options: a. Open Competition. This method offers opportunities in which any professional artist is eligible to enter. A project profile, an announcement with information about the project, will be circulated, requesting artist proposals for review by the selection panel. b. Invitational or Limited Competition. This two-staged competition calls for artists to submit qualifications (documentation of past work) for the selection panel’s consideration, instead of a proposal. The panel selects three to five artists to visit the site and develop detailed proposals or to participate in an interview process. The artists may be paid for their proposals and site visits based on a percentage of the project budget. The panel then reconvenes to select an artist and/or proposal. c. Direct Selection and Nominations. In this method, the panel selects one artist on the basis of documentation of past work. The pool of work reviewed can be solicited through a call-to-artists or by using an existing artist slide bank. The artist is selected by the History and Culture Advisory Commission. who will then send their recommendation to Town Council. d. Direct Purchase. A method that results in the purchase of already completed artworks, based upon the History and Culture Advisory Commission’s recommendations. 18| P a g e 3. Upon Town Council approval of any public art project or purchase, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will contact the selected artist or artist’s agent. The History and Culture Advisory Commission will prepare an invoice or contract between the Town and the artist covering the entire scope of work to be performed, and specifying all fees to be paid, including, those for any travel expenses, shipping and/or installation charges. The Town Attorney shall prepare the invoice or contract with input from the History and Culture Advisory Commission as to the appropriate scope of work to be performed, fees to be paid, travel expenses to be reimbursed and shipping and/or installation charges to be paid. If the Fountain Hills Public Art Fund is to be used for acquisition and/or installation, the Town shall contribute its portion prior to the date the Town is required to pay the final invoice. 4. Working in cooperation with appropriate Town staff and/or commissions, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will assume responsibility for project management, overseeing the purchase, shipment and installation of selected Artwork, or the design, fabrication and installation of a commissioned project. 5. According to the payment schedule stipulated in the contract, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will be responsible for paying all project fees in a timely fashion, unless otherwise agreed. 6. Upon completion of the purchase or project, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will arrange a public dedication and formal transfer of ownership to the Town. 19| P a g e VIII.TEMPORARY OR TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS From time to time, the History and Culture Advisory Commission may make arrangements for temporary works of art to be displayed in select locations. These Temporary or Traveling Exhibitions may be installed to celebrate a current cultural, social, or civic event, or may represent art that is available on a temporary basis that can bring a new, thoughtful perspective to the Fountain Hills Public Art Collection. Considerations for the selection of a Temporary or Travelling Exhibition might include: 1. Costs: Costs associated with these Temporary Exhibits may be either borne by private donors or the Public Art Fund. In the event there might be costs to be borne by the Town of Fountain Hills from the Public Art Fund, the History and Culture Advisory Commission shall make a request for funds in advance of any commitments to display the work. These costs might include but may not be limited to honorariums paid to artists, installation costs, maintenance, lighting, plaque costs or insurance costs. 2. Selection: The Selection Criteria shall be similar to those outlined in Article VI Acquiring Art Through Artists Selection or Purchase. 3. Additional Criteria in a Call to Artists for the purpose of the temporary status might include: a. Length of time to be displayed. b. Whether or not the artwork may be sold during the exhibition or as a function of the exhibition. In such event, the work will be required to remain on site during the full length of the exhibition. c. Manner in which the artist may advertise or promote themselves or the work. d. Requirement for insurance to be carried by the artist. e. Requirement of the Artist to be present for installation, de-installation and Dedication of the Exhibition. f. An appropriate disclaimer created by legal counsel of the Town of Fountain Hills pertaining to the artist's release of liability for damage or destruction while on display. 20| P a g e IX.GIFT AND SALE OF ARTWORKS The Gift and Sale of Art Program is established to allow the public to donate works of art to the Town of Fountain Hills that may or will be sold for the benefit of the Public Art Fund. When the History and Culture Advisory Commission determines that it would be advantageous to the Town, a gifted work of art may be acquired and sold. 1. Sale at Public Auction: A work of art under the jurisdiction of the Town may be sold at public auction to the highest and best bidder and the History and Culture Advisory Commission may contract with a licensed auctioneer for the purpose of conducting the sale or sales. The contract shall specify the compensation to be paid for the auctioneer's services and set forth the terms and conditions under which the sale or sales are to be conducted. 2. Private Sale: If the work is offered at public auction and no bids are received, or if the bids are rejected, the History and Culture Advisory Commission may determine that the work may be sold on terms more advantageous to the Town. The Town shall provide public notice as may be necessary under state law prior to sale. 3. Proceeds from Sale of Artwork: All proceeds from any sale or auction, shall be credited to the Public Art Fund, and the monies contributed to the fund from the sale of a work of art under the jurisdiction of the Town shall be expended exclusively for the purpose of acquiring or maintaining works of art in the Collection. 4. Objects may not be given or sold privately to Town employees, officers, members of the Commission, or to their representatives or family. Other Considerations: If, for any reason, the Town of Fountain Hills finds it necessary to pursue plans that would modify, remove, destroy, or in any way alter an artwork, and the History and Culture Advisory Commission approves such action, then the History and Culture Advisory Commission shall make a reasonable effort to notify the artist by registered mail of the Town's intent and outline possible options, which include, but are not limited to the following: 1. Transfer of Title to the Artist: The artist will be given the first option of having the title to the artwork transferred to him/her. If the artist elects to pursue title transfer, he/she is responsible for the object's removal and all associated costs. 21| P a g e 2. Disclaim Authorship: In the case where the Town contemplates action that would compromise the integrity of the artwork, the artist shall be given the opportunity to disclaim authorship and request that his/her name not be used in connection with the given work. Alteration, Modification, or Destruction: If alteration, modification, or destruction of an artwork protected under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 is contemplated, the History and Culture Advisory Commission must secure a written waiver of the artist's rights under this section. In the case of an emergency removal that may result in destruction or irreparable damage, the Town will act in accordance with the advice of the Town Attorney. Relocation of Public Display: If the Town decides that an artwork must be removed from its original site, and if its condition is such that it could be re- installed, the History and Culture Advisory Commission in coordination with Town Staff will attempt to identify another appropriate site. If the artwork was designed for a specific site, the History and Culture Advisory Commission, in coordination with Town Staff, will attempt to relocate the work to a new site consistent with the artist's intention. If , the artist's assistance will be requested to help make this determination. The Town and History and Culture Advisory Commission reserve the right to relocate or remove any artwork at any time. The final decision regarding the placement of artwork will rest with the History and Culture Advisory Commission. 22| P a g e X.DECOMMISSIONING POLICY Conditions: A work of art may be considered for removal from public display and/or decommissioning if one or more of the following conditions apply: 1. The work does not fit within the History and Culture Advisory Commission’s mission, goals, or guidelines for the Art Collection. 2. The work presents a threat to public safety. 3. Condition or security of the work cannot be guaranteed, or the Town cannot properly care for or store the work. 4. The work requires excessive or unreasonable maintenance or has faults in design or workmanship. 5. The condition of the work requires restoration in gross excess of its aesthetic value or is in such a deteriorated state that restoration would prove either unfeasible, impractical or misleading. 6. No suitable site for the work is available, or significant changes in the use or character of design of the site affect the integrity of the work. 7. The work is fraudulent or not authentic. 8. The work is rarely or never displayed. 9. Significant adverse public reaction over an extended period of time (5 years or more). 10. The work is judged to have little or no aesthetic and/or historical or cultural value. 11. The work is duplicative in a large holding of work of that type or of that artist. Process: The following process shall be followed for works being considered for decommissioning: Absence of Restrictions: Before disposing of any objects from the collections, reasonable efforts shall be made to ascertain whether the History and Culture Advisory Commission and the Town are legally free to do so. Where restrictions are found to apply, the History and Culture Advisory Commission shall comply with the following: Mandatory restrictions shall be observed unless deviation from their terms is authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction. 23| P a g e Objects to which restrictions apply should not be disposed of until reasonable efforts are made to comply with the restrictive conditions. If practical and reasonable to do so, considering the value of the objects in question, the History and Culture Advisory Commission should notify the donor if it intends to dispose of such objects within ten years of receiving the gift. If there is any question as to the intent or force of restrictions, the History and Culture Advisory Commission shall, through Town staff, seek the advice of the Town Attorney. Independent Appraisal or other documentation of the value of the artwork: Prior to disposition of any object having a value of $10,000 or more, the History and Culture Advisory Commission and/or Town staff should obtain an independent professional appraisal, or an estimate of the value of the work based on recent documentation of gallery and auction sales. Related Professional Opinions: In cases where decommissioning or removal is recommended due to deterioration, threat to public safety, ongoing controversy, or lack of artistic quality, it is recommended that the History and Culture Advisory Commission seek the opinions of independent professionals qualified to comment on the concern prompting review (conservators, engineers, architects, critics, safety experts etc.). History and Culture Advisory Commission Hearing and Resolution: The recommendation to decommission a work of art will be considered at a regular or special meeting of the History and Culture Advisory Commission. The Town must approve by Resolution the History and Culture Advisory Commission’s recommendation that a work of art under its jurisdiction should be decommissioned through sale or exchange. Provisions for Emergency Removal: In the event that the structural integrity or condition of an artwork is such that, in the opinion of the History and Culture Advisory Commission or Town staff, the artwork presents an imminent threat to public safety, the Town may authorize its immediate removal, without the artist's consent, by declaring a State of Emergency, and have the work placed in temporary storage. The artist and the History and Culture Advisory Commission must be notified of this action within 30 days. The History and Culture Advisory Commission will then consider options for disposition: repair, reinstallation, maintenance provisions, or decommissioning. In the event that the artwork cannot be removed without being altered, modified, or destroyed, and if the Artist’s Agreement with the Town has not waived his/her rights under the 1990 Visual Artists’ Protection Act, the Town must attempt to gain such written permission before proceeding. In the event that this cannot be accomplished before action is required in order to protect the public health and safety, the Town shall proceed according to the advice of the Town Attorney. Adequate Records: An adequate record of the conditions and circumstances under which objects are decommissioned and disposed of should be made and retained as part of the Collections Management records. 24| P a g e ARTWORK DONATION APPLICATION Use this form to submit proposals for permanent artwork donations or short-term or long-term loans. Thank you for your interest in donating artwork to the Town of Fountain Hills, Arizona. Please direct any questions, and complete and submit this application to: Name: Address: Phone: Email Address: Please attach additional sheets. The Town reserves the right to request additional information in order to process a donation proposal. DONOR Name(s) Organization (if applicable): (Please check one: Individual(s) Corporation Not-for-Profit Other (specify: ) Address City State Zip Code Country Phone Fax Email (Please check one): Donation of artwork to be commissioned Donation of existing artwork Donation for Development Percent for Public Art (Please go to Percent for Development Option) Conflict of Interest: Disclose whether the donor has any active contracts with the Town or is involved in any stage of negotiations for a Town contract. ARTIST Name Alias (If applicable) Nationality Birth Date Death Date (If applicable) Address City State Zip Code Country Phone Fax Email Website 25| P a g e Artist Representation/Gallery Name (If applicable) Artist Representation/Gallery Address City State Zip Code Country Phone Fax Email Website For donations of commissioned artwork, please explain the method used in the selection of the artist. ARTWORK Title Artwork type (e.g., painting, print, drawing, sculpture)Medium: include all materials Description of Artwork Creation Date Dimensions and Weight Anticipated Life Expectancy of the Artwork Finishes applied to surface Construction technique(s) If this artwork is part of a series or group, what is the total number in the series or group? If this artwork is part of an edition, what is the edition number of this piece, and the total edition size? Describe frame, if any.Describe base or pedestal, if any. 26| P a g e Describe any accompanying accessories Current location of artwork Proposed site for placement (if applicable) For memorials, describe the person or event to be commemorated, and explain why this person or event deserves special recognition. ARTWORK HISTORY Provenance/Past Owners: List all past owners and period of ownership for each. A separate page can be submitted. Exhibition History: List the exhibition history including exhibition titles, venues, and dates for each. Publications and References: List all publications about and references to the artwork. COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP Name of current copyright owner Title Address City State Zip Code Country Phone Fax Email If the donor is the current copyright owner, does the donor intend to transfer the copyright to the Town of Fountain Hills should the donation be accepted by the Town? ARTWORK VALUATION (per appraisal) 27| P a g e Fair Market Value $ How was this fair market value determined and by whom? CONDITION Describe the current condition of the artwork noting any existing breaks, tears, scratches, abrasions, paint losses, or other insecurities or defects in the artwork. If the artwork has been conserved, describe the conservation treatment and name of the conservator. Provide recommendations for routine maintenance of artwork. Indicate whether these recommendations were provided by a conservator. (Optional) Provide recommendations for security, installation, transportation and/or storage. For donations of commissioned artwork, please outline the installation plan. OTHER REQUIRED MATERIALS Please submit the following materials along with this completed form. Artist’s résumé and bio Digital, color images of past artwork by artist For commissioned artwork, color renderings or maquettes of proposed artwork Maps or images of proposed site for artwork Itemized list of any costs to be borne by the Town for transportation, installation, exhibition, operation, maintenance, conservation, and/or security maintenance, conservation, and/or security For commissioned artwork, an itemized budget for design, fabrication, and installation For commissioned artwork, a timeline for design, fabrication, and installation 28| P a g e Exhibition catalogs, publications and/or references, if available Formal, written appraisal for any artwork with a fair market value of $10,000 or more Condition report, if available Conservator’s report, if applicable Proof of authenticity, if available Any other information relevant to the artwork DEVELOPMENT PERCENT FOR PUBLIC ART () Development Description Total Project Construction Cost * as Determined by Town Staff * The Town will calculate the Total Construction Cost based on the standards in the building code for purposes of determining the fee. That amount calculated will be posted on their permit application. Total Calculated Percent Requirement as Determined by Town Staff 1% of Total Project Construction Cost* for projects of $1 million or less; ¾% of Total Project Construction Cost* for projects with a value between $1 million and $10 million; or ½% of Total Project Construction Cost* for projects with a Total Construction Cost over $10 million. $ 29| P a g e (Please check one): Developer chooses to make donation to Public Art Fund Amount Received $ Payment Type Developer chooses to meet percent requirement with on-site art installation (please fill out Artwork Donation Application and reference the Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan.) Developer chooses to donate an artwork to the Town of Fountain Hills (please fill out Artwork Donation Application and reference the Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan.) DONOR’S AUTHORIZATION TO INITIATE A DONATION REVIEW Authorized signature Title Print name Date STAFF ONLY Received by Date 04.01.2025 Public Art Fund Guidelines April 1, 2025 Contact Information: Development Services Department 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 (480) 816-5122 www.fountainhillsaz.gov Page | 2 What is the goal of the Public Art Fund Requirement of the Zoning Ordinance? The Town of Fountain Hills has a desire to continually upgrade commercial, industrial, and multifamily projects. Including public art as a part of development is a component of the Town’s plan to achieve this goal. The presence of art in development creates a competitive edge by attracting people who are curious about art. Residents and visitors may pause to enjoy the art’s surprising and aesthetic delights and often return to experience it again while shopping or conducting business. Chapter 19 of the Town’s Zoning Ordinance establishes architectural review guidelines for development in the Town. Section 19.05(I) helps accomplish the goals of the Town by requiring compliance with the Council adopted Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan. This ordinance requires development subject to site plan review to provide a percentage of the cost of development to go toward public art. What does the Zoning Ordinance require? Chapter 19 of the Town’s Zoning Ordinance sets forth guidelines for the development of property to ensure quality development in the Town. All proposed retail, service, commercial, wholesale, transportation, industrial or multifamily developments, re-developments or expansions, that are subject to site plan review, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2 of the Zoning Ordinance are subject to the requirements of Chapter 19. Section 19.05(I) states: All development proposals subject to design review under this chapter shall be required to comply with the “Percent for Public Art Requirement for Development,” as set forth in the Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan, adopted March 3, 2020, and as may be thereafter amended, prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. The Town of Fountain Hills Public Art Master Plan includes a requirement that the developer either make a donation to the public art fund or contribute a piece of public art that is acceptable to the Town. The required contribution, regardless of a cash donation or piece of art, shall equal: 1% of Total Construction Cost* for projects of $1 million or less. ¾% of Total Construction Cost* for projects with a value between $1 million and $10 million; or ½% of Total Construction Cost* for projects with a Total Construction Cost over $10 million. *The Town will calculate the Total Construction Cost based on the standards in the building code for purposes of determining the fee. That amount calculated will be posted on the permit application. Page | 3 What on-site artworks are acceptable? Art selected by the developer must be integrated with the project must be located on an exterior of the structure or the building site, be visible to the public at all times and be accessible for at least 40 hours per week. Acceptable forms of art include the following: All forms of limited edition or one-of-a-kind original creations of visual art created by an artist. Project features and enhancements which are unique and produced by a professional artist such as benches and fountains. Murals or mosaics covering walls. Professional artist sculptures which can be freestanding, wall-supported or suspended and made of durable materials suitable to the site and the climate. Other suitable artworks as presented in a catalogue and previously approved by the Town. The location of the artwork must be in an outdoor location to allow unrestricted visibility by the public 24 hours per day. Approved sites are Town owned property, including rights- of-way, parks, Community Center/Town Hall complex or the developer’s own property. Art on private property will be supported entirely by private development. A plaque will be placed that will identify the art and the artist. What on-site artworks are not eligible? Business logos or art that incorporates a logo. Directional elements such as supergraphics, signage or color coding except where these elements are integral parts of the original works of art. Mass-produced art objects, such as fountains, statuary objects, or playground equipment. Reproduction by mechanical or other means of original works of art. Decorative ornamental or functional elements created by the project architect instead of an artist commissioned for this purpose. Landscape architecture or gardening except for elements designed by the artist as an integral part of the work of art. Electrical, water or mechanical service for activation of the works of art. Page | 4 Art exhibitions and educational activities. Security and publicity concerning works of art. Standard landscape or hardscape elements which would normally be associated with the project. What are the eligible costs for artworks? When preparing a budget for the artwork, certain costs may be included to meet the developer’s required art investment: Professional artist’s budget, including artist fees, materials, assistants’ labor costs, insurance, permits, taxes, business and legal expenses, operating costs and art dealer’s fees if such fees are necessary and reasonable. Fabrication and installation of the artwork, including base and/or foundation if necessary. Site preparation for artwork. Structures enabling the artist to display the artwork. Documentation of the artwork. Acknowledgment plaque identifying the artist, artwork and development. Responsibility After Installation Art located on the developer’s property will remain the developer’s property, subject to a covenant on the part of the developer that the piece will remain in public view. It will be the developer’s and subsequent property owner’s responsibility to insure and maintain the piece of art. The insured value must equal the appraised value. Art located on Town-owned property shall be dedicated to the Town. The final location will be reviewed by the Town Engineer to ensure compliance with American with Disabilities Act (ADA), if applicable, and to minimize conflicts with public utilities in Town rights-of- way. The Town will insure and maintain all pieces on Town-owned property. Approval Process The following checklist has been prepared to help you create a successful public art project. Contact the Community Services Department should you have any questions about these guidelines. Page | 5 Initial Art Project Plan: If the applicant chooses the option of acquiring a piece of art, it is suggested that he/she prepare an Initial Art Plan. Mail or e-mail a one-page narrative to the Community Services Department with the following information: Initial ideas for the art project. The required art investment. The artists being considered and the type of professional artist needed for this project. Name of professional artist, if selected. Developer goals for the project. Concepts and budget for the proposed artwork. Location and visibility of proposed artwork. The Public Art Committee will notify the Development Services Department that an Initial Art Plan has been received. If a developer chooses to contribute the required art investment to the Public Art Fund, monies must be deposited into the Public Art Fund with the Town in order to receive approval for the Certificate of Occupancy. If requested, the Town staff will work closely with the developer to identify an appropriate use of the contribution that will benefit both the developer and the Town’s Public Art Program. Meeting Date When the developer is ready for the proposed art project to be reviewed, he/she should contact the Town to verify a meeting date. Town staff will review the art project plan considering comments, needs, values and these guidelines. The committee normally meets on the first Wednesday of each month. A presentation will need to be given by the developer (or his/her representative) at the meeting to discuss: Narrative description of proposed artwork. Budget detailing applicable costs: artist’s fees and expenses, costs for fabrication, installation, site preparation, structures to display artwork, plaque, and administrative costs. Agreement between the developer and artist(s). Scale site plan and landscape plan. Scale drawing or model. Perspective view showing the proposed artwork in the development context. Page | 6 Prior to making a recommendation, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will consider the following: 1)Is the selected artwork produced by a professional artist? The committee will review such items as the person’s educational background in the arts, arts accomplishments within the past five years such as gallery or museum exhibits, and the person’s recognition by accepted arts organizations as an artist. The artist should be a practitioner in the visual arts, generally recognized by his or her critics and peers as a professional possessing serious artistic intent and ability. 2)Are the budget items and total amount acceptable to meet the minimum art investment for the development? 3)Is the proposed artwork visible to the public 24 hours each day and accessible at least 40 hours per week? The committee will review the artwork plans and its placement in regard to the public visibility and enjoyment of the artwork. The content of the artwork is developer-selected; however, the History and Culture Advisory Commission will be interested in the durability, safety, placement and visibility of the exterior art project. Using the above-mentioned criteria the History and Culture Advisory Commission reserves the right to consider any criteria it deems relevant. Approval: The History and Culture Advisory Commission will consider the proposed artwork at its next scheduled meeting following submission by a developer. The developers and artist are not required to attend this meeting. After its review, the Public Art Committee will forward a recommendation on the proposed artwork plans to the Town’s Planning and Zoning Department. Final Approval: The recommendations of the History and Culture Advisory Commission will be forwarded to the Development Services Department. The Zoning Administrator shall review the recommendation and shall ensure that the proposed artwork will meet all requirements of the Zoning Ordinance before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued. Signed Contract: Email or mail a copy of the signed contract between the developer and the artist(s) to The Community Services Department the Town of Fountain Hills Zoning Administrator for the Town’s records. Certificate of Occupancy: Once the Community Services Department Town’s Zoning Administrator has determined that the Zoning Ordinance public arts requirements have been met, the Town may release the Certificate of Occupancy for the development project. ITEM 9. D. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Regular Agenda Submitting Department: Community Services Prepared by: Kevin Snipes, Community Services Director Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of Community Center Improvements. Staff Summary (Background) Community Center Improvements: The divider walls in the ballrooms at the Community Center are original to the building, which was constructed in the early 2000s. These walls were scheduled for replacement in Fiscal Year 2026 as part of the Facility Replacement Plan. However, over the past year, the existing walls have begun to fail, making them difficult to open and close. This has led to operational and safety concerns, as the divider walls are used frequently throughout the day and week to maximize the functionality of the four ballrooms and two classrooms. If the walls continue to fail, it may result in the cancelation of most, if not all, scheduled events. To address this, the replacement cost of the divider walls is estimated at no more than $400,000. Additionally, the windows on the south side of the Community Center lobby allow direct sunlight to enter during the afternoon hours. This sunlight creates several issues for lobby users, including difficulty seeing at tables and significantly raising the temperature of the space, particularly during summer months. To mitigate these issues, staff recommends installing blinds at a cost of $50,000, which would improve both the functionality and comfort of the lobby. Finally, to further enhance the cooling of the lobby and improve the space's lighting, staff recommends installing three ceiling fans and two new lighting fixtures. This addition would improve airflow, help manage temperature, and improve lighting within the lobby area. The cost of this would be not to exceed $100,000 Financial Implications: Divider Wall Replacement: Not to exceed $400,000 Blinds for South Lobby Windows: Not to exceed $50,000 Ceiling Fans and Lighting Fixtures: Not to exceed $100,000 Total not to exceed $550,000. The Town's FY2025 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) includes approximately $450,000 in existing budget authority for Community Center Improvements (Project F4037). Town staff can successfully complete this project with a total budget of up to $550,000, utilizing a budget authority transfer from the Capital Projects Contingency to cover the difference. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle N/A Risk Analysis Ongoing maintenance of the Community Center and its operational equipment is essential to ensuring a safe, functional, and accessible space for the public. Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) N/A Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends approval of Community Center Improvements and budget authority transfers. SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve Community Center Improvements and related budget authority transfers. Fiscal Impact Fiscal Impact:$550,000 Budget Reference:FY2026 Funding Source:Capital Projects Fund If Multiple Funds utilized, list here: Budgeted: if No, attach Budget Adjustment Form: Attachments Divider wall Fans Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson 03/25/2025 09:10 AM Town Manager Rachael Goodwin 03/25/2025 09:26 AM Form Started By: Kevin Snipes Started On: 03/24/2025 04:42 PM Final Approval Date: 03/25/2025 1 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Electric Continuously-Hinged Panel System (933E) Technical Data 10 22 26 Operable Partitions SPECIFICATION – SECTION 10 22 26 (10650) OPERABLE PARTITIONS PART 1 – GENERAL 1.1 RELATED DOCUMENTS A. Drawings and general provisions of the Contract including General and Supplementary Conditions and Division 01 Specification Selections apply to this Section. 1.2 SUMMARY A. This Section includes the following: 1. Electrically operated, continuously hinged partitions B. Related Sections include the following: 1. Division 03 Sections for concrete tolerances required. 2. Division 05 Sections for primary structural support, including pre-punching of support members by structural steel supplier per operable partition supplier’s template. 3. Division 06 Sections for wood framing and supports, and all blocking at head and jambs as required. 4. Division 09 Sections for wall and ceiling framing at head and jambs. 1.3 QUALITY ASSURANCE A. Installer Qualifications: An experienced installer who is certified in writing by the operable partition manufacturer, as qualified to install the manufacturer’s partition systems for work similar in material design, and extent to that indicated for this Project. B. Acoustical Performance: Test operable partitions in an independent acoustical laboratory in accordance with ASTM E90 test procedure and classified in accordance with ASTM E413 to attain no less than the STC rating specified. Provide a complete and unedited written test report upon request. C. Preparation of the opening shall conform to the criteria set forth per ASTM E557 Standard Practice for Architectural Application and Installation of Operable Partitions. D. The operable wall must be manufactured by a certified ISO-9001-2015 company or an equivalent quality control system. E. Indoor Air Quality: Operable partition, movable wall manufacturer’s non-wood products must meet the SCS Indoor Advantage™ Gold Certification or equivalent. This approval guarantees conformance to indoor air concentrations meeting Indoor Advantage Gold Indoor Air Quality Certified to SCS-105 v4.2- 2023 Conforms to ANSI/BIFMA M7.1 and X7.1 and the CDPH/EHLB Standard Method (CA 01350) v1.2- 2017 conducted in an independent third-party air quality testing laboratory. 1.4 REFERENCE STANDARDS A. ASTM International 1. ASTM E557 Standard Practice for Architectural Application and Installation of Operable Partitions. 2. ASTM E90 – Standard Test Method for Laboratory Measurement of Airborne Sound Transmission Loss of Building Partitions and Elements. 3. ASTM C1036 – Standard Specification for Flat Glass. 4. ASTM C1048 – Heat Treated Flat Glass – Kind HS, Kind FT Coated and Uncoated Glass. 5. ASTM E84 – Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials 6. ASTM E413 – Classification for Rating Sound Insulation B. Health Product Declaration Collaborative 1. Health Product Declaration Open Standard v2.1 C. International Standards Organization 1. ISO 14021 – Environmental Labels and Declarations – Self-Declared Environmental Claims (Type II Environmental Labeling). 2. ISO 14025:2011-10, Environmental Labels and Declarations – Type III Environmental Declarations – Principles and Procedures 3. ISO 14040 :2009-11 Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment – Principles and Framework. 2 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. 4. ISO 14044 :2006-10, Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment – Requirements and Guidelines. 5. ISO 21930 – Sustainability in Buildings and Civil Engineering Works – Core Rules for Environmental Product Declarations of Construction Projects and Services. D. Other Standards 1. ADA – American Disabilities Act. 2. UL 508A – Standard for Industrial Control Panels 3. NFPA 70 – National Electrical Code 4. ANSI Z97.1 – Safety Glazing Materials Used in Buildings. 5. CPSC 16 CFR 1201 – Safety Standard for Architectural Glazing Materials. 6. NEMA LD3 – High Pressure Decorative Laminates 1.5 SUBMITTALS A. Product Data: Material descriptions, construction details, finishes, installation details, and operating instructions for each type of operable partition, component, and accessory specified. B. Shop Drawings: Show location and extent of operable glass panel partitions. Include plans, elevations, sections, details, attachments to other construction, and accessories. Indicate dimensions, weights, conditions at openings, and at storage areas, and required installation, storage, and operating clearings. Indicate location and installation requirements for hardware and track, including floor tolerances required and direction of travel. Indicate blocking to be provided by others. C. Setting Drawings: Show imbedded items and cutouts required in other work, including support beam punching template. D. Samples: Color samples demonstrating full range of finishes available by architect. Verification samples will be available in same thickness and material indicated for the work. E. Reports: Provide a complete and unedited written sound test report indicating thickness and spacing in test specimen matches product as submitted. F. Create spaces that are healthy for occupants. 1. Furnish products and materials with Health Product Declaration (HPD), Manufacturer Inventory, or other material health disclosure documentation. Products without an HPD or other disclosure documentation are not acceptable. G. Furnish materials that generate the least amount of pollution. 1. Furnish products and materials that have third party verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Consider products and materials that have optimized environmental performance (reduced life cycle impacts). Products without an EPD or other disclosure documentation are not acceptable. 1.6 DELIVERY, STORAGE, AND HANDLING A. Clearly mark packages and panels with numbering systems used on Shop Drawings. Do not use permanent markings on panels. B. Protect panel and glazing materials during delivery, storage, and handling to comply with manufacturer’s direction and as required to prevent damage. 1.7 WARRANTY A. Provide written warranty by manufacturer of operable partitions agreeing to repair or replace any components with manufacturing defects. B. Warranty period: Two (2) years PART 2 – PRODUCTS 2.1 MANUFACTURERS, PRODUCTS, AND OPERATION A. Manufacturers: Subject to compliance with requirements, provide products by the following: 1. Modernfold, Inc. B. Products: Subject to compliance with requirements, provide the following product: 1. Acousti-Seal® Legacy® – Electric Partition (933E) electrically operated continuously hinged operable partition 2.2 OPERATION A. Acousti-Seal® Legacy® – Electric Partition (933E): Series of continuously hinged flat panels, electrically operated, top supported with operable floor seals. B. Partition shall be operated by two push button control stations wired in series and located on opposite sides and opposite ends of the partition. Control stations shall be activated by key switch at stack end of partition. Motor unit shall be reversible, continuous duty, and class A insulated. Motor unit shall have NEMA MG 1 service factor, high starting torque, thermal overload protection, and open/drip proof enclosure. Motor assembly shall have wiring compliant with NFPA 70, 24-volt controls, compliant with UL 508A, and speed of 28 feet/minute. The drive unit motor shall be equipped with outboard limit switches to prevent over-extension. A positive chain drive attached to the lead panel shall pull the partition 3 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. across the opening. Cable, belt, or other friction type drives will not be accepted. C. Electric motor shall be (Select One): 1. 115-volt, 1-phase, 1 HP, 14.0 FLA 2. 208/230-volt, 1-phase, 1 HP, 7.0 FLA 3. 208/230-volt, 3-phase, 1 HP, 4.5 FLA 4. 460-volt, 3-phase, 1 HP, 2.0 FLA 5. 208/230-volt, 3-phase, 1-1/2 HP, 5.2 FLA 2.3 PANEL CONSTRUCTION A. Nominal 3-inch (76mm) thick panels in manufacturer's standard 48-inch (1220mm) widths. All panel horizontal and vertical framing members fabricated from minimum 16-gage formed steel with overlapped and welded corners for rigidity. Top channel is reinforced to support suspension system components. Frame is designed so that full vertical edges of panels are of formed steel and provide concealed protection of the edges of the panel skin. B. Panel Skin Options: 1. Roll-formed 21-gage steel wrapping around panel edge. Panel skins shall be lock formed and welded directly to the frame for unitized construction. Acoustical ratings of panels with this construction (Select One): a. 28 STC b. 50 STC c. 52 STC 2. Roll-formed 21-gage Micro-Perf™ steel wrapping around panel edge provided on 50% of panel faces manufactured with sound absorptive backing. Panel skins shall be lock formed and welded directly to the frame for unitized construction. Acoustical ratings of panels with this construction shall be no less than: a. 45 STC (net with NRC construction) b. 0.65 NRC with wall covering and upholstery fabric or non-woven needle punch carpet covering C. Hinges for Panels, Closure Panels, Pass Doors, and Pocket Doors shall be (Select One): 1. Full leaf butt hinges, attached directly to panel frame with welded hinge anchor plates within panel to further support hinge mounting to frame. Lifetime warranty on hinges. Hinges mounted into panel edge or vertical astragal are not acceptable. 2. SOSS® Invisible laminated hinge with antifriction segments mounted between each heat-treated link. Hinge to be attached directly to panel frame. Welded internal hinge bracket shall support the hinge and allow for adjustment of hinge plates. Concealed hinges mounted into edge or vertical astragal are not acceptable D. Panel Trim: No vertical trim required or allowed on edges of panels; minimal groove appearance at panel joints. E. Panel Weights: 1. 28 STC – 6 lbs./square foot 2. 50 STC – 8 lbs./square foot 3. 52 STC – 11 lbs./square foot 2.4 PANEL FINISHES A. Panel face finish shall be (select as required): 1. Reinforced vinyl with woven backing weighing not less than 21 ounces (595 g) per lineal yard 2. Reinforced heavy-duty vinyl with woven backing weighing not less than 30 ounces (850 g) per lineal yard 3. Acoustical, non-woven needle punch carpet, with fused fibers to prevent unraveling or fray of material 4. Wall covering and upholstery fabric with surface treatment to resist stains 5. Customer’s own material (subject to factory approval) 6. Full height steel markerboard work surface 7. Full height ¼-inch (6.35mm) natural cork tackboard with vinyl or fabric covering 8. Uncovered for field finishing 9. Primed for field finishing B. Panel Trim: Exposed panel trim of one consistent color from manufacturer’s standard offering. 1. Dark Bronze 2. Smoke Gray 3. Natural Choice 4. Black 2.5 SOUND SEALS A. Vertical Interlocking Sound Seals between panels: Roll-formed steel astragals, with reversible tongue and groove configuration in each panel edge for universal panel operation. Rigid plastic or aluminum astragals or astragals in only one panel edge are not acceptable B. Horizontal Top Seals: Continuous contact extruded vinyl bulb shape with pairs of non-contacting vinyl fingers to prevent distortion without the need for mechanically operated parts C. Horizontal Bottom Seals: 1. Modernfold IA2 Bottom Seal. Automatic operable seals providing nominal 2-inch (51 4 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. mm) operating clearance with an operating range of +1/2-inch (13 mm) to -1-1/2-inch (38 mm) which automatically drop as panels are positioned, without the need for tools or cranks. 2. Floating Bottom Seal. Floating operable seals provide nominal 3-1/2 inch (89mm) operating clearance within operating range of +1/2-inch (15mm) to -3-inch (76mm) and shall provide continuous floor contact as panels are positioned with need for tools or cranks a. Carpet glides (carpet flooring) b. Swivel casters (hard surface flooring) 2.6 SUSPENSION SYSTEM A. #14 Suspension System 1. Suspension Tracks: Minimum 7-gage, 0.18- inch( 5mm) roll formed steel. Track shall be supported by adjustable steel hanger brackets connected to structural support of pairs of ½-inch (13mm) diameter threaded rods. Brackets must support the load bearing surface of the track. a. Exposed track soffit: Steel, removable for service and maintenance, attached to track bracket without exposed fasteners, and pre-painted off-white 2. Carriers: All-steel trolleys with steel-tired ball bearing wheels. 3. Warranty period: Ten (10) years. B. #30 Suspension System 1. Suspension Tracks: Track shall be structural aluminum. Track shall be supported by adjustable steel hanger brackets connected to structural support by pairs of 3/8-inch (9.5mm) diameter threaded rods a. Exposed track soffit: Track soffit to be integral to track shape and shall be powder-coated off white paint finish. Track must accommodate termination of plenum sound barriers on both sides of track for maximum sound control 2. Carriers: One trolley in alternating panels with 3-inch (76mm) diameter glass-reinforced nylon all steel precision-ground ball-bearing wheels. Steel-wheeled or reinforced polymer trolleys on aluminum track not permitted. Trolleys shall attach to panels with ½-inch (13mm) diameter pendent bolt mounted to welded steel mounting plate. 3. Warranty period: Two (2) years 2.7 OPTIONS A. Single Pass Doors: 1. Matching pass door same thickness and appearance as panels. ADA compliant pass door to be trimless and equipped with friction latch and flush pulls for panic operation. No threshold will be permitted. 2. Hardware: a. Hand pull with push plate b. Lever handles both sides of door c. Automatic door closer d. Door viewer e. Self-illuminated exit signs: i. Chemical exit sign – recess mount f. Window frame options: i. Aluminum window frame, glazed or unglazed ii. Wood window frame, glazed or unglazed g. Inset window glazing options: i. 1/4-inch clear tempered glass – aluminum frame or wood frame ii. 1/4-inch frosted tempered glass – aluminum frame or wood frame iii. 1/4-inch low iron tempered glass – aluminum frame or wood frame iv. 1/4-inch low iron frosted tempered glass – aluminum frame or wood frame v. 1/4-inch Lexan – aluminum frame vi. 1/2-inch clear tempered glass – wood frame vii. 1/2-inch frosted tempered glass – wood frame viii. 1/2-inch low iron tempered glass – wood frame ix. 1/2-inch low iron frosted tempered glass – wood frame x. 1-inch insulated glass – wood frame B. Work Surfaces: 1. Markerboard: White enamel on steel, bonded to the face of the panel with horizontal trim without exposed fasteners. Trim is not 5 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. acceptable on vertical edges to provide uninterrupted work surface. 2. Tackboard: Minimum ¼-inch (6.35 mm) natural cork, covered with vinyl or fabric, with horizontal trim without exposed fasteners. Trim is not acceptable on vertical edges. C. “Presto” Safety Components: 1. Presto Safety Nose (wireless) – High sensitivity pressure leading edge requiring no more than 2.2 lb. of pressure to stop partition movement in case of obstruction. Lead sensors requiring hard wiring through partition system or requiring more than 2.2 lb. of pressure for activation are not acceptable. Sensing edge to be housed in fluid resistant housing and set in snap in channel for easy maintenance and be provided with 4-lead fail-safe wiring. 2. Presto Safety Mats – Located at panel storage area. Personnel sensing switch mat shall activate with the presence of a minimum 22 lb. obstruction in the stack area and prevent panels from stacking until the personnel/obstruction is removed. Mats shall be provided with 4-lead fail-safe wiring. 3. Presto Vision (PIR/Microwave Detector) – Wall or ceiling mounted motion sensors covering the travel area of the automated partition shall automatically stop the movement of the panels in the presence of unauthorized movement or obstruction. Detector can detect motion in an area up to 300 ft. (91M) long by 7.5 ft. (2.3M) wide and 10 ft. (3M) high. 4. Modernfold Presto ® Automation Package (see supplement specification “Modernfold Presto ® Automation Package For Acousti- Seal Legacy Electric Wall System”) D. Available Accessories/Options: 1. Pocket Doors: Acousti-Seal® Pocket Doors by Modernfold, Inc., with same construction, finish, and appearance as the adjacent panels. Equipped with electric interlock system. 2. Finished end caps 3. Intersecting partition interface. 4. Resilient Padding – ½-inch (13mm) resilient material covered with heavy-duty vinyl PART 3 – EXECUTION 3.1 INSTALLATION A. General: Comply with ASTM E557, operable partition manufacturer’s written installation instructions, drawings, and approved Shop Drawings. B. Install operable partitions and accessories after other finish operations, including painting have been completed C. Match operable partitions by installing panels from marked packages in numbered sequence indicated on Shop Drawings. D. Broken, cracked, chipped, deformed, or unmatched panels are not acceptable. 3.2 CLEANING AND PROTECTION A. Clean partition surfaces upon completing installation of operable partitions to remove dust, dirt, adhesives, and other foreign materials according to manufacturer’s written instructions. B. Provide final protection and maintain conditions in a manner acceptable to the manufacturer and installer that ensure operable partitions are without damage or deterioration at time of Substantial Completion. 3.3 ADJUSTING A. Adjust operable partitions to operate smoothly, easily, and quietly, free from binding, warp, excessive deflection, distortion, nonalignment, misplacement, disruptions, or malfunction, throughout the entire operation range. Lubricate hardware and other moving parts. 3.4 EXAMINATION A. Examine flooring, structural support, and opening, with Installer present, for compliance with requirements for installation tolerances and other conditions affecting performance of operable partitions. Proceed with installation only after unsatisfactory conditions have been corrected. 3.5 DEMONSTRATION A. Demonstrate proper operation and maintenance procedures to Owner’s representative. B. Provide Operation and Maintenance Manual to Owner’s representative. 6 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Electric Continuously-Hinged Panel System (933E) Technical Data 10 22 26 Operable Partitions STC Construction and Track System Height Limitations Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Electric (933E) 28 STC 50 STC 52 STC #14 Bracket Mounted Track 28’-4” (8636 mm) 26’-4” (8026 mm) 18’-4” (5588 mm) #30 Bracket Mounted Track 12’-4” (3759 mm) 12’-4” (3759 mm) 12’-4” (3759 mm) STEEL SKIN PANEL CONSTRUCTION Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Paired Panels Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Paired Panels Standard Joint Roll-formed vertical frame channel provides added strength while eliminating any sharp edges. The outer covering is secured under the steel astragal to prevent peeling. The complete vertical edge of the panel is steel for maximum durability. Heavy steel hinges are mounted directly to the center of the vertical frame channel, not simply on the outside edge of the panel. Steel plates on the back of the channel prevent buckling or bending and provide the strongest hinge connection. 7 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. #14 Track System Bracket Mounted with Automatic Drop Seal 8 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. #14 Track System Bracket Mounted with Floating Seal for Hard Floor 9 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. #14 Track System Bracket Mounted with Floating Seal for Carpet Floor 10 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. SUSPENSION SYSTEM OPTIONS #14 Track System Bracket Mounted Top View #14 Track System Bracket Mounted Horizontal View 11 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. #30 Track System Standard Spacing #30 Track System Optional Wider Spacing 12 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. #30 Track system Motor Top View #30 Track System Motor Horizontal View 13 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. PANEL, WORK SURFACE, AND PASS DOOR OPTIONS 14 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. FLOOR SEAL OPTIONS 2-Inch Automatic Seal Floating Seal – Hard Floors Floating Seal - Carpet 15 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. POCKET ENCLOSURE AND STACKING OPTIONS Legacy® Electric Standard Stack Legacy® Electric Remote Stack PANEL CROSS SECTIONS Nominal Fixed Jamb Variable Fixed Jamb 16 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. Bulb Seal and Intersection Panel Splice Steel Skin Side Jamb Steel Skin Standard Floor Guide 17 Acousti-Seal® Legacy® Continuously-Hinged Panel System Visit Modernfold.com for additional product details and local Modernfold distributor contact information. 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All rights reserved. | HKU-MKTG-222-ENG-01 REV. F | 04/26/23 HAIKU THE WORLD’S SMARTEST FAN JUST GOT BRIGHTER. Specifications subject to change without notice. Lead times may vary. Warranty period and terms vary by country and application. Airfoil Finishes 1 Activate Fan Eco Mode in Big Ass Fans app to fully leverage the energy savings from your ceiling fan. 2 Voice control requires an Amazon Alexa-enabled device or the Google Assistant. 3 SenseME Technology and the Haiku mobile app are supported by Android™ and iOS®. 4 Damp-rated fans installed in covered outdoor locations must have fixed/permanent full overhead coverage extending at least two feet (61 cm) out from the airfoil tips on all sides. The included fan stabilizer must be installed. 5 52- and 60-inch indoor fans with the both the uplight and downlight must use the universal mount, indoor only (2406). Low profile mount not available for 84-inch fans. 6 Uplight not available on damp-rated fans. Compatible with universal mount only. Light kits purchased separately. 7 Bamboo finishes are indoor use only. Caramel Bamboo (Indoor Only) Cocoa Bamboo (Indoor Only)Black White Satin Nickel Oil-Rubbed Bronze Brushed Aluminum Hardware Finishes Construction Features Airfoils Motor1 Controls2 Onboard Sensors3 Mounting Environment4 Accessories Bamboo (indoor only) or aircraft-grade aluminum High-efficiency, brushless DC/EC motor Fan Eco Mode Bluetooth remote Big Ass Fans mobile app Voice control 0–10 V (optional) Temperature, humidity, and motion sensors enable SenseME Technology Flat or sloped ceilings 8 ft (2.4 m) or taller Maximum slope: 33° Indoor or covered damp locations Haiku Light Kit Chromatic Uplight (indoor only) UV-C Uplight (indoor only) 0–10 V Module Extended downrod lengths Stabilizer Kit Ordering Information Diameter Environment and Mounting5,6 Airfoil Material Hardware Finish Airfoil Finish7 Motor Downrod Region Downlight Uplight6 52 inch: 60 inch: 84 inch: MK-HK4-04 MK-HK4-05 MK-HK4-07 84 i n c h Indoor, Universal: Damp, Universal: 1806 1906 Aluminum: Bamboo: Blank 01 Black: White: Satin Nickel: Oil-Rubbed Bronze: A258 A259 A470 A471 Black: White: Caramel Bamboo7: Cocoa Bamboo7: Natural Bamboo: Caramel Wood Grain: Cocoa Wood Grain: Driftwood: Satin Nickel: Oil-Rubbed Bronze: Brushed Aluminum: F258 F259 F221 F222 F860 F504 F654 F772 F470 F471 F531 US, CA, MX: International: G10 G11 12 inch: 20 inch: 32 inch: Low Profile: I12 I20 I32 Blank US, CA, MX: APAC: GCC: Blank R03 R04 Downlight: None: S2 Blank Uplight: None: S80 Blank 52 an d 60 i n c h Indoor, Low Profile: Damp, Low Profile: Indoor, Universal: Damp, Universal: 2400 2500 2406 2506 Satin Nickel Oil-Rubbed Bronze Black White Driftwood Caramel Wood Grain(Damp Only)Cocoa Wood Grain(Damp Only) Downlight Uplight6 Bluetooth Remote Magnetic Wall HolderFixed Wall Mount Handheld RemoteShown with low profile mount Compatible with universal mount only Natural Bamboo (Indoor Only) Technical SpecificaTionS USA BIGASSFANS.COM 877-244-3267 CANADA BIGASSFANS.COM 844-924-4277 AUSTRALIA BIGASSFANS.COM/AU 1300 244 277 SINGAPORE BIGASSFANS.COM/SG 65 6709 8500 © 2022 Delta T LLC dba Big Ass Fans. All rights reserved. | HKU-MKTG-222-ENG-01 REV. F | 04/26/23 HAIKU THE WORLD’S SMARTEST FAN JUST GOT BRIGHTER. Specifications subject to change without notice. Universal Mount Downrod Lengths Downrod (A)1 Included Downrod (Select at Time of Order)Optional Downrods (Ordered Separately) 12 in. (305 mm)20 in. (508 mm)32 in. (813 mm)7 in. (178 mm)48 in. (1219 mm)60 in. (1524 mm) Fan Height (B)2 21 in. (533 mm)29 in. (737 mm)41 in. (1041 mm)16 in. (406 mm)57 in. (1448 mm)69 in. (1753 mm) Ceiling Height 9–10.5 ft (2.7–3.2 m)10.5–11 ft (3.2–3.4 m)11–13 ft (3.4–4 m)9–11 ft (2.7–2.9 m)13–14 ft (4–4.3 m)> 14 ft (> 4.3 m) Fan Specifications — Aluminum Airfoils Diameter Mount Weight3 Max Speed Airflow Min/Max Watts Min/Max Operating Voltage Ambient Operational Temperature Sound Level4 52 in. (132 cm) Low Profile 16.5 lb (7.5 kg)177 RPM 427 / 5,172 cfm 2.4 / 15.1 W 100–240 VAC, 1 Φ, 50–60 Hz 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)<35 dba at max speed Universal 15.5 lb (7 kg)199 RPM 342 / 6,145 cfm 2.5 / 20.1 W 60 in. (152 cm) Low Profile 18.5 lb (8.4 kg)174 RPM 403 / 6,062 cfm 2.4 / 15.9 W Universal 17.5 lb (8 kg)199 RPM 509 / 7,281 cfm 2.5 / 22.4 W 84 in. (213 cm)Universal 26 lb (11.8 kg)128 RPM 2,768 / 17,369 cfm 3.8 / 42.3 W Fan Specifications — Bamboo Airfoils5 Diameter Mount Weight3 Max Speed Airflow Min/Max Watts Min/Max Operating Voltage Ambient Operational Temperature Sound Level4 52 in. (132 cm) Low Profile 14 lb (6.4 kg)177 RPM 331 / 5,731 cfm 2.4 / 19.5 W 100–240 VAC, 1 Φ, 50–60 Hz 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C) <35 dba at max speed Universal 13 lb (5.9 kg)200 RPM 371 / 6,973 cfm 3.5 / 28.92 W 60 in. (152 cm) Low Profile 16 lb (7.3 kg)175 RPM 479 / 6,319 cfm 2.3 / 16.2 W Universal 15 lb (6.8 kg)199 RPM 596 / 7,632 cfm 2.6 / 25.1 W 84 in. (213 cm)Universal 21 lb (9.5 kg)128 RPM 2,260 / 15,081 cfm 3.6 / 32.9 W 1 Optional downrod lengths packaged separately. The 7 in. (178 mm) downrod is not available for 84-inch (2134 mm) fans. 60 in. (1524 mm) is the longest downrod available. 2 Fan heights do not include the Haiku Light kit. Add 0.8 in. (20 mm) for 84-inch (2134 mm) diameter fans. 3 The precise fan weight will vary based on individual component weights and finishing. 4 Actual results of sound measurements in the field may vary due to sound reflective surfaces and environmental conditions. 5 Bamboo airfoils must be installed in indoor, dry environments only. Lead times may vary. Warranty period and terms vary by country and application. 12.3 in. (312 mm) 6 in. (152 mm) 8.7 in. (221 mm) B A Low Profile Mount Universal Mount Automate your comfort with SenseME SenseME automatically adjusts your fans and lights to keep your home feeling and looking exactly the way you want it to. Download the Big Ass Fans mobile app to group multiple fans and set your comfort preferences for hands-free control. ITEM 9. E. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Regular Agenda Submitting Department: Development Services Prepared by: John Wesley, Development Services Director Staff Contact Information: John Wesley, Development Services Director Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of Resolution 2025-06 modifying the Town of Fountain Hills Political Sign-Free Zone Map established by Resolution 2012-31. Staff Summary (background) ARS 16-1019 allows posting of political signs within public rights-of-way. During the period from 71 days prior to a primary election to 15 days after a general election, ARS 16-1019 prohibits cities and towns from removing political signs in the public right-of-way. The signs may be up to 16 sq. ft. in a residential area and up to 32 sq. ft. in all other areas. It should be noted that this allowance for "political" signs does not comply with the U. S. Supreme Court ruling in Reed V. Town of Gilbert in that it allows signs based on the message contained on the sign. During the times when these signs are allowed, the Town cannot enforce temporary sign rules in the areas where these political signs are allowed. A reduction in the area included in the sign-free zone will increase the number and types of signs, regardless of message, that can be along Town streets from the period of 71 days prior to a primary election up to 15 days after the general election. ARS 16-1019 Subsection F allows cities and towns to designate up to two sign-free zones totaling not more than three square miles in size collectively for areas of commercial tourism, commercial resort and hotels where political signs are not allowed. The Town of Fountain Hills has several hotels, a resort, four golf courses, a baseball complex, and our signature Fountain Park, which draw visitors to our community from all directions. While political signs are an accepted part of the campaign process and free speech, the standards in ARS 16-1019 F recognize there is a balance that a community might want to strike to preserve the scenic attractiveness of the community in locations frequented by visitors. In November 2012, the Town Council held a hearing to consider the adoption of Resolution 2012-31 to establish a sign-free zone in Fountain Hills consistent with ARS 16-1019 F. After review and discussion, the Council adopted the area shown in the attached Exhibit A. The Council has directed staff to re-look at the area that was previously adopted by the Town Council and propose options that reduce the area included. Three options to the existing designated area are attached for Council consideration. Map 1. This option limits the sign-free zone to the two primary areas of town used by Map 1. This option limits the sign-free zone to the two primary areas of town used by visitors: Shea Boulevard (with short spurs off on Eagle Mountain Parkway and Fountain Hills Blvd.) and the downtown/Fountain Park area. Map 2. Most visitors to Town travel to Fountain Park and downtown using Palisades, Fountain Hills Boulevard, or Saguaro; therefore, these streets have been added to this option. Map 3. This option adds in Golden Eagle Boulevard to Bainbridge due to the high visitor traffic to Golden Eagle Park and adds a second area for Eagle Ridge Drive up to McDowell Mountain Park for the hotel/resort and access to the regional park. Following Council discussion and direction, the approved map will be added to the resolution. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle N/A Risk Analysis N/A Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) N/A Staff Recommendation(s) There is a noticeable difference in the sign clutter in Fountain Hills compared to adjacent jurisdictions during political seasons. This difference is one of the things that makes Fountain Hills attractive to residents and visitors alike. As the Council seeks a new balance between the need to inform the public on candidates and campaign issues through additional signage, staff recommends the Council reduce the sign-free area as little as necessary to maintain the attraction to visitors along our main arterial streets. SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve Resolution 2025-06 with the map option shown in: Existing Sign Free Zones Map1. Option Map 1, with any modifications.2. Option Map 2, with any modifications.3. Option Map 3, with any modifications.4. Attachments Resolution 2025-06 Existing Sign Free Zones Option Map 1 Option Map 2 Option Map 3 Form Review Inbox Reviewed By Date Development Services Director (Originator)John Wesley 03/17/2025 04:08 PM Development Services Director (Originator)John Wesley 03/17/2025 04:11 PM Development Services Director (Originator)John Wesley 03/19/2025 07:38 AM Town Manager Angela Padgett-Espiritu 03/24/2025 10:35 AM Form Started By: John Wesley Started On: 03/06/2025 03:02 PM Final Approval Date: 03/24/2025 RESOLUTION NO. 2025-06 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA, RESCINDING RESOLUTION 2012-31; AFFIRMING THAT THE POLITICAL SIGN-FREE ZONE AREA PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED UNDER RESOLUTION 2012-31 SATISFIES APPLICABLE STATUTORY CRITERIA; AND, NOTWITHSTANDING SATISFACTION OF APPLICABLE STATUTORY CRITERIA, REDUCING THE PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED POLITICAL SIGN-FREE AREA TO ALLOW FOR GREATER AVAILABILITY FOR POLITICAL SIGNAGE WITHIN THE TOWN LIMITS. WHEREAS, ARIZ. REV. STAT § 16-1019(F), as amended, authorizes the Town to establish political sign-free zones in areas within the corporate limits of the Town of Fountain Hills (the “Town”) where the predominance of commercial tourism, commercial resort and hotel uses exist within the zone and that placement of political signs within the rights-of-way of the zone will detract from the scenic and aesthetic appeal of the area within the zone and deter its appeal to tourists; and WHEREAS, due to the topography of Fountain Hills, many of the commercial tourism, commercial resort and hotel uses, including the Town’s world-famous fountain, McDowell Mountain Preserve, numerous golf courses and the gateway to the regionally significant McDowell Mountain Park, are located in areas that require visitors to traverse many Town arterial and collector streets causing such streets to be key amenities for tourists that are visiting the hotel, resort and tourism sites within and adjacent to Fountain Hills; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the Town (the “Town Council”) previously adopted Resolution 2012-31, which, consistent with the criteria set forth in ARIZ. REV. STAT § 16-1019(F), established that certain area within the corporate limits of the Town as a “Political Sign-Free Zone”; and WHEREAS, the Town Council on April 1, 2025 considered and reviewed the evidence and found that, because there exists a predominance of the essential access points to the commercial tourism, commercial resort, and hotel uses within and adjacent to the corporate limits of the Town, the Political Sign-Free Zone area established by Resolution 2012-31 in fact meets all statutory criteria under ARIZ. REV. STAT § 16-1019(F); and WHEREAS, notwithstanding the foregoing recitals, the Town Council, as presently constituted, desires to allow for greater availability for the placement of political signs within the previously established Political Sign-Free Zone; and WHEREAS, to accommodate the desire to allow for greater availability for the placement of political signs at this time, the Town Council has determined that the enforcement of the established Political Sign-Free Zone should be reduced to those certain areas within the corporate limits of the Town, as depicted in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated by reference, should now be designated as “Political Sign-Free Zones.” NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA, as follows: SECTION 1. The forgoing recitals are incorporated as if fully set forth herein. SECTION 2. Resolution 2012-31 is hereby rescinded in its entirety. SECTION 3. The Town Council finds and affirms that, notwithstanding the fact that the area depicted Resolution 2012-31 meet the criteria established in ARIZ. REV. STAT § 16-1019 as central components for maintaining the commercial tourism, commercial resort and hotel uses located at various locations throughout the corporate limits of the Town, it is in the best interest of the Town to allow for greater availability for the placement of political signs within the Town, and that the scope of the previously established Political Sign-Free Zone should be reduced. SECTION 4. In accordance with the foregoing recitals and findings, the Town Council hereby reduces the scope of the previously established Political Sign-Free Zone and establishes Political Sign-Free Zones over the public property within the contiguous areas depicted in Exhibit A, the total area of which does not exceed three square miles. For those portions of the area designated on Exhibit A covering only arterial and collector streets, the Political Sign-Free Zone shall cover the full extent of the right of-way of such street. Nothing herein shall be construed so as to limit the Town Council’s ability in the future to further reduce, modify, expand, or define any Political Sign-Free Zone(s). SECTION 4. If any provision of this Resolution is for any reason held by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, such provision of portion hereof shall be deemed separate, distinct, and independent of all other provisions and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Resolution. SECTION 5. The Mayor, Town Manager, the Town Clerk and the Town Attorney are hereby authorized and directed to take all steps necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this Resolution. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Fountain Hills, Maricopa County, Arizona, this 1st day of April, 2025. FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS: ATTESTED TO: _____________________________ ______________________________ Gerry M. Friedel, Mayor Bevelyn Bender, Town Clerk REVIEWED BY: APPROVED AS TO FORM: _____________________________ ______________________________ Rachael Goodwin, Town Manager Aaron D. Arnson, Town Attorney Mc D O W E L L M O U N T A I N R D G O L D E N E A G L E B L V D FO U N T A I N H I L L S BL V D S A G U A R O B L V D EA G L E M O U N T A I N P K W Y PA N O R A M A D R EL LA G O B L V D FOU N T A I N H I L L S B L V D SAG U A R O B L V D PA L I S A D E S B L V D SHEA BLVD BEELI N E H W Y PALIS A D E S B L V D SU N R I D G E D R SH E A B L V D SUMM E R H I L L E A G L E R I D G E D R WES T B Y McM A H A N BLVD FOUNTAIN HILLS MC DOWELL MOUNTAIN PRESERVE DESERT CANYON GOLF CLUB EAGLE MOUNTAIN GOLF CLUB TO MC DOWELL MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK PARK V I E W AVE N U E O F T H E VE R D E RIV E R PAUL N O R D I N FOUN T A I N S KEIT H DR FI R E R O C K C . C . FIREROCK COUNTRY CLUB CIVIC CENTER INDIAN WELLS DR SUNRIDGE CANYON GOLF CLUB SUN R I D G E D R PALIS A D E S B L V D GOLDEN EAGLE TRAILHEAD FOUNTAIN PARK ADERO SCOTTSDALE RESORT INN AT EAGLE MOUNTAIN GOLDEN EAGLE PARK COMFORT INN FOUNTAIN PARK HOTEL ADERO CANYON TRAILHEAD TO SCOTTSDALE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NORTH SCALE: NTS POLITICAL SIGN-FREE ZONE MAP A ll that is A r i z o n a F O U N T AIN HI L L S TOWN OF INC. 1989 MAP DATE: February 2023 SIGN-FREE ZONE (AC) 1,280 (SQ. MILES) 2.0 (SF) 55,756,800 FOU N T A I N H I L L S B L V D SAG U A R O B L V D SHEA BLVD BEELIN E H W Y PALI S A D E S B L V D SH E A B L V D WE S T B Y McMA H A N PARK V I E W AVE N U E O F T H E VE R D E RIV E R PAUL N O R D I N FOU N T A I N S KEIT H DR FI R E R O C K C . C . PALIS A D E S B L V D FOUNTAIN PARK EL LA G O B L V D PA N O R A M A D R Mc D O W E L L M O U N T A I N R D G O L D E N E A G L E B L V D FO U N T A I N H I L L S BL V D S A G U A R O B L V D EA G L E M O U N T A I N P K W Y PAL I S A D E S B L V D SU N R I D G E D R SUMM E R H I L L BLVD TO MC DOWELL MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK SU N R I D G E D R TO SCOTTSDALE E A G L E R I D G E D R LA M O N T A N A FIRE STATION #2 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NORTH SCALE: NTS A ll that is A r i z o n a F O U N T A IN HIL L S TOWN OF INC. 1989 Revised: 2-24-25 SIGN-FREE ZONE (AC) 216 (SQ. MILES) 0.34 (SF) 9,348,923 SIGN FREE ZONE MAP 1 FOU N T A I N H I L L S B L V D SAG U A R O B L V D SHEA BLVD BEELIN E H W Y PALI S A D E S B L V D SH E A B L V D WE S T B Y McMA H A N PARK V I E W AVE N U E O F T H E VE R D E RIV E R PAUL N O R D I N FOU N T A I N S KEIT H DR FI R E R O C K C . C . PALIS A D E S B L V D FOUNTAIN PARK EL LA G O B L V D PA N O R A M A D R Mc D O W E L L M O U N T A I N R D G O L D E N E A G L E B L V D FO U N T A I N H I L L S BL V D S A G U A R O B L V D EA G L E M O U N T A I N P K W Y PAL I S A D E S B L V D SU N R I D G E D R SUMM E R H I L L BLVD TO MC DOWELL MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK SU N R I D G E D R TO SCOTTSDALE E A G L E R I D G E D R LA M O N T A N A FIRE STATION #2 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NORTH SCALE: NTS A ll that is A r i z o n a F O U N T A IN HIL L S TOWN OF INC. 1989 Revised: 2-24-25 SIGN-FREE ZONE (AC) 320 (SQ. MILES) 5.0 (SF) 13,923,053 SIGN FREE ZONE MAP 2 FOU N T A I N H I L L S B L V D SAG U A R O B L V D SHEA BLVD BEELIN E H W Y PALI S A D E S B L V D SH E A B L V D WE S T B Y McMA H A N DESERT CANYON GOLF CLUB PARK V I E W AVE N U E O F T H E VE R D E RIV E R PAUL N O R D I N FOU N T A I N S KEIT H DR FI R E R O C K C . C . FIREROCK COUNTRY CLUB CIVIC CENTER INDIAN WELLS DR PALIS A D E S B L V D FOUNTAIN PARK EL LA G O B L V D PA N O R A M A D R Mc D O W E L L M O U N T A I N R D G O L D E N E A G L E B L V D FO U N T A I N H I L L S BL V D S A G U A R O B L V D EA G L E M O U N T A I N P K W Y PAL I S A D E S B L V D SU N R I D G E D R SUMM E R H I L L BLVD EAGLE MOUNTAIN GOLF CLUB TO MC DOWELL MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK SUNRIDGE CANYON GOLF CLUB SU N R I D G E D R ADERO SCOTTSDALE RESORT INN AT EAGLE MOUNTAIN GOLDEN EAGLE PARKADERO CANYON TRAILHEAD TO SCOTTSDALE E A G L E R I D G E D R LA M O N T A N A FIRE STATION #2 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS NORTH SCALE: NTS A ll that is A r i z o n a F O U N T A IN HIL L S TOWN OF INC. 1989 Revised: 3-11-25 SIGN-FREE ZONE (AC) 384 (SQ. MILES) 0.6 (SF) 16,703,958 SIGN FREE ZONE MAP 3 ITEM 9. F. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 04/01/2025 Meeting Type: Town Council Regular Meeting Agenda Type: Regular Agenda Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language): CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Relating to any item included in the League of Arizona Cities and Towns' weekly Legislative Bulletin(s), or relating to any action proposed or pending before the State Legislature. Staff Summary (Background) This is a regularly recurring agenda item on the Town Council agenda during the legislative session. This agenda item aims to obtain consensus from the Mayor and Council on legislative bills and provide direction, if any, to staff to communicate the town's position on the bills. For every Council meeting, the Legislative Bulletin will be attached to the Town Council agenda, including legislative analysis of the bills and their impacts on municipalities. The Mayor and Council will have an opportunity to review the bills that are under consideration in the Arizona State Legislature and provide direction on supporting or opposing the bills. The Mayor and Council may also bring up other bills of interest to the Town of Fountain Hills for discussion that are not listed in the Legislative Bulletin. Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle N/A Risk Analysis N/A Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) N/A Staff Recommendation(s) N/A SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to provide staff direction on one or more bills being considered by the State Legislature. Attachments League Legislative Bulletin Issue 10 League Legislative Bulletin Issue 9 Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 03/24/2025 10:14 AM Final Approval Date: 03/24/2025 View in browser Print Version Legislative Bulletin: Issue 10 – March 24, 2025 From:League of Arizona Cities and TownsTo:Angela EspirituSubject:League Arizona Cities and Towns Legislative Bulletin: Issue 10 – March 24, 2025Date:Monday, March 24, 2025 10:04:45 AM External sender <league@azleague.org> Make sure you trust this sender before taking any actions. Legislative Update: Welcome to the eleventh week of session. There are a total of 1,801 measures submitted for consideration this session – 944 House Bills, 733 Senate Bills, and 124 resolutions or memorials. YIGBY Bill Fails on House Floor HB2191: religious institutions; development; allowed use , often referred to as the "Yes in God’s Backyard" bill, failed to pass the House floor last week on a 28-26 vote, falling short of the 31 votes needed for approval. The measure would have allowed religious institutions to develop housing on their property as a permitted use in any zoning district where residential use is otherwise allowed. While the bill aimed to expand opportunities for faith-based organizations to address Arizona’s housing shortage, it faced bipartisan hesitancy and ultimately did not secure enough support for passage. A motion to reconsider the vote was also unsuccessful. The bill, sponsored by Representative Livingston (R-Peoria), underwent significant revisions before reaching the floor, with some lawmakers noting that its scope had been narrowed in response to concerns. However, critics argued that the final amendments were introduced with little public input and could have unintended consequences for surrounding neighborhoods. Despite Democratic support, several lawmakers acknowledged discomfort with the final version of the bill. Meanwhile, some Republican members raised concerns about religious institutions potentially losing control over who resides on their property, especially when housing is open to the general public. The League continues to monitor bills that intersect with local zoning authority and housing policy and will remain engaged as discussions on housing solutions continue at the Capitol. League Testimony The League of Arizona Cities and Towns passionately champions municipal interests at the state legislature, actively testifying on bills and resolutions that impact cities and towns. Through collaborative partnerships and proactive engagement, we strive to empower local governments and ensure their voices are heard. In addition to those mentioned above, the League also weighed-in on the following measures last week: SB 1308 sober living homes House Committee on Health and Human Services Creates numerous changes to statutes relating to sober living homes. Modifies the definition of "sober living home." Requires the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to obtain documentation from the local jurisdiction verifying compliance with all local ordinances and rules before approving a sober living home license. ADHS or its third-party contractor is required to conduct a physical, on-site inspection of a sober living home to verify compliance before approving a license or license renewal, at least annually, and on a determination that there is reasonable cause to believe that a sober living home is not adhering to statutory or regulatory requirements. ADHS is required to complete an investigation of a sober living home within 30 calendar days after receiving a complaint alleging a violation. Modifies penalties for violations. ADHS is authorized to continue to pursue any court, administrative, or enforcement action against a sober living home even if it is being sold or transferred or has closed. Effective six months after the effective date, sober living home licensees and all paid staff members are required to have a valid fingerprint clearance card. Position: In support Result: Passed 12-0 SCR 1008 municipalities; counties; vote; fee increases House Committee on Judiciary & House Committee on Ways & Means Municipal councils and county boards of supervisors are prohibited from levying or increasing any assessments, taxes, or fees without a two-thirds vote of the council or board. Position: In opposition Result: Passed 5-4 SCR 1002 photo enforcement systems; prohibition House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Prohibits the use of photo enforcement systems for speeding or red-light traffic violations in Arizona. Repeals existing statutes that authorize and regulate these systems and removes references to photo enforcement in related traffic laws. If passed by the Legislature, this legislation will be submitted to the voters at the 2026 general election. Position: In opposition Result: Passed 4-1-0-1-1 HB 2222 settlement agreements; report; approval Senate Committee on Judiciary & Elections Requires cities, towns, and counties to submit a report at least 90 days before entering into settlement agreements of $500,000 or more. For agreements of $1,000,000 or more, they must also submit the proposed terms to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for review. If not submitted as required, the settlement agreement is not legally binding. Position: In opposition Result: Passed 4-3 Upcoming Hearings This week, the League will continue to represent municipal interests and testify on important legislative measures. Be sure to check committee agendas for a link if you want to tune into a live stream or watch a recorded hearing. Here are some of the League’s upcoming priorities: SB 1229 planning; home design; restrictions; prohibition House Committee on Commerce Prohibits municipalities from interfering with home buyers' rights to choose home features, floor plans, and designs, and restricts requirements for shared amenities, screening, private streets, and specific design elements. Limits municipal authority on minimum lot sizes, building setbacks, and architectural standards for single-family homes, except in historic districts. Applicable to developments constructed after the effective date, with certain exemptions for tribal lands and areas near military airports. Position: In opposition Hearing: Tuesday, March 25th at 2:00 pm in HHR 5 SB 1353 municipal development; permits; review House Committee on Commerce Requires municipalities to approve, conditionally approve, or respond to single- family residential building permit applications within 15 working days. If the deadline is not met, applicants may use a qualified third party for plan review. Allows third-party inspections if municipalities do not complete inspections within two working days. Establishes an appeals process for permit decisions and inspection results. Prohibits municipalities from modifying or rescinding approved permits during construction unless required for safety or compliance with objective code standards. Allows a municipality to withhold a certificate of occupancy as security to ensure the installation of required infrastructure, Session Deadlines Every session has deadlines pertaining to bill submissions and hearings. These are established by Senate and House rule and are subject to change. This year’s schedule is as follows: including streets, utilities, drainage, and flood control improvements, meeting design and construction standards. Position: In opposition Hearing: Tuesday, March 25th at 2:00 pm in HHR 5 SB 1318 income tax rate; reduction; surplus & SCR 1014 surplus; income tax rate; reduction House Committee on Ways & Means Establishes a mechanism to reduce individual income tax rates annually starting from tax year 2026 by applying 50% of the state’s structural surplus, as determined by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, toward rate reductions. Defines structural surplus as the excess of ongoing state general fund revenues over expenditures, adjusted for inflation and population growth. Position: In opposition Hearing: Wednesday, March 26th at 10:00 am in HHR 3 HCR 2021 food; municipal tax; exemption Senate Committee on Finance Prohibits cities, towns, and other taxing jurisdictions from imposing a transaction privilege tax, sales tax, or similar tax on food items intended for home consumption after June 30, 2027, unless specific requirements are met. Limits the tax rate on food items to a maximum of two percent and requires voter approval for any new tax or tax increase. Establishes conditions for jurisdictions that had imposed such a tax before January 1, 2025, including restrictions on tax increases within the two years preceding June 30, 2027. Retroactive to January 1, 2025. If passed by the Legislature, this legislation will be submitted to the voters at the 2026 general election. Position: Neutral Hearing: Monday, March 24th at 1:30 pm in SHR 1 March Friday 3/28: Last Day to Hear Bills in Opposite Chamber April Friday 4/18: Last Day for Conference Committees Tuesday 4/22: 100th Day of Session Legislative Staff You may contact our legislative division by phone at (602) 258-5786 or by e- mail using the following information: Tom Savage, Legislative Director: tsavage@azleague.org Marshall Pimentel, Senior Legislative Associate: mpimentel@azleague.org Jarizbeth Caballero, Legislative Associate: jcaballero@azleague.org Megan Didur, Legislative Intern:: mdidur@azleague.org #Keepup withus on X. Keep up with the issues and events. CLICK HERE What the League is Tracking Stay informed about legislation that affects municipalities throughout the state. Track proposed bills and resolutions, stay updated on their progress, and actively engage in the democratic process. Here are some priority League of Arizona Cities and Towns 1820 W Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85007 info@azleague.org No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe. measures the League is tracking: Legislative Bill Monitoring View in browser Print Version Legislative Bulletin: Issue 9 – March 17, 2025 Legislative Update: Welcome to the tenth week of session. There are a total of 1,801 measures submitted for consideration this session – 944 House Bills, 733 Senate Bills, and 124 resolutions or memorials. Ongoing Negotiations Aim to Balance Housing Affordability and Local Authority SB1229, the “Starter Home Act,” is awaiting a committee hearing in the House Commerce Committee, which has not yet been scheduled. While this bill aims to address the need for starter homes, it lacks critical safeguards to ensure these homes are genuinely affordable and available for Arizona residents rather than investors. Additionally, SB1229 compromises housing quality, disregards publicly approved general plans, eliminates public input, and undermines local planning authority. By allowing developers to unilaterally decide development density and lot size, the bill introduces significant uncertainty in the planning process, making it nearly impossible to effectively and strategically plan for infrastructure and services to support new developments. The result is a framework that promotes unplanned growth without any guarantee that the housing created will be affordable. In contrast, the League’s starter home proposal offers a balanced approach that promotes smart growth while providing developers with incentives to build affordable starter homes. Our proposal is specifically designed to support working families and first-time homebuyers, ensuring that the housing produced is both accessible and aligned with local planning needs and community input. League Testimony The League of Arizona Cities and Towns passionately champions municipal interests at the state legislature, actively testifying on bills and resolutions that impact cities and towns. Through collaborative partnerships and proactive engagement, we strive to empower local governments and ensure their voices are heard. In addition to those mentioned above, the League also weighed-in on the following measures last week: SB 1019 photo enforcement systems; prohibition House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Prohibits the use of photo enforcement systems for speeding or red light traffic violations in Arizona. Repeals existing statutes that authorize and regulate these systems and removes references to photo enforcement in related traffic laws. Position: In opposition Result: Passed 4-1-1-1 HB 2447 self-certification program; administrative review Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs & Government Efficiency Requires municipal legislative bodies to authorize administrative personnel to review and approve site plans, development plans, land divisions, lot line adjustments, and plat amendments, and to review and approve design review plans based on objective standards, without a public hearing. Allows municipalities to adopt a self-certification program for registered architects and professional engineers, allowing them to be responsible for compliance with ordinances and construction standards. Effective January 1, 2026. Position: In support Result: Passed 6-0-1 HB 2448 voting locations; emergency designation; electioneering Senate Committee on Judiciary & Elections Requires all government-owned buildings that are publicly accessible be made available as voting locations for city, county, and state elections when requested by election officials. Restricts the designation of emergency voting centers and non-electioneering polling places to non-government facilities. Position: Neutral Result: Passed 4-3 HB 2653 victims; disclosure requirements; witnesses; names Senate Committee on Judiciary & Elections Allows crime victims and witnesses to a crime to request redaction of their names from public records if there is a reasonable expectation that disclosure may lead to harassment, threats, or witness tampering. Exempts records shared between law enforcement agencies, disclosed to the defendant or their attorney, or involving deceased victims from redaction. Permits courts to order disclosure if necessary for the defendant's constitutional rights. Position: In support Result: Passed 4-3 Upcoming Hearings This week, the League will continue to represent municipal interests and testify on important legislative measures. Be sure to check committee agendas for a link if you want to tune into a live stream or watch a recorded hearing. Here are some of the League’s upcoming priorities: SB 1308 sober living homes House Committee on Health and Human Services Creates numerous changes to statutes relating to sober living homes. Modifies the definition of "sober living home." Requires the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to obtain documentation from the local jurisdiction verifying compliance with all local ordinances and rules before approving a sober living home license. ADHS or its third-party contractor is required to conduct a physical, on-site inspection of a sober living home to verify compliance before approving a license or license renewal, at least annually, and on a determination that there is reasonable cause to believe that a sober living home is not adhering to statutory or regulatory requirements. ADHS is required to complete an investigation of a sober living home within 30 calendar days after receiving a complaint alleging a violation. Modifies penalties for violations. ADHS is authorized to continue to pursue any court, administrative, or enforcement action against a sober living home even if it is being sold or transferred or has closed. Effective six months after the effective date, sober living home licensees and all paid staff members are required to have a valid fingerprint clearance card. Position: In support Hearing: Monday, March 17th at 2:00 pm in HHR 4 SB 1013 municipalities; counties; fee increases; vote & SCR 1008 municipalities; counties; vote; fee increases House Committee on Judiciary & House Committee on Ways & Means Municipal councils and county boards of supervisors are prohibited from levying or increasing any assessments, taxes, or fees without a two-thirds vote of the council or board. Session Deadlines Every session has deadlines pertaining to bill submissions and hearings. These are established by Senate and House rule and are subject to change. This year’s schedule is as follows: March Friday 3/28: Last Day to Hear Bills in Opposite Chamber April Friday 4/18: Last Day for Conference Committees Tuesday 4/22: 100th Day of Session Legislative Staff You may contact our legislative division by phone at (602) 258-5786 or by e- mail using the following information: Tom Savage, Legislative Director: tsavage@azleague.org Marshall Pimentel, Senior Legislative Associate: mpimentel@azleague.org Position: In opposition Hearing: SB1013 will be heard Wednesday, March 19th at 9:00 am in HHR 4 SCR1008 will be heard Wednesday, March 19th at 9:00 am in HHR 3 SCR 1002 photo enforcement systems; prohibition House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Prohibits the use of photo enforcement systems for speeding or red-light traffic violations in Arizona. Repeals existing statutes that authorize and regulate these systems and removes references to photo enforcement in related traffic laws. If passed by the Legislature, this legislation will be submitted to the voters at the 2026 general election. Position: In opposition Hearing: Wednesday, March 19th at 2:00 pm in HHR 3 HB 2222 settlement agreements; report; approval Senate Committee on Judiciary & Elections Requires cities, towns, and counties to submit a report at least 90 days before entering into settlement agreements of $500,000 or more. For agreements of $1,000,000 or more, they must also submit the proposed terms to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for review. If not submitted as required, the settlement agreement is not legally binding. Position: In opposition Hearing: Wednesday, March 19th at 1:30 pm in SHR 2 Jarizbeth Caballero, Legislative Associate: jcaballero@azleague.org Megan Didur, Legislative Intern:: mdidur@azleague.org League of Arizona Cities and Towns 1820 W Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85007 info@azleague.org No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe. #Keepup with us on X. Keep up with the issues and events. CLICK HERE What the League is Tracking Stay informed about legislation that affects municipalities throughout the state. Track proposed bills and resolutions, stay updated on their progress, and actively engage in the democratic process. Here are some priority measures the League is tracking: Legislative Bill Monitoring