Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHCAC_2026_0304_Packet NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING OF THE HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION Chair Bob Burns Vice Chair Toni LePoer Commissioner Chandler Harper Commissioner Peter Gallagher Commissioner Bonnie Kline Commissioner Tiffany Titus Commissioner Tim Yoder TIME: WHEN: WHERE: 4:00 PM - REGULAR MEETING DOORS OPEN 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE START OF THE MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026 FOUNTAIN HILLS COUNCIL CHAMBERS 16705 E. AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS, FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC MEETINGS Request to Comment Cards To speak or submit written comments, a Request to Comment card is required. Cards must be completed and submitted to the Clerk before the meeting begins. Late or incomplete cards will not be accepted. A separate card is required for each agenda item. Agenda Items (Consent or Regular) Request to Comment cards must include the agenda item number, whether the speaker is FOR or AGAINST the item, and whether the individual wishes to speak or submit written comments. Call to the Public requests are accepted in person only. Request to Comment cards must be submitted prior to the meeting commencing. Speaking Rules Speakers may speak only when recognized by the Presiding Officer and are limited to three (3) minutes. All comments must be directed through the Presiding Officer, not to individual commission members or staff. Request to Comment cards and submitted information are public records subject to public disclosure. Meeting Packet Page 1 of 32 1. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 2. INVOCATION 3. ROLL CALL 4. STATEMENT OF PARTICIPATION Anyone wishing to address the Commission regarding items listed on the agenda or during Call to the Public must completely fill out a Request to Comment card located in the back of the Council Chambers and hand it to the Clerk prior to the start of the meeting. Once the meeting 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 and if you are a resident for the public record. Comments may not exceed three minutes. It is the policy of the Commission not to comment on items brought forth under "Call to the Public." However, staff can be directed to report back to the Commission at a future date or to schedule items raised for a future Commission agenda. To avoid disruption of the meeting, to maintain decorum, and provide for an equal and uninterrupted presentation, applause is not permitted, except during Proclamations, Awards, and Recognitions. All meeting participants must maintain proper decorum as specified in Section 6 of the Council Rules of Procedure. 5. PRESENTATIONS 6. CONSENT AGENDA All items listed are considered to be routine, non-controversial matters and will be enacted by one motion and vote of the Commission. 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 Commission Member or member of the public so requests. If a Commission Member 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 Director or Chairperson prior to the date of the meeting for which the item was scheduled. The item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as the first item on the Regular Agenda. The remaining items on the Consent Agenda will be enacted by one motion and vote of the Commission. a. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of History and Culture Advisory Commission Verbatim Meeting Minutes February 4, 2026. 7. REGULAR AGENDA a. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Historic Registry for the Fountain b. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: 250th Anniversary of the USA c. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Historic Art and Essay Contest d. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Public Art Information Updates e. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Public Art Applications f. UPDATE: The next meeting date is April 1, 2026. 8. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.01, or as prescribed by state law. 9. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 10. ADJOURNMENT Meeting Packet Page 2 of 32 Dated this 26th day of February, 2026. Stormy Mazeikis, Administrative Assistant The Town of Fountain Hills endeavors to make all public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities. Please call (480) 816-5100 (voice) or AZRelay 7-1-1 the Thursday prior to the meeting to request reasonable accommodation. Meeting Packet Page 3 of 32 ITEM 6.a. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 3/4/2026 Meeting Type: History and Culture Advisory Commission Regular Meeting Submitting Department: Community Services Prepared by: Stormy Mazeikis, Administrative Assistant Staff Contact Information: Phone: 480-816-5148 Email: smazeikis@fountainhillsaz.gov Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language) CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of History and Culture Advisory Commission Verbatim Meeting Minutes February 4, 2026. Staff Summary (background) Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle Risk Analysis Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) Staff Recommendation(s) Suggested Motion FISCAL IMPACT Fiscal Impact: Budget Reference: Funding Source: ATTACHMENTS 1. HCAC_2026_0204_Minutes Meeting Packet Page 4 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION February 4, 2026 A Regular Meeting of the Fountain Hills History and Culture Advisory Commission was convened at 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains in open and public session at 4:00 p.m. Members Present: Chairperson Bob Burns; Commissioner Tim Yoder; Commissioner Peter Gallagher; Commissioner Chandler Harper; Commissioner Bonnie Kline; Commissioner Tiffany Titus Members Absent: Vice Chairperson Toni LePoer Staff Present: Community Services Recreation Manager Ryan Preston; Administrative Assistant Stormy Mazeikis Meeting Packet Page 5 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 1 of 24 Post-Production File Town of Fountain Hills History and Culture Advisory Commission Meeting February 4, 2026 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. * * * * * Meeting Packet Page 6 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 2 of 24 CHAIR BURNS: Calling the February 4th meeting of the Fountain Hills History and Cultural Advisory Commission together to order. And we'll have a roll call, Stormy. MAZEIKIS: Yes, sir. Chair Bob Burns. CHAIR BURNS: Here. MAZEIKIS: Vice Chair Toni LePoer. Commissioner Tim Yoder. YODER: Here. MAZEIKIS: Commissioner Bonnie Kline. KLINE: Here. MAZEIKIS: Commissioner Peter Gallagher. GALLAGHER: Here. MAZEIKIS: Commissioner Chandler Harper. HARPER: Here. MAZEIKIS: Commissioner Tiffany Titus. TITUS: Here. MAZEIKIS: We have a quorum. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. And any presentations here today? No. Okay. Do you know where the minutes go? I don't see them. Oh, there they are. Consideration and possible action for approval of the meeting minutes from January 7th. Do I have a motion on that? GALLAGHER: I move to approve the meeting minutes as written. KLINE: I second that. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. Motion and second. All those in favor? ALL: Aye. CHAIR BURNS: Any opposed? All right. Okay. Discussion regarding the historic registry for the fountain. Ryan, you believe you might have something on that for us? PRESTON: Yeah. I'll jump in real quick, and I'll turn it over to everybody here. So I Meeting Packet Page 7 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 3 of 24 believe at least last week, a couple of weeks ago, we were able to, upon request, to send out our original submission, which again, was heavily influenced by the State Historic Preservation Office, and then the final submission that they turned in. I'd like to note that the one we turned in was exactly like the template. And then he told me it was a bad format, and I reminded him it was his template from like 1975. But anyway, so he altered it fit the template, turned it in. And you should have received both of those. Again, that was upon request to look at. This does have a possible action we are looking at possibly -- we would love a recommendation from this advisory board on whether or not you advise the town to push through and resubmit, and then we can talk steps from there. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. PRESTON: Because I believe we've also provided the notes, both from the State Historic Preservation Office on their recommendations. I think we've also provided both Commissioner Burns and Commissioner Yoder's notes on the meeting as well. CHAIR BURNS: Any discussion on about moving forward? We're going to hear with Tiffany answer me. TITUS: In that, you have a working group for that committee. I recommend they get together and present their findings and report next month, if that's okay with you, Ryan, in terms of your timeline to support moving forward or not moving forward on that process? PRESTON: Yeah. At this point, the timeline is, I don't want to say irrelevant, but it is at the moment, and so that's up -- that's we could do that. I don't know if the workgroup has had a chance to look at it or not. So yeah, that's open for discussion. CHAIR BURNS: Chandler, do you have a comment there? HARPER: Yeah, I would be open to getting together with some folks and kind of hashing through that just generally high level, though. I reviewed the application and the comments and I want to say, I do tend to agree with a lot of the comments. I think the application, if we were to move forward, either needs to be narrowed quite a bit, I think. Meeting Packet Page 8 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 of 24 And that's one thing that I think we can either discuss here through the working group is sort of the scope of what do we want out of it. Is it that we want the entire park to be a historic site, or do we want the fountain to be a historic landmark? Because one would be a lot more tailored and a lot easier to, I say, easier, potentially easier to make happen than, for instance, the park, which has a lot a significant amount of noncontributing items. So just something for us to maybe work through in a working group and come back to the table. PRESTON: Yeah. I mean, that's a higher view question as well. So it's okay to if anybody here wants to discuss that, that way, the whole Commission does have the ability to put in their two cents on that as well. So that's something that could be discussed here instead of just reported on. And yeah, so originally, the application was just for the fountain. We were advised again to the State Historic Preservation Office that it'd be best to include the park as well. We were kind of on the fence about that. And if it is a direction you want to go, we're just pushing the fountain forward as well. That would be a direction that would be acceptable as well. So that's definitely a good thing to consider and a good point to make. They mentioned, yeah, narrowing the scope. We did a lot of -- we're 50 years old right. It's a little different than a lot of many of the other cities, you know, putting forward something within the State of Arizona. It's not a -- it's not as long of a history. In fact, it's a benchmark for certain things to have to be 50 years old. So that being said, narrowing our scope, we had a lot of things from like the 2000, a lot of events written in there that probably didn't really pertain to the application in the end. So I think the direction, Chandler, you're talking about, it makes sense. And I think that's probably where we would be okay with going as well. And again, it's open for discussion how you guys want to do that. CHAIR BURNS: Bonnie. KLINE: Well, I was just trying to think what is important in the history of the town and the fountain is the attraction, but the park has also been used for events that really made it a community, I think, so I feel it should be include the park. Meeting Packet Page 9 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 5 of 24 CHANDLER: The only caveat to that is that particularly for national register listing, there is that 50-year benchmark. So even if there were major events that happened, you know, in 2015 or 2000 even, you know, it's just -- it doesn't get you to that quote unquote "historic threshold" generally. So that would be the only -- and I think that's part of -- based on the comments that they provided, I think that was kind of what they were trying to convey is, hey, we realize it's an important area as a whole, but it doesn't necessarily make it historic yet. GALLAGHER: Yeah. I would just like to pile on and -- no offense to anyone, but I think the park itself is irrelevant. It's the fountain that we're talking about. That's the real thing. It was the world's largest fountain for many years, certainly when it was built. And that's what has attracted people to come to Fountain Hills and make it a town. So I think we really should focus on that even though the park is an important place, it's not what I would consider a landmark. The fountain is. YODER: I see the positives for both sides, more or less, but I'm certainly willing to just move forward on the fountain. In a way, I think it's kind of silly because in a way, the conversation -- well, let's put it this way. They were both built together as one. It wasn't like the fountain was put in there. And then like two or three years later, they decided to grade all the area around and plant grass. It was all conceived as one thing, but if that makes it difficult, then, you know, let's leave the grassy area out. I mean, grassy knolls have been trouble for a long time, since the early 60's, I think. KLINE: So is that something that can be done at a future time, maybe another project? PRESTON: Do you mean adding the park? KLINE: Adding the park at a later time? PRESTON: I mean, yes. I mean, it's -- you can do anything at a later time. If you -- if we were to do it, we'd do it as a package, I think. I think if it's a node now, it'll probably be a node down the road. I don't think it would make sense doing it separately. I think that's where you -- you wouldn't get the park on its own. I don't think the pass through. It's the fountain, like you said, it's the draw. So if you're going to attach one to the other, it would need to be the park with the Meeting Packet Page 10 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 of 24 fountain or the fountain by itself. I don't think you would ever get the park by itself as a historic on the historic registry. And just again, looking at the feedback from the council who was looking at and what they provided is, a lot of it was they wanted to know more about the impact in Arizona. They wanted to know about -- and it's funny because it's what we had originally focused on is the developers, the C.V. Wood, the McCulloch, what was their background, what made them want to do this, which, ironically, is what we had originally focused on in our narrative, and we were actually encouraged to switch that, if you remember in kind of backpedal from that a little bit. And you can kind of tell too, that the people there obviously know what they do. They know their history, and they also hit the main historical points right there like Orme dam needs to be mentioned. You know, and then the native land needs to be mentioned. That's what they want. Whether it's a mention of basically it had nothing to do with the fountain, if that's what it comes up, at least it's still mentioned within the report. I think they were looking for that, as well as did it have an effect of the native relations as well. So if it's no, throw it in there but make it a no. I think they're looking more on that side of everything. I think that's where we missed on our original submission. And it's where we started kind of where we got away from as well. KLINE: I have to tell you back in 1988, I was on a trip to Europe, and I saw a poster of the fountain in Switzerland. So I thought that was pretty impressive. PRESTON: They were. They were very proud of their work because they made the nozzle so, yeah. KLINE: Great. PRESTON: Um-hum. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. You know, basically just, you know, my thoughts in general about including the park, it's -- I'm kind of with Peter. I'm not sure how relevant it is, but I think an important aspect to potentially going forward with this is -- since they seem to make a point of the water, I think an important point to make going forward is the -- you Meeting Packet Page 11 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 7 of 24 know, virtually no water is wasted from the park, the fountain. And I mean, that's -- and that kind of brings me to another thing here that, you know, a lot of that is, you know, not part of the lake. It's under the park. And you know, it's kind of -- the Fountain Hills, a little different in my mind from a lot of planned communities is because it's been more of an evolution than, you know, because the developer was not a builder. And it kind of they came in and put in the infrastructure and it kind of build out from there with, you know, like the odors and those people like that, which, you know, obviously doesn't play into this. But I guess I would support sitting down with myself and Chandler and Tim in going over that and going over the thing. And I know you're busy, but I -- you know, I would kind of like to have you there, too, Ryan. But I don't know if you can work that into your schedule, but I think that might be where I'd go from this point, because I would agree. I don't think it's time sensitive right now. So if we can take another month or two to go through this and then make our recommendation to the -- I mean, the council isn't going to be interested in hearing our recommendation for a few months, I would say, getting through planning and budgets and all that stuff right now. So I think let's start by see if Tim and Chandler and I and possibly you, Ryan, can get together and go through this and come up with some ideas we can present to the Commission as a whole and get some additional feedback and then maybe make a recommendation. CHANDLER: Yeah, I agree. And I think as far as the timeline is concerned, I think we don't need to be too worried about that. I think we need to, like you're saying, get together, make sure that it's done in a way that will make it happen -- CHAIR BURNS: yeah. CHANDLER: -- and reflect well. And because once it's on there, it's on there forever. So we we've got nothing but time. PRESTON: Yeah. And the only, the only reason we pushed kind of faster than we probably should have at the end was in hopes for our 250th unveiling. And that window is gone. And so that's what that's what I meant by the timeline is sort of irrelevant at Meeting Packet Page 12 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 of 24 this point. Um-hum. YODER: So maybe we three slash four can get together, maybe towards the end of this month or something on a -- I don't know, on a Saturday or Sunday or something for an hour. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. Basically, I'm open any day. YODER: Okay. CHAIR BURNS: I think Ryan would probably prefer a weekday since he's here. If he's going to be here on a Saturday or Sunday, he's going to be doing something else. YODER: Yeah. CHAIR BURNS: So -- PRESTON: We could do about 1 o'clock on March 14th. I'll be at the park anyway, so -- Irish Fest, in case anybody is going. CHAIR BURNS: So yeah, we can -- YODER: So we can arrange that by email or something. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. We can discuss that -- YODER: Okay. CHAIR BURNS: -- and come up with a time and date. I'm fairly open, so I can probably bend to you guys' schedule. I've got a few meetings coming up, but they're -- I can work around pretty good, I think. PRESTON: Perfect. Yeah, I think that's a good direction, get offline and get together, and -- CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: -- we can figure out some presentation moving forward, and then we can vote on it ideally next time we meet. CHAIR BURNS: Anybody else? Any input on that, or -- KLINE: Maybe you could talk about how it changed from being pure water to recycled water and -- CHAIR BURNS: Oh. KLINE: -- maybe that would -- Meeting Packet Page 13 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 9 of 24 CHAIR BURNS: Yeah, I mean -- KLINE: -- interest him. CHAIR BURNS: -- that would be part of the water thing, which I think is -- would be important, so -- okay. So we'll go on from there. Historic art and essay contest. I guess that's kind of -- PRESTON: I think we're on B, so I think -- oh, no, sorry, C, 250th anniversary. CHAIR BURNS: Oh, I'm sorry. I got ahead of myself there. Yeah. 250th anniversary of the USA. Like I said, the banners are up and they look good and -- um-hum. PRESTON: Yeah, I can throw out a couple updates. And so I know the town put out a press release. I don't know if it was printed or seen yet, but a couple of things we have going. There's a website, a landing page that's as discussed by this group here. So we have created a landing page that kind of talks about what the town has planned. As far as the 250th, it also has a link to a form that a ny group or anybody can fill out with anything that they're doing for the 250th and submit. I don't believe we've gotten any submittals for that yet. But if you plan on doing something or, you know, a group that's doing something submitting it to the town. We can get it up on our websites and then the town may have to be selective, but they'll be able to push certain things out as well through their channels. So I'd highly encourage anybody, any group who's doing anything. If you know anyone, have them fill out that form so we can push it out through our channels as well. We've got -- the banners are up on the avenue, trying to think what else is going on recently. We did put some money behind a different act for 4th of July. We can't really announce it yet, but 4th of July celebration. We're expecting to be a little bigger this year. It's going to be some giveaways and things going out. So we have the essay contest. I did push that out to both the superintendent and his assistant, talked to them a little bit about that, trying to get the school to put a little more emphasis behind it has been a challenge. Right now, they just have it out in their general what they call their peach jar, their flier system are trying to get a little more active involvement in this one. So if anybody Meeting Packet Page 14 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 10 of 24 wants to reach out and try to help with that, otherwise, I'll keep kind of pushing the school, but historically, I haven't had a lot of success in that realm, but that is out. And we actually did add in a little bit of verbiage just to incorporate it with the 250 as well. So we put the 250 logo, the town has on it, and then just kind of tied in without changing any of the actual prompts. Just the idea of our focus on history this year, given the 250th anniversary of America. So yeah, that's kind of -- and then we're also -- we just now, we will be getting a -- we are working towards a monument-type sign in the park that says 250 on it. So for it's basically a picture spot for people in the park to take a photo with a big 250th sign. So that's kind of the updates I have right now. If anybody has anything to add or any questions or discussion, go for it. KLINE: Is there any deadline for submitting something on that link? I did look at the link, and there's a couple groups I would like to mention it to. PRESTON: Yeah. I mean, ideally before your event, we want to run up -- KLINE: Yeah. PRESTON: -- to be able to promote it. KLINE: Yeah, they wouldn't be good. PRESTON: So the more time before your event, the better, but otherwise, no. No real timeline. KLINE: Okay. PRESTON: And now we know these events are going to be going on throughout the year, so -- KLINE: And are there any -- does it need to be a open to the public kind of event to be on there? PRESTON: We'll look at that through submittals. Yes, if it's a private group function, we probably wouldn't push it out because what we would push out would be an interest to the entire town. KLINE: Um-hum. PRESTON: It's one of my people not just to a particular group. So yeah, it would have to Meeting Packet Page 15 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 11 of 24 be inclusive. KLINE: Okay. PRESTON: Um-hum. KLINE: On the shirts, I did see that on the website too. PRESTON: Um-hum. KLINE: Are they going to be available in just at the community center, say, or at different shops around town? PRESTON: So we're working on that right now. They will be available at Town Hall, second floor. Most likely, they'll be available at the visitor center at the Chamber of Commerce as well. And we'll also have them for sale at events. And it's most likely we'll have a couple pop ups at the farmers market for sales of those shirts as well. KLINE: Okay. PRESTON: We have about -- we're expecting those in about a week and a half, two weeks to arrive and be available for sale. KLINE: If a store wanted to sell them, is there a way to do that, or -- PRESTON: I can connect them with our economic development department. They're handling that. And it could be the same type of thing that we do at the chamber. They just have to pre-purchase the shirts for a certain cost. Um-hum. KLINE: Okay. PRESTON: Yep. And then on that, I believe they're making the logo minus the town's logo, free to use on the website as well. If anybody wants to add the logo that was developed for this to their material, they could do that as well. And I believe that's on the landing page website as well. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. Anybody else got anything on that? Comment on. Okay. Now, the art essay contest. I guess that's just kind of in process. PRESTON: Yeah. So I touch base on it already, but yeah, it's been submitted. I was working with our current superintendent on that. I'm going to work with some of the principals directly as my next goal is to reach out to them. Everything is due by March 19th, which is -- it's close. Meeting Packet Page 16 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 12 of 24 You know, it's a month, a little over a month away. So we're going to do what we can to get participation. With these, 90 percent of our participation has been from either kids at the school, actually, that live in town or the Inspiration Academy. We, historically, don't get a whole lot from the school district, and we're really hoping to work with them and change that for this one. But the material is out. We'll be doing a harder push here on our end, on our socials and in our press release -- CHAIR BURNS: I guess -- PRESTON: -- as well. CHAIR BURNS: -- you know, kind of be up to the school to, you know, like prompt English teachers or something like that to -- PRESTON: Yeah. CHAIR BURNS: -- some kind of an assignment or whatever. PRESTON: And Tim mentioned it, I believe, when we were first starting this. You're not -- you're never going to work it into the curriculum, teachers, I mean, it's -- CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: -- you're not going to get to that point. It's too regulated. And you know, teachers are busy. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: It's not like we're paying them extra to try to weave this in. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: And so it'll kind of be up to their discretion. Just more trying on my end to make sure the teachers are actually hearing about it. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: Make sure that information is at least making it to the teachers is the goal. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. Um-hum. PRESTON: And that's what I've struggled with in the past. CHAIR BURNS: Um -hum. PRESTON: Um-hum. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. Anything else? Meeting Packet Page 17 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 13 of 24 PRESTON: And on that, so everything is due by March 19th. We're still -- we're most likely not going to be able to get it in a council meeting. Instead we will most likely hold an event at the community center. We've worked with the community center to get space for the art and everything to be on display, so people can come see it. And then we'll hold a small gathering where we will announce winners. Everybody participating can come out and we'll announce winners at the community center. We'll have refreshments and things like that as well. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. KLINE: And what about judging the entries? YODER: Exactly. That was my question. Are you going to need you're going to need us to help with the judging -- unless there's -- PRESTON: It'll most likely be the work group. The issue we ran in with the poetry contest last year is, you can remember, is discussing, you know, kids and their work on the record, was not probably best practice at the time as I learned. We didn't use their names or anything, but discussing their work on the record is something we probably want to avoid this time. And the only way to do that is to get a work group together, so it has to be three or less, so we can do it outside of a quorum and judge. And that can be the same work group or we can work into -- if there's a different work group that wants to help judge that. We may be able to do it in two small pockets of three. So we're still kind of working that out. And in fact, the Mayor's Youth Council is going to help with this as well. They're taking this on as an assistance as well. So they're going to have a vote in it as well, and it'll be everybody together. And that's how it's advertised, I believe, on the flier, both the History & Culture Advisory Commission with the help of the Mayor's Youth Council. And it turns out they had planned a project almost exactly like this, an art project to do and display at the community center. So when the coordinators learned, I kind of stepped on their toes, they were asking to be part of it. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. Meeting Packet Page 18 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 14 of 24 TITUS: I'm going to volunteer immediately to be a part of that project. If you need a small working group to be a part of the judges, I'd love to be a part of it. PRESTON: There's a chance we could just do independent judging when everything's out. And so like I said, I haven't had to figure that out before, so we'll work through that. We'll get that figured out. We'll make sure everybody has a say. CHAIR BURNS: Well, we've got another meeting before that deadline, so you can fill us in if you got more information on that. Okay. Let's see, public art information. Toni's not here. I don't know if you got any -- PRESTON: I actually have a quick presentation. So we have an item that kind of falls under this. So unless anybody has anything on the public art, real quick update. I'm still getting our new websites set up with all the QR codes and everything. Centennial Circle is completely done as far as QR codes. They haven't gotten on the pieces yet, but they have been assigned. Everything's up on the web and looking good. Currently, I'm about halfway through the avenue right now on getting that updated as well. And then we have plans to do Fountain Park. As you see, it's going to tie in actually to what -- I'm going to take a second. I'm going to move and kind of present this to you. I don't know if anybody is still on the Commission from when we started this project. This is the Fountain Park signage update. Anybody has walked around Fountain Park may have seen some very faded signs, some very old signs. And so one of the first points of order for this Commission was to work on those signs, work on the verbiage for those signs and try to get those updated. So we've had the verbiage for a little while, and we finally had time to get with the designer and really try to dial in what we want. And so that's kind of what I'm going to present to you real quick here. All right. So you can see it there. And I think the presentation -- I don't think you have it in your packet. So you have to either look here or turn around behind you. I apologize. Is this working perfect. Much louder. All right. So we're going to have one, two, three, four, five. There's six of these signs going up around the park. And again, these are the Meeting Packet Page 19 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 15 of 24 big signs that you see with the information. You are here. Here's some information about Fountain Park, so that's what each of these are going to be. And as you could see, the star here indicates the location. So this is up top on Saguaro kind of near where one of those the disc golf pads are. And again, there's already a sign there and we're replacing it. The old signs were printed in a way that was not ideal. These are all printed on polymetal full color, and they have a lot longer lifespan and also easier to reprint if we end up needing to. So we have signs out in the park that have been there for years now that that look fantastic still. So step one, they're going to look good. And so you can kind of see -- it's going to be something different on every park. There's going to be some did you know on there, it's going to point out different landmarks. So you can see around the park. So you can see the "you are here" sign. If you look from this point facing east, the great lawn, host events. Facing south, it's the Superstition Mountains facing west. West, you can see downtown, enjoy shopping, dining. So there'll be a lot of that. It's talking a lot about the different park features. And also just giving you the history of the fountain as you go through each one. So I'm not going to read every single thing on here, but I just want to let you know, a lot of this copy was written by this Commission early on. We did have to tweak some of it just to kind of fit the overall theme and idea that we ended up going with, but a lot of this work was done by this Commission. So we wanted to thank everybody. Again, a lot of them aren't here, but you guys are doing the same work now and would have done this as well, so we'd like to thank. This is part of the things you're actually doing you can actually see come to fruition. Here's another one. So this one is down. Where is that? That's down just near where the pump house is, it looks like, down on the lake side of that. It's a really fun picture of the lily. We always like this photo. It's an angle you don't see often of the lily. And again, it's going to point out, what can you see, where are you facing northeast. You could see Four Peaks. Right there, there's the pride of Switzerland right there, Bonnie, where you would have Meeting Packet Page 20 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 16 of 24 seen that. That's the nozzle being lowered in. So a lot of really fun historical photos. And then you're going to see these QR codes. So these QR codes are obviously going to be scannable. This one goes to the EarthCam. But you also see some later that'll direct you to a landing page that has all of our art tours on it and art walks. And that's going to be with the updated ones that we're working on now. So the updated version of those art walks. So this one is -- actually on the east side, where the east side parking lot is kind of across the parking lot on that sidewalk, there's another monument sign. And that's where this one's located. And so it's talking again about events. The car shows there's another QR code that leads directly to the town's main events page. And again, it just talks about some of the history of Fountain Park as well. Let me keep going. So this one's over. All of you probably recognize this art piece here. So it's right down there by that art piece at the amphitheater side. You can see here, it's right next to the art piece. So this QR code does talk about the self-guided art walk. And so that's really -- it's a really good system. We've purchased to get those art walks in and everything. So it's going to be it's going to be seamless. It's going to be all be cell phone friendly, which really none of our stuff is currently. So it's going to be all very mobile friendly. And like I said, the Centennial Pavilion one is already done, and the rest of these are in the works. All right. Couple more. So this one is down on the Great lawn right -- kind of near where those new swings are. If you know those new bench swings, that's kind of where this one's located. You can see here the posed picture of laying out the town, again, connects to the EarthCam and it connects to some -- it's actually a YouTube video talking about the 50th anniversary of the part of the town. And again, more fun facts. And again, all these facts were given to us by this Commission and approved by this Commission and recommend it to the town. All right. I think this might be the last one. This is right there,, this is in the main area, part of the business area, the splash pad. We're patting ourselves on the back a little bit, reminding everybody that we are gold medal award winning Parks and Recreation Meeting Packet Page 21 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 17 of 24 Department, which is the highest recognition you can receive nationally for parks and recreation. So we had to throw that in there and we had to put it in the busiest part of the park. And again, just more -- more, did you knows. We got some of our bird friends that you can see all the time out there. And again, talks about the water that we talked about here, what it's irrigated with and kind of the early days. Talks about Nessie, which, you know, leading up to Fountain to Irish Fest. Nessie is going to become a thing again, possibly. You guys might be the first to know we're trying to bring Nessie back, not in the lake because it is not 1978 anymore, but -- and as we mentioned in the copy, actually, I just wrote, the sheriff's department is much closer now of what you can and can't do. But anyway, so we're kind of bringing a lot of that back. You might be seeing footprints a week leading up, coming back into town and everything. Although, again, we can't paint them anymore because they don't come off. We learned. If you look behind the community center, you'll see a few of my test spots and some giant green footprints. So it's fun. We're bringing Nessie back, and you know, it's not the Loch Ness Monster. Apparently, it's his Irish cousin, is what they had decided back in 19 -- I don't know when Nessie exactly first appeared. We've been trying to figure that out, but I think it was earlier in the 80's. It took them a few years before they brought Nessie out. But anyway, just wanted to give you the presentation, show you where the hard work has gone, let you know that what we do. What you do submit to us, you may not see right away. We are the government. It's not -- we're not going to be quick with anything, but it was used. We were able to put it in and we were -- you will be seeing these go up in the parks not too long from now as well. Any questions kind of about that process, or -- KLINE: If you need a picture of Nessie, I have one in the family photo album. PRESTON: Yeah. I should give you -- I don't even know if I can find it. Never mind. So no, we actually have a lot of historical photos. I'm sharing more than I'm supposed to probably be allowed. We did -- most people know we got the we got the Shamrock Meeting Packet Page 22 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 18 of 24 Society back together last year, and with the help of Debbie Clausen, we did a video series on it, which is going to be released around Irish Fest in The Greening this year. And so they brought a lot of photos. So we have a lot of historical photos of Nessie. Did you know it actually ferried kids across the fountain? KLINE: Yeah, my daughter was in that. PRESTON: There you go. She might be one of the photos. We got a photo of it ferrying some kids. I had no idea people actually -- kids actually went in there and went across the fountain, so I learned a lot because I had to write kind of the oral history down for something we're doing right now for some viral marketing, but -- YODER: Martin Dawson hooked up the pro -- his propane -- PRESTON: Um-hum. YODER: -- fire breathing apparatus to it. That was the -- PRESTON: Of course. Yeah, yeah. And which is mentioned -- I'll see if I can share the landing page we got. So basically, the footprints around town are going to have a QR code at the bottom, really small. It's kind of a -- if you notice it, scan it and it's going to kind of tell. What I hope is a humorous story retelling of the Shamrock Society. I wrote it, so if it's terrible, don't tell me and it'll show the photos. And the fire breathing is definitely mentioned, of course, because why wouldn't Nessie's Irish cousin breathe fire. Makes sense. Anything else? KLINE: Do you have any mention of the pavilions and the benches that were made out of the recycled turbine materials? PRESTON: Those are one of our directors. Kevin's favorite things. I don't know, off the top of my head, but I am sure they were mentioned, yes. Um-hum. Yeah. He's very proud of those as he should be. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. I'm glad you did this. I was getting real close to bringing that up and asking you for an update on where that was, because I've been walking around the fountain and seeing those things, and it's like -- PRESTON: Um-hum. CHAIR BURNS: -- yeah, I'm getting it replaced. Meeting Packet Page 23 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 19 of 24 PRESTON: Yep. CHAIR BURNS: And so I'm glad to see that. I like the QR code on the one with the camera, because you just kind of bring it up and turn around and wave. PRESTON: Yeah. And there is one where it basically says, yeah, it's -- the EarthCam is right behind you. You can scan it and basically see yourself on camera. Yeah. So perfect. All right. Well again, thank you, guys, for your hard work on that. Again, your work does mean something, even though you may not see it right away. Again, we're slow. Okay. Not by design, but that's not our fault. We're bureaucrats. But work does eventually get done. This, for example, went through nine iterations before we got a final product, so there's a lot of back and forth on it. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. Public art applications. Nothing right now or -- PRESTON: There are no applications at this time. CHAIR BURNS: All right. PRESTON: Kind of a quick note on that. There will be some most likely coming in here soon. A lot of people on this Commission haven't really seen those yet. Those, we will get you ahead of time. It is really important on those public art applications that we get you ahead of time, that you read through those, you look through those. It is -- your vote's going to matter heavily on those applications. So knowing which -- not looking the day of a meeting is going to be ideal anytime you get those packets. And we'll kind of reiterate that as well, because that's something that's going to be permanent in town for a very long time. There have been times where art has not been approved. So it's important to take a close look. You do not have to approve anything that comes across the desk, so just take a just making sure you take a critical view of it. And if it's something you want to see in town for the next 50 years. TITUS: I have a question related to that, Ryan. PRESTON: Um-hum. TITUS: Are we in a position or is it appropriate for us, we're totally not appropriate for us to create. There are several artists that would be amazing and appropriate and Meeting Packet Page 24 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 20 of 24 wonderful to have in our town -- PRESTON: Um-hum. TITUS: -- whether their selves starters or otherwise, that are draws, economic development draws tourist draws. Are we allowed to recommend or create a list of those potential artists and or pieces of art for companies to consider, or your consideration for public art, or should we really just pull back and let the others? PRESTON: Yeah. As a Commission, it wouldn't be our purview. The town does not commission art. So this art that we review is developers are required to submit public art. Either they can submit a monetary fee in lieu of the public art. But we don't actually commission the artists. So if it's something you wanted to put together and share with developers, but as far as is this Commission's purview, probably be outside of our scope. TITUS: As a private citizen, appropriate, then, is what I'm hearing -- PRESTON: Absolutely. Yep. TITUS: -- not as a part of the Commission? PRESTON: Yep. Exactly. TITUS: Thank you very much. PRESTON: Yep. YODER: I'm just feeling good. PRESTON: Okay. Yeah. CHAIR BURNS: Anything else on that? Okay. KLINE: I guess I have a question. Is there a group still operating that selects or recommends art that they discover at different art shows. Like a lot of the pieces in Centennial Circle were selected by the art, and I'm forgetting the name of the group, but is there still some a group like that operating? CHAIR BURNS: Like the public art committee, I think -- PRESTON: Correct. The public art committee is no longer around. And so the public art applications used to be under their purview as well, and that moved over to this Commission, so no. There isn't a group that will see art and then recommend it to the Meeting Packet Page 25 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 21 of 24 town again, because the town's never purchased art. KLINE: Right. I knew that. PRESTON: Um-hum. KLINE: So I just want to float an idea, and we can talk about it more another time maybe. But in Mesa, they would have artists submit their artwork to be on display for a year, and people would vote on it and vote the one that they most wanted to keep. And then the rest of them would go back to the artist after that year's period and they'd select new ones or get new artists with their artwork in. But that was kind of to get the public input on what would be the best art piece for the community. PRESTON: And would that include the town purchasing or the City of Mesa purchasing the art piece? KLINE: I wasn't clear on whether the City of Mesa purchased it or if it was a donation from the artist. PRESTON: I can talk to our community center manager. They do a lot of different art displays and art programs where artists come and display their art. There's some going on almost all the time over at the community center. A lot of it is paintings, but there are sculptures and there are some other pieces of art that they get on display there. So I'll bring it up and see if it's something she's ever encountered. KLINE: Yeah. The ones I was thinking about where sculptures and the center, very center of Mesa, so -- CHAIR BURNS: City of Mesa has got a lot more room than Fountain Hills does. KLINE: Yeah, a lot more people I know. I had another question on the 250th anniversary. Are you planning on doing one of those booklets about upcoming events that includes the centennial events, or you need a few more submissions? YODER: Do you mean like the community guide booklets that come out every couple few months, or -- KLINE: Like -- PRESTON: I'm trying to tie that into the current agenda item, and I can't find a way to do it. So we probably can't talk about it now, but if you want to talk to me later off Meeting Packet Page 26 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 22 of 24 record, I can talk to you about that. KLINE: Okay. PRESTON: Yes. Otherwise, I can't figure out a way to talk about it currently. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. Next meeting date is March 4th, so mark that down. And has anybody got any thoughts for future agenda items? TITUS: I have something for consideration. Oh, do you want to go first, Bonnie? KLINE: No. Go ahead. TITUS: Okay. Specifically in consideration of the Museum of Time being 50 years old and the town in the past has provided them a below market rate lease in exchange for the services that they provide the town, that is coming to an end this August. I would -- it's been brought to my attention that they're going to be requesting the town extend the lease in exchange for the services that they provide the town. And they've -- they're going to be asking and presenting to our Commission likely next month. So prior to them asking and us considering supporting an effort where they continue their relationship with the town, I think it would be wonderful to hear from Amanda Jacobs with Economic Development to hear what her position is on her continued support of this museum. And that it's our only museum in town, I'd like for us to be aware of what's happening and whether we need to be supporting it or not supporting it in whatever capacity is appropriate. And I think as an agenda item, might be nice to discuss. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. I've been trying to get a one on one with Amanda to discuss her the town's potential future public art program there, and I'm having a hard time doing that. So I don't know, Ryan, whether you can kind of twist our arm or kind of sweet talker to try and get her in here for a presentation. Because like I said, I like -- I know the council is -- and I realize it's probably a ways out, so it's not urgent, but is working on a policy for mural art and stuff like that, and I'd like to hear from her on that. You know, with Tiffany brought up, you know, if somebody's going to come and ask us for support, I guess we can talk about it. But other than that, I'm not sure it's within our purview, but maybe you can think about that, too, Ryan, so -- Meeting Packet Page 27 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 23 of 24 PRESTON: Yeah, I mean, that's the question, and I'd have to go back on that. I don't know that that is -- that's a little high level. And whether we would tackle it, that's probably straight to council question -- CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: And in fact, it probably will come up at some point. So let me get back on that. And Tiffany, I'll reach out to you based on that agenda item and what I hear back as well in town. And I'll reach out to Amanda and see if there's a time that she has available and try to try to book her. She is an incredibly busy. CHAIR BURNS: Well, I think I think all you guys are -- PRESTON: Yeah. CHAIR BURNS: -- but it's a -- you know, it's kind of hard when we think of something or something we want to try and get some information on to, to try and pin you down, and it's not easy, you know. Sometimes email works and sometimes -- PRESTON: Right. CHAIR BURNS: And I appreciate all the work you guys are doing, so, but yeah, that is something I want to hear from her on for this group. And like I said, it's probably not something the council will even get to until a fall, so -- PRESTON: And that's the thing with a lot of these things, they're kind of might be in limbo at the moment. She can present probably to where -- CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: -- she currently is. CHAIR BURNS: Yeah. PRESTON: Yeah, yeah. Um-hum. Yep. And we'll reach out to her, see if she's available. CHAIR BURNS: All right. Appreciate that. PRESTON: Yep. CHAIR BURNS: Anything else for future ideas? KLINE: Well, I was just wondering if there was a chance of having the Parks and Recreation Department do a presentation on the parks and plans for parks around town because I saw mention of the -- what's it called Pleasantville Park and -- Meeting Packet Page 28 of 32 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 4, 2026, HISTORY AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 24 of 24 PRESTON: Skyview Park. KLINE: Oh, that's much better. CHAIR BURNS: Oh, you come up with a new name. Great. PRESTON: I don't know. KLINE: I was going to mention that -- PRESTON: I was making -- KLINE: -- pleasant view was in some kind of -- it was a movie, and it was, like, retro 1950s. PRESTON: Tobey Maguire is a fantastic movie. KLINE: It wasn't really a great name. PRESTON: Yeah. I could reach out to Kyle, our new park superintendent, or possibly Kevin for an update. I don't know if there's a ton right now, but I could see what they have for an update. KLINE: Is there any -- are there any plans for artwork in that park like sculpture? PRESTON: I'm not sure. Yeah, that'll be something we -- yeah, we can -- yeah, I'm not 100 percent sure about that. Um-hum. CHAIR BURNS: I would think that would be up to someone who might want to consider a donation. You know, ask the town. Hey, would you be willing to take this for this site and then go from there. All right. Anything else? I thought not being anything else, I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. TITUS: I so move to adjourn. GALLAGHER: Second. CHAIR BURNS: Okay. A motion and a second. All in favor? ALL: Aye. CHAIR BURNS: Opposed? Okay. It's about 4:46, and we're done. Meeting Packet Page 29 of 32 Having no further business, Chairperson Burns adjourned the Regular Meeting of the History and Culture Advisory Commission meeting held on February 4, 2026, at 4:46 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS ________________________ Bob Burns, Chairperson ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: _________________________________ Stormy Mazeikis, Administrative Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the History and Culture Advisory Commission of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 4th of February 2026. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 4th Day of March 2026. _________________________________ Stormy Mazeikis, Administrative Assistant Meeting Packet Page 30 of 32 ITEM 7.a. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT Meeting Date: 3/4/2026 Meeting Type: History and Culture Advisory Commission Regular Meeting Submitting Department: Community Services Prepared by: Staff Contact Information: Phone: Email: Request to Town Council Regular Meeting (Agenda Language) DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Historic Registry for the Fountain Staff Summary (background) Related Ordinance, Policy or Guiding Principle Risk Analysis Recommendation(s) by Board(s) or Commission(s) Staff Recommendation(s) Suggested Motion FISCAL IMPACT Fiscal Impact: Budget Reference: Funding Source: ATTACHMENTS 1. HCAC landmark workgroup memo Meeting Packet Page 31 of 32 HCAC landmark workgroup memo The Town of Fountain Hills History and Culture Advisory Commission workgroup including Bob Burns, Chandler Harper and Tim Yoder met to discuss further action regarding application for historic landmark designation for the Fountain. After the state evaluation committee rejected the initial submittal that included Fountain Park the workgroup is proposing to refocus the application on the Fountain only highlighting the technical and design features of the attraction along with water conservation elements through its recycling qualities. The group is also proposing that contacts be made to consider the feasibility of retaining assistance from a consultant in preparing a new application. /Chandler Harper Chandler Harper is also preparing research based on other similar applications nationwide. Bob Burns will reach out to MCO Realty officials locally to inquire about access to potential records that might be available from the descendant corporate entity of McCulloch Corp. now based in Texas. These are the workgroup recommendations for consideration by the commission. Bob Burns Meeting Packet Page 32 of 32