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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993.1116.TCJWSM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE JOINT WORK/STUDY SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL AND THE FOUNTAIN HILLS SCHOOL BOARD NOVEMBER 16, 1993 A joint public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council and Unified School District was convened and called to order at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, November 16, 1993, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd., Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona. Present at the meeting were the following members of the Fountain Hills School Board: President, Cathy Higgins; Clerk, K.D. Boney; Board Members John Zikopolous and Ken Wharton. Board Member David Lutkemeier arrived at 6:55 PM. Present from the Town Council were the following: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Mike Minarsich, Councilmembers Bill O'Brien, Wally Hudson, Frank Clark, Peg Tibbetts, and Don Lawrence. Also present were: Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell, Town Clerk Cassie Hansen, and School Superintendent Walt Dunne. AGENDA ITEM #2. - DISCUSSION OF ISSUES RELATING TO JOINT USE OF FACILITIES. Mr. Walt Dunne said the opening of Golden Eagle Park and associated maintenance requirements had prompted the School Board to discuss the possibility of greater joint use of facilities. He said the present joint -use agreement with the Town charged back and forth for facility use: facility rental, electric charges, custodians, etc. He said that since the Town had operating expenses for the park and the school had expenses operating the buildings, they hoped to reach an agreement where the respective charges could somehow cancel each other out while still providing the same joint use. He said the Board would like to see the facilities used to everyone's benefit without all the paperwork now required. Mr. Nordin said they had discussed this and he felt it could be done both technically and legally but required action by the Council to review and make an appropriate amendment. Councilman Hudson thought it was a good idea and suggested that the two administrators get together and come up with an agreement and bring it back before the school board. Board Clerk Boney said this should be done for the betterment of the town and the students to enable them to use these facilities in a way that really did facilitate programs and create more things to do without the unnecessary financial burden of a fee. She said she disagreed with shared facilities or asking either the school district or the town to give up the facility for free when there was a profit being made. The problem that needed to be addressed was the supervision and custodial costs incurred either by the district or the town. Mr. Dunne said that a joint monthly meeting to discuss items of mutual interest to both districts Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 1 of 10 had been scheduled for the first Monday of each month. Since things still had to be paid for, he suggested setting aside an amount and as charges were incurred, they could be subtracted from that amount. Board President Higgins brought up the maintenance problems at the Four Peaks ball fields. Mr. Dunne said that renovation of the fields had been included in the bond election, but hoped that Golden Eagle Park would assist in that. He said the Four Peaks fields were now used extensively and he didn't think grass would grow under any conditions. He said also a lot of rock had come to the surface over the years and it would take some major work to make the fields usable. Mrs. Higgins asked if the Tribal Council had been approached with regard to fill dirt and how this could be accomplished to mutually benefit the community and the school district. Mr. Dunne said if there was money available, the first major project would be to redo the sprinkler system. Councilman Clark asked if Mr. Dunne was suggesting to waive all transfer of funds and have no recordkeeping. Mr. Dunne answered that he would like to move in that direction but didn't know whether labor costs would necessitate some type of credit record. The desired direction was to provide service with the Parks and Recreation Department and the school district free of charge to the students. Councilman Clark said he could see doing this while the use was fairly well balanced because it would avoid a lot of work, but, in the future it could tip heavily one way or another, so he would prefer working on credit exchanges every half year or so rather than writing a lot of paperwork back and forth. Mrs. Higgins asked if there were any possibility of a trust fund type empty credit that could be part of the bookkeeping. Perhaps a community group might donate matching credits to the town and school district to be applied toward keeping and maintaining all of those areas. Vice Mayor Minarsich said that Councilmembers Lawrence and Tibbetts had great success with regards to the Tot Lot at Golden Eagle Park. Community groups would pitch in and help with projects like these, but needed to be asked. He said this was a critical issue and thought it tied in directly with the next agenda item. He said programs needed to be created to maximize use of the facilities and fields and asked Mrs. Higgins if the school district was currently having discussions with the Tribal Council relating to this. She replied their first meeting with the Tribal Council was held last week and that she had attended a drug awareness meeting (Cattle Guard Alliance). She said her understanding was that the Cattle Guard Alliance offered use of their facilities --baseball field, basketball areas --to anyone, so perhaps a three-way group to work with this could benefit everyone. Vice Mayor Minarsich said a good example of people not being too concerned about user fees was this year's soccer league. Fountain Hills couldn't have a soccer league, so those interested had to join the Scottsdale Soccer League and there were over 200 children from Fountain Hills at $60.00 per person and no one complained. Mayor Cutillo said it was apparent that all agreed that it was worth looking into and suggested the respective staff come up with options and, in the near future, have another work/study session to discuss this further. Councilman Lawrence asked to set a date for this future meeting. Councilman Hudson suggested the first week of January, which was tentatively agreed upon. Mrs. Higgins asked if the basketball program was going to be held again during Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 2 of 10 Christmas. Robin Goodman said that hadn't been determined yet since interest in basketball wasn't always steady. Some of the children's programs were planned to be done again, but basketball was on hold until enough interest was expressed. Councilman Hudson said that apparently there was going to be another Town Hall. He said he had noticed in prior Town Halls that school activities weren't represented and wondered whether the school board could meet with the committee working on this Town Hall and join with them in a presentation after which the groups could discuss needs of the town. Mayor Cutillo said the Town Hall was not scheduled until April 1994. Mrs. Higgins encouraged the board to investigate further. She said she wasn't sure why the representation of parents or school -oriented families was so low, but usually school -related subjects weren't dealt with because those interested were so outnumbered. Councilman Hudson said the same topics --swimming pools, community center, bike paths --were always raised and that maybe the PTA could get involved. Councilwoman Tibbetts said that in the Town Halls since 1984, the school issues in the community had always surfaced as some of the most important. People were very conscious of the importance of schools in the community and she agreed they should certainly be a part of the planning for the upcoming Town Hall. Councilman Lawrence said he co-chaired the last one and was involved in prior ones and attempts were made to bring in the young families, without much success. Last year, he said, representatives from the PTA, Scouts, and the Builders Association were on the steering committee to try to encourage young families to get more involved. He was sure the Town Hall committee, who were indeed planning and organizing right now, would appreciate any assistance the school board could lend. Ken Webster, Fort McDowell, asked if families with school -age children and young families from Fort McDowell could participate and, if so, whom should they contact. Mayor Cutillo responded that Councilwoman Tibbetts was a member of the steering committee and they could contact her. Mrs. Higgins asked Mr. Webster if he was trying to get a member of either the Tribal Council or the Educational Council from the Tribal Council on that steering committee. Mr. Webster responded that would be a goal because the Fort McDowell tribe was attempting to formulate a cohesive effort with the school district in several areas, and the Tribal Council would greatly appreciate an opportunity to have a representative on the committee. AGENDA ITEM #3. - DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE PROGRAMS FOR GANG/DRUG PREVENTION, INTERCESSION AND SUPPRESSION. - Board Member Ken Wharton said he had been reading a book published in September 1993 entitled, Who Will Teach For America, which addressed problems with schools and gave some insights on gangs. The author said when young people decided that education stinks, when after -school activities have all been taken away, when parents and society were lying to them, when they may not know the meaning of the word dysfunctional but they knew what it meant, then they joined a gang. Gang members, the violent ones, acted out their anger and despair on the community. Mr. Wharton said that at previous meetings, community centers were discussed, but as Vice Mayor Minarsich said, we did Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 3 of 10 have facilities, school facilities that could be kept open. We cannot abandon our children. He said that the young people and parents of young people were not at the meeting because they didn't have the time. Most young couples were working, got home around 5:30/6:00 PM and couldn't come to meetings like this. He said in order to do anything about children, it would be necessary to ask the students what they wanted and then gear the programs to their needs, since what they needed were activities to keep them from being bored. Vice Mayor Minarsich agreed that facilities were needed but that parents needed to be made aware that they had to make the time. He said there was a real problem with denial in this community. He said Deputy Rich Bricklin from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was present and could report on the number of assaults; on the 14-year olds picked up with blood alcohol levels of 2.27, which was fairly near death for a 14-year old. He said that teachers couldn't be babysitters, nor could programs or facilities. He said he thought education was the key, but that parental involvement in the education process was imperative. Mr. Wharton said he thought these incidents were symptomatic of a problem and activities could be set up. He said that adults should come up with alternatives to offer the children to get them caught up in something positive. Vice Mayor Minarsich said the City of Glendale had recently instituted a law whereby on the third misdemeanor offense by a minor, the parent was cited and fined, forcing them to get involved. Board Member Zikopolous said everyone would like to have more parents involved, but the issue that had always come up was time. Another issue, he said, was two -parent families. He asked Mr. Dunne to estimate how many single -parent families were at the high school. Mr. Dunne stated close to 50%. Mr. Zikopolous said that meant 50% of the kids didn't even have a two -parent situation --the children would come home and, typically, mom would be out earning a living. He suggested scheduling meeting times that were more convenient to working parents, which might stimulate them to want to become a part of the effort. He said there were a lot of other complex problems --social, economic --which could only be dealt with to a certain point. But if the simple things were done and worked, and got a positive response from the parents, then more could be done. Board Member Lutkemeier said everyone was blaming somebody else and the governing bodies needed to take responsibility for what they could take responsibility for. The teachers couldn't go out and structure students' free time after school, but they could deliver exemplary instruction during the school day; that's their job. Mrs. Boney said she agreed to a point, but the fact needed to be faced that there are a lot of children with problems that need attention above and beyond the classroom academic schedule. She said parents also needed more realistic skills. In all the meetings that she'd held for parents over the last six years, the best attended ones were where useful information was presented. If the parents thought they could come and really learn better parenting skills, they would be there; but if it was just philosophy or blaming, attendance was low. She said that most of the drug awareness classes taught the students positive self esteem and to say no to drugs, but they were not teaching the real street knowledge that would save them. Bill Tessmer, Rand Drive, said he'd heard a lot of comments about legislation on parents. He Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 4 of 10 said he thought we ought to involve the kids --have a buddy program where the children use their knowledge to help and instruct other children. He said he had tried to get involved with the Cattle Guard Alliance and have a call -in program, a hotline, which kids would maintain and parents would monitor. He said Phoenix just did this with a gang group and it worked out very well. He said he thought young people were turning to gangs to get one thing that they were not getting at home --love. Vice Mayor Minarsich said he felt there were some real communication breakdowns occurring. He said he had one child at each of our schools and just found out through a flyer sent home yesterday that there may have been an attempted abduction of an 11-year old girl. He said that as a councilmember, he didn't like hearing about this a week after the fact. A member of the Sheriff's office explained that on November 9, as an 11-year-old girl was walking home from school, a 20-30 year old white male pulled up along side her in a vehicle and asked if she had a dollar. She said no. The suspect then asked her if she was sure and she said no. The suspect then continued driving down the street. The deputy said she did the smart thing --changed directions and went home. The Sheriff's Office responded, due to the suspicious nature of the incident, by having a flyer made up. Unfortunately, it was mislabeled attempted kidnapping while it should have been labeled suspicious circumstances. The intent was to get out an initial description of the vehicle and the subject to school security in case school security saw this vehicle hanging about. He said nothing more happened; nothing but speculation that it could have been a possible enticement of the child to get into the van. Vice Mayor Minarsich said he would like to see both schools alert parents to potential dangers and communication from Mr. Logan, through Mr. Dunne, to Mr. Nordin. The Marshals Department could also be involved in keeping an eye out for this vehicle. Mrs. Higgins said the Sheriff's Office and Capt. Overton were willing to extend, to the high school, the D.A.R.E. program and also the G.R.A.P.E. program, which was a gang prevention program. The Sheriff's Office said in order to do the G.R.A.P.E. program they would need the cooperation of the Town Council, Parks and Recreation and the Marshals Department. Mrs. Higgins said she had spoken with some individuals to once again put together a seminar --a gang prevention awareness seminar. This seminar would include people such as Sylvia Lopez who has a phenomenal program in Phoenix that deals with latchkey kids. Ms. Lopez was going to bring some gang members to tell whey they were in gangs and some former gang members to tell why they dropped out. A tentative date of December 7 had been set, but she agreed that it needed to be at a time when parents could be there. She encouraged the Town Council to sponsor such a seminar because it really dealt with Parks and Recreation a lot more than the school, and said she would be willing to work with them if they agreed to do so. Deputy Bricklin told of an article in The Arizona Republic about a forum held at a school where all the students came and voiced their opinions and got things off their chests, and those in charge were able to learn from this and find out what was needed and wanted. He mentioned that since 3:00 pm, he had made five shoplifting arrests, had four children involved in assaults, Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 5 of 10 and had two more theft reports yet to investigate which appeared to involve juveniles. He referred to the estimated rate of 50-percent single -parent families and said four of the suspect children tonight went home to an empty house, the parents had no idea they were out doing their thing and were shocked. He mentioned a standing invitation to the Town Council to ride along with a deputy and extended this invitation to the School Board and anyone else who would like to ride along. Mrs. Boney mentioned an article in yesterday's Arizona Republic about a successful dads' program which involved five or six fathers who showed up at the campus daily and simply stood in areas that were trouble spots --lockers, parking lots, the wash behind the high school where drugs were dealt. She said people pointed fingers and asked why the administrators and the teachers weren't out there and she said it was because they had their jobs to do. It was not an effective utilization of personnel to use an administrator as a security guard. Mayor Cutillo said it appeared that the problems had been identified, but that he'd like to identify a plan to correct some of these problems. Mr. Webster said many of the problems being addressed by the Drug -Free Alliance and this meeting were the same types of problems the tribe had gone through. He said he knew of a successful program in Minneapolis that worked with inner city youth, and though the scenario was much different, there were many commonalities. Fountain Hills, he said, was at a stage where that area was in 1984 when it was said there wasn't a gang problem there. Seven years later over 100 different gangs or subcultures had been identified there. He said Fort McDowell was bringing in an individual on Friday from the Kellogg Foundation, one of the wealthiest foundations in the country which gave money all over the world. One of their areas of initiative was youth through education in terms of youth leadership. He mentioned a program in Minnesota called Soaring Eagles which was replicated on a national level and had been recognized as a 'point of light' by former President Bush. Mr. Webster said the program took individuals who were on the threshold of going the wrong direction and gave them supervision and continuing opportunities throughout the year. It was a community -based operation that worked in cooperation with the school district, as well as other city and county entities. He said he wanted to offer the opportunity to the Council, the school board or any interested community members to come to this meeting at Fort McDowell on Friday. Councilwoman Tibbetts said she supported Mrs. Higgins' suggestion for a gang prevention meeting and that last year's meeting on drugs was excellent; it was very informational and this next step should be taken to emphasize prevention, even if it meant offering a potluck or whatever to get the people to come. She said she was disappointed in the age of the audience, because once again missing were the younger adults who were raising the children in this community. Councilman Lawrence agreed and added that maybe two or three different time choices ought to be offered. Mr. Lutkemeier said gang prevention should not be overemphasized because that really sent a message that a significant proportion of our kids were involved in gangs --an image of the Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 6 of 10 community that was not desireable. There was no gang problem if it could be prevented in the first place, and the way to do that was to give students options. Mr. Lutkemeier said Fountain Hills was a rather adult -oriented community and needed to offer kid -oriented attractions also. He said kids were bored and needed to do something because bored kids got into trouble. He suggested taking a positive approach and coming up with some activity -based programs/alternatives for kids so they had options and could learn appropriate social skills. He said it was easy for some people to get the impression that we had this awful, insurmountable inner-city type of problem here, and that was ludicrous. He suggested that the School Board and Town Council get together and come up with activities and facilities that could be jointly funded, but that they shouldn't be called gang diversion, or suppression, prevention, etc., just programs for kids. Mayor Cutillo suggested agreeing to a deadline to get a forum together and scheduling another meeting to decide how this would be done and what would be discussed. Mr. Zikopolous suggested a joint effort be made to figure out where and how to open up some some community school space. Although resources were limited, he felt steps could be taken to provide activities for the kids, with the first step being to meet and allocate space for after -school activities. Vice - Mayor Minarsich said this was exactly what was suggested in a gang seminar several councilmembers attended in Tucson a couple of weeks ago. They were told if there was a three- hour summer program with the school facility and Parks and Recreation, simply extend it to six hours. He said he also thought the information which Mr. Bricklin spoke about earlier should be in the papers so parents were made aware that their kids weren't going home when parents thought they were. Councilman Clark said he, too, felt Agenda Items 2 and 3 were very closely related and the action was twofold: First was the cooperative agreement, and second was a working meeting to zero in on a specific goal, with input from Parks and Recreation on what activities were currently in place and what could be extended using the facilities. Mrs. Higgins recommended inviting Tribal Council members and perhaps their educational director because they had facilities that could be used. AGENDA ITEM 4. - DISCUSSION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ASSISTING THE FOUNTAIN HILLS LITTLE LEAGUE WITH THEIR OPERATIONS. Nick Davis, President of Fountain Hills Little League, gave an overview of the Little League. He said that last year the entire board of Little League resigned, leaving a $3,000 deficit and no Little League in Fountain Hills this year. However, a new board was assembled and two goals were set for this year. The first goal was financial stability. He said steps were being taken to alleviate the deficit by setting up early registration for the league, setting a major fundraiser for January, and that they planned to get in touch with the business community and service clubs for sponsorship and scholarships. Mr. Davis said they would like to request assistance with their second goal in terms of facilities and safety. He then introduced Charlie Spencer, Vice -President of Fountain Hills Little League. Mr. Spencer said he had been invited to speak on the impact of Little League on the community. He said Little League had a dads' program which was now Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 7 of 10 entering its 21 st year as a non-profit corporation and affected 450 students ages six to sixteen. He said the girls participated in the Miss Softball program through the City of Scottsdale. Little League would field approximately 30 teams who would play approximately 12 games; had, 30 coaches, 30 assistant coaches, and 30 team moms. There would be approximately 360 games; approximately 600 practices with each of those events lasting about an hour and a half, from April to July. This program was in dire need of support. He said the frustration level in Little League the past two or three years had been phenomenal. Little League had been primarily the contractors' charity in Fountain Hills but had grown beyond the point of contractors' continued charity. Little League, meanwhile, had contributed to the fields, the facilities; built fields and put in sprinkler systems. Little League needed to be included in a long-term joint -use contract. He said Little League needed three fields with 960 one -and -one -half-hour units to be scheduled between 3 PM and 8:30 PM. Mr. Spencer closed his comments by saying that going begging wouldn't get the job done for Little League, because they had already tried that. He said that the group this evening had to decide to prioritize it, budget it, fund it, and do it. Little League was the biggest single program offered to youth in this town, affecting at least a third of all the students in the community, and it worked. All they needed were the facilities. Little League would provide the sponsorship, insurance, uniform, equipment, etc. Vice Mayor Minarsich said since this wasn't a regularly -scheduled Town Council meeting, there could be no action items on this subject, but it could be put on Thursday's agenda for discussion and action. He said staff (Robin Goodman, Parks and Recreation) should enter into discussion with Mr. Spencer or Mr. Davis on exactly what kind of maintenance budget was needed and bring it back for approval as soon as possible. Mr. Wharton said a school community recreation council needed to be formed. He said it would use existing facilities, but would have to be financially supported in some manner. He recommended putting this matter on the school board agenda also. Mrs. Higgins said she had no problems with this; she thought it probably belonged on next year's agenda as a prioritization. She said part of the problem they had, as a board, was that were very little funds to put toward this. She said she, as Board President, would ask Mr. Dunne to get a cost funding basis for bringing in the dirt and redoing the sprinkler system; the problem would be keeping the grass growing. Mr. Davis said Little League would not be played on Four Peaks fields. The Little League national charter would be revoked due to safety problems and unplayable conditions. Dr. Tom Edwards said the biggest need was lighting. In 1989, he said, new standards were set by the Illuminating Engineering Society (I.E.S.) requiring 50 candle power on the infield, 30 candle power in the outfield. He said that the previous evening, Mr. Davis and he met with Mr. Gary Anderson of a sports lighting company. Mr. Anderson measured the lights to be eight candle power on the infield and three candle power in the outfield. Councilman Lawrence questioned whether the fields at Golden Eagle Park would be usable to Little League. Mr. Davis responded that Little League needed three fields, one of them having a mound; therefore, Golden Eagle would not suffice for that requirement. Tee -ball could play anywhere, Little League just needed a commitment for the facilities. They would begin scheduling games, locations, etc., in the latter part of January and the first part of February, Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 8 of 10 and that was the commitment they were looking for. Councilman Lawrence said if the Town had the funds to renovate the Four Peaks field so that four hundred plus Little Leaguers and two hundred plus soccer players could play, then he would be in favor of directing some of our town funds for our town's children. He said he didn't know the legal process for doing that, but if it could be discussed further and acted upon on Thursday, he would like to add that to Vice Mayor Minarsich's suggestion for that agenda item. Vice Mayor Minarsich asked Mr. Farrell if there was a way the Town could enter into an intergovernmental agreement (I.G.A.) with the school district for maintenance of those fields. Mr. Farrell replied that he would supply the legal parameters on Thursday. Councilman Clark said this should not be thought of as the one answer, not everyone played Little League. Mr. Davis was asked whether maintenance meant that the Town would be required to mark the ball fields at each game and Mr. Davis responded that Little League would take care of that. Mr. Davis thanked Parks and Recreation for committing funds in their current budget toward Little League. Agenda Items 5 and 6 were not discussed. AGENDA ITEM #7. - ADJOURNMENT. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM. Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 Page 9 of 10 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS 7Cutillo, ATTEST: Cl-azL� Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: ja Rosalynn R cker, Admilistrative Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Fountain Hills Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board held on the 16th day of November, 1993. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 14th day of December, 1993. Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Joint Work/Study Session of the Town Council and the Fountain Hills School Board November 16, 1993 1j Page 10 of 10