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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995.0406.TCRM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 6, 1995 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Cutillo at 6:30 P.M., Thursday, April 6, 1995, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd., Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona. ROLL CALL-Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Councilwoman Tibbetts,roll call was taken. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Frank Clark,and Councilmembers Don Lawrence,Peg Tibbetts,Wally Hudson,Bill O'Brien and Marianne Wiggishoff. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin,Town Attorney Bill Farrell,Town Clerk Cassie Hansen, Director of Community Development Gary Jeppson,Town Engineer Randy Harrel and Planner Geir Svedrup. Mayor Cutillo said he had received a request to remove Agenda Item#7 from the Consent Agenda. He then read the remainder of the Consent Agenda as follows: AGENDA ITEM #2 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING THE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 16, 1995. AGENDA ITEM#3-CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 1995-14,ABANDONING WHATEVER RIGHT, TITLE OR INTEREST THE TOWN HAS IN: THAT CERTAIN TEN(10)FOOT PUBLIC UTILITY AND thaw DRAINAGE EASEMENT AFFECTING ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERLY LOT LINE OF LOT 1,BLOCK 2,OF PLAT 603,AKA 12647 SUMAC DRIVE,FOUNTAIN HILLS,ARIZONA,AS RECORDED IN BOOK 161 OF MAPS, PAGE 41, RECORDS OF MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA. AGENDA ITEM#4-CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 1995-15,ABANDONING WHATEVER RIGHT, TITLE OR INTEREST THE TOWN HAS IN: THAT CERTAIN TEN(10)FOOT PUBLIC UTILITY AND DRAINAGE EASEMENT AFFECTING ALONG THE SOUTH LOT LINE OF LOT 34, BLOCK 2, OF PLAT 505D,AKA 16603 ASPEN DRIVE, FOUNTAIN HILLS,ARIZONA,AS RECORDED IN BOOK 158 OF MAPS, PAGE 41, RECORDS OF MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA. AGENDA ITEM#5 - CONSIDERATION OF THE SPECIAL EVENT REQUEST SUBMITTED BY THE PERIMETER BICYCLING ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA FOR THE ANNUAL EL TOUR DE PHOENIX SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY,APRIL 8,1995. THE EVENT,WHICH RAISES FUNDS FOR PHOENIX CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL,WILL PASS THROUGH FOUNTAIN HILLS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 7:00 A.M.AND NOON AND USE A PORTION OF FOUNTAIN HILLS BOULEVARD,SAGUARO AND SHEA. NO STREET CLOSURES ARE REQUIRED. AGENDA ITEM#6-CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE DEDICATION OF A PORTION OF EL LAGO BOULEVARD AND COLONY WASH FROM MCO PROPERTIES LP. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda as read. Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Cary Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 1 of 8 Councilman O'Brien Aye Councilwoman Wiggishoff Aye Councilman Hudson Aye Councilman Lawrence Aye Councilwoman Tibbetts Aye Vice Mayor Clark Aye Mayor Cutillo Aye The motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM#7-CONSIDERATION OF A REPLAT OF LOT 7,BLOCK 2,PLAT 423,TO SPLIT THE EXISTING 2.29 ACRE PARCEL INTO LOT 7A, 1.29 ACRES, AND LOT 7B, 1.0 ACRES. THE LOT IS LOCATED AT 16219 E. IRONWOOD DRIVE., (S95-041). Vice Mayor Clark stated he had asked for this matter to be removed from the Consent Agenda because there was someone in the audience who desired to speak and also because he wanted further information from staff. He asked if the new lot would be buildable without a variance if the parcel was split. Planner Geir Svedrup gave a brief report and showed the layout of the parcel on a map. He stated that no variance or cut and fill waivers would be required because the size of both lots, when split, would conform to the present zoning. Mayor Cutillo MOVED to approve the replat as requested. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. Chris Brant opposed the replat of this parcel into two lots. He stated he had purchased property in this neighborhood because of the large size of the lots. John Martin stated he was outraged at the changes in his neighborhood and objected to having high density housing in this area. Julie Wamback asked the Council not to take any action until the neighboring property owners had time to gather information and talk to the owner. Councilman Hudson asked Attorney Farrell whether there were any legal ramifications if the replat was denied. Mr. Farrell stated that the Council did not have to give their reasons to deny the request as long as the reasons were not arbitrary or capricious. He stated that this request did not violate any of the standards of the subdivision and zoning codes and that a denial of the request could result in litigation which might prove difficult to defend. Mayor Cutillo stated he had not been aware of any neighborhood concerns prior to the meeting and that because the public had spoken in opposition, he would be voting against the replat. Councilwoman Wiggishoff stated that any property owner in any zoning district could exercise his/her property right to request a replat. She said that deed restrictions could be interpreted by the Architectural Committee for the division of property and that a denial for that division could be issued based upon the neighbors' concerns. Vice Mayor Clark said that other replats on Ironwood Drive had been approved with no opposition during previous public hearings. Mr. Brant reitereated his request to delay this matter to enable him the opportunity to inform the owner of the neighbors' concerns. Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to table this matter to the next Council meeting on April 20,1995. Vice Mayor Clark SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 2 of 8 AGENDA ITEM #8 - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 1995-16, A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE TOWNS OF FOUNTAIN HILLS,GUADALUPE,CAVE CREEK,CAREFREE QUEEN CREEK AND GILA BEND ESTABLISHING A UNIFORM POSITION CONCERNING THE COSTS OF CONTRACT LAW- ENFORCEMENT SERVICES PROVIDED TO THESE COMMUNITIES BY THE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE. Town Manager Nordin explained that the purpose of a joint resolution between communities was an effort to obtain reasonable prices for contract law enforcement from Maricopa County during negotiations. He anticipated difficulty in discussing the issues with Maricopa County and explained that a united effort between these communities would present a stronger position in keeping with precedents from past negotiations. Councilwoman Tibbetts MOVED to approve Resolution 1995-16 as presented. Mayor Cutillo SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Councilman Hudson suggested a three-member council committee be organized to work with the Town Manager. He asked that this matter be placed on the next Council agenda. Mr.Nordin approved of Councilman Hudson's idea for Council assistance during the negotiation process. He said he would keep the entire council updated regarding the status of negotiations. AGENDA ITEM #9 - CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 95-10, AMENDING CHAPTER 13 OF THE TOWN CODE ENTITLED CABLE COMMUNICATIONS AND SPECIFICALLY AMENDING SECTION 13-3 DEFINITIONS BY ADDING A NEW DEFINITION FOR THE TERM "ACCESS CHANNEL" AND AMENDING THE DEFINITIONS OF"CABLE ACT","GROSS REVENUE","PEG ACCESS CHANNEL" AND"SUBSCRIBER";AMENDING SECTION 13-7 B.1.AND ADDING SECTION 13-7 B.11.REGARDING LICENSE AGREEMENTS; AMENDING SECTION 13-8 A.5.(A) REGARDING SUBSCRIBER SERVICE; AMENDING SECTION 13-8 G.3. REGARDING ACCESS AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING CHANNELS;ADDING SECTION 13-8 J.REGARDING TECHNOLOGY REVIEW;AMENDING SECTION 13-9 B3.AND ADDING SECTION 13-9 B.B.REGARDING LICENSE FEES;AND AMENDING SECTIONS 13-19 E.9., 13-15 C., AND 13-16 ON REMEDIES AND RIGHTS. Attorney Farrell presented a brief summary of the changes in the Town Code included in this ordinance. Since the Town had not approved exemption from the sales tax to the cable provider, an offset of the sales tax against the cable provider's license fee could be permitted. This would prevent subscribers from paying an additional amount on their cable bill for sales tax. He explained that the Town would still receive the same amount of income,but for accounting purposes,instead of a 5% license fee,the cable company would pay a 3.8%license fee and a 1.2%sales tax fee. Other areas changed in the Town Code were definitions of the PEG (Public, Education, Government) channels. Councilman O'Brien questioned the wording in a sentence discussing access channels, censorship control and the cable provider's regulations regarding participants using the access channels. Mr. Tom Flaaen, Cox Communications, addressed the Council's concerns about access channels. He stated that controls regarding controversial subjects programming had been changed to allow public access to programs for productions other than by the cable company. Mr.Farrell stated that the access channel definition meant that unless a producer is affiliated with the cable company through the provisions of Section 6.12,access to the government or educational channel would not be permitted. Lir Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 3 of 8 Mayor Cutillo MOVED to approve Ordinance 95-10 with the change to the access channel in Section 1 and to include authorization to amend the license agreement. Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Mary Pilarinos requested a drop-off door slot be installed for payments at the Fountain Hills location of the Dimension Cable office. AGENDA ITEM #10 - CONSIDERATION OF THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE OLD LIBRARY BUILDING FACILITY USE COMMITTEE. THE COUNCIL-APPOINTED CITIZEN COMMITTEE STUDIED AND REVIEWED POSSIBLE USES OF THE TOWN-OWNED PROPERTY AND FORMULATED A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE BUILDING'S FUTURE USE. Town Clerk Cassie Hansen reviewed the efforts of the Old Library Building Facility Use Committee, the Council- appointed citizen committee, which was charged with recommending a desirable use for the facility. Following a two-week publication of a public notice inviting letters of interest to use the building,the Fountain Hills Community Theater was the only group that responded. Ms. Hansen explained that staff and Theater President Val Stasik discussed the possibility of establishing a management agreement arrangement between the Town and the Theater much like the agreements with the Civic Asssociation and the Kiwanis. The Theater would utilize the building for storage,office space,workshops,children's theater and performances and act as a"rental agent" for the north room which would be available to other groups when not used by the Theater. The Committee felt this would be a very beneficial use for the community and unanimousaly agreed on recommending said use to the Council. Val Stasik, President of the Fountain Hills Community Theater, told the Council that they were most appreciative for the opportunity to have a facility where they could offer workshops for students and cultural-related programs to the community. Vice Mayor Clark MOVED to approve the recommendation of the Old Library Building Facility Use Committee as presented in the staff report. Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #11 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A CONTRACT WITH R.H. DUPPER FOR PLANTING TREES AND SEEDING BALL FIELD#3 AT GOLDEN EAGLE PARK. Town Engineer Randy Harrel explained that$14,940 would be used for soil amendments which he explained were items that would make the ground conducive for grass growing using soil,fertilizer and seed. Additional trees and irrigation would also be provided at Golden Eagle Park under this contract. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the contract with R.H.Dupper for seeding and tree planting at Golden Eagle Park as presented. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #12 - CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTING THE DEEDS TO DESIGNATED WASHES WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FROM MCO PROPERTIES,INC. Town Manager Nordin stated he had been notified that property owners around Jacklin Drive were interested in acquiring ownership to the wash areas in their neighborhood. A decision by MCO could result in the washes being deeded to the property owners. He also stated that the Fire District had expressed their concerns about excess debris in some of the washes and the resultant fire hazard and safety issues. tkaw Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 4 of 8 Mayor Cutillo asked if there were additional washes located in the Town that were not included on the map. Town Engineer Harrel stated that there were some washes containing drainage easements onto property owner's land which Lor were owned by homeowner's associations. He also stated that MCO owned other wash areas not included in the list of washes offered at this time including Tulip Wash, Cereus Wash and other smaller areas. He said he would prefer that MCO offer additional washes to the Parks &Recreation Department prior to selling them to the public. Councilman Hudson MOVED to authorize the Town Manager to proceed with an environmental study of the designated wash properties. Vice Mayor Clark SECONDED the motion. Councilman Hudson WITHDREW the motion and Vice Mayor Clark WITHDREW the second to the motion on the wrong agenda item. Councilman Hudson MOVED to accept the deeds to the designated washes subject to the satisfactory completion of a Phase 1 environmental assessment. Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion. Councilman Hudson stated he thought the Town should own all the washes or adopt an ordinance to govern the washes for the preservation of normal flowage of water. Councilman Lawrence said he opposed the acquisition of the washes at this time because of the expenses created by the environmental study, the continual clean-up costs, and the usage of taxpayer's money for non-community related purposes. Mr. Nordin reviewed the Emergency Action Plan regarding costs for the maintenance of the dam. He stated that the Town's portion of those costs would be around$30,000. This Plan would be used in the event the dam would fail or high intensity rains would occur. He stated the environmental survey would be preformed as a visual inspection of hazardous conditions or contaminants present in the wash areas. Mitch Silver,a member of the Committee to Preserve the Environment,recommended the Town obtain control of the washes. Mark Jordan urged the Council to accept control of the washes and preserve them in their present state. Betty Sanneman,also a representative of the Committee to Preserve the Environment,encouraged the Council to take ownership of the washes and work to preserve them in the future. A vote on the motion CARRIED with a 6-1 vote. Councilman Lawrence voted nay. AGENDA ITEM #13 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A CONTRACT WITH ASSET ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PHASE I ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY OF THE WASHES. Mayor Cutillo MOVED to approve the contract with Asset Environment for an amount of$7,000 for the Phase I Environmental Study of the washes. Vice Mayor Clark SECONDED the motion. Mr.Nordin referred to the future Street Department property and said it could be included in the study process with the washes. Councilwoman Wiggishoff questioned the large difference in bid amounts received for the environmental assessment. Mr.Harrel answered that the company with the lower bid,Asset Environment,was more familiar with the Fountain Hills area enabling them to project reasonable costs for a study. As a smaller company,they also had less overhead than the other bidder. The motion CARRIED unanimously. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 5 of 8 AGENDA ITEM#14 - CONSIDERATION OF A REPLAT OF LOTS 7 AND 8, BLOCK 7, PLAT 203, TO REALIGN THE COMMON LOT LINE. THESE LOTS ARE LOCATED ON THE NORTHERN SIDE OF KINGSTREE BOULEVARD AT KEOTA DRIVE. LOT 7 (16142 E. KINGSTREE BOULEVARD) WILL cre BECOME 70,000.75 SQUARE FEET AND LOT 8 (16128 E. KINGSTREE BOULEVARD) WILL BE 53,409.68 SQUARE FEET. Planner Geir Svedrup reviewed the area subject to the replat on a plat map. He explained that the replat of the two lots would allow adequate square footage(70,000)on Lot 7 to meet the requirements for the special use permit for a guest house, which was the next item on the agenda. Vice Mayor Clark said he was concerned because he had heard that when the builder completed construction of the guest house he intended to sell the parcel back to the current owner. He wanted to make sure that this did not occur. Mr. Jeppson stated that this could happen but that the lot line could not revert without another replat. Councilman O'Brien stated he felt that property owners should buy property that meets their needs and not expect a replat from the Town when those needs were not met. He was concerned that an approval of the Council would set a precedent and encourage other property owners to divide their property. Attorney Farrell stated that each replat would need to satisfy the size requirements of the zoning and subdivision ordinances and not deter future street construction. Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to accept the final replat as presented. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. Councilwoman Wiggishoff acknowledged that in 1993,when the zoning ordinances were revised,it was anticipated property owners would request guest houses and that the Town would consider those requests. The motion CARRIED with a 5-2 vote, Councilman O'Brien and Vice Mayor Clark voted nay. L AGENDA ITEM#15-PUBLIC HEARING ON A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR A GUEST HOUSE(SU95.040),TO BE LOCATED AT 16142 E.KINGSTREE BOULEVARD(LOT 7,BLOCK 7,PLAT 203). Mayor Cutillo recessed the Regular Session of the Town Council meeting and declared the public hearing open at 8:35 P.M. No one came forward to speak for or against the special use permit application. Mayor Cutillo declared the Public Hearing closed and reconvened the Regular Session of the Town Council at 8:38 P.M. AGENDA ITEM#16- CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR A GUEST HOUSE(SU95-040),TO BE LOCATED AT 16142 E.KINGSTREE BOULEVARD(LOT 7,BLOCK 7,PLAT 203). Vice Mayor Clark expressed his disappointment that neither the property owner or the general contractor was present to answer questions. He said the owner had built a gazebo,closed it in,and blatantly violated the Town ordinances by continuing construction after being told he was not allowed to enclose the gazebo. A stop work order was posted and construction still proceeded. He stated he could not condone these actions by approving a special use application for a guest house. He also said the general contractor,DanCor Development,should be reprimanded for continually violating the Town's building codes. Councilwoman Wiggishoff agreed with Vice Mayor Clark and stated some message should be sent by the Town that Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 6 of 8 ordinances were expected to be observed. She said she suspected that the owner-builder did not fully know the extent of the construction problems between the Town and the general contractor and hoped that any punishment would be directed to the appropriate violator. Mr.Jeppson stated that if the special use permit was not approved,removal of the outside walls of the gazebo would be required. He also said that the general contractor was the party that had taken out the building permit for the gazebo, not the owner. Vice Mayor Clark said he felt that the construction of the gazebo had proceeded without the owner's full knowledge and consent. Councilman O'Brien stated he felt the matter should be tabled because it was uncertain that the owner had been notified of the public hearing. After a three minute recess, it was determined that the notice had been published in the local newspaper and that address labels verified that the neighbors had been notified but it was suspected that the owner had not been notified. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to table any action on this matter until the next Council meeting on April 20th. He also included in his motion the owner should be invited to attend the next meeting. Councilman O'Brien SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM#17- CALL TO THE PUBLIC. (PUBLIC COMMENT IS ENCOURAGED BUT PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE COUNCIL HAS NO ABILITY TO RESPOND OR DISCUSS MATTERS BROUGHT UP DURING THE CALL TO THE PUBLIC AS SUCH DISCUSSION IS PROHIBITED BY THE ARIZONA OPEN MEETING LAW.) Ben Davies, who resides in the Cottonwoods subdivision, told the Council about the noise problem that had been created as a result of the construction of retaining walls in the Rancho Montano subdivision on Grande Boulevard across from the Cottonwoods subdivision. He said he would be petitioning the Council to resolve the matter. He suggested that Centennial Homes texture the retaining walls to buffer the sound problems. AGENDA ITEM#18 - ADJOURNMENT. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to adjourn the meeting. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:06 P.M. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 7 of 8 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By: 'J n M. Cutillo, Mayor ATTEST: C `/- / Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY Linda D. Le n, Administrative Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Session Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 6th day of April, 1995. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 4th day of May, 1995. 00,114:(- 6/ kltiAnd&) Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/06/95 Page 8 of 8