HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008.0212.TCSEM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND SPECIAL SESSION OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
February 12,2008
ROLL CALL — Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council:
Councilmember Kehe, Councilmember Leger, Councilmember McMahan, Councilmember Schlum,
Councilmember Archambault and Vice Mayor Dickey. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire (via conference call),
Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon, Finance Director Julie Ghetti, Planner Gene Slechta and Town Clerk Bev
Bender were also present.
Mayor Nichols was excused from the meeting.
AGENDA ITEM#1—CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Vice Mayor Dickey called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Councilmember Kehe,
Councilmember Leger, Councilmember McMahan, Councilmember Schlum, Councilmember Archambault and
Vice Mayor Dickey. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire (by conference call), Interim Town Manager Kate
Zanon, Finance Director Julie Ghetti and Planner Gene Slechta were also present.
Mayor Nichols was excused from the meeting.
AGENDA ITEM#2— CONSIDERATION OF THE NOTICE OF INTENT TO MODIFY THE TOWN'S
DEVELOPMENT FEES TO INCLUDE AUTOMATIC INDEXED INCREASES.
Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon addressed the Council stating that at the February 7th Council meeting staff
provided a report on the eight items that they were currently working on one of the Councilmembers requested
that staff review their schedule to determine whether they could accomplish this task in May if they moved up
the setting of the Notice of Intent. Staff researched this matter and determined that by putting the Notice of
Intent on the agenda of this evening's meeting, they were able to move the schedule up as requested. She
emphasized that this evening they would discuss the Notice of Intent, just to let people know what they were
intending to do and other public hearings and that opportunities for input would be scheduled in the future.
Finance Director Julie Ghetti addressed the Council and said that this evening's goal was to post the Notice of
Intention to increase the Town's Development Fees for an inflation factor. The study was basically using the
same Capital Improvement Plan, which proved acceptable, to now be the Town's Infrastructure Improvement
Plan (IIP). None of the projects had changed; the only thing that would change if the Council approved this
would be the actual development fees (they would be adjusted for inflation). She noted that staff was
recommending that they be increased by 7%.
In response to a question from Councilmember Kehe, Ms. Zanon advised that all staff needed at this time was a
motion to post the Notice of Intent.
Councilmember Kehe MOVED to direct staff to post the Notice of Intent to modify Town Development Fees to
include automatic indexed increases and Councilmember Leger SECONDED the motion.
Councilmember McMahan advised that he has changed his mind and was opposed to any added costs to the
builders at this time since the market was in such a declining condition.
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Councilmember Schlum spoke in support of the motion and said that this would help the Town to keep on track
with the costs associated with infrastructure. It would allow the Town to remain whole, which was the goal with
impact fees.
In response to a question from Councilmember Leger,Ms. Ghetti clarified that the 7% increase would be across
the board. She added that the Council's action this evening would be to post the Notice of Intent; it did not
automatically increase the fees. It simply "started the clock ticking" to hold a public hearing with possible
adoption of the fees by May 15t. She said that the study and the fee adjustment was adjusted for inflation and
represented a standard inflation factor that was an industry standard. They were only adding an inflation factor
to the fees (7%),to accept an inflation factor or not.
Councilmember Kehe commented that it was appropriate that growth pays for itself because as the community
grew there were additional requirements for infrastructure and instead of the current residents having to absorb
that cost this would allow for growth to pay for itself. He noted that the Town's current fees were significantly
lower than other communities and the increase would provide a reasonable marker (as the inflation factor
increases the development fees would increase in the same manner and help growth pay for growth).
Councilmember Leger noted that the increase was one of the solutions sponsored by the Strategic Planning
Advisory Commission. He said that he believed this was the right thing to do and he would support the
proposal.
Councilmember Archambault pointed out that the last time the Council discussed the development fees they had
not initiated the full recommended amount. He said that they were actually collecting a little less than they
probably should be collecting anyway and this was simply a way to help compensate for inflation and he would
support this motion.
Councilmember McMahan stated that he was not opposed to the concept but believed that the timing was
wrong. He added that he agreed with Councilmember Kehe that growth should pay its own way but right now
that cost was passed on to the home buyers or the people who constructed the homes and he did not want to add
any more costs right now based on the poor market that currently exists.
Vice Mayor Dickey said that legislation was passed last year relative to development fees and added that this
proposal represented a compromise solution that was reached to allow municipalities to make needed
adjustments while "keeping a reign" on the fees. She added that the Council would probably discuss this issue
again at a Work Study Session and the entire Council would have an opportunity to provide input at that time.
She stressed the importance of"getting the ball rolling" and said she would support the proposal.
Town Clerk Bev Bender advised there were no speakers wishing to address the Council on this issue.
The motion CARRIED by majority vote of those present(5-1) with Councilmember McMahan voting nay.
AGENDA ITEM #3 — DISCUSSION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING THE
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY TEAM'S RESEARCH FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Planner Gene Slechta addressed the Council and highlighted a PowerPoint presentation relative to this agenda.
Mr. Slechta advised that the purpose of this meeting was to review the results of a six-month study that placed
an emphasis on environmental policy programs that were developed by a diverse team with a vested interest in
the environment. He said that the study was the result of a Council and staff Planning Retreat in 2007. He
noted that the retreats had focused on implementing the Town's 2006 through 2010 Strategic Plan. Under the
initiative of enhanced stewardship of the natural environment, Goal 7 was to create a responsible environmental
policy for the community, addressing air quality, dark skies, water and noise,recycling hazardous waste,energy, ,411)
solar energy, solid waste, trails and natural environment. He said that they took those areas as the policy areas
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of environmental concern and tried to carry that theme out throughout the entire research. He added that any
one program might impact multiple policies.
Mr. Slechta stated that most of the exhibits contained in the Council's packets were based on the policy areas
that the Council had outlined. He advised staff had assembled an environmental policies steering team with the
objective of bringing their ideas, experiences and goals to the table in order to create a direction for the Town on
environmental stewardship. The team included members from Town staff, Town Council, the Fountain Hills
Unified School District, Chapparral City Water Company and the Fountain Hills Sanitary District. He reported
that the team has met regularly since last summer and that they had provided substantial input to the list of
policies and programs.
Mr. Slechta referred to Exhibit A, contained in the Council's packets, and noted that it reflected the practices
that were currently in place as far as the Town's environmental policies and programs minus what has occurred
over the past six or seven months, which had been a tremendous addition. The next step was to identify gaps
and he took the approach that the Council had identified the areas of concentration that included air quality,dark
skies, water, noise, recycling, hazardous waste, energy, solar energy, solid waste and trails and natural
environment and sought out how they could do those things better to best positively impact the environment.
He selected other communities in the Valley to use as benchmarks and tried to determine what extraordinary
efforts they were pursuing to improve the environment. He limited the number to about half a dozen and tried to
find communities that were similar in population and/or had town governments. He said that he included
Scottsdale because it was the Town's closest neighbor any many found that community to be a leader in
environmental policies around the country.
Mr. Slechta advised that the results were contained in Exhibit B and stated that he only had time to make a
limited number of calls to community officials and he also utilized their websites. He said he probably missed
some but felt they could be proud of that the expended efforts included in the Exhibit. The research had the
benefit of identifying additional opportunities for the Town beyond what they had initially thought about and
discussed the effort that went into identifying the most effective goals for Fountain Hills. He briefly outlined
the Town's current environmental policies and programs (including low-water landscaping, Saguaro cactus
protection,the Town's recycling efforts, etc.).
Mr. Slechta noted that at the 2007 Retreat, the Council included Objective 7.6, which said that the formation of
this comprehensive plan did not preclude action during the interim that was environmental in nature and noted
that they took this to heart. While they were doing their research and conducting meetings, a number of
significant efforts occurred. He said that just last week Tom Ward brought before the Council a request to
approve the purchase of a sweeper decant disposal facility, another example of the positive things that had been
occurring.
Mr. Slechta stated that Exhibit D showed the 17 high priority items selected by the team and said that they
started out with approximately 42 items of low, medium and high priority and narrowed the list down. The
exhibit also showed the results of a ranking exercise that provided a top ten "A" List and discussed the top ten
priorities:
1) Effective curbside trash hauling and recycling. The Town has several trash haulers and the unintended
consequence of having so many choices included noise pollution, air pollution, road damage and
optional recycling. Queen Creek has the exact same issues and they were paying for a study right now
to look at alternatives and make recommendations. The study would be completed next month. They
were evaluating the status quo (no change), to bring trash hauling in-house, or to negotiate and have one
hauler that would also include mandatory recycling.
2) Additional uses of reclaimed water. This appeared to be a "win" for everybody, the Sanitary District,
Lipe the School District, Ellman and the Town. Negotiations were currently going on about the use of the
reclaimed water from the Ellman properties over time. Schools would get cheaper water and Ellman
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would pay for the infrastructure and the Sanitary District would ultimately have less water to be
concerned about.
3) Use of fluorescent CFL bulbs throughout Town facilities. The Town was almost at this point. They
were looking at converting what might remain (two facilities they were currently leasing, Kiwanis and
the theater). They should also invest in a marketing campaign to promote CFLs throughout the Town.
He noted that CFLs contain mercury and reported that some communities had invested in a $4,000
device or encouraged sellers of CFLs to invest in one that actually did the recycling (crushes all the
lights and captures all of the mercury contained in the bulbs).
4) Town facilities and parks recycling. Facility pilots were underway and staff was also being encouraged
to copy two sided. The park recycling was a little more challenging and a discipline issue existed in that
people were throwing their regular trash in the recycling containers. A number of communities were
looking into how to resolve this issue.
5) Household hazardous waste disposal. Many communities hold disposal events (Scottsdale holds them
quarterly but others conduct them annually). The cost was undetermined at this point but a rough
estimate was approximately $25,000 per event. There were grant monies from ADEQ available, a
matching grant, and staff was looking into pursuing grant funding.
6) Town and School joint parks. He noted that the Town was partnering on two parks on school property
and the next step was potential funding in the future.
7) Riparian area in Ashbrook Wash. He said that this was really thinking outside of the box. They could
create a mini Rio Salado like they had in Phoenix and stated that the development would be done by the
Sanitary District and would include a pump back to keep the water from eventually getting into the
Reservation. It would require a ballot issue.
8) LEED (Leadership, Energy and Environmental Design) certify new/remodeled Town facilities. It was a
certification process for green building that sets measurement levels, assigns points and allowed for
third-party certification of the buildings' design and construction. There were multiple levels they could
attempt to reach depending on how green they wanted the facilities to be. The Town currently had no
buildings planned or any remodeling. The costs could be high in some cases because of required
expertise and fees. The Town may use those standards from LEED as a guide for development in the
community. They might also consider partnering with a major commercial developer.
9) Solar Incentives. They could do fast tracking of permits and there was the potential for a fees
exemption for solar insulations. The power companies, the State and Federal credits and rebates for a
$30,000 solar installation could save the consumer 40 to 50%. Stepping up the community's public
information on solar would have a significant impact and perhaps the Town could serve as a role model
by installing something solar at a Town facility.
10) LEED certified operations for Town facilities. The goal was to measure the operational efficiency of
the facilities. This was fairly new and there were very few models out there.
Mr. Slechta also outlined the remaining priorities (Runners Up List): Green building incentives for new
development; green building incentives for redevelopment; signing the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection
Agreement; Implementing the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement; commercial office recycling; power
purchase agreements and botanical garden upgrade (in progress) and provided brief information on a number of
the priorities.
Mr. Slechta noted that the community had an honorable history of volunteerism and stressed the importance of
tapping into that. Constraints included the economy, funding sources and limited environmental expertise. Mr.
Slechta added that the team was recommending that the Town Council accept the team's results, continue the
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efforts that were currently in place, plan and fund for the long term, develop resolutions and consider the hiring
of permanent staff to carry out the identified goals. He requested direction from the Council relative to
proceeding.
Vice Mayor Dickey said that what they came up with was what they all chose and she would want to proceed
with many of them. #1 would be the curbside recycling and as they started to talk about that, it had a "ripple
effect." She added that she did not believe they were saying that the Town was going to take over waste
management or even contract necessarily with one provider but they were discussing the possibility of limiting
the number of days and hours of collection and then making one of the collections be recycling. She said that
some cities had to have two regular trash collections and a recycling collection but the Town did not, they could
have one regular and one recycle.
In response to a question from Councilmember McMahon, Mr. Slechta advised that three companies offered
recycling waste management. The Vice Mayor said that if this became something that they wanted to pursue,
additional research would be needed (scheduling, dividing the Town into sectors, etc.). She added that she
would definitely want to look into the recycling.
Councilmember Leger thanked everyone involved in this long project and noted that the citizens had told them
time after time that they would like the Town to be stewards of the environment. He stated the opinion that this
was a good formal preliminary approach and added that it did not hurt to do the research, benchmark or
determine what they needed to reinforce and what they could do for minimal cost. He said that this item was#1
in terms of consensus from the team and added that the staff report supported taking a look at it. He added that
Queen Creek was currently involved in a study and said he would like to direct staff to keep this process alive
and look at the Queen Creek's results and then benchmark against that. He added that to him the recycling piece
was somewhat secondary in terms of curbside recycling. A lot of the service providers currently offer that
service and he believed there were bigger implications in terms of what he heard from the citizenry — the
constant rattle every day of the week with carrier after carrier traveling down residential streets, the wear and
tear on the roads. He said that if they looked at air quality there was the possibility of looking at fines there as
well. He stated that from his perspective it was number one and he would like to encourage staff to continue
looking at it and researching it. He was by no means in a position to say, "Let's go for it" because there were a
lot of"domino effects" and he would like to see what Queen Creek came up with.
Vice Mayor Dickey concurred since Queen Creek's study would be finalized by March.
Councilmember Schlum commented that the trash hauling business must be pretty good since there were more
and more companies carrying out that service in Town. He said that that was not good for their streets, noise
and air. He stated that he was sure there were some efficiencies that the trash haulers could put into place and a
re-look at this issue was very worthwhile. He agreed that they should look at the results of the Queen Creek's
study and then come up with a good, smart plan for the future of Fountain Hills.
Councilmember Archambault said that he too would like to see this move forward and noted that it costs the
Town approximately $4,000 to $5,000 a year to repair damage to the streets as a result of all the carriers. He
added that in the future they were going to be looking at re-milling some of the streets, especially Saguaro
Boulevard, as it was checkered. He agreed with the suggestion that they keep an eye on Queen Creek and
perhaps carry that forward. He also discussed the incandescent light bulbs (#31) and said that changing to those
light bulbs would save a considerable amount of energy.
Vice Mayor Dickey stated that some of the other items (some that came up on the top ten and some that did not)
were being addressed in a potential energy bill that was going through the Legislature right now. The solar fees
(either fee exemption or a solar fee cap) were being proposed by this bill. The League was not very happy about
it because philosophically we like to retain local control but she wanted to point out that one of the provisions
being discussed was a cap ($200) on the permits. Another item that did not make the top ten list but was on the
top 17 list had to do with school bus idling and that type of thing and said that the bill would also look at this
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• issue. The bill would undergo initial discussion on Wednesday morning in a committee and it would probably
evolve and change. The energy code stop would be there and it might just end up being State buildings or
schools but it too was in the bill. There were also some renewable energy goals that were going to be in the bill,
looking at new housing, LEED housing, appliance standards, etc. so although it was not done yet, it was one of
those things that maybe they would want to see where it went. Some of it they might have to do and some of it
they might want to do. She said she was happy that they were ahead of the game and had already been
discussing these issues. The Vice Mayor suggested that they see where it goes and bring the matter back up in a
month or so when they know more.
In response to a question from Councilmember McMahan relative to prohibiting leaf blowers, Vice Mayor
Dickey stated that there were some things that they had to do that were going into law probably on March 31st
Some had to do with individual users and some had to do with people who were hired and others deal with who
a city, town, state or a county actually hires. One of the things that was not being mandated to towns but was
being mandated for State buildings would be not to allow leaf blowers to be used on high pollution advisory
days. She expressed the opinion that this was something that they could do and it would make a big difference.
ADEQ had set up a program whereby you could sign up to receive a text message when high pollution advisory
days were occurring and she would like to pursue that even though it was not one of the top ten.
Councilmember Archambault said that when they looked at this as a committee, they ranked costs as being low,
medium or high. He asked Mr. Slechta to provide the Council with some data relative to this.
Mr. Slechta said that the numbers vary and low might be in the area of $0 to $10,000; medium in the area of
$10,000 to$100,000 and high in the$100,000+ area. He stated that these were rough guidelines.
Discussion ensued relative to the fact that the Town conducted an electronics recycling event and received a
good response but could do better if they conducted these types of events on a regular basis; the fact that an
outside source was brought in and they gathered the materials and reclaimed whatever they could and recycled
it; the only cost was staff time and hopefully the poundage rates received by the Town would offset the staff
costs and the fact that there were other opportunities out there and the importance of pursuing them.
Councilmember Kehe stated that he concurred with staff's recommendation (regarding curbside recycling) that
they wait for the results of the Queen Creek study. He added that he did not believe that they should limit
themselves to the alternatives that had been identified by that Town. He said that when they dealt with
exclusiveness you eliminated competition and he could envision reducing the number of haulers in some manner
but certainly they needed to have more than one in order to retain the element of price competition. He added
that improving the environment was not without cost so if they reduced the amount of trucks and had recycling,
there was going to be associated costs and that the people had to be willing to pay for that.
Councilmember Kehe also discussed the Ashbrook Wash and noted that there was a real strong community
effort approximately 12 years ago to leave the washes untouched. He said that he has not heard much recently
that suggested that public opinion had changed on that issue and believed it would take a public vote to change
that. He added that a riparian area would be foreign (they did not have water running through the Town). He
was not sure this would be consistent with the environment they lived in and said he hoped this was not just an
opportunity to rid them of some creative waste water. He emphasized the importance of thinking very carefully
about this before proceeding. He added that they had to clean out the washes on an annual basis but the basic
reason for that was the number of salt cedars located in those areas and which were highly flammable.
Councilmember Leger also agreed with waiting for the results of the Queen Creek Study and said that he found
the idea of franchising interesting. He said that one or two carriers might lower the cost to the consumers. He
stated that as far as the riparian issue, he had written a big "NO" and agreed with Councilmember Kehe's
comments relative to this matter. He said that the second item (#16) had to do with treating all parks with
effluent, something that was happening now. He directed staff to continue to work in that area and support that „to)
effort. Relative to Item#3 (changing light bulbs), he stated that he would like to continue what they were doing
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in their own facilities and hold off on marketing them to the public. He was not sure that they want to go there
at this point in time and would like to first see what the internal cost savings amounted to. He added that with
respect to recycling he agreed with the recommendation and the initiative to begin with Town Hall as a pilot.
He also agreed with the recommendation relative to parks and conducting additional research. He said that the
hazardous waste issue was quite interesting and said he would be interested in having staff pursue researching
the availability of matching grants as recommended by staff. As far as parks and partnering with the schools,he
believed this issue would come up when the budget was discussed. He added that he agreed with
Councilmember Kehe's comments relative to#7 and he would like to put items#8 and#10 on hold because they
really did not have any new facilities slated. He said that they could continue to conduct research and
benchmark against Scottsdale. He stated that he was open to conducting more research relative to #9 (what it
would actually cost in terms of fee exemptions).
Councilmember Leger commented that those were his personal feelings about the items that had been brought
forward and stressed the importance of taking a systematic approach. He commended staff and everyone
involved for their efforts.
Councilmember Schlum also thanked the team and said that with the State Legislature pondering many of these
items and overlapping what might be acted upon this year they should not"jump into"too many of these. As far
as the solar incentives and some of the other items they should use their Public Information Office to ensure that
the residents had the information available more proactively.
Councilmember Archambault said that he would like to expand on #31 (light bulbs). He stated that the Town
should be more proactive in replacing bulbs with fluorescent bulbs and perhaps using Channel 11 to get an
educational program out there to expand on what the citizens could do themselves relative to energy savings
(encouraging rather than legislating). On the recycling issue and said that when he looked at getting competitive
bids several years ago one of the things he found out was that you could get a competitive bid but the bid was
( done when you opened up an area like Queen Creek was doing (when they franchise and open up an area). He
added that they could also open up Fountain Hills to one particular provider but competitive bids came into play
when they were bidding for a territory. He said that they based their bid on their truck cycle, approximately five
years, and maybe it had changed since then but if you went out for bid you had to award a five-year contract for
a particular area. They provided the trash containers and the trucks. He added that the Town could act as the
user if they decide to go down that road. There was competitive bidding going on, it was just on a different
level.
Councilmember Schlum agreed that they should look at Queen Creek's study and added that if it did not divide
it up like Councilmember Archambault described, they would seriously have to consider that given their hilly
terrain.
Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon referred to Exhibit D containing the top ten items and said that there was a
middle section, Timeframe that laid out short, medium and long timeframes. There were boxes checked that
indicate whether the items were things that could be accomplished quickly, on a medium timeframe or on a long
timeframe. She asked whether the Council wanted to provide any direction relative to the timeframe allocations.
She noted that#7 relating to the riparian area was a long-term item.
Councilmember Archambault commented that he was fine with the proposed timeframes and said that the
committee tried to identify items that they could accomplish in the short term, the medium term and by being
proactive. He stated that as they go forward there would be more things that the committee and/or Council
would want to look at that they would be able to do in a short timeframe. The long-term items were usually
long-term goals and an item such as #42 would not just happen overnight and there were high costs associated
as well.
LoyCouncilmember Schlum suggested that they remove#42 from the top ten list.
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Vice Mayor Dickey stated that part of the constraints they were under had to do with resources and time. The
list that they talked about had generated a lot of interest in the Town and she said that part of their action plan
had to include the options, determine who could do this, find out whether they could have someone on staff do
the work part time, do they want a task force or another commission, did they want it to be part of the McDowell
Mountain Parks Commission, etc. She added that they had a lot of opportunities and interest and some of the
items that did not make the top ten list she still thought they could do and they did not have to be major
undertakings; they could be things that they could look at doing and if they did have a group of people who
would like to help out, they could take care of the projects and on-going items (research could be conducted to
determine if the items were really worth the work and time). She noted that grocery bag recycling, for example,
did not make the top ten list and said a lot of that had to do with habit. She said that this was an area that could
be pursued. She provided a brief overview of what grocers in the City of Phoenix were doing and noted the
significant difference it could make.
Councilmember McMahan commented that some cities were requiring grocery stores to go back to using paper
bags and totally doing away with the plastic bags.
The Vice Mayor stated that was true and although that did present its own recycling issue it was better than
those that ended up in all of the places they hear about. She said that the larger point she was trying to make
was taking people at their word that they really wanted to help. She noted that one of the statewide issues that
was coming up had to do with the cars people were purchasing that use alternative fuels but could not find
places to get the fuel. One of the items included in the bill had to do with not allowing some places or making it
very difficult for gas stations to sell alternative fuels and if this goes through it said you could not stand in the
way and you could not comp it way out of sight. She expressed the opinion that this also represented a business
opportunity that the Town could look into because they had automobiles that were equipped but people had to
travel in order to fill up. She added that they had also talked about idling and the light bulbs, things that were
strictly educational and those were things that the Public Information Office could handle.
Vice Mayor Dickey noted that the energy code issues did not make the cut but she believed that was going to
happen eventually.
Additional discussion ensued about "rinse smart" and the fact that the Arizona Department of Water Resources
(ADWR) had hired a consultant to actually do the installs in the community; the fact that ADWR was proposing
that they would have letters going out between March and June to the restaurant owners letting them know about
the partnership; the Mayor's climate change initiative and the fact that Mayor Nichols indicated that he was
interested in signing on to that; difficulties associated with conducting an emissions inventory but more
municipalities were getting on board; Vice Mayor Dickey's opinion that the Town could join and then work on
it since there was no timeframe for completion of the inventory; tools that were coming out to help facilitate this
type of inventory; and the fact that she believed they were on the brink of obtaining some help and she would
like this Council to take this step.
Mr. Slechta stated the opinion that they needed to focus more on that whole process, what it entailed and what
the process was. He noted that the agreement was that the community would reduce its global warming
emissions 7% below the 1990 level and that worked well in a community that had matured and been around a
long time,but if a community was a lot smaller in 1990 than it was today,the 7% still had to be met.
Councilmember Leger said that he was comfortable with the priorities that had been outlined by staff. He asked
whether the Council has provided sufficient direction this evening.
Ms. Zanon advised that she had received input on the different items and how the Council felt about them. She
added that#42 was not a priority at this time. She said she would recap in order to determine whether her notes
were accurate. Staff would continue to work through the list of top ten items looking at a short, medium and
long-term timeframe and come up with potential options related to each of them. Staff would work on „44.11)
determining what short, medium and long-term timeframes actually meant and then start tackling them one by
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one with some immediate steps that could be accomplished. If an item was policy related, there would be
further discussions on how to proceed. The other piece that was going to be important here as they came up
with a. map of how to accomplish this was whether the staff had the ability to accomplish the goals as it exists
today.
Councilmember Leger agreed and stated the opinion that they could"cross that bridge" when they get there. He
added that there was also some potential as far as commissions as mentioned by the Vice Mayor. He said that
the Vice Mayor had always talked about "hitching this up" with the McDowell Mountain Preserve Commission
and he would like to see what happened in the immediate future regarding the access issues before they pursue
that.
Councilmember Schlum discussed staff effort/resources going into a timeline and asked how many of the items
potential overlap with the State legislation. He said they know there was a trash hauling study being conducted
by Queen Creek and questioned whether they wanted staff to do much until after the legislation passes.
Vice Mayor Dickey stated that they could wait because the legislation touched on several of the items.
Councilmember Schlum said that things like getting the Public Information Office working on these items and
gathering more information and perhaps scheduling another electronics recycling event would be helpful and
beneficial.
Vice Mayor Dickey said as far as recycling they had discussed perhaps talking with the Chamber about
recycling at the fairs and added that that would be worthwhile as well.
Mr. Slechta advised that he was beginning to prepare a grant submission for a Hazardous Household Waste
event and noted a deadline of March 6t. He asked whether he should continue to pursue this grant and the
( Council encouraged him to move forward on the grant.
Vice Mayor Dickey thanked staff for their input and the Council for the positive discussion that had taken place.
AGENDA ITEM#4—ADJOURNMENT
Councilmember Archambault MOVED that the Council adjourn and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED
the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present(6-0). The meeting adjourned at 6:28 p.m.
(The Council then convened the Executive Session)
AGENDA ITEM#1—CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Vice Mayor Dickey called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m.
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Councilmember Kehe,
Councilmember Leger, Councilmember McMahan, Councilmember Schlum, Councilmember Archambault and
Vice Mayor Dickey. Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon and Town Clerk Bev Bender were also present.
Mayor Nichols was excused from the meeting.
AGENDA ITEM #2 — VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: PURSUANT TO 38-431-03(A)(1)z
FOR DISCUSSION OF EMPLOYMENT, ASSIGNMENT, APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION,
DEMOTION, DISMISSAL, SALARIES, DISCIPLINING OR RESIGNATION OF A PUBLIC
OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE MAY DEMAND THAT THE DISCUSSION OR
CONSIDERATION OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. THE PUBLIC BODY SHALL PROVIDE THE
OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE WITH WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE EXECUTIVE
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SESSION AS IS APPROPRIATE BUT NOT LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS FOR THE
OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE DISCUSSION OR
CONSIDERATION SHOULD OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. (SPECIFICALLY, FOR
REVIEWING APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION OF INTERVIEWING FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FILLING VACANCIES ON THE STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION.)
Councilmember Leger MOVED to convene the Executive Session at 6:37 p.m. and Councilmember Schlum
SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present(6-0).
AGENDA ITEM#3—ADJOURNMENT
Councilmember Leger MOVED to adjourn the Executive Session and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED
the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present(6-0). The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
TOWN OF FO TAIN HILLS
, I
By f1 `_ _I►
Mayo. y . ichols
ATTEST AND
PREPARED BY:
Bevelyn J. B de ,Town Clerk
Naiir
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Executive and
Special Session held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 12th day of February 2008. I further certify
that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 6th day of March 2008.
Bevelyn J. Be er, own Clerk
j
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