HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024.0221.TCRM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
FEBRUARY 21, 2024
A Regular Meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened at 16705 E.
Avenue of the Fountains in open and public session at 5:30 p.m.
Members Present: Mayor Ginny Dickey: Vice Mayor Sharron Grzybowski;
Councilmember Gerry Friedel; Councilmember Peggy McMahon;
Councilmember Brenda J. Kalivianakis; Councilmember Hannah Toth;
Councilmember Allen Skillicorn
Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Town Attorney Aaron D.
Arnson; Executive Assistant Angela Espiritu
Audience: Approximately thirty members of the public were present.
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
FEBRUARY 21, 2024 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Post -Production File
Town of Fountain Hills
Town Council Meeting Minutes
February 21, 2024
Transcription Provided By:
eScribers, LLC
Transcription is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not
be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.
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MAYOR DICKEY: Good evening everyone. Thanks so much for coming. Please stand for
the pledge and if you like, remain standing for the invocation.
ALL: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
MAYOR DICKEY: Pastor Keith Pavia from Christ Church. Hi.
PAVIA: Thank you, Ms. Mayor, and everyone on the council. Bow your heads.
Dear God, we come here today just to give you this meeting and help us to keep
integrity at the forefront, to just work together to have peace and joy and love as we
help this town grow and be the best it can be. We thank you and we ask all this in Jesus
name. Amen.
ALL: Amen.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. We have Angela here as our clerk. Can we have the roll
call, please?
ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey
MAYOR DICKEY: Here.
ESPIRITU: Vice Mayor Grzybowski?
GRZYBOWSKI: Present.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel?
FRIEDEL: Present.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon?
MCMAHON: Present.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis ?
KALIVIANAKIS: Present.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth?
TOTH: Present.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn.
SKILLICORN: Here.
ESPIRITU: Anyone wishing to address the council regarding items listed on the agenda
or under call to the public should fill out a request to comment card located in the back
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of the council chambers and hand it to the Town Clerk prior to consideration of that
agenda item.
When your name is called, please approach the podium, speak into the microphone,
and state your name for the public record. Please limit your comments to three
minutes. It is the policy of the Mayor and council to not comment on items brought
forth under call to the public. However, staff can be directed to report back to the
council at a future date or to schedule items raised for a future council agenda.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Angela. Please note her words for tonight because we're
going to be enforcing them and our rules of procedure with little to no flexibility for the
time being. This isn't the way I usually would proceed with things or really needed to in
the past. I've always liked people to finish their sentences and such, but -- and welcome
conversation and encourage input, but our meetings have become habitually long,
untenable as a means to do business in a reasonable way. So for the good of the public
interest, we'll be doing that.
Council, and staff, and guests, and those with items that are before us and our
community at large expect professionalism and respect from us and from each other.
Therefore, as described by our attorney and our rules of procedure, as previously
announced, the town clerk will not accept comment cards for calls to the public or for
an agenda item once that item has been announced. And speakers are limited to the
three minutes.
We'll be enforcing the basic procedure that all present in the chambers speak through
the chair and be recognized. If the speaker is not recognized, they could be called out of
order.
I'm not going to be automatically recognizing points of personal privilege. Points of
personal privilege are not prescribed for in our rules of procedure and, in any event, are
within the discretion of the chair of a meeting to grant. Further, I will not be having
requests to explain the vote because there is ample opportunity to discuss all items and
explain our reasoning before we take the roll call.
Also, as stated at a recent meeting, reports from the council are reserved for providing
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an update on activities performed in our official capacities. It's not an appropriate time
to express opinions or provide extra information. And the reason for that, of course,
is -- and also during the call to the public has to do with open meeting law. So back and
forth with the public is not allowed.
While we can respond to direct criticism and, again, ask staff to look for other items and
put them on a future agenda, we are restricted -- restricted by open meeting laws that
make it impossible to have debates or one sided comments. Since the topic is not on an
agenda, the public wouldn't be afforded the opportunity to participate and that's a
violation of state law.
I've been informed by legal counsel of the options we have to maintain professional
conduct and decorum, which includes, you know, the gavel as usual but also can include
recessing and adjourning meetings. I'm reluctant to do any of those things. I never
want to. I don't want to use the gavel. So I'm asking for your help in this and asking for
your consideration.
And with that, I will ask our manager, Rachel Goodwin, for her announcements or
activities to report from the last couple of weeks and anything coming up.
GOODWIN: Thank you, Mayor. Council, guests, I just want to give a little credit to all of
the events that we've had going on. Last weekend was no exception. It was beautiful.
We had our skate park competition where we had 37 competitive entries as well as over
200 spectators come out to enjoy our new skate park.
We also welcomed the delayed, but no less wonderful, Concourse in the Hills where we
had 1,000 cars and about 5 helicopters on site. Again, really well attended.
This weekend is the fair. So a reminder to our locals to come out and join us for the fair.
There will be road closures in effect, so plan for that.
And then lastly, just a reminder that our Community Center will serve as a ballot drop-
off station only starting Monday. It'll run Monday through Friday next week.
That's what I have. Thank you.
TOTH: Hi, Mayor. I attended the Fountain Hills Republican Club's candidate forum on
Saturday. What an awesome opportunity to hear from some of our candidates running
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for office this year. We had, of course, Councilmember Friedel, Gail Earle, Matt
Corrigan, Rick Watts from our Planning and Zoning. And it was really exciting to hear
from them. So just a cool opportunity to let your voice be heard and let voters make
their decision this year.
GRZYBOWSKI: I feel like it was a really long two weeks. A whole lot of stuff went on.
Arizona League of Cities and Towns, we actually only had one call this go round because
we just had the switchover week where the Senate sends their stuff to the House, and
the House sends their stuff to the Senate. So we only had one call from them.
I also attended the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Council inauguration.
Their new president, Sandy Pattea, used to be on the River of Time Museum board,
which I have been on. So we all got a table. It was super exciting to see her get
inaugurated as president of Fort McDowell. That was pretty cool. Of course, sadly, that
means we have a vacant spot on our board because she can't do both. There's no way
she has time to do both.
And then I want to be excited about Stellar Student Day. We love today. It is so much
fun to see the audience filled up and see the young people and the energy in the
audience. Thank you guys for coming. Thank you for what you do. We appreciate you
for being here. Thank you Mayor.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
FRIEDEL: Thank you, Mayor. The skate park competition was unbelievable, very
crowded, as Rachel mentioned. And also the Concourse in the Hill, it was a little bit slow
in the early hours. Maybe a lot of people were at services, but it really picked up during
the day. And I heard a lot of our vendors did really well down there as far as selling food
in there.
The farmer's market is in full swing on Wednesdays here in town. And I did do a
business retention call with Amanda, our economic development director, and it was a
very interesting one. So thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
MCMAHON: Good evening, everyone. This past Saturday, the Rotary held a Health Fair
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at the elementary school, and it was really, really great because it was -- there were a
lot of vendors there, and they were all local businesses that have to do with the health
and welfare of our community. And they are very engaged, and they offer some really
pretty terrific services.
Also, the community band played Sunday night. And it was really, really a nice event.
The choir joined them, so it was extra nice.
And I also attended the grand opening of the Phoenix -Mesa Gateway Airport. There is a
whole new addition on it, and it just opened today, and there'll be more and more
flights out of there. So it's going to be very, very convenient for the people in that area.
So thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Councilman?
KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Ms. Mayor, and good evening, everybody. And once again,
thank you for coming. Thank you for viewing us on Cox Channel 11 for livestreaming on
YouTube and for, of course, being here tonight.
As our Vice Mayor said, it was an extremely busy two weeks. And so I'm going to take
what I normally articulate as the things I've been doing, and I'd just like to narrow it
down to just three things that I had a chance to represent the Mayor, this council and
the people of Fountain Hills.
The first one was again with the Vice Mayor. We went to the 2024 inaugural of meet
the tribe, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. They swore in that night Gerald Doka as a
councilmember, Ernestine Kill as the treasurer, and Sandra Pattea as the president-
elect. It was just a beautiful ceremony at the Weekapaug; 450 people in attendance.
And it just harkened back to ancestral rituals, respect for past leaders, cultural
traditions, and folklore traditions. It was an amazing thing to attend and to be there.
They had food and drink afterwards, refreshments, and I was just so proud that we
could both be there to represent the town and to welcome them as their new leaders.
The second thing that I did that I'd like to share is I did represent the Town of
Fountain Hills, the Mayor and its people at the City of Chandler State of the City address.
And that was a wonderful thing. We have quite a commitment with the City of
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Chandler. And when the State gave her State of the Town speech, Governor Hartke was
there last week with the MLK address. Several other councilmembers were there. And
so we've got kind of a special relationship with our friends in Chandler. I was so proud
to be there. Just to let you know what they cherish in Chandler, if you go on their
website, they're committed to commitment, communication, diversity, innovation,
integrity, personal responsibility, respect, and teamwork. And that shows in every one
of their Town Council meetings. And so that was a wonderful thing to go to.
Lastly I was fortunate enough -- this was at the Grand Canyon University on Sunday
night and it was a Not in Our Town, A Night of Hope. That was just a beautiful event. It
was actually in the main basketball arena that was filled with thousands of people. With
50 members of the clergy, with law enforcement, and with dignitaries and
councilmembers, mayors, senators, state senators, and representatives from all over
the State.
As you recall last month, the mayor read a proclamation. And so we're one of the new
cities to say, not in our town when it comes to trafficking. It's called The Night of Hope.
NIOC is a community -centered coalition against human sex and labor trafficking. It
unites local, state, federal law enforcement agents, legislators, city officials, frontline
organizations, schools, faith communities to educate and equip the public in the fight
against human trafficking.
Human trafficking of young girls and boys is beyond illegal. It is pure evil. This is
modern day slavery, and it's happening on our watch. These young people in many
cases have given up hope. They wonder, does anybody remember me? Does anybody
even know I'm here? It's up to me. It's up to you. It's up to this council. It's up to our
state and local law enforcement, our churches, and our advocacy groups to care and to
rescue these children that are being held hostage against their will. Human trafficking
will not be tolerated, not in our city.
Just one more thing where you can help. If you're looking at a car next to you, or you're
at a mall, or you're at a bus station or a train station, the universal sign for distress, just
put the thumb here, and the child will go like this. When they do that, that they're not
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waving at you. They're saying, I'm in trouble, and I need somebody to rescue me. And
so please keep that in mind because we're all the solution to this. We can't let this
happen on our watch.
And so I that's all I have to say tonight. Thank you very much for listening. As you can
see, I'm very passionate about this because this is happening not hundreds of years ago,
it's happening today, and it's got to stop.
SKILLICORN: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good evening, Fountain Hills. Good evening
students. Good evening parents. And how can I not talk about the Fountain Hills
Concourse? That was Sunday. What a success it was. What a crowd we had. How
many, you know, amazing vehicles were there. But also, there were times that there
were a bit of traffic, but it seemed like we alleviated that traffic very quickly. There
were people parked like a block away from my house. So there was obviously, you
know, parking spread out. So it was maybe a problem or a challenge. But it just really
shows that -- how successful that event was. What a great thing it was for our
businesses here. And Fountain Hills really shined Sunday. It didn't -- it doesn't hurt that
it was a beautiful weather too.
And frankly, I just -- I'm just reminded that Fountain Hills is really a city set on a hill, and
it cannot be hidden. And you do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. And that is
just -- that is actually Matthew 5:14. So thank you very much. It was just a great
weekend. And that's my report for tonight.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Again, I'll remind council that we're reporting on our
activities, and I appreciate that. Just, I had a few things. Just the Greater Phoenix
Economic Council Mayor Supervisors quarterly meeting, and they talked about the
Commerce Authority's four year extension. I know Amanda is interested in that.
Healthy international prospects, a lot of activity there. And energy grid resiliency is
starting to emerge as an issue that is important to investors and businesses in the State
of Arizona.
2024 Nonattainment for Air Quality. Everybody's trying to figure out a way to comply so
that we can keep our, what they called, mute mega projects coming into the state. And
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then Prop 479, which is the extension of Prop 400.
Then the League Executive Committee, which I sit upon, we were fortunate to meet
with the Governor in her office. And some of the things we talked about were rental
tax, zoning bills, housing, and the sober living home bills that are going through
legislature now that we support very much.
And last, this morning I got to go to Coffee with a Cop, which was at the Starbucks at
Target. So their staff, the Starbucks staff and the Target staff are there, the public, they
came out to talk to our MCSO officers. And Fountain Hills Fire was there as well. So
they were able to talk about topics. And it was just very casual and get to know each
other. So that was very, very nice of them. And Target is talking about being interested
in taking a more , I guess, position, like Make a Difference Day and things like that. So
that's really cool.
The next item that we do -- so bear with me because I have a lot of proclamations and
things going on here. --but first, we've got our Stellar Students. So the way we do this,
kids, is I'll read your name. I'll say what your teachers said about you. And then Angela,
who's doing double or triple duty tonight, is going to come down, and she'll give you the
certificates, and then we'll all take a picture together. And then while I'm down there,
I'm going to be giving a couple of recognitions as well.
So as always today we only have one from Little Falcons Preschool, and it's Saylor
Gruszecki,. Is Saylor here? I see some movement. There we go. Hi, Saylor. So Saylor
was selected for Stellar Students because of her tremendous growth this year in all
areas of development. Saylor is excelling in her academic growth, and I'm so proud of
her. Saylor is helpful to adults and peers. She's a very good friend and very patient with
peers that are still learning. Saylor organizes play and takes on a leadership role, which
is so helpful to her younger peers -- her younger peers. She doesn't leave anyone out
and is always kind and understanding. For these reasons, I am nominating Saylor for
Stellar Student of the month. Saylor.
Next we're going to McDowell Mountain Elementary School, and it's Ellie Habicht. Is
Ellie here? Hey, I hope I said your name right. Ellie is always a Stellar Student in PE
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class. She sets a good example with her positive attitude and efforts. She always does
her best and is a good friend to others. Ellie is always willing to help others and provide
support. She is kind, compassionate and respectful and a pleasure to have in class.
Ellie.
All right. Next from McDowell, we've got Keaten Baxter. Is Keaten here? Come on up,
Keaten. Keaten is a Stellar Student in PE, also. He always does his best in the activities.
He's very athletic and a great basketball player. But the thing that makes him a Stellar
Student is his positive attitude. He's always smiling. He's kind, and respectful, and
helpful with cleanup after activities. He works hard, plays by the rules, and
demonstrates good sportsmanship. Keaten Baxter.
Moving up to the middle school, we have Ashley Aguilar -Navarro. Is Ashley here? Come
on up, Ashley. Ashley comes into class ready to learn daily. I never have to ask her or
remind her to get out her materials for the day or start her work. Her calm demeanor
makes it easy to have her work and makes it easy to have her work with any student.
Ashley is hardworking and a complete joy to have in my class. Ashley.
Also from the middle school we have Evan Williamson. Is Evan -- there he comes. Evan
is a very hardworking student. He comes to class happy and ready to learn. His home
and classwork is always completed, and he has no problem helping others. He
participates in class activities and even when the task is challenging. I'm always
impressed by Evan's focus in class and his friendly demeanor. He's a joy to have in our
class. That's Evan.
Now we're going to the high school, and it's Allison Guerrette. Is Allison here? Allison?
Come on up. She is an awesome kid in the classroom and out. She maintains good
grades and really takes responsibility for her learning. She goes above and beyond as a
student to ensure she's getting the most out of the class that she can. Outside of the
classroom, she participates in extracurriculars like cross-country and band, representing
a well-rounded Falcon. She also volunteers at various events just because she's a good
human. She's the epitome of the Falcon way and definitely a Stellar Student. Allison.
And from the high school we have Yahshua Harris. Is Yahshua here? Come on up. All
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right. Yahshua embodies responsibility and excellence. He is a committed student. He
not only submits his work on time, but even if he's absent, he takes ownership and
makes up his work and keeps pace with the classroom. He's always striving for
excellence in all he does. Yahshua.
Whoops. I have to take this with me here. All right. You guys have to get close
together. We're going to get a picture taken for the newspaper, okay? There you go.
And then right there. Thumbs up. All right, you guys. Thank you so much.
Okay. So now we're going to go to a proclamation. And then we're going to do a
recognition. So the first proclamation we have is for Government Communicators Day.
And I think Bo Larsen is the man of the hour. Where are you? Oh, there you are. So I
was used to looking at you out there. Okay.
So whereas the role of government communications profession is to inform, educate,
and engage their communities.
And whereas robust communication and government creates trust and inspires
residents to take action and be involved.
And whereas government communications create relationships and calls to action,
builds awareness and understanding through storytelling and fostering engagement on
civic issues, using all channels to include people in critical decisions.
And whereas it is essential to have strong communications in government because it's a
foundational element of living in a democracy where citizens have the freedom to make
their voices heard.
And whereas the Town of Fountain Hills has deep gratitude and recognition for
government communicators' professionalism, dedication, hard work, commitment,
enthusiasm, and sacrifice.
So now, therefore, I, Ginny Dickey, Mayor, do hereby recognize February 24th, 2024 as
Government Communicators Day and extend appreciation to our government
communicator -- that's a mouthful -- Bo Larsen and to all who have dedicated their
careers to ensure effective, impactful, and successful communication strategies that
resonate and are relevant. Thank you Bo. And you have to talk.
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LARSEN: I don't know -- I don't know what to say. Well, thank you very much.
Government communications is quite the profession, especially during these times. But
it's one of the first lines of information that residents get. It starts with us. I share with
Bob, I share with regional media, I share with national media, the good, and the bad,
and the ugly. So it's all about getting the word out. It's about promoting events and
promoting this great Town of Fountain Hills. And I know I'm one of the luckiest guys
around in the world of government communications. So thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you.
LARSEN: I have to do a -- .
MAYOR DICKEY: I'll take that.
LARSEN: Since I can't get my own picture, we're going to do a selfie. Take a selfie. All
right. So there you go. Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Thanks, Bob.
LARSEN: Let's go. I'm not a non-selfie guy.
MAYOR DICKEY: All right. Thank you. So is Kevin Beck here? Come on up. You get to
hold the heavy one here.
BECK: How are you?
MAYOR DICKEY: I'm fine.
BECK: Good. Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: There you go.
BECK: Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: All right. Now I have the big -- the big writing. So this is our
recognition of Kevin Beck. We'd like to express our gratitude to Kevin, who has served
with distinction on the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission since his appointment
by the Town Council in 2022. Throughout his tenure, Kevin has proven to be an involved
and esteemed member of the Commission, providing significant contributions to key
initiatives such as the 2022 Strategic Plan. The Town Council and his fellow
commissioners are grateful for his dedicated service and the positive impact that you've
had through your work on the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission. So we want to
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thank you and ask you if you'd like to say a few things.
BECK: Well, thank you. Thank you very much. We love Fountain Hills. We've been here
about 13, 14 years. And what a treat. And we meet a lot of good people on the SPAC
Committee and also with the International Dark Sky Development Center, which some
of my friends are there. We made a quick move to be with our grandkids. We're getting
old, downsizing, and being with family so no longer here in Fountain Hills unfortunately.
But, thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Well, we appreciate all your work. Thank you so much. We really
appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Thank you everyone for your indulgence here.
Thank you everyone. We have no presentations tonight so we go straight to call to the
public.
ESPIRITU: Thank you, Mayor. I want to start first with Crystal Cavanaugh, and then next
will be Barry Wolborsky.
CAVANAUGH: Good evening, Mayor and Council. P&Z is the usual setting to obtain
pertinent information that the council needs to make fully informed decisions. P&Z asks
the hard questions, gets the details and minutia regarding the specific development
plans. They rejected this rezone due to the lack of key information. But just a few
weeks later, you disregarded their concerns, and you approved it.
Had you seen this specific plan with a specific development agreement regarding the
316 high density, 55 foot high apartment project with parking garage that you
approved? No, you didn't. You saw a glossy, pretty picture up on the screen that they
weren't even locked into. You then approved it, four to three.
Since you voted on it, it does not go back to P&Z to get the details worked out. It does
not come back to the council for any input. Without the referendum to slow this
process down, it will be left entirely in the hands of John and Farhad to make any and all
decisions about what's acceptable. No more input required from anyone. The council
approved the rezone without a clear development agreement.
This particular developer may not even be the one to build it. Did you think of that? If
he sold the property to someone else with this rezone and vague guidelines, what
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would they choose to build? While collecting the over 1800 signatures for the
referendum, we found that many residents had no idea about this project. Some were
just hearing about it. And why? Because there was only one public meeting with this
Town Council. It did not go on over several transparent meetings in the public forum, as
it should have, in order to nail down the necessary details and provide time for the
public to become aware.
But I have some questions. Just before being voted -- just before being voted down at
P&Z, when Clayton pushed for that premature vote, why would the developer not want
further discussion to make their case? I know commissioners did not -- did give them
that option. Why would the developer be so confident of a yes vote as to quickly
proceed on to Town Council? Why wouldn't the developer think that he should make
some modifications, such as changes to density or height, for example? Perhaps add
more green space, or add more parking, or even throw in a traffic light? Or how about
presenting an agreement for a specific plan? Things that could encourage a council or
community to get on board.
Shouldn't a council take the needed time to get the best for their community? Why
would a council have four prepared speeches ready to go January 17th when they
hadn't even heard the developer's pitch that night or concerns from the public yet? If
there was indeed a parking agreement, were all the councilmembers aware of it or just
one? In the rush to approve the high density rezone without complete information,
along with pushing community members to withdraw their signatures from petitions,
the town, the Town Council and the chamber did a disservice to the residents. And
that's why we have a referendum.
WOLBORSKY: I'm Barry Wolborsky. I live here too. And my talk isn't going to be as
exciting as the last one. Some time ago, several councilmembers spoke to our MCSO
officers about spending more time patrolling in the neighborhoods and less time hiding
on side roads and parking lots with radar guns. It seemed to work for a while, but the
situation has returned and has gotten even worse than it was before. And last week I've
seen a deputy parked on Arista Lane twice with their radar gun. Arista Lane, as you may
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know, is about a half a mile west of Fry's and is right at the edge of our community. If
this deputy had to respond to an emergency in town, he could not be further away and
still be in town. With our uncertain MCSO staffing, this could be a major problem.
I live on Sunset Drive. I've lived there for four and a half years and have never seen a
deputy patrolling my street, ever. Our MCSO contract bills us for 300,000 miles per year
of driving. I think since we're paying for all those miles, we ought to use them by having
the deputies patrol the neighborhoods.
ESPIRITU: Next we have Henry Male.
MALE: Good evening and thank you, Mayor, Councilmembers. My name is Henry Male.
I lived here for 20 years and I'm a -- full disclosure -- an independent running for Town
Council. But that's not why I'm here.
First, I just want to say that I'm dismayed that despite due process taking place, and that
what I think is the right move to to help spur economic growth and vitality to this -- to
this town and this community, we have people trying to undermine it with the call for
referendum. And being told that it doesn't cost anything to do that is disingenuous and
misleading in all means because there is indeed a talk -- there is a cost to this.
Secondly, and again, I'm going to be short. I do want to call upon the council to
adopt, you know, proper decorum. What we saw here at the last meeting and what has
been going on here for a while is, well, it's embarrassing as an adult. You know, my wife
and I have disagreed on every political forum there's been for 33 years. But we love
each other and that's okay. You can be different. We don't have to agree, but we have
to respect people. And that did not take place two weeks ago, and it has not been taken
place uniformly recently with this council. And that's a shame. And it's an
embarrassment. You're adults. You're a grownups. You've been elected by the town to
represent the town, not a faction, not a person, but the town as a whole. You sitting up
there -- and if God willing, I make it up here -- it's my job to represent everybody and to
recognize everybody. But I don't have to understand or agree with them. I do have to
respect them. And I'm asking and imploring this council to start respecting everybody.
That's it. Thank you for listening.
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ESPIRITU: Next we have Ben Larrabee. And then after him will be Mathew Corrigan.
LARRABEE: Howdy y'all. I'm Ben. So I want to address what happened in the last
council meeting, which was also my first. And from what I understand, most are not
that rowdy. I'd like to address the fact that multiple councilmembers sitting here today
were called bigots for claiming that children are indoctrinated, groomed, and irreparably
harmed by the LGBTQ movement and its allies, which puzzled me, because not only are
all of these things true, it's impossible for anybody to deny them. So I figured I should
drop by to correct the record.
To claim that I heard that assaults don't happen in gender neutral bathrooms, this is a
lie. See Irvine, California, or Riverside rather, where a student assaulted girls after
flashing them in the locker room and then proceeded to beat them once they
confronted him. See Peoria, right up the road, where a student was assaulted by
another dysphoric student after he told him to stop scaring girls in the women's locker
room. And of course, we all know Loudoun County, Virginia, where a couple of years
ago, multiple girls were assaulted by a student who was allowed to use whichever
bathroom he wanted.
And of course, before anybody says that these are anecdotal evidence, just note that a
survey of trans identifying inmates in Canadian prisons, half were convicted of sexual
assault and upwards of 90 percent were convicted of violent crimes, well above the
general prison population. It's important to note this for the same reason that after
transitioning, people become more at risk for self -harm and depression. Why? For the
simple fact of the matter is, when you deny somebody is in a false mental state, you put
them at risk for continuing to deteriorate and then to harm themselves and those
around them.
Now to the claim that I heard that children are not being groomed, this is also a lie. In
Appomattox, Virginia, a student was trafficked because her guidance counselor refused
to tell her parents.
MAYOR DICKEY: Sir, what does this have to do with business for the council?
LARRABEE: I'm getting there, I'm getting there.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: This is Call to the Public, Mayor
MAYOR DICKEY: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: This is Call to the Public.
MAYOR DICKEY: Call of the Public is for business. It absolutely does have to [cross -talk].
LARRABEE: Yes. And I'm getting there. And I'm getting there, and I reclaim my time. So
a student was trafficked because her guidance counselor refused to tell her parents that
she was transitioning. Instead, she was referred to an anonymous, gender affirming
online forum that allowed her predator to court, stalk, and then abduct her.
To the claim that I heard that transitioning does not harm children at all, this is a lie.
The puberty blockers used on dysphoric teenagers permanently sterilize them. Other
drugs that are used in the transition process cause a lifetime of health complications,
ranging from mood swings, depression, osteoporosis, heart attacks, and multiple forms
of cancer.
And I wish to say to the councilmembers that pointing this out does not harm anybody.
What does cause harm is ignoring the generational damage adults that should know
better are inflicting on children to satisfy their own ideological and sexual preferences.
So to councilmembers I say, you've done nothing wrong. You've said nothing wrong. So
please ignore the noise and then get back to work. Thank you.
CORRIGAN: Good evening, Mayor, Councilmembers. Mathew Corrigan, homeowner,
full-time resident of Fountain Hills. I'd like to preface my written remarks tonight by
saying that I'm encouraged by the Mayor's address previous to this meeting and I
thought indicated maybe a change in in the way that we proceed. Maybe not.
I support the U.S. Constitution First Amendment to free speech for all speakers in
Fountain Hills, with the exception of those who violate Robert's Rules of Order in regard
to disorderly conduct, threatening behavior, physical confrontation, and profanity. I do
not support overreaching attempts to constrain speech as I stated to this Town Council
on August 6th, 2023, in regard to Resolution 2023-30, which was rife with censorship.
When I attended the 2-6-24 Town Council meeting two weeks ago, in regard to
resolution -- pardon me -- was -- I was very disappointed with the Mayor. And let me
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tell you why. Her apparent inability or unwillingness to control the meeting disturbed
me. Councilmember Skillicorn and Councilmember Friedel were vilified by a speaker
when questioned by Councilmember Friedel if the speaker was the source of a falsified,
vile, lewd, and inflammatory image of the 45th president of the United States. She then
made aggressive and threatening, profane -filled remarks directly pointed at
Councilmembers Friedel and Skillicorn. The speaker later left the meeting while
screaming profane slurs while exiting the building.
The meeting was brought back to order, unfortunately not by the Mayor, but by the
town attorney, who shouted stop and called for order. The Mayor seemed to defend
rather than admonish, in my opinion, the disruptive behavior of the departing speaker.
View the video if you don't agree with my stance. You can do that and judge for
yourself. I suggest you begin with 1 hour and 20 minutes on the video or if you like,
view the whole thing. It's your council. It's your decision. And as the public knows, full
visibility is important.
My hope in bringing this subject up tonight before the public is to encourage the Mayor
to use more discretion in the future. I'm encouraged by what she said previously.
Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. Thank you. Obviously, the comments are people's opinions, and
we'll just leave it at that. Our next item is our consent agenda. Can I get a motion,
please?
TOTH: Move to approve.
GRZYBOWSKI: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Yes, councilmember?
KALIVIANAKIS: I'd like to pull 8C off the consent agenda and put on the regular agenda,
Ms. Mayor.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. So let's just say we have a motion to approve the consent
agenda of A and B, right? Okay. Roll call, please.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth.
TOTH: Aye.
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ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel.
FRIEDEL: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn.
SKILLICORN: Aye
ESPIRITU: Council member Kalivianakis.
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon.
MCMAHON: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Vice -Mayor Grzybowski.
GRZYBOWSKI: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey.
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you.
So what we do in these circumstances is take that item and make it the first one on the
regular agenda. So that would be approval of a lease agreement between the town and
AMR ambulance services. And if you have questions, do you want to have Dave come
up or the chief?
KALIVIANAKIS: Can I just address the council and then --
MAYOR DICKEY: Oh, sure.
KALIVIANAKIS: -- we can go in that direction?
MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Thank you. And thank you for pulling this off the consent agenda.
This is for housing the AMR ambulance crew in our fire stations. The AMR, as proposed,
will pay the town $31,500 for the first year for their entire crew to use our facilities. As
we all know, with all the talk about apartment buildings and how expensive it is to live in
Fountain Hills, $31,500 is what I think it would take to to live at Park Place for a single
person for the year. And so it just seems to me that that figure is extraordinarily low.
And we took Fire in-house, which is not profitable. But the ambulance services are
extremely profitable for the ambulance provider. For them to only be compensating us
for them to be staying in our fire stations that token amount, I find kind of offensive.
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The second thing is -- and there will be a 3 percent increase for the terms of the lease.
The lease is for one 5-year term and for two 2 year renewals. As we all know, if you're
keeping track of Fountain Hills current events, last year we passed a 7 percent cost of
living adjustment to our staff because of the extraordinary expenses that people have
been paying recently. And we've thought that was fair. I wish it could have actually
been more.
For AMR to be capped at 3 percent per year, that does not take the cost of living into
effect. I wonder if the cost of living for this type of thing is 7 or 8 or 9 percent? We
don't know how the future is going to roll. We don't know if there's going to be a
recession next year, which I heard there might be. And so again, to say that -- to put a
cap of three and not to acknowledge that that number should be based on reality,
what's on the ground, what should be the cost of living be to increase that? I'm just a
little uncomfortable with that.
I did bring this to the attention of our town manager. And I told her I'd be pulling this
off tonight. So at this point, you know what my concerns are. And if Chief Ott or
somebody would like to address my concerns, I would really appreciate it.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Chief, would you come up? I'd like -- you know, if you'd
like to respond. And then I have a couple questions if you don't cover that.
OTT: Good evening, Mayor and Council. We are 52 days strong as Fountain Hills Fire
Department. I am not a rental lease expert. I will tell you that the amount in the
original lease was based on what AMR had been paying at the Frys Center.
We had , to give you a little background on that, around 2005, when Scottsdale Fire had
gone on their own, it left a hole in the west end of town for stopping the clock on
medical emergencies. Chief LaGreca had thought that if we put one of the ambulances
in a storefront on the west end of town, that would help with our responses in those
areas and get ALS response much quicker than when the ambulance was coming from
the old Station 2 location down on Saguaro, kind of behind Target.
The original fee was based on what they had been paying at the Target Center at that
point up until 2018 when we moved them into the new Fire Station 2. And that works
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out to about $2,600 a month at the 3,100 or $31,000 a year. So at that point it seemed
that that was a reasonable expectation for rent. They do occupy two rooms and have a
bathroom, shower, and cooking facilities in there. I don't know what that breaks down
to square footage. But it's much less than a studio apartment, I would think, as we
come into the two modest bunk rooms that they occupy. It also gives them the ability
to park the ambulance.
As we saw with their original proposal when we asked for two ambulances and they
were wanting a subsidy on that, most private ambulance companies that have
responses in contracts across the country are looking for some sort of subsidy. We were
able to get them down to provide us one ambulance full-time here, and they're moving
a second ambulance up at peak times, which for us is really the hours between 7 a.m.
and probably 5 p.m. We seem to double up a lot of calls at that point. So they're moving
that other ambulance up here again without the contract that requires a subsidy. We're
not giving the space away. And we think that from our side that we think it's a
reasonable expectation.
It was tied to the original fire contract, and the original fire contract itself had the 3
percent escalator per year in there. And that, again, reflected back into the lease
agreement that was there. Once the fire contract went away, the lease agreement was
tied to that. When there was no fire contract with rural Metro, there was no lease
agreement for AMR up until the point that at the end of December, when we had
finalized that they were going to still provide service to us and that they needed a spot
in town, that made it beneficial to them to be able to come in and occupy that space at
that -- at that lease. It might affect the relationship between what they're able to
provide if they had to pay more money for a storefront. But we would like to think that
we have a hundred percent occupancy rate in our buildings.
GRZYBOWSKI: This isn't a question. This is actually a comment. Generally speaking,
commercial rent is less expensive than residential rent. If you take that $31,500 and
divide it by 12, you come up with $2,625. And granted, I don't know exactly how many
square feet the people are occupying. So instead of dividing it by square feet, what I'm
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doing is I'm going to divide it by $21, which is the going rate, $21, $22 per square foot
for some of the commercial spaces here in town. That comes up with about 125 square
feet. I imagine they're renting much more than that. I just wanted to go through the
math part portion for you so you can see where we are commercial rate -wise.
While I agree $31,500 is a little inexpensive, not a whole lot when you use the
$21 calculation. But in all honesty, commercial rent is way cheaper than residential
rent. I have talked to a number of business owners that have said that if they could rent
something to live in for what they get their commercial rate at, then this would be the
city that they would live in. But unfortunately it's not because we don't have that going
for our market rate.
So anyway, that's a really long way to say, I think we're good with the $31,500, 3
percent might be a little low, but if that's something that we were doing before, I feel
like we need to stick with that number. Thank you.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Mayor. And just just to illuminate further how big
is the crew and how many people are we housing?
OTT: Two people for a 24-hour period.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. And they serve the whole 24-hour period.
OTT: Correct.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Okay. And then is the the food included in that? And --
OTT: No, they provide their own food --
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Good.
OTT: -- their own other living supplies, sheets, blankets, that type of thing.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Good. Good to know.
FRIEDEL: I think Brenda's point was 3 percent ongoing is a little bit light when inflation is
all over the place. So maybe we just -- is there a possibility of tying it to the CPI? It's a
commonly used index. And then you don't have to worry about what they're paying
right now. And also commercial space in town is right now between $14 and $16 a
square foot, depending on whether it's land or office. But just my thought, tie it to an
index and let it float, if we can.
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ARNSON: Mayor and Council, Councilman Friedel's point is, I understand his point. If
we're going to go down the road of talking about the substance of the agreement and
getting into renegotiation of it, I would suggest that we recess into executive session to
have those discussions, and they not take place publicly. But if we're not going to go
down that road, then there's no issue.
MAYOR DICKEY: I just want to point out that Chief said that this amount was tied to
services that we were getting. And by increasing the rent, we may be touching on the
level of service that we get. So I wouldn't really be in favor of doing that. And I just also
wanted to ask a little bit about the idea that ambulances are that profitable. Did you --
do you have any thoughts on that?
OTT: Mayor, Council, I have my own thoughts on ambulance service in the fire service.
There is quite a bit of fire -based ambulance service across the country. A lot of it is
done for convenience and control. I think that it would be hard-pressed to find very
many fire chiefs to say that the the ambulance portion of their fire service is a very
profitable and equitable service. What it does is it gives you full control over what
you're providing for your residents. And I think there's a value in that, that you can't put
a dollar amount on.
As we're moving forward and as we move to the point of where we are going on our
own, we are looking at the possibility of applying for a CON, which is the first part of
being able to have an ambulance service. And luckily for us, as many things in the fire
service, it's not a new model that we'd be looking at, but we will be looking at that. I'd
like to get about 90 days under our belt first, moving forward with our department
before we start looking at the the other options there.
Our neighboring departments are all moving towards that fire service ambulance
provider. And it creates some challenges. Finding paramedics these days is -- is a
challenge. And do you do it as a civilian side or a fire -based side, a sworn side? Those
are options that we'll take a look at and see if that ends up being the way that we want
to proceed with the ambulance service in town. That would put it fully back under our
control.
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But I think there's some challenges in there as well. We don't necessarily have a billing
mechanism set up. We would need to kind of look at a third -party billing. And
ambulance billing is tricky when you get into insurances and proper coding and all of
those things. But it's -- it's something that we'll take a look at and see if that's -- if that
will be a benefit to us moving forward.
KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to be clear, Aaron, If we did a motion to
approve the lease agreement but with the cost of living index in place of the 3 percent,
would that require an executive session?
ARNSON: No, it wouldn't require an executive session if there were further discussion
about other substantive points. That's fine. We could do that. But if that's the
direction, I would advise the council that you wouldn't be able to -- obviously, you could
approve with that caveat. We'd have to take it back to the contractor to determine
whether that's an acceptable change. And if it's not, we have to come back and talk
again.
KALIVIANAKIS: Okay. Thank you. And then if you do proceed with the CON, what kind
of time period would we be talking about to know if that was going to be practical,
usable and if we've got the logistics, the billing capability, to see if that would be done?
Because if it's temporary that we live with the 3 percent for a year or two, I don't think
it's a big deal. But if it's going to be many years, it could -- it could be a lot of money.
OTT: Mayor, Council member, the CON process itself, it can take anywhere from six
to -- six months to a year to get that part of it in. I think that we would also need to
come back. We would have capital purchases for ambulances and increased personnel.
So that's going to be a couple of year process through there. We did have the three
percent increase for at both stations when we had ambulance companies -- or
ambulances at both stations. So we'll take whatever direction you give us and --
FRIEDEL: Chief, how many firefighters now are paramedics that we have on our -- on
our staff?
OTT: We have two that are in the final stage of testing, which will give us 20 out of our
30. We also have a grant opportunity to send possibly two more, which would give us
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22 out of the 30 field personnel as paramedics. And that is probably the highest average
out of any department in the area.
FRIEDEL: I was going to say that's outstanding. Thank you.
KALIVIANAKIS: I guess this time I'd like to just make a motion to table this lease
agreement to the March 19th Town Council meeting, where maybe our manager and
our attorney could could take this up and see if we have any options available. I'd like to
put that as a motion.
FRIEDEL: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Although -- please, a roll call for tabling.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn.
SKILLICORN: Yes.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis.
KALIVIANAKIS: Yes.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon.
MCMAHON: No.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth.
TOTH: Yes.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel.
FRIEDEL: Yes.
ESPIRITU: Vice -Mayor Grzybowski.
GRZYBOWSKI: Nay.
ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey.
MAYOR DICKEY: No. So We'II table it till the 19th. Does this have ramifications to you?
Well, I guess I can't talk about it, so.
OTT: Mayor, Council, I just have one question if I can? We currently have them in place.
How would you like us to proceed with the lease payments at this point?
ARNSON: Well, Mayor and Council, my unsolicited -- some unsolicited advice. That I
think that the arrangement should just continue and maintain the status quo until, if
that's possible operationally until the item comes back.
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KALIVIANAKIS: Yeah, I think that's that's reasonable. And that's how I'd like to proceed.
Just a status quo until we can just meet for one more council meeting.
OTT: Okay. Thank you. I'll relay that to the AMR. Thank you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Our next item is approval of recommendation for the appointment of a
member to the Town's Boards, Commissions, and Committees. That would be that a
Town staff recommended that we appoint Randy Crader for partial terms February 1st,
'24 to April 30th, '25 to the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission. If Randy is here, I
would say congratulations and thank you for your service. Do I have a motion to
approve Randy Crader for a term to the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission?
MCMAHON: So moved.
SKILLICORN: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Roll call, please.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis.
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon.
MCMAHON: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth
TOTH: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel.
FRIEDEL: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn.
SKILLICORN: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Vice -Mayor Grzybowski.
GRZYBOWSKI: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey.
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you very much.
Our next item is approval of actually sunsetting our McDowell Mountain Preservation
Commission. Rachel, would you like to kick it off, please?
GOODWIN: Sure, I can do that. I've had the pleasure to work with the MMPC for a
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number of years in different roles. And they are a fantastic, hardworking group and
have done a lot for our town. The MMPC was founded to help establish and create the
Adero Canyon trailhead. As we know, that trailhead has been established and is a well -
loved and well -used amenity in our community. That was sort of the charter purpose of
the commission. And after the trailhead was founded and established, they continued
to work to help us develop standards, help us develop guides, help us develop
operational procedures.
And as they have finished that process they among themselves, as part of the
commission, have decided that they feel like their purpose has been served. So they did
take a vote internally to recommend sunset of the commission. I know a number of
them are here. I know Kevin, who is our current staff liaison, is here, so I'd be happy if
anybody would like to speak.
MAYOR DICKEY: All right. Thank you. I understand that several members are here, so
I'm going to call your name. If you would come up, and then I will read what your peers
have said and present you with the plaque.
So I think that Sherry Irwin is not here, but I do want to mention her. And Brian
Jennings also I don't believe is here. Bill Craig, come on up. Scott Grzybowski., I know I
saw you. Janice Holden and Steve Nurney and DJ Willard. All right. You guys did it on
purpose, right? All right, so DJ, Steve, Bill and Scott. All right. So, a couple of folks that
aren't here, so I'm going to read about them so they don't get shortchanged. And then
we'll hit you guys, and you can say a few words.
First is Sherry Irwin. She served on the commission since April of 2022. Her dedication
and newer perspective of the Preserve brought many great ideas to the commission and
the Town of Fountain Hills. Her many hours of volunteer service are sincerely
appreciated by staff, council and her fellow commissioners.
And also Brian Jennings, we'd like to recognize him. He's been on the commission since
May of 2021. His dedication, his work, group efforts, and support to the Commission
and the Town of Fountain Hills have been evident in his many hours of volunteer service
and sincerely appreciated by staff, council and fellow commissioners.
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So hold on one second here, because I think Janice is not here either. So let me find her
paper. Yeah, I thought she was, but okay. So tonight we would like to recognize Janice
Holden, who has served on McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission since January
2020. Her dedication, her attention to detail with the trail master plan and support to
the commission and the Town of Fountain Hills have been evidence also many hours of
volunteer service, and she is, as well, sincerely appreciated by staff, council and her
fellow commissioners.
Okay. You guys, so I'll do it all. And then you guys can take turns touting all your
wonderful work, which it's just an amazing accomplishment, and we can't thank you
enough.
We'll start with Bill Craig, who has served on the Preservation Commission since 2012.
Your dedication, your trail design, your vision of the Preserve and support to the
Commission have been evident by so many hours of volunteer service. As a trail
designer, you're a trailblazer, a visionary of the Preserve, and you're sincerely
appreciated by staff, council and commission.
Next we have Scott. I think there was a little extra in here. Tonight -- you'll know what I
mean. You will recognize Scott Gryzbowski, who has served on the McDowell Mountain
Preservation Commission since February of 2019. His willingness to be chair, dedication
and support to the commission and the Town of Fountain Hills have been evident in his
many hours of volunteer service as a muscle toting, rock moving trailblazer. And you
are sincerely appreciated by the staff, the council and your fellow commissioners. I
thought maybe they had that mixed up with Janice, but no, they meant you.
Steve, tonight we'd like to recognize Steve Nurney, who has served on the commission
since May of 2021. His dedication creating the trail naming survey and the mountain
bikers' vision, and support of the commission has been so evident. And you were vice -
chair and had many hours of volunteer service, and you are sincerely appreciated by
staff, council and your fellow commissioners.
And DJ, we would like to recognize you. You've served on the commission since
November of 2020. Your dedication, participation in trail difficulty rating guide
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development, and support of the commission and the Town of Fountain Hills has been
evident with your many hours as a trailblazer. And you are sincerely appreciated by
staff, council and fellow commissioners.
I love the way they pointed out the different contributions that each of you made to this
tremendous effort. It's just unbelievable. So if you guys like to say a few words as you
sunset -- as you go into the sunset? We'll start with you, Scott.
S. GRYZBOWSKI: Sure. I mean, first of all, thank you. It's been an honor to be on the
commission and have such an impact to our trails. And I do have to give a shout out to
old Bill Myers. I know he's been recognized in the past, but he's the original chair. And
he really worked extremely hard to get the ACT or Adero Canyon Trailhead built. So
again, I just want to thank you and everybody in the town for letting us do our job.
CRAIG: My complete thanks to Mayor and council. It's been a pleasure to be able to do
something I enjoy. Thank you.
NURNEY: I echo all that. Thank you all. The town is just so fortunate to have such a
treasure right in our backyard. And it's just been really an honor to continue to preserve
it, have a part in it.
WILLARD: I want to call out Rachel and Kevin and Bill as far as really making this
commission a success and getting a lot done and being productive and contributing to
the town and in the Preserve in terms of having a pristine place to enjoy nature. So
thanks to thanks to all of you.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you so much. We got to get a picture taken. I did want to ask
you guys how you managed to make it snow that one time up there. That was
awesome. Thank you so much again for your hard work.
And speaking of, our next item is approving the lease agreement.
GOODWIN: Mayor, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I think we actually need to take action to
formally sunset.
MAYOR DICKEY: Oh, see, I don't even want to do it, so. Okay. Who wants to make the
motion? I'll let you do it, Sharon.
GRYZBOWSKI: I moved to approve Resolution 2024-06 and Ordinance 24-07 to sunset
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the MMPC.
FRIEDEL: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Roll call please.
SKILLICORN: Are you sure?
ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon
MCMAHON: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth.
TOTH: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel.
FRIEDEL: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn.
SKILLICORN: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Vice -Mayor Grzybowski.
GRZYBOWSKI: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey.
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. And thank you again so much.
So now we're ready to move on to our International Dark Sky Discovery Center lease.
Rachel or Aaron? Aaron.
ARNSON: Sure. Thank you. Mayor, council, you are all aware of the reason we're here
tonight is to approve a long time coming and long awaited lease agreement so that this
project, the International Dark Sky Discovery Center, can get underway. You're all
aware of the terms of the agreement. We've discussed them both in executive session.
You've seen the -- you've seen draft copies of the lease. Now, a final copy of that for
your consideration and approval is attached to the agenda tonight.
The staff is excited about the potential opportunities that this presents. And I know that
the applicant, or rather, the proposed lessee is here -- is here tonight to talk to us. And I
imagine that Joe or Joe or Jeff or somebody is going to have a presentation. So with
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that, I'll turn the time over to them.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. Come on up.
AMANDA: Just pulling up the PowerPoint, a jack of all trades.
YAZZETTA: Thank you, Amanda. Good evening, Mayor, councilmembers, staff. Geoff
Yazzetta, resident and board member of the International Dark Sky Discovery Center. I
believe the last update that we provided was in 2022 after the site plan was approved.
So obviously the lease agreement is a major checkpoint for both our organization and
for the town. So I wanted to take a few minutes to give you an overview and bring you
up to speed on where we're at. So let me see if I can figure this out. Okay.
Some highlights and an overview of the International Dark Sky Discovery Center. First,
it's a 23,000 square foot, first of its kind, STEM facility that will be located here in the
town's Civic Center complex adjacent to Centennial Circle. The major interior
components are the Dark Sky Observatory, which will feature a 27 -- 27 and a half inch
plane wave telescope which, when installed, will be the largest mounted telescope in
the greater Phoenix area. Pretty exciting.
The Hyperspace Planetarium is going to seat 66 guests and will feature 3D technology,
where we'll be able to give you the point of view from anywhere in the universe.
The Inspiration Theater will seat 150 guests and will have state of the art projection and
sound system technology.
The Night Sky Experience is an interactive exhibit hall that will go into the history of light
pollution and its negative effects on plants, animals and human beings.
And the Einstein Exploration Station is a classroom setup where there will be a hands-
on, deep dive opportunity to learn more about the physics of light.
One other item that's not listed as a major component, but I know Pluto came up during
the last council session towards the end, I want to let you know that the Pluto Snacks --
the Pluto Snack Station will be a part of the Discovery Center. So Pluto, which was
discovered here in Arizona at the Lowell Observatory in 1930 will receive proper
recognition at the Discovery Center.
There are a variety of partnership opportunities that will come about, potentially, with
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ASU, community colleges, and local high schools. And there are a wide range of uses for
the space. When it's open, we can do things like lectures, research, tours, star parties,
receptions, and much, much more.
The facility has been designed by SWABACK Architects and will be built by McCarthy. So
we have partnered with two of the very best in the business to bring this facility to life.
Some key historical dates, in 2015, the Fountain Hills Dark -Sky Association was formed
with the goal of preserving dark skies here in town.
In 2016, Town Council unanimously approved the updated Outdoor Lighting ordinance.
And in 2017, the town and the association fulfilled all the Dark Sky International
requirements for a dark sky designation.
January 8th of 2018, Fountain Hills was recognized as the world's 17th dark sky
community. This is really important because as of today, I believe there are 46 dark sky
communities worldwide. So it's a rare honor for Fountain Hills to have this designation.
In 2019, the International Dark Sky Discovery Center board was formed with the mission
of dreaming up, designing, and ultimately delivering this incredible facility.
In 2022, as I mentioned, the town unanimously approved the site plan and elevations.
And April 8th, which is right around the corner, many of you are probably aware there's
a solar eclipse taking place that day but that is not the most exciting event occurring on
April 8th. That is the day that we will be having our official groundbreaking ceremony,
and we look forward to commemorating the start of our construction phase with all of
you on that date.
Current status and next steps. To date, we have raised a little more than $18-1/2
million for the project, out of $25 million total. We are confident that beginning
construction will generate a lot of positive momentum on the fundraising front. Our
board of directors has been in contact with a number of charitable organizations and
high net worth individuals who have expressed interest in making a contribution once
we start to go vertical with this. So we are anticipating bridging the gap and completing
the fundraising here in the coming year.
Permitting. Plans were submitted to town staff on January 31st and are currently in
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review. We are anticipating comments back in the coming weeks. And on the
construction front, McCarthy issued a call for bids in January. Those bids are due on
February 23rd. They will then review those bids and come up with a guaranteed
maximum price, or GMP. And what that means is that that's a contract where this is the
maximum amount that we will pay to build the Discovery Center. We will have that
figure by March 20th, and we will have a week to review and approve the contract.
As I mentioned, the groundbreaking will take place on April 8th. And construction, we
are expecting to begin mid to late April. Once construction begins, if everything goes
according to plan, fingers crossed, we are anticipating a soft opening summer of 2025.
Mayor, council, with that that concludes my update, and I will answer any questions
that you may have.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you. First I wanted to ask if we had any speaker cards on this
item?
ESPIRITU: The town received 105 comment cards. And out of those 103 position was
for and only 2 against and those -- you can find those in your comment card packet.
MAYOR DICKEY: Thank you, Angela. Any questions or comments? Councilman?
FRIEDEL: Thank you, Mayor. This is a really exciting time for the Town of Fountain Hills.
So I want to thank everybody for all their years of hard work and efforts toward this.
We're looking forward to this. It's really exciting. Thank you.
MCMAHON: I would also like to say thank you very much. The dedication, the
determination and the drive that the board has had to bring such a momentous event,
you know, and to have something like this educational, you know, in conjunction with
our dark skies is just phenomenal. And I would like to personally thank you as well. And
I would also like to move to adopt the resolution approving the lease agreement
between the Town of Fountain Hills and the International Dark Sky Discovery Center. So
again, thank you.
SKILLICORN: Second.
FRIEDEL: Second.
MAYOR DICKEY: Rush to second. Any other comments? Roll call please.
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ESPIRITU: Councilmember Toth.
TOTH: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Friedel
FRIEDEL: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Skillicorn
SKILLICORN: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember Kalivianakis.
KALIVIANAKIS: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Councilmember McMahon.
MCMAHON: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Vice -Mayor Grzybowski.
GRZYBOWSKI: Aye.
ESPIRITU: Mayor Dickey.
MAYOR DICKEY: Aye. Thank you. Thank you all for all your work. Exciting.
MCMAHON: It's almost 10.
MAYOR DICKEY: Our last action item is our discussion about our legislative bulletin. I
sent you all the summaries because they, as Sharon mentioned, they didn't have a
meeting. And pretty much it's all the same bills going back and forth. So I don't know if
anybody had anything to add that they wanted us to do or just status quo for now.
Councilman?
MCMAHON: I'm good with the --
MAYOR DICKEY: Sorry.
MCMAHON: Sorry, I'm good with the --
MAYOR DICKEY: Oh.
SKILLICORN: Sorry.
MAYOR DICKEY: Allen. Did you want to?
SKILLICORN: No, it's all right.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. Thank you. Our last item then is our council
discussion/direction to the town manager. Anything that was asked for us to look into.
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I don't think so. Hannah?
TOTH: Sorry, mayor. I waited till the end out of respect, but I guess I'm testing out our
new policy on point of personal privilege. If I could get a second on that?
MAYOR DICKEY: I don't understand. Sorry we can't take action at this point on
anything.
TOTH: It's a -- sorry -- question of personal privilege, which is allowed in Section 6.6 C,
paragraph 2, item D in our Rules of Procedure.
MAYOR DICKEY: I guess I don't know what the question is. Because I know we can't
take action on anything that's not on the agenda. So --
TOTH: So yeah. So it's a question of privilege, which, according to Robert's Rules of
Order, includes the rights of the members of the body. And I received a second. So if
we could vote on that motion.
MAYOR DICKEY: Well, we absolutely can't because you can't take any action. Robert's
Rules of Order is not what we follow here. We follow our rules of procedure. So it's like
state law, rules of procedure, parliamentary, and then Robert's. That's the order that
we do follow. And regardless, the chair can entertain a point of personal privilege. It's
at the chair's discretion, so we never have to do it. I can hear what your point is if you'd
like. And then, you know, you can proceed.
TOTH: I appreciate that, Madam Mayor. It actually has to do with the email we
received at 8:54 p.m. last night. In our council rules of procedure, which, as you state, is
the primary source.
MAYOR DICKEY: State Law is primary.
TOTH: Right. Secondary source -- in Section 6.6 C, paragraph 2, it lists the motions that
we can make as councilmembers. Actually, it puts in the order of, I guess, hierarchy of
the motions. The third item, or fourth item, Item D, is question of privilege. And
question of privilege being a term from Robert's Rules of Order, that's where I consulted
to find the definition of that motion.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. But basically, Aaron, would you please let me know? It's still up
to the chair whether they entertain points of personal privilege. Correct?
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ARNSON: Well it's up --
TOTH: Actually, I received a second. So that would then go for a vote.
MAYOR DICKEY: Aaron?
ARNSON: Well it's up to the chair whether to entertain a motion.
MAYOR DICKEY: Right?
ARNSON: Right. Like those are the motions that can be made. If the chair is not
entertaining the motion then, then we're not entertaining the motion. But I think the
Mayor made it pretty clear that she wasn't just going to automatically grant points of
privilege. I think that was the language. But I think you would certainly entertain a
question if it were if it were raised. Am I wrong?
MAYOR DICKEY: Yeah, I said I'm not -- I --
ARNSON: Right?
MAYOR DICKEY: -- wasn't automatically just going to because I've been, you know,
reluctant to stop speaking or talking or input. But I think things have been a little bit
contentious. So I would -- I want to hear what the point is before I would entertain it.
But I just don't understand the motion part. How do we motion and vote on something
that's not on the agenda?
ARNSON: Well, we can do point, right? You can do a point of order right where it says,
if you say have a point of personal privilege and the mayor says, I'm not entertaining it.
We've done that once, at least once before, right where it says, I'd like to raise a point of
order. You can follow that procedure, right, to essentially compel the hearing of the
motion, if that makes sense.
TOTH: I see. Okay.
ARNSON: Yeah. Yeah. So there's that. So the avenue is available is what I'm trying to
say. It's built into our rules okay.
TOTH: So point of order, I would like to say my point of privilege. Is that correct? I'm --
I'm -- I think I'm confused.
ARNSON: So you have a point of personal privilege you want to make now, is that what
you're saying?
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TOTH: Correct.
ARNSON: Okay. Now I'm getting it. All right. So you're -- so you're citing this. Okay.
One second. Okay. 6.4 A Presiding officer shall determine all points of order after
consultation with the parliamentarian, subject to the right of any member to appeal
such determination to the whole council. If any appeal is taken, the question motion, in
parentheses, shall be substantially similar to the following shall the decision of the
Presiding Officer be sustained, et cetera.
So tell them -- my advice would be, tell the Mayor what the issue is, and then the Mayor
will rule on the point of order. I mean, there's no more business pending before us, so it
can't be about any business that's pending. But I would suggest explaining it. The
Mayor can rule on it. And if there's an appeal of that item, 6.4 says that's the process.
Was that clear as mud? Clear enough? Okay.
TOTH: That was perfect. Thank you.
ARNSON: Got it.
TOTH: Okay, Mayor, the point of privilege that I'd like to address is for -- is regarding
the rights of the body. And it is in reference to the email that we received at 8:54 p.m.
last night. Considering the festivities of today, I didn't want to take away from those
moments. But I do have major concerns regarding the rights of the body, and that
would technically include the public, regarding that email that -- actually, my job is a
little easier now because you were kind enough to read the points of it. But what I'm
trying to say is that I would like to address the body with my concerns of suppressing
the voices of the body.
MAYOR DICKEY: I guess I don't think I'm suppressing the voices. I'm exercising our rules
of procedure more strictly than I have in the past. The activities are -- are to be -- are in
our official capacity. So it's not supposed to be something that the public doesn't have
the opportunity to respond to. So if we -- if -- if during that time we say things that are
not on the agenda, then they don't know that that was going to be discussed. So I don't
want -- I see Aaron, I just -- we -- first of all, point of order is different than a point of
personal privilege?
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ARNSON: Right.
MAYOR DICKEY: So a point of order is like it was my turn or whatever. And then you
kind of rule on that. But a point of personal privilege never has to be entertained, does
it?
ARNSON: No.
MAYOR DICKEY: This is from --
ARNSON: No.
MAYOR DICKEY: -- what my understanding is.
ARNSON: The whole idea of a point of personal privilege, which, by the way, they
haven't come up that often. But the points of personal privilege are, hey, I'd like to
address someone. There's a guest here tonight, right? Or it's too hot or cold in the
room. Or one of those types of things. But they can be taken further than that. And so
I think the idea behind it was to say -- not to say point of personal privilege, can we take
a bathroom break? I think we could all stand to use those every now and again. I think
it was more along the lines of if something is going way beyond the matters of business
at hand, that frankly, we've got to -- we've got to start reining that back in because it's
been, I think we'd all kind of agree, that it's been a little rough the last -- the last couple
of meetings.
FRIEDEL: Aaron, can I make a point?
ARNSON: Sure. Mayor?
FRIEDEL: Can I? Mayor -- Mayor, may I -- may I -- may I make a point? I think the --
reading that email, and correct me if I'm wrong Hannah, is that it said that the Mayor
would not entertain any -- entertain any personal points of privilege without even
knowing what the question was. So that was ambiguous to start with --
ARNSON: Fair enough.
FRIEDEL: -- and I --
ARNSON: Fair enough. And hopefully this is providing a little bit more clarity where
we're -- I'm -- I think, and Mayor, if I'm speaking out of turn over -- please overrule me.
You're the chair. But I -- I really do in the conversations that we've had believe that
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that's the point. That if things are just going so far afield that we have to rein it back in,
that's -- that's what we're talking about here. It's not to say I'd like to acknowledge the
presence of somebody in the audience here tonight. It's not to clamp -- it's not to clamp
down on those sorts of things.
TOTH: I understand that I -- Mayor, if you don't mind. Thank you. My main concern
would actually -- there was an example of this tonight where one side of the aisle two
weeks ago was allowed to continue until the -- they were thrown out of the room. And
the other side of the aisle was gaveled and questioned during call to the public when
they were specifically addressing something that was said to councilmembers.
While I agree that we need order in the room, I am very concerned that some of these
acts are not being done equally. And I'm more so concerned considering that there's
two mayoral candidates on the dais, that this is going to become some type of battle.
I actually really appreciate that this is something that was read in the beginning of the
meeting. As Ephesians 5 states, take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but
instead expose them for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. That was actually
something I wrote down for my previous -- for my point of privilege. But my point
being, this is something that the public should be aware of, that the councilmembers
should be thinking of, and that I think we need to discuss further.
I agree with enforcing the rules of our council and our rules of procedure. I've actually
been advocating for that for a long time. But I'm -- day one, I'm already seeing it
unequal, so I think we need to talk about this.
MAYOR DICKEY: Well then this discussion is bringing to light -- the problem with this is
we're probably talking in an illegal way right now. This is not on the agenda. I don't
know how we are allowed to go into this -- this depth of discussion, Aaron, on
something that's not on the agenda.
ARNSON: I don't know either. I think Mayor -- Mayor and Council -- oh, sorry. Brenda.
Did you --
KALIVIANAKIS: Thank you, Aaron. Yeah. I've done a great deal of exhaustive research
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on this. I think the town manager and Aaron knows on that. I think there is a solution
to this, but I would encourage us to continue this into an executive session where we
can discuss these laws because it is state law. It is local custom. It is Robert's Rules, and
it's procedure at a glance. So there's many different buckets of information that we can
dip into. And then I think there's a way that we can all be happy. If we could talk about
it candidly with our attorney and come up with a reasonable solution.
TOTH: If that's a motion, I'll second it.
ARNSON: If -- if it's a -- if it's at least a -- the concurrence of the council as -- as a whole
or three councilmembers, right, to say I would like to see that as a future item, that's a
possible -- that's -- I assume, what you're getting at, right, Councilwoman?
KALIVIANAKIS: Yes. Exactly what I was thinking.
ARNSON: Okay.
MAYOR DICKEY: Okay. I mean, I'm fine with talking about it in any way, shape, or form
that's legal.
ARNSON: Right.
MAYOR DICKEY: And -- and everything that was in that memo was a legal memo --
ARNSON: Right.
MAYOR DICKEY: -- was a legal -- taken straight from -- anyway.
ARNSON: Yeah. So --
MAYOR DICKEY: And I'm not admitting or agreeing with anything about being uneven in
any way, shape, or form in any of this stuff. We can all watch the videos and see. And
that's why I said speak through the chair. People aren't speaking through the chair.
They're not waiting to be recognized. So you can say, I didn't take control. I did as much
as I could. Yes. Thank you for -- for, you know, getting control as you did, but that
should not be necessary ever. And I'm trying to rein it in in a mature legal way right
now.
And so yeah, I think I'm happy to go talk about it in any way you want. But I'm not
happy talking about this right now because this was not agendized. And if it was, we
probably would have had a different -- we would have had people here who were
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interested in speaking about it. And I don't like doing this. And I don't want to do it. So
I think unless we have items for a future agenda -- do we have anything at this point?
We're going to adjourn.
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Having no further business, Mayor Ginny Dickey adjourned the Regular Meeting
of the Fountain Hills Town Council held on February 21, 2024, at 6:58 p.m.
ATTEST AND PREPARED BY:
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
Ginny Dickey, Mayor
Linda G. Mendenhall, Town Clerk
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the
minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the
Town Hall Council Chambers on the 21' day of February 2024. I further certify
that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 2nd_Day of April 2024.
Linda G. Mendenhall, Town Clerk