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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014.0403.TCREM.Minutesz:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 1 of 9 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND REGULAR SESSIONS OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 3, 2014 EXECUTIVE SESSION * CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kavanagh called the Executive Session to order at 5:31 p.m. in the Fountain Conference Room - 2nd Floor. AGENDA ITEM #1- ROLL CALL AND VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: PURSUANT TO A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(4), DISCUSSION OR CONSULTATION WITH THE ATTORNEYS OF THE PUBLIC BODY IN ORDER TO CONSIDER ITS POSITION AND INSTRUCT ITS ATTORNEYS REGARDING THE PUBLIC BODY'S POSITION REGARDING CONTRACTS THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF NEGOTIATIONS, IN PENDING OR CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION OR IN SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS CONDUCTED IN ORDER TO AVOID OR RESOLVE LITIGATION. (SPECIFICALLY, CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH RURAL METRO.) ROLL CALL: Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Councilmember Ginny Dickey, Councilmember Dennis Brown, Vice Mayor Cassie Hansen, and Councilmember Henry Leger. Town Manager Ken Buchanan , Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, and Town Clerk Bevelyn Bender were also present. Councilmember Yates arrived at the meeting at 5:44 p.m. and Councilmember Elkie was absent from the meeting (out of the country). Councilmember Dickey MOVED to enter into the Executive Session at 5:31 p.m. and Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present (5-0). AGENDA ITEM #2 - ADJOURNMENT. Without objection, the Executive Session adjourned at 6:20 p.m. REGULAR AGENDA * CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Kavanagh called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers * INVOCATION – Pastor Steve Bergeson, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church * ROLL CALL Present for roll call were the following members of the Town Council: Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Councilmember Ginny Dickey, Councilmember Dennis Brown, Councilmember Cecil Yates, Vice Mayor Hansen, and Councilmember Henry Leger. Town Manager Ken Buchanan, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire and Town Clerk Bevelyn Bender were also present. Councilmember Elkie was absent from the meeting (out of the country). * MAYOR’S REPORT i) Recognition of the Fountain Hills High School Girls Soccer and Basketball teams winning State Championship z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 2 of 9 Mayor Kavanagh stated that the Town of Fountain Hills would like to acknowledge and congratulate their local Girls' Varsity Soccer team and Girls Varsity Basketball team who are both Division 3 State Champions for their first tim e. She asked the coaches to stand and be recognized for their teams' accomplishments. She provided data on the teams' scoring records for the season and said that the Town could not be any prouder. The Council and members of the audience gave the members of the teams a round of applause. She stated that they are so proud of the athletic program in Fountain Hills and all its successes and wanted to take the time this evening to congratulate them. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES/PRESENTATIONS i) The Mayor may review recent events attended relating to Economic Development. Mayor Kavanagh stated that she attended the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) meeting and said that the Velocity Program that she has talked about was unveiled. She explained that the purpose of the Program is the combined effort of the business community, especially the large corporations, Arizona schools, towns and cities, to transform the Greater Phoenix economy into a global force for innovation and technology. She noted that in order to make this work, the Program must identify and deliver a cohesive K -12 STEM program aligned to the talent and needs of the new industries and, working through the community colleges, move into advanced industry careers and modernize ASU's Engineering school to be in the top five in the United States. She added that this is a very ambitious program that, if successful, will ensure high tech jobs for the future Arizona population. Mayor Kavanagh announced that the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Economic Development meeting was very interesting with the launching of interactive demographic maps that will be available for their Town to use and also the launch of a new business to business networking interactive mapping system, that will not only connect Arizona businesses to one another but also to companies in New Mexico and Canada. The Mayor commented on the GPEC's Mayor's Meetings and said that they have been re -named Leadership Council Meetings since from now on they will include a representative from the County Supervisor's office and the GPEC Board members. She noted that these meetings are more informal times for discussion among the GPEC staff and the Mayors to get more insight into the ongoing outreach to bring businesses into their State. She reported that this month's meeting centered around the implementation of the Velocity Program. CALL TO THE PUBLIC None. CONSENT AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #1 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FROM MARCH 20, 2014. AGENDA ITEM #2 - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 2014-16, APPROVING THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THE REGIONAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY RELATING TO THE TRANSIT PLANNING STUDY. AGENDA ITEM #3 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A SPECIAL EVENT LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY PAULA HATCH, REPRESENTING THE FEARLESS KITTY RESCUE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF A FUNDRAISER, SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014, FROM 6:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. AT THE EL DORADO ANIMAL HOSPITAL. AGENDA ITEM #4 - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 2014-05, APPROVING THE AMENDED AND RESTATED INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF ARIZONA RELATING TO THE LEASE OF OFFICE SPACE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS. Councilmember Yates MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda as listed and Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion. z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 3 of 9 A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Mayor Linda Kavanagh Aye Councilmember Ginny Dickey Aye Councilmember Dennis Brown Aye Councilmember Cecil Yates Aye Vice Mayor Cassie Hansen Aye Councilmember Tait Elkie Absent Councilmember Henry Leger Aye The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present (6-0). REGULAR AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #5 - CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTING ROBERT MELTON AS THE PRESIDING JUDGE FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FOR A TWO-YEAR TERM AND APPROVING AN EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT. Town Manager Ken Buchanan addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said that the Council has before them a signed agreement for consideration tonight. He briefly discussed the process that was followed to identify and select a qualified candidate to serve as the Presiding Judge for the Town of Fountain Hills . He reported that the Council has selected a candidate and the employment agreement is before them this evening for consideration. Town Clerk Bevelyn Bender advised that there were no citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. Councilmember Dickey MOVED to appoint Robert Melton as the Presiding Judge for the Town of Fountain Hills for a two-year term and to approve the employment agreement as presented and Vice Mayor Hansen SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present (6-0). Mayor Kavanagh congratulated Presiding Judge Melton on his appointment. AGENDA ITEM #6 - DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS SUBMITTED BY VALLEY METRO FOR FUTURE TRANSIT SERVICES WITHIN THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS. Town Manager Ken Buchanan addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said that Valley Metro was asked to do a study regarding future transit services within the Town and tonight representatives of Valley Metro are present to discuss the study and resulting recommendations. Mr. Abhishek Dayal, AICP, Manager, representing Valley Metro, addressed the Council and highlighted a brief PowerPoint presentation on this issue (Copy available on line and in the office of the Town Clerk). Mr. Dayal's presentation covered the following topics: * Purpose of the study * Project Task Completion Update * Previous plans and studies * Population characteristics * Service concepts evaluated and variables considered * Valley Metro RideChoice Program * Projected RideChoice travel demand * Future activities Mr. Dayal introduced two additional Valley Metro representatives present at the meeting, Ron Brooks, Manager Accessible Transit Services, and Thomas “Alec” More, Transportation/Transit Planner, and indicated his willingness to respond to any questions from the Council. z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 4 of 9 Mayor Kavanagh thanked Mr. Dayal for his presentation and said considering the amount of LTAF II money that the Town has to use, if the Town decided to go with the RideChoice program as they are recommending, would Valley Metro do a follow-up study to see how many people are eligible in Fountain Hills and then administer the program (is that how it would work?). Mr. Dayal responded yes and said there are requirements and they would have to determine how many people would actually be eligible to participate in the program. He added that the Town would actually set the subsidy amount and so the responsibility is on the user to determine how many trips they can take and how far they can go. Mayor Kavanagh said she was wondering what would happen if they had more people than money -- how that would work -- and Mr. Dayal referred the question to Mr. Brooks. Mr. Brooks addressed the Council and explained that with RideChoice, what the company typically does is market the program to groups that would be appropriate for it. He stated that to be honest, with the amount of subsidy that is available, they would probably be looking at a first come, first serve program. He noted that the numbers are based on 40, which is a really low number and if they had more people who wanted to use the service, they would have to allocate the service differently (less service per person) or they would have to limit the service based on a first come, first served basis. He added that they are talking about a pretty limited amount of subsidy for this type of service but said that the advantage of RideChoice is that it is a good service for a small number of trips -- primarily local trips because it is distance based. He advised that he would consider this to be a "safety net s ervice" and something that people could use for trips when they don't have any other means but it is probably not something that would meet all of their transportation needs. Councilmember Dickey stated that the PTF money that they get is used for the 5 14 she thinks so that is not limited to the ADA (Americans With Disabilities) or anything like that -- basically that just goes straight to the regular bus and the representatives agreed with that statement. She said should the LTAF money increase, would there be a direct increase to the Town for the amount they could use for the vouchers or would the administration charge go up also? Mr. Brooks replied that they have a contractor who administers the service and they spread the administrative costs for the program over all of the participating cities so there would not be a direct correlation. He added that the administration costs would probably not go up very much at all initially just because they are not contributing a large number of trips to the overall total. Councilmember Dickey referred to the percentage of what the Town would actually reimburse (the voucher) and said that is totally up to the Town and is that something that they would be allowed to change if for instance they found out that there were more people that wanted to do it, so they would be better off if they just did 50% or do they have to sign any kind of an agreement that lasts a long time and says for example that they would definitely subsidize 75% or would that be more flexible? Mr. Brooks advised that from Valley Metro's perspective the Intergovernmental Agreement s (IGAs) are typically annual agreements and he is not an expert on IGAs but he thinks they are subject to negotiation. He added that he thinks the bigger challenge that they have is who is their user base and what can they afford because at some point the subsidy is low enough that people cannot really afford to use it. He stated that for example if they have people who need to take a trip to Scottsdale for a medical appointment, that trip in and of itself might be a $20 or $25 dollar trip if using a taxi and they might be able to pay $6 or $7 or 25% of that but once it becomes a $12 trip out of their pockets that becomes a lot more difficult. He said that they have found that all of their cities are clustered around the 25% passenger subsidy level because that is where they found over time that the passengers are comfortable and can pay the subsidy. He added that if it is more than that it starts to become a service that a lot of people on fixed incomes can't really utilize. Mayor Kavanagh thanked Mr. Dayal and Mr. Brooks for their input. Town Clerk Bevelyn Bender advised that one citizen wished to provide input on this agenda item. z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 5 of 9 Mr. Jim Judge, a resident of Fountain Hills, addressed the Council and noted that in December of 2012 the Council agreed to have the Transportation Study done and Valley Metro said that it would take a year, which seemed to him to be an inordinate amount of time to complete this type of a study and now they are 16 months into the program and from what he is reading, they are asking for an extension (18 months). He stated that he has a hard time understanding that because there are hundreds of elderly and disabled people in Town that need help, need assistance to get to their medical appointments. He commented on the numbers he saw earlier as p art of the presentation and said he called one of the popular taxi cab companies in the Valley and their charge is a $2.95 "flag drop" (the minute a passenger steps in the cab that charge is applied) and then it is $2.25 every mile thereafter. He stated that a 15 mile each way trip, which is not uncommon when people have to go to specialists in Phoenix, North Scottsdale, etc., would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 to $80 (for the 30-mile trip) and emphasized that that would be cost prohibitive. He added that he is also disappointed because he thought that the Town was paying for a recommendation to be done by the end of December of last year with an implementation plan to begin right away. He pointed out that they are now four months into the new year and not one person has been helped or subsidized so it is time to get this thing done and get a program into place. He requested that the Council try and expedite this process and get rides for the people who need them. Mayor Kavanagh thanked Mr. Judge for his comments. Mayor Kavanagh asked how soon the LTAF funds will be made available and Mr. Buchanan responded that the Town should start collecting the money this month. Mayor Kavanagh said if the Council decided this evening to go with the RideChoice, is Valley Metro saying that that is going to take 18 months to implement? She asked the representatives for a time estimate -- how long it would take to get this thing going. Mr. Brooks responded that starting Ride Choice is probably a 30 to 60-day process and explained that they have a policy that they need to essentially flush out for Fountain Hills, they have some set up with their contractor and some outreach that needs to get done. He further stated that the bigger questions are the Council's questions -- how they want to organize the program. He noted that Valley Metro has provided the Council with some recommendations and once the Council makes a decision, Valley Metro would sit down with staff and try to determine how much subsidy they can start with for each person and then they would be looking at working with their contractor and getting them to do the set up work they need to do in order to get ready. He said that at the same time they could be doing community outreach with the Town and reach out to the people that the Town is trying to help and once they do those things they are really in a position to get started. He advised that his best estimate for implementation would be June 1st and the worst estimate would be July 1st. He reiterated that he is not an expert on IGAs so assuming that they can start without a lot of bureaucracy between the agencies they will be fine because the actual technical start up is not difficult and the hardest part is probably just the paperwork between the agencies. He said that if the Council takes action this evening, he will go back to his people tomorrow and tell them they need to get going on this. Mayor Kavanagh commented that as Mr. Brooks and the other representatives have heard, there is a l ot of concern because the process has taken so long. Councilmember Dickey asked if they would have to wait until July 1st anyway because this is not in the budget and Town Attorney Andrew McGuire responded that he does not know what is in the budget this year for this program, whether or not there is still program space, so they would have to go back and take a look at that but functionally i t sounds like they are on that path anyway (being in the budget July 1st and be ing expended). He added that there might be some option in this budget but staff would have to take a look at that. Vice Mayor Hansen advised that based on the staff report she wondered if Human Resources Administrator/Risk Manager Joan McIntosh would like to add anything at all. Mr. Buchanan interjected that staff actually has a staff recommendation that Ms. McIntosh can provide (it is actually included as part of the Staff Report). He noted that the recommendation is to go with this program. z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 6 of 9 Ms. McIntosh addressed the Council and said after meeting with the Valley Metro people the last time and seeing their final report. staff said that the obvious choice was the RideChoice Program because they can control the costs with that. She noted that the LTAF II funds that they get every year amo unts to $65,000 - $66,000 so staff's recommendation is that they would like to go with the RideChoice Program but work out the details with Valley Metro, as they talked about to get all of the fine details worked out and then go forward from there. Mayor Kavanagh thanked Ms. McIntosh for her input. There were no additional citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. Councilmember Dickey MOVED to approve the recommendation by staff of considering the RideChoice program and request that a more detailed program be brought back for further consideration that establishes an improved transit service in Fountain Hills and Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present (6-0). AGENDA ITEM #7 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF INVITATION FOR BIDS DS2014-106 WITH LOW MOUNTAIN CONSTRUCTION, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,468,334.45 FOR THE AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS MEDIAN IMPROVEMENTS. Development Services Director Paul Mood addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and highlighted the contents of a Staff report that was included in the Council's packets (Copy available on line and in the office of the Town Clerk). He reported that in January of this year, staff advertised the invitation for bids per State statutes and a mandatory bidders' conference was held on February 12th. He advised that on March 5th the Town received sealed bids from seven contractors and noted that the bids included a "base bid," owner's allowance and bid alternate "A" for a brick paver pathway in lieu of concrete, bid alternate "B" for eight shade canopies and bid alternate "C" for lighting. He informed the Council that after staff review, the bids received for the "base bid," owner's allowance and all bid alternates ranged from $1,378,000 to $1,762,000. He advised that while staff was doing their due diligence on the low bidder and checking references and the math on their bid, they received a bid protest from Low Mountain Construction, the third lowest bidder. He explained that the bid protest was that both Shea-Connelly Development (lowest bidder) and J.E. Bowen Construction (second lowest bidder) should be disqualified because they do not possess a Class A General Engineering Contractor's License, which is required by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) to perform the work. He advised that the bid protest and bid documents were submitted to the Arizona Registrar of Contractors to determine if those two companies were properly licensed to perform the work for the Avenue Median Improvements. He informed the Council that in a letter dated March 26th, the Arizona Registrar of Contractors confirmed that the two companies are not properly licensed to perform the work and it was determined that Low Mountain Construction is the lowest responsive and responsible bidder meeting the requirements for the base bid and alternates "A" (brick paver pathway), "B" (shade structures) and "C" (lighting) f or a total project cost of $1,468,334.45. He stated that staff recommends moving forward with Low Mountain Construction and indicated his willingness to respond to any questions. Councilmember Yates thanked Mr. Mood and staff for the hard work they did on this and asked him to elaborate on the term "proper licensed" -- and whether there is an ordinance with certain requirements, was it in their scope of work, or is there something that they can hang their hat on as far as saying that the licensure that the ROC was deeming as proper was mandated because in that same package there was an alternative interpretation that that type of license was not needed. Mr. Mood responded that staff did send all of the bid documents over to the ROC as well so they could review it, staff met with the Town Attorney and the Town's bid documents state that the proper licenses are required. Councilmember Yates stated that his concern is that they have a system and a process in place that almost penalizes the little guy for lack of a better term. He said that he is thrilled that the final bid is still coming in $600,000 less than what was anticipated way back when but he knows the low bid contractor on t his is a local guy. He added that he felt that the contractor had the necessary licensure to do this job and he knows that they are more than capable as was J.E. Bowen Construction and they all know they recommended J.E. Bowen on the last go around but they didn't go with them because the number was too high. He further stated that now they are going with the third lowest bidder who is z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 7 of 9 $90,000 more than the low bidder who he thinks is very capable of doing the job. He added that he just wanted to make note of that -- they realize it is what it is and they rely on the ROC for interpretation but it is just that, an interpretation. There were no speaker cards submitted to talk on this item. Councilmember Brown MOVED to approve Invitation for Bids DS2014-106 with Low Mountain Construction in the amount of $1,468,334.45 for the Avenue of the Fountains Median Improvements and Councilmember Dickey SECONDED the motion. Vice Mayor Hansen stated that she just wanted to clarify why she was voting the way she is go ing to vote and said that as she looks through the scope of work they are still losing 31 trees and that is a little heartburn for her and the extensive scope of the work to be done on the median gives her a little heartburn as well. Councilmember Leger commented that as Councilmember Yates said, this has been a long process and typically during a long process you have opportunities for a lot of feedback from a variety of folks and as they have gone through the downturn in the economy, this number just jumps off the charts -- almost $1.5 million. He advised that he thinks it is important to put out there that over the years the Town has saved money in a restricted fund for specific Downtown development use -- that is why that money is there and this is where that particular money is going to be used. He further stated that after they are done funding this project (they currently have $2.2 million saved in that account) they will still have $615,000 left in this dedicated fund (they got the price of the pro ject decreased by $600,000). He advised that there may be questions on the scope and he understands that but the majority of the costs are for infrastructure and he thinks that some of the add-ons will increase usability with respect to evening use and use during warmer weather. The motion CARRIED by majority vote of those present (5-1) with Vice Mayor Hansen voting Nay. AGENDA ITEM #8 - DISCUSSION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF RELATING TO ANY ITEM INCLUDED IN THE LEAGUE OF ARIZONA CITIES AND TOWNS WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN OR RELATING TO ANY ACTION PROPOSED OR PENDING BEFORE THE STATE LEGISLATURE. Town Manager Ken Buchanan addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said that he knows that there were some questions regarding some of the bills that are still pending, one of which is SB 1227 - the Energy Code. He advised that staff has not heard anything new on that and he tried to contact the League to find out additional information but did not receive a call back. He stated that the story is the same for the gun pre -emption bill, HB 2517, and the property values, HB 2448. He added that it is his understanding that they are still hanging out there but they haven't seen any movement on those bills. Mayor Kavanagh advised that the only thing she knows about the Energy bill is that they were looking at changing it. Councilmember Dickey stated that unless the Energy bill has morphed into something else, SB 1227 appears to be dead because it never went into a House committee. Mr. Buchanan said that that is his understanding as well. Councilmember Dickey added that HB 2517 and HB 2648 are both waiting for Rules but the Town did not take positions on them so if they do end up going to the Senate floor, passing on the Senate floor and then going to the Governor's office before the Council has a meeting again she wanted to know if anybody wou ld be opposed to them voting on those three bills -- just to put it on record that the Council opposes those bills. She pointed out that the League said that they were going to let the Town know if there was movement on them so that they would then be able to go ahead and say that the Council opposed those bills. Mayor Kavanagh stated that she thought the Council had opposed HB 2517 and Councilmember Dickey said that she doesn't remember that. z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 8 of 9 Mr. Buchanan agreed with the Mayor's comment and said that they can continue to correspond on that as it goes through the process. Councilmember Dickey further advised that she looked it up and believes they did oppose 2339, which was another gun bill but she doesn't believe she could find a place where they actually voted to oppose HB 2517. She said she could do it all in one felled swoop unless they need to know more about those bills. She added that the League is opposed to all of those bills. Mr. Buchanan advised that he would recommend that they vote on the bills. Councilmember Dickey MOVED that the Town Manager or his designee communicate with the Legislature and/or the Governor that the Fountain Hills' Town Council opposes Senate Bill 1227, House Bill 2517 and House Bill 2448 as they exist right now and Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present (6-0). AGENDA ITEM #9 - COUNCIL DISCUSSION/DIRECTION TO THE TOWN MANAGER KEN BUCHANAN. Items listed below are related only to the propriety of (i) placing such items on a future agenda for action or (ii) directing staff to conduct further research and report back to the Council. A. None. AGENDA ITEM #10 – SUMMARY OF COUNCIL REQUESTS AND REPORT ON RECENT ACTIVITIES BY THE MAYOR, INDIVIDUAL COUNCILMEMBERS AND THE TOWN MANAGER. The Mayor asked if anyone would like to report on any activities before she gives her report and there being none, she proceeded with her update. Mayor Kavanagh stated that she wanted to thank the non-profit PICO organization for once again bringing Fountain Hills the Kite Festival. She advised that it was a beautiful day to go fly a kite and the Town had a tourism table there. She thanked Grace and the many volunteers and said that they told her that they had a lot of visitors that day who picked up information on the Town. The Mayor reported that at the Kite Festival they were honored to have a visit from the Consulate General of Pakistan, Dr. Ejaz, who came in from Los Angeles to thank them for having the festival in their beautiful park and display handcrafted works from his country. She noted that the Kite Festival has also given their Town some great publicity. She advised that the PICO calendar that goes out to all its members and business affiliates, both here and abroad, featured their Town on the entire March page of the calendar. Mayor Kavanagh reported that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) had a grand opening of its new headquarters in downtown Phoenix. She pointed out that this new building now brings all of the services provided by MCSO under the same roof and provides a high tech command center that can be used by all local police in case of an emergency. She added that the building is quite impressive, built to withstand a terrorist attack. She commented that of course, with all of the modern equipment available, the Sheriff still has his old typewriter in his office. The Mayor announced that Celebrate Youth, presented by the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale, was a moving, heartwarming event featuring young students who have come out of crisis thanks to the club and now face a great future. She stated that she was honored to be a judge for their McKee branch and the Thunderbird branch of Scottsdale. Mayor Kavanagh further advised that she had the opportunity to accompany her husband, State Representative Kavanagh, to the annual T-Gen founder's event. She noted that this research institute, located in Scottsdale, has been doing incredible work through its human genome project, this year identifying 20,000 ge nes and how they work. She said that their facility focuses on rare genetic disorders that most pharmaceutical companies would not even look at because they affect only a small part of the population. She further stated that a great deal of their work is with children through the Institute's Center for Rare Childhood Disorders. She said that one of the little girls that T-Gen has z:\council packets\2014\r140417\140403m.docx Page 9 of 9 helped was at the event and there wasn't a dry eye in the house to see her smiling and healthy. She reported that their research also deals with brain tumors alzheimers and other cancers. Mayor Kavanagh stated that if anyone has never heard the Town's school Jazz Band then they have missed out on a great experience. She advised that the band boosters held their annual fundraiser, Jazz Under the Stars, at WeKoPa and the music was awesome and made everyone feel very proud to see the great talent and dedication of the students to their music. The Mayor said last, but certainly not least by any means, she wanted to thank Heather Ware and Mike Ciccarone and al the volunteers who helped out at the volunteer reception. She stated that this is an annual even t whereby the Town says "thank you" for your service to their community and it was a really fun event. AGENDA ITEM #13 - ADJOURNMENT. Councilmember Yates MOVED to adjourn the Regular Council meeting and Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present (6-0). The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By _______________________________ Linda M. Kavanagh, Mayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: _________________________ Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Executive and Regular Sessions held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Fountain Conference Room - 2nd Floor (Executive) and Town Hall Council Chambers (Regular) on the 3rd day of April, 2014. I further certify that the meetings were duly called and that quorums were present. DATED this 17th day of April, 2014. _____________________________ Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk