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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014.1120.TCRM.Minutesz:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 1 of 20 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL NOVEMBER 20, 2014 * 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 Dan Scruggs from North Chapel Church * ROLL CALL Present for roll call were the following members of the Town Council: Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Councilmember Ginny Dickey, Councilmember Dennis Brown, Vice Mayor Cecil Yates, Councilmember Cassie Hansen, Councilmember Tait Elkie and Councilmember Henry Leger. Town Manager Ken Buchanan, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire and Town Clerk Bevelyn Bender were also present. * MAYOR’S REPORT i) None. * SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES/PRESENTATIONS i) The Mayor may review recent events attended relating to economic development. Mayor Kavanagh said that it was a great honor to present Roy Kinsey with a plaque from the Town at the dedication and opening of their Preserve Trail named after Mr. Kinsey and Mr. Andrews, his counterpart in Scottsdale. She noted that Roy has worked tirelessly over many years to secure this beautiful Preserve for them and future generations to enjoy and they are so grateful for Roy’s vision and perseverance and hope that soon they will be able to build their trailhead and have real access to the Preserve. The Mayor reported that she attended an event featuring Hugh Hewett and legislative leaders, which dealt with issues related to the upcoming session. She added that as a new member of the League Executive Committee, it gave her some good insight into how a few of the important issues will be handled. She said that she and Town Manager Ken Buchanan had a good meeting with representatives from Epcor and noted that present were the new vice president, the community relations representative, and the operati ons supervisor. She stated that again they laid out all the issues that many residents are having concerning excessive volume use and overcharges and Epcor promised to look into each complaint. She added that they will make sure they do. She further stated that it was an honor to be the keynote speaker at the Veteran’s Day Ceremony and reported that her talk was on the history of women in the military from the revolutionary war to the present. She advised that it was great seeing such a huge crowd attending the event. She noted that she attended two ribbon cuttings, 360 Physical Therapy and McDowell Mountain Cycle and attended the dedication of the school Learning Center to honor Joanne Meehan, past superintendent of schools. The Mayor thanked Nick DePorter for his invitation to visit De Colores, a domestic violence shelter in Phoenix and explained that they are doing great work helping women and families to not only keep them safe but give them training so they can live independent lives. She said that she attended a reception and opening of an exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum and used the opportunity to network with others who attended including legislators. She advised that as a member of the School Coalition keeping their kids off alcohol and drugs, she attended a very informative session with Dr. Stephen Dewey, a leading authority on brain science and substance abuse and pointed out that many in the community also attended. She further stated that she attended her first League of AZ Cities and Town’s Executive Committee meeting and said it was very interesting and informative. She said that she is very anxious to get started with the new legislative session. She reported that the Chamber Fair was here this weekend and it looked like a big success -- there were very large crowds, the weather was perfect, and everything seemed to be running smoothly. The Mayor stated that lastly, she spent a lot of time this weekend speaking to, meeting with and exchanging emails with people of faith, Town religious leaders, religious freedom advocates and other citizens who were justifiably upset about the Council placing on the agenda for action an anti-discrimination ordinance or policy covering gays, lesbians, z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 2 of 20 bisexuals, and transgendered people. She advised that she personally coordinated with about a dozen of their religious leaders, ordinary citizens and representatives from the Center for Arizona Policy and the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization dedicated to defending religious freedom. She said that she should add that thanks to everyone’s quick action that item is not on tonight’s agenda; they apparently convinced enough of the other Council members who placed the item on the agenda to remove it. Councilmember Elkie asked whether this was an agenda item and the Mayor advised that this was part of her report and Town Attorney McGuire interjected “related to Economic Development” to which the Mayor responded, “exactly.” Councilmember Dickey stated that she didn't understand why the Mayor was talking about this and Mayor Kavanagh explained that this was her report and in her report she is putting her actions of the last week in and these were her actions of the last week. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire stated issues that relate to economic development is what was agendized so they need to make sure that they stick to that agenda item. The Mayor responded that it is also a combination of her activities and economic development. She stated that she guessed no one wanted to hear what she did because no one wants her to say what happened -- everybody knows what happened at the last meeting, there's no reason why she can't reiterate it in her report. Councilmember Elkie made a comment at this time and the Mayor advised that he was out of order and she was doing her report. Councilmember Elkie stated that he would like an opinion. The Mayor went on to say that just to set the record straight for all those who called her after The Times article, Councilman Yates and she were the two who voted against this. ii) Recognition of retiring Strategic Planning Advisory Commissioners Audra Koe ster-Thomas, Nick DePorter and Alan Magazine for their service to the Town of Fountain Hills. Mayor Kavanagh advised that Audra Koester-Thomas served on the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission from May 2, 2008 to November 5, 2014. She was Chair of the Commission for over thr ee years, from March of 2009 until July of 2012, during which time she led the update to the Strategic Plan that as adopted by the Town Council on May 20, 2010. Strategic Plan 2010 was built on the contributions of citizens and stakeholders and involved over 80 total meetings, feedback from over 2,000 residents, approximately 1,500 volunteer hours and the project came in 97% under budget. She added that Audra's expertise in strategic Planning was relied upon heavily by the two subsequent SPAC Chairs. Mayor Kavanagh stated that Nick DePorter served on the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission from July 1, 2011 to September 16, 2014, when he resigned after his election to the Town Council. He was Chair from July of 2012 to August of 2013. During his Chairmanship, Strategic Plan 2010 was revised to include three new Strategic Directions and, at the request of Council, SPAC also developed recommendations on Short-Term Priorities for Targeted Industry Sectors for the Town's Economic Development Plan. Alan Magazine served on the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission from March 5, 2009 to September 16, 2014. He served as Chair from August of 2013 to September of 2014, when he resigned after being elected to the Town Council. During his term as Chair, SPAC continued to focus on implementation strategies for the Town's Economic Development Plan and the Commission prioritized the Short-Term Objectives of the Economic Development Matrix. Mayor Kavanagh requested that Ms. Koester-Thomas, Mr. DePorter and Mr. Magazine approach the podium and she presented them with plaques in recognition of their hard work and service to the entire community [applause from the audience occurred]. z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 3 of 20 iii) Recognition of retiring Planning and Zoning Commissioners Eugene Slechta, Angela Strohan and Steven Harris for their service to the Town. Mayor Kavanagh advised that Angela Strohan served on the Planning and Zoning commission from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2014. Ms. Strohan was appointed by the Commissioners to serve as Vice-Chairman from February 2013 until February 2014. Ms. Strohan was a very valuable member of the Planning and Zoning Commission and served with pride for the residents of the community. Mayor Kavanagh stated that Eugene Slechta served as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner from November 3, 2011 until September 30, 2014. She added that he was a very active Commissioner and contributed time and dedication to various issues brought before the Commission that required skillful decision making. Mayor Kavanagh said that Steven Harris served as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner from October 1, 2012 until October 30, 2014, when he decided to move closer to family and out of state. Mr. Harris served the community and they appreciate all that he has contributed. Mr. Slechta and Mr. Harris were not present in the audience and the Mayor requested that Ms. Strohan approach the podium where she was presented with a plaque in honor of her excellent service to the Town [applause from the audience occurred]. Mayor Kavanagh commented on the numerous volunteer hours the above Strategic Planning Advisory Commission and Planning and Zoning Commissioners put in to benefit the Town of Fountain Hills. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Neville Verster addressed the Council and said that he has been a resident of the Town for the last 25 years. He commended Mayor Kavanagh and Vice Mayor Yates on the courage and strength that they took to stand for the community. He stated that they did a noble thing and they as the community thank them. He also thanked the Mayor for demonstrating the courage to speak her agenda this evening, which they as the public actually did want to hear and he thanked her for completing it. He advised that he was present to speak about the anti-discrimination or as he would much have preferred to have seen it because that is another one of those things that have been co -opted by the left -- this is not anti-discrimination, it is actually freedom from coercion and that is how he would have preferred to have seen it named because this is a coercive attempt. He added that this is not an unknown thing -- they are seeing this throughout the country and he thinks everyone seated at this platform sees and knows what is happening not just in Arizona but throughout the rest of the country and the world. He noted that the benign language that they see that was listed in the ordinance is not benign in the slightest; it is actually language that has significant results for the Christian community particularly. He reported that there are a plethora of lawsuits that are destroying good mom and pop businesses as a result of these insidious laws, these ordinances. He advised that in a letter he wrote to The Times he listed many of these particular cases and strongly urged the Co uncil when they do their research to look into a manuscript put out by the Alliance Defending Freedom called Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Issues and sa id it lists numerous cases of good business men and women, Christians, who have been completely put out of business, have significant lawsuits affecting them and why -- what is the common reason? He stated that the common reason is that they believe in God and that their relationship with God trumps the relationship with the State. He read two brief portions of the manuscript and noted that their country was founded on religious freedom by people who escaped the tyranny of government dictatorship with regard to religious freedom and stated that they cannot forget that. He added that they as believers cannot subordinate and subjugate their religious conscious, their freedom and their liberties before God to sacrifice at the altar of the homosexual community. He once again urged the Council to study for themselves and anyone else and stated it is a significant document that will protect them when the times does come because that knock, knock, knock on the door is not little red riding hood, it is a homosexual couple that is about to destroy their lives. He added that they don't have any hate towards homosexuals; quite the contrary, they love people and recognize that they are all sinners under God and so it is that desire for people to treat each other decently [applause from the audience occurred]. Justin Erickson addressed the Council and said that he is a local church pastor in Town and a resident. He thanked the Council for the significant role, which is often difficult, that they play in providing the Town with their leadership that is both safe and enjoyable. He noted that the bible actually tells the people to honor them, submit to them and honor z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 4 of 20 them which they do with great frequency and joy. He pointed out that the bible calls them (the Council) ministers too and read a brief portion of the bible from Romans 13. He advised that they are in the position of ministers in the Town to restrain evil and that is his role too but although their roles as ministers might differ quite significantly, they restra in evil and promote what is good, use legislation and law enforcement and he uses the bible. He expressed the opinion that depravity is catching up with democracy and said he and his church, Harvest Bible Chapel, are ready to proclaim and defend those things where God has clarity and authority and to also support the Council and come along side them in their efforts to do what is right [applause from the audience occurred]. Mayor Kavanagh thanked the speakers for their comments. Councilmember Elkie advised that he would like to respond to criticism in this Call to the Public session if there are no other speaker cards. Town Clerk Bevelyn Bender confirmed that there were no additional citizens wishing to speak under this agenda item. Councilmember Elkie said that he thinks it's important, this matter relating to .... and he wants to respond to the Mayor's comments ..... this matter relating to what two wonderful speakers just came up and spoke on. He stated that anyone who did not see the last Council meeting he would encourage them to go and watch the ent ire meeting and not listen necessarily to what their neighbor, friends, anyone is telling them -- watch the entire meeting themselves, listen to what this Council said and those Councilmembers that voted to discuss the issue. He added that if they listen to everything that was said by him and his fellow Councilmembers, they will see that there was no desire there whatsoever to have a Town ordinance on this issue. He noted that each Councilmember that spoke that voted in favor of a discussion on this issue questioned whether or not that was something that could be financially .... frankly, whether it was right for the Town. He advised that if they listen to everything that everyone said there was no desire or intention whatsoever to have a Town ordinance. He commented that unfortunately this has been very overblown, it's been co-opted for political purposes he believes and frankly there never ever in his mind was going to be an ordinance in this Town as was sought or as was agendized. He said they will re call that there was to be discussion about an ordinance, a unity pledge -- something to say that the Town of Fountain Hills is open to everyone regardless of their race, gender, religious beliefs or sexual orientation -- that is all that it was and it was nothing more than that. He added that he certainly appreciates everyone's interest in this but he will not sit here and allow it to be misconstrued as to what they discussed. He noted that they have five elected Councilmembers who voted in favor of discu ssing it, that was it, and if they watch the entire meeting they will see that there was no intention or desire. He advised that he spoke out, Councilmember Brown spoke out, Councilmember Leger, Councilmember Hansen and they all said an ordinance probably is not good for the Town; it's something that should be done on a different level. He stated that he wanted to be very clear about that and respond to the Mayor's criticism that she and Vice Mayor Yates were the only ones who voted against it -- there was no vote to do anything other than discuss -- that was it, nothing more. Mayor Kavanagh advised that she begged to differ, there was a vote to pass it along or not to do anything at all and Councilmember Yates and she voted not to pass it along because they didn't think anything was good for this Town and so they did vote and the vote was 5 to 2 [applause from the audience occurred]. She said they vote however they want to vote and then they stand behind their vote and she doesn't mind being the only vote or the only vote of two, she stands behind her vote and that's it. Councilmember Elkie pointed out that anyone can go back and look at the minutes, she can't misconstrue what people are saying and Mayor Kavanagh stated that she knows that a lot of people who are in the audience did watch the entire video and read the newspaper, they read the article from The Times and then she started to get the phone calls and the emails and that is how this all happened. She questioned whether everybody misinterpreted it and Town Attorney McGuire stated they were “way off” the agenda. The Mayor asked whether she could continue on to the Consent Agenda and the Town Attorney said yes. z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 5 of 20 CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Dickey interjected that she wanted to remove Agenda Item #1 (Approval of Council Meeting Minutes) from the Consent Agenda and Councilmember Elkie seconded. Mayor Kavanagh asked for a roll call vote on the question of removing the minutes from the consent agenda. Mr. McGuire concurred with Councilmembers’ comments that a motion/vote was not required. Mayor Kavanagh requested a motion on the other three consent agenda items (items 2, 3, and 4) to approve as listed. AGENDA ITEM #1 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 6, 2014. AGENDA ITEM #2 - CONSIDERATION FOR APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 2014-46, ABANDONING WHATEVER RIGHT, TITLE OR INTEREST THE TOWN HAS IN PORTIO NS OF CERTAIN PUBLIC UTILITY AND DRAINAGE EASEMENTS LOCATED AT THE REAR PROPERTY LINE OF PLAT 605D, BLOCK 1, LOT 5 (15278 E. MUSTANG DRIVE) AS RECORDED IN BOOK 164 OF MAPS, PAGE 15, RECORDS OF MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA. EA2014-09 (WREN) AGENDA ITEM #3 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY TIMOTHY RYAN SCIUTTO, OWNER/AGENT OF SCUITTO5 LLC DBA DC BAR AND GRILL/DESERT CANYON GOLF CLUB LOCATED AT 10440 N. INDIAN WELLS DRIVE, FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ. THIS IS FOR A SERIES 7, BEER AND WINE BAR AND SERIES 12, RESTAURANT. AGENDA ITEM #4 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY DOUGLAS FRANK KOCH, OWNER/AGENT OF QK, INC., DBA DENNY'S, LOCATED AT 17053 E. SHEA BOULEVARD, FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ. THIS IS FOR A SERIES 12, RESTAURANT. Councilmember Yates MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda (consisting of Items 2, 3, and 4) and Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Mayor Linda Kavanagh Aye Councilmember Ginny Dickey Aye Councilmember Dennis Brown Aye Vice Mayor Cecil Yates Aye Councilmember Cassie Hansen Aye Councilmember Tait Elkie Aye Councilmember Henry Leger Aye The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). Mayor Kavanagh indicated that the minutes now become Agenda item #1: REGULAR AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #1 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 6, 2014. Councilmember Dickey advised that she would like to look at the minutes so that before they approve them they are aware of what is in them, which of course they do get a look at beforehand so they have a chance. She said that she thinks the minutes are fine, she just wanted to reiterate what was said, including by her, at the meeting -- it wasn't just you folks because they all spoke up and that was good knowledge and so part of her actual remarks that she put together before she came said, “That any action would be determined with ample opportunities for input and review by the public and the Council in order to customize it for Fountain Hills, including any budgetary issues.” She added that then Councilmember Leger said among other things, "this gives us all the latitude to actually drill down and research z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 6 of 20 the policies that are out there (150 other cities and such) and look at the possibility and the probability of implementing one." She noted that he invited each and every one of the members of the audience to do that as well and said that "that this was a very complex issue." She advised that at the end she said she "appreciated what Councilmember Leger was doing, keeping it open, because they don't know what will be presented but it provides an opportunity to get information and try to make it acceptable or not and an opportunity to look at it in a thorough way -- it opens it up but it doesn't force them into doing anything because they don't even really know what it will look like yet." She noted that the other part of these minutes indicate that there was no intention to bring this b ack as an ordinance or to bring it back anytime soon. She said that also included in the minutes is the fact that there were many people there and a petition and all those kind of things so if they want to weigh back and forth, there is plenty of constitu ent influence and input that they look at but these minutes show that there was no intention to bring this back and in fact they spoke several times about how much more information they would need before they could discuss it. She advised that she goes along with what Councilmember Elkie said -- there was no indication that they would ever bring an ordinance back and the motion never had the word ordinance in it. She stated that before they approve their minutes she wanted to bring up to them what was actually in the minutes. Mayor Kavanagh commented that to Councilmember Dickey's point that she didn't want it to come back, she is completely puzzled by that because she has an email from Councilmember Dickey .... At this point Mr. McGuire interjected that they should stay with the minutes item and expressed the opinion that they are already straying and the Mayor said if Councilmember Dickey is going to say that this was entire misinterpreted.... Mr. McGuire stated that it is not for discussion on it, it is just a recitation of the minutes. He added that they don't want to get into Open Meeting Law violation territory. The Mayor called for a motion to accept the minutes. Councilmember Brown MOVED to accept the minutes and Councilmember Hansen SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). AGENDA ITEM #5 - CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTING TWO DONATED SCULPTURES TITLED, "FATHER SKY" AND "MOTHER EARTH" FOR PLACEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY CENTER. Community Services Director Mark Mayer addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and noted that the two pieces are made of alabaster and were created by Navajo artist Alvin Marshall and are being donated by local resident Virginia Madek. He noted that the Public Art Committee is requesting that the Town agree to accept and place them on public display in the lobby of the Community Center and advised that the pieces are valued at $14,500. He said that staff is also recommending acceptance of the pieces and their placement as recommended. He indicated his willingness to respond to any questions from the Council. In response to a question from Mayor Kavanagh, Mr. Mayer confirmed that the pieces of sculpture will be placed on half-sized pedestals and he referred to a site map and showed the proposed location for the sculptures. Councilmember Leger advised that he continues to hear from people who think that the Town is wasting money on all of this artwork that is throughout Fountain Hills because there are significant other needs and they question spending the money on art when there are roads to repair, ballparks to turf, etc. He stated that given they have a nice crowd present this evening and they are on television, he asked Mr. Mayer to briefly go over how this operates, what the Town's role is and who is paying for the tremendous art that is housed throughout the Town. Mr. Mayer explained that the Town has two major ways to acquire art pieces -- a vast majority of them are donated outright by people such as this. He said that in the case of a donation, the Town receives the item and places it, typically they have not incurred any other costs other than cleaning the sculptures on a monthly basis (soap, water and volunteers) and they insure the pieces (the cost to insure these pieces for a year will be $62.35) -- pennies on the dollar. He added that they also acquire artwork through the 1% that is paid by developers and set aside in a fund so that if the Town does see a piece that can be acquired by that means they can purchase it (money raised specifica lly for public art). z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 7 of 20 Councilmember Leger MOVED to accept the donated sculptures "Father Sky" and "Mother Earth" for placement in the Community Center and Councilmember Elkie SECONDED the motion. Mayor Kavanagh expressed appreciation to Ms. Madek and advised that she knows her very well. She said that they are very grateful for her donation to the Town. The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). AGENDA ITEM #6 - CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTING THE INVITATION FOR BIDS 2015-102 WITH NESBITT CONTRACTING CO., INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $6,770,217.53 FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAGUARO BOULEVARD RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT. Community Services Director Paul Mood addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and noted that this is the construction contract for the Saguaro Boulevard reconstruction project and added that once the design plans were finished staff publicly bid the project per Arizona State Statute requirements. He reported that on October 22nd they received 11 bids ranging from $6,770,217.53 from Nesbitt Contracting all the way up to approximately $8.5 million. He noted that the Nesbitt bid for the project includes approximately $6,421,000 for Saguaro (the amount of construction associated with the bond) and added that there was also a portion for the traffic control signal at Palisades, approximately $350,000 and that will be paid through the Town's Capital Improvement Fund. He added that with approval of the contract tonight, staff was anticipating an early January Notice to Proceed; however, they have had a pretty long, drawn out process with Salt River Project (SRP) and prior rights to get all of their underground facilities relocated in the Saguaro intersection. He advised that staff has gotten all of that ironed out and will be bringing a contract back to Council to pay for the relocation of the SRP facilities at the December 18th meeting. He said that staff is anticipating a late January early February start date so that they can get SRP in there because one of the first things the contractor wants to do is get into that intersection because that is where the majority of the work is (where all the underground work is). Councilmember Leger commented that the Town bonded for and the citizens approved $8.2 million and asked what the project is going to cost at the end of the day. Mr. Mood stated that this is a finance question and asked the Town Manager to correct him if he was wrong but they have roughly $6.4 to $6.5 million in construction and they are going to have close to another $900,000 in design and construction management and $150,000 to $200,000 in SRP relocations and some costs have been incurred already with the attorneys reviewing the plans and acquiring some easements and he believes there is an approximate $100,000 cost to actually issue the bonds. He advised that he believes the amount the Council will see coming forward is in the $7.6 million range. Councilmember Leger pointed out that that is less than the amount that was requested when they went out for the bond. Councilmember Hansen asked whether consideration was given to any type of lighting when they were looking at the intersection of The Avenue and Saguaro and Mr. Mood responded no, that wasn't in the scope and he believes that when they brought the project to Council before it was just to fix the road, they didn't propose any new sidewalk, lighting, crosswalks, etc. Councilmember Hansen advised that this is one of the things that come to mind every time they have an event and people crossing at that intersection between the park and the west side of Saguaro and now with the lights on in The Plaza, illuminating the area, she would like to know if it would be possible at all to add just a couple of those same lights (a light on each one of the median extensions). Mr. Mood responded no and noted that in order to do that they would incur design costs, SRP costs, pole costs and stated that the original Saguaro proposal had those lights through the Downtown area on Saguaro but also pointed out that they were taken out of the scope by Council. Councilmember Hansen expressed the opinion that it became more visual when the lights were turned on at The Plaza. z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 8 of 20 Vice Mayor Yates stated that to Councilmember Hansen's point, since they are roughly $500,000 below, they don't want to change the scope but questioned whether lighting could be an add on. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire informed the Council that the bond issue will be coming back before them at their first meeting in December and that amount is fixed. Mayor Kavanagh referred to the fountain at the end and stated that that is going to be lit up. Mr. Mood advised that it will be similar to the fountain on the west side of Verde River but instead of one drop it will be a multiple drop -- he believes there will be three pools. Mayor Kavanagh asked if that would generate any kind of light and Mr. Mood noted that they will have the site walls and the columns with the small lights on top but that will be set back from the intersection. Councilmember Elkie questioned whether any representatives from Nesbitt were present in the audience and Mr. Mood replied that he didn't believe so. Councilmember Elkie requested that Mr. Mood provide some background information on Nesbitt and asked whether the Town has used them before. Mr. Mood informed the Council that the company did the Town's mill and overlay on Shea (the west end) last year and they did some asphalt replacement in Zones 6 and 7. He added that they are currently working out on Shea and that is why the Town got a very good price from them. Mr. Mood confirmed that staff has found the company to be very responsive so far. Councilmember Leger pointed out that now that the Avenue of the Fountains Plaza has been completed, they w ill have a balance in the Downtown Development Fund (dedicated specifically for Downtown improvements) so when they budget for 2015-16 perhaps the lighting referred to by Councilmember Hansen can be discussed. Councilmember Elkie MOVED to approve Invitation for Bids DS2015-102 with Nesbitt Contracting Co., Inc., in the amount of $6,770,217.53 for the construction of the Saguaro Boulevard Reconstruction project. There were no citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. Councilmember Brown SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). AGENDA ITEM #7 - DISCUSSION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING PROJECT APPROVALS FOR THE SALT RIVER PROJECT MUNICIPAL AESTHETICS FUND. Town Engineer Randy Harrel addressed the Council relative to this agen da item and said that staff is seeking Council input and direction regarding project approvals for the Salt River Project (SRP) Municipal Aesthetics Fund (MAF). He highlighted a PowerPoint presentation on this item (Copy available on line and in the office of the Town Clerk) and discussed the following: * Substations * Undergrounding * Typical Wiring * Adero Canyon * Smart Router Faux Saguaros * Shea Multi-Use Path * Shea Beeline - Before & After * Palisades - Before & After * Caliente Wash - Before & After * SRP MAF Potential Projects * SRP MAF Project Priorities Mr. Harrel reported that available funds are $1,773,000+ and the available At -Risk funds are $1,573,000+ and indicated his willingness to respond to any questions from the Council. z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 9 of 20 Mayor Kavanagh advised that she already received one telephone call from a resident asking why they are spending $1 million so she wanted to clarify that this is money that SRP gives the Town every year that they bank and use f or aesthetic purposes for anything related to SRP ($100,000 a year). Mr. Harrel noted that the Town doesn't actually see the money; SRP puts it into a pot in the Town's name. Vice Mayor Yates stated to be clear, the At-Risk number versus the Budget number -- they need to spend $1.5 million otherwise they lose that and the fact that they are using less than the available funds does not mean that the Town will lose the difference ($60,000). Mr. Harrel concurred with the Vice Mayor's comments and explained that the Town can carry $300,000 in that fund. Councilmember Elkie said with respect to #3 in the suggested motion regarding undergrounding at Shea, he would like to know whether staff has had any discussion/coordination with Streets because he knows there are a lot of street improvements going on. Mr. Harrel responded that staff mentioned to the contractor that there may be an SRP project coming up and actually the SRP proposal is that they will do a bore as opposed to an open cut (one side of the street to the other without cutting). Mr. Harrell said if they can get it authorized and it is possible to work it into the Shea project that might happen -- they may open cut it and save a lot of money but that remains to be seen. There were no citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. Councilmember Elkie MOVED to direct staff to authorize the work in SRP-MAF Conceptual Estimates #1 (Faux Saguaros), #5 (Scottsdale "Swap"), and #3 (Underground at Shea; three span option), when feasible; with Projects #4 (Underground at Palisades; single span option) and #6 (Underground at Caliente Wash) as alternates, if needed, or when adequate future funding is available and Vice Mayor Yates SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). AGENDA ITEM #8 - DISCUSSION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF RELATING TO A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR A SOLAR SERVICES AGREEMENT. Town Manager Ken Buchanan addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said as directed by the Council, staff further researched possible procurement processes to secure pricing with a qualified firm to provide a privately- owned solar photovoltaic energy system at Cutillo Plaza. He added that due to the complexity of this type of project it is necessary to seek proposals that would address the various Town Council questions and concerns regarding a solar services agreement. He noted that a draft of the Request for Proposals (RFP) is in the Council's packets for consideration and advised that an RFP is needed in order to discuss all of the issues and parameters associated with such a project and bring it back to the Council for further discussion and consideration. He added that staff recommends that the Council approve moving forward with the RFP. Mayor Kavanagh asked whether Salt River Project (SRP) was going to be involved in this since they offered to help and look at any project the Town was interested in (run the numbers) and Mr. Buchanan confirmed that they will be involved. Mayor Kavanagh noted that Safeway is putting up this type of solar over their parking lot and stated that she would like the residents to take a look at what it looks like because that's an important part of doing this project. She said they should see if they like the way it looks because they spend a lot of money trying to make their Town look like desert so they should take a very good look at that because it has an industrial steel and glass look and she would like to hear from the residents as to whether they would like to see that type of a structure over the ir entire parking lot in Cutillo Plaza and the part where the police park. She added that she wonders if they could include this in that because she thinks it is very important to hear from the residents about the aesthetics as well and not just about the bottom line numbers. She asked Mr. Buchanan if they could do that and he asked in what manner. She replied that she is not sure in what manner but she is sure that people will call her and she is sure that The Times will eventually run a survey but z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 10 of 20 she would like to somehow incorporate residents' opinions in that because it is a big change in what that whole area looks like. Councilmember Elkie commented that he thinks it is a little premature to ask what the residents would like without the Council even knowing what it would look like to begin with as that is the purpose of the RFP. He added that they certainly want resident input on everything and they often hear from residents through email, phone calls and the Mayor has brought in and read emails she received from residents as well. He noted that they do hear from them so he thinks it is important to see what they are talking about first because they don't know what it is going to look like and whether it will look like what Safeway, Mesa or Tempe have. He stated that he thinks it would be a little unfair to invite comments at this stage without having some type of conceptual idea. He pointed out that that has been done in the past as far as the Town Hall, the Community Center and different things so he thinks having something to discuss first would be best. Vice Mayor Yates pointed out that along with the RFP they will receive some renderings and obviously at the will of the Council they could take those and put them out there and have an open house of some sort before they vote on anything (part of the package does include some renderings). Councilmember Leger said that he has been on Council for some time now and he doesn't think that a lack of feedbac k is something that he is familiar with when it comes to doing any type of project as evidenced by the topic they started out with this evening regarding discrimination/non-discrimination. He reported that his email was full and over the years his email has been filled with controversial issues as well as non-controversial issues so he believes that the feedback will flow forward. He further stated that he is definitely in favor of going out and looking at the RFP -- it's kind of like saying, "Let's have a discussion about having a discussion" and it's a very similar thing, they don't know unless they have the discussion and this is government and it is open government and in open government they have discussions and this is something he believes they should have a discussion on. He added that he thinks they need to weigh the pros and the cons regarding the aesthetics because aesthetics are extremely subjective. He said that he is in favor of going out for an RFP because first and foremost it provides an opportunity for cost savings and if anyone in this room is familiar with the Town's revenue and its budget anytime they can save money it is extremely important for this Town and their residents. He stated that secondly he sees it as a shade amenity for t he uses of their Community Center for their residents during the summer as well as their staff. He said last but not least it is his understanding from talking to the Town's Environmental Supervisor that these shade structures would be lit and if anyone s pends any time at the Community Center or at Town Hall as they leave this evening, it is extremely dark out there and it adds an element of enhanced public safety. He added that he thinks it is worth moving forward with an RFP and he is in favor of that. Councilmember Dickey MOVED to proceed with the Request for Proposals for a Solar Photovoltaic energy system for Cutillo Plaza and Councilmember Hansen SECONDED the motion. There were no citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). AGENDA ITEM #9 - CONSIDERATION WITH POSSIBLE COUNCIL DIRECTION REGARDING THE INITIATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL FEE. Town Manager Ken Buchanan addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and stated that Council requested that staff provide further information regarding instituting a possible fee to assist in the Federally mandated Storm Water Management program and other associated environmental programs. He said that in addition, staff was to investigate the possibility of partnering with an interested entity (Chaparral City Water Company or the Fountain Hills Sanitary District) to assist with the billing or for the Town of Fountain Hills conduct an "in-house" billing program. He briefly reviewed the contents of a report submitted to the Council (Copy available on line and in the office of the Town Clerk) and stated that the report is basically the same as what he provided last time except for areas of the billing assistance -- there was some cooperation but as he explained in his report those are cumbersome and if they worked with Chaparral Water they would have to go back to the Arizona Corporation Commission to even get approval for them to assist the Town and even think about billing. He added that the Sanitary District said no and they talked with Republic Services and they were interested too but they don't provide billing to all of the parcels, they only do residential in the Town so z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 11 of 20 that would be inconsistent. He commented that with respect to the billing part of it his recommendation would be to keep it in-house should the Council want to consider this measure. Mr. Buchanan further stated that it all stems from what they call the MS4 Requirements. He noted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required municipalities to administer a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer (MS4) Permit under the U.S. Clean Water Act. He reported that currently the Town of Fountain Hills has an MS4 approved permit until June of 2015 at which time it will have to be renewed. He reported that there are ongoing discussions with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) for a new MS4 Permit that will result in additional responsibilities being placed on the Town from ADEQ that will only increase administrative processes and associat ed costs with building permits involving flood control mitigation measures. He informed the Council that the MS4 Permit currently requires activities that include: * Public Education * Public Participation and Involvement * Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination * Construction Site Runoff Control * Post-Construction Runoff Control * Pollution Prevention Mr. Buchanan advised that a lot of the activities that the Council is seeing now on construction projects (straw bales protecting the scuppers from drainage) are measures that are required and also the Town is required to monitor any construction project that could have potential runoff into the waters of the United States. He added that activities also include: * Street Sweeping * Storm Drain & Culvert Inspection/Cleaning * Drainage Parcel Inspection * On-call Storm Debris Clean-Up * Household Hazardous Waste Collection * Wash Maintenance * ADWR (Arizona Department of Water Resources) Dam Inspection & Maintenance * Illegal Dumping Costs * ADEQ Storm Water Permits and Associated Costs * Water Discharge Permits for use of effluent on Municipal Parks Costs * Maricopa County Dust Control Permit and Associated Costs Mr. Buchanan reported that currently those impacts within their 22 square miles of corporate limits include: * 73,200 linear feet of storm drains, culverts and channels * 1.9 million linear feet of curb and gutter * 177 miles of streets o Sweeping required once every two months for residential streets o Arterial streets are on a once every three weeks cycle o 407 catch basins where 25 are inspected annually o 700 acres of Town-owned washes Clean 60 to 100 acres a year o Six Town-owned dams designed by ADWR Mr. Buchanan further advised that in the 2014-15 Annual Budget, the Town has absorbed $323,000 from existing funds toward the various required programs to adhere to the Storm Water Management Plan as well as Air Quality mitigation measures with monthly street sweeping. He stated that there is an estimate of another $205,000 in ot her projects totaling an estimated $478,000, such as Household Hazardous Waste Collection, which has gone unbudgeted. He said that to administer a collection system will cost $80,000 to develop the software and training as well as an additional $20,000 annually to bill semi-annually (semi-annual billing would be his recommendation should the Council consider doing this). He reported that over the past five -year period (2008 to 2014) the Town has spent $1,194,158 administering the above mentioned required programs. He noted that expenditures to date have not kept up z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 12 of 20 with the demand for proper maintenance of the above mentioned required Storm Water Management facilities/amenities. He added that given the fact that there are 13,000 parcels of land in Town, in order to adequately fund the above-mentioned programs it will require a $3.00 per month assessment to fund 95% of the Environmental Program Costs. Mr. Buchanan informed the Council that there was also discussion concerning any potential capital projects that might be required. He stated that the numbers in the past Capital Improvement Program are dated estimates ($7.9 million was needed to look at some Storm Water Management mitigation projects) and noted that an Environmental Fee is not a feasible funding instrument to address this type of capital funding need. He reiterated his earlier comments about a billing strategy (Fountain Hills Sanitary District's Governing Board declined assistance; Chaparral City Water Company: EPCOR would be required to receive permission from the Arizona Corporation Commission to assist in a billing process, too cumbersome a process; Republic Services: Does not bill all parcels in Fountain Hills and an "In - House" billing process is recommended and would cost an estimated $80,000 to initiate a utility billing software system and associated equipment added to the existing Munis Software System the Town currently utilizes). It will take an estimated four to six months of both installation of the utility module software to th e current software system plus additional user training. It is also estimated that up to $10,000 per billing cycle will be required for postage and handling. A semi-annual billing cycle is recommended as far as instituting an Environmental Fee. Mayor Kavanagh asked what in-house billing would entail (what if someone doesn't pay the bill, how do they proceed) and Mr. Buchanan advised that there is a collection process that would have to be initiated and that would be farmed out to a collection agency. He said that for them to do a Town like Fountain Hills, it would have to be worth their while. Mayor Kavanagh advised that she is not in favor of this and, as she said before, it is not a fee it is a tax. She stated that everyone has gotten their water bill and they know how much that has gone up and if it has not yet happened in the near future they will get their meter changed and that will increase the water bills because the new meters are registering water use more accurately. She pointed out that they have estimated that in five years they could be paying 48% more for the water. She pointed out that the residents just passed the Saguaro bond to reconstruct the road and said that that added tax has not been passed on to them yet. She furthe r stated that the residents were generous enough to pass the School over-ride and while that's not an increase it is not a refund either, that tax remains. She advised that she just feels that with all of these extra burdens on the people of the Town, many of whom are still struggling with the economy; she doesn't know how they can even think of adding another tax. She noted that the economy has not yet recovered, there are a lot of people still out of work and a lot of residents in Town are using the Foo d Bank. She said that a lot of things are also going on outside of Fountain Hills, things that they can't control. She added that right now they are happy that the gas prices are a little bit lower but that could go up and rents are rising, which is good for the economy but not good for people who are renting. She advised that they could add so many things on to this and they don't know what is coming -- the drought in California is going to add a lot of extra expense, they are already saying that produce is going to go up. She stated that they want to encourage families to move into Town with kids and she just doesn't want to add any extra burden onto them and she also doesn't like to invoke a tax that people haven't voted on. She expressed the opinion that the people clearly said when they voted against the property tax three times that they want a say as to whether they will be taxed and they said no. She said that to her that is a mandate to her personally, she is not speaking for anybody else -- just how she feels, that with all of these burdens and the fact that they don't know how much their bills are going to go up, she doesn't think that it is the right time to do something like this and so she won't be voting for this. Councilmember Brown stated that life is a burden and they have to pay their way if they are going to make progress in this world. He advised that his stance has not changed one bit -- it is time for the people of Fountain Hills to start helping to pay their own way. He noted that "robbing Peter to pay Paul" is the main reason why their streets are in total disarray, they can't even pay for the maintenance of their roads/streets because nobody is helping to pay for it and they have 73,000+ lineal feet of culverts/curbs and they just cleaned out a few hundred feet. He reported that if you amortize that back into 73,000 feet that probably need to be cleaned out and looked at, they are looking at $6 million just for that -- they aren't talking about $150,000 and the work needs to be done. He stated that at the same time they can talk about on call storm debris pickup and pointed out that that is not free and they can't expect the Town to go ahead and take money from the General Fund every time they have a big storm and spend $40,000 to $50,000 that they don't have any way. He said that they seriously have to start looking at paying their own way and noted that household hazardous waste is an unfunded project and asked whether they are just supposed to dump it down their toilets and ruin z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 13 of 20 their water supply or dump it outside. He advised that that is a serious matter and they need to find a way to fund it so they can save their own little Town and their own environment. He discussed wash maintenance and noted that in his opinion that is the biggest item they have got to deal with. He stated "let's talk about a tax and what it is going to do and why they shouldn't have it" and then let a 30 mile-per-hour wind and a monsoon strike and light up a couple of their washes and ask their Fire Departments to fight it -- they couldn't fight it with four Fire Departments the size they have in 30 mile-per-hour winds and let's burn down a couple of dozen houses and then let's talk about whether they should really be paying $4.00 or $5.00 a month to keep their washes clean. He pointed out that right now everything they are doing is going backwards and ever since he has been on the Council they haven't had the money to cl ean the washes; it's just continuing to go backwards. He said that it is time that they took their own fate into their own hands and stood up and shouldered it and said, "I like Fountain Hills and I am going to pay my way." He added that no disrespect but life is a burden and they can't worry about the drought in California becau se that is totally out of their control and it's going to happen but it is time that the people in Fountain Hills started shouldering some of the expenses so they can take care of their own in Fountain Hills. Councilmember Elkie advised that he has been on the Council for four and a half years and tonight is actually his last Council meeting, at least where he has an opportunity to address the public in this way. He pointed out that over that period of time they have made some significant cuts in staffing and in the budget and they really had no choice -- it was like all of a sudden you find out that you have 30% less income and now you have to make do with that. He said that they have substantially cut staff and asked Mr. Buchanan where staff numbers have gone over the past four years. Mr. Buchanan responded that he has been with the Town for three years and before he arrived there were 88 employees, which was reduced down from 110 he believes back during the peak and then it went from 88 to 44 and they have a number of part time positions that help with the gap. He reported that the budget was approved for 51 full- time equivalent (both full time and part time) employees. Councilmember Elkie stated that Councilmember Brown mentioned street maintenance that they don't currently have funding for and they are getting ready to put down a nice new Saguaro and they are doing the Shea projects and some mill and overlay in different spots and asked how much money is needed annually at the current time for road maintenance. Mr. Buchanan replied that Stantec did a study for the Town on what the proper program would be to address the life of the current asphalt that they have (remember, this is a 40-year old community and in many places they have 40-year old asphalt) and asphalt has a life. He noted that this Council has addressed with available revenues they had and made some difficult decisions in the previous budget of 2013-14 where they had to come up with $1 million to at least try to address the maintenance side of the Pavement Management Program. He added that there are two programs that are required -- the maintenance program and the asphalt replacement program so it would be the replacement program and that will take as much as $3 million. He pointed out that currently they have scraped up their money internally for $1 million and there is some opportunity that they are further discussing for the Pavement Replacement Program but the most he thinks they are going to be able to have out of that ..... right now they are paying for debt for Preserves and the Community Center building and the Library and Museum, and when those come due and that is coming u p, that money can then be brought over but it's still not enough money to match that $3 million that Stantec Engineering recommended; it is only going to do about $1 million of that at the end so they will have $1 million for maintenance and $1 million for asphalt but they are really going to need $2 million for asphalt replacement. Councilmember Elkie commented that they are still $1 million short and Mr. Buchanan noted that that is a 2009 study. Councilmember Elkie said that the numbers could go up and Mr. Buchanan concurred. Councilmember Elkie stated that as far as the commercial properties in Town, there has been some discussion among the commercial properties owners -- if someone owns a piece of commercial property in Town does that person contribute anything towards the Town and if they do, how is that (financially). Town Attorney Andrew McGuire advised that that is probably a better question for the Finance Director but he thinks that just in terms of simple numbers, without a Primary Property Tax there is no ongoing revenue stream other than the sales taxes generated from those commercial properties. He said if it is not a sales tax generating property then it is not z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 14 of 20 contributing on a regular basis. He confirmed that every property in Town has access to fire, police, emergency medical services, etc. Councilmember Elkie asked Mr. Buchanan if the proposal involves all properties in Town, both residential and commercial, and Mr. Buchanan stated yes. Councilmember Elkie commented that there has been discussion about commercial properties paying their fair share and everyone seemed to agree on that as far as public safety is concerned and all services that the Town provides to the community. He stated that as far as comparing this and saying t hat Chaparral Water is increasing, produce could go up, gas prices could go up, the price of Starbucks Coffee could go up he supposes too, they have a responsibility as a Town to make sure that they have a balanced budget and that they have the funds to ta ke care of those services that they want to have. He noted that they have narrowed it to infrastructure and they do give some to certain programming like the Food Bank but they have had to make cuts in those as well because they need the money to pay for the roads to make sure people can get where they need to go. He expressed the opinion that they need to make sure that they are being responsible and safe as Councilmember Brown said and he thinks that the Town gets squeezed (and he hopes that the residents have an opportunity to watch the Council meetings) a lot by the State and the Fed -- it gets squeezed substantially. He reported that they had a water bill a few years back and they don't even have a water company but they had to help pay for essentially the State's water fee. He added that they get squeezed by the Fed with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) mandates and they have HURF (Highway User Revenue Funds) and State Shared Revenue funds swept by the State. He asked whether anyone has followed the State and is familiar with what their budget is looking like -- where is their shortfall going to be coming from? He advised that it is not going to be coming from economic development, at least not right away, and it is going to be borne by th e cities, towns and counties who will pass that along. He stated that he thinks the future for the Town as a whole is going to be tough as well because they are going to have fewer funds that they currently count on coming from the State. Mayor Kavanagh referred to the reduction in staff and asked whether a majority of the reduction was due to the fact that building in Fountain Hills stopped. Mr. Buchanan noted that he wasn't with the Town when that happened but in talking with staff that were here a lot of the cuts were on the development side but the reductions were across the board. Mayor Kavanagh asked what the cost would be to administer this in-house (the tax). She said if they are asking people to pay $3.00 what part of that is the administrative cost? (Are they mailing bills to people?). Mr. Buchanan responded yes and stated that there will be a billing process and that is what they are talking about as far as the software. He confirmed that there is special software to do this and explained that they have Munis computer software and they did not purchase the module to include that and that is what this will require at a cost of $80,000 including training. In response to a question from the Mayor, Mr. Buchanan reiterated that he would recommend that the billing take place two times a year, every six months at $10,000 a mailing asking them for six times $3.00. Mayor Kavanagh asked if there are not enough people involved to make it worthwhile for a collection agency what would they do as far as people who do not pay the bills and Mr. Buchanan stated that they would have to let it build up and then go collect it. He said that he doesn't know at this point in time what collection agency costs would be. Mayor Kavanagh advised that the costs she was talking about mostly, even though she did mention residual costs like California droughts and other things like that, were definite increases and not possible increases -- the water is definitely going to go up and people have gotten their water bills and they have doubled. She added that the Saguaro bond is a definite tax increase and a continuation of the over-ride so the rest are just other things that could also add to the burden but those are definite so she is not just talking about possible tax increases. Councilmember Dickey referred to what Councilmember Brown talked about, the washes, and said that is very important and also they have not been able to proactively clean storm drains or drainage from parcels and that is starting to add up and has been put off for quite a while. She commented on pavement striping and pointed out that that isn't part of the Environment Fee but it is part of the HURF funding and they should be doing that every five years z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 15 of 20 but she believes they have been doing it every ten years. She said if they took a look at the budget they will notice that they have had to use HURF fund balances to make up gaps including over $300,000 this year so over the next year or two they won't have enough in the HURF fund balance in order to make up that gap. She further stated that to piggyback on what Councilmember Elkie said about property taxes and again old timers who have been here a while and even those who were here before 2005 -- those like her who have been here for over 30 years paid property taxes for roads and for fire so basically the roads that exist now except for private ones and the fact that if they ever did have to go to their own fire department it would be a seamless transition because they only have the personnel that they use from Rural Metro, they also own the equipment, buildings and trucks (purchased and Town owned). She emphasized that that is because those of them who lived here, including the businesses, (everyone who owned property) did pay property taxes for those things so she thinks it was kind of unrealistic to think that they could continue on without anything like that because again, the roads and the stuff that Councilmember Elkie was talking about -- who gets those benefits of public safety and roads -- everybody, but some people laid the foundation for that and they really just have to do that and that goes back to Councilmember Brown's point. Councilmember Hansen advised that she had a billing question and pointed out that in the material they refer to it as "per parcel" but she would like to know how they would handle something like a Target that has multiple little buildings and the big building. Mr. Buchanan replied whatever the parcel is delineated at -- that individual parcel. Councilmember Hansen said that she thinks some of these centers do not have individual parcel numbers per se and Mr. Buchanan reported that that one does. He stated that there are multiple owners in that shopping center. Councilmember Hansen asked whether that would apply to any other shopping centers as well and Mr. Buchanan responded that he could not tell her that today. He noted that they would have to go to the County Recorder's Office to get the parcel numbers for the community. Mr. McGuire advised that the imperfection of how to assign this fee is obvious in the parcel roll because of the commercial parcels. He pointed out that Target has maybe five parcels and a lot of impermeable surface that actually creates runoff and probably should bear a different burden but last year's bill from the Legislature prohibits the Town from charging on a size basis and so they have to go back to the imperfect world of parcel by parcel regardless of the size or what they have on them -- it has to be equal all the way through the system. He added that it is most directly related to the type of fee they are charging and the parcel is what generates the runoff, debris and things that have to be removed from the drainage structures and they are trying to fi nd the thing that is most closely related to the service requirement and that is probably the best they are going to do because based on the law they don't know any other way to get there. Councilmember Hansen stated that over the years most members of the Council have been opposed to additional fees and taxes but every year at budget time and every time they have a Retreat they have the gnashing of teeth that goes along with how are they going to pay for things, how are they going to pay for the increased costs of public safety that are so much a part of their budget. She pointed out that they have said no to additional fees consistently but at some point in time, since the voters are really not supporting a property tax even when it was supposedly for pu blic safety, they have to bite the bullet and say they need some help from the community to at least offset some of these unfunded mandates. She noted that by freeing up a little money on these environmental costs that they no option other than to comply with, that would free up money that could go towards streets or public safety but at some point in time they are just going to have to bit the bullet and say they need a little bit more help, a little bit more revenue to help pay for the services that are provided by the Town. She said that she doesn't like it either and asked who likes to pay more money but it is just reality. Mayor Kavanagh questioned whether there is anything in the proposal that locks the $3.00 fee in so that it won't be increased next year or the year after and Mr. Buchanan responded "only by Council action." The Mayor commented that it would be $3.00 this year but it could be anything next year by Council action. Vice Mayor Yates advised that he doesn't think anyone on the Council is going to debate the fact that they need some more revenue and he made the calculation the last time that this got brought up that if the average person -- if all of the Town's citizens -- would spend $2.00 a day buying something in Town it would pretty much pay this bill. He stated z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 16 of 20 that he knows that 's a little bit optimistic and where he is coming from he knows it's not a matter of whether they need more revenue, it's a matter of whether this is the right tool to generate that revenue. He referred back to the parcel issue and agreed that a 50,000 square foot building on a two -acre parcel paying $3.00 a month is not quite fair so to speak. He pointed out that the people did support a tax when they overwhelmingly supported the Saguaro bond so he thinks it is back to how they package this. He said maybe they take a bite of the apple again, collect all the fees that they legitimately need, lean and mean, and maybe have that discussion at their Retreat. He noted that he is not debating the fact that they need more revenue, none of them are, but he will say he was up in Prescott and TSC (Tractor Supply Company) now has three locations and are doing very well. He added that one more TSC could probably generate another $125,000 - $150,000 for the Town annually in just sales tax so his only comment to everybody is he doesn't debate that they need revenue, he debates whether this is the right tool. He said that he is back to whether they do a district or take another bite out of the apple of a primary property tax on a discussion level and keep it mean and lean and look at everything because right now he feels like they are piece mealing -- one $3.00 tax over here and then they are going to go back and say they are short $2 million on their road bond. He suggested that they package this and do it the right way, the way they did it on Saguaro and put it out to the folks honestly and openly and let them decide because even though it is $3.00, he just feels that they are doing it wrong. He reiterated "$2.00 a day everybody and they are there." Mayor Kavanagh pointed out that they did invest a lot of money in hiring an Economic Development Specialist and she thinks they need to give him a little time because he is making a lot of progress as they can see -- new restaurants in Town, the Tractor Supply Company -- he is just getting started and she thinks he is doing a great job. Councilmember Elkie advised that this isn't the first time that they've talked about this, they have talked about it every year around budget time. He stated that the Town is limited on its own self determination in what it has the ability to do -- they could raise sales tax -- and he believes that the last time that was raised was when the Town took over the Fire District and assumed that the voters were going to approve a Primary Property Tax which they didn't so the Town assumed that responsibility and took away their taxing authority and basically brought on another $2 to $3 million and it is certainly more than that now. He added that the Town is limited in what it can do and as far as packaging there is only so much that they can do. He said that he understands what the Vice Mayor is trying to say and is not trying to rebut it but he knows that they have gone around and around on this quite a bit and economic development with the Town sounds like a silver bullet that is going to save them and there is going to be property tax revenues and that is going to save them but he is there to tell them that after four and a half years and four different b udgets economic development in the Town is good and he wants it but it's going to be people and the house tops, it's going to be the building -- they are not going to be able to live or die by the sales tax. He stated that when they have a downturn in the economy as they did there were substantial cuts that have to be made because people weren't buying and that is kind of how they are right now and economic development sounds nice and everybody likes it, new restaurants, new businesses, and he wants those things in Town, he is on the Chamber Board, but that is not going to be the solution to what ails them financially. Vice Mayor Yates said that he too is not rebutting Councilmember Elkie's remarks but the residents of the Town voted against the bond when they didn't like how the Town packaged it and then overwhelmingly passed it when they did tell them lean and mean. He noted that they understood it and overwhelmingly approved it so he thinks there is some precedence and he thinks now might be the time to have this conversation again but they have to package it the right way because first of all $3.00 a month per parcel is not enough, that is scratching the surface and paying $100,000 during year one to get it started -- that doesn't sound like good investment money on their part. He reiterated that he would rather take another bite of the apple if that is the direction that the whole Council wants to go and package it the right way. He stressed the fact that he is not debating the fact that they need to generate more revenue, it is just that he doesn't think this is the right tool to do it. Councilmember Leger stated that for the benefit of the residents who do not have the packet that the Council has in front of them he thinks the proposal is $3.00 a month so that would be $36.00 a year and that would yield the Town $468,000 that would cover the cost of most of these mandates that they were talking about and all of the projects that Councilmember Brown had emphasized in terms of washes and so forth and so on. He noted that there is a significant start up cost and the first year, with start up costs, they would gain $343,000 and each year after that covering the cost that their Town Manager mentioned they would be looking at a gain of $418,000 a year, whi ch is substantial in terms of covering these costs and these mandates. He reported that when he first started on Council they had a General Fund budget of $18 million and they now have a General Fund of $12.5 million. He explained that the General Fund r uns z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 17 of 20 the operations of the Town and emphasized that most towns have a property tax that runs the operations of the town but Fountain Hills does not. He advised that he certainly is not in favor of fees or taxes but they are getting to the point where some tough decisions need to be made. He said that the other decision is they stop doing things and that is where they are heading next unless they make some tough decisions and that may include closing a park and so forth and so on. He stated that staff has done a tremendous job keeping things rather seamless -- people living in this Town say, "Hey, things are looking pretty good, they are going well, we have all the services that we need." Councilmember Leger pointed out that Vice Mayor Yates questioned whether there are other options out there and said here is an option for you -- if they increase their sales tax by 15 hundreds of a percent it would yield the same amount of money -- what is the best of the evil out there? He commented that they are going t here and it is going to happen sooner or later and it is a matter of paying now or paying later. He advised that this particular proposal he does have some issues with himself, he is not sure he is quite on board with it but it's educational. He stated that at some point in time sales tax needs to increase or they need to start doing things like this, it is just the reality out there. He added th at even if they increased their sales tax by 15 hundreds of a percent (an option) it's still well below the lo cal sales tax in Buckeye, Cave Creek, Carefree, El Mirage, Glendale, Guadalupe, Litchfield Park, Youngstown and so forth and so on so he doesn't think it would throw them into a big downfall. He said that Vice Mayor Yates asked for an option and that is a possible option and he is sure there is no way that the Vice Mayor would consider an increase in the sales tax. Vice Mayor Yates advised that although he believes in the free market and if their competition is Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Mesa, and those aren't on the list, those are the options so that is why he would not be in favor of increasing it. He added that along those same lines for the purpose of full disclosure, he loves the winter visitors, snow birds, but the reality is the six to eight months out of the year that they are not here spending money eating, shopping, driving around, buying gas that is where the real issue is. He further stated that charging Target $3.00 a month and then respectfully a little tiny Gemini home $3.00 a month is not the right way to do it. He added that he is back to "this is the wrong tool" and the reality is they have been having this discussion forever and if they are going to do it they should do it right and he believes that the residents of Fountain Hills are open to having that discussion. He commented that he knows they are all afraid to do that but for them to just arbitrarily (with information) voting to tax the residents without their voices being heard he thinks is the wrong tool. He reiterated that there are plenty of other things to do; the precedence has been set, the residents will vote for an increase when they know exactly what it is for and he just thinks that is a better way to do it. Councilmember Brown advised that he thinks he heard the Vice Mayor say that there are other avenues and he is yet to hear him say, "Here is an avenue." He noted that he campaigned that way and he has heard it now for well over two years -- there's another avenue -- it's the silver bullet -- it's the economic development. He stated that it is not and it is time that they stopped the ball from rolling backwards because they live in this Town and until they start supporting it themselves, this ball is going to roll backwards. He said that one of the very first questions he asked Ken Buchanan when he became the Town Manager was, "What do we do when they run out of money?" He commented that he found the answer to be quite interesting -- he said, "Well, Scottsdale will take everything on that side of Shea and this side nobody will want because they've got some golf courses and they've got some commercial work and there is some real life over there." He stressed that that is not what he wants to see happen for Fountain Hills and it is time that they shouldered their own expenses. He noted that he hears, "Let's soft shoe this again" and it has been soft shoed to death now for fifteen years and it is time that somebody, hopefully this Council, recognizes the fact that they have got to stop the bleeding, they've got to stop rolling backwards, at least stop the ball until they can come up with a better solution. Councilmember Brown MOVED to approve a $3.00 per month fee per parcel to offset the costs of an Environmental Program for the Town of Fountain Hills and Councilmember Dickey SECONED the motion. There were no citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. Mayor Kavanagh commented that it sounds like a big number that they have here that they are going to get annually but she is not sure how they can say that that is how much they are going to get when all of the questions that she has asked about the cost to administer, how many people are actually going to pay, what is the cost of a collection agency to go after people who haven't paid, have not been answered. She stated that she just doesn't see how they could actually come up with a figure unless they have all of those other questions answered. z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 18 of 20 Councilmember Leger advised that the figure he quoted, $418,000 net year two includes all of that (mailing, maintenance of software, and he even threw in there $20,000 for elections) so it did include some of those things. The Mayor said some of those things and Councilmember Leger said excuse me, all of the overhead was included in that figure (after the overhead figures that have been provided to them by staff they are looking at a net of about $418,000). Councilmember Leger advised that as he said before he is on board with this but he just wanted to mention those numbers. Mayor Kavanagh replied okay and commented that she is just not sure then why when she asked the cost for administrating and all the other questions, Mr. Buchanan said that they had no idea right now. Councilmember Leger responded that the numbers are in their packets ($16,438, which includes stamps, postage, paper, mailing and so forth and so on; $5,625 annually for systems maintenance). He added that the only one he is swaging is collections and typically collections gets a piece of the action so it is not usually out of pocket, you lose a little revenue and he extrapolated that threw plenty in for that but nonetheless he did not want to split hairs on this and they are looking at about $400,000 net gain if they move in this direction. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Mayor Linda Kavanagh Nay Councilmember Ginny Dickey Aye Councilmember Dennis Brown Aye Vice Mayor Cecil Yates Nay Councilmember Cassie Hansen Aye Councilmember Tait Elkie Aye Councilmember Henry Leger Nay The motion CARRIED BY MAJORITY VOTE (4-3) with Mayor Kavanagh, Vice Mayor Yates and Councilmember Leger voting Nay. AGENDA ITEM #10 - DISCUSSION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF RELATING TO ANY ITEM INCLUDED IN THE LEAGUE OR ARIZONA CITIES AND TOWNS WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN OR RELATING TO ANY ACTION PROPOSED OR PENDING BEFORE THE STATE LEGISLATURE. Town Manager Ken Buchanan advised that he had nothing to report on at this time. Mayor Kavanagh stated that as far as the Legislature goes, they did have their first meeting and she wanted to make the Council aware of just a couple of things that she thinks are important and she won't go into a lot of detail. She said that the League is going to be participating in an Amicus Brief in a few cases and she thinks those cases are very important to Fountain Hills. She reported that the first one is the Ponderosa Fire District vs. the Coconino County case , which was recently decided by the Court of Appeals. She explained that it would require local government to install full infrastructure in developments even if they were not being built. She added that the next is Glazer vs. the State of Arizona and it would require governments to upgrade all roadways to current construction standards instead of doing maintenance and repair to streets and roads that were built to previous standards. She said the last one is Rollings vs. the City of Tucson and advised that it is not written yet but this case found the city liable for water damage allegedly from utility pipes under claims of nuisance or trespass and they feel that each of these cases have serious ramifications for cities and towns. Mayor Kavanagh advised that as she discussed earlier with Councilmember Brown, and he has offered to help her with this, the construction industry has come back with a possible tweaking of the TPT (Transportation Privilege Tax). She stated that right now they are just saying that they want a few changes and it seems very reasonable to the League but they do want to make sure that it is not going to change because it did last time -- that was a big fight and they could have lost a lot if it had gone through. z:\council packets\2014\r141204\141120m.docx Page 19 of 20 Mr. McGuire said that he would like to offer a brief comment on the Amicus Briefs and noted that over the last year as the President of the Arizona City Attorneys’ Association one of the “fun” things he got to do was chair the Amicus Committee and decide which cases are going forward with League support. He noted that this is a very active year and to have three of them going at the same time is a lot. They are very fortunate to have a good private practice attorney who is gifted at appellate briefs and at a very low rate. The League has done a very good job of finding quality writers and weighing in only when necessary. The most recent case involves strict liabilities for water damage, and that's a big deal to many cities. Councilmember Leger commented that this is Councilmember Elkie and Councilmember Dickey's last meeting and he wanted to just publicly acknowledge both of them. He advised that he and Councilmember Dickey have worked together for two terms, eight years, and that is almost a Ph.D in governments and Councilmember Elkie for four years. He stated that there were times when they were on board with each other and times of disagreement but there has always been civility and it's been a great working relationship with the both of them. He added that they will be missed and both of them contributed to the community prior to being on Council and while on Council and they will continue to contribute to the community while they are off Council. Mayor Kavanagh noted that they will be back for the next meeting for a few minutes. Vice Mayor Yates stated that although tonight's meeting was a little contentious at times he wants to say what a great Town this is. He said that he had a quick story -- his dogs got out last Friday, he had a delivery and he put it out on social media and it spread out and within two hours the dogs were found and brought home. He advised that people were saying that they would come over and help him look for them from all over the place so he just wanted to give a huge shout out to the residents of Fountain Hills because this really is a great community and they all look out for each other. He thanked Ron R. in Sunridge Canyon who found him. AGENDA ITEM #11 - 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 #12 – SUMMARY OF COUNCIL REQUESTS AND REPORT ON RECENT ACTIVITIES BY THE MAYOR, INDIVIDUAL COUNCILMEMBERS AND THE TOWN MANAGER. None. AGENDA ITEM #13 - ADJOURNMENT Councilmember Dickey MOVED to adjourn the meeting and Councilmember Elkie SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m. ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: Bevelyn J.I$endpr,TownClerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certifythatthe foregoing minutes areatrueandcorrectcopyofthe minutes ofthe Regular Session heldbythe Town Council of Fountain HillsintheTownHall Council Chambers onthe2nddayof January,2014.I further certify thatthemeetingwasdulycalledandthataquorumwaspresent. DATED this 4lh day of December,2014. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By .jnda M.Kavanagh,Mayor Bevelyn J.Be z:\councilpackcls\2014\rl41204\141120m.docx Page20of20