HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011.0208.TCWSM.Minutesz:\council packets\2011\r3-17-11\110208wsm.docx Page 1 of 9
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE WORK STUDY SESSION
OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
February 8, 2011
AGENDA ITEM #1 - CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mayor Schlum called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers.
ROLL CALL:
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Schlum, Vice Mayor
Contino, Councilmember Leger*, Councilmember Hansen, Councilmember Brown, Councilmember Elkie and
Councilmember Dickey. Town Manager Rick Davis, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire and Town Clerk Bev Bender were
also present.
* Councilmember Leger participated in the entire meeting through the use of teleconferencing equipment.
AGENDA ITEM #2 - DISCUSSION RELATING TO THE TOWN'S VOLUNTEER SPECIAL
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES PROGRAM AND THE DISCONTINUATION OF THESE SERVICES PAST
JUNE 30, 2011.
Human Resources Administrator/Risk Manager Joan McIntosh addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and
provided an update on the status of this item.
Ms. McIntosh advised that Maricopa County used to run this program and discontinued it effective June 30th of 2009.
She noted that at that time the Council directed staff to research alternative transpo rtation options for the approximately
ten to eleven disabled residents utilizing Maricopa County's Special Transportation Services (STS). She said that staff
formed a committee and soon determined that there were not a lot of options available because of the Town's size and
population and because of their location with respect to the rest of the Valley. She reported that at the last minute they
were able to contract with the Regional Public Transportation Authority (RPTA) and come up with a list of services they
would provide the Town's disabled residents effective July 1, 2009. She noted that the RPTA had quoted a price of
approximately $70,500 to provide their services for the first fiscal year and that is what staff put into the budget.
However, when they got about three quarters of the way into the year staff found that they were going to be under budget,
mainly because the RPTA had miscalculated their fees for the number of trips that they were going to provide. The RPTA
allowed the Town to take some of their new Freedom Grant money that they are given during most years and the Town
was able to obtain approximately $27,000 from that grant to cover them for the rest of the fiscal year to continue the
services through June 30, 2010.
Ms. McIntosh stated that she updated the Council on this issue for the new fiscal year to determine whether the Council
would like to continue the program and the response was that they would, mainly because Valley Metro said that they
would again be able to give the Town $52,000 of their new Freedom Grant to put towards this program. They projected
that fiscal year 2011 costs would be about $104,000 for the entire program and said they would give us the $52,000 and
the Town would have to come up with a 50% match. They were able to do that because they had been accumulating the
Public Transportation Funds (PTF funds) and had not been using them in prior years so there was a balance left of about
$35,500 that they allowed the Town to use towards that 50% match. She reported that the Town used that and budgeted
an additional $16,500 in cash from the General Fund to make up the 50% match for that grant.
Ms. McIntosh reported that in September Valley Metro advised the Town that they were probably going to increase their
fees as of November because their costs were rising like everyone else's costs. At that time Ms. McIntosh sent out a draft
letter to all of the Councilmembers and the Town Manager indicating that staff would send a letter to all of the riders in
the program saying that the Town may not be able to continue the program due to the increased costs after June 30, 2011,
and that they should begin looking for some other options or the Town might have to start charging some type of fee to
make up for the increase that was going to assessed to the Town (although staff did not know how much the fee increase
would amount to at that time).
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Ms. McIntosh informed the Council that staff recently learned that the fee increase amounted to approximately $1,200 to
$1,400 a month and noted that they called this an "Incentive Fee," which, when they renegotiated their contract with Ride
Source, they wrote into the contract. She explained that it is an incentive for their drivers to do so many miles on their
routes (they contract with all of their drivers; they are not employees) so this was an incentive for them to come to
Fountain Hills and make the longer drives. The additional costs will put the Town's budget approximately $12,700 over
this year. She added that they got saved one more time when they found out that they do have LTAF II funds available to
them this year (available for one more year) and so staff requested those funds in the amount of approximately $20,000
and hopefully will receive the money in mid February and that should cover the budget overage through June 30t h of this
fiscal year.
Ms. McIntosh stated that that brings them to the next budget year, which Ms. Ghetti is working on and will present later
on in the meeting. She said that Valley Metro has estimated that the costs for fiscal year 2012 will be about $116,600 (the
$104,000 for this fiscal year plus they have added on the $1,200 to $1,400 per month for the incentive fees that they are
charging). They have indicated that there is a possibility that the Town could once again get the $52,000 from the 2010
new Freedom Grant but could not guarantee that. The grant used to be $70,000 and has been lowered to $52,000 so the
Town might get all of that or a part of that and possibly none of that. The Town will also have approximately $5,900
coming to it for the 2012 PTF funds again this year. If the Town receives the $52,000 grant and the PTF funds, the
amount left over is $58,730 and that would have to be funded through the General Fund. She stated that the Town has
faced a few challenges with Valley Metro -- not with the rides (Ride Source, which they contract with has been great) but
administratively they have run into a few problems (they don't invoice the Town regularly, which makes it very difficult
to monitor the program and if people call in and want extra rides, staff does not know whether to approve them or not
because they don't know where they stand as far as the budget due to the late billings). She added that when contacted
Valley Metro told staff they were fine but then last year they found that they had exceeded the budget. She further stated
that they implemented the new costs in November 2010 without letting staff know what those were going to amount to.
She noted that the Town still does not have a renewed contract for this year desp ite the fact that she has requested that
several times (they are running on a month-to-month basis with them).
Ms. McIntosh advised that the Town currently has a total of nine riders in this program and six of them go to the STARS
program in Scottsdale -- the adult learning centers in that city. All six of them do not go every day and the other three
riders need the transportation for medical appointments or personal business (nine r iders for a cost of $116,600 next year).
Because staff does not know whether they will receive monies from the Freedom Grant and because $116,000 is a huge
amount of money for nine people, staff has not budgeted anything for the next fiscal year to continue this program. She
said that Ms. Ghetti will discuss this later on in the meeting. She reiterated that a letter was sent to the riders in September
2010 to give them a heads up and stated that staff has not heard anything from any of the riders . The intent is to send
another letter out in February if the program is going to be discontinued and attached to that letter will be a list of
resources that might be available to them (some other agencies throughout the Valley that are run by volunteers and
Valley Metro sometimes offers discounts to citizens who are disabled as well as senior citizens). After the letter is sent,
staff would like to follow up with phone calls to the users or pay personal visits to them to make sure that they are aware
of what will happen. Ms. McIntosh indicated her willingness to respond to questions from the Council.
Mayor Schlum thanked Ms. McIntosh for her presentation.
In response to a question from Vice Mayor Contino, Ms. McIntosh advised that staff talked to Valley Metro about Dial -A-
Ride services but they will not come into Town because there is not a big enough demand in Town for it. She added that
staff could contact Scottsdale and/or Mesa and see if they could tag on to their contract with Dial -A-Ride, however,
Valley Metro has stated that they are 99% sure that Scottsdale and Mesa would not accept the Town because it would
increase their costs significantly to do so and they are in the same boat as every other municipality; they don't have the
money to do that.
Discussion ensued relative to the fact that Heather Ware tracks the program a nd if gone on a vacation, for example, they
contact her and she knows how many rides are being given each month so staff can reconcile with the invoices when
received; the fact that the Give A Lift program has been very successful and is run by volunteers who give rides to
residents (most in Town but some out of Town); the fact that a majority of the users in Town who go to the STARS
program are wheelchair bound and two of the three users who are not in the STARS program are also wheelchair bound;
the fact that it would cost approximately $13,000 per person per year to continue the program; difficulties associated with
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volunteer programs that are run by volunteers working because most volunteers drive their own vehicles and do not have
the needed equipment; requests from people who are ambulatory to obtain transportation services to go to and from
chemo therapy and dialysis treatments and the fact that volunteers are not comfortable doing that because it is a big
commitment and they are concerned about associated liability.
Councilmember Elkie asked if the grant that the Town is applying for calls for matching funds and Ms. McIntosh stated
that it does -- for 2012 there is a required 60% match. She clarified that the Town does not apply for the grant, Valley
Metro does, but then they give the Town the money.
In response to a question from Councilmember Hansen regarding volunteer programs in the Valley, Ms. McIntosh stated
that the program she talked about is limited and users could call maybe once a week for a ride. She added that the
program is not as extensive as what the Town is providing. She said that Heather Ware is doing some more research and
she will forward the information on to the Council.
Councilmember Hansen commented that Ms. McIntosh provided a lot of good information in the original staff report and
requested copies of that document. Ms. McIntosh stated that she would forward that to the Council as well.
Councilmember Dickey noted that Discount Cabs would have flexibility and if the Town had some funding she wondered
if they would be able to help out all with that option.
Ms. McIntosh said that could be an option and she believes that Scottsdale does that -- they provide so much funding
towards taxi vouchers. She added that if the Council wanted to add some money towards this program that is something
that staff could pursue. She stated that another option may be to start charging the riders (Valley Metro suggested maybe
$4.00 per ride ($8.00 round trip) but noted that some users have multiple medical appointments throughout the Valley and
that would cost them a lot of money. Staff contacted the STARS management to see if they could come to Fountain Hills
and pick up users but they would have to purchase a vehicle and hire drivers. At t hat time they were talking to the riders
and caregivers/parents of those riders to see if they could establish a car pool of some kind and she believes they were
pretty close to doing that. She said that whether that would be a viable option at this point she does not know because
some of the riders' medical conditions have deteriorated and some people are no longer able to get in and out of vehicles.
Councilmember Leger asked when the Town would know whether it would be receiving funds from the Valley Me tro
grant and Ms. McIntosh advised that they would not know until spring of 2012.
Councilmember Leger commented on the fact that staff did not receive any responses to their letter and still do es not
know whether the riders would be willing to pay a fee. He suggested that the follow-up letter/phone calls/visits help
determine whether or not the riders would be willing to pay a fee for services and Ms. McIntosh said that staff would do
so.
Councilmember Leger noted that the grant would lower the cost to about $65,000 and if the Town could recover 50% of
that it would be great. He said he would be interested in knowing whether or not this would be an option for the users and
Ms. McIntosh reiterated that staff will check it out and report their findings to the Council.
Ms. McIntosh confirmed that six out of the nine riders go to the STARS program and do not qualify for the Give -A-Lift
program.
Councilmember Brown stated that staff is showing an impact of $117,000 and asked if the Town would be expected to
come up with 60% of that.
Ms. McIntosh advised that they would and noted that part of that would be the $5,900 that the Town gets from the PTF
funds this year and the rest would come from the General Fund ($58,730).
Mayor Schlum again thanked Ms. McIntosh for her presentation and input.
AGENDA ITEM #3 - PRESENTATION AND UPDATE ON THE PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR 2011-12 BUDGET FOR ALL FUNDS FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS.
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Town Manager Rick Davis addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said that he and Deputy Town
Manager/Finance Director Julie Ghetti would highlight a PowerPoint presentation (Copy is on file in the office of the
Town Clerk). Mr. Davis advised that the budget this year is remarkably similar to the one last year in that staff has not
anticipated a significant increase in revenue. Staff budgets are based on experience, not on conjecture or hopes, and
therefore not knowing what the future holds for them, they are going to hold the line. Staff feels good about the direction
that revenues have been moving in lately but it has not been enough for them to predict that they will have a lot of new
revenue next year. He noted that there are some significant program changes within the budget that staff wants to
specifically discuss this evening. He stressed that this is still a very new budget and ready for the Council to begin to
consider in that it is balanced right now and will remain so unless some thing happens internally or externally to change
that. He said that the budget is fragile because it is so early in the process and there is still a lot of discussion that n eeds to
go forward. He added that from here the Budget Committee will have some a dditional discussions but for the most part it
is now available for the Council's work and discussion to begin formatting it and massaging it in a way that meets the
goals that the Council has set for next year.
Ms. Ghetti addressed the Council and, referring to the PowerPoint, discussed the 2011-12 Budget Plan. She noted that the
economy is showing signs of stability; revenues are anticipated to increase approximately 1%; expenditures have been
maintained at FY2011 levels; public safety contracts are pro grammed to increase 3% per contract; the CIP budget is
funded with construction sales tax that continues to deteriorate. She also commented on the listed Budget Assumptions
and said that staff used conservative but slightly optimistic revenue estimates; t he numbers include a 3% increase for
public safety contracts and a 3% merit increase for staff; the numbers assume bond proceeds for the first phase of major
road improvements (Saguaro Boulevard) and said that they incorporated Council initiatives from the Council Retreat.
Councilmember Leger asked what the cost would be to grant employees a 3% merit increase and she replied that it would
cost $78,000.
Ms. Ghetti discussed outstanding budget issues (updated revenue projections, community contracts, fees for service); law
enforcement costs; the capital projects budget; the Special Transportation Program and internal service funds; FY2012
budget highlights ($34.2 million budget for all funds); and proposed new staffing.
Recreation Director Mark Mayer addressed the Council relative to the proposed increased hours for Recreation part -time
staff to assist with sculpture cleaning. He said that last year when they did the budget staff was in the first year of the
SOS Program, which was established to clean the Town's sculptures, and stated that the program was completely
voluntary. He noted that the volunteers utilized spray bottles, rags and buckets that were purchased for them and
explained that it became evident as they worked through the process that that wasn't working (they could not get enough
water on the sculptures to do a decent cleaning job). He said that they started utilizing the recreation assistants that wor k
under the Recreation Division to provide a rig with a spray on it to was h the sculptures and then they were wiped clean by
the volunteers. He noted that this became a cost for the Recreation Division that had not been anticipated so this year they
are budgeting for it. He reported that it works out to be approximately $1,400 ($100 two hours a week for 50 weeks) with
staff costs/fringe benefits at a little under $14.00 per hour.
Councilmember Hansen asked if that would take the part -time position to full time and Mr. Mayer replied no, these are
hours for part-time staff (just additional hours).
Economic Development Director Lori Gary addressed the Council and discussed the Council goals that are part of the
Economic Development program including maintaining strong lines of communication with outside jurisdictions and
identifying opportunities for partnerships. She noted that others include remaining engaged and supportive of regional
and State partnerships, marketing the Town for business location and expansion, developing and issuing a Request for
Proposals to investigate the feasibility of a public/private partnership in the Lakeside district, investigating opportunities
to bring a college or educational outlet, a movie theater and/or entertainment venue and a hospital to Fountain Hi lls (Copy
of the presentation is available in the office of the Town Clerk). Ms. Gary outlined for the Council the various successes
that have been achieved in the above listed areas as well as continuing efforts in this regard.
Ms. Gary commented on the time consuming and far reaching responsibilities associated with her position and discussed
the proposed budget request for additional assistance, namely a full-time Economic Development Specialist and a full-
time Management Assistant. Ms. Gary outlined additional efforts that can be expended and accomplishments that she
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believes can be achieved by adding the requested staffing. Ms. Gary indicated her willingness to respond to questions
from the Council.
Mayor Schlum thanked Ms. Gary for her presentation.
Councilmember Hansen requested that Ms. Gary provide the Council copies of her presentation and Ms. Gary stated that
she would forward them to the members.
Councilmember Dickey commented on some of the items mentioned by Ms. Gary, such as analyze, target business
sectors, gather information, etc. and asked if there were any models out there where someone could just come in and work
on a specific project.
Ms. Gary replied that there are a variety of different models that could be used and added that one of the informational
pieces that she has gathered relative to attracting educational and/or medical facilities cost well over $100,000. She said
that staff could certainly look at a variety of different models to do that.
Councilmember Dickey asked if there was anything out there such as an arrangement whereby payment is dependent upon
the success of the project and results and Ms. Gary advised that she is not aware of any such arrangement.
Mr. Davis commented that one of the reasons for that is bec ause any strategy or information provided by a contractor or
consultant may not prove to be successful for several years depending on several variables that are outside of the
consultant's control.
Councilmember Brown said that in 25 minutes Ms. Gary has explained what she has been doing over the last few years
and everyone knows that she has been extremely busy. He added that he has also had discussions with the Town Manager
regarding focusing efforts more narrowly, such as trying to bring a hospital to Town -- giving Ms. Gary the time to focus
on a goal that would truly benefit the Town financially. He stated that in these economic times he cannot support bringing
anybody on and increasing staff at this point. He noted that they have spent a full two years trying to cut back and survive
and he knows the need exists but he cannot support spending $150,000 more a year or whatever it would come to after
they have spent two years cutting back on staff just to survive. He stressed that he understands ever ything that Ms. Gary
is trying to do and her efforts are impressive but he doesn't feel that the Council would be doing justice to the Town by
bringing more staff on in this economic environment.
Councilmember Dickey stated that she understands exactly what Councilmember Brown is saying and perhaps it has to do
with Ms. Gary's responsibilities and the goals that the Council came up with at their Retreat. All of the items sound like a
great idea but all of the things that they want end up falling under Ms. Gary's area of responsibility. She said that perhaps
the Council needs to have discussion regarding their expectations and stressed the importance of identifying the most
important goals to be focused on. She added that they should also talk about the role of the Town in economic
development (how involved should they be and is this just too much).
Councilmember Elkie concurred with Councilmembers Brown and Dickey and said that as a member of the Executive
Budget Committee this was one of the topics they had discussed -- the Council goals that were set under economic
development were quite lofty and numerous. He also agreed with paring the goals down and making sure that their
expectations are ones that Ms. Gary can accomplish. He added that Ms. Gary is providing options to the Council and
saying in order to accomplish the goals that have been identified this is what she believes they need as far as staffing. He
said that they should revisit the issue, perhaps this fiscal year, and determine exactly wha t is the priority for this Council --
what do they want to see accomplished -- and then have Ms. Gary focus on those things. He noted that all of the other
goals that they talked about may have to come off of the list or be lowered in priority order.
Councilmember Hansen stated that when they were developing the goals and objections, she remembers discussion about
reaching out to outside partnerships as well to try and achieve some of the goals the Council outlined (instead of staff).
Ms. Gary commented that some of the goals are long term and some are short term.
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Mayor Schlum said that they have done a lot of great work on planning, especially the Downtown Vision Plan with the
Chamber and stakeholders in the community in order to get ready for the capit al markets to open up and development to
start happening again in Arizona. He asked how much of that aggressive pro-active work can be done now in advance of
capital markets because right now there are a lot of people who just don't have a lot of money to spend.
Ms. Gary noted that there is also a nexus between the number of daytime jobs in a community and the vitality of the
businesses within those communities. The more people they have there working during the daytime, the more they visit
the local restaurants and retailers. She added that she has also been working on how the Town can attract high -paying,
good quality jobs to Fountain Hills to help increase the vitality of their local businesses.
Councilmember Leger agreed with the comments that were made regarding this issue and commended Ms. Gary for the
work she has done and continues to do. He stated the opinion that it is time for the private sector to step up and stressed
the importance of recalibrating their goals and Ms. Gary's position. He said they have to take a look at what they have,
i.e. vision, plans, market analysis and added that they must identify the top three or four things that Ms. Gary could do that
would have the greatest impact on moving forward. He expressed the opinion that the solution is almost outside of their
sphere of influence at this time and it is really a function of developers stepping up and taking a risk because the climate
in the capital market is just not there. He reiterated that it is not the right time or the right climate to begin adding tw o
additional positions and said they need to restructure, cap and prioritize and determine what Ms. Gary c an do that will
have the greatest impact on moving forward.
Ms. Ghetti discussed proposed new staffing and noted that the Council's goals for Fiscal Year 2012 are included in the
proposed budget. She said that under Civility, some of the items that are i ncluded are Take Pride Day (to enhance that
program); the Centennial Project ($10,000), the Centennial Events Circle, which is a capital project in the CIP funds and
is a two-year project (next year they programmed in $125,000); Environmental Stewardship (a grant that Environmental
Planner Raymond Rees has obtained for about $143,000 and about $109,000 will be carried over into next year to
accomplish these).
Councilmember Hansen stated that she knows staff included $125,000 for the Centennial Events Circle and noted that it is
a work in progress and there has been talk about phasing it in so there is not just this one big clump this year.
Ms. Ghetti said that that is a capital project and a multi-year project so what staff has programmed in is not the ent ire
project; it is just next year's portion of it.
Mayor Schlum commented that the Town is also partnering on that project.
Councilmember Dickey commented that staff tried to present a more complete picture for the Council. Ms. Ghetti added
that even if there are outside resources coming in they still have to budget the entire amount so even if it was all donations
they would have to budget the $125,000. She noted that they have to get it on their books.
Ms. Ghetti advised that currently staff is doing a comprehensive citizens' survey at no cost to the Town using Survey
Monkey and next year the plan is to do a more statistically valid comprehensive citizens' survey (hiring someone to do
that on a contract basis).
Ms. Ghetti noted that last week was the Town's first Citizens' Academy Session (it goes for six weeks) and said that it was
pretty successful and sixteen people signed up. She stated that staff looks forward to repeating that program next year.
Councilmember Hansen said that as the budget process moves along, she would like everyone to keep in mind expanding
the volunteer program and noted that that is something that came up repeatedly during the goals and objectives session.
Ms. Ghetti advised that staff does intend to expand that program and said that they will be able to free up resources if they
don't have a Special Transportation program and so those additional resources can go towards expanding that program.
Ms. Ghetti discussed the goal of Education, Learning & Culture and said that there are opportunities in this area and
commented on continued support for the Public Art Walk and an additional $1,000 for the Greening Project. She also
discussed costs associated with signage and trail marketing.
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Additional discussion ensued relative to the Capital Improvements Program and proposed projects that should be
concluded within the next few weeks and provided to the Council as a budget itself; the fact that the fire station is no
longer in the budget and will not be included unless the Town receives grant funding; local sales tax collections; property
tax rate projections; multi-year projections (General Fund); Fountain Hills property tax dollar (2010); the General Fund
division budget breakdown; the Streets Program budget; and the General Fund program budget.
Ms. Ghetti reiterated that the proposed budget is a work in progress, noting that this was the 3rd year of program
budgeting. She invited the Council to come in and review the various ways the budget could be broken out (i.e. by
department, division, program, and line item). She indicated her willingness to respond to questions from the Council.
Mayor Schlum commented that the budget is balanced, which is quite an accomplishment, and asked what process the
Council can expect to see as they move forward.
Ms. Ghetti replied that staff will be meeting with the Prosecutor this week to get that issue resolved and will then meet
with all of the commissions that have stakeholders in some of the fees for services, particularly the seniors an d the
Community Center. All of the commissions will be updated every month on the progress of the budget and they will be
given an opportunity to ask questions. Staff will also go out and meet with the public regarding the budget process.
Mayor Schlum encouraged the members of the Council to provide feedback to staff as they go through the materials
provided to ensure that it is effective for them to work through.
Councilmember Elkie said that in reviewing the reports, it may look like one particular de partment went up as far as staff
from year to year and one went down and asked Ms. Ghetti to speak to this.
Ms. Ghetti explained that if anyone looks at some of the budget reports by division they might see that in the salaries line
item there is an increase of 39% but if you go to another program within that division, it will show a decrease. She said
that what staff did this year was to reallocate staff as to where they were being charged to.
Mayor Schlum thanked Ms. Ghetti for her presentation.
AGENDA ITEM #4 – REVIEW OF TOWN COUNCIL'S GOALS AND INITIATIVES FOR FISCAL YEAR
2010-11 AND THEIR RELEVANCE.
Town Manager Rick Davis addressed the Council and expressed appreciation for the presentations that were goven this
evening. He noted that if the Council sets their goals and initiatives in October of any given year, nearly 21 months can
elapse before those goals are realized or that fiscal year is brought to a conclusion and so there can be a long time between
setting the goals and realizing the goals. He stated that he thought it might be helpful to take a few minutes in a Work
Study (and they will do this as many times as the Council would like during the year) to talk about some of the goals and
initiatives for this coming year. He said that as mentioned in his quarterly report, he is pleased that they realized progress
in the areas that the Council set as goals and initiatives and noted that staff is well on their way to completing them. He
added that in smaller discussions and even one on one, he has gotten the sense that perhaps some things (goals that had
been set earlier in the year) had become less relevant. He stated that there are three specifically that he would like to
discuss and he would also like to provide an opportunity for the Council to provide feedback regarding any of the goals
and initiatives (whether staff should continue to expend resources and/or energies on these). He noted that he doesn't
mean the goals themselves but rather the initiatives, the action plans.
Mr. Davis referred to Goal #2, Initiative B, which has to do with Environmental Stewardship. He noted that Goal B calls
for the rezoning of Town washes as open spaces to provide additional measures of protection to the washes. He said that
this does not appear to be as big a priority as it has been in the past based on his discussions and added that he would like
some input on that. He added that the other two goals he would like to talk about have to do with Goal #5, Economic
Vitality, specifically initiative C, "develop and issue a Request for Proposal to investigate the feasibility of public/priva te
partnerships in the Lakeside District." He pointed out that the advice the Town received from the Urban Land Institute
recommended that they focus efforts on the Downtown area contiguous to the Town Hall area and the development and
filling of space on the north side of the Avenue. The experts felt it unproductive to pursue development in the Lakeside
area. They are in a Federal application process of trying to extract that land from the Lakeside area in order to make that
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land available for development and the process might not be completed in this fiscal year. Staff is near completion on the
application process and it will not be in the hands of those who need to weigh the benefits of doing so (those on a Federal
level) to determine whether the Town can move forward with that. He said it might be slightly premature for them to
issue an RFP when they haven't received a response back from the Federal government.
Mr. Davis also discussed Goal F (prepare an area specific plan for the Shea Boulevard Corridor near Saguaro Boulevard)
and stated that they can do that in both an informal and formal way. He noted that staff has approached some strategic
partners, specifically Fort McDowell, and has not received a lot of interest in moving forward in a Swaback type of
project specifically addressing the Shea Corridor "Golden Triangle" area but added that staff will continue to pursue
whatever initiatives they can in order to increase interest in the commercial inventory in that corridor. He said that
beyond that staff would like some feedback from the Council and clarification (whether their priorities have changed
relative to that initiative). Mr. Davis indicated his willingness to respond to questions from the Council.
Mayor Schlum thanked Mr. Davis for his comments.
Councilmember Hansen stated that perhaps Goal #5 - 3 would be the easiest because that could just be reworded -- to
continue the ongoing application, rather than proceeding with an RFP.
Mayor Schlum concurred and also discussed the Shea Boulevard area and said this was somewhat addressed through the
General Plan and some areas were opened up to be potentially commercial.
Mr. Davis commented that the General Plan does address some of that and noted that there are areas that have been
designated for future commercial use but staff has not evaluated or envisioned/designed to the same degree as the
Downtown area in order to realize that goal as yet. He added that staff saw this initiative as taking it another step beyond
the General Plan and specifically identifying what they want to have there. He stated that staff is wondering whether they
should do that at this time or perhaps focus their finite resources on the Downtown Vision.
In response to a question from Councilmember Dickey, Mr. Davis advised that there was no motivation to do anything
with the washes specifically. Staff's feedback with regard to this initiative pertains specifically to the realization that there
are enough current restrictions in place. There is also a political process they would have to go through in order to make
those washes available for any other use.
Councilmember Hansen expressed the opinion that the current protection they have in place -- requiring elections for
development in washes -- is pretty protective.
The Mayor said he believes that the Council thought that there was an easier ability to do something in the washes and
that concerned some people so they put that in there. He added that he doesn't think the Council understood that the
washes were as protected as they are.
Vice Mayor Contino stated that he thought #6 is probably something they could put "in the parking lot" and said that the
partners are more interested in doing their development right now than working with the Town on the Shea Corridor. He
added that this is something that they should sit back and take a look at. He said that they should take another look at t he
goals and initiatives on a more frequent basis (review them and update them) because everything changes so fast.
Mr. Davis agreed and said that was the motivation for bringing this forward now and determine how often the Council
would like to have this type of conversation. He stated that he doesn't believe they would have to be lengthy discussions;
just every now and then look at what they are and discuss whether the Council is still happy with the direction they are
heading in or decide to make some changes.
Councilmember Hansen said that perhaps rather than concentrating on additional commercial space they should
concentrate more on existing commercial space.
Mayor Schlum thanked everyone for their input this evening.
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AGENDA ITEM #5 - ADJOURNMENT
Vice Mayor Contino MOVED to adjourn the meeting and Councilmember Elkie SECONDED the motion, which
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). The meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m.
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
By __________________________
Jay T. Schlum, 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 Work Study Session held by
the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 8th day of February 2011. I further certify
that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 17th day of March 2011.
_____________________________
Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk