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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990.0816.TCRM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL AUGUST 16. 1990 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Vice Mayor Wally Hudson at 6:30 p.m. , Thursday, August 16, 1990, in the Fountain Hills School District Administration Building located at 14605 N. Del Cambre Ave.. Fountain Hills. Arizona. ROLL_CALL - Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Rev. Glenn Atchinson of the First Presbyterian Church, roll call was taken. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Vice Mayor Wally Hudson and Councilmembers Frank Clark, Mike Minarsich, Charlie Fox, Bill O'Brien and Peg Tibbetts. Absent was Mayor John Cutillo. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell and Town Clerk Cassie Hansen. AGENDA ITEM #2 - PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF RECOGNITION TO MEMBERS OF THE POLICE SUBCOMMITTEE Vice Mayor Hudson awarded certificates of recognition to the following members of the Police Protection Subcommittee: Ron Dean, Ed Jacobs. Tony Wachter, Dennis Contino, Raymond Feller, Lowell Hamilton, Bill Lucas, Ken Sparks, Stan West, Robert Garrison, Steven Gendler. Daryll Mullins, Ron Kastner. AGENDA ITEM #3 - TOWN MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Nordin announced that Julie Ghetti was the new accountant and that Ron Dean was functioning as the new town marshal. He reported that due to the storms, the street department had rented six additional pieces of equipment to expedite the clean up that was required in all areas of the community and urged the council and public to inform Town Hall if they knew of areas that needed priority attention. He further stated that he was was working with the County on an agreement for handling the Palmer Way situation. As it presently stands, the Town will do all the work and the County will give us a cash payment per an intergovernmental agreement that will be made between the two. Councilman Fox reported that the Governor's Office of Highway Safety has awarded the Town a grant for signage in the amount of $25.000 for the fiscal year 1991. He said that as soon as the paperwork was completed, the Town could begin purchasing and installing new signs. AGENDA ITEM #4 - COUNCIL TO CONVENE AS BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT At approximately 6:43 p.m.. Vice Mayor Hudson announced that the council would stand in recess and convene as the Board of Adjustment. He explained to the public that eventually there would be a separate Board of Adiustment but in the meantime. when the council was acting in the capacity of the Board, they were not acting as the Town Council. AGENDA ITEM _#5_& 4f6 - HOLD PUBLIC HEARING ONTHE _JAPNGIE_REQUEST FOR VARIANCE AND Town Council M,intltes 8/16/90 Page 1 of 5 DISCUSS_.AND ACT -UPON SAID _REQUEST The Town Council acted in the capacity of the Board of Adjustment on these two items and because of this. the minutes and tape recording of what transpired are kept separately. AGENDA ITEM #7 - THE TOWN COUNCIL CONVENES AS THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD At approximately 7:49 p.m.. Vice M_avor Hudson announced that the Town Council would convene as the Planning and Zoning Commission. Once again, he explained that the duties of this commission would soon be passed on to a group of citizens. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission: Commissioners Bill O'Brien, Wally Hudson, Frank Clark, Mike Minarsich. Charlie Fox and Peg Tibbetts. Absent was Commissioner John Cutillo. Commissioner Tibbetts. per state statute, declared a conflict of interest due to her employment at MCO. the petitioner. She further asked that her formal abstention be filed in the minutes. AGENDA ITEM #8-- PUBLIC HEARING Mr. Greg Bielli, Director of Communications for MCO Properties, then gave a short presentation on the zoning change request. Using a map, he pointed out the area they wanted to down zone explaining that it is is bounded on the north by Palisades Blvd.. on the east by Mountainside Dr., on the west by Lost Hills Dr. and on the south by Plat 601-C. He said that MCO wished to change it from an R- 3, a multi -family residential zone to an R1-10, a single family residential zone which is more in keeping with the surrounding area. Vice Mayor Hudson asked if anyone else wished to speak in favor of this change or against it. John Welsh asked for clarification of the area and Mr. Bielli once again described the area. Stan West asked about egress from the lots in question to Palisades and Mr. Bielli said there was none, that the ingress and egress was off of Lost Hills and off of Mountainside. Mr. Welsh asked if the completion of Lost Hills was part of the project and Mr. Bielli responded that thev would be completing the side that was not done. Since there were no more comments or questions. Vice Mayor Hudson closed the public hearing at 6:58 p.m. AGENDA _ITEM _#9 - DISCUSS. AND ACT _UPON THE _CHANGE _IN ZONING REQUEST _BY._MCO Councilman O'Brien made a MOTION that the Planning and Zoning Commission move to approve the request of downzoning. SECONDED by Councilman Minarsich and CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA _ITEM #10 - PUBLIC _HEARING_ ON ORDINANCE 90-10. CHANGING THE ZONING CODE AS IT RELATES TO SWIMMING _POOL FENCES At _approximately 7:00 p.m., the Planning and Zoning Commission began the hearing on Ordinance 90-10. Mr. Nordin explained that due to a clerical error, the zoning ordinance was approved in a manner that was not recommended by those who were responsible for studying and making recommendations on the ordinance to the council. He explained that as the ordinance currently reads, an interior fence is required to separate the house from the pool. He further commented that this Town Council Minutes 8/16/90 Page 2 of 5 was not the original intent which was to leave this requirement out. Mr. Nordin said it was important for staff to receive clarification on this item from the council so that people wishing to build pools would be clear as to what was expected of them. He said staffs recommendation was to change the ordinance back to the way it was origina.11.y intended and this could be accomplished by striking the word "not" from the offending sentence. Mary Petroff asked for clarification on the use of the word not and Mr. Nordin repeated his statement. Timothy Bowen asked if the Commission was aware of the current state legislation on this subject and the Vice Mayor assured him that they were. The Vice Mayor declared the public hearing closed at approximately 7:05 p.m. AGENDA ITEM #11 - DISCUSS ORDINANCE 90-10 Councilman Clark made a MOTION that the Planning, and Zoning Board recommend adoption by the Town Council of the ordinance before them. SECONDED by Councilman Minarsich and CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA _ITEM #12 - RECONVENE AS THE _TOWN COUNCIL OF FOUNTAIN HILLS At approximately 7:06 p.m., Vice Mayor Hudson called the Town Council out of recess and reconvened the Town Council meeting. AGENDA ITEM #13 - DISCUSS AND ACT UPON ORDINANCE 90-10 Councilman Minarsich made a MOTION to adopt Ordinance 90-10 which was SECONDED by Councilman O'Brien. Mr. Japngie asked for clarification on what the ordinance meant and Mr. Farrell reiterated that it meant that a residence wall could be used as part of the required barrier wall around a pool as opposed to a separate fence enclosing the pool. Councilman Fox then addressed an article in the Arizona Republic that referred to the clerical mistake causing this situation as a foul up. expressing his irritation at the way the article was written. The motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA_ ITEM_#14 - RESOLUTION _1990-21,_DECLARING _THE _CABLE CODE A PUBLIC RECORD Mr. Nordin explained that this was a technicality in order to preclude the necessity of publishing the entire cable T.V. ordinance in the paper. Councilman Fox made a MOTION to adopt Resolution 1990-21 and was SECONDED by Councilwoman Tibbetts. The motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA _ITEM _#15 - ORDINANCE90-11, ADOPTING THE CABLE T.V. ORDINANCE Larry Woodward, the cable T.V. consultant, gave a brief summation on all the work that had gone into the ordinance to make it uniquely Fountain Hills' and asked for any questions the council might have. When there were none from the council. the Vice Mayor asked for a motion on the floor and Councilman O'Brien made the MOTION to adopt the ordinance. SECONDED by Councilman Fox. The council then heard from members of the public including John Welsh, Bill Cunningham, Mr. Japngie. Bob Garrison, Peter Putterman. Mary Petroff, Norman Lash, Steve Geller and Steve Gophne whose questions and concerns included: possible break in service if we get a new company nrovidin� service, what time frame was involved in the Town Council Minutes 8/16/90 Page 3 of 5 RFP process, how long the contract was good for, what would happen if they didn't provide good service, how many times the streets would be dug up if more than one license was awarded, how much negotiating had already been going on, 15 years was a very long time to commit to a contract because new technology will outdate whatever we're getting now, why not look into getting the Towns own satellite dish like Rio Verde, will we get better service once this whole process is complete, etc. Mr. Woodward told the group that in his opinion there was probably a 1 in 1.000 chance that our service would be grossly interrupted because the existing provider would probably stay on for awhile and that things would only get better from here. Mr. Nordin added that since there is no contract in place, the Town is collecting no franchise tax and this was an additional incentive for the current provider to continue providing service. Mr. Nordin explained the tentative schedule: act on the ordinance tonight. develop an RFP over the next few weeks to have ready by October lst, allow 60 days before the end of the year for the proposals to be worked on by the industry, take about 30 days to review the proposals (it is also his hope at this time that the cable Subcommittee will meet one last time to also review the proposals and make a recommendation to the council) and hear any presentations the bidders may choose to provide, award the contract on or about January 3rd, negotiate a license document with the successful bidder. Mr. Woodward said the ordinance provides for up to a 15 year contract and some are for only 7 years, althought 15 years is the norm. He further stated that cable companies spend millions of dollars providing a cable system so it's not reasonable to expect them to settle for a short term contract. Councilman Minarsich explained that there were protections provided in our ordinance with respect to a long term contract, ie. the fact that it's a non-exclusive contract which means that more than one license can be issued, allowing_ the consumer to choose what service he desires. He also referred to the clause stating that service has to be at least up to the standards of our surrounding communities. Mr. Japngie was assured that there were non-performance provisions in the ordinance to allow for termination. Mr. Farrell told Mr. Garrison that the streets would have to be dug up but that there was a requirement that all necessary repair work be done after construction is complete. Mr. Nordin told Mr. Putterman, that per council direction, staff has been soliciting the views and opinions and comments from any interested cable companies. Mr. Woodward told Mr. Lash that one of the cable companies staff has talked to is the company that supplies the satellite service to Rio Verde so that type of service is a contender. The Vice Mayor reminded the public that copies of the ordinance would be available at Town Hall for anyone that wanted to review it and Mr. Woodward said he would take question calls from citizens "off the meter" as he felt it important for interested residents to be apprised of Just what was going on. He assured Mr. Geller that there would be a substantial improvement in service within hopefully a 12 month period. Vice Mayor Hudson called for the vote and the motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #16 - PROCESS OF APPOINTING THE PERMANENT PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Vice Mayor Hudson requested that there be a work/study session when the new Planning Director comes on board to discuss what he feels is important in selecting this commission and Councilman Clark said he, too, would like to hear staff recommendation as well as having the council draw up short lists of their Town Council Minutes 8/16/90 Page 4 of 5 own recommendations on individuals to by appointed to this board. Councilman Fov said he felt candidates from the short lists should be interviewed in executive session. Mr. Nordin said he would Pet with Mr. Jeppson and put together a tentative procedure for the council to discuss at the next work/studv session. AGENDA ITEM #18 — CALL TO THE PUBLIC Vice Mayor Hudson chose to have the call before the vote to go into executive session. Steve Geller expressed his appreciation for all of Councilman Fox's efforts in securing the Governor's Office of Highway Safety grant and for the fine job the council is doing. AGENDA ITEM #17 — VOTE TO GO INTO F�CUTIVE SESSION Councilman Clark made a MOTION to go into executive session. SECONDED by Councilwoman Tibbetts and CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #19 —GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION The council went into executive session at approximately 7:55 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 4f20 — RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION The council returned to regular session at approximately 9:18 p.m. AGENDA ITEM #21 — DISCUSS AND POSSIBLY ACT UPON THE IGA WITH THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT This item was not addressed by the council at this time. AGENDA ITEM #22 — ADJOURNMENT Councilman Clark mado a MOTION to adiourn. SECONDED by Councilman Fox and CARRIED unanimously. The council adjourned at approximately 9:19 p.m. ATTEST: Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION TOWN OF UNTAIN HILLS By._ Jo M. util o, Mayor I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the regular meeting of the Town Council of Fountain Hills held on the 16th day of August, 1990. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this _(J+'i,- day of September. 1990. c ---------------------------------------- Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Town Council Minutes 8/16/90 Page 5 of 5