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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990.0904.TCWSM.Minutes,, TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE WORK/STUDY SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1990 A public work/study session of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor John Cutillo at approximately 6:35 p.m., Tuesday, September 4, 1990 in the conference room of the Fountain Hills Town Hall Offices located at 16836 E. Palisades, Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona. Present for the work/study session Mayor John Cutillo and Councilmembers Mike Minarsich, Frank Clark, Bill O'Brien, Peg Tibbetts and Charlie Fox. Absent was Vice Mayor Wally Hudson. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Director of Community Development Gary Jeppson and Town Clerk Cassie Hansen. AGENDA ITEM #2 — TOWN MANAGERS REPORT Mr. Nordin reported that the positions of accountant and town marshal had both been filled and that there were no plans to fill anymore positions at this time even though the_ budget allows for a planner and an additional secretary. He said filling those positions would not be considered until after a budget review in October or November. He further said that he would like to take a "wait and see" stand on filling the position of recreation director although the recreation ordinance the council would be passing would establish this position as well as a recreation commission and the department itself. Mr. Nordin then went over the process involved in the activities of transportation committee. He explained that since the defeat of Valtrans, the powers that be in the county have decided that a successful mass transit plan would have to come from a grass roots effort, hence the development of committees at the local level. Each one of these local committees is surveying their own community regarding transportation needs, desires, current services, etc. and formulating a plan for each community. A master committee will be integrating all of these individual plans into one comprehensive plan to put before the voters. Mr. Nordin reported that the street department had been primarily working on clean up after the storms but that they had also begun work on the Palmer Way project. He said they were also striping, patching and working on dust control and weed and brush control. Councilman Clark, after commending staff on all that had been accomplished, expressed his concern for the lack of effort up to this point on developing a strategy to complete paving in town. He said this was a major issue in the incorporation election and in the recent Town Hall and that since so many of the number 1 and lA issues had been taken care of on the plan of work, he would like to see the Town Manger and staff spend considerably more time on project 19 to establish long range strategy on paving so that we know as early as possible where we are going. He volunteered to help on planning the paving/maintenance stategy since he had been on the road district and active on developing the estimates for the last bond package. Mr. Nordin said he had had preliminary discussions with residents on Spotted Horse Drive who are interested in paying to have their road paved. Councilman Clark said there were certain criteria that could be used to determine a paving schedule ie. the length of time people had been waiting for paving, the type of terrain they have, etc. and that it is unfortunate that anyone should have to pay to have their own roads paved Town Council Minutes 9/4/90 Page 1 of 6 because they have paving coming. Mr. Nordin said he hoped to have a plan in place by November. Councilman Fox said it was important to remember the budget constraints because even though our census numbers will be up from 1985, the dollar figure per person will go down. Mayor Cutillo said that he agreed that paving was a priority although he felt staff was on schedule as far as getting things done. Bruce Hansen asked if pressure could be put on MCO to complete their paving responsibilities, if they in fact had any. Mayor Cutillo said he was unsure if resolution 40 was in effect or not and that was something that would have to be straightened out. Councilman Minarsich explained his phone call from Al Obst who had recommended starting a block watch after some of the recent vandalism and that he was hoping to utilize the provision in the Sheriff's contract to get this going once the contract was signed. Councilwoman Tibbetts suggested that this might be an area where our local posse could get more involved. Mr. Nordin referred to the draft RFP in the packets and said that Mr. Woodward would be going over it with the council on Thursday. He then referred to the Felker presentation which would be taking place Thursday night and said he would defer that to the project representatives. Mr. Nordin did go over a potential annexation time table with the council. He said the first step is to get the property ownership from the county, which he has already done, and that Felker is the only owner. A blank annexation petition would then be filed on the 14th of this month with the county recorder's office and that starts a 30 day clock running during which staff has to notify all property owners and give notice to the County Board of Supervisors. The property would then be properly posted and the public hearing would be properly noticed in the paper and heard by the Council at the first meeting in October. A one year clock then starts during which time staff would negotiate with the Felker people the content of their development agreement. That document would be brought before the council for their approval, disapproval, change, etc. Once that document is consumated the annexation ordinance would be presented to the council for action. Dick Froncek gave a brief report on the post census local review. He said they had already submitted corrections to the Fountain Hills boundary and that while he and Mr. Jeppson were doing a windshield survey to verify the Anderson Nelson map and checking water meters as well, they found housing units that had been missed by the census count. He said that Gary was working with certificates of occupancy as a follow up to the building permit check. Mr. Jeppson stated that they needed to respond by the 13th of September and that up to this point they had gone through about 40 blocks and found about 41 additional units not counted in the census. He explained that the census asked communities to document their estimates on the basis of utility connections and the census will then prove or disprove those estimates. Mr. Froncek said the post local review covers housing units only and that is the only recourse local governments have. Pam Aister, formly of the regional census office, verified that enumerators would come out to verify the housing units the community would submit. AGENDA ITEM #3 — RESOLUTIONS 1990-22 AND 1990-23 INVOLVING THE ABANDONMENT OF EASEMENTS Town Council Minutes 9/4/90 Page 2 of 6 Mr. Nordin explained that he had spared the council alot of paper by not copying them on all the correspondence from all the utilities giving their approval of the abandonment. He said these were of little consequence to the Town since we are not in the utility business and that these were easements that were behind homes where the owners wished to build backyard fences. Councilman Fox expressed the desire, since there would probably be so many of these requests, to enter into the blanket letter type of approval. Councilwoman Tibbetts explained how this whole situation with the easements originated and that they had tried to get a blanket variance from the county who would not do it unless every lot was inspected, which they would not pay to do. The easements were hardly ever used except in one section where the sanitary district did use the easement. Councilman O'Brien suggested working backwards and asking the utilities to tell us which lots they need access to the easements. It was suggested that staff get the major water plan map, sanitary district map, etc. to see what lots are affected by installations and then proceed to issue a blanket variance except for the lots where access is necessary. AGENDA ITEM #4 — MAGISTRATE SHOOB'S REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF Magistrate Shoob reported to the council on the increased court activity and stated that it, and the accompanying paperwork, was much heavier than he had ever anticipated. He referenced a report that he had supplied the council on the fines collected thus far and how many were outstanding, requiring collecting. He further stated that he would like some part time help to work on collecting all the outstanding fines which totaled in excess of $19,000. The idea of setting up payment by credit card was discussed. The Magistrate asked to have some discretion in how many hours he could have additional help in the court because he was not sure at this point how many a hours a week would be needed to get the job done. He said in Oro Valley, population of 2,500, there are five court employees who are running a model court and doing very well on collections. He further said that when his part time person came on board, that he was going to send the court clerk and her assistant down to Oro Valley for a day to see how they do things. Mr. Nordin said that he and the Judge would present a recommendation to the council at Thursday's meeting and Councilman Fox requested a recap sheet of fines paid and fines outstanding. AGENDA ITEM #5 — TOWN MANAGER'S EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT Mr. Nordin asked if any of the councilmembers had any questions or comments on the agreement. Councilman O'Brien questioned the analysis by Mr. Nordin and said he couldn't really agree with the advantages because since the agreement was between the Town and Mr. Nordin, not his successors, he didn't see how it could help to attract better qualified mangers in the future. Mr. Nordin clarified by explaining that the mere fact of an agreement being in existence sets a positive precedent as far as the profession is concerned. It was decided to leave the review date in January. The continuation of insurance coverage following termination was discussed. Mr. Nordin explained that the contract sets no precedent for other town employees because the town manager is the only position that serves directly at the pleasure of the council and all other employees have recourse where the town manager does not. Town Council Minutes 9/4/90 Page 3 of 6 AGENDA ITEM #6 - SPECIAL EVENT LIQUOR LICENSE REQUEST FOR THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS The accompanying memo and application spoke for themselves and the council had no questions. AGENDA ITEM #7 - THE IGA BETWEEN THE TOWN AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT Mr. Nordin said he had reviewed this document with Vice Mayor Hudson for the proper insurance content and with Walt Dunne. He said that Mr. Dunne approved the IGA up to his level of authority and said that he didn't think there would be a problem in deleting the section on the school having input on the fee schedules set by the Town. He confirmed that our attorney had reviewed the document and that staff was recommending approving the agreement. AGENDA ITEM #8 - THE IGA BETWEEN THE TOWN AND THE SANITARY DISTRICT Mr. Nordin reported that the IGA had been done over by the Sanitary District attorney and that the present copy had not been reviewed by our attorney although not many changes had been made. He explained how some of the costs had been reduced in the rental amount since Pat Harvey now had office space at Town Hall as well as all the road district files. Councilman Fox expressed a desire to have some sort of accounting on the fuel we were being charged for. Also, that we should exchange certificates of insurance with the district. AGENDA ITEM #9 - ORDINANCE 90-12 - ESTABLISHING A NEW SECTION 3-1-5 ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF TOWN MARSHAL AND DEFINING THE MARSHAL'S RESPONSIBILITIES Mr. Nordin explained that the change expanded the Town Marshal's responsibilities to reflect the reality that our Town Marshal is a certified law enforcement officer and able to enforce the criminal portions of the code. AGENDA ITEM #10 - ORDINANCE 90-13 - ESTABLISHING THE RECREATION COMMISSION, THE RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND THE POSITION OF RECREATION DIRECTOR Mr. Nordin went over some of the high points of the ordinance and asked for questions and comments. In Section 9-1, Councilman Fox questioned referring to the Parks and Recreation Department as an executive department of the town and Mr. Nordin agreed that the terminology would probably not be consistent with the rest of the code. Councilman Fox also felt "officers" should be removed from the next sentence. In 9-2, the subject of how many members should be on the commission was discussed at great length. Mr. Nordin said the Parks and Rec Subcommittee felt the commission should have a broad base of members representing all factions of the community, including a member of the Mayor's Youth Council who would be replaced annually since that member would probably be a high school senior. Councilman Fox said he thought 9 was too many members but that he could go along with 7. Councilman Clark said he spent a number of years establishing and training project teams and they found that continual testing proved 5 to be the most efficient number. He further said that 6 is O.K and 7 is stretching it to the limit and going beyond 7 is unmanageable. Mayor Cutillo said he would generally agree except in this case he would expect more than committee meetings out of them and that they could also supervise some of the activities. Town Council Minutes 9/4/90 Page 4 of 6 Councilman Minarsich said he felt this was a unique board and a cross section of members was a vital aspect of its makeup, justifying more members. Councilwoman Tibbetts agreed with Councilman Minarsich. Councilman O'Brien suggested setting a maximum instead of an actual number so there would be some flexibilty. It was decided to change 9-2-1 to read "no more than nine". Further discussion ensued regarding powers and duties and Councilman Fox expressed concern about 9-2-2, part B. He said the last 4 words, "council and town manager" should be changed to director of parks and recreation". In C, he suggested a period after "therein" and striking the rest. In D, he suggested "advise the director of parks and rec with respect...", not the council and town manager. In 9-2 the second sentence "shall be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council" should be "by the consent of the council". In the same paragraph, if they go with nine members, the last sentence would have to be stricken or changed. It was decided to have it read "at least three". The council also felt that on the subject of reimbursement, it was a good idea to make it clear that prior authorization was necessary. In 9-2-6, Councilman Fox said the last 2 words should be changed from "for cause" to "without cause" under A. Councilwoman Tibbetts suggested taking out both "for cause" and "without cause" and just ending the sentence after "at any time". It was then suggested to delete C and the council concurred. AGENDA ITEM #11 - RESOLUTION 1990-24 AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK TO SIGN AN IGA WITH THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OF HIGHWAY SAFETY Mr. Nordin explained that the Governor's Office was requesting this IGA to proceed with the grant that had been awarded to Fountain Hills for signage. Councilman O'Brien expressed concern with authorizing the signing of an agreement without being able to see the agreement first. Mr. Nordin said staff would review the agreement and if anything was out of line, we would not sign it. Mayor Cutillo suggested that when the IGA came in, 4 councilmembers could be contacted to review it. Mr. Nordin said he would try to get them to send a fax of the rough draft of the IGA for the council to see on Thursday night. AGENDA ITEM #12 - ORDINANCE 90-14. AMENDING THE ZONING MAP Mr. Jeppson explained that this was to change the map to reflect the zoning change that the council had already approved. AGENDA ITEM #13 - APPOINTING THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Mr. Nordin said policy direction was necessary to determine how many members would be on the commission. Mr. Jeppson explained how he had come up with the list of candidates before the council which had been derived from the councilmembers' short lists. He also stressed what an important commission it was and discussed the pros and cons of having 5 or 7 members, saying he preferred working with 7. A lengthy conversation ensued as to the selection process for this commission. Mayor Cutillo said he was not comfortable selecting such an important commission without interviewing the applicants first. Councilman Minarsich suggested that councilmembers could call up the candidates they were unfamiliar with and acquaint themselves with all candidates in that manner. It was eventually decided to interview the candidates in executive session following Town Council Minutes 9/4/ 90 Page 5 of 6 the presentation by Jack DeBolske on September 11, 1990. Mr. Nordin said the candidates had the right to reject being interviewed in executive session and request to be interviewed in a public meeting. It would be necessary for them to sign a release form, agreeing to be interviewed in executive session. The council adjourned the work/study session at approximately 9:46 p.m. TOWN MON LLS By: John VCutillo, gayor ATTEST: Cassie B. Hansen, 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 on the 4th day of September, 1990. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this �— day of October, 1990. eiza� • / Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Town Council Minutes 9/4/90 Page 6 of 6