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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993.1118.TCRM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL NOVEMBER 18, 1993 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Cutillo at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, November 18, 1993, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd., Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona. ROLL CALL - Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Councilman Lawrence, roll call was taken. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Mike Minarsich and Councilmembers Peg Tibbetts, Bill O'Brien, Wally Hudson, Frank Clark, and Don Lawrence. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell, Town Clerk Cassie Hansen, and Town Engineer Randy Harrel. Mayor Cutillo read the consent agenda which included: AGENDA ITEM #2. - CONSIDERATION OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SPECIAL EVENT REQUEST FOR THE THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE. AGENDA ITEM #3. - CONSIDERATION OF THE SUNSET KIWANIS SPECIAL EVENT REQUEST FOR A DUATHLON ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1993. THE EVENT, BEGINNING AT 6:00 AM, IS ANTICIPATED TO CONCLUDE BY 10:00 AM. NO STREET CLOSURES ARE SCHEDULED. AGENDA ITEM #4. - CONSIDERATION OF RATIFICATION OF AMENDMENTS TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION BY-LAWS. AGENDA ITEM #5. - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 1993-38. ABANDONING WHATEVER RIGHT, TITLE, OR INTEREST IT HAS IN THOSE CERTAIN PUBLIC RIGHTS -OF -WAYS DESCRIBED IN EXHIBITS A-1 THROUGH A-11 LOCATED IN FOUNTAIN HILLS ARIZONA FINAL PLAT NUMBER 507-A AND FOUNTAIN HILLS ARIZONA FINAL PLAT NUMBER 507-B TO THE BENEFICIAL OWNER OF RECORD OF THE LAND AT THE _ _TIME OF DEDICATION; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mayor Cutillo MOVED approval of the consent agenda, SECONDED by Councilman Lawrence. A roll call vote was taken and the results were as follows: Mayor Cutillo aye Vice Mayor Minarsich aye Councilman Lawrence aye Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 1 of 11 Councilwoman Tibbetts aye Councilman Clark aye Councilman Hudson aye Councilman O'Brien aye The motion CARRIED unanimously. Craig Trbovich had not arrived and Council moved to next agenda item. AGENDA ITEM #7. - PRESENTATION BY VIRGINIA KORTE ON THE McDOWELL MOUNTAIN TASK FORCE. Ms. Korte told the Council that the report before them had been prepared for the Scottsdale City Council on the McDowell Mountain Task Force --a task force appointed by that council to look at the concept of a mountain preserve to preserve the McDowell Mountains as open space. Ms. Korte said the McDowell Mountain Task Force was established by city resolution on March 15, 1993. The fifteen -member task force, which included Mr. Joe Bill of Fountain Hills, met for the first time on May 13 and held ten meetings, concluding on September 23. The meetings were open to the public and were regularly attended by interested citizens. She said that while the task force did not always agree on all the issues, the report being presented represents a strong majority consensus. A mission statement was developed early on. The task force strongly recommended that the City of Scottsdale act immediately to take steps to pursue a McDowell Sonoran Preserve; timeliness was crucial and they strongly recommended that the city appoint a McDowell Sonoran Preserve Committee to develop an implementation strategy to create this preserve. She said the challenge before Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, and any others interested in preserving the McDowell Mountains as open space and access to the public, was in the simple fact that approximately 60% of these mountains was privately owned; 30% was owned by the state, and 10% was owned by Scottsdale. The task force spent considerable time and effort identifying and drawing a boundary to establish the area of interest, which included a small portion of Fountain Hills. She stressed that the line, which encompassed 31 square miles, defined only an area to be to be studied in the future and did not define the preserve. Ms Korte said the task force was guided by three objectives when considering proposed public uses: that the areas and uses would be available to the entire community; that these areas and uses would appeal to a broad range of user groups; and that the McDowell Sonoran Preserve should preserve a character of openness and emphasize conservation. The proposed uses were: General User Areas, to include ramadas, picnic facilities, interpretative centers, nature trails, and possibly a museum; Mountain Recreation Areas, to include limited off -trail activities, i.e., research and educational studies, nature tours, rock climbing; Multi -Use Trail System - a system of non -paved trails that allowed hiking, running, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Motorized vehicles would be prohibited. Access Areas would be multiple locations for access into the McDowell Mountains. A variety of sizes and amenities to fit the location and needs of users were to be analyzed further. Heritage Sites would be preserved to include a number of Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 2 of 11 archaeological and historical sites and opened for public viewing and educational purposes. Wildlife Areas/Corridors would be set aside to sustain the habitats of a number of important desert animal and plant species. Human activities would be limited in certain areas. Mountain and Desert Conservation Areas would encompass the most sensitive and fragile segments of the McDowell Mountains, including plant and animal life, scenic features and unstable/steep/hazardous rock formations. The task force strongly recommended that a standing committee be formed to focus on: a preservation strategy to review areas with respect to development pressure and natural features; securing a funding source for key lands within the study area, exploring all possible public and private resources; increasing public awareness to gain support of all Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and surrounding community residents to protect and preserve these mountains. She concluded that the urgency could not be overemphasized and it was critical that immediate steps be taken to establish a McDowell Sonoran Preserve standing committee, thereby making the commitment to create a McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Vice Mayor Minarsich said he had heard of an intent by the City of Scottsdale to retain ownership of Saddleback Mountain and wondered how that could impact this. Ms. Korte replied that she knew Scottsdale was very interested in maintaining Saddleback as an open space area and that the mountain had been identified as an area of the preserve, and acquiring it would be one of the steps in this preservation process. Councilman O'Brien asked if any Task Force members were acquainted with how the South Mountain Preserve was accomplished by the City of Phoenix. Ms. Korte answered that one of the Task Force members had been very involved in that preserve and though they had gained immensely from his experience, Phoenix was a very different community than Scottsdale. Councilman Hudson asked how the Task Force members were selected. Ms. Korte said the Council individually and carefully selected the Task Force from interested volunteers. Mayor Cutillo asked if a study had been done showing what percentage of the property could be rezoned given owner's consent, what percent would be left over to be purchased and what would that cost. Ms. Korte responded that in the ninety days they had to prepare the report, there hadn't been time to go into such detail. She said the immediate issues to be taken up by the standing committee ranged from assessing what land could be preserved by conservation open space zoning to what land could be purchased. Vice Mayor Minarsich said he supported this effort and would like to see a way to work together to achieve the goals. He suggested maybe the General Plan that was just completed and contained a lot of the elements being considered by the Task Force could be coordinated and implemented into their plan. Councilman Clark asked who the gentleman listed as being from an unincorporated county area was and asked where this unincorporated area was. Ms. Korte answered he was Mr. Nelson from Rio Verde. Councilman Clark commended the group for their activities in conducting this study and said he appreciated being involved in their planning. He said he had initially felt this to be of a hostile nature toward Fountain Hills and wondered whether there were any intentions to in any way condemn the land within the Fountain Hills boundaries. Ms. Korte said the task force had invited Mr. Nordin to attend a meeting early on in this process. Ms. Korte said she didn't believe Fountain Hills had been excluded and that no hostile nature of any type was presented. This effort was going to require community -wide and possibly state-wide cooperation. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 3 of 11 Councilman Clark said the basis for his concern was Scottsdale Mayor Drinkwater's proprietary attitude toward this mountain range, and since the town had already lost over 400 acres, he didn't want to see our western border shrink. Ms. Korte assured him that was not the intent. Mayor Cutillo said that this didn't originate with the City of Scottsdale, it was a group of people that formed the Sonoran Land Trust and later went before the Scottsdale City Council. Ms. Korte said the Nogales Sonoran Land Trust was formed in 1990 or 1991 and was a grassroots effort doing an excellent job in creating support and disseminating information. AGENDA ITEM #6. - PRESENTATION OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS 1992/93 AUDIT BY CRAIG TRBOVICH. Mr. Trbovich said the report was divided into two sections: the Financial Statement and the Single Audit Act Report section. The Financial Statement section contained the Town's 1992/93 financial statements and the audit report prepared on those statements. The Single Audit Act reports section listed various compliance and internal control reports for the town that were required due to the federal funding the town received. Mr. Trbovich summarized the various pages of the financial statement and said the town had a good strong general fund balance which showed an increase of about 33%. He commended town accountant Julie Ghetti on the good job she did maintaining the town's books. Councilman O'Brien questioned a variance in "charges for services" in the audit report. Mr. Trbovich explained that was because the town had estimated receiving approximately $17,000 more than was actually received for the area in question, which was mostly Parks and Recreation fees. Councilman Clark questioned what a statement regarding the auditor's opinion meant and was told that most audit reports were "boilerplates" and that the audit statement in question simply meant that the company had performed the audit, but was not expressing an opinion on the town's internal control structure. He said this was a report they were required to issue and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, in conjunction with United States Congress, had prepared the wording. AGENDA ITEM #8. - PUBLIC HEARING ON THE OCTOBER 7 1993 DRAFT OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS. Mayor Cutillo called a recess to the Regular Session of the Town Council and at 7:08 p.m. declared that a public hearing on the draft of the zoning ordinance for the Town of Fountain Hills was in session. No one came forward to speak and Mayor Cutillo declared the hearing closed at 7:09 p.m. and reopened the Regular Session of the Town Council. AGENDA ITEM #9. - CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 93-22 ADOPTING THE OCTOBER 7. 1993 DRAFT OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS; REPEALING ANY AND ALL ORDINANCES WHICH CONFLICT Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 4 of 11 WITH THE OCTOBER 7. 1993 DRAFT OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS; AND AMENDING THE OFFICIAL ZONING DISTRICT MAP OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HELLS, ARIZONA PURSUANT ARTICLE XXXI OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS BY CHANGING THE ZONING DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION OF THE 15.54 ACRES KNOWN AS PLAT 112 "THE COTTONWOODS" FROM RI-7 TO R1-6. Vice Mayor Minarsich MOVED the adoption of the October 7, 1993 draft of the zoning ordinance for the Town of Fountain Hills; SECONDED by Councilwoman Tibbetts, and CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #10. - CONSIDERATION OF THE REQUEST SUBMITTED BY CHARLIE FOX FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF LEGAL FEES. Mr. Farrell reviewed the series of events which had transpired thus far. He said that Resolution 1993-35, which provided for an indemnity policy, had been adopted on October 7, 1993. On November 4, the Council had adopted guidelines for the implementation of that resolution, primarily as a result of requests and questions that were presented on the evening of October 7. On November 15, the town received a request from Mr. Fox asking for reimbursement for fees incurred in a criminal matter. On October 7, Mr. Farrell had indicated that he hoped to obtain the services of another municipal attorney to provide the legal opinion and had subsequently contacted several. Although a commitment to write that opinion had been obtained from the city attorney of Tucson, Mr. Fred Dean, it would take two weeks to a month to receive. Since the November 18 deadline could not be met, Mr. Nordin suggested looking for another alternative and Mr. Farrell contacted a local firm, Meyer Hendricks Victor Osborn & Maledon, who agreed to meet the deadline. The submittal from Mr. Fox, along with the supporting data in the form of the resolution, the guidelines, and the portion of town code that dealt with the office of Mayor and Council, were delivered to Meyer Hendricks Victor Osborn & Maledon on Monday. Mr. Farrell said he understood the decision had been delivered that afternoon and hoped the Council had the opportunity to read it, though he, himself, had not seen a copy. He said he understood from conversations with the attorney, Mr. Sims, that this decision was reviewed by several senior members of the firm, particularly Mr. John LaSota, a former attorney general of this state, and Mr. Myerson, a former Court of Appeals judge and general counsel to Arizona State University. Mr. Farrell said the firm had an excellent reputation in municipal matters and contained a number of senior attorneys who were considered to have a good deal of experience in the area. Their recommendation was that the request be denied and that action item was before the Council that evening. Vice Mayor Minarsich asked Mr. Farrell what had led him to this particular law firm. Mr. Farrell replied that his first choice had been another municipal attorney, because he felt municipal law was a specialty. He said he had prior experience with Meyer Hendricks and had a long association and respect for Mr. LaSota. He said he had also known Mr. Myerson for a long time and felt the firm had a reputation and a character that was necessary. He felt he would have been doing less than his job if he hadn't obtained the best legal thought available given the circumstances and time constraints involved. He said also that large law firms could do things Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 5 of 11 much faster than sole practitioners. Councilman Clark MOVED to deny payment in line with the recommendations the legal counsel had provided in Meyer Hendricks Victor Osborn & Maledon's letter of Nov. 18. SECONDED by Councilman Hudson. Mr. Charlie Fox said he hoped Mr. Farrell would be able to read the decision while he was speaking. First, he wanted the Council, since the decision had just been delivered that afternoon and he had not had a chance to get in touch with his attorney, to consider tabling the item until his attorney was able to review and discuss it with the town attorney. This could possibly save on costs. One reason to table would be that the resolution in question said that the "town attorney shall" review the material. He said he understood that Councilman Clark had suggested a possible conflict for the town attorney since Mr. Farrell had been called as a witness in the trial, but that Mr. Farrell had been called with regard to town ordinances, not as a character witness. Mr. Fox then questioned a section of the resolution requiring the Council to appoint a special attorney should the town attorney be the person seeking reimbursement on indemnification, and said that to the best of his knowledge, the Council had not voted to appoint such a third party. The provision specifically stated that Council would recommend this appointment, not the town attorney; and it may be argued, in the future, that this legal decision was, therefore, invalid. Mr. Fox said the law firm's decision to deny payment was based on the portion of the guideline that dealt with the person seeking indemnification being involved in duties required or authorized by his official duties or responsibilities. A Wyoming case was mentioned in the legal decision, and Mr. Fox said he didn't feel that case related and didn't know how much credence a Wyoming decision would have in Arizona. He then asked if anyone could tell him the job description for a council person or if such a description even existed. He said a council person could only follow the oath taken, which he read. He questioned whether acting on a citizen's concern wasn't one of the responsibilities for which he had been elected. He said while he was grateful for the expediency of the legal decision, he felt they had decided based on a technicality. Regarding the power and responsibilities of a council person, the Town Code said only that "all powers of the Council shall be exercised by ordinance, resolution, order or motion." Another portion of the Town Code defined public nuisance as "The doing of any act, or omitting to perform a duty." Mr Fox said people had questioned why he hadn't called the Marshals Department. He responded that even though he knew Marshal Gendler was out of town, he did, in fact, call. He said he had also been asked why he hadn't called the Sheriff's Department and he said that was because he knew the Sheriff's contract with the Town precluded them from acting on town ordinances. Mr. Fox knew that other council members had, in the past, acted on citizen's concerns. It had been testified at his trial that he had received calls as late as midnight that he had acted on, and then referred them to the Marshals Office the next day. He said that, at the time of the call, he had a guest in his home who was a Town employee --a Street Department employee, whose job it was to maintain the streets in the Town. He received a second call from the same concerned citizen forty-five minutes later and felt that, since the Marshal was out of town and the Town offices were closed, he needed to take the Town employee and go investigate the magnitude of the problem. He felt it would be extremely irresponsible to ignore the wooden stakes, staples, and trash that were reported to be strewn about the right-of-way, especially since the town employee whose job it was to take care of the problem was there. He said although there were many people who did not know him, there were Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 6 of 11 many more who could attest to his contributions and efforts on behalf of the Town. He had worked too hard for too long to cause harm to the community. He said he had a family and they had built two homes in the community, and there was no way he would do anything to damage their well being. He said he respected the fact that there was a legal opinion presented to the Council, but he felt that an opinion requested from five different persons could, respectfully, produce five different opinions. He said he didn't feel the decision presented a fair opinion and would like to again request that the Council consider tabling the motion to allow the attorneys to meet and come to an understanding. Councilman Clark said that though it would not be easy, the decision was to be made by the Council, not the respective attorneys; they could only present their opinions. He said there were three criteria that needed to be met in order for Mr. Fox's request to be approved. One, was that it was a matter of interest to the town, which it was. A second was that the act should have been conducted in good faith, which he didn't question. The third criteria was that it must have been a duty of the officer, employee or elected official, and that was where he had difficulty considering payment. He said that he, too, was elected, but at no time did he run on a platform of night-time street cleaning. The fact that the Street Department employee had not been, to Councilman Clark's knowledge, compensated for his time and efforts on the night in question indicated to Councilman Clark that it was not the employee's duty to be out with Mr. Fox that evening. He said that based on the latter item, he could see no reason for either approving payment or tabling it. Vice Mayor Minarsich asked Mr. Farrell to clarify for the record the point Mr. Fox raised earlier that "The Town Attorney shall...". Mr. Farrell stated he believed that Mr. Fox had read the word "shall" to mean that it was the exclusive duty of the town attorney to write the opinion, unless the town attorney, himself, was seeking reimbursement and then the Council could appoint outside counsel. He said he had not read that section to be so exclusive. He said that on October 7 he had the impression that there was a council member and several citizens who felt that his involvement with Mr. Fox's case was such as to make a legal report from him less than credible and that perhaps the Town would be better served if someone else were to render the opinion. Based on that, even though he continued to express a willingness to write the report, he felt the Town would be best served by an outside attorney and that he had the authority to retain one. Vice Mayor Minarsich asked Mr. Farrell whether the amount requested by Mr. Fox was a matter of public record. Mr. Farrell responded that the ordinance was written so that it would be confidential, allowing the person seeking indemnification to be as frank and honest and open as desired. He said he didn't know the amount requested, and though he understood it appeared in the Meyer Hendricks decision, making it a matter of public record, he strongly suggested not referring to Mr. Fox's report. Councilman Lawrence said that he felt Councilman Clark's statement about election platforms was weak. Many of the things council persons were asked to be involved with had nothing to do with campaign platforms. Regarding Mr. Fox's request to table, he said the Town attorney had not read the legal response from the outside attorney, nor had he even read Mr. Fox's request. Councilman Lawrence acknowledged that all involved in this matter were anxious for it to come to a conclusion, but he felt with the decision just received a few hours prior, it would not be prudent to make a hurried decision. He said he wished to make a motion to amend the motion on the floor to table this until the next scheduled Council meeting. It was determined to be an improper motion, so Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 7 of 11 Councilman Lawrence withdrew the motion. Mayor Cutillo said in prior Council meetings it had been strongly expressed that the Council should not enter into an action without plenty of time and thought having been expended. He said the only way he could see to accomplish Councilman Lawrence's request would be to say no to Councilman Clark's motion, so that a motion to table could then be made. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to table the motion until the December 2 Council meeting; SECONDED by Mayor Cutillo. A roll call vote was taken as follows: Mayor Cutillo aye Vice Mayor Minarsich nay Councilman O'Brien nay Councilman Hudson aye Councilman Clark nay Councilwoman Tibbetts aye Councilman Lawrence aye Motion PASSED 4 votes aye to 3 votes nay. AGENDA ITEM #11. - CONSIDERATION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ASSISTING THE FOUNTAIN HILLS LITTLE LEAGUE WITH THEIR OPERATION. Mr. Charlie Spencer, Vice President and Board Member of the Fountain Hills Little League, said that the Little League had been informed that the fields and lighting they had been using did not meet minimum standards set by the national association and that the insurance carried through the association required these standards to be met. Teams were expected to be fielded in early April and practices to begin in March, allowing approximately four months for the deficiencies to be corrected; otherwise, games would not be played. He said the league was also looking at the fields at Golden Eagle Park and those at the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation as alternative sites. Lighting was the foremost concern since, with the number of games and practices scheduled for Little League and with other activities also wishing to use the fields, nighttime use was inevitable. He said the specific lighting problem was that the Little League charter required 50-foot candle power at the home base area and 30-foot candle power in the outfield. The current lighting measured eight at home plate and three in the outfield. One lighting supplier, Industrial Lighting Supply, quoted a preliminary estimate of $30,000 to properly light the field. Little League wished to ask the Town and the Council for their support in correcting the lighting deficiency at Four Peaks fields. Mr. Spencer said there were other deficiencies and general maintenance such as the turf and the infield which, if corrected, could bring the cost to over $30,000. He said that Little League was not asking for support of the program, that was covered by sign-up fees, sponsorship, and other fundraising activities, and volunteer efforts. This program affected over 400 students and was the single biggest activity outside of school in the town. In years past, Little League had been sponsored by community contractors, but it had grown to such an extent it was beyond donations. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 8 of 11 Vice Mayor Minarsich asked Mr. Spencer if estimates beyond the lighting had been obtained in lieu of the short time frame. Mr. Spencer answered no because it was believed that a total renovation of the fields would be impossible in the time allowed. He felt that the best possible cleanup of the fields this year with renovation to follow after the season had ended would be the suggested plan. Some maintenance crew help, a grading tractor, with possibly some assistance from the Town would be a great help this year. Vice Mayor Minarsich MOVED that staff be directed to meet with the board of directors of Little League as soon as possible and formulate a plan to be brought back to the Council for approval with possible input from the school district to get this project accomplished as soon as possible. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion saying it was worthy of Council support. A recent audit report showed a large general fund balance available, and he thought it would be a shame to see such a worthwhile program cease to exist due to that lighting problem. The recent joint Council/School Board meeting discussed problems of gang violence, substance abuse and criminal activity and all present had agreed that one of the best ways to combat those issues was to offer positive activities. He said the Council should do every thing possible as quickly as possible. He asked Mr. Spencer if a meeting between staff and Little League, with a follow up meeting with the Council on December 2, would allow enough time to get things accomplished without placing the league in jeopardy. Mr. Spencer replied that it would. Councilman Clark said he felt it was to the Town's credit that it had a positive cash balance, and that it was irresponsible to suggest the money was sitting there waiting to be spent. He said there were projects pending that required possible expenditure of several million dollars, and just because there was a positive cash balance didn't mean the money had to be distributed to the first person who asked. He said also that the property in question was not Town property but school property, involving a third party not even in attendance; this request should have gone to the town manager. He said last year when Little League needed assistance, the town manager accommodated them. Mr. Spencer said that through last year, the Town of Fountain Hills had not submitted any dollars in support of Little League. Parks and Recreation was approached this year and subsequently committed $2,000. He said that in the district played in, which encompassed all of Phoenix, no Little League team had to provide its own fields or facilities. They were provided by the city or the school district in a joint effort. Last year Fountain Hills' Little League was forced to play the majority of their games in the Scottsdale district, on fields provided by a joint City of Scottsdale/Scottsdale school district effort. Councilwoman Tibbetts said she hoped that new modern technology could provide the lighting needed without blinding the neighborhood. Councilman Hudson said Little League was very important in giving students a positive non -school activity, but suggested it needed to be studied further and a cost basis obtained. He said he agreed with Councilman Clark that because the Town had a million dollars in the bank didn't mean the money was free to spend at will. Vice Mayor Minarsich objected to the segregating of school and town saying what they comprised was a community and he said he thought the joint School Board/Town Council meeting had been long overdue. He wondered how many experts it would require to get the message across that activities were needed for our children to prevent the types of problems mentioned in the Tuesday night meeting. He said that after the old Little League Board resigned last year, the new board stepped in to save the program, and he felt it a duty to support them to whatever extent possible. He reiterated that his motion was to enter into discussion on that issue and have it back before the Council by the next meeting due to the time frame involved. He said Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 9 of 11 that if it was then voted down, which hopefully it wouldn't be, then that was their choice. Councilman O'Brien mentioned a possible parallel between the new Golden Eagle Tot Lot and the Little League and suggested possibly a matching dollars program as was used with the Tot Lot. Councilman Clark said he agreed with Councilmen Hudson and O'Brien, but he felt that since the meeting Tuesday night was never completed, ending after a hurried Agenda Item #3, he MOVED to table the motion on the floor until such time that the School Board/Town Council meeting could be completed in order to consider all the needs determined to be financially appropriate and then make the decision. Motion DIED for lack of a second. Mayor Cutillo said he thought Little League was important and that if they didn't have the $30,000-$40,000, they should find a way to get it; but since they had it, they should support this effort. Vice Mayor Minarsich said in response to Councilman O'Brien's suggestion of a matching dollar program he would pledge $1,000 toward the Little League lights. Mr. Bruce Hansen, President of the Chamber of Commerce, said he was so impressed after attending Tuesday night's joint meeting about the needs of the Little League that he had asked the Chamber membership at the breakfast meeting how many would substantially support the Little League. He said he received 100% positive response. He was going to ask the Chamber, through the membership, to donate $10,000 to the Little League effort and hopefully the Town would also participate. Mr. Nick Davis, President of Little League, said one his first acts as President was to visit Mr. Dunne and tell him the League wanted to be equal players with the school district in any improvements to the facilities and also had a similar conversation with Robin Goodman. Becoming financially secure was one of the two major goals of this Little League and, though he couldn't give an amount, they, too, would contribute toward the lighting effort. Mr. Bob Travis said he was speaking as a Sunset Kiwanis member. In the past, the bleachers, dugouts, fences, sprinkler system, part of the fields, etc., were all put in by the Kiwanis. Every year they donated a good deal of money to the Little League. A major annual fundraiser of the Kiwanis, the Arts and Crafts Festival, usually raised $10,000, of which $1,000 had been contributed to the Little League. This year's festival had been rained out, which meant they wouldn't be donating that money. Mr. Tom Edwards, safety director of Little League, said he wanted to respond to Councilwoman Tibbett's concern regarding lighting. He said he had been assured that the new lighting would be much better with respect to the neighborhood than the current lighting. The motion PASSED with six affirmative votes and one abstention. AGENDA ITEM #12. - CALL TO THE PUBLIC (PUBLIC COMMENT IS ENCOURAGED BUT PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE COUNCIL HAS NO ABILITY TO RESPOND OR DISCUSS MATTERS BROUGHT UP DURING THE CALL TO THE PUBLIC AS SUCH DISCUSSION IS PROHIBITED BY THE ARIZONA OPEN MEETING LAW.) Mr. Bill Tessmer, 17144 E. Rand, objected to not being allowed to speak during the call to the public on Agenda Item #10 and felt his and other members of the community's rights were violated. He stated that Mayor Cutillo, during his testimony as a character witness for Mr. Charlie Fox, had stated that Mr. Fox was not acting under any authority or in an official capacity. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 10 of 11 Mr. Tessmer said that the character witnesses, Councilman Lawrence, Councilwoman Tibbetts, and Mayor Cutillo should excuse themselves, as Mr. Farrell did, due to a conflict of interest. He said he would like to request from the Town Clerk an exact transcript of Mr. Fox's statements that evening as he believed there were some untrue statements made. He said he would also like Mr. Farrell to contact the Attorney General to see if there could be an amendment before the public was given the opportunity for a full discussion --Mr. Fox was allowed 25 minutes and he objected to not being allowed his three minutes. He also wanted to commend Mr. Fox for what he did for the community; he just wanted to make sure all rules were adhered to and that the people of the town were being represented by the Council and not just one individual. AGENDA ITEM #13. - ADJOURNMENT. Mayor Cutillo called for a motion to adjourn. Councilman O'Brien MOVED to adjourn. SECONDED by Councilman Hudson and CARRIED unanimously. The Town Council adjourned at approximately 8:23 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS /ii !� ' , Mayor ATTEST: 6U4,_,4_.6 �� Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: Rosalynn Rikker, Administr tive Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Session Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 18th day of November, 1993. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 14th day of December, 1993. Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 11/18/93 Page 11 of 11