Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007.1206.TCREM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND REGULAR SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL December 6,2007 Mayor Nichols called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. AGENDA ITEM#1—ROLL CALL AND VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. ROLL CALL— Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Nichols, Councilmember Kehe, Councilmember Leger, Councilmember McMahan, Councilmember Schlum, Councilmember Archambault and Vice Mayor Dickey. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, Town Clerk Bev Bender and Director of Planning and Zoning Richard Turner were also present. VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: PURSUANT TO A.R.S. 38-431.03(A)(1), FOR DISCUSSION OR EMPLOYMENT, ASSIGNMENT, APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, DEMOTION, DISMISSAL, SALARIES, DISCIPLINING OR RESIGNATION OF A PUBLIC OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE WHO MAY DEMAND THAT THE DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. THE PUBLIC BODY SHALL PROVIDE THE OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE WITH WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AS IS APPROPRIATE BUT NOT LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS FOR THE OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION SHOULD OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. (SPECIFICALLY. FOR THE PURPOSE OF REVIEWING APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FOR CONSIDERATION OF SERVING ON THE MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN PRESERVATION COMMISSION AND THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT.) ihow Councilmember Archambault MOVED to convene the Executive Session and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY(7-0). Councilmember Archambault MOVED to recess the Executive Session at 5:45 p.m. and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY(7-0). AGENDA ITEM#2—RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION Mayor Nichols reconvened the Regular Session at 6:30 p.m. INVOCATION—Ms. Susan Ducot,Baha `i Faith of Fountain Hills ROLL CALL— Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Nichols, Councilmember Kehe, Councilmember Leger, Councilmember McMahan, Councilmember Schlum, Councilmember Archambault and Vice Mayor Dickey. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, Town Clerk Bev Bender and Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon were also present. MAYOR'S REPORT None. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES/PRESENTATIONS i) Presentation of FY 06-07 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) by Heinfeld, Meech & Company. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 1 of 16 Finance Director Julie Ghetti addressed the Council and advised that State law required that cities and towns prepare a complete set of financial statements within six months of the close of the fiscal year and that the report be prepared by a firm of licensed Certified Public Accountants. The Town contracted with Heinfeld, Meech & Company to conduct the audit and prepare the statements for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2007. She advised Nitif three members of the company's team were present to provide an overview of the report: Jennifer Shields, Partner, Eric Taylor,Audit Manager and Marvin Mendeatta,Audit Senior. Ms. Shields addressed the Council and thanked them for allowing the firm of Heinfeld, Meech & Company to work with the Town. She reported that everything went very smoothly with the audit and expressed appreciation to Ms. Ghetti and staff for all of their hard work. She referred to a copy of the audit report that was distributed to the Council (a complete copy of the report was available in the office of the Town Clerk) and noted that the purpose of the audit was an expression of an opinion on the financial statements. The opinion was "unqualified" for the Town for the year ending June 30, 2007 and in a nutshell, that was the best that you could do and meant that the firm did not find anything significantly wrong with the financial statements. She noted that the report differed vastly from what the Council was used to receiving on a monthly basis and added that the report before them contained a lot of additional accounting entries and transactions. Ms. Shields referred to Page 9 of the report, part of the Management's Discussion and Analysis, and said that this includes some different changes in the Town's actual financial position. She noted that the net assets of the Town increased by $2.8 million and explained that a majority of that was due to the retroactive reporting of infrastructure and general changes in the accruals that go along with the accounting transactions. She also referred to Pages 26 and 27, the Comprehensive Statement of Revenues and Expenses, and stated that this reflected all of the Town's revenues and expenses for all of the Town's funds for the Fiscal Year. She pointed out that near the end of the report there was a Statistical Section, which was an un-audited section that was included in a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report(various trend data regarding the finances of the Town as well as certain selected demographic and operational information). She thanked the Council for the opportunity to address them and indicated the team's willingness to respond to any questions. There were no questions from the Council and the Mayor thanked Ms. Shields for her presentation. ii) Department Division Information Overview of Services Provided—Park Operations (Don Clark) Parks Supervisor Don Clark addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and highlighted a brief PowerPoint presentation relative to the services provided by the Parks Operations Division(a complete copy of the presentation available in the office of the Town Clerk). Mr. Clark highlighted the Parks and Recreation organizational chart and noted that Mark Mayer was the Department's Director. He provided background information relative to himself and other members of staff and discussed key responsibilities including creating the annual budgets for each park; facilitating maintenance and operations of four major parks; facilitating construction of capital projects in parks and facilitating requisition of services and products. He emphasized that"hands on"management occurred at each park facility. Discussion ensued relative to the various parks and acreage; parks facilities and amenities;trails and acreage and services for special events. Mr. Clark said that additional responsibilities include providing safe and clean venues and facilities; providing staffing for tournaments and special events; field preparation for sports and recreational activities; first aid; health and fitness opportunities and providing water conservation classes ("Water...Use It Wisely.)" Mr. Clark thanked the Council for their on-going support and indicated his willingness to respond to questions. In response to a question from Councilmember McMahan relative to the status of the irrigation system at Fountain Park, Mr. Clark advised that for the most part the system was up and running but added that there were a few little "tweaks" that remain to be done. He stated that a final "walk through" was scheduled to take place tomorrow and said that effort was being expended to solve the "puddling problem"that currently existed. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 2 of 16 Councilmember Leger requested that Mr. Clark discuss the grass situation at the Park and Mr. Clark outlined both long and short-term plans to enhance the grassy areas at that location. He stressed the importance of having a good Bermuda base and said that a turf enhancement program was in place. He said that depending on available funding, they might be able to re-sod/hydro seed some areas and also discussed another option that might pursue called "slit seeding." He stated that staff would determine the best way to re-establish the grass in the area. Mayor Nichols thanked Mr.Clark and his staff for their hard work. iii) Electronics Recycling Event—Gene Slechta,Planner Mr. Slechta addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said that he was extremely proud to report that another step towards the Town's commitment to the environment would take place on January 5, 2008 when the Town's first Electronics Recycling Event would take place. He said that any member of the Fountain Hills' public could take their old electronics (computers, servers, monitors, printers, hard drives, cellular phones, VCR's and DVD players/recorders, television, radios, etc. to the Community Center at the Town Hall Parking Lot) at 13001 N. La Montana Drive from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. He emphasized that items such as conventional phones, packaging (boxes, foam lining, plastic bags, etc), documentation and manuals and floppy diskettes would not be accepted. He noted that disposal of the equipment would be free of charge and urged the members of the public to take advantage of this opportunity. Mr. Slechta advised that the Town was teaming up with Scrap Computer to make sure and protect the environment by saving the metals and harmful elements found in electronic devices from ending up in the landfill. Scrap Computer would not only take the equipment off of the Town's hands, they would also pay the Town $.05 per pound. He reiterated that everyone was invited to participate. Mr. Slechta thanked Town resident Graham Copeland for his efforts in this event and to ensure safe recycling in Fountain Hills. He also thanked Katy Decker for getting the word out. Mayor Nichols thanked Mr. Slechta and Scrap Computer for their work in scheduling this important event and encouraged the residents of the Town to dispose of the potentially harmful equipment in this ecologically safe manner. CALL TO THE PUBLIC None. CONSENT AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #1 —CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 13, 15 AND 20,2007. AGENDA ITEM #2 — CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING CIGNA HEALTHCARE AS THE HEALTH INSURANCE CARRIER FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS' EMPLOYEES FOR 2008. AGENDA ITEM#3— CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 2007-17, APPROVING A MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS AND THE SALT-RIVER PIMA MARICOPA INDIAN COMMUNITY. AGENDA ITEM #4 — CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A PURCHASE AGREEMENT WITH FIVE STAR FORD, THROUGH AN EXISTING STATE OF ARIZONA CONTRACT FOR A 2008 F- 450 TRUCK WITH 9' SERVICE BODY,IN THE AMOUNT OF$52,182.78. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 3 of 16 Councilmember Leger MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda as listed and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED the motion. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Councilmember Kehe Aye Councilmember Schlum Aye Councilmember Leger Aye Vice Mayor Dickey Aye Mayor Nichols Aye Councilmember McMahan Aye Councilmember Archambault Aye The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY(7-0). ACTION AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #5 — CONSIDERATION OF A CONTRACT WITH SKYLINE BUILDERS TO REPAIR EXISTING AWNINGS AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER, LIBRARY/MUSEUM AND PHYSICAL PLANT IN THE AMOUNT OF$125,579.00. Facilities Supervisor Don Thumith addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and advised that staff had received a bid from a State approved contractor (Skyline Builders) to resurface and paint these buildings, including bringing all of the fence walls back to their original color. Additionally with the paint project was the replacement of original shade cover material installed in 2001; the removal of existing material was required to facilitate painting of metal support structures and parts of buildings they were attached to. The buildings were last coated in 2001 and had faded to an unsightly condition as well as the appearance of numerous stucco cracks. The shade cover materials were deteriorating (fabric and rope lacing) and the original life span of the fabric was ,4111) five years. Rather than re-applying the existing worn out fabric, the contractor proposed to replace these materials with a much more durable fabric with steel and cable ties with a ten year warranty. Mr. Thumith said that staff recommended approval and indicated his willingness to respond to questions from the Council. Councilmember Archambault MOVED to approve the contract with Skyline Builders and Councilmember Schlum SECONDED the motion. In response to a question from Councilmember Archambault, Mr. Thumith confirmed that the work would be completed between February 4th and the 29t. Mr. Thumith said that staff had received assurances from the contractor that they would work around any events and/or public attendance to the buildings. They would also expend extra effort to protect vehicles that might be parked in the immediate area. Councilmember Kehe asked what the life expectancy of a paint job such as this was and Mr. Thumith advised that most lighter colored painted structures could last 15 to 20 years and added that the specific color scheme of the Civic Center Phase I contained some vivid dark purple colors and a wide range of different colors. He indicated that these types of colors took more of a "beating" in Arizona and he stated the opinion that they had done pretty good with the paint for about seven years and with the newer coatings and types of paints on the market now,he believed they could expect a longer term,perhaps as much as 10 to 12 years. In response to a question from Councilmember Leger, Mr. Thumith explained for the benefit of the viewing public exactly what a resurfacing consists of. '4) z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 4 of 16 Vice Mayor Dickey commented that the work was more than just cosmetic and Mr. Thumith confirmed her statement and added that the project constitutes a major maintenance item. Mayor Nichols thanked Mr. Thumith for his presentation and input. The Mayor called for a vote on the motion. The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY(7-0). AGENDA ITEM #6 — CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 2007-63, APPROVING THE PUBLIC ART FUND GUIDELINES. Planning and Zoning Director Richard Turner addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and advised that on December 7, 2006, the Council amended the Zoning Ordinance to provide for Architectural Review Guidelines (Chapter 19 of the Zoning Ordinance). Section 19.05 (1) of these regulations direct that all development proposals subject to Design Review were required to provide public artwork or a donation to the Fountain Hills Public Art Fund prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. The goal of the public art requirement of the Zoning Ordinance was to beautify the community with a wide variety of high-quality art projects. The presence of the artwork in developments creates a competitive edge by attracting people who were curious about the artwork. Residences and visitors might pause to enjoy the artwork's surprising and aesthetic delights and often return to experience it again while shopping or conducting business. Mr. Turner stated that staff felt it important to develop the proposed guidelines to help customers understand the purpose of the regulations, what types of art were acceptable, what costs were eligible for inclusion and how to work with the Public Art Committee. He added that with the assistance of the Town Attorney, staff had developed such guidelines that established the standards and criteria for public art that was integrated with a project and ensured that the art could be enjoyed by the public. He noted that staff recommended approval and ikipe indicated his willingness to respond to questions from the Council. Vice Mayor Dickey MOVED to approve the Public Art Guidelines as outlined by staff and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED the motion. Councilmember Schlum asked whether staff had any idea of the type of budget they would be working with or a ratio relative to the people who would actually make the contributions and do the improvements themselves on their own property. Mr. Turner replied that staff's limited amount of experience in this particular areas had not allowed them to establish what the ratio was going to be but stated the opinion that they would probably get more contributions than actual pieces of art. He added that the actual budget would depend on the commercial activity that takes place in the Town because the Public Art Fund requirement was part of the Architectural Review Guidelines, which came into play any time an applicant went through the Concept Plan process (a commercial development process). Vice Mayor Dickey asked why a mechanical reproduction of a piece of art work would not be eligible and Mr. Turner responded that after reviewing other jurisdiction's regulations and guidelines, staff decided that the goal was to provide pieces of original high-quality art. In response to a comment from Councilmember Leger, Mr. Turner confirmed that the Arts Council had been involved in the process and provided input. Vice Mayor Dickey asked if the Council approved the guidelines as presented and an artist did a wonderful reproduction of a famous painting, whether that painting would be allowed. She said that even reproductions could constitute quality art. Mr. Turner responded that the proposed guidelines were general guidelines and if the Arts Council found that a piece of work met their criteria,the Town would take it. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 5 of 16 Discussion ensued relative to the fact that if an issue arose as to whether or not to determine whether a piece of art was acceptable, the Arts Council would be called upon to provide input; the fact that staff would solicit credentials to ensure that the work was indeed a quality piece of art; the fact that there was some room for latitude in the guidelines; Councilmember Kehe's comments relative to the fact that the proposed guidelines use language such as "encourage" and "shall" and concerns regarding whether the guidelines represented rules that applicants must abide by. Mr. Turner responded that the only "fast rules" were those included in the Zoning Ordinance and the requirement in that Ordinance was for a certain percentage of a project's cost to be either contributed in terms of funds to the Public Art Committee or used to acquire public art. It was up to the applicant to consult with the Committee and staff encouraged them to do that so they could obtain helpful advice that would benefit the Town overall. It was not required that they consult with that group. He confirmed that it was not required for the Public Art Committee to render a ruling as to whether the art was appropriate. Town Clerk Bev Bender advised that a citizen had submitted a request to speak on this item. Jerry Kirkendoll, a resident of Fountain Hills, stated the opinion that there were going to be a lot of problems in the future on this issue. He said that his life had been all about art but telling someone when they put a building up that they had to pay 1% was simply a very creative way of taxing those people. He stated that he believed the proposal was unfair and a few hundred other people in the Town have expressed the same sentiment. He added that people had enough challenge just getting the buildings up and paying for those costs without adding some more costs on. He further stated that oftentimes peoples' idea of art could vastly differ and if they had to wait for yet another approval to come forward, this could create hardships and negatively impact business that want to establish themselves in the Town. He expressed the opinion that the Town did not have the right to tell someone that they must do this. He added that the Town had statues and if people wanted to donate art that would be great and if private groups wanted to buy them and donate them that too would be great but to require businesses to do what they were proposing was inappropriate. Mayor Nichols thanked Mr. Kirkendoll for his comments. •44) There being no additional comments or questions,the Mayor called for a vote on the motion. The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY(7-0). AGENDA ITEM #7 — PRESENTATION(S) AND DISCUSSION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING TRAFFIC CONTROL AT AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS AND SAGUARO BOULEVARD. Public Works Director Tom Ward addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and stated that prior to the meeting this evening he spoke with the Mayor about making some comments relative to pedestrian crosswalks. He found a website, cityofmesa.org that contained an interesting article about pedestrian crosswalks written by ADOT (the Arizona Department of Transportation). Mr. Ward said the article talked about the safety of pedestrian walkways and a San Diego study showed traffic engineers that nearly six pedestrian were crossing in marked crosswalks for every one mishap in unmarked crosswalks. People felt that they were safe in marked crosswalks but how safe were they? Marked crosswalks were widely classified as safety devices and most jurisdictions give the pedestrian the right-of-way when within them. Interestingly, however, there was strong evidence that these very facts prompted pedestrians to feel overly secure when using a marked crosswalk to the degree that they aggressively placed themselves in a hazardous position based on the mistaken belief that the motorists could and would stop in all cases, even when it might be impossible to do so. It was also not unusual for this type of aggressive pedestrian behavior to cause rear-end collisions. He said that this did not mean that marked crosswalks should not be installed because they were useful traffic engineering device for channeling pedestrians and helping them find their way across complex and confusing intersections and would continue to be used until a better means was developed to show the preferred route to pedestrians when crossing the street. He stated that in conclusion, it was appropriate to state that marked crosswalks would continue to be a useful vit) traffic control device but added that it was important that the general public recognize when marked crosswalks z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 6 of 16 could and could not do so. It was also important that public officials not install them unless the anticipated benefit clearly outweighed their associated risk. He explained that he was bringing this issue forward tonight ia because he believed the issue they were going to discuss this evening originally started with pedestrians at vily Avenue of the Fountains and Saguaro and had gravitated away. Mr. Ward informed the Council that he was happy to be here this evening to talk about the alternatives and present them. He noted that per direction from the Council that Public Works had provided alternatives to the existing 3-way stop at Avenue of the Fountains and Saguaro Boulevard, staff had developed the following: 1. Move forward with the Traffic Signal design this fiscal year and plan on construction in FY 08-09. The timeline would be 18 months and the cost for the Traffic Signal would be $450,000 to $500,000. While that number might seem high, the amount included design costs and the Town had other signals in that area. 2. Research the feasibility design of a High Intensity Activated Crosswalk(HAWK)pedestrian signal(used in Tucson). Feasibility: 4 months,design six months,construction,one year and cost$250,000 to$350,000. 3. Direct select a consultant/roundabout specialist to provide a conceptual plan for a Roundabout design. Timeline: 6 to 8 months. Cost for study: $50,000 to $75,000. Construction cost: $2 million to $2.5 million and approximate timeline: 12 to 18 months. He referred to a slide of a Roundabout that was a three-way intersection Roundabout that he thought was interesting. The Roundabout was huge and was currently under construction in Goodyear. He said he liked the fact that it created an expressway that took people around and if the Town wanted to do something like that in the design, they could pull a little bit of land from the park where the expressway would move so that people traveling in the northbound lane would have easier access. The example showed more lanes than would be necessary in Fountain Hills (the diameter of the center section was approximately 180 feet). He noted that there were safe zones in the Roundabout for pedestrians to make small crossings. He added that a myth existed that pedestrians were not safe in roundabouts and emphasized that they were actually safer there, especially when you consider that the speed limit of the cars range 12 to 15 miles-per-hour, which gave pedestrians time to see the car and the drivers of the vehicles have time to see the pedestrians. He stated the opinion that fatalities were minimized by roundabouts. 4. Install a U-Turn lane approximately 150 feet west of the intersection in the median and permit staff to complete their study with a report to Council no later than April 17, 2008. Timeline: 3 to 4 months, Cost $40,000 to $50,000. He referred to a map previously distributed to the Council that outlined this option. He and Larry Woodland looked at the proposed area and there was nothing there but grass so it would provide an opportunity to create a U-Turn. They would also install handicap ramps by the granite path and there would not be a lot of disturbance in this situation. 5. Consider a traffic study and concept plan for Avenue of the Fountains from La Montana to Saguaro Boulevard. This should include potential traffic generated by future south side development plan with a TCCD zoning district. Timeline: one year, cost$75,000 to $100,000. This study would help the Town to better understand what a desirable solution for the Downtown was while looking at the impacts from surrounding land use and street design. They would have an opportunity to see the Central Business District from a more global aspect and find solutions for traffic, pedestrians and economic development. 6. Move the pedestrian crosswalk 150 feet west and allow the U-turn at the previous location.Timeline: 3 to 4 months,cost$25,000 to$30,000. Mr.Ward indicated his willingness to respond to questions from the Council. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 7 of 16 Mayor Nichols commented that the purpose of this agenda item was to try to discuss possible alternatives so that the Council could give direction to staff relative to where to expend their time and effort over the next several months as opposed to looking into every option. Councilmember Archambault said that he had some discussions with citizens who believed that one of the options would be to take the stop signs down. He said that he and Mr.Ward had a lengthy discussion about this issue and for the public's benefit they needed to state that they were not here this evening to talk about taking those signs down; they would probably remain up for quite a while. Mr. Ward apologized for not bringing that matter up and stated that none of the above listed alternatives involved removing the stop signs, which minimize the liability for the Town. Staff was not recommending removing the signs with any of the alternatives. Removing them would constitute one of the huge "cardinal sins" in traffic engineering —you don't put stop signs up and then take them down because people get used to the stop signs and the liability would be significant. They must move on to the next phase and the fact that there were warrants with the stop signs would be extremely detrimental to the Town in the case of a lawsuit. Vice Mayor Dickey asked if the distance between the stop signs was the same as it was on the Avenue of the Fountains and Mr. Ward replied that he had not measured that but knowing the width of the median, he would guess that they were the same distance although in his mind he was thinking they were farther away. Councilmember McMahan said that he did a lot of work out on the Avenue and had a lot of ideas. He said he would like to respond to the above listed points one by one: * He would not do anything right now as far as designing a new traffic situation; he would keep the stop signs. He stated the opinion that they were working although some people were still confused because of the distance of that one sign on the north side. * Yes, research the HAWK traffic signal system. He had obtained a lot of details on that system and believed „till) it was definitely a worthwhile option to pursue. * Forget about the Roundabout because the citizens of Fountain Hills at this point in time would not support it from all of the comments he had heard. * Begin the overall traffic safety concept and also consider Mr. Kasnoff's development and work with them. As far as installing the U-Turn 150 west, he would prefer moving the pedestrian crosswalk 150 feet west and allowing the U-Turn in its previous location. There was a 3 to 4-month timeline on this and he wondered if they could move that up a little so that some of the people on the Avenue could take full advantage of the busy season. This was by far the most economical way to go and the simplest. As far as the raised reflectors,there was a little section of those that they could probably keep because they would act as a buffer between Saguaro and the U-Turn. Mayor Nichols recapped that Councilmember McMahan was saying that he wanted Mr. Ward to pursue alternative numbers 2, 5 and 6 and Councilmember McMahan concurred. Councilmember Leger thanked Mr. Ward for his presentation and noted that he had provided the Council with volumes of literature on this issue of the past months. He said that with respect to traffic signals, it was his understanding that in the current design the rationale for not allowing a U-Turn was because there was a crosswalk at that location and there was no signal there, it was just basically an open crosswalk. He asked whether that was an ADA(Americans with Disabilities) requirement. Mr. Ward responded that it was an ADA requirement and because of the pedestrian situation on the west side, that was why staff had made the recommendations that they did. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 8 of 16 Councilmember Leger said that moving the crosswalk up would then allow the U-Turn because in theory they would then be removing the crosswalk at that location and Mr.Ward confirmed this statement. Councilmember Leger asked if there was a traffic signal at that intersection and the crosswalk was configured as is, whether a U-Turn would be allowed. Mr. Ward stated that staff had not gone that far with the design. Councilmember Leger said he was asking that question because he thought as far as what he had read that the ADA requirement was there because there was no signal ("Walk/Don't Walk"), it was just an open area and he wondered if a traffic signal was there saying "Walk/Don't Walk" whether a stop signal could be there and they could still allow a U-Turn at that area. Mr. Ward expressed the opinion that the Traffic Engineer would be more inclined to design the U-Turn shown on the map rather than have cars make a U-Turn there if they determined it necessary to have a U-Turn because one of the things that they saw in this intersection was the fact that there was no left-turn pocket for pulling out; cars simply pulled out from the given lane that was there and that was a concern as well. They would be tearing out the fountain at the same time they did that so from a landscaping design they had to go a long ways here. Councilmember Leger said that he would ask the same question about a HAWK device — if they had such a device there, could they allow a U-Turn for the same reason? Mr. Ward stated that when staff spoke with staff from Tucson about the HAWK signal, which was also used as a mid-block crossing type signal, they learned that the problem was the width of the intersection. They had to look at bringing that pedestrian crossing right to the center of the intersection. He added that that was the beginning of a HAWK signal (what happened there); you move the people to the center but because you did that, you could not allow the U-Turn because again you were running over pedestrians. Staff's other concern had to do with whether they would be able to force people to come into that center section during large events. Councilmember Leger explained that the reason for his questions was if they go with one of the other alternatives that allowed a U-Turn, he would not want to spend the money to create a U-Turn up 150 feet. He said he was going with the process of elimination. He agreed that with the HAWK system the centralized crosswalk,which had significant advantages here because of the width of negotiating this intersection. Councilmember Archambault commented that he noticed that under Option #5 Mr. Ward talked about the TCCD zoning and said that one of the things that was not talked about was the intersection at Verde River Drive. He stated the opinion that it was important that the Council did not become reactive but rather remained proactive. He questioned whether in the study relative to #5, the whole length of the Avenue would be taken into consideration—all of the businesses and the traffic concerns that would come into play. Mr. Ward confirmed that they would and he felt that whatever happened with that development could impact Verde River Drive. Staff received a report that talked about the future development and the theater was being considered at that time. A theater generates an extreme number of cars during a very short time period (a peak flow) and staff was maximizing that intersection and those streets based on that. He said he believed it was important to think this whole thing through as far as what could happen with the amount of vehicles they could receive at that intersection and therefore also believed it important to look at the "big picture" (all three intersections). Councilmember Archambault noted that they were currently in the process of looking at that particular zoning as far as shared parking and said that was going to play a lot into that. He added that he was definitely leaning towards#5. Councilmember Schlum said he had heard a lot of comments from the businesses in particular and hoped that they would comment further if they did not formulate firm or partial direction this evening. He said it went to back to where they were and Mr. Ward mentioned the warrant(something they had to do to protect pedestrians) and therefore the stop signs went up and when that happened staff further addressed the U-Turn because of the ADA issue and having to get a crosswalk across the Avenue as well but both could not be in the same place so z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 9 of 16 they lost the U-Turn. He added that most of them had realized that had resulted in more of an impact than anticipated, at least from his point of view. He commented on the fact that the business climate over the summer was challenging and this added to that. He stated the opinion that the options Mr. Ward had presented this evening certainly contain a solution but said he was curious with the stop signs remaining — they would simply remain or be replaced with a stop light, a HAWK signal or something along those lines on Saguaro Boulevard in order to allow pedestrians to cross. He said they could go down to one crosswalk in the middle of the median perhaps in order to get back a U-Turn, which would satisfy some of the businesses. Another option would be to move the crosswalk back to where the U-Turn was shown in the picture and then allow the U-Turn to go back to where it was (generally) or move them both back if they were to install a HAWK signal. He added that he would like to generate more dialogue and hoped that the public would provide some input. He requested that Mr. Ward validate the process that had been gone through; they had the warrant and had to do something for pedestrian safety so they put up the stoplights and in order to ensure pedestrian safety they had to close off the U-Turn and that was where they were today. He added that now they were addressing the next step and he appreciated the fact that Mr. Ward was cautioning the Council against reacting quickly and that was where he was at as well. Vice Mayor Dickey commented that she believed everyone would agree that they should be looking at these from the 20,000 foot level because they were looking at some type of development on the south side at some point and they had already talked about what they were going to do over by the Post Office so it did not appear that they should spend a lot of money to do something that might not be the right thing to do in possibly a short period of time if things worked out. She asked whether Mr.Ward believed that this was still safe for pedestrians (having only stop signs and not the HAWK) or whether they should proceed with the HAWK at this point. She agreed that the stop signs should stay up but she was not convinced that it was not safe for pedestrians at this point unless someone told her that it was. She added that people who wanted the U-Turn were the ones who were traveling east on the Avenue of the Fountains and if,before they got there,it said"Shop Parking Available Free" or another permanent sign inviting people to park behind the shops she believed that would work. She noted that they did not have shops on the other side yet but they were dealing with the"here and now"and asked whether they could alleviate the situation of people saying that they needed to make a U-Turn in order to shop „gm) over there by giving them the idea that they could park behind the existing shops. She stated that this might be an interim solution if they could agree that pedestrians would be safe, that was the important issue. If that was the case, she would like to keep the stop signs and put signage up for people to park behind the shops (#5 overall). Discussion ensued relative to the fact that pedestrian safety was the paramount issue; existing traffic/safety problems; the manner in which the HAWK functions and the fact that Mr.Ward was not totally familiar with its workings (having only seen data on the system) but it was activated by pedestrians pushing a button; staff's concerns regarding the width between the length of the north/south pedestrian crosswalks; the fact that drivers tend to focus on the cars rather than pedestrians because of the distance and irregularity of the intersection (a common occurrence); the fact that if the signal functions properly,the advantage would be that the traffic only stopped when a pedestrian wanted to cross as opposed to the current situation;Mr.Wards inability at this time to recommend how many HAWK signals would be needed and their placement and the fact that they were dealing with a north/south traffic situation and an east/west pedestrian situation; the possibility of three crossings, and the fact that many drivers treated stop signs as yield signs; therefore, they were not a permanent solution although they enhanced safety. Councilmember Leger commented that the preferred the solution lies in something that was pedestrian focused, such as a stop signal where pedestrians push a button and the light turns red and cars stop or the HAWK system, which he preferred. He added that if there was enough data to indicate that the U-Turn was adversely affecting businesses, he would recommend that they look at creating the U-Turn 150-feet up the Avenue, as suggested, which would also remove some traffic congestion from entering that intersection and pursue investigation of the HAWK and stop signs. The solution was moving towards a pedestrian solution versus a Roundabout. He emphasized that with the HAWK alternative pedestrians were primary. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 10 of 16 Councilmember Archambault concurred with Councilmember Leger's comments relative to the crosswalk and asked whether the stop signs would go away if they went with the HAWK system. He was advised that the stop signs would be removed if the HAWK system was put into place. He asked whether they would need to put in two HAWK signals and was told that would not be necessary if the crosswalk was moved to the center. The HAWK signal would be placed in the middle of the intersection. Mayor Nichols said that what he was hearing was that the Council would like to proceed with Option#5 and go back and look at what they wanted to do on the Avenue of the Fountains in total — what was going to happen with development of the Downtown, what they wanted to do at La Montana, etc. He said that if they go with another alternative, it might turn out to be the wrong thing. He added that he was hearing let's take a look at#5 first and then if they wanted to they could move forward with the HAWK or move the sidewalk if#5 told them that was the way to proceed. Councilmember Dickey commented that she did want to proceed with#5, but if it was the consensus that it was still a dangerous pedestrian situation and something more immediate needed to be done she would like to explore that. Mayor Nichols responded that what he had heard to date was that the businesses did not like the fact that people could not make a U-Turn and access their stores. Councilmember McMahan said he had heard the same thing. He stated the opinion that moving the crosswalk 150 feet west would solve the problem expeditiously and be the most economic way to proceed at the current time. He also liked the idea of proceeding with#5 but would like to see something done on the U-Turn to assist the businesses. He also agreed that they should pursue researching the HAWK system and keep the stop signs. Town Clerk Bev Bender advised that two citizens wished to speak on this issue. Jerry Kirkendoll addressed the Council relative to this issue and said that the Town had to do something; the crosswalks were good because they did not have them before and the stop signs were also needed. He stated the opinion that the reason some people go through them was because they were not there last year and people coming back to Town did not notice them right away. He said that this situation would improve over time. He added that he personally did not like the idea that people could not turn around at that location and the bumps (where they were located) made it difficult. He said that if people were allowed to turn there now, it would be a much safer situation than it was in the past because at least there was a crosswalk. He suggested that instead of moving it 150 feet, the move it up 20 feet so they could get up on the sidewalk and only have to walk a little way to access the median and then they only have a small distance to walk across. He said that one person said she liked the idea of lights because when they were green everyone knew they could go. He spoke in favor of the U-Turn and said they should do the same thing at the other end and putting up stop signs was not expensive and could be changed if needed in the future. Mary Pilarinos, 13810 N. Fountain Hills Boulevard, addressed the Council and thanked Councilmember McMahan for his ideas, which she agreed with. She added that she had been going to some of the shops and one of the vendors said to her that it was like they turned the Fountain off(i.e. eliminating the U-Turn) and she was sure other shop keepers were thinking the same thing. She further stated that Vice Mayor Dickey mentioned putting signage for parking in the rear of the shops and said that was a great idea but some people could not locate shops (like Hank's Jewelry). She stated that the problem with parking in the rear was the fact that one of the stores had steps going up (no handicapped access). She added that she was not familiar with the HAWK system, other than what she had heard this evening, and noted that there was a light located at the intersection of Palisades and the lower portion of the high school (Hampstead) and it flashed and made a sound and said this was perhaps to assist visually impaired individuals. She asked whether something like this could be a part of the proposal(a signal that makes a sound). Mayor Nichols thanked the speakers for their input. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 11 of 16 Councilmember Schlum said that they have had good discussion on this issue and believed that the HAWK signal was the right way to go. He said that his wife understood why the stop signs had been put in place but certainly did not like them because they stopped 100% of the traffic and only 1% to 2% really needed to stop because a pedestrian wanted to cross. He added that a HAWK signal would only stop traffic along Saguaro ,4100 when it was needed. He stressed the importance of considering future development and said that with the extension of a median further out, there might be an opportunity with traffic coming across with the HAWK signal for some sort of a monument there denoting the Downtown or the Civic Center that might highlight the businesses. He stated that he had concerns about spending money on a study when they were not sure what they were going to be dealing with on the 13 acres. He said he was sensitive about moving in any one direction this evening. He added the opinion that although #6 seemed to make sense it would cost money and so he would wait to hear what the other members had to say because he was not sure that they were ready to move in any one direction. Staff needed to further investigate the HAWK, which seemed to make most sense to the members of the Council but they were all linked together because if that system went in, they had to move the pedestrian crosswalks and would impact the U-Turn. Coordination would be imperative and he did not see a clear path this evening. Councilmember Kehe expressed the opinion that the reality of#6 was that pedestrians would still cross where the current crossing lines existed even though they would be eliminated because that was the shortest distance between two points. The tendency was going to be to cross Saguaro so he did not see that as a solution. He said that the problem was and is pedestrian safety and they needed to focus on that. He stated that he had concerns about#5 because that was"tomorrow;" and they did not know how many years down the road. In the meantime they had people trying to cross over to access events and many did so without regard to traffic. He reiterated that they needed to go back and look primarily at pedestrian safety and work on the U-Turn. Councilmember McMahan stated that in the interest of urgency,he would like to make a three-point motion: Councilmember McMahan MOVED to keep the stop signs in place; research the feasibility of the HAWK system, move the crosswalk 150 feet to the west and restore the old U-Turn. There was no second to the motion and therefore the motion FAILED. Councilmember Leger commented that the Council had been talking about this issue for a long time and said that he would really like to reach a solution this evening. He concurred that the whole issue was about pedestrian safety. He added that what concerned him about alternative #5 was that a study took a year to complete and design time could go on for who knows how long and he believed they needed to focus on the issue now and resolve it. Regardless of what happened on the south side of the Avenue,pedestrian safety versus traffic management was going to be what they needed to deal with. He emphasized that they would be studying things such as the possible development of a theater and resulting impacts. Councilmember Leger MOVED that staff be directed to begin the process of implementing alternative #4 and researching alternative#2. Councilmember Leger commented that alternative #5 would happen naturally over time as other things start developing and he was not sure that the HAWK was something that was disconnected from the rest of the solution. Councilmember Kehe SECONDED the motion. Vice Mayor Dickey questioned whether the motion was based on agreement that a safe pedestrian situation did not currently exist. Councilmember Leger said that the yellow flashing lights that were put up helped and the stop signs helped as well. The situation was safer but not completely safe and so he did not want to wait too long engaging in the z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 12 of 16 other options, he would like to make it even safer within a short time period. He provided data relative to the success rate of the HAWK system in Tucson. Vice Mayor Dickey stated that it was her understanding then that they were agreeing to take out the stop signs, look at putting in the HAWK signal but said that she was a little uncertain about the U-Turn portion of it but would support it if that was the consensus of the Council. Mayor Nichols commented that he agreed with the importance of pedestrian safety and moving forward towards that goal. He added that he would support the motion currently on the floor and noted that the stop signs would remain in place until the HAWK signal was fully implemented and the U-Turn would be there. Councilmember Archambault said he did not disagree with the importance of pursuing pedestrian safety but if they went down the road with the HAWK signal and then they did a study, they knew that the area was being pressured and pushed to contain nightlife, so there was some activity in the area. If they did not know how much activity they were going to have, they could be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on something they would rip out in a couple of years. He agreed that they had to conduct the study but added that he was not sure that that would be the total solution. He emphasized the importance of taking into consideration all of the traffic that could be generated in the future. He expressed the opinion that they should move forward with #5 and get a full view from 30,000 feet and determine what was going to happen because if they put something in now and ripped it out later that would just be throwing money away. He stated the opinion that the crosswalks were safe. The Mayor thanked everyone for their input and requested a vote on the motion. A roll call was taken with the following results: Councilmember Schlum Nay Vice Mayor Dickey Aye Councilmember Kehe Aye Councilmember McMahan Nay Mayor Nichols Aye Councilmember Leger Aye Councilmember Archambault Nay The motion CARRIED by majority vote (4-3). AGENDA ITEM #8 — PROGRESS REPORT ON THE ESTABLISHED ITEMS OF COUNCIL BUSINESS: Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon addressed the Council and stated that at the November 15th Council meeting, staff was directed to provide status reports on the following items every two weeks. She said that since this was the first report, she would just make a brief statement on each of the items and would point out notable events. A. DOWNTOWN FEES ADJUSTMENT Ms. Zanon stated that before these fees could be modified, the Town had to adopt an Infrastructure Improvement Plan, which was a written plan that identified each public service that was subject to a development fee. Fountain Hills was one of the first municipalities to propose an adjustment to fees since new legislation came out during the past session. Staff had been working with Red Oak Consulting as well as the Town Attorney to review these requirements and determine further status. More information would be , forthcoming in January. z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 13 of 16 B. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT/C-2 ZONING TO TCCD Ms. Zanon reported that the Council initiated a rezoning application from C-2 Zoning to TCCD Zoning on November 15,2007. Staff had prepared that application and case map and was moving that forward. C. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY Ms. Zanon advised that a Steering Committee was formed to provide guidance on this goal. The Committee was comprised of members of the Council, staff, and representatives of other agencies such as the Fountain Hills Sanitary District, the Fountain Hills School District and Chaparral City Water Company. Staff had researched several items and came up with 22 high priority items. The team met on December 4`h to prioritize the items and the Council would hear more about this at the January 24th Work Study Session. D. GENERAL ACCESS TO THE MOUNTAIN PRESERVE Ms. Zanon stated that this topic was planned to be on the agenda this evening and it was the Town Attorney's hope to sign the agreement to bring to Council. A meeting was not able to be established until today between the Town Attorney and Councilmember Kehe and she was not sure whether either had anything they wanted to add from today's meeting. Councilmember Kehe yielded to Town Attorney Andrew McGuire who stated that they had meet with local legal counsel for MCO and discussed the remaining concerns. He said that they were focused on the areas that they had always been discussing, mainly the indemnity provisions and how they were going to be handled and the scope of the indemnities. They provided feedback on all of the different changes that were going to be recommended and those comments were being brought back by local legal counsel and Jeremy Hall back to the Maxium counsel and the company president. He said that hopefully they would receive feedback with a few days and staff would pursue this matter if word was not received. Ms. Zanon noted that the report stated that Southwest Risk would be present this evening but since the item was not ready to move forward that was not scheduled. E. PREPARING A SOUND TOWN FINANCIAL FUTURE Ms.Zanon stated that the citizen surveys were completed on November 23rd and on December 10th the Revenue Solutions Focus Group would receive the results of that survey and make their recommendations to the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission. This was still scheduled to be brought forward at the December 20th meeting. F. STATE TRUST LAND/ELLMAN DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT Ms. Zanon reported that a first draft of the agreement to the Town Attorney's office recently (Wednesday) and was still under review. She noted that Ellman had begun the citizen outreach process and three dates have been scheduled,December 13th, 17th and 18d'. The letters were in the mail. G. TOWN HALL WATER FEATURE AT AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS AND LA MONTANA DRIVE Ms. Zanon said that this item was approved at the previous Council meeting and since then, Facilities had met with the artist and laid out where the base would be constructed. H. TRAFFIC CONTROL AT AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS AND SAGUARO BOULEVARD. See discussion above. z:\.ouncil packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 14 of 16 Vice Mayor Dickey referred to the Development Fee Adjustment issue and the requirement to do the Infrastructure Improvement Plan and asked if this was something that the Council had heard about before. She asked whether they had to do more than the inflation factor. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire advised that they had originally discussed the possibility of moving forward with just adding the inflationary factor but the problem with that was that the last version of the ordinance or statute as it was drafted required that the Infrastructure Improvement Plan be in place. When they asked Red Oak to evaluate whether the current CIP could be used as the Plan, the more they became involved in the analysis the less comfortable they were that the two could really meet. He had a conversation with Red Oak last week and they discussed what needed to be in the Plan and they both concluded that it was probably not possible to do it without at least approving the Infrastructure Improvement Plan. That invokes the whole process for approval of the Infrastructure Improvement Plan, which was a drawn out lengthy process. The current discussion was really whether or not a full blown study update or including just an IIP component then adding to that the automatic inflationary factor would be a less expensive way to get there or whether it would be more efficient to update the study altogether and move it forward. They did not want to step off into an unknown area and receive some problematic feedback on the Development Fee study. He added that fees were not adopted at the maximum and they were dealing with implementing the automatic escalation clause into the document. Red Oak needs additional time to evaluate this issue and he believes that was a wise step. Discussion ensued relative to moving forward with an abbreviated study or bringing forth a full study next year that would encompass everything the Town needed to do; the fact that the abbreviated study would almost be a full blown study and in that case it made more sense to try to combine the two efforts and update the study; the fact that studies carry on longer than two years (looking towards five years); the fact that the moment fees were implemented they were typically already lagging behind the true cost of providing the service and the fact that automatic escalators provided some type of certainty in the process for both sides (an index that could be tracked). Councilmember Kehe stressed the fact that growth must pay for growth. Ms. Bender advised that one citizen wished to address the Council. Roy Kinsey, 17120 E. Fairway Court, addressed the Council and stated that access to the preserve had been going on since January and questioned how much involvement the Council had had in this process to move it forward. He stressed the importance moving ahead on this matter and said that the group that was initially formed to study this issue and work together to accomplish the goal and suggested that the group be put back together so everyone could work together face to face and move forward. Mayor Nichols thanked Mr. Kinsey for his comments. AGENDA ITEM#9—SUMMARY OF COUNCIL REQUESTS BY TOWN MANAGER. None. AGENDA ITEM #10 — COUNCIL DISCUSSION/DIRECTION TO THE TOWN MANAGER. ITEMS LISTED BELOW were RELATED ONLY TO THE PROPRIETY OF (i) PLACING SUCH ITEMS ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR ACTION OR (ii) OR DIRECTING STAFF TO CONDUCT FURTHER RESEARCH AND REPORT BACK TO THE COUNCIL: A. NONE AGENDA ITEM#11—ADJOURNMENT z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 15 of 16 Vice Mayor Dickey MOVED that the Council adjourn and Councilmember McMahan SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Th meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. TOWN OF FO NTAIN HILLS By Wall is o ayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: Bevelyn J. e r,Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Executive and Regular Session held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 6th day of December 2007. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 20th day of December 2007. /62M.1.1 Bevelyn J. B de ,Town Clerk z:\council packets\2007\r12-20-07\12-06-07 executive and regular minutes.doc Page 16 of 16