HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020.0602.TCRM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
JUNE 2, 2020
1. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE — Mayor Dickey
Mayor Dickey called the meeting of June 2, 2020, to order at 5:33 p.m. and led the Council
and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. INVOCATION - Pastor Keith Pavia, Christ Church Fountain Hills
Pastor Keith Pavia, Christ Church Fountain Hills, gave the invocation.
3. ROLL CALL — Mayor Dickey
Present: Mayor Ginny Dickey; Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow; Councilmember Art Tolis;
Councilmember Alan Magazine; Councilmember David Spelich
Absent: Councilmember Dennis Brown; Councilmember Sherry Leckrone
Staff Town Manager Grady E. Miller; Town Attorney Aaron D. Arnson; Town Clerk
Present: Elizabeth A. Burke
4. REPORTS BY MAYOR, COUNCILMEMBERS AND TOWN MANAGER
Mr. Miller reported that the State of Arizona has received $1.9 billion through the CARES Act
and would be releasing $441 million to assist those communities with populations of less than
500,000, providing the Town with $2.9 million, based on population. He said that it will be
used to help stabilize the budget. It will be used to offset public safety funding which, in turn,
will free up general funds for other uses. Any savings realized at the end of the fiscal year will
likely go into the capital fund. Additionally, since they know of a number of businesses that
have been hurt from the pandemic, they will be using a portion of the funding for a Business
Assistance Program. Staff will be bringing back a proposal to the June 16, 2020, Council
Meeting.
He also reported that the Town Attorney Aaron Arnson and other attorneys presented at the
Reopening Town Government workshop and he did a great job. He said that the Town of
Fountain Hills has been a leader in a lot of what has been going on with COVID-19. The
Town opened the ball fields starting with the Memorial Day Weekend and they could not have
done it without Aaron's help in creating waiver forms.
Mayor Dickey thanked Councilmember Tolis for a lot of the ideas he presented in recent
meetings on how to help jump start the businesses in town.
Councilmember Magazine said that the $2.9 million was phenomenal. He asked if they had
any thoughts on using the funds for infrastructure issues. Mr. Miller said that at this point he
would recommend that they proceed cautiously. They will be monitoring their revenues as
they just received April's numbers and they were off by 12-13% from this time last year.
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020 2 of 9
Vice Mayor Scharnow reported that he attended a Valley Metro Board meeting. Ridership
continues to be down from last year, with a 57% drop. He said that they received CARES
funding as well and it will be used this coming budget year.
Concilmember Tolis said that he participated in the recent Chamber of Commerce Town Hall
through an online Zoom meeting, along with Betsy. They had about 30 members on the call
and he appreciated the Mayor bringing up the discussion and ideas that came from that call.
He also appreciated the Town Manager for working on a presentation for the June 16 Council
meeting. He said that it shows how much the Council cares about businesses in the
community and want them to be successful.
Councilmember Spelich gave a shout out to the Parks staff for the softball tournament that
brought in 27 teams, including 4 from California and 1 from Nevada. He said that over 50% of
the teams booked hotel rooms in Town and 67% said they ate at Fountain Hills restaurants.
They were asked to rate the field conditions, from 1 being the worst and 10 being the best,
and they averaged 8.9. He said that it brought in a little over $4,000 in revenues for the Town.
He said that Time Magazine did an article on the tournament and the Town opening back up.
He said that the owner of Comfort Inn reached out and said that 70% of his bookings were due
to the tournament and he gave kudos for bringing it here. He thanked Mr. Miller for discussing
this with him and being on board with having it. There were no complaints and it was well
done.
Mayor Dickey reported that she attended an online meeting of Maricopa Council of
Governments (MAG) and also watched a National League of Cities (NLC) webinar of Taking
Care of Yourselves and the Community. She also reported that a curfew had been issued for
the week and more information was available on the Town's website at www.fh.az.gov. She
added that the Fountain Hills Times has been on top of everything along with the
Azgovernor.gov and AZDHS.gov websites for more information about the pandemic.
Mayor Dickey reported that Item 8-13 would be continued to the June 16, 2020, Council
meeting.
A. PROCLAMATION June 14, 2020, as United States Army's 245th Birthday.
Mayor Dickey read a proclamation proclaiming June 14, 2020, as United States Army's 245th
Birthday and presented it to Captain Handy who read a statement.
5. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES/PRESENTATIONS
A. PRESENTATION by Peter Volny on Concourse in the Hills and its positive impact on the Town
of Fountain Hills.
Mr. Volny said that when he retired and sold his business they spent three years looking for a
place to live, and they have been in Fountain Hills for 16 years. He goes to car shows all over
the country and wondered why they did not have a major car show in Fountain Hills. He said
that the Fountain Park is one of the most beautiful venues and a lot of the people that attend
feel the same way.
He said that they wanted to do something positive. When they started, they were hoping for
100 cars and had over 200. This year they had over 2,000 and raised $262,000 for Phoenix
Children's Hospital, who has treated 1,300 kids from Fountain Hills. The show now takes up
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the whole park and they question how they are going to grow. He said that over the 7 years
they have raised $800,000 and $270,000 went to the Boys & Girls Club. He said that they are
now getting publicity from national magazines as they are one of the largest car shows in the
country.
He said that even with the virus, they are forging forward with plans. They do not have much
space for more cars; they are probably close to their Iimits.He said that this year they have
Porsche as a sponsor and GM almost came in to launch the new Corvette. He thanked all of
the people who help in the Town, including Parks, Public Works, Fire Department and MCSO.
Councilmember Spelich said that he had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Volny three
years ago; he has a charitable heart. He said that they brought him here to not only hear
about his success, but to recognize his efforts along with Steven Schnall from the Phoenix
Children's Hospital. Mr. Schnall said that he cannot help but reflect on the times they are
in --an unprecedented moment in US and world history. What Mr. Volny has done is
something we should all strive to be more like. He has known him for a number of years. He
has a big heart for Phoenix Children's Hospital, and especially those kids with cancer. He has
gotten to known him and his wife, Linda, and Peter is the driver and visionary. He brought
together his passion for cars and kids in the town he loves dearly. He thanked him for all his
work. He said that he was proud to be a partner.
At this time, Councilmember Spelich read a plaque recognizing Mr. Volny for his service and
presented it to him.
6. CALL TO THE PUBLIC
Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.01(H), public comment is permitted (not required) on matters NOT listed on the
agenda. Any such comment (i) must be within the jurisdiction of the Council, and (ii) is subject to reasonable time,
place, and manner restrictions. The Council will not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during Call to the
Public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. At the conclusion of the Call to the
Public, individual councilmembers may (i) respond to criticism, (ii) ask staff to review a matter, or (iii) ask that the
matter be placed on a future Council agenda.
None
7. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
All items listed on the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine, noncontroversial matters and will be enacted
by one motion of the Council. All motions and subsequent approvals of consent items will include all recommended
staff stipulations unless otherwise stated. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a
councilmember or member of the public so requests. If a councilmember or member of the public wishes to discuss
an item on the Consent Agenda, he/she may request so prior to the motion to accept the Consent Agenda or with
notification to the Town Manager or Mayor prior to the date of the meeting for which the item was scheduled. The
items will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda.
MOVED BY Councilmember Alan Magazine, SECONDED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow to
approve Consent Agenda Items 7-A through 7-D.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
A. CONSIDERATION OF approving the meeting minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 19, 2020.
B. CONSIDERATION OF Resolution 2020-30, renaming Del Cambre Court to Mirage Heights
Court; renaming Del Cambre Court West to Mirage Heights Court West; changing the
applicable street addresses within the Mirage Heights subdivision, and waiving the fee.
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020 4 of 9
C. CONSIDERATION OF Resolution 2020-31 approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with
Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (Contract C2019-011) for July 1, 2020, through
June 30, 2021, in the amount $21,688.
D. CONSIDERATION OF authorizing staff to apply for tourism -related grants administered by the
Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT), Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) and
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation to support marketing and promotion initiatives of Fountain Hills.
8. REGULAR AGENDA
A. CONSIDERATION OF Resolution 2020-32 declaring and adopting the results of the Special
Election held May 19, 2020.
Town Clerk Elizabeth Burke said that before Council was the resolution canvassing the
results of the recent May 19, 2020, mail -ballot election. She noted that the first two items
(Prop 427-Daybreak Rezone and Prop 428-Daybreak Land Use Map Amendment) were both
defeated by 73-27% and the third item (Prop 429-Term of Mayor) was defeated with 55-45%.
Mayor Dickey asked Mr. Arnson to explain the process now that these two items related to
Daybreak were defeated. Mr. Arnson said that there is no other action to be taken. This will be
the first and only action required.
MOVED BY Councilmember David Spelich, SECONDED BY Councilmember Art Tolis to
adopt Resolution 2020-32.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
B. CONSIDERATION OF a request for a Special Use Permit to allow operation of a hospital
between 11 pm and 7 am on an approximately 5.74 acre parcel generally located at the
northwest corner of N. Saguaro Boulevard and E. Trevino Drive (AKA 9700 N. Saguaro
Boulevard; APN # 176-10-811) in the C-1 Neighborhood Commercial and Professional Zoning
District. Continued to June 16, 2020. SU 2020-01.
Mayor Dickey opened the Public Hearing. Mr. Arnson clarified that they are requesting to
continue the Public Hearing to the June 16, 2020, Regular Council Meeting, thereby
eliminating the need to repost.
At this time, Jane Bell, came forward, stating that she had provided a handout with her letter
and related documents. She said that they have been for this development from the
beginning, but through the three different meetings scheduled with the developers, the most
recent was one called by Mayor Dickey for the developers to meet directly with the neighbors.
At that meeting promises were made by the developer, but to date they have heard nothing.
She said that this now goes to the Planning and Zoning Commission and then on to the
Council. She said that they ask that the best hospital be approved that addresses the
requests of the surrounding neighbors. She then thanked the Council for allowing her to speak
and for John Wesley, who she said that been great to work with.
Councilmember Magazine that the questions asked in the letter from the Bells be answered at
a future date.
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020
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MOVED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow, SECONDED BY Councilmember Alan Magazine to
continue the Public Hearing to the June 16, 2020, Regular Council Meeting.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
C. CONSIDERATION OF draft Executive Summary of the Fountain Hills General Plan 2020.
Mr. Miller said that the Town Council had requested that the Executive Summary be brought
back for review and that is what this agenda item is. Development Services Director John
Wesley said he was available for any questions or comments.
Councilmember Magazine said that he had raised the issue of the Executive Summary's
length and questioned how many people would actually read it. He started to do some editing.
Mr. Miller said that he and the Mayor were talking about college where an Executive
Summary would usually be one to two pages. He said that they had the idea of doing
something similar to the Budget in Brief publication, and he thought that was the same idea.
He said that he understood where he was coming from and said they could call it an Overview
or Quick Notes. Councilmember Magazine suggested Important Brief.
Mr. Wesley said that they also envision having one page notes for each of the sections for
use in their public outreach, and hopefully those will be more readable.
Councilmember Tolis said that they did a great job. Vice Mayor Scharnow said that page 7 is
a big picture of the fountain. He said that the nine page summary is actually about four pages
of text. He said that he was good.
No further comments from the Council were received.
D. PUBLIC HEARING regarding Resolution 2020-23, approving the Final Budget for the Town of
Fountain Hills for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2021.
CONSIDERATION of Resolution 2020-23 of the Mayor and Council of the Town of Fountain
Hills, Arizona, approving the Final Budget for the Town of Fountain Hills for the fiscal year
beginning July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2021.
Mr. Miller said that he has asked the department directors to identify where there may be
other opportunities to make budget adjustment should the need arise. They will be cautious
moving forward.
Mayor Dickey opened the Public Hearing.
Finance Director David Pock said that all of the meetings are online for viewing. The Tentative
Budget was adopted at the May 5 meeting. He said that what was not included in the packet
was the total collections for May, which he just received. He said that total collections for May
were $950,000, which is a 12.5% decrease from this same time last year. However, overall
for the entire year, Fountain Hills has exceeded their budgeted amount in TPT by $850,000
as of the end of May so they are looking to end the year good, most of that due to the $.03%
rate increase done in 2019. He then gave a brief review which addressed:
FINAL BUDGET
TOTAL BUDGET - ALL FUNDS $33,848,990 (including $19.3 million in the General Fund)
REVENUE ASSUMPTIONS
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020
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He said that it looks that they are reducing the Department of Revenues State Shared
Revenues by 15-20%. He had prepared expecting a 15% decrease for TPT ($500,000) which
looks to hold true. State income tax does not change. Mr. Miller said that they will see the
impact of that in 2021.
Mr. Pock said that there is one additional FTE added for next year, increasing hours for a
Groundskeeper II and a Community Center Customer Service Rep.
He then reviewed the four capital projects.
Councilmember Magazine asked how many code compliance officers they had. Mr. Miller
said that they have two. One is assigned to work weekends. He gets a lot of councilmembers
bring attention to issues and the Development Services Director then gets in touch with that
employee.
There being no public input, Mayor Dickey closed the Public Hearing and recessed the
Regular Meeting.
Mayor Dickey opened the Special Meeting
MOVED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow, SECONDED BY Councilmember Alan Magazine to
adopt Resolution 2020-23.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
Mayor Dickey then reconvened the Regular Meeting.
E. CONSIDERATION OF Resolution 2020-24 adopting and establishing the 2020-21 Budget
Implementation Policy and approving the Town Organizational Charts, the FY 2020-21 Pay
Plan, the Schedule of Authorized Positions, the updated Employee Job Descriptions, and the
FY 2020-21 Comprehensive Fee Schedule.
Mr. Miller said that he has worked in other towns where this item is usually part of the Budget
Book. These are done separately through a resolution. Years ago they were doing every job
description every year; now they only include those that change. He said that the Pay Plan
approved tonight has a 2.5% cost of living in January. If revenues are not tracking then it will
not go into effect.
MOVED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow, SECONDED BY Councilmember David Spelich to
adopt Resolution 2020-24.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020 7 of 9
F. CONSIDERATION OF Ordinance 20-06, amending Sections 12-3-18 and 12-3-19 pertaining to
citations and penalties for parking violations.
Mr. Wesley said that the Town takes great interest in the quality of the community. They have
had situations where people start parking the yards. They started looking closer at the current
code and it requires any action be commenced by a citation. This change allows for the
officers to be more flexible and work with the property owners prior to having to issue a
citation.
MOVED BY Councilmember Alan Magazine, SECONDED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow to
adopt Ordinance 20-06 and declaring an emergency.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
G. CONSIDERATION OF Ordinance 20-07, amending the Subdivision Ordinance by adding
Section 2.08 C. to allow administrative approval of abandonment of hillside protection
easements; amending Section 5.02 C.2 to clarify applicability of the driveway exemption; and,
amending Section 5.04 B. adding a new subsection 4 allowing administrative approval of
exemptions to the hillside disturbance requirements of Section 5.04.
Mr. Miller said that the Council has addressed this issue a couple of times at retreats. They
were not administering the ordinance at that time and they had a backlog of people trying to
abandon these Hillside Protection Easements (HPE). He said that Mr. Wesley has come up
with a process which he outlined at the last Council Retreat.
Mr. Wesley said that at the December 3, 2019, Council meeting he gave a presentation about
the need to address the ordinances and the Council made it a priority. They have addressed
three areas: (1) allowing administrative approval of abandonment of hillside protection
easements; (2) clarifying applicability of the driveway exemption; and (3) allowing
administrative approval of exemptions to the hillside disturbance requirements. He noted that
the abandonments will be done on a case by case basis.
Mr. Wesley explained that since these are changes to the Subdivision Ordinance these
amendments did not go to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Councilmember Tolis said that Councilmember Brown has for many years been advocating
this type of policy. He and Councilmember Brown spoke today and he wanted to express his
appreciation for the work that has gone into this and is in full support of it.
Mayor Dickey asked what type of notification to neighbors would be in place. After further
discussion of this issue, staff was directed to put together an administrative process for
notification to neighbors and bring it back to the Council for input.
MOVED BY Councilmember Art Tolis, SECONDED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow to adopt
Ordinance 20-07.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020 8 of 9
H. CONSIDERATION OF authorizing the Town Manager to administratively approve a contract
to make emergency repairs to the Panorama storm drainpipe.
Public Works Director Justin Weldy said that they received the 60% plans last Tuesday
from the designer. They incorporated all of the Town's notes and sent it to the Fountain
Hills Sanitary District. They are anticipating, based on their progress, that the 100% plans
should be ready for utility review at the beginning of July and then they will immediate send
it out for bid and start construction in August.
Staff is asking for permission for the Town Manager to move forward with award of the
contract during Council's summer break and then ratify that action at their Special Meeting
of August 24, 2020.
Mr. Miller said that they have an engineer's estimate of $2.1 million. If it comes back and is
way over that they will come back, but if it within that range he could approve it
administratively and then have the Council ratify. If it comes in over budget, they will need
to identify additional funding.
He said that they are trying to expedite this project. With the monsoon season coming soon
and this project having sink holes involved, they do not want to have more damage.
Mr. Miller said that they are starting to see construction costs come more in line with
engineer's estimates. He believes that because of the pandemic, such as with the
roundabout, the costs will be more in line with the estimate.
MOVED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow, SECONDED BY Councilmember Art
Tolis to authorize the Town Manager to enter into and administratively approve the contract
with the successful bidder for construction of the Panorama storm drainpipe for subsequent
ratification by the Town Council; and direct the Town Manager to take the contract to the
Town Council at a special Town Council meeting, if necessary, if the successful bidder's
proposal exceeds the engineer's project estimate.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
Councilmember Tolis added that he thought they were doing a great job with the downtown
streets, and now is the time to be doing it.
9. COUNCIL DISCUSSION/DIRECTION to the TOWN MANAGER
Item(s) listed below are related only to the propriety of (i) placing such item(s) on a future agenda for action, or
(ii) directing staff to conduct further research and report back to the Council.
Councilmember Tolis said that he would like to see some type of moratorium on the sign
ordinance to businesses through at least September 1. Mr. Miller said that they will be
bringing together a packet for the next Council meeting to provide a list of various items
being proposed to assist with businesses, and they will add that item to the list so that each
may be voted on separately.
Councilmember Magazine said that when the Town Manager was giving his report he
wanted to ask a question about the $2.9 million from the state and was told he could not.
He would like to see that policy changed.
Town Council Regular Meeting of June 2, 2020
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10. ADJOURNMENT
MOVED BY Councilmember David Spelich, SECONDED BY Vice Mayor Mike Scharnow to
adjourn the meeting of June 2, 2020.
Vote: 5 - 0 Passed - Unanimously
The Regular Meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council held June 2, 2020, adjourned at
6:58 p.m.
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
qVA� �b .
GirdV Dick y, Mayor 64
ATTEST AND PREPARED BY:
izabet .Burke, Town 6lerk
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular
Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 2nd day of
June, 2020. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 16th day of June, 2020.
Eli a eth urke, Town u6rk