Regular Meeting - 12/3/2024 6:30:00 PM

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[Music]
government e
for
good evening welcome to the December 3rd
2024 Gilbert Town council meeting as a
reminder to please turn off your or
silence your cell phones c m Tuson and
devices I have to call them out um I
think I have PTSD from Stairway to
Heaven I mean Smoke on the Water excuse
me um
we'll begin our evening tonight
with a call to order if the town clerk
could please conduct the roll
call Mayor Bridget Peterson here vice
mayor Scott Anderson here council member
Chuck Giovani here council member Bobby
Buckley here council member Yan Kowski
here council member Kathy tilki here and
council member Jim torison here aarum is
present thank you cheli I started with a
roll call just so that we could point
out that council member Buckley is virtu
tonight any votes that we do this
evening have to be um Voice vote and not
use our electronic voting since we have
one member virtually we'll start with
our invocation if associate pastor
Adriana Hernandez of the First Methodist
Church is here good evening you'll just
push the button I think that there's a
an arrow maybe or a DOT or something
that shows you which button to push
there you go it lights up I mastered it
thank you thank you as We Gather this
evening May may we carry forward our
hearts that have been filled with
gratitude over the last few days May our
discussions be guided by wisdom
compassion and a deep commitment to the
well-being of the town of Gilbert grant
us the strength to listen attentively to
diverse perspectives to seek common
ground and to make the decisions that
reflect kind productive and meaningful
work we offer this invocation with Open
Hearts and Minds seeking to honor the
responsibility entrusted to us as
Leaders this evening we humbly ask the
Divine for wisdom and guidance praise be
to
God thank you Pastor that was lovely we
appreciate you coming out this evening
and sharing an invocation with us next
we'll have a pledge of allegiance led by
C roban
Giovani I pledge allegiance to the
flag the first thing on our agenda this
evening is recognition of Whitney Connor
a volunteer as volunteer of the year I'm
going to read something before I come
down to the floor teens like those
serving our community in the mayor's
youth advisory committee and Beyond are
having having a profoundly positive
impact on this community and I'm
thrilled to highlight another example of
a teen leader Whitney Connor is a Perry
High School senior honors student who at
the age of 17 already makes a difference
in our community she maintains a 4.5 GPA
and is busy as a member of the National
Honor Society the High School varsity
cheer squad I think she's missing
practice tonight and is an AIA Varsity
scholar athlete but her true passion
lies in volunteering and serving her
community she learned the joy that comes
from serving others before starting
kindergarten as 12 years ago she began
participating in the Gilbert Fire and
rescue's annual back to-school shopping
event each year Whitney joins her father
in participating in this amazing program
that provides gilber public school's
deserving students with new clothes and
shoes over two years ago Whitney
believed she could she could do more and
so she founded a nonprofit organization
called bans for backpacks that has
helped her raise more funds for the back
to school shopping program to date she's
raised and donated over $3,000 to
Gilbert Fire and rescue's annual event
to allow more children in need to
participate Whitney's unwavering
dedication to this community and her
servants heart make her the truly
deserving candidate for the Gilbert
chamber of commerce's 2024 mayor's
volunteer of the Year award Whitney
could you please come down and join me
in the front
so typically when we do the community of
excellence awards we don't then bring
them back here to the council chambers
but I was scheduled to be out of town
this year for the community of
excellence awards so I had asked Whitney
to please come to a council meeting to
be recognized and I thought heck I'm
going to do it anyway even though I was
there for the award ceremony this year
but I just wanted to give you an
opportunity to say a few words if you'd
like to Whitney
so like she said I've been volunteering
at the event since I was really little
and my goal this this year for this
event that happened in August was to be
able to take more kids and also every
year kids come from families and they
bring their brothers or their sisters
and there's not always enough funding to
shop for them like we'd like to but
obviously they're in the same situation
so my goal was to raise money to be able
to take more student shopping and just
to make a difference in more kids lives
thanks we should be so proud of students
like this that we have in our community
let's give a big round of
applause and I'm GNA say that um her dad
was or still is sort of a Gilbert Fire P
um Pio for the town of Gilbert which is
a public information officer and I
watched Fox 10 walk into that event in
August mom was there dad was there and I
watched this young lady go live on FOX
10 and she spoke better than most of the
adults I see speak on on live TV so she
has got that Gene and I told her that 10
years actually 11 years ago I won this
award so there's big things in her
future mom and dad want to come join
us dad's deputy chief with the G fire
department and unbeknownst to me um I
picked Whitney as volunteer of the year
and our Gilbert Fire Chief picked Chief
Mike Connor as the Tim Dorne public
safety award winner this year so we had
two Connors being awarded that that
evening thank you thanks thanks
congratulations
next on our agenda we are moving to our
public hearing
items my pages are stuck together we
have five items on our excuse me four
items on our public hearing agenda this
evening three zoning items and a fees
discussion I'm going to open the public
hearing I had asked if staff could do a
short discussion presentation on the
three zoning items we will need to do a
vote on those separately and then we'll
open up public hearing for um the fees
discussion also so can I have someone
from staff to discuss the three zoning
items we discussed these at a study
session but I think it would be a good
idea to have them here at a public
meeting just a short snippet mayor
council if I may item two is being
continued request has been continued to
December 17th oh thank you sorry I
didn't read that agenda change over here
so um I will make a motion I will close
the public hearing on item two I will
make a motion to continue item 2
z245 to the December 17th meeting second
motion I have a motion by the mayor
seconded by the vice mayor all those in
favor please say I I I
sorry I motion passes 70 open the public
hearing for items three and four which
is Z2 24-9 in Z2
24-13 Kyle mayor council good evening um
items three and four um you've seen in a
study session and they are um House Bill
2297 and house bill um Senate Bill I'm
sorry 1162 um these were passed this
summer and signed into law and because
of those the action that the legisl meur
took um we are making some changes uh to
Our Land Development code in order to be
in compliance um with those um different
house bills and Senate bills so those
are what's coming before you tonight one
is an Adaptive uh reuse um and the other
one is um essentially uh a stop stop
clock it's time frames for residential
um development up on which we have to
return um comments and whenn the um
projects will be um will be approved
according to the timeline set out in the
in the C a
Bill thank you Kyle any questions or
comments I think the the most important
part that Kyle said there is that these
were bills that were passed by the state
legislature and signed into law by the
governor and they are amendments to our
code that we have to make because of the
bills that were passed and we did have a
lengthy discussion at a couple of study
sessions on these items and I'm getting
them all confused because there's three
or four of them at this point and so
we've had multiple discussions on some
and back to to finally approve these at
this point they've been through the
Planning Commission and now back to
council for final approval any oh
Council M torguson I just wanted to
point out and Kyle if you could help us
a little bit on uh zoning Z24 d09 the
Adaptive
reuse uh how much say does the town have
in the ReUse of commercial as multi
family mayor council member torguson um
the bill allows the town to um to
designate up to 10% or designate 10% of
the existing commercial office and mixed
use buildings within the town as
eligible so we performed an analysis of
how many of these buildings are existing
there's
854 so we do have some ability to say
that up to 85 buildings would be
eligible for um adaptive reuse under
this bill um however there are are
certain criteria that have to be met in
order for them to maintain their
eligibility to proceed with the the
Adaptive
reuse but it's not something we deny if
they meet The Benchmark the state has
presented we have to let them to what
they're going to do correct uh mayor
council member targon that's correct um
the the Adaptive reuse is allowed
without um requiring a use permit or um
rezoning or any public hearing or really
any public input we still do have the
ability to uh review a site plan at a
staff level so we still have the ability
to review um foresight planning type of
items well another check for our state
legislature thank you it's exactly where
I wanted to pull them off separately so
that we could have them a little more
discussion so that the public can hear
this I know people don't necessarily
watch our study sessions now Veronica
when you say adaptive re reuse they
would be able to take commercial
buildings and use them for
what mayor the um the Adaptive reuse is
for them to take one building and
repurpose it for another use um as it
applies to this particular build they
can do multif family or some other type
of use that would be allowed under the
underlying Zoning for that
building thank you I think the key words
there were multifam and this legislation
was passed to increase the ability for
um developers to create more multif
family within the State of Arizona Mary
you're correct um this was one of a
series of bills that was adopted by the
legislature this past session that was
intended to address um the housing issue
yes even though there's like 150,000
permits out there waiting to be built
and they're not built yet but we're
behind because we're cities and towns
thank you both I'm being
sarcastic thank you both appreciate it
any other comments oh vice mayor I was
just going to say when we have the
minutes come out what you just said
please underscore it oh what I just said
please underscore it did you get that
Chelli I was being sarcastic but very
truthful at the same time it's um the
state legislature is is forcing cities
and towns to create these zoning
opportunities within our communities and
whether it fits the area or not we're
going to be forced to be able to have to
put those and counc borgus was trying to
get across the point that the council
will not be able to say no to these
things and Veronica laid out that a site
plan will come in just to staff for them
to approve but it won't go through a any
kind of a public process that you see
here so the public and the council will
not have any say on this that is correct
Y and this is one of four bills four
bills three or four yeah I lost track
like I said yeah thank you very much
thank you I'll close the public hearing
and bring it back to the council for U
motions on item three and number four
zoning Z24 9 and Z2
24-13 mayor nobody wants to do this but
I I will make the motion to accept items
number three and four thank you I'll
second I have a motion by council member
tilki seconded by council member Kowski
all in favor please say I
I
I motion passes
70 sorry we got a e out of one of our
council members um you can see how
thrilled we all are by this legislative
action that we're having to deal with
next on our agenda I will open the
public hearing for item number five
which is a fees discussion we're going
to have a presentation from staff I hope
it is a um Readers Digest version of
what we saw at the retreat because that
was quite lengthy and I'll be looking
forward to some conversations good
evening
Eric good evening mayor no pressure Eric
I pushed the
button let's try this
again there we
go all
there here we
are well good evening mayor and Council
um tonight's uh presentation will be a
reader digest version of the trilogy
that I shared with you a few weeks ago
it is in the Public's benefit that they
do hear much of that information that
was shared with you and the hard work
that Council has already begun on the
review of these
rates our over arching goal tonight is
to keep the high performing
infrastructure that supports our
community's way of life there is work to
be done to correct insufficient past
investments in the maintenance and
Rehabilitation of the systems that allow
us to enjoy quality services if we don't
follow through on this commitment to our
community then degradation extreme
incidents of service failures and
exponential emergency costs will be the
future for Gilbert as we have seen
happen in numerous communities across
the country our city of the future
initiative compels us to navigate a
different direction than others have
taken so that Gilbert does not decline
but can remain a fertile Community for
the flourishment of our residents and
businesses tonight we're going to review
the operating and repair and replacement
plans our our request is for Council to
select a rate option to meet the
financial needs of the utility to set
the public hearing for February 11th and
publish a notice of intent and there is
a contingency request for additional
Outreach Services as requested by the
council we have to come face Toof face
with the reality that is before us some
parts of our sewer infrastructure are
silently crumbling and are near total
collapse the condition of our
infrastructure and maintaining reliable
service is the underpinning of this
entire
conversation we have three 500 foot
sections of ductal iron pipe that cross
under the 202 Freeway this one is
highlighted just north of williamsfield
Road
Although our goal is to inspect the
entire system every six years it has
been eight years since this um
inspection on these pipes and what we
found last month was alarming these dark
SP spots in the pipes are holes where
the iron pipe has corroded completely
away ductal iron pipe was at best
practice 20 years ago when these lines
were installed but are not anymore due
to its corrosion potential this gravity
line is inside a 24 4 in steel casing
that has concrete plugs at both ends
which should help to keep sewage that
may be leaking out of the pipe contained
and prevent a sinkhole but we don't know
the extent of corrosion the casing may
have our team has just completed camera
inspections of all three pipes and are
actively pursuing emergency
relining we've also expanded this
inspection to any other potential
gravity ductal iron pipe and are already
finding other significant issues
use catching this failure um this before
a failure shows the value of our routine
inspections on although these these
repairs will be costly in the several
million dollar range a sinkhole in the
freeway would be lifethreatening
can I interrupt you for a second because
I've been having nightmares about this
video first of all it gives me motion
sickness so I have to stop looking at it
but
um this pipe was put in in 2005 I just
want to clarify this pipe was put in in
2005 this video is from
2024 yes when was the last time that
this pipe was inspected before October
30th 2024 it was in uh
2016 so 8 years ago and the pipe didn't
look like this8 years ago correct but
essentially this pipe is 20 years old
mhm what was the
manufacturers timeline for a pipe like
this at the time that it was was
installed in 2005 they should have lived
40 to 50 years so we're getting half as
much of maybe even less than half as
much of Lifeline from this pipe that we
should have okay the numbers kept going
over in my head as to what you were
showing us and what it said on the
screen and I it wasn't sitting right so
I wanted to ask the questions thank you
Eric yes thank
you now this this problem is not a
Gilbert alone problem there's an
infrastructure funding Gap that is
National in scope every four years the
EPA sends Congress a report on
infrastructure funding needs for clean
water utilities which are synonymous
with sanitary sewers and storm
sewers the EPA provided their very low
estimate of $630 billion of investment
needed over the next 20 years Nationwide
just to bring these systems back into
acceptable range for
functionality Arizona's share of that is
$4.8
billion so this problem is not unique to
Gilbert but we are aggressive in keeping
our promise to our community for Quality
Service which is why we deal with our
funding needs headon instead of passing
them to Future
Generations now oftentimes when you make
a personal or professional or a team
goal you focus on what you want to
become and we definitely do that with in
Gilbert with our city of the future
metrics and our Performance Management
program but sometimes it's more
instructional to look at real world
examples of what you don't want to
become to help guide your
decision-making on the path you do want
to take Johnson Utilities was just a few
miles Southeast of us in the Santan
Valley and they were plagued with sewer
overflows undrinkable water and high
utility bills for many years finally the
state took regulatory action and forced
the sale of the utility to another
private company epcor which is making
significant Investments to bring the
infrastructure up to standards sewage
running through backyards and washes is
not what we want want to become we will
retrace the path that you have already
trotten to discover our pains as well as
our plans to making sure we're a
reliable and environmentally stable
sewer and reclaimed water
utility for our community members
watching it's foundational to understand
that the Town Council has adopted
through unanimous resolution a policy
statement regarding user fees the
Wastewater fund and the Environmental
Compliance fund are what we call
Enterprise funds this means that user Fe
need to be collected to recover the
entire cost of operations this also
means that as a financial practice we do
not subsidize these utilities rates are
how we fund critical Wastewater
infrastructure and
services utilities are separate
Financial entities under the Gilbert
umbrella they operate independently
financially and are not
subsidized and do not subsidize the tax
rate adequate fund balances are
maintained to allow Gilbert to to
continue provide services to the
community in case of emergencies or
economic
downturns following these policies is a
key reason that Gilbert is rated AAA in
our bonds there are less than 50
communities in the country rated AAA on
their bonds and Gilbert's one of them
this Elite rating ensures that Gilbert
can secure the best interest rates when
bonding and if we stop following those
policies or take actions that indicate
we might have difficulty repaying those
bonds
like not having enough revenue or taking
one-time evasive actions then it could
impact our ratings and the interest we
pay on future bond in in issuances or
refinancing of existing debt those
consequences will spill over into other
plans that Gilbert has like the
transportation bonds and
others another very important Financial
policy adopted by the council has to do
with our minimum restricted fund balance
the fund balance is an important
indicator of Gilbert's financial
position and maintaining those reserves
is considered prudent management
practice adequate fund balances are
maintained to allow Gilbert to continue
providing services to the community in
case of unexpected emergencies or
economic
downturns there are consequences to not
following those
policies this discussion can can feel
very academic but but it has real world
implications on our community we have to
look no further than the news from last
month in Chicago where the city council
is attempting to sidestep hard financial
choices and credit rating agencies are
sounding the alarm lower credit rating
affects our ability to build projects
with
frugality bringing this kind of closer
into focus with a personal anecdote
consider that the average home price in
Gilbert is about
$600,000 if you were to purch purch that
home with a very good credit score of
about 780 that would cost about $3,000 a
month in principal and
interest a person with an average credit
score of$ 620 would pay $3,400 a month
133% higher because of their downgraded
credit rating the same effect is felt in
our borrowing costs if our credit rating
changes an increase in interest rates
due to downgrading our AAA rating just
one step would cost an extra one and a
half to $33 million for every hundred
million borrowed that's why we've worked
so hard to achieve and protect that
rating now why are we talking about the
rate process again well each year we
develop and review budgets for all four
of our utilities water Wastewater
Environmental Compliance and solid waste
and
recycling but only request or make
Revenue adjustments for two of them each
year year if
needed this year the revenue adjustments
are being reviewed for Wastewater and
environmental compliance it should be
noted that although these alternating
review years are planned it doesn't mean
that staff will bring forward a rate
increase recommendation each time only
when we have financial needs of the
utility will we bring forward rate
requests now we're in the middle of this
annual cycle to uh review and adjust
rate Revenue we kicked off the outward
facing process with the public works
Advisory Board which is the council
appointed Advisory Group of Gilbert
residents that explores Public Works
related policy rates and projects to
ensure continuity of services it was
created to infuse the Citizens Voice
into this process they have explored the
services and projects in depth over the
last few months leading to a
recommendation that will be presented to
you again later
you've already received a much more
lengthy version of this presentation and
had a robust discussion at The Retreat
last month and we're now in the
statutorily required public noticing
period with several actions still ahead
of us both for educating the public and
for official
action now on to the First Rate
recommendation as I mentioned
Environmental Compliance is one of the
two utilities up for review this year
our first recommend ation is that this
fund does not need a rate increase at
this time our main takeaway is that
we're on budget and we have a plan for
the outer years that on these graphs
look like they don't balance there's a
couple of large CIP projects in the last
two years which are currently with a
limited scope availability tagged only
to the operating fund as we get closer
we know that that at least portions of
these projects will be split into the
repair and replacement fund and that
will bring the operating fund more in
alignment I'm waiting for the round of
applause but I didn't get it okay tough
crowd in it okay now on to Wastewater
we're going to revisit the journey
through the sewer system and the ReUse
system to understand what goes into
uninterrupted service and how our 53
Wastewater staff manage this1 billion
dollar in
infrastructure we previous discuss the
maintenance activities within the
gravity sewer system the cleaning and
inspection work we do helps mitigate
highly corrosive sewer gases that eat
away at the infrastructure from the
inside and are a nuisance for the
community inspections help us identify
small issues before they become big like
that bottom
photo and sometimes they uncover big
issues before they become catastrophes
like in the video we just
saw they also help us identify future
problem areas that can be corrected with
capital projects like in the case of our
manhole Rehabilitation project which
will fix hundreds of compromised
manholes and new odor and corrosion
control stations in response to the odor
complaints we've received our plan
includes additional Staffing to maintain
these new stations which will be
proactive care for the pipes and a
quality of life Improvement for the
community lift stations are serve a
vital function in our system this is our
largest lift station Crossroads you can
see the very large pumps and the Force
main pipe that lifts the sewage where it
can be pushed into a gravity sewer line
to continue its journey to a Water
Reclamation facility the map on the on
the right highlights the lift station
sewer sheds in Gilbert where over 60% of
our sewer flow passes through at least
one lift station on its path to the
plant which is one indicator of how
vital lift stations are to uninterrupted
service lift stations are costly to run
and maintain especially compared to
gravity sewer lines which is why we try
to avoid them at all cost in new
developments breakdowns are a normal
type of this infrastructure which is why
our team does daily inspections and
maintenance on the equipment which helps
us identify potential issues before they
become
calamitous yet we have had those
calamities we've had numerous failures
of these Force Mains in the last decade
these are going to show up on the
map the first one was at Greenfield and
Queen Creek in 2015 this cost us $2
million in emergency repairs it likely
would have only cost us about
$300,000 to fix if it was not an
emergency in all these six emergencies
cost $18 million to fix and that didn't
even solve the underlying issues that
led to the breaks in the first place
those were $18 million in bandaids
why do we pay such close attention to
lift stations and force Mains it's
because the enormous impact that they
can have when they break down since
sewage generally only has one path to
follow to a Reclamation facility these
excavations of a few of the major Force
main failures show what those pipes look
like after they failed but not the havoc
and the damage to the surface these pipe
fragments at the bottom of the photo in
the bottom photos were active actually
still in service this year when our team
proactively discovered their poor
condition during an
inspection these findings were deeply
concerning because we have a
responsibility to keep the service
running and this condition of pipes is a
harbinger of collapse had they not
noticed this we surely would have had
another Force man
emergency there's also the above ground
impact that happens when these Force
Mains break because our sewage again
only flows one way we have to set up
bypass pumping in cases where ruptures
are big enough and complicated enough
that the repair will take some time in
this case the bypass pipes were in place
for several months Crossing McQueen Road
rivers and ponds of raw sewage running
through gutters and into landscaped
areas are not the kind of water features
we want in Gilbert and we know that our
residents want to prevent those as well
these rate investments will help keep us
on the correct side of our residents
desires for quality of
life and yet we've had these uh
catastrophic problems um and the media
loves it when we have them because those
sink holes are a strong visualization of
what's happened thankfully nobody was
injured in this incident but it was a
very strong
possibility this particular incidents
led us to a condition assessment of our
Force Mains and we developed a
prioritization list for rehab and
resiliency of those Force Mains and a
subsequent Capital project to make the
necessary improvements it's a costly but
vital series projects over the course of
12 Years to accomplish resiliency and
reliability for our sewer customers
we're also planning to add two lift
station technicians in 2026 in order to
keep up with the maintenance required on
these important facilities that keep the
sewage flowing efficiently and will not
cause environmental damage or health
consequences ww105 is that systematic
replacement of the ductal iron pipe
Force Mains that are most likely to fail
ductal iron was industry standard at the
time that they were installed but
improvements in manufacturing technology
in larger diameter plastic pipes now
means that the old standard has changed
to these inert materials which will not
corrode like ductal iron because those
Force Mains are that single point of
failure and there's no backup in place
if one of these fail we will be in
Emergency Operations again if they do
fail when they do fail the red lines on
the map are the areas planned for Rehab
under this project it is $12 million a
year for each of the next 12 plus years
in order to accomplish this and although
it's expensive it's the likely continued
failure of those pipes coupled with the
single point of failure makes this an
important priority for Wastewater
service we also drilled down into the
operations of the Greenfield Water
Reclamation plant and that operations
and maintenance costs over the next 5
years average $3.5 million per year
above our previously budgeted amounts
this is due to many contributing factors
including increased cost for chemicals
energy and materials for the processes
growth in Gilbert's flow to the plant
and higher Staffing costs we keep
reinvesting in the plant so that we get
the full useful life out of this
facility to maximize our rate payers
return on their investment these upward
costs affect our need for more Revenue
per customer
we also discussed the reinvestment that
is ongoing at the Neely Water
Reclamation facility and the need to
bring that plant back in line with the
service standard the community has come
to rely
on and lastly our reuse system which is
the foundational element of our
sustainable water supply our goal of
100% reuse of water is achieved through
direct use in parks golf courses and HOA
common areas and the recharge of the
remaining reclaimed water into the
aquifer we've got that separate pipeline
Network for this water which we call our
purple pipe Network because those pipes
are purple and that helps delineate them
from the drinking water
pipes The riparian Preserve is a vital
resource for our community
sustainability enabling that full use of
our reclaimed water by recharging that
water into the aquifer and helping us
maintain equilibrium with our
groundwater
pumping the facility is undersized and
our our need to increase that capacity
was first identified in 2012 and we
developed a project to do that but it
has been on hold ever since due to
budget constraints it's a critical
project for the maximum use of our
existing water
resources and using the existing water
that we have is vitally important
especially as we Face a reduction of our
capap supplies due to the Colorado River
situation so in our 5-year Capital
Improvement plan we have two types of
capital plans that are funded by rates
the first is the operations plan um
Capital plan you think of an odor and
corrosion control facility that is not
included in the in the original
construction that's our operating
capital on the repair and replacement
plan you think of an existing lift
station pump that needs replaced because
it's breaking down Beyond
repair now remember that growth related
projects are not funded by rates
therefore we're not discussing growth
related projects
tonight these are the lists of our
capital projects and the years that they
were slated to
begin notice that our Five-Year Plan as
originally constituted had most of the
projects planned in fiscal year 25 and
26 this is a visualization of what a
backlog looks like in a plan many of
these projects were planned for fiscal
23 and 24 in the last rate plan but when
it came time for Council to adopt the
rates at this precise time we had
received new information that the
incredible inflationary environment
surrounding construction and operating
costs had eaten away at nearly all of
the additional Revenue that the rate
increase was going to gain for us we had
to push we had to use that Revenue just
to keep the utility running and had to
push almost all of those projects off
for two years which were then added to
the ones that were already planned in
those years this glut of projects
creates a real Financial bump in the
near
term that Financial bump would have had
a direct customer bill impact so we have
smoothed out many of those projects in
order to also smooth out the financial
impact to our customers we had to
consider the the risk of pushing off
these critical projects which we tried
to balance with the customer impacts
both on the monthly bills but also the
risk of of interrupted service and the
environmental Dam damage
potential that smoothing out represents
a $38 million delay of projects in the
operating fund and $96 million of delay
repairs of delayed repairs and
Replacements just to make this rate
increase smoother if these delays were
not Incorporated the rate
recommendations would have been even
higher the initial Capital plan needs
represented a 160% rate increase
we've left as much of that plan on The
Cutting Room floor as possible through
our risk benefit process to get the
lower increased options before you
today it's a little easier to see the
goals that we're trying to
accomplish when we add in the bullet
list of each of the project site will be
enormously improved for the homes around
that on the western canal and in the
case of to the Heritage District that is
Downstream these projects are recomend
that are recommended are based on what
we believe is best for the interest of
the community and any projects that
would have to be moved out would have
sec severe consequences for in the
presented time frame for projects to
start within the managed risk assessment
framework now how did we get here is
probably a question you've asked
yourselves a lot this graph shows the
amount of change in a hypothetical $100
sewer bill from 2010 to today that
orange line represents the average sewer
rate increase Gilbert made in four of
the previous five years before this
timeline started from 2004 or five to
2009 this line Rises at 5 and a half%
per year which is actually lower than
the National Industry standard average
of 6% per year purchased something that
would have cost1 $ in
2010 now we can add on adot's
construction index the the construction
producer index for just the last eight
years which shows the hyperinflation
that we've seen in the construction
industry this inflation index is an
illustration of what has happened to our
CIP costs far outpacing any kind of rate
increases now let's add on our actual
sewer rates over the this time period in
the blue line which has always been
below both the national average and
inflation this shows that our purchasing
powers of utility has actually declined
comparatively to actual
prices when you take into account the
full amount of rate Revenue that we have
foregone just in comparison to inflation
we find that we have lost 67 million
dollar below our purchasing power nearly
one and a half years of rate Revenue
just the last 14 years if we did that
same exercise for the construction index
we would have lost $133 million in
comparison this illustrates that our
investment into the service has not kept
pace with the cost of operations or of
constructing improvements but we do have
plans to rectify
this as I shared with you at the council
Retreat we presented to you four options
which at that time you narrowed down to
two presented to you tonight
the cash option does not require any
debt because we collect enough rate
Revenue to pay cash for additional cap
for the capital projects it requires a
$29 residential Bill increase in
April it does provide the most ongoing
uh funding for projects beyond our
five-year planning
Horizon the second option is the phased
cash Bond mix option which requires a
$110 million bond to fund many of the
capital projects but it allows for a
smoother transition to higher rates with
an $8 increase in April and a $6
increase the following year it is likely
that this option will require additional
increases in outer years of the 5-year
plan in order to provide enough funding
for projects after the initial Five-Year
Plan we will come back to these options
later for discussion and consideration
again showing the residential sewer bill
impacts they range from $8 to $29 in
2024 as a reminder last year um last
spring Council approved the water rate
increases on a 2-year cycle so we also
have the second year of a three-year
plan for water rate increases which will
come in into implementation in April so
you can see the full estimated
residential Bill impacts I say estimated
because water
bills are highly variable based on the
customer's water use sewer bills are a
fixed fee I can tell you with Precision
what the amount will be for our
residential
customers a reminder that the reclaimed
water rates are a part of the Wastewater
fund and these rates um are also
recommended for increase on a similar
ratio we have three different types of
users who have three different rates now
these re reclaimed water rates might
seem insignificant but these users are
large and their bills can add up to tens
of thousands of dollars a month so these
bills will be impactful to
them just as a frame of reference
Gilbert's portable landscape water rate
is
$423 per thousand gallons
currently now the Public Works Advisory
Board went through a lot of work in
order to get to a place where they could
make a recommendation for you and at the
retreat we had Sam Eliot come and share
who is the chair of the board uh share
their their his Reflections on that rate
study and the recommendations that they
provided he was planning to be here
tonight but had a family emergency so he
shared with me his notes and I'm going
to read them this is these are his words
not
mine he wanted to thank he says thank
you for giving me the opportunity to
speak before you today he wants to thank
the staff and express um the board's
gratitude to the the team that supports
the Public Works Advisory Board without
their efforts and the expertise of that
team the board could not accomplish what
they do their dedication shines through
the in the detailed presentations
extensive information meeting minutes
and countless other resources that they
provide to us we are forever grateful
for their support which ensures that we
have the tools and insights needed to
make informed decisions for the town of
Gilbert with that said I'd like to take
a moment to explain the thought process
that we went through in the public works
advisory board's decision to raise the
sewer rates here in the town of Gilbert
at the outset we evaluated the options
based on Equity cost flexibility
responsibility sufficiency practicality
and overall value initially all options
appeared practical in addressing our
immediate inform structure needs however
the Stark Financial differences between
the two primary Alternatives emerged as
the pivotal factors that drove our
decision this decision was not made
lightly and while several factors played
a role two key considerations ultimately
shaped the directions we chose equity
and long-term financial
responsibility first I want to address
the four options we considered for the
rate increase three of the options
included the option to in issue a bond
specifically the full Bond would have
carried a total of 72 to $89 million in
interest which would have to be paid
over the course of 20 years while the
bond could have provided an immediate
influx of capital for Gilbert sewer and
reclaim system the board was deeply
concerned about the burden this would PL
place on future
Generations the fact is Gilbert has
always prided itself on being proactive
on taking the necessary steps today to
ensure that the infrastructure remains
strong and sustainable for years to come
Gilbert has a long-standing tradition of
not kicking the can down down the road
when it comes to addressing our Town's
needs Taking on this level of debt would
have meant that the Next Generation
which includes many of our children and
grandchildren would be left to pay for
the decisions we make today as stewards
of the community we felt this was not
the responsible course of action we
wanted to ensure that we were not
passing on a burden to those who would
be inherited the town from
us the second factor that heavily
influenced our decision was the funding
impact of each option particularly in
terms of the operating and repair and
replacement funds among the four options
alternative B which is also called the
cash option stood out as the one that
would provide the largest amount of
financial support for both crucial areas
with this option we believe that the
town would have a better chance of
meeting its needs for the sewer and
reclaim system system not just in the
short term but over the next 5 years and
beyond our primary goal was to give
residents the best opportunity to absorb
the cost of this rate increase in a way
that would provide long-term stability
stability without requiring us to come
back in 5 years to raise rates again
alternative B the cash option was the
only option that seemed viable in
balancing the immediate needs with
future sustainability and the board felt
strongly that this was the most
responsible path forward we understand
that rate increases are never popular
but we firmly believe that this decision
is the most prudent for the town of
Gilbert it provides the necessary
funding to ensure our sewer and reclaim
infrastructure remains robust while also
avoiding saddling future generations
with the burden of excessive debt we're
committed to making decisions that serve
the best interest of all residents both
now and in the future thank you for your
time and attention we look forward to
working together with you to making to
continue making Gilbert a great place to
live for generations to
come Eric I just want to say thank you
to Sam for sending the notes and um hope
everything's okay with his family since
you said he had a family emergency yes
thank
you um so with that uh the the
recommendations from the public works
Advisory Board was that there will be uh
they recommend no change to the
Environmental Compliance
fee they recommend alternative B the
the the all cash option for the sewer
and reclaim water rates and continuing
the pilot utility bill discount program
that Council authorized this past
spring now we heard from you council at
the last at the at the retreat that you
want a
robust um public Outreach campaign and
so I have um am going to have Candace
Quan our chief digital officer come up
and present those plans is it Candace's
this first time at the podium at a
council meeting it is welcome Candace
May and Council thanks for having me
Candace Quan again Chief digital officer
um as we review tonight's notice of
intent for Wastewater and Sewer it's
only appropriate we talk about the
mother of all communication plans for uh
Wastewater and sewers so let's get into
it oh I have the
clicker it's a test that I just use that
or you can use the space bar oh thank
you sorry no worries you're
okay um before we get into any type of
communications Outreach plan as the
communications team we always remind
ourselves of the goal or essential
Mission no matter the Outreach we're
doing and that is to provide factual
informative and transpar transparent
communication to the community of
essential updates that continue to
enhance and protect their quality of
life and in order for us to achieve that
objective we need to achie or achieve
that goal we need to achieve the
objective for this initiative to develop
a really robust Communications plan to
ensure that Gilbert Community is
educated and informed on how we've
gotten here and why behind the utility
rate change or potential utility rate
change and if and when that will take
effect before we get into kind of the
how it's important for us to look at the
Gilbert demographics and be mindful um
of where they reside and to ensure we
effectively communicate any essential
information via the channels our
residents engage with most and so here's
just a quick snapshot by the numbers
that will inform Us in the next slide
regarding media consumption but really
quickly we'll go over all of them but
oneir is about 25 to 44 years old
96% um of Gilbert households have
internet and so what that helps us
understand is their media consumption
and this following chart depicts the
preferred media consumption based off of
age groups and the preferred categories
of media consumption across four digital
which is related to websites streaming
services like Hulu or Netflix podcasts
and apps social media which I think
we're all very familiar with Facebook
Instagram X Etc traditional such as TV
or radio spots or even inperson events
in print which is newspaper magazines or
even direct mailers but what this
specifically telling you about Gilbert
is their preferred media consumption is
in the upper echelon of digital and
social but we can't be remiss to explore
other avenues of traditional and print
to make sure we are completely reaching
our uh our demographics and our
community so with that being said we're
starting to get an understanding of how
but what are we going to be talking
about the community to make sure they
are informed about this very complex
infrastructure of Wastewater and Sewer
so we've divided that up into two
categories or two phases of
communication the education process is
really being transparent with the
community on what we must educate the
residents on how we've gotten here how
long we've been in this assessment
process what have we done as we've
compiled or come together with the
public works Advisory Board answering a
lot of questions that we I'm sure the
community has um were there any other
options explored and why were these the
preferred options a lot of the
information that Eric has shared today
but hopefully in a very
digestible um component not uh I know
we've tried to digest even more but
that's our job as a as a communication
team to make it even more um concise the
second phase is informing the community
how does it directly affect you
Wastewater and Sewer is a complex
infrastructure that easy isn't isn't the
easiest to explain in 30 seconds or less
so it's our job to inform the community
on how Wastewater operations affects
their everyday needs so those questions
that we could be answering is what
updates and maintenance are essential
how does waste water affect my daily
life it's not just the toilet flushing
it's the bath our children are bathing
in it's the water that we are washing
our dishes in and that directly impacts
me um what issues will occur if we don't
proactively maintain our sewers and we
understand that these rates are you know
somewhat disruptive and so we want to
make sure they understand any financial
resources or support that we can provide
them to that point we've looked at how
and what and now let's get into
specifically some wear options and those
wear options based off of that media
consumption kind of break breakdown we
are exploring so many different
platforms and channels no stone is going
unturned and so you see here social
media a vast array of options that we're
looking at our own channel such as our
website our digital Newsroom our
community calendars Gilbert 311 uh
digital displays our truck signs on the
side of our recycle and trash trucks and
even our Utility Billing System these
are typical areas that we are looking at
from the communication Outreach uh
tactics but additionally as you saw in
the media consumption traditional
efforts are also important to look at so
we are looking at more print forward um
even our good old utility bills and
making sure that maybe we have some area
that we can add about the information
and potential rate changes um any types
of direct mailers press releases even
Billboards but what's important to uh to
be mindful about for traditional is is
extremely costly um you can see here
just an example mailers $40,000 to reach
all residents and that's why as Eric
mentioned we are requesting a
contingency budget of 140 Grand to uh
account for these types of costly um
traditional methods another caveat to
that is traditional is a little
inflexible if you have a grammar ER you
can't take it back so it's something to
be mindful of um and also it's one-way
usage a great thing about digital and
social is we're able to retrieve
feedback from our community whereas this
direct mailer we just hope they get it
and they understand it so there's some
potential caveats to that and to that
point there's just some additional
examples of content that we would be
sharing out to these Avenues or channels
um the one on the left is a really great
way of showing our public workers and
the public works and the complex
infrastructure that goes into
maintaining uh our infrastructure and
then also the uh the amazing video that
Eric continues to share about the eroded
pipes that I'm sure while it's not the
best uh video it is very transparent and
what is so essential for us to continue
to um maintain this infrastructure and
preventing any type of catastrophic
events um and that I think is it any
questions mayor and counsil I'm happy to
answer
them thank you Candace any questions for
Candace direct council member Bon gani
thank you
mayor
um I see a very thorough plan of
teaching and telling I don't see any
hearing I don't did I miss something
about
meaning listening for feedback from the
from our residents I just see one way
this is what it is this is
why I'm not seeing anything coming the
other way no that's a that's a great
question um Council bovani um and that's
where we are recommending those channels
or Avenues such as social media and
websites that allow that two-way
communication to retrieve that
information so um we are essentially
showing that we're telling but we could
be asking open-ended questions to the
community about their thoughts feelings
or concerns addition oh sorry go ahead I
I know what a developer comes in and
they want to do some major changes they
have meetings with residents I'd like to
see that in this plan where we can hear
feedback directly from the residents cuz
we haven't asked before about some of
the things that we've already raised and
I I don't think it's appropriate for us
to raise something by as high of a
percentage without getting any feedback
from the public and that's something I I
just can't participate in that unless we
do something like that mayor council
member Bon Giovani I think you're right
uh we do also ER correct me if I'm wrong
uh going to be hosting open houses to
allow for community members to come up
and and ask questions and and address
any concerns so I think we are exploring
some additional opportunities to to make
sure that the public has those
opportunities to talk with
us typically that's what happens when we
did um Northwest Corridor we did open
houses we did open houses for General
plan updates we didn't do it for the wa
we even did them for the water for the
water rates yes because there were open
houses even a virtual one I believe or
one or two virtual ones too so there
were opportunities for the public to
come and speak to staff directly I
remember you sending us tallies on those
council member torguson you know the uh
the north the Northwest quarter by the
way very successful uh interaction with
the public extremely successful uh and
I'm glad to see Gilbert digital being
used for what it's intended for which is
to communicate with our
citizens um I am just extremely
concerned because it sounds like from
this end not on your end that it's
always a a take take take we're not
showing uh uh anything that's been done
to mitigate I saw in Eric's things that
there were many many years of no rate
increase or uh as he called it a
insufficient uh uh investment in uh
upkeep and being able to go through the
pipes and therefore we find stuff at six
and eight years that we could have found
maybe at four if we had uh we had done
our job not saying that anybody here
voted on that but saying as as an
elected official's job
uh what I really want is that
communication because I sit here and I'm
I am still Gob smacked by the whole
thing I know it was mentioned a year ago
but I felt that uh I really felt that I
was tied to a tree and ready to be shot
when they presented our our uh our
Retreat and I had found out about the
95% increase from the
paper literally from the paper and uh it
was pronounced that it was done by by
the public on social media before any of
us had seen anything I was getting nasty
grams that night
and education and participation is
everything in this and the general
public does not have a large appetite
for this and just telling them won't be
enough there has to be buy off there has
to be uh an
understanding if it's to happen
Sometimes some people just need to fail
some people will need to cut their nose
off to spite their face because they're
too cheap to do it the guy that won't
add the oil to his car because he's
cheap blows his car up and we have those
kind of residents here we do and I'm not
meaning to diminish them because some
people can get away without changing
their oil for 300,000
miles that's not been my
luck and I really want to see this
public engaged in this I do not want to
have the arguments with people that sit
there on ideology and say no no no cut
20% of it because I don't know if
there's 20% that can be delayed further
I'm seen through this program there's
things over the last decade that were
delayed and delayed and delayed because
there's no appetite for a rate increase
and no appetite for that and now we're
holding the bag with a lot of upkeep and
I want to see Eric come back with
whatever he can do to mitigate it I
don't care if it's a dime a dollar or it
comes Net Zero but the education and the
participation of this public at this
point it's absolutely necessary they've
been hit and hit and hit and I'm not
immune from taxes I'm not immune from Fe
fees and this is your chance to shine
make people be engaged it's going to be
some funky plumber that comes up with an
idea that saves us all a $100 million it
I can tell you my own business literally
the least intelligent person that worked
for me kept me alive in 2008 when
everything was going south with an idea
and it was I bought him a car for it
kind of scary for everybody else on the
road but I bought him a car uh because
he saved me and he was not he saw
something Through The Eyes of a
babe and we need our public to be
engaged in this in a way that they've
never ever ever been engaged before
because I feel like all of them my
back's against the wall I I I don't even
know what to say when I saw all this so
please you've got a chance to to be the
rockar here and I need you to be that
rock star today mayor council member
Tuson hear you lot and clear and
exploring two-way communication and
making sure we develop an open form to
really understand the Public's
expectations concerns questions and
innovative ideas that potentially can
come through so hear you on that thanks
Candace um vice mayor Anderson I think
Candace the key here is what council
member Bon Giovani was was getting at
was
listening um we had a great deal of
success with the subcommittees on teen
violence because rather than telling
them how we we wanted to proceed we
listened and let them tell us where they
were upset um sometimes we agreed
sometimes we disagree but we formulated
a plan and I thought it was very
successful but it was it it may not be
that important what they they they say
but they're saying it and they realize
somebody's listening and paying
attention to them and that's sometimes
that's all it's
needed thank
you so I will say we have a new
situation with the Public Works board it
hasn't been around for very long but
we haven't grasped the fact that it
works a lot like our Planning Commission
at this point when the Planning
Commission sees a planning case a zoning
case a rezone a general Plan update the
feedback comes to council right away
because it gets advertised on their
agenda or somebody attends one of those
meetings or the Press is in the room and
then that feedback comes to council
right away no matter what and that's
what happened with the Public Works
board this time and we're just not used
to that at at this point in time because
they're still so new this is only I
think the second thing that second
really big thing that they have actually
reviewed for us and um so it's a it's a
different situation hearing that
feedback before it actually comes to
councel Jessica Marlo did send us an
email to give us a heads up that the
Press was in the room and that they
heard what the recommendation was from
the Public Works board so I just wanted
to make sure that we we put that out
there that the information did come to
us it wasn't an email Jessica tried to
do her best job to say hey heads up this
is coming we know the Press was there
and that's what happens when they're in
the space but um just learning and
dealing with different situations at
this point but it is important to make
sure that the public has a place to come
and be heard and listen and I know that
the numbers were low when we did the
public workshops for the water rates
increases last winter um and
they Northwest Corridor is a unicorn
that it's a unicorn it's it's
demographically the age group of the
people that live there are active and
engaged and so they came out in full
force but this is a completely different
situation when it comes to rates like
these so um council member Koski has her
mic on and then council member Buckley
has a comment too so council member
Capri yeah thank you for the
presentation I know this is a really
heavy and difficult topic um but it is
it is a basic service that we provide
and it's the reason why municipalities
exist to provide water and sewer for our
residents and that quality of life that
is different from a rural lifestyle um I
just want to give great thanks to staff
and the Public Works Advisory Board they
invested um over you know over six hours
really diving deep into this topic and
we've already seen that through our
Retreat and at this meeting we're we're
investing additional hours and that's
needed to explore the options to
understand the issues um and I think one
another component of this is that there
are some things that are out of our
hands and that is the unprecedented
Market volatility that we've seen and
the cost escalation and it's affecting
all local governments um the Public
Works Advisory Board deliberated and
carefully weighed the various options as
a liaison I was present at those
meetings and appreciated their um Frank
conversation and the thoughtful
questions and their expertise that they
spring because they work um in the
industry and we also had members that
work or that are members just general
public that aren't in the industry and I
thought that was very um positive to
have them do uh review
this um I just want to remind the
council that the Public Works Advisory
Board recommended to the Town Council
alternative B the all cash option and
this option was chosen because it avoids
taking on debt with rate payers
contributing an additional $13 per month
above the other options in order to
eliminate the need for 72 million in
debt interest payments over 20 years um
they also believed that the other
options were unlikely to sufficiently
fund the utility beyond the 5-year plan
without necess necessitating an
additional rate increase so I know this
is hard I think it's it's hardest
because it's layered upon other
increases that we've had to make and
decisions we've had to make but
ultimately I understand the
communication and trying to get feedback
but another component to this is that
what are you going to do with feedback
related to Wastewater and Sewer in terms
of you either provide the service or you
don't the municipality is not making a
profit on it we are using that money um
to maintain the infrastructure and the
risk is is the emergency repair that
cost more um I think we've seen that we
have some unfortunate lines that were
installed with materials that were not
inert and so they're corroding um I know
this is really difficult but this is our
job to make this
decision and I'm supportive of of the no
cash option or the allach option because
of the recommendation from The Advisory
Board and also um not not carrying
additional debt um but I know it's
difficult for everyone and council
member we're not going to make that
decision tonight we're just going to do
the notice of intent and kick off this
process but thank you for sharing it's a
great great Point um I just didn't want
anybody to think we're going to be
voting on that tonight so um council
member Buckley you have some
comments uh yes I do uh I actually
wanted to obviously this is a a critical
infrastructure that we
must maintain we have to
maintain uh in order to keep the quality
of life that that we all have and I
don't want to repeat a lot of stuff that
has been said but uh what I do want to
do is I I want and you touched on that
mayor just a second ago but I want to
clarify and be very uh solidified in the
fact that this is this is a formal
discussion that we're having no formal
vote is being taken tonight this is a
step that moves us forward to do more
research to do more uh uh putting the
information out the council member
torguson mentioned to the public and to
hear what they have to say I do believe
that the public wants to be involved in
this although I don't see from up here I
don't see very many residents here
listening to this I really wish there
had been a great turnout because Eric's
presentation was fantastic on uh the you
know the why and the how and why we must
go forward and do what we have to do uh
I you know I like like I said I I'm not
going to put out what if I'm voting for
this or if I'm not I want the additional
information
and to go forward it's a difficult
decision and I agree with council member
cpri that this is our job this is part
of our job is to maintain our
infrastructure and keep us strong and um
that is about it for me but I do want to
make sure it is fully understood that we
are not voting on this tonight that the
vote will not be until I believe it's
February 13th council member Buckley I I
hate to interrupt you and also correct
you but we are voting tonight to kick
off the notice of intent so that the
staff can move forward with a public
campaign if we don't take that vote this
evening then it's a mute point we H we
do have to officially vote
tonight okay I'm sorry and I didn't mean
to interrupt you uh no I fully
understood that and I and I probably
should have clarified that that we're
not voting on
on the actual you know rate we are we
are voting just to move this forward
forward which is what I thought I said
in the beginning of when I started
speaking was that you know I wanted to
clarify that this is just the formality
for moving us forward tonight the vote
is to move us forward to get get to the
ending
vote thank you council member um any
other comments vice mayor sorry vice
mayor Anderson I was just going to um
also agree with council member cowsky uh
all of that is true very true and and
accurate and
factual but this community has to be
heard um and that's whether whether they
agree with the things you were outlining
or disagree they have to feel like
they've been heard uh that's one lesson
we learned from that subcommittee uh it
really if they've just been heard that's
the big ISS for
them any other comments questions for
Eric or Candice as they're standing here
patiently at the podium oh Eric has
something to
add sorry I'm back um I have I have like
two more slides for you oh my gosh two
more they're beautiful they're wonderful
I worked hard on them I know you did I'm
just giving you a hard time you know I
don't have much time left to give you a
hard time
so please um as you all mentioned the
Public Works board had a tough decision
you all have a tough decision to make um
the thing that they kept coming back to
were the needs of the utility so we're
going to remind you of um of what it is
that these rate dollars do they go to
the building blocks of our services they
support the proactive maintenance and
replacement of the infrastructure that
is the foundation of our quality of life
and these dollars help us respond to the
emergencies when the infrastructure
fails without addition funding will lose
ground on the proactive maintenance side
and will have more frequent and more
impactful failures which will be
disruptive to the community and more
costly even in the short
term I've added um the estimated
residential Bill Bill impact on this and
so you can see those
comparisons so in closing these rate
discussions sometimes get sidetracked by
percentages or spreadsheets but I want
to provide a reminder of the life
impacts that the service and the
infrastructure provide for our community
both today and for the Next Generation
we're able to enjoy parades on our
streets and celebrate our Gilbert
Heritage because those before us have
invested in our town and our
responsibility is to keep paying it
forward by reinvesting in what they've
built so that our kids and grandkids
aren't settled with a crumbling
Hometown with that um the request before
you tonight is to um
for the notice of intent it sets the
maximum amount that council could raise
the rate to in
February so you have two options before
you um in order to to accomplish that we
request that you do set that public
hearing for February 11th and authorize
us to publish that notice of intent and
then Grant the contingency request for
the Outreach
campaign thanks Eric council member Bon
Giovani um Eric just want a quick
question the other option of the $8 and
the
$6 eventually let's say seven years from
now it could be equal to $29 but we'd be
stuck with maybe $120 million in
interest my math may be not perfect but
that that's likely yes okay and again
are we voting on a maximum amount or are
we voting on their an attent to
raise Eric just outlined exactly what
we' be voting for which would be to set
the date for February 11th for the
meeting for the public hearing meeting
and that the maximum that the council
would consider is what's presented in
your packet thank you
mayor council member tilki thanks mayor
um just a couple items
um I know that we always talk about
residents and what they pay but business
businesses pay as well and so um I think
I had asked for some more information on
how those bills I know we got a a a very
quick slide that showed some different
types of billing but not what their
actual bills would be impacted but um
I'm wondering in the future if uh this
Council would like to maybe um entertain
that at the Public Works advisor board
has somebody representing the business
community's input not just um the
experts in the field that might be
helpful um I had a whole list of
questions that I think we went over at a
high level but didn't get in to any
specific so I'm assuming what that means
to me is that needs to go to the
communications team and maybe not be
brought before the council this evening
um one of again we went really fast past
what that looks like on a bill on your
bill so could you go back one more slide
um
Eric thanks
um no no I thought that's what he said
so that's and then it went by real fast
but I think maybe again if the council
doesn't want to talk about this tonight
that's fine perhaps it's part of
education but what I was hoping to hear
tonight was an example of my bill I'm
just going to use my bill so that we
could actually see what's happening
because I think that's what the
residents want to hear is how does it
really impact me cuz before I say
anything
else I appreciate everything and I know
this is what we need to do so please
don't think that I'm not I'm saying that
we we don't need to thank you that we
don't need to do all of these things
that you've talked about I I really
believe it I just think that we need to
understand the the impact to the
everyday Citizen and the everyday
business when when we go for it so I
just want to make sure just for me in my
bill and I'm
averaging before we raised rates last
year my bill the highest I got was about
$90 it it stayed about the same I have
grass I'm required to have grass in my
front yard at least and so um when we
added the bill last year my bill well it
went up to 180 now it's at 150 and I
don't do winter grass so it's about $
150 so that's a $60 in increase last
year so that was I believe when you
showed it that was the 48% that we
agreed to for the first year and then
25% for next year so and I this what I
don't understand am I doing
25% of the $60 or the 150 so if it's 25%
of the
increase and I don't don't think it is
but let's say it is it of the 150 or I I
know I'm just estimating I know there's
all these fees in there but $60 was what
my increase was so if we're adding 25%
in April this year if am I correct on
that for just water just of the water
just water yeah is it 25% 25% of
whatever the water portion of your bill
is currently so so not the $60 increase
whatever your actual water portion is
okay so it's probably going to be a
little more than than this 25% of 60 so
I'll just
say just for quick numbers that'll be a
$15 increase minimum if I don't water
any more than I am with winter grass
right
now yeah just winter grass and
then and I'm still confused because I
know it was one question I asked is it
$29 for everybody or is it now now I'm
in the top the next year so I'm going to
get30 or $40 we're all treated equally
under the sewer sewer bill so it's a
flat fee okay so another $21 so that's a
40 in April I can I can expect a $44
minimum dollar increase in my bill so
from last April to this April I'll I'll
be going from $90
to14 in my lowest watering
months did I do that and I think it's
more so I just I'm not arguing that we
need it what I want to know and I think
what we're saying up here is when we
communicate with residents they need to
know how it's really impacting them
personally or businesses so this is very
average and I know that we have a lot of
um Apartments let's say or small um
mayor I think you have you don't have
grass and so you have a smaller yard and
so your bill is probably a lot less than
mine but um yeah mine went from 88 well
are you talking your total bill
including sewer garbage everything
you're talking total that's 150 total
that's what um council member Kowski and
I were talking about um mine went from
$88 to $110 I have no grass I have all
zeroscape Landscaping I have fake grass
in my backyard so total it went from $88
to $110 1101 I just looked on my phone
so I'm only bringing this up because I
want us to be very very very transparent
all of the information that you provided
is very very thoughtful and it's very
high level but I think the everyday
resident and the everyday business wants
to know okay what does this mean for
me and I think the council that's going
to be voting on that needs to understand
that we've already approved the 25%
increase in water and now we'll add
another $29 for this and so I just want
us to be transparent in that and I I and
Eric you
know I love when you present cuz I know
I can trust everything that you say and
what you put up there I just I I think I
just want to look at it a little
differently just so that the the
community understands um and I
appreciate that you said it is $29 just
on the presentation you might want to
change that from estimated if it is
definitely $29 because that was
confusing to me it made me think that it
wasn't
$29 yeah thank you mayor and council
member um tokki um thank you for those
words we to to address a few of your
points the last one first um when we
have a finalized rate study we can say
it'll be it'll it's
$28.70 or whatever that number is I've
rounded them just
for of of presentation um we also every
year develop bill calculator so that our
our residents and our businesses can go
on the bill calculator and look at what
it is that their their service levels
are now and then with the proposed
changes um they can they can see what
that would be in the
future um we have always been able to do
that in the in the in the months leading
up between this this notice of intent
and the actual vote because um Council
has always narrowed it down to one
option for us
um if I'm reading if I'm reading things
correctly right now maybe that's not
going to happen tonight but um so it
will add a lot a little bit more
complexity into that into that for our
customers and we'll have to still
present various options for them
um based on whichever Choice Council
makes in February one of the questions
we asked at the retreat was um
regarding the billing last time we said
that it was going into effect in April
and we all not you guys because you
understood billing but we didn't that um
that meant that when you got your bill
in April the rates were in effect for
March so we just need to be real clear
do you know what that is today yes um
the the the language we are we are going
to try to use is that
the bills in April will reflect the new
rates on them okay think that hopefully
makes that clear but for the water rates
it's a rate based on your usage so
whatever you used in March will be on
your April Bill whenever that comes if
it's April 1st or April 2 or April 3rd
it will be whatever you used in March
for the sewer rates should they change
it will be a flat rate for everyone and
that won't go up cuz it's not b based on
usage that's correct okay thank you I
said that correctly so that would show
up on your May bill it will show up on
the April Bill April bill so still ohill
you're
billing you're billing that forward
not all right thank thank
you it's a lot to digest council member
banani thank you mayor um Eric the you
mentioned these are going to be
different pipe standards that we'll be
purchasing what were they again how many
years
can you can you say that again yeah you
mentioned the new pipes that we will be
installing possibly are different than
the iron ones that we have now yes how
many years are they expected to last 50
50 50 yeah they pull a liner through
it's a really fun thing we just did this
actually um along the western Canal they
pull a liner through they fill it with
water they heat cure it and it stays
inside of that pipe and it allows the
same flow to go through
and it's it's inert it won't degrade
they're getting really good life cycles
out of this
technology okay thank
you your idea of fun and my idea of fun
are two different in there together come
on um any other questions or comments
for Eric at this
time and I I think you heard that you
weren't going to hear which way that
this opt these options were going to go
and I thought we discussed that at the
retreat too because two of us won't be
here in February when this vote is made
so I don't think it would be fair for
anybody to come to a consensus this
evening and not know how your two new
council members are going to move
forward when you do come to um this
discussion at that point so so mayor
what I might suggest then is
um so that we can so that the council
can have that option in February that we
notice um with the all cash
option with the understanding that we're
still considering the phased cash Bond
mix that allows the council to make that
choice in February the all cash option
would be the higher option for the
residents perspective from the resident
perspective of what they would see in
their bills so that's probably the safer
way to move forward council member
torguson I thought it was just a notice
of an intent to increase not by any
number per se but is this whole thing
unravels
it's I'm just upset with the whole thing
at this point I'm upset with how how
much it is the uh ductile iron was the
standard you know 20 years ago great I'm
a Layman iron and waste don't mix so to
me that was like how did this occur how
did this become a standard and we're
asking an awful lot of people it there
has to is there a way to extend this
time to not getting going to call it buy
off but the education the feedback
something to occur rather than this very
what I consider an extremely short
timeline is there something we can do
here because I'm I'm not happy I'm just
leaving at that I'm really not happy
it's not that I'm not happy with you I'm
not happy with my back against the wall
I'm not happy with presenting people
with yet another increase in things and
nobody has knowledge about it to up to
this point as far as the public and I
feel that there needs to be more time I
I I don't even I don't even feel good
about saying hey we're considering an
increase because there's no information
for anybody to look at it's like we're
considering your increase and we're
going to get back to you on educating
you a little bit and bringing you into
the discussion I feel that it's almost
out of order so what why is our why is
our back against the wall to make this
February
11th well there is um a statuto require
ired time frame that I probably haven't
done enough um foundational um Awareness
on this topic for you but we're required
by
Statute that um the rates cannot be
increased within 30
days of that decision that the council
makes and so um we also have to have 60
days before that when the council can do
this notice of
intent okay so we have to have 60 then
30 more then the r can be in
place when we did the um when the budget
was presented in uh May and
June the the Wastewater fund
Incorporated a rate increase at that
time and I believe that was explicitly
shared um at that time between then and
October when we presented this with the
the Public Works Advisory Board we were
refining we were going through the
various iterations of the budget we were
prepar pring the rate study we were
getting the consultant on board had we
shared information at that point we
would have very little to share that
other than information Council already
knew which was that those funds needed
an increase we wouldn't have had really
a dollar amount or a percentage to go on
at that point so our decision- making is
when we have that information available
to to share
it and that wasn't until late September
early October with the public works
Advisory
Board and now when I am when I'm it
feels like it isn't um solidified it's
because I didn't we have not yet
finalized the rate study we were waiting
for this evening's decision on which
option Council chose so that we could
put that into the rate study that is
also statutorily required 60 days in
advance of that of the of the public
hearing at which you will choose an
option so we have to present that that's
why we're asking for an option to be
presented we can publish a rate study
with both and it sounds like I will
actually do that at this point um so
that the so that our our residents and
our businesses can go online and look at
that which has all the financial data
that supports the needs and the
financial data that supports the rates
being the appropriate amount going
forward into the future
so there's this this long time time
frame where it felt like there probably
from your perspective was not a lot
going on there was all of this
background work going on to get us to
the point where we had actual options to
present to you this this fall the
because the budget Incorporated
additional Revenue this year that's why
we're targeting the April
1st um date for implementation and so
everything just kind of works backwards
from there if that gets pushed off even
by a month the rate Revenue needed in
this current fiscal year is more it's
it's the same amount it's just now it's
in two months rather than three which
changes the rate calculation
needs so this money was committed before
we knew what we were really
doing the budget was the budget was
adopted with that with that
understanding that there was a rate
Revenue adjustment
needed Eric thank you you doing doing a
great job Council M Buckley has a
comment or a
question Yes actually I do I I want to
go back to what I was asking earlier
because uh Eric if you if you could
reiterate what the statement that you
said when you mentioned that you could
do you could make this in a certain way
so that the council would have both
options
so I'm a little bit confused in that
because in reading this number five on
the agenda fees consider a motion to
direct staff to publish a notice of
intention to increase rates and fees for
Wastewater reclaimed water fees and
rates but I now we discussed in the
retreat the two different options but
from what from the way you said what the
what the option was to in order to give
you know how to how to say it and how to
write it to give Council the that so
that we had both options it was my
impression we have both options to vote
on anyway so so can you can you clarify
that a little bit sure mayor um council
member Buckley the notice of intent sets
the highest amount that the council
could adopt the rates the rate increase
in February if you chose the phased cash
Bond option mix tonight you would not
have the option in February to select
the all cash option because that amount
is higher than the phased
option so if you if you desire to leave
yourself that option to to to choose in
February we would just notice with the
all cash option and the phased mix
option tonight um going
forward okay well well me u i as as a
council member absolutely want to have
both of those options I don't I can't
speak for any of the other council
members but I'm quite surprised by that
because I I was not aware that we were
going to make a decision on either one
tonight so but but thank you and and
Eric you're you done an amazing job and
you you're you know it's it's a lot of
work and a lot of effort for you and
your staff and and I really appreciate
it I want you to know that um I also
want to say that you know my job is to
do the best thing for the residents and
for of course our town of Gilbert and I
you know I want to to make sure that I
have every option that you know there
there will be some people that may may
want this the the Lesser option so that
doesn't in influx their payments every
month um I you know I don't like this I
don't like having to do this either but
again I will I will reiterate what
council member caasi said and this is
our job this is what we're here for we
have difficult decisions to make but I
don't want any of those options taken
away from us that we can consider come
February so that that's why I wanted to
confirm this and and I thank you very
much council member
banani um let's go to council member uh
Koski should go to her first got council
member
kosi I just wanted to do a quick math
exercise because I know that we are
probably all thinking what happens if we
delay the increase to our rates and this
you know was discussed during the Public
Works Advisory Board
and if this
increase is delayed let's say by one
year there's still a $230 million gap
we're trying to bridge so instead of
going from
$33 a month to the $62 a month which is
a $29 increase if we delay it one year
it needs to be a $45 increase because of
that 12 months we're losing
so just want to put that in perspective
that that is another option we have
considered but there's such a big gap in
the needs and we're already operating or
we're already bringing in less money
than it's taking to operate our system
right now because of the additional
costs in chemicals and energy and things
so just wanted to explain that there
were other options and questions um but
it just gets worse and worse the more we
delay
council member Bon Giovani thank you
mayor um being an engineer council
member um Kowski I trust your math
totally I totally it's kind of kind of
going where I was where I was going to
go to about any kind of delays uh I want
to thank you know you and Candace for
your presentations they were great but I
I just want it known that I don't want
to see a delay on this but I need to see
that public Outreach and I I need to
feel very comfortable about making this
vote in February that we did everything
we possibly could to get the information
out and the listen back from from the
citizens I I I want to be able to make
that vote in February and not not be a
no vote at all so thank you
guys vice mayor
Anderson uh the only concern that I have
with attaching a number of Maximum that
you were talking about Eric uh with this
is that um before there is one single
public hearing one single communication
from digital it's going it'll be
reported tomorrow morning that we are
going to increase it by $29 or whatever
it is that's the way it'll be
reported and and it that concerns me so
I think your idea about the rate study
for both is like you said you're
probably going to have to do that
yeah mayor vice mayor there's no way
around it state law requires us to post
what the maximum amount could be and so
we can we can include both because the
maximum is included in one of the two
and folks will report what they will
report folks always report what they
will report and and considering it
doesn't say $29 anywhere on any of the
stuff that we have in front of us it
gets a little gets even more confusing I
think and um and they will report
whatever they want to report right um I
would go with the all cash anyway so
that would be my choice but I did not
understand from The Retreat that we
would be expected to make this decision
here tonight even for the notice of
intent I thought the notice of intent
was kick this baby off and we'll get
moving forward and then in February the
council would come back and make that
decision then I mean I even said it to
council member Kowski when she talked
about what her choice would be I did not
get that from that retreat at all that
day so just laying that out there that
the words are not matching what we're
hearing or understanding as a council
because I'm know we've heard it from a
few people um but I would just publish
both we know that all cash is higher
that could potentially potentially be
the increase but we don't know what that
increase is really going to look like
yet and hopefully that's what the Press
will
report mayor and and councel my
apologies that is a failure of
communication on my part that um you do
still have the flexibility though going
forward we can push this decision down
the road and we we have a way
forward thanks Eric you have done a
great job tonight you have taken all the
hits from from the D tonight I really
appreciate it and I too appreciate when
you do presentations so the staff does a
great job anyway but Eric you do a
really good job so nothing on you and I
do like I do enjoy giving you a hard
time at times though so thank you again
and um you can sit down now thank you
and I will um I only have one slip on
this item Mr Mark Thompson he doesn't
wish to speak um but he's against this
and doesn't want us to increase fees
after a tax increase on sales on sale
purchases is what he wrote so I wanted
to make sure to get that into the record
I also had no comments online on any of
the items this even so I'll close the
public hearing bring it back to the dis
for discussion Andor
motions anybody
feler uh I'll make a motion
okay to direct staff to publish a notice
of intention to increase rates and fees
for Wastewater and reclaimed water fees
and rates with a maximum um rate
increase
in alignment with the all cash option
but with a rate study that supports both
the all cash and the phase cash Bond
option set the public hearing date for
February 11th
2025 and approval of a Wastewater fund
contingency in the amount of $140,000 to
support a traditional media and print
educational campaign to inform the
public of the rate
increas I have a
motion can I have a second I'll second
that I have a motion by council member
Koski seconded by council member Bon
Giovani all those in favor please say I
I
I I any
opposed I have motion passes six to one
with council member torguson
dissenting that concludes our public
hearing portion of our
agenda everybody been up here for almost
three hours does anybody want a break or
just want to plug through break we need
a five minute break please we'll take a
reset
yes e
check one two one
two
e
e
e
e
e
e
e e
I
e
e
e
e
e
e e
okay I'll go ahead and call this meeting
back to order moving on to our consent
calendar passing it off to you vice
mayor thank you mayor we're going to do
things a little bit differently because
there's been a request to discuss items
6 Seven 8 and N staff has a short
presentation so hopefully we can keep
them on consent so we'll take that uh
presentation first
all right mayor and Council thank you
I've got the first two slides uh these
are just some brief overview but happy
to get into more details as necessary
I'm Haw Johansson Chief uh or uh Finance
director
um so let's see item six this is a a
contract uh with WW Granger Inc this is
a what we might call a blanket contract
so it meets it it works for the entire
uh town all departments this is a
maximum not to spend more than
$300,000 um as when joining this
Cooperative contract that was
competitively bid this year uh it allows
us to receive discounts that we would
not otherwise receive from five to uh
32% uh these are critical industrial
items that are not found easily outside
of this type of supply chain uh and we
are not required to use this as a vendor
so this allows us an option uh and and
that is just allows us that
option no questions uh item seven smar
uh this is a funny word uh but it allows
us to uh be compliant oh I apolog I
didn't realize we were going to
interrupt with that all right my
question my observation with this and I
would love to see something sent to me
after the
fact Granger is something I use in my
business also it is an absolute last
possible use because Granger is so sorry
they'll probably sue me or something so
overpriced that unless it's something I
absolutely positively need to have this
very
minute I order it either off Amazon and
get it a day later or you know from a a
manufacturer I haven't found anything
competitive 5 to 32% is
nothing I I would like to see what's
been done in retrospect if this is you
know last last line of defense like we
got to have this today or this fire
truck goes down or you know this I get
it but other than that to me it
is we laugh about it I mean literally
it's like no unless nobody has it we
don't go there so I was just concerned
to see something that that I know is not
of good value at least in my business
and I have that same business thing
where I get five to 32% or some odd
number and it's still terrible no thank
you for your comments mayor council
member torguson uh I I did pull some
some figures uh so to give you some
scope and scale of the type of work that
we do here $300,000 if you think of
across general fund all of the water
fund all of the Wastewater fund uh our
capital projects team that is a a very
minuscule dollar amount our typical
spend with them is less than $300,000
across our entire organization and and
what it tends to be is pumps and it is
that emergency item that we we got to
have it as quick as we can and Amazon
doesn't carry the the flange Whatever
item that that we might need uh
additionally because we're a public or
entity and not a private business our
procurement code requires us to to go
through some certain hoops and and
actually doesn't allow us to spend
freely on Amazon the same way that some
other organizations might be able to uh
and so this is preparing us in the
future for for flexibility and it and it
is something that we price uh we compete
on price
so Amazon being the worst example cuz I
actually the point is made though
absolutely y all right thank
you thank you uh so so back to Smarsh uh
this is a a technology solution
uh that that allows us to um be
compliant with public records requests
related to our mobile devices and so
this is a a service that is required in
order to remain compliant with those
records and allows us access to and be
able to search um and if there are more
detailed questions I can I can get our
it team up to to respond more
specifically but no was just make sure
that I was reading this right and it's
like when I get foed 51 times in a week
this is helping capture this is a tool
that that helps us respond as we
required to by law y yeah so that for
the Public's understanding Our Town
emails can be pulled by it but now
anything on our town phones can also be
pulled by it without having to ask us
for the phones or go for phone records
or something like that the smsh does
that all right and I will pass this
along thank you
good evening mayor and council members
Susanna strubel Town engineer and oh
there we go than you made me a little
nervous there so we have an item on here
um item number eight on your agenda um
is to add um a sewer line Improvement to
the melody and pioner Improvement
project as we were moving through to
final design on this project um and
looking at this a little further with
the um current emphasis or Focus on the
northwest Redevelopment area that um
there was a recognition there was no
sewer in this area and we do believe
that this may be an area that will um
move very at sometime in the future as
as that that emphasis Pro progresses um
to have some Redevelopment going in
there and Sewer Supply would need to be
be there so the proposal before us
before you this morning is a change
order to allow our designer to go
forward with the design of that sore
line at this point in time so we can can
have it installed before the pavement
goes down so we don't have to cut that
right away um there's a little extra in
there as well that helps with any extra
services for our internal staff to also
be able to charge to the project so CIP
charges all of their efforts that they
do towards the projects and so there is
an increase in contingency that would
cover that as well with this agenda
item exactly what I was going to ask why
is there an extra
50,000 over and above and you've
answered it thank
you and moving on to item number nine
before you tonight is a change order um
with Core Construction who was our semar
for this project um this is moving
forward with about
$165,000 um to work through the final re
reconciliation on the GMP for this
project as we have moved through this
project there have been um several items
that have come about from a technology
perspective that have some lot extended
the project timeline required some
additional security efforts inclusive of
some noise attenuation and some other
items and so this would then basically
cover those costs that that as we were
progressing and having to keep that
dispatch running and going um that that
we would like some authorization to move
forward with um the second piece of this
is the project management um services
that go along with the the Barco system
which is a system that basically is the
audio visual system it's a system that
the dispatch needs to be able to see
what's going on in the areas that are
that they need to understand and be able
to convey that information effectively
um there was a lot of commissioning that
this technology was advancing as we were
putting it into the system um we haven't
completely done that updates but we did
a lot of research and timing um in that
over the last several months to make
sure that we put the right system in and
that it was able to basically be um
deployed as quickly as possible which
will happen in January so that's what
this CCE
for thank you unless there's questions
thanks Suzanna I know a great
presentation and I think it reminds me
of when we opened the public safety
training facility and all the things
that we needed to add in after we got in
there and started using the building
it's the same kind of thing you get a
new house and you have to add things
into it that you didn't think about
beforehand cor thank you thank
you those are the only items we had on
to pull off consent for discussion so
unless there's anything else I'll make a
motion yeah I
will
um I'll move that we uh approve the
consent calendar including item 6
[Music]
789 9 capital a
10 11 and I'd like to move forward item
12 which council member Bon Giovani do
you have that or does the mayor have
that yep no I have that
okay you want to read that the mayor
saved me the mayor saved me on it um
item agenda number 12 a motion to
appoint Paula hatch and Jeffrey Wright
to the public facilities mun Municipal
property Corporation as regular members
with terms beginning January 2nd 20125
and ending January 1st
2028 and item
13 I have that one vice mayor that is to
a motion to appoint Deborah Stapleton to
the fire and police public safety
personnel retirement system local
pension boards as a regular member with
a term beginning December 3rd 2024 and
ending November 30th
2028 looking for a second on the consent
calendar
second we moved and seconded we approve
the consent
calendar all favor say I I
I any
opposed cons I she said I I that
concludes the consent calendar
mayor thank you moving on to
administrative items we've just
completed item 12 and 13 moving on to
item 14 Council Administration is
consider acceptance of the budget report
and contingency report for the first
quarter of FY
2025 does anyone have any questions
comments discussion on that can I have a
motion to
approve I move to
approve
14 14
14 I'll second that I have a motion by
council member tus and second in by
council member telkki all those in favor
please say I I I I any
opposed motion passes 70 moving on to
item 15 Council Administration
discussion and update from the community
engagement task force council member
tilki thank you mayor um our next
meeting is scheduled for December 9th
and that will be pulling all all of our
recommendations together to bring
forward to the council study session on
December is that 17th 17th and that's
all I have to report thank you short and
sweet tonight thank you moving to
Communications from citizens vice
mayor thank you
mayor we value the participation of our
community members in the robust exchange
of ideas however it's a essential that
this discourse remains respectful and
constructive reflecting the
professionalism expected in such forums
while we understand and appreciate the
passion our community members bring to
these sessions we must remind everyone
that clapping during the meeting is not
acceptable also playing of music or
showing videos May subject the town to
copyright infringement and is not
allowed when you're called up by name to
the podium please come up and state your
your name your city of res residents and
you'll be given the appropriate amount
of time depending on if you've donated
time first up tonight is Brendan wood
and is Taylor Wood here also Taylor's
donating her three minutes so it'll be a
total of six minutes for for
Brendan can you please turn on the
microphone thank you H I'm Brendan wood
um thank thank you for the opportunity
to speak this evening I'm a lifelong
resident of College Park Country Estates
one of Gilbert's original neighborhoods
established in
1972 I'm here today to request the
council's help in Saving the Landscaping
along the public ride of way in our
subdivision from removal by the Gilbert
Street
Department this plan contradicts the
certified arborous report and existing
landscape maintenance agreement approved
by the Town Council as well as key
policies in the town's General plan and
shade and Street skate master
plan the Gilbert streets department has
notified homeowners that tree removals
will begin December 16th with the rest
scheduled for removal by June 30th
2027 initially the apartment Justified
the removals by declaring the trees
hazardous before any arbous report was
conducted our community requested a
report and on March 12th 2024 a
certified Arborist commissioned by the
streets department conducted that the
trees are are in good health and pose a
low risk as such the street Department's
continued push for tree removal is not
supported by the professional risk
assessment and damages trust between the
town and
citizens College Park Country Estates is
one of approximately 23 pre-1985
developments in Gilbert without a
homeowners association or pkid to
maintain the rights of
away our neighborhood was established
before these development standards were
adopted granting us vested rights
maintenance has been funded through the
streets
department which has ensured proper
upkeep including the
Landscaping the town's General plan
encourages the preservation of older
neighborhoods policy 17 supports
maintaining Urban Tree canopies policy
16 emphasizes protecting neighborhood
quality and character policy 11 promotes
mitigating the urban heat island effect
using trees to reduce heat and improve
air quality removing these trees
directly undermines all these
policies our neighborhood is featured in
the shade and streetscape master plan on
page 16 highlighting the historic
presence of mature trees the plan notes
that Riata Street has 67% shade coverage
but the streets Department's plan to
remove all the trees from the public
rideway reducing this to
0% the Shaden Street skate master plan
aims to build a healthier more livable
community Through Strategic investment
ment in maintenance and growth of the
urban Forest removing these trees
contradicts this
mission in conclusion I urge the council
to stop the removal of the trees the
streets Department's plan contradicts
the town's policies on sustainability
preservation and environmental health
removing these trees would harm our
neighborhood's aesthetic environmental
and historical
value preserving them aligns with the
the town goals and protects the
long-term well-being of College Park
Country Estates I ask for your support
in maintaining and protecting these
trees ensuring our historic neighborhood
is preserved for future
Generations thank you for your time and
consideration thank you
Brandon next is rayan wood and Allison
hogra are you here you're donating your
time ranne six minutes
mayor and council members ran can you
please pull the mic down to you you're a
little bit shorter I am a little bit
shorter all right mayor and council
members my name is Rayanne
wood I'm here today with other neighbors
to request the councils and the mayor's
help in Saving the Trees and
Landscaping along the public right of
way um in our neighborhoods by the
streets
department I moved into into this
neighborhood in
1995 with my husband and my two young
kids as you can see now Bryan is not a
young kid
anymore I've um lived in that
neighborhood for 30 years it's an
amazing neighborhood there's not a not
there's not a lot like them in
Gilbert we have horses chickens Ducks
goats Turtles you name it there's
animals in there we also have trees we
have a lot of trees in the
neighborhood yesterday I was looking out
my kitchen window trying to decide what
I would say to you
today and I notice a um Harris hawk fly
into the neighbor's yard landed on the
fence and then as I continue to watch I
noticed there was four Harris Hawks
flying around Landing in the
trees these haris socks they don't live
on Riata in the trees in Jeopardy how
however it is part of their
habitat my adult son Brendan and his
wife have moved back into his childhood
home and they're expecting their first
child which in turn is my first
grandchild soon we'll be a three
generation family living in this
neighborhood College Park Country
Estates again I've been there for 30
years it saddens me that my grand not my
granddaughter it's going to be a
girl may not be able to see the beauty
of the trees that we've enjoyed over the
last 30
years the trees and grass in our flooded
water irrigated property provide a lot
of shade and thus cooler
temperatures on any given day our
neighborhood is 5 to 8 degrees cooler
than the surrounding Gilbert area
with this neighborhood being developed
before the last land and Community rules
and regulations I do not understand or
agree with the town of Gilbert wanting
to cut down the
trees eucalyp trees are all around
Gilbert Patterson Elementary is
surrounded by eucalyptus
trees Boyce Thompson Arboretum
has over
1,200 different types of eucalyptus
trees dating back to the
1920s thousands of visitors go there
every
year so I don't understand how these
trees could be considered an unsafe
species as well as the arborous report
deemed them to be in fair to very good
condition phase two which I call it
phase to but basically in
2027 they're proposing to coming in and
cutting down the rest of the trees along
along Riata
Street in closing I ask you to help save
our
trees help save the shade in our
neighborhood save the cooler
temperatures in our
neighborhood save the Harris Hawks
habitat save my granddaughter's View and
her play area
please review all the requests and
documents presented throughout tonight
from my neighbors and my
son the town of landscape Department to
save find another way for the town of
Gilbert and the landscape Department to
save money on maintenance in order for
us to save our trees in our
neighborhood thank you very much
appreciate your
time thank you next Robert Bach Huber
to
who rose rose
hogra
okay good
evening thank you mayor and council
members for the time I understand that
it's been a long long day and we've been
talking about some unsavory
topics I came here today to support the
community as you've heard from Brendan
and ranne and it I didn't plan on
speaking but recognizing and actually
I'm glad that I did put my piece of
paper and to speak because listening to
all of you discussed the importance of
listening to Residents and what they
have to say it warms my heart frankly
and this should be a topic that would
actually make the Press proud and serve
the council members to do something
great and easy it's saving the trees so
although I didn't write a lot of um
speech I do want to say that and
reiterate for the record that currently
the trees are in scheduled to be removed
with no plan for restoration and that's
effective December 16th that notice was
not provided to the entire Community it
was only provided to a few select houses
in the neighborhood so when we're
talking about public education and
residence
and
communication that hasn't been happening
in this instance and the um information
that Brendan has identified with the
further arborous report indicating that
these trees are in good condition if not
great condition and they respectfully
have a low risk to the residents and
then the there is an existing land
maintenance agreement that the City of
Gilbert is Servicing
and more importantly the general plan
and shade of the streetcape master plan
I have page 16 and if any of you are
able to get it you can get your own copy
it's published and the part that we're
talking about is right here this little
area that is the street of Riata so when
Brendan says that the shade coverage is
representing
67% and it'll go to
zero this is public record and this is
what the plan was based on and I just
can't believe we aren't doing more to
save the trees I'd like to read
specifically and quote from what that
Gilbert shade and Street Cape master
plan was developed to create a healthier
more livable community Through Strategic
investment in maintenance and growth of
the urban forest and engineered shade in
Arizona and shade structures trees and
shade structures are critical assets of
our infrastructure and require long-term
strategy and
implementation these trees which now and
I'm sorry I don't have the benefit of
using the um the screen but this is what
this street looks like these trees have
been there as you've heard for decades
we're not replacing these trees anytime
soon it is it would be a crying shame
not to mention these this street is the
very street that is represented right
here on this plan so so I come before
you to remind you that the plan was set
and it was used this neighborhood this
iconic historic neighborhood as a basis
for the plan so what I'd like to ask we
go back to use the right words is to
request that the the scheduled date of
December 16th be cancelled and I would
ask that you all remain committed to
fulfilling the goals and having a
healthier livable neighborhood
supporting the plan I would like to
recommend that there be further
Community meetings specifically on this
topic and I am requesting that the
comments heard tonight will result in
studying this matter further as opposed
to allowing the trees to be cut down
long live the
trees I got some Smiles I'm glad any
questions okay thank
you thank
you uh I think Maryann weeks I think she
left when I saw is Maryann
here I didn't think
so next up is Melanie
Rodriguez mayor council thank you for
having us and having this
opportunity my neighbors have expressed
the need to or their desire to keep the
trees my passion is public service I've
been a resident of Gilbert for 20 years
in this um
neighborhood wow my voice is not as good
as Miss Connor's I'm
sure what I want to do is urge you to
pursue or persuade Town manager and the
streets department to put a stay on the
December 16th cutting down of the trees
again my passion is public service I
want to have the
transparency and the public hearing the
public comment period available to my
neighbors I am one of the five I believe
it was five that received the letter
informing us that the trees would be cut
down I took that letter to my neighbors
I wanted them to know what was available
and what wasn't available if we're going
to have this conversation we need to
have it in the open where the other 50
Neighbors there's 55
Lots the other 50 neighbors need to have
the opportunity to be heard if it is an
improvement district this neighborhood
came together to do that for our
irrigation this neighborhood has
protected each other and taken care of
each other over the
years I don't know what the outcome is
going to be of the trees but we need to
have the opportunity to have the
neighborhood come together as a
community and work with the town to come
to Solutions rather than just a decision
I don't know if I can give any more of
my time to anyone of my neighbors or in
any other way provide comment to you all
to help persuade staying that decision
on December
16th thank you thank
you Stacy Laval you're here aren't you
you're giving your time to Steve okay
all right hello good to see you guys
sorry I missed you a couple weeks ago
I'll be hit or miss here but I have to
say keep their trees my God it's in your
paperwork quit contradicting yourself in
everything you write your your your your
policies and procedures that he violates
constantly he doesn't get held
accountable his his leadership team
doesn't get held accountable keep their
trees it's not that hard it's a simple
answer all right uh I'm I'm coming to
you cuz I want to remember remind you
guys it was over two years ago that I
got uh fired from this organization I
got fired because I said the word black
coffee and a lot of people say well it's
how you responded to the right bottom
line is I I said black coffee and I got
written up black coffee because a black
guy and a white guy did a skit over
coffee and the white guy happened to be
my engineer and the office of digital
government didn't like his political
stance so they chased him out of here
the black guy he shouldn't have gotten
any any trouble anyway didn't get
anything so I just want I just want to
remind you I was asked a long time ago
what would it take I said
accountability I will not stop until
that man right there is held accountable
for his lack of leadership and you guys
are seeing it you just voted for a
budget and you approved a tax increase
on the citizens of at least $29 or maybe
$8 with a bond for sewer that you had no
idea that you were voting on that for a
tax increase at least that's the way I
looked it what happen
tonight all right uh the other thing was
that that gentleman did a great
presentation you're right it was very
good presentation uh I think it was
2012 since 2012 they've been pushing
this off under his leadership since 2012
and it's been 8 years since they ran a
camera down that sewer line I wouldn't
have got that information if you didn't
make me sit here all night by the way
right but eight years under his
leadership and now all of a sudden it's
going to cost the citizens millions of
dollars the citizens okay two things I
got to get to uh I forgot to mention Dei
is being cancelled by Walmart Southwest
Airlines got it because it's illegal for
their illegal hiring practices but
Nathan Williams is still here and Bob
badget still works here and Rob dougen
still works here and they hired people
illegally based on race and gender and I
know he says he has a legal report about
it but I've shot holes through that all
day long and I sent that stuff to you
guys yet no accountability for that
however it's crumbling so back to the
infrastructure stuff back to the uh the
yeah the the the sewer and everything
else okay I have a great solution for
your problem you have a $98 million fire
budget for a guy that's building
bathrooms because he has one transgender
firefighter how about we get a Citizens
Advisory Board I'd be more than happy to
partake in that I know the fire
Department pretty well we can even
invite Dana Burman back to sit on it
because she'll have a different view
than me and we can start advising on
really do we need to take these stations
that were built 20 years ago to be
100-year stations with four Bays for
buildout and knock down and do
remodeling at millions of dollars when
you can take that millions of dollars
and you can give it to the the
Wastewater and the sewer people that
would save us taxpayers a lot of money
so why is it that you always come after
the citizens for money and you don't
look internally at at some of the flaws
in your budget just a a really fair
question I think so I really would like
an answer on the citizens Advisory board
for the uh station 4 remodeling because
you need to bring a HazMat team in there
station 4 is in a is in a residential
area not a lot of Hazmat needs you're
going to have Hazmat needs throughout
your city because you're going to have
natural gas at houses but you could at
least put your Hazmat unit somewhere
where there's an industrial place where
there's maybe a little bit more high
risk there I don't know seems like it's
kind of they want to say centrally
located but yet they've had it way out
way out east for
years I don't know what the
justification is but I'd sure like to
see a little bit more
uh say transparency to the public to the
to the citizens who are getting stuck
with these bills about every little
decision that is made on every
Department really but beginning with
that and the fire department all over
one transgender last thing I'm going to
leave you with and I'll get going is
your fire chief from what I understand
had an required all women's meeting so
every woman in the fire department was
required to be at that meeting they got
paid overtime if they were off duty if
they were on duty they were pulled off a
truck and by the way they should they
should get paid that but then he he he
told them it was an allw women's meeting
and then HR showed up and HR had two
women sitting in there so my question is
I I can do the public records request it
just takes months for your staff to to
get it to me cuz I I know they get a lot
of public record requests but my
question is why is he having a meeting
with all the women and what is he going
to do and what what are those if those
women spoke their minds are they now on
a list to be removed from the fire
department because they're say they
don't feel comfortable because a man's
using a woman's restroom I'd just be
curious if somebody up there wants to do
a little research and maybe give me some
answers on that meeting or maybe save me
the time from putting in a public
records request because I I think it's
kind of odd that that happened and I'll
have some more information some new
stuff that I'm digging into but it takes
me a while because I do have other
things but I am doing some research and
I will come back with some more
information from the other public rec
request information I have thank you for
your time and by the way have a merry
Christmas thank
you that concludes the uh Communications
from citizens Patrick would it be worth
while to agendize this issue on the
trees in some way
we
have yeah mayor vice mayor members of
the council we'll we'll get you
information on that we did have an
executive session on that issue earlier
this year but we'll get some information
for you and followup yes okay thank
you thank you mayor thanks vice mayor
moving on to our next item on our agenda
it's future meetings the council may
discuss whether to place an item on an
agenda a future agenda right now all
that's on the future agenda items is
meet and confer follow-up discussion
scheduling into
2025 next is Communications report from
the town manager Patrick I can't see you
behind the poinsetta I know you're there
thank you mayor members of the council
only one item tonight and something that
we are well aware of last week we lost a
member of our Gilbert firefighter family
Joseph counts obviously we're all
heartbroken by the passage of Joey he
was a three-year veteran of the Gilbert
Fire and Rescue Department graduate ated
from our Academy in
2102
2122 and and gradu I'm sorry graduated
December of 21 he was beloved by any
crew he worked with and his Academy
brothers and sisters he was active in
the department and participated as a
health fitness instructor and a junct
instructor for our acmy and Training
Division Joey was also active in the
community by helping coach and develop
young football players thoughts and
prayers are with Joey's family and the
GF party fames they grieve and prepare
to honor Joey with uh honor the service
Joey provided to our community and uh
you should have some information on his
memorial service which will be this
Saturday but he will be sincerely missed
and and we grief for the entire family
and they
lost thank you Patrick moving on to
report from Council any council members
have anything to report this
evening because you always have
something written for you council member
why you any want from go okay I'll go uh
reparan after dark The reparan Preserve
comes alive with the holiday glow stroll
around the walkways repair at the
reparan at Water Ranch with thousands of
holiday lights and displays at every
turn local food and drinks vendors oh
man my phone just shut off hang on local
food and drinks uh vendors will be on
site for select uh for select nights
serving delicious holiday treats the
Year's Event takes place at 5:30 to 8
:30 p.m. each night from December 13th
to 22nd tickets are on sale now sorry
that was just hard to follow up on what
you said
Patrick he's all choked up council
member torguson I'm supposed to follow
but wait there's more uh gober's
encouraging visitors heading to the
Heritage District this holiday season to
send a message of warmth to others via
postcard the hello from Heritage
District postcard Campaign Will feature
five postcard mailing stations set up
inside participating downtown business
with each station offering a different
postcard of heritage heritage District
locals that visitors can fill out and
then drop in the mailbox for special
delivery more information about the
postcards and locations is available in
the town of Gilbert website
Newsroom I'm not sure if anyone else is
covering this but if not it'd be good
one to cover after nearly a year of
Renovations we're thrilled to announce
the grand reopening of Water Tower Plaza
just in time for the holidays join us
for our beloved Gilbert water tower
holiday Lighting on December 16th from
6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the newly renovated
Plaza with plenty of activities for kids
and adults and there's no more from
me thank you council member
Buckley um I have uh on behalf of the
office of Economic Development I am
pleased to give you the following
updates small business season campaign
launch
uh the office of Economic Development
launch the small the shop small
celebrate big holiday shopping campaign
the campaign kicked off on small
business Saturday November 30th 2024 the
campaign continues Gilbert's tradition
of spotlighting Gilbert based retailers
and encouraging the community to support
local businesses Gilbert residents can
find local businesses this holiday
season at discover.com
tomshop Gilbert Harvest and the Heritage
District post um
report this year's Harvest and the
Heritage District fall celebration was a
success with increases in and outof town
visitation online engagement and
Merchant participation the event
featured 14 participating merchants and
22 highlighted events both town and
partner post creating a lively and
engaging atmosphere for
attendees and with that back to you
mayor thank you anyone
else then I will move on to comments
from the mayor um my schedule June's up
tonight huh
June I've been posting my schedule every
meeting to show what I've been doing out
in the community um doesn't include any
meetings that I do with staff but one of
the things that I wanted to highlight
was on November 19th vice mayor Anderson
and I did a tour of businesses on the
property of Phoenix Mesa Gateway just so
the public understands Gilbert's one of
the owners of Phoenix Mesa Gateway and
so businesses going around the the
perimeter of that airport are very
important to all of us here in the
region even though the airport sits in
the city of Mesa Joan if you could go to
my first photo we were able to tour um
we toured the Gulf Stream building which
is 250,000
feet and had nine Gulf Stream Jets
inside of it you see us in in front of
one it was quite the sight to see then
we moved over to zeny which is a company
that's under construction and then we
moved into the brand new Virgin Galactic
building that's shown there in the
center with the um design behind us on
the wall that is the I guess the origin
of um spaceships the Virgin Galactic
building over there at Phoenix Mesa
Gateway will be building spaceships that
people will be able to launch into space
people will be able to go up every 3
days in a spaceship from the ones that
will be built here in in East Mesa so
it's very exciting the things that are
going on out there at the there at
Phoenix Mesa Gateway on um November 23rd
we all enjoyed the Gilbert Days parade
and my family joined me for my final
parade that's my husband Mark with my
granddog Scout my daughter Jen and my
grandson and myself with my dog Tammy
Joe it was a great day to be out there
was a beautiful morning to be out for
the parade considering last year we got
poured on pouring rain on Gilbert day's
parade um we had a great time and I
thank the residents for all of the hugs
and selfies and everything that we got
to do that day and um for Gilbert Fire
and Rescue I wanted to report that
they're doing rides with a with Santa
this sat sat no not doing fries with
Santa because of the memorial for the
firefighter so my um information is
outdated at this point yes thank you
chief for that um on another note though
on Saturday and the reason I will not be
able to be at the memorial is because I
will be in aahu for the 83rd anniversary
of the attack on Pearl Harbor and um the
USS Arizona that claimed
1,177 Sailors and Marines lives and um
the ships Gilbert is the host town for
the USS Arizona Submarine that's
currently under construction SSN 80
three and the ship sponsor Nikki
Stratton is the keynote speaker that day
in aaho at the 83rd ceremony it's the
first time that they have had a woman
keynote speaker and the first time that
they've had the um granddaughter of an
actual Survivor from us from the USS
Arizona and from Pearl Harbor day so I
will be there and my apologies chief
that I won't be able to be at the
memorial and our thoughts and prayers go
out to the Count's family and all of you
at Gilbert Fire and Rescue so thank you
our thoughts over with the
family and that concludes everything
that I have on my agenda so I would take
a motion to
adjourn and a second all in favor I that
was vice mayor and Council M tki motion
passes meeting adjourned
what