Regular Meeting - 8/20/2024 6:30:00 PM

you
thank you
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[Music]
government good evening everyone welcome
to the August 20th 202 for Gilbert Town
council meeting I will go ahead and call
this meeting to order and ask that
everyone please turn off or silence your
cell phones and devices in the chamber
this evening I would like to First
invite Pastor Thor strandh hold to the
podium he is of Valor Christian Center
to offer our invocation this evening
good evening
Pastor you have to push one of the
buttons there there we go by on red is
good in this red is good okay praise the
Lord for red good evening mayor vice
mayor and the rest of the Town Council
and everyone that's in attendance here
tonight you know I looked up the
biblical definition of invocation in in
one version it says in part the act of
invoking or calling upon a deity for Aid
protection or
inspiration and invoca God's presence uh
beginning at the beginning of a public
service service or a public meeting now
before I speak a blessing over the
gathering tonight I have a couple of
facts that I'd like to share with you
I'm a pastor that's what we do
right I I joined the military in 1964
and I was issued a uniform which
identified me as a member of the United
States armed forces I took an oath to
defend the United States of America
against any enemy foreign or domestic we
had a code of rules and regulations that
we had to follow it's called the UCMJ
the universal code excuse me the uniform
code of military Justice there were 149
articles covered which covered a wide
range of offenses and punishments that
accompanied them it it let us know that
if we get out of line while we're in the
service we have a price to pay speaking
of the military General George
Washington became the first president of
the United States of course we all ref
refer to him fondly as the
father of our country he was sworn in on
April 30th 1789 on the balcony of the
federal building in New York City where
he laid his hand on an Open Bible as he
took the oath at the end of the oath he
added so help me
God I was told that at the end of the
oath he also kissed his Bible closed it
up headed straight for St Paul's Chapel
which was built in 1766 in the heart of
New York where he fell on his knees and
he asked God to give him wisdom and
protection to lead our country he was a
very strong believer in the Bible as his
source of Direction kids probably don't
know or hear about this in the classes
anymore as a Christian we too have a
code to live by it's very simple it's
called The Ten Commandments they are
very simple number one Thou shalt not
commit adultery Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not kill honor your father
and your mother do not bear false
witness in other words don't lie keep
the Sabbath holy have no other gods
before me do not covet in other words be
jealous of another's Goods do not take
the name of the Lord your God in vain
and do not make false idols and worship
other gods when I was a young lad in
elementary school we did uh very similar
to what we're doing here
tonight we had a pledge of allegiance to
the flag the teacher would say a short
prayer and we would begin our school day
we also had a copy of the Ten
Commandments hanging on the wall the
teacher didn't read them but they were
there for the students to read at any
time my own personal belief is this that
when they took the 10 commandments down
childhood Rebellion began no moral rules
were there for them to follow they made
it up as they went along God doesn't
change his mind he's the same yesterday
today and forever any decisions we make
in life whether it's at the voting time
decision or what we're going to do next
in our
life make sure it lines up with the word
of God that ends my little lesson for
today and I will make my blessing brief
Lord I pray that you give our Town
Council wisdom to make the right
decisions concerning our great town Lord
give them wisdom beyond their years and
I thank you for it in Jesus name amen
amen thank you Pastor Thor um for the
lesson and thank you for your service to
our country thank you and I appreciate
you always being available to come and
offer an invocation here at Our Town
Council meetings next we will have the
Pledge of Allegiance led by council
member
TIY thank you mayor please
stand I pledge allegiance
next I'd like to ask our town clerk to
please conduct the roll call Mayor
Bridget Peterson here vice mayor Scott
Anderson here council member Chuck Bon
Giovani here council member Bobby
Buckley here council member young Kowski
here council member Kathy Tikki here and
council member Jim puson here aquarum is
present thank you chaveli we have one
presentation this evening the
presentation of the green Gilbert
partnership programs 2024 new
certifications and council member kovski
will be handling that this evening and
if we could ask Aaron phasal from
Environmental Compliance to come down to
the podium please I don't think anybody
else is with you Aaron thanks for being
here this evening
thank you for having me um so my name is
Aaron fosle like you said I work for the
Environmental Compliance team for the
town of Gilbert uh we also are involved
in over help oversee the grm Gilbert
program uh just a little background
about who we are we were founded a few
years ago uh as a way to give local
businesses in Gilbert an opportunity to
show how they care about the environment
and all the efforts that they do um to
show that they care it's a coordinated
effort between four different divisions
Environmental Compliance Solid Waste and
Recycling water conservation and
Wastewater pre-treatment and we can help
businesses prioritize the changes that
will have the biggest impact we work
with businesses to increase their
sustainability um through a tailored
approach we generally try to customize
these programs as best we can to adhere
to whatever uh the needs of the business
may be um in this past quarter we've had
four new
certifications uh Freestone Recreation
Center air resal quality services
Maricopa County Library District and
McQueen activity center and just a
little bit about each of those uh those
four businesses uh Freestone Recreation
Center if you are not familiar with it
it lies just right over by uh Freestone
Park here in the heart of Gilbert uh
includes large workout areas basketball
courts and plenty of other recreational
activities that people can come indoors
and beat the heat on um their commitment
to their Community uh and maintaining
their facility makes us really proud to
certify them as a green goild uh
business
partner uh a quality services they're a
consulting firm they specialize in
optimization and Manufacturing processes
they're a women-led family-owned comp
quality assurance team with Decades of
experience serving manufacturers and
suppliers across the country uh they
emphasize efficiency and sustainability
in their business model while assisting
manufacturers on identifying solving and
preventing delays in their production
process so sustainability is really a
big part of their entire business model
and helping businesses become more
sustainable is a lot of what they do
um Southeast Regional Library uh of
course if you haven't been there lies
right next to the riparian center um
they offer Gilbert a community the
Gilbert Community ample resources uh for
many avenues that they may need being a
library of course they have plenty of
books and literature for anyone to
browse but they also offer free Wi-Fi
for anyone to use computers specifically
for children and those that may have
lower literacy study rooms and summer
camp programs which you can see me at I
come and do presentations there as well
uh and visitors of course can take
advantage of the location uh walking
through the beautiful riparian and then
come inside and cool off a little bit to
beat the heat and then lastly of course
we have our McQueen Activity Center
which offers just a wide varray of fun
and games for families to bring their
kids in the community it's located just
adjacent to uh McQueen park next to a
fully stocked Lake that you can fish at
uh it's a great place to go and again
beat the heat uh you know while we still
have it for these next few months um
they can host anything that you and your
family might be looking to do from ping
pong and volleyball to full on weddings
and large events and of course their
commitment to their environmental
practices are we why we are excited to
uh certify their member uh them here
today thank you and we'll go ahead and
proceed with this the presentation of
the
certificates um first if we could
have uh first if we could have uh Char
Miller from Southeast Regional Library
come up
please that's you sorry
come
around thank you
[Applause]
and then next from McQueen if we could
have uh Stephanie
McMillan and then ran uh B from uh
Freestone
re and thank you so
much thank you very much is really great
to
see thank
you thank you for all you do we
appreciate it and being able to
celebrate with you next we will move to
our public hearing portion of our agenda
items will be heard at one public
hearing at which time anyone wishing to
comment on a public hearing item may do
so I do not have any slips for any of
the items on public hearing Council
would you like to hear anything
individually for items 2 three four or
five I'm seeing shaking heads I'll open
the public hearing close the public
hearing on items 2 three four and five
and would be happy to entertain a
motion if someone would like to make one
move to accept items two three four and
five as written I have a motion by
council member torguson can I have a
second I second I have a sorry cath
second second by council member Buckley
council member tilki tried to jump in
twice there please um but
and motion passes 70 moving on to the
consent calendar I will pass off to vice
mayor Anderson thank you mayor we've
only had uh two items pulled item seven
and item eight and then item 17 will be
postponed therefore I'll will make a
motion to approve item six
9
10
11 12 13 14 15 16
18 19 20 21 22
23
24 and
25
second I have a motion by vice mayor
Anderson seconded by council member um
capr
please
vote motion passes
70 item seven council member
torison I was hoping to get a uh a quick
presentation on seven and then following
with eight but is there anybody that is
able to speak on
this do we I think still think we need
to put a sticker on those so that we
know which button to push to turn them
on yeah did I do it right yeah you did
okay red light means it's a good thing
red light means the microphone's on but
we all hesitate cuz we're not which
button to push good evening Stephanie
good evening so I am Stephanie bubenheim
I'm a senior Transportation planner with
the town so I'm going to give a brief
presentation on agenda item seven and
then any questions I can answer them and
then I have a small posy behind me if
there's any other questions uh so agenda
item s is looking at three separate
items so just a quick breakdown the
first one's the resolution um with the
Maricopa Association of government's mag
for the EV vehicle charging
infrastructure program and then the
second or B is agreement between mag and
the town uh to initiate the project and
then C the last item is a general fund
contingency in the amount of
$25,000 so MF
2565 is an EV charging Master sighting
plan so this came about uh because we uh
were looking into the mag program
funding and knew that this was coming so
it is a planning level study that will
evaluate locations townwide for future
EV infrastructure so it's looking at
like big
picture where do we actually need
charging if we need additional charging
stations these are just for public use
so not for Fleet and this will be
townwide like I said it will uh
prioritize locations from there so it's
going to be looking at existing EV
charging stations and also looking at
town-owned property if we do need if
we're interested or do need to put any
additional infrastructure in place and
then the last part of this study would
be creation of some project sheets so
mag does have an EV CIP funding
opportunity that's coming up so we'll
also kind of narrow down maybe five
locations that might meet that criteria
if we want to go forward with that fun
fing in the future that would be a
separate Council
item so why uh do we want to apply for
this mag funding the city of the future
that we are following so we want to
anticipate this is kind of part of our
entire Transportation Network so we want
to look down the Avenue of EV charging
stations so that we can plan according
accordingly and will'll also help us
create uh future INF
structure within the town through CIP
projects or any funding opportunities uh
we also have a Gilbert Focus area of
exceptionally built environment so this
would go into our transportation Network
and then we also have a couple different
wigs uh for prosperous community and
exceptionally built environment that are
also meeting our sustainability and our
transportation
goals uh in our 2022 Gilbert
Transportation master plan we had an
append IND separated for emerging
Mobility Playbook so it talks about a
couple different emerging Technologies
one of them is vehicle
electrification um and some recommended
things to look at I'm going to look at
the the main the middle bullet point
with inventory of town-owned parking
garages to identify opportunities for to
incorporate charging stations um so this
opportunity with mag came about this
electric vehicle charging infrastructure
program uh they had a call for
projects in May of
2024 um and at the end of May we did a
contingency approval for
$95,000 um through the town manager's
office because uh of
the the process that we have internally
and then the next day we submitted the
application mag Regional Council
approved the evcp sighting plan project
list and Gilbert was included in that uh
we received an official award letter
July 25th and then the item before you
tonight is that agreement between the
town and mag to administer the project
uh for special obligations this funding
is from a state Source it's herf so
there are no additional obligations of
ongoing resources beyond the study and
it's not a federal project so it's not
tied to Federal requirements that mag
follows for financial impact tax the the
C item that was on the uh agenda is a
general fund contingency for
$225,000 so this is a CIP admin services
so that's separate from the 95,000 that
mag awarded the town and that is just
part of a process internally uh so we
will
be with the agreement showing that the
$95,000 it gets reimbursed over time so
part of that agreement in your agenda
has a list of all of the requirements
that we have to
meet um so that is a quick presentation
and then I can answer
questions thank you Stephanie we have um
council member bonji Bonnie thank you
mayor Stephanie um how is this different
from what we voted on a couple of months
ago mayor council member Bon Giovani so
the other item that was voted on and
just took into effect in August was a
fair study and it's a policy for the
town for town-owned sites that we're
going to charge at charging stations
that the town owns so this is looking at
a study separate from that of where in
the town do we actually need charging
stations and then looking kind of I
guess high level then taking it a
breakdown of seeing what else is
existing and seeing what we can put on
Town property if we want to look on Town
property or if we should look into
partnering with uh private part not
companies but private properties very
good thank
you council member torguson all right so
in the end the excuse me the actual cost
of the town is 25,000 because 95 is
reimbursed
correct mayor council member tus and
that is correct but the goal of this is
to provide services outside of town
owned property outside of Fleet property
for people that are buying electric cars
is that
correct this study is to look
at areas that could need charging
infrastructure but it's not providing
this service but in the
future it there's a potential that it
might be on toown property so that the
town would be providing the service
through the fair policy
so it's not to necessarily find
locations to entice somebody to open up
a charging station we're going to
become basically the gas for electric
we're Union 76 for electric in the
end I couldn't hear the last part we're
basically a gas station for people with
electric cars in the end if we follow
through the end of the program
correct no that is incorrect we are not
a gas station I hear someone behind
me um it's looking at where in the town
if we want to put on Town property it's
going to look at townwide but looking at
if it makes sense to put charging
stations in our parking garages if it
makes sense to put them at parks or at
libraries because we have our own
personal property but that's for what
our Fleet or for cars in general no it's
for the public that's my point we've
become the gas station for the public
when it comes to electric cars if that's
the end
goal so again that's not the end goal
but we want to do a study to see if we
even need charging
infrastructure uh right now we don't
have a study or a plan it's just kind of
being put into projects
sir Jason would you like to add
something yeah mayor council member uh
this is just a study to identify if the
town needs to uh install EV
infrastructure and if so where it should
go ultimately once that study is
completed it will identify locations in
the town where it makes sense to install
EV infrastructure ultimately the town
then can choose to pursue additional
funding to build that
infrastructure uh or not and then that
information is out there so if say for
an example a private company did want to
come in and uh install EV infastructure
they could use the same information that
we use to identify where to do so but it
does sound like that's the afterthought
and the fourthought
is places for us to provide it on
possible Town own property for the
public the forethought is for us to do a
study on where EV infrastructure needs
to go if anywhere Within in the
town thank
you Council M bonani thank you mayor
okay so I think I got this now so this
is a study to to decide where they
should go if they should go anywhere and
what we voted on a couple months ago is
a rate study a rate pilot study correct
so in essence they're kind of working
together uh after we get all the
information from both studies then my
guess is you'd come back to us with any
future locations and or rates at that
time so that is correct
that the first part of what you said
with this study is separate from the
fair study it's possible that they could
be tied together if this study does
recommend sites on Town property and the
town goes through and puts in charging
stations that's how they'll be tied
together and then we can come back at a
study session and present the findings
okay thank
you thank you Stephanie I think yeah the
confusion is is that we just just passed
the fair study to charge for electric
charging on town-owned property if this
study comes back in the future and says
we recommend the town put EV Chargers in
these four locations the Town Council
could say okay we like all four of those
locations or we don't like any of those
locations if we did choose or the
council ch chooses one two or all four
of the locations and I'm just throwing
numbers out there um then they would
fall under the fair study that we had
done as to how much would be charged for
the parking charging of the electric on
Town property that is correct okay and
then just to add to that um this study
will just recommend where charging
stations should be it doesn't mean that
they have to be there it's more of us
kind of pre-planning so that we know
what makes sense for the town of if we
need to put them in CIP projects or
potentially go after funding that comes
through yeah mayor just to add on to
that if the town chooses to move forward
with building this EV
infrastructure anywhere that's
recommended in the study then the
previous plan will kind of dictate how
we're charging for people using that
infrastructure so if no infrastructure
is built at any of these locations then
the policy doesn't come into play it's
only if we then choose to build
infrastructure after this study that
then that policy would dictate how we
would charge people who utilize that
infrastructure how we charge for the
charging correct um it looks like Town
manager Baner has his microphone on I
was just going to um also note we could
also choose to do an RFP at that time
and solicit a private party to come in
and install infrastructure at that
location yeah and I should have said
that it doesn't mean that the town is
necessarily going to build the
infrastructure it could be an other
means um vice mayor Anderson oh council
member Tuson did you still have your mic
on or did you want to speak again yeah
if and from what he said to me the only
acceptable way to go with this is if it
it ends up with an RFP for a private
Enterprise to do this I do not believe
any form of government should be in
charge of dispersing this and basically
the gasoline as far as I'm concerned it
if we ends up with an RFP I'm fine if it
doesn't I'm not fine and and the study
may come back and say they don't
recommend any locations in Gilbert it
may come back and say that they
recommend three or four locations in
Gilbert and that's what the council will
decide in the future and then decide if
you want to put it out for an RFP
there's options there we have a lot of
residents that are using electric
vehicles at this point in time so I know
that I'm I'm assuming the study will
come back showing recommendations but
again the council decides what they
would like to do in the future vice
mayor andeson I was just going to ask
that question I'm assuming that the
study will include a comprehensive look
at use of electric vehicles in Gilbert
or coming through Gilbert but that'll
give us a better idea whether or not we
want to locate these stations in town
yes that is correct we will be looking
yeah I won't call him gas stations
station he just referred to it as a
station and I just know you're calling
it station I mean it it essentially it
is you're filling up the vehicle in this
this case with
electricity yes yeah um any other
questions for Stephanie and Jason um
counc BJ thank you mayor so we have no
preconceived areas yet we're going to
just tell the tell them to go out and do
the study
correct we have no preconceived areas at
the moment but it would be a list of
criteria to kind of narrow down okay and
reason I asked that I I I know we've had
discussions about cooie station at some
point um with that property or that area
be considered in the study
also at the moment we are still kind of
drafting up the scope but it's looking
at sites that are already developed so
are you referring to the cooie
station site that the town owns yeah so
that site's not developed at the moment
but we could look into it okay it's been
electrified thank
you thank you both for your answers to
your questions um would anyone like to
attempt a motion on this item I'll move
to approve item 7 a 7 B and 7 C I'll
second that I have a motion by council
member Koski seconded by council member
Bon Giovani please
vote motion passes 61 with council
member torus and dissenting back to you
vice
mayor item eight council member
Torgerson I just wanted to follow up is
your mic sorry I wanted to follow up
because I had looked at this about five
years ago and I just love a presentation
from you so I can understand how this
has evolved over the last five
years you that right I guess I
did good evening mayor and council
members um for item 8 um this is about
the Cooperative purchasing agreement for
floresco services um which reports the
basically placement of the signs on all
of our signalized intersections so those
are those very large signs they're about
8T by two foot and and this will support
basically being able to continue to put
those in place um by an outside vendor
which is
floresco uh see if I can get this so the
town just a little bit of background the
town has 227 signalized intersections
right now each of the four-way
intersections that we have have a
illuminated sign so at each one of those
those poles that are there that the
eight illuminated faces of the sign is
is you know one on each side of that so
that's what we have as I mentioned they
are about 8 foot by a little over 2 and
1/2 ft that's how large they are um in
looking at um the size of those as well
as looking at kind of the cost of
materials um it is very difficult for us
to kind of beat an outsourced um vendor
out there so we are working with
floresco and we've used floresco for
many many time many many years um kind
of on a Cooperative or an agreement type
face to do this um so the life of those
FES are about 10 to 15 years um
typically the the individuals that go
through that will do a bulk replacement
will identify signs that need to be
replaced and we'll go out kind of on a
task order with this supplier to not
only um Supply the sign but also to
install the sign for us at the same time
um it is really done effect um based on
a budget availability and priority there
is a little bit of enhancement over the
last couple years to basically replace
all the signs on our corridors um what
you see here is a blue sign that's in
this this map right here um previous to
that we had a green sign and so um those
green Signs Now have been are being
replaced um individually by the blue
signs the intent is to provide some
uniformity across there the team um the
the town traffic team does do a
condition assessment about every four to
six months of all of our signalized
intersections ident ifies where some of
those signs need to be replaced in this
picture right here you're going to see
Elliot Trail Crossing that is a sign
that needs to be replaced and when we do
that replacement we do replace those
with with the blue signs um that is that
is an alignment with our standards um we
are and have in the past only replaced
maybe 30 to 60 signs annually but
because of the fact that we've now
updated this standard we're seeing some
Aging in our infrastructure it's really
important for us to enhance doing that
and we would like to basically get all
of our signs replaced in like a five to
six year window so we're working on that
right now so our annual program at this
point in time is looking at replacing
280 to 30 320 signs annually to keep up
with with the changes uh before we could
basically just change one face we now
are needing to basically fa do both
faces and all four of the polls just
because of that change and that need to
go to uniformity in the way that they
look um we are estimating about and and
say that the cost per intersection is
about to $7,000 per intersection to do
all eight face of those faces in that
intersection that also implies them
supplying it it also allows us to have
them do the install and the traffic call
when while they do
that so uh on a background we have
traditionally been working with a
Cooperative purchasing um contract that
came out of the city of Mesa Cooperative
purchasing agreements still require to
go out for bid or go out for you know a
a a a selection based um competitively
bid Mesa did this recently um because
their current Cooperative that we have
been using has ended and so they were
looking to extend that um for some time
now and this contract before you today
is to look at um that extension or an
addition of a new contract under that
new bidding but they did go out and
competitively bid they look at their
biddings in not only the price but they
also look at it from an approach in a
qualifications how are they going to do
it how are they going to supply it two
um folks came forward I think Summit
West and floresco in that bidding
process and floresco was awarded um the
larger or the larger point in that point
system but they also offered the pre
cheapest price so that's probably why
their points were a little bit higher in
that so tonight we're asking that you um
and recommending that you approve um
this new contract um with some optional
two-year extensions on it annually we
expect to spend about $300,000 and
that's what the contract says before you
with a maximum 5year expenditure of
about 1.5 million and I have my tribe
here to help me too if I need so thank
you you have a posy that's what
Stephanie said she had a posy behind her
any questions she's a Lifeline a
Lifeline my lifeline the uh and this
looks different to me than it did five
years ago when I was looking at this uh
from the melting green signs and being
in the business I'm I'm looking at this
and am I am I really to understand that
we're looking at about 300 signs for
let's call that what is that 75 about 35
intersections 38 intersections all the
way around per year will be replaced at
about $300,000 so
300 correct 8ot by 2 and 1/2 foot signs
correct and that's two standard yeah two
standard and it'll be two on each post
and on on each leg of the whole thing
that is that it's always been and we're
still dealing with is what materials
have changed in the last 5 years because
it used to be much
higher what materials have or have
materials for the the specific materials
come down because I know lexan hasn't
all right I'm going to bring our um
traffic Ops member which is Shane Flynn
who is the gentleman who is installing
those and doing those so this is his
first council meeting tonight so please
welcome him thank you
welcome wait and Shane welcome Shane the
guy I was dealing with before died of a
heart attack while he was doing just say
just saying council member tus and don't
scare him away sorry Shane welcome thank
you good evening mayor vice mayor
council um can you repeat the question
please uh it's just material costs I'm
looking at have there been changes in
the materials over the last five years
because I know it's the materials are
actually a federal standard not
something that we do or even I don't
think ADOT does I believe we have to
comply to a federal standard including
the the prism Reflections Etc what
materials if you know have changed in
the last five years I'll try to answer
to the best of my knowledge um without
no I don't think we're the materials
have changed uh we're still using lexan
we're still using a highquality 3M vinyl
um I don't know the reason for the
peeling of signs I think a lot of the
signs that we see have been signs that
we had in the field for 15 years or so
um the problem is whenever we have
storms wind rain as you know water gets
underneath the vinyl wind and DUS
underneath the vinyl and as it ages it
Peels and looks horrible um we're at the
point of we're trying to replace as what
we can as fast as we can but
unfortunately as we have aging
infrastructure it just catches up with
us um so as far as materials I don't
think has changed um as far as my
knowledge I believe it's the same
materials that we've been using I just
think since we have so many signals now
you see on a larger scale and I think
it's the signs that have been out there
for 15 20 years so the blue signs first
started coming out six years ago they're
still in great condition I have my text
go up there every six months just check
on it um we haven't had any issues um
and when we do we had a one sign for
usco is amazing they come out in make
sure but um a lot of the signs I see
feeling I think they're older um I can't
really give you a a definit answer on
that just because I haven't been with
the town longer than six years
so and I'm asking that because as I
looked through through it budgeting wise
the cost per unit was down significantly
from what it used to be at least it
appeared to be and you know some of
these signs are much bigger than 986 and
A2 by 28 and a half some are
tremendously big yeah but uh I do I do
understand a lot of the green signs are
probably well beyond life expectancy in
any r in means nothing in Arizona when
it comes to the sun I mean I'm in that
business I know but I just wanted to
hear make sure I was reading this right
that I
can roundabouts talk about 300 signs up
repaired replaced a year at 300,000 yeah
so as far as the cost of the product
going down I don't know anything about
that um but what I will tell you
is even though we're using tax pair
dollars stuff there's places where you
don't skimp out and for me I feel that
the signs up there is something you
don't you don't cheap out on so I make
sure we always have the best quality
vinyl uh lexan so forth um I've never
changed it since I've been where my
position um previous supervisors have
not changed it since I don't think the
green signs they've always kept it the
same so I don't I don't know if the cost
going down is due to the contract
what have you so I don't know how the
costs went down well and you definitely
want something like Lex and that's not
going to break and come down because
that's deadly sir just mayor council
member um to this is all the values are
based off of last year or two we've seen
pretty consistent prices from
floresco um so we do have that in our
back pocket that we're confident in the
numbers the 300,000 that what we can
accomplish there okay and so this would
allow us to continue for the next five
years or so based off those numbers
locking in that price no I'm I'm if I'm
you're reinforcing what I'm reading so
I'm I'm happy because I do this all the
time and I looked like well that does
that seems like it makes sense to me and
if it's if you're reinforcing that I'm
I'm okay appreciate
that next we have council member
Kowski these signs are internally
illuminated um does floresco also
provide the supplies of materials for
the lighting component
inside mayor council um we actually
Supply the own material ourselves um so
all the LED balls we do ourselves um all
the internal structures the stuff that
falls apart from wind we do ourselves um
rarely we use them for services like
replacing the door and a few things like
that all the internal stuff we we do
thank
you council member bonani thank you
mayor when I see the green signs melting
like the Wicked Witch of the West I'm
wondering what kind of guarantee do we
have warranteed if these things start
melting three years from
now so the warranty on these signs is a
10-year warranty on them so um to date
we have not had any problem with
floresco coming out and and addressing
it if it if it is not met that warranty
excellent thank you
F floresco comes out and installs them
too or do we do that ourselves they come
install them too they install them for
us okay
um just because traffic control while
they're doing yeah they do traffic
control um the buckets uh they Supply
the signs um installing them all that
stuff it's easier for them to do it just
because we don't have the manpower to uh
do it in a large scale like that because
we're replacing so many um just because
I I asked because I know that recently
we had them on the wrong streets yes and
and I do apologize for that they they
put out that morning and all of a sudden
we got you know millions of calls um I
was really fortunate that the floresco
was very um you know they're on top of
it so they had the person out later that
afternoon fixed them so yeah that my I'm
sorry so no no no I I just brought it up
because you know it does it shows that
um from my perspective it was a positive
that it wasn't our own staff members
going out and putting the street names
on the wrong streets so just to reassure
you um after it goes through my hands we
uh we make sure the signs are correct
once they install them I send out my
technicians a day or two after they're
all done with the templates and they go
through all the signs make sure they're
all PR facing all that stuff they put
check mark and if they're incorrect I
call floresco and they come out a day or
two later and they replace everything
that needs to be done but leave it to
Gilbert residents to let you know
immediately that they weren't in the
right place right council member Buckley
uh just have a quick question is the
installation included in this cost or is
installation separate the installation
is included in that $6 and $7,000 price
okay so yes it's included in the price
that we gave you it's included in the
300,000 annually yes okay okay that's
great thank
you I think we are done with questions
thank you all very much you did kind of
have a posy
Susanna thank
goodness I'll bring it back to the Das
for a
motion um I'll I can make a motion I'll
make a motion to approve contract
3252 a Cooperative purchasing contract
for $300,000 annually for 5 years and
costs not to exceed
$1,500,000 with
floresco Services LLC for illuminated
street name signs and authorize the
mayor to execute the required documents
second I have a motion by council member
Buckley seconded by council member
Kowski please
vote motion passes
70 thank you everyone back to you vice
mayor
I think that concludes the consent
calendar did we did we continue item 17
item 17 yes we need a motion to continue
it to the September 10th agenda are you
making that
motion I was going to make it I make a
motion to move item 17 to the next
council meeting can I have a second I
second that we have a motion by council
member torguson seconded by council
member Buckley please vote
motion passes 70 before we move on I
just I just wanted to say on item 24 the
confirmation of our two judges Bruce
Owens and um Casey Mandell I wanted to
give kudos to the judicial selection and
Advisory Board and specifically
Stephanie nney for leading that board
they had some really great thorough
conversation and it was a pleasure to
work with all of them and um
unfortunately it's one of those boards
that only gets called into action when
it needs to be used so they may not come
back for a while unless we have a
retirement which we might be expecting
here in the future so I just wanted to
throw those Kudos out to them now we'll
move on to the um administrative items
administrative items for consel
discussion and action the first one on
our agenda is the fees consider a motion
to direct staff to publish a notice of
intention to increase sales use and bed
tax rates for the town of Gilbert and
set the public hearing date for October
22nd 2024 Kelly f is here to do a
presentation for
us oh and Leah and
Leah good evening mayor and Council I'm
just going to kick this off for us thank
you Leah reinheimer assistant Town
manager thank you for the opportunity to
present information to you this this
evening on the topic of quality of life
Investments to sustain Gilbert's
vibrancy for the long term and also the
proposed funding mechanism to maintain
Gilbert's quality of
life this slide represents just a few of
the many accolades the town of Gilbert
consistently receives many of you are
familiar with these accolades this is
indicative of what we are striving to
maintain and why we're here this evening
so Gilbert is generally recognized as an
exceptionally Vibrant Community this
does not however mean that we are immune
to many of the same challenges that
communities across the country are
facing including the need to invest in
critical infrastructure and
resources the Gilbert Town Council takes
its responsibility to safeguard
Gilbert's quality of life very seriously
so that the town can continue to thrive
not just today but for the decades to
come and in doing so avoid the pitfalls
of decline that many other communities
have experienced Gilbert's mission is to
is to anticipate not just what is needed
for today but what is needed for the
future and so in order to fulfill this
fundamental
responsibility extensive research data
Gathering and Community feedback has
been conducted and collected to really
help inform how best to strategically
Target Gilbert's Investments and so to
walk through all of that extensive
research and Analysis is budget director
Kelly
F thanks Leah May mayor and counsel um
as Leah mentioned we have done there's
been a lot of research over the decades
uh about the infrastructure that's
needed so I'll walk through some of that
infrastructure and then the funding on
the parks and rec side a lot of really
good feedback was provided by the
citizens through the master planning
efforts uh you'll notice here that some
of that feedback indicates a quarter of
our citizens are telling us that our
programs are too full and our parks are
too full our infrastructure is very used
and perhaps
overused we love our accolades and we
get a lot of good information and
feedback but Gilbert also has some
difficult things uh we are ranked last
among our Park systems across the top
100 most populated cities and recently
there was a study that came out that
says Gilbert of 180 cities that were
surveyed Gilbert had the highest
percentage of families with young
children but the second fewest
playgrounds per capita and so we
recognize that there is our citizens are
letting us know there's a need for
investment in our Parks
infrastructure so the infrastructure
that's been identified um to look at is
expanding uh and developing Gilbert
Regional Park and desert sky Park new
recreation center in southern Gilbert
establish a riparian education Center at
The riparian Preserve additional splash
pads Sports Fields multi-use paths and
trails and additional pickle ball
courts there's also a need for uh police
infrastructure which includes the
Advocacy Center the Advocacy Center is
to help those victims of interpersonal
violence to be able to get Justice to be
able to get healing and to move on with
their lives as best and quickly as
possible we recognize that evidence is a
key part of being able to process
uh crimes and be able to
um resolve those
cases uh with that in homicide cases
they are 21 times more likely to be
charged if there is forensic evidence
associated with the case on the rape
cases there's 20% more convictions when
there is sufficient evidence there and
so this is another area where we look to
need Improvement uh and ability to
maintain that evidence in and crime lab
the public safety building we have one
here across the street and also there's
an overflow or additional Santan
substation down Greenfield and we police
has done a fantastic job of trying to
fit in as many workstations as they
possibly can they are at capacity uh and
cannot find more creative spaces to add
additional work stations at this point
in the sown substation um they have
inadequate locker room space they've
converted some of the conference room
into locker rooms if you think about uh
one of our officers wears their
protective gear out in the heat in
115° and then puts it in a locker
overnight and comes back to put it on
the next day there is some additional
ventilation and things that are needed
to help that be a positive experience
for all
involved so the project overviews for
the public safety infrastructure is the
Advocacy Center phases 2 and three a
crime lab and then Central and Santan
Patrol buildings expansion of that
office space and uh work space needed by
those
staff we also need some infrastructure
in
our our fire area this is a picture of
our Fleet building uh we put in Fleet
infrastructure in the early 2000s early
to mid 2000s about 20 years ago and have
not expanded it since then Although our
fleet has definitely expanded in the
last 20 years so what that means is we
don't have enough indoor space to work
on all of the fleet vehicles that need
to be worked on especially these large
Vehicles so often times they get parked
outside the base uh and both our fire
and this is our Solid Waste or our trash
trucks and then our staff are working on
those vehicles to repair them both in
and Outdoors in the Heat and so we need
to expand the space for them to be able
to safely work on those large
apparatus as you know in Gilbert we have
a very strong need for data and using
data in decision making uh one of the
areas where we data is looking at call
volume and being able to have the lowest
response times possible when we look at
adding new police or new fire trucks and
response Vehicles we would like to put
them at the stations where they will
cover the most people and reduce the
response Times best for the highest
number of people we are not able to do
that because those stations can't house
additional fire apparatus so we would
like to expand those stations in the
high volume areas where the data indicat
Ates it would be most effective for our
response times to be able to put them
there to improve the service for our
fire we also have a need for some
expansion of fire Administration space
um there is limited space over at the
public safety facility now and in fact
they're they're temporarily housed over
at the Public Safety Training Facility
uh and we need to find a more permanent
solution for those staff to be able to
work so the fire and rescue projects
include fire admin remodel public safety
and large apparatus maintenance facility
and fire station
expansions there was a lot of projects
that were looked at and Council you know
you also looked at these uh and we've
been looking at this infrastructure and
deciding what the town needs are with
information over the last decade uh
council did a lot of work in
prioritizing these projects there is
more that's needed but these that are um
proposed are the highest priority um for
the town at this point in
time there are limited options with how
to finance infrastructure of this
magnitude um we
would some of citizens have suggested
using the rates from the water
unfortunately water rates are only used
for water infrastructure and this
infrastructure that we're discussing is
Parks police and fire infrastructure
where we do not use any of the utility
revenue to to cover those costs so the
town's two major options are property
tax and sales tax um property tax can be
used for one-time project when we use
secondary property tax we have to bond
for the projects and pay the repayment
costs um it's also only paid by Property
Owners within Gilbert the other option
that's been explored is a sales tax
option and sales tax were allowed to
both cash fund and bond fund projects
which allows us to stretch the dollars
even further uh it also allows for
visitors of Gilbert to be able to help
offset the cost of the infrastructure
that they're using when they come to
visit
with that uh Council gave direction to
look at a sales tax increase this
includes three areas sales tax also a
used Tax which is paid by residents and
businesses who are doing online sales
with vendors who do less than
$100,000 of sales within Arizona during
the year and also a bed tax which is
paid by Travelers who do temporary
lodging hotels motels or short-term
stays here in
Gilbert what's proposed is that Gilbert
has been at a 1.5% sales tax tax rate
since the year 2000 the proposed rate
would be 2% which would be the middle of
the pack for our surrounding uh peers in
the
community the use tax we currently do
not charge a use tax it has a 0% rate uh
all of our other peer communities do
charge a use tax and so we would look to
match that with our sales tax rate at 2%
which would be again middle of the pack
compared to our regional
peers the third is a bed tax rate we're
currently at 2.8% we would look be
looking to go to 5% which is also the
most common rate among the regional
peers um for that visitor
tax we've been talking about these
projects and preparing information for
decades but in December there was a
specific workshop with Council talking
about the infrastructure needs there was
again discussion in March talking about
how do we Finance these infrastructure
needs which brings us today uh with the
instruction that we've been given to do
uh not notice of intent uh to be able to
start the process to be able to adopt uh
these tax rates so if Council approves
the notice of intent that will start the
public process we'll get information out
to the public there would be a public
hearing on October 22 where the public
can weigh in and then that that night
council would make a decision on what to
do with the tax rates we would need to
notify the Department of Revenue before
November 1st 2024 and then the rates
will take effect on January 1st
2025 the impact to a general citizen uh
is mostly on the sales tax so it would
be 50 cents for every $100 spent uh like
when you go to Costco or Walmart or
spend and with that we would be getting
the park infrastructure and the public
safety infrastructure that our citizens
have indicated is important to their
quality of life here in
Gilbert the next steps would be to have
that public hearing and vote from
Council on October 22nd and then the
town will do Outreach uh starting
tomorrow with notice of intent there
will be a website with additional
information for the public there's a GIS
map that walks through all of the
proposed projects uh and information
Gilbert newsletter and social media with
that are there any
questions thank you Kelly any questions
from
anyone I just want to clarify you talked
about um property tax and we kind of
skimmed over it the secondary property
tax needs to be from bonds and paid back
through our secondary property tax rate
we don't have a primary property tax in
the town of Gilbert so you can't
increase the primary property tax when
the property ta we don't have one in
place already so that was um that was
why the council discussed these other
options correct thank you Council mayor
bovani thank you mayor um the bed tax
um I assume that the hotel industry is
okay with the bed
tax I would need you to ask them we did
a discussion with the tourism group that
me met um they didn't provide any
feedback about the hotel tax uh to pass
on to you um there were some questions
from about the sales tax with some of
the car dealerships but nobody in the
room had a question about that so the
bed tax are paid by people who come
outside of Gilbert into Gilbert yes so
the bed tax doesn't really affect
citizens of Gilbert unless they've been
kicked out of their house or something
like that unfortunately correct yes and
there is a portion of the bed tax that
is restricted to tourism related
purposes which does help the hotel
industry okay second thing I just want
to make sure we're talking the same
language here couple from Glendale
drives to Phoenix or drives to Gilbert
and has a $100 steak dinner they're
going to pay 50 cents more correct yes
and they're not going to while they're
here having their dinner they're not
going to go to the park and you know and
use our Park amenities most likely
correct probably not the park amenities
we hope they don't choke on anything and
need any assistance while they are here
but Public Safety is available in case
they did need it okay so same same well
different couple but they're from
Gilbert and they come and have a $100
Stak dinner and they spend 50 cents more
but they're utilizing our police our
fire and all the other amenities that we
have correct yes there there's not a
specific fee for use of parks or Public
Safety right so it sounds like that our
our couple from Glendale who comes over
and has that dinner are actually helping
the citizens pay for some infrastructure
and things that they're not necessarily
benefiting from but they're benefiting
the Gilbert uh Community correct yes we
love when they help pay for sounds like
a good deal to me thank you I'll I'll
follow up with your question about the
bed tax in 2017
18 the bed tax was lowered just a smidge
and the um actually the hotel years came
and asked us to not lowered at that time
to keep it the same because they wanted
the funding to go towards tourism which
it can be used for for the bed tax
purposes and every once in a while
somebody remodels their home and needs
to go stay at a local hotel like I did
and you get to pay that bed tax but I'm
also the person that if I'm going
someplace and staying someplace I'm not
looking to see what the tax rate
difference is between this hotel in this
town and this hotel in this town if I
want to be in this town I'm going to
pick a hotel in that town and I think
that's where it comes from vice mayor
Anderson I just wanted to follow on what
you were talking about mayor about
different kinds of property tax a lot of
people don't understand the difference
between the primary and secondary
property tax and part of the reason that
we're in the middle of the pack and not
on the lower end is because those same
cities have a primary property tax that
supplements their operations we don't
have that and I need to make that
clear yes I'll go a step further and say
we don't have a primary property tax we
don't have a transportation tax we don't
have a library funding tax we don't have
any of the things that we see in a lot
of the cities around us Gilbert does a
lot more with a lot less than we have
for decades in this community council
member torguson I wanted to point out a
we don't have such as Mesa does where
they increase the cost of water water
utilities and then feed that to the
general fund and that's why when people
are upset about water rates they're not
comparing it to right across Baseline
where it's much higher because they're
they're actually paying in to fun to the
general fund uh one thing I like about
this is that in the
end me I don't like tax I don't think
anybody really likes it but we
eventually can get away from uh Prof
property tax even secondary property tax
if we're generating the right money
through sales tax which is a little bit
more voluntary than you know every six
months getting an Edie cook letter um
just is you know you you don't have much
Choice there I will be paying mine this
week put it in your budget I'm paying
mine I know you've got me redlined um
and uh it's
uh I think that in the end it's it's
it's painful to look at but as you move
forward I think that the actual tax uh
burden turns less to people that are
residents and it shifts some of it to tr
to uh people outside of Gilbert and it
also makes it a little more voluntary
whereas I don't feel a property tax
there's any voluntary Source on that
whatsoever so begrudgingly but yes this
seems to make more sense for long-term
planning
any other comments questions for Kelly
at this
time thanks Kelly appreciate your time
and presentation this evening bring it
back to the dis for um a motion if
anyone would like to make one again this
is just to kick off the notice published
the notice of intention the public
hearing date is set will be set for
October 22nd 2024 that will be a public
hearing where the public will be invited
to speak on this item too
don't everybody speak at
once I'll just do it I'll I'll make a
motion to accept it as
written we have a motion by council
member torguson and a second by vice
mayor Anderson please
vote motion passes 70 and again to the
public this is the opportunity for the
council to kick off this discussion
under the law in Arizona it's the only
way that this conu this discussion can
move forward for the community to be
involved in the discussion also so
that's what this does at this point in
time moving on to item 27 Council
administrative item consider acceptance
of the budget report and contingency
report for the fourth quarter of FY 2024
I didn't talk to anybody about a
presentation on this does anyone need
anything on this one would someone like
to make a
motion I'll move to approve item 27
thank you I have a motion by council
member Kowski I second seconded by
council member Buckley please
vote motion passes 70 next up item
number 28 is discussion and update for
the community engagement task force
council member
tilki thank you mayor um just wanted to
let the council know that we met on
August 12th the first step in
determining recommendations
is to understand what's being done today
so we received the following
presentations um our s o Sr which is a
school resource officer
overviewed um their duties and um and
also that we have them stationed at
Junior High and high schools and then
how they coordinate with school
officials we also received um a report
on overall data on police action and
results regarding teen violence as was
shared with the Town Council including
proactive approach to issues at Morrison
Ranch we had a presentation from the
Gilbert Youth and adult resources which
is located in the courts building which
provides counseling for T Troubled Youth
and adults based on referrals from the
courts and Gilbert public schools for
example if a teen is caught violating
curfew they may be referred to the um
Gilbert Youth and adult
resources at which time the parents will
be called in as well
while this is an extensive program I
wanted to give just a short example of
how Gilbert is working with troubled
teens in conjunction with our police
schools and courts and I think in even
our last meeting we I think there was a
misunderstanding of whether parents were
ever called in and so this is another
example of how parents are being
involved in some of these
discussions um for the first time
Gilbert police were on site at all our
elementary schools on their first day of
school which was very well received and
principales have shared how excited the
kids were and that they would like to
expand this more often our internal team
is looking at a more robust youth
engagement program that will come
forward in the future with input from
the task force but in the meantime this
is a great example of how we are
building those relationships long term
and we anticipate the hiring of the new
community youth officer to be completed
with in the next two
weeks and um actually the candidates for
that position all came to our meeting to
get the reports and see what we were
doing as well um the family advoc
Advocacy Center open house was a great
success with many nonprofit partners and
attendants along with residents the
center will be a key partner in future
efforts regarding not only victims but
how the community can work together to
address violence issues including teams
and our Police Department along with 12
other departments worked with the
Maricopa County Attorney's Office to
launch the new report don't repost
campaign to educate our communities of
the importance of reporting and sharing
information including social media
videos relating to crimes directly to
our police departments and I'd be happy
to bring forward those videos and
additional information to the next
council meeting during my report if
you'd like to see a a couple of those
videos and just kind of share it in this
setting so other people might see it
that might not take the time to look it
up on their website and um the teen
violence task force will begin
identifying what we as a community are
doing well what gaps need to be closed
and how to bring the community together
to address pressing issues involving our
youth so we'll have much more to come
but that's where we are
today excellent council member tilki any
questions or comments for the council
member
we purposely added this to our agenda
like we did with the subcommittee so
that we could get an update from you
every month we we know that the
community engagement task force is going
fast forward to get this accomplished in
a very short time frame so thank you for
that I love that the um candidates for
the position all came to the meeting
that's great and um I'd be interested in
sharing those videos since it would open
it up to a wider
audience I think if others are
interested in that I think we have the
opportunity to show something here that
we have an audience for and then people
that go back and watch our Council
meetings too and I know people do that
they get to see them too thank you next
is Communications from citizens so back
to you vice mayor thank you
mayor we value the participation of our
community members in the robust exchange
of ideas while we understand and
appreciate the passion our community
members bring to these sessions we must
remind everyone that capping during the
meeting is not acceptable
also playing of music or showing videos
May subject the town to copyright
infringement and is not allowed these
practices can disrupt the flow of
discussion potentially intimidate others
and detract from the respectful
atmosphere we strive to
maintain the town asks that when your
name is called you come forward to the
podium state your name and your city or
town of residence and then begin
speaking each uh citizen will have three
minutes first up with Steve lvll
okay nice to see you guys I bet you
thought I was done sorry to disappoint
you uh it was nice to watch the council
meeting last week or two weeks ago and
see all you guys speak with some passion
about your stuff that you have the love
you have for this t
I also have that love I spent 20 plus
years serving as a fire captain in this
department I also coached 12 years of
Youth Football volunteering in community
uh so maybe you can comprehend a little
bit why I speak with the passion I speak
with when I'm up here council member Bon
Giovani you U you mentioned that five
members wanted to review your pay raises
before the elections he also said that
somewhere somehow staff didn't follow
your directions so who was account held
accountable to that who in staff was
held
accountable it was kind of nice to see
Council actually be adversely affected
by the lack of accountability in this
organization that has affected the
employees because Patrick and Leah and
Rob and Nathan and Michael and Bob Corey
and everybody in upper management has
got away without accountability they act
with
impunity I sent all of you an email in a
list of 28 candidates proving how
Patrick and Nathan and all the fire
department upper management were
complicit in violating State Statute and
Civil Rights Acts they did all this
while they were pushing their their uh
employees
on training regarding white privilege
and uh the unconscious bias along with
the odg team spying on conservative
views and uh that's where your moral uh
your moral and your morale excuse me
your morale program uh or began your
moral morale problem in the town began
two weeks ago a gentleman named Mr Young
brought up proof that Patrick and Nathan
are still heavily pushing the dni
Marxist agenda with new and current
employees you just heard from Kelly
foutz that a out of 180 cities Gilbert
had the highest number of families with
young children yet you teach your
employees that respectful language is
partners and not husband and wife you
teach them that they should use they and
them uh find personally I find that very
disrespectful and and offensive to me
the majority of this council is
disengaged and out of touch with the
community who has voted you into these
seats do you believe the majority of the
community wants you to use Partners
instead of husbands and wives do you
believe the majority of this community
wants to teach their children to use
they and them as plural instead of
singular I mean excuse me singular
instead of plural
uh that that shows me that you're out of
touch with the citizens who are mostly
Christian they are in male and female
marriages and they have children
including many of your staff yet you
tout the town as a great place to raise
family and you push the D lies onto the
employees and Patrick sits over there
making his $331,000 a year not being
held accountable by you guys for your
raises since Patrick and this upper
management team support the eroding of
American values and by their support of
the Marxist de ideologies the answer is
simple Equity means the quality of being
equal or fair and equal means identical
in amount or portion so take all your
employee wages add them up count the
number of employees you have divide it
and everybody from the mayor down makes
the same amount of money pretty simple
boom you got your dni you're no longer
just talking about dni you're actually
being it you're actually acting in it
and I'll make this quick I still have a
lot more to go but for obvious reasons
he wouldn't implement that but he'll sit
there and still require the employees to
take this Marxist dni garbage in
training I have other stuff to talk
about but I'll get back to that I guess
in two weeks thank you for your
time thank you Steve Christina
cerso evening mayor and Council
Christina curo I've lived in Gilbert for
over 17
years my comment tonight is about public
comment
um 17 years probably 15 of those have
spoken before this Council and I've
always known the are elected officials
have valued our
community I do believe you value US I do
and I see some of your heads nodding so
please don't put us at the end of the
agenda the last several meetings I've
watched women with very little children
at home wait till 11: 11:30 and I know
we have big agendas and we have a lot of
work to do but the number one reason for
government is the people and so I asked
respectfully that you restore public
comment to the beginning now I
understand that some of the comments
were made
that you know you have these big you
know uh contracts and the lawyers come
and get paid by the hour I respect you
know the budgets of those people who
have to have lawyers and lobbyists and
things here to be able to move through
things that are happening in the town
but I more
value families being home with their
children so please respectfully ask that
on the next agenda or maybe one more
after that could you please restore
public comment to the beginning to
ensure to us as Citizens you value us
over anybody else thank
you thank you Christine next Carissa
Arnold
good evening so I wanted to go over um
there was a few comments from the last
meeting about how there was abuse going
on and I just wanted to touch base on
this really quick here's a definition of
abuse from the
law of from the office of the law
revision Council United States code it's
a federal website the term abuse means
knowing means the knowing infliction of
physical or psychological harm or the
knowing deprivation of goods or services
that are necessary to meet essential
needs or to avoid physical or
psychological harm abuse is not a term
to be used Loosely many many victims
have been affected by lifelong effects
from
abuse what you are experiencing here
with us speaking out is not abuse it is
a direct conversation in pointing out
what has happened and what needs to
change as a human it is hard to hear
when we have met messed up it can create
a defensiveness in us and a lack of
willingness to hear unless there is
humility let me share with you a little
bit that I have learned in the 11 years
of single parenting I wasn't a good
listener and it is sometimes that there
are it is something that I wish I could
go back and change my kids would point
it out and it took me a time to really
see what they were saying but that
required a humility to hear that I may
not be the parent that I thought I was
once I I finally got it it changed my
relationship with my kids it opened
doors to conversations and completely
the changed the Dynamics of our home
this is your home this is our home your
family has been crying out to you that
they are hurting yet there isn't
humility to really hear instead we're
accused of being abusive until you as a
counsel are willing to hear your
community until you are willing to make
changes until you are willing to hear
your own employee
speak nothing will change this is not
abuse this is a hard reality of speaking
truth that needs to be heard thank
you thank you Carissa Bridget
Vega good evening good evening tonight I
want to say thank you once again to the
community for using your voices as every
voice matters we'd also like to
recognize and appreciate the willingness
of the assistant chief of police and the
public relations and crime prevention
representative that came to the table
with honesty and humility as a community
we pray that our Council remembers that
this is a public Mental Health crisis we
have been in for years this isn't a
one-off we must confront the
uncomfortable truth it's not just the
sum of individual wrongdoings it's the
manifestation ation of societal norms
and structures that perpetuate harm when
one member of the community suffers we
all F the r reverberations hurt people
hurt people and the cycle continues
unless we intervene when I say Gilbert
you have blood on your hands I use that
phrase to reflect as a mayor counsil
Town manager police chief and as a
community so no other family ever has to
go through the tragic nightmare that has
plagued our community as it shouldn't be
profit over people we have seen
investigations and past crimes that
could have been
prevented and could have prevented other
children from being assaulted and
murdered per Administration and
operations of the town the citizens
voices should be the most valued which
places this Council as the elected
officials below the citizens the
community is just asking for
transparency and accountability to
create a safer environment for our
children and families vers hearing this
isn't our problem when in reality this
is everyone's problem again let us not
be byst standards and commit to Breaking
the cycle of harm and fostering a
community built on love empathy
accountability
transparency together we can create a
brighter future for generations to come
as again it starts in our homes and it
starts with leadership in this room rise
up
Gilbert thank you br Brig mayor that
concludes the
communications thank you vice mayor
moving on to our next agenda item is
future meetings we have a study session
related to meet and confer happening in
September a council Retreat item related
to the status update of General
obligation bonds and now we'll move on
to Communications with a report from the
town manager Patrick thank you mayor
members of the council nothing
tonight oh my gosh you shocked me I
didn't know I I started to go do
something else because I thought you
were going to be talking um next report
from the council council member Bon
Giovani thank you mayor I have slides oh
my gosh
yes C I'm copying Patrick and everybody
hey I started and you did it um so I
serve um as liaison to channel Unified
School District but also on the chander
school district teen violence task force
and since we have a couple of schools in
Gilbert I want share with you guys um
some of the policies of the schools and
then I'm going to show you some stats um
also so um what are the policies that
the schools are doing is a mandatory
10-day uh suspension for any Mutual
fighting uh and then they started
consequences for anyone filming fights
and posting them to social media uh
those consequences depend on um what
they you know how much traction it got
Etc um but but it doesn't mean if they
film a fight and give it to a teacher
that they're that they're in trouble
they also implemented colorcoded
bathroom hall passes so the teachers the
SRO and the security officers can see
that if someone's wearing a blue pass
that means they should be going to the
blue bathroom as opposed to being on the
other side of Campus uh getting in
trouble then they're also monitoring
cameras outside of the bathroom to
visualize the number of kids getting
going into the um a certain bathroom so
if they see that a number of kids are
rushing into a bathroom that alerts the
sros and the security officers to send
someone in there to see if something's
happening next
slide and we got some statistics from
the uh 2022 school year to 2024 school
year so 2024 is actually 2023 to
2024 um it shows a number of assaults
fights threats and weapons assaults with
the definition uh being that they were
unprovoked it's one kid just hit and
another kid fights being mutually
decided that we're both going to fight
each other uh threats are threats of
course then weapons so it looks like
from 2020 202 4 2023 2024 school um Year
from assaults is down
177% um from the average fights are
unfortunately up
14% uh threats were down 14% and weapons
were down
150% um so these are just some of the
statistics that we've just started
taking a look at uh at that task force
also on another subject um our dementia
friendly initiative we're close to
officially turning into our turning in
our application hopefully we'll get that
done in the next week or so and then my
report for parks and wck wouldn't be
meeting without me doing my parks and W
report so what's blooming a desert sky
uh desert sky Park a community treasure
hunt want to be the first to know what's
blooming at Desert Sky Park beginning
September 1st we invite you to search
for hidden hidden gnomes painted rocks
and other surprises in the park these
Hidden Treasures were hold a QR code to
uncover exciting renderings and
amenities that are coming soon the hunt
will showcase the work of talented local
artists uh with new pieces new art
pieces being introduced every 10 days
the treasure hunt will take place from
September 1st to September 30th 2024 at
Desert Sky Park located on Power Road
between PCO in williamsfield roads thank
you thank you council member anyone else
have
comments no oh council member Tuson but
wait there's more uh as a reminder
tomorrow morning is the Heritage
District Meetup at 8 a.m. the Meetup is
a social Gathering organized in
partnership with the town of Gilbert and
the Gilbert chamber aimed at connecting
professionals operating within or around
the Heritage District it's not exclusive
to that if you wish to attend you can be
anyone one and you're encouraged to uh
this meeting will provide a behind
the-scenes tour of the active
construction site at Water Tower Plaza
prior to the plaza reopening this winter
more details can be found on the chamber
website at www.gilbertschools.net
Monday August 26th and information can
be found on the town's website under
board openings but if you have a chance
please come down tomorrow if nothing
else chew my ear off about something but
it'll be a it really turns out to be a
lot of a lot of fun and a lot of people
meet new people and you get to see
what's happening down there and so many
people don't know what's happening and
just to see it as it happens it's it's a
lot of fun so if you have time please
come down 8:00 a.m. tomorrow thank you
coun Tuson to follow up with what you
said it is um a construction site and
everybody has been encouraged to wear
closed toed shoes it is hot out women
tend to wear open toe shoes but I
thought you might wear closed toad shoes
but I thought looking at this open toad
Ensemble that okay I'll wear Steel Toad
for safe few reasons everyone needs to
wear closed toad shoes council member
Buckley um I I don't have any tourism
points today because it is August and no
one wants to come to Arizona right
now uh I do want to mention though that
uh I did a two-day conference through
the um uh
ASU uh Morrison Institute that for
Public Policy so it and was very very
interesting I I took away a particular
point which I'll I'll get in the end but
uh we went over they had incredible
speakers there from all different venues
but the main thing was the status of
housing affordable housing and then
groundwater those were the two main
issues that we discussed um quite
interesting uh I believe they're in the
middle of possibly expanding the AMA uh
you know that's the active water
management area and and you know it's
within a certain area and it's possible
it's going to get larger because
everything's
growing um the the interesting thing
about the water is they're you know
they're deciding who owns what and who
gets what allotment and everything and
uh but what the the thing that I thought
was quite amazing is they're now trying
to study uh who actually actually is
going to own Asma Astros what is let's
see the
Astros Spirit um water another
atmosphere water so when the water is
coming out of the rain you know out of
the cloud who who's going to own that
because you know it may there there's a
lot of water that falls in Colorado so
that's why we have the Colorado River
and we all share in that pay for it of
course but I thought that was quite
interesting that they're now trying to
decide how to determine who gets the
water that actually falls out of the
cloud and is it stay where it's at so
but the very very informative they're
trying to do talking a lot about
affordable housing and where that's
going right now versus Apartments is
affordable homes and there's rental home
community communities and I learned
during this that there is uh a rental
home Community being built in Gilbert
it's out I think out by Gateway
somewhere I don't know were you aware of
that we have several mental homes yeah
yeah so and what they are is there
smaller homes but it allows you know our
first-time home buyers and or our people
that are either trans transferring or
whatever to at least have a yard they
can have a yard for their dog a little
place for their kids to play so it was
quite informative and I've been to these
before so I I enjoy keeping up with
where we're going and what our future is
going to be and that is it for me today
thank you council member Buckley anyone
else seeing none report from the mayor
if I could
have see what slide you pull up first
June of course I have slides
that's wouldn't it wouldn't be like the
same so this is my last two weeks and I
just wanted to highlight a couple of
things that um I was reappointed to the
seven member Maricopa Association of
governments executive committee which I
appreciate the appointment by my peers
on the mag Regional Council which is
made up of 34 members across the region
and to continue the opportunity to serve
on this committee um the executive
committee handles the business of the
Regional Council that arises in between
meetings and also serves as the finance
committee and as you can see it's been
getting busier the last few days as we
get into mid August and moving into
September our schedules will definitely
pick up from here Friday I attended the
East Valley Chambers of Commerce annual
luncheon with presidents of the chambers
chamber board me um chamber board
presidents and then intergovernmental
directors Rob boore attended with me and
Mayors from Carefree Cave Creek
Scottdale Tempe Queen Creek Mesa
Chandler Pache Junction and Gilbert and
one of the topics that we discussed was
also affordable housing and how can
Mayors affect that and um a lot of it
really comes down to it's Market driven
and if you have the same house in two
different cities in the East Valley and
the West Valley you're going to see a
difference of over $100,000 and some of
that is the cost of land because the
East Valley is a very popular place to
be and so it's very difficult for us to
make a difference when it comes down to
Market driven items June do you want to
put up the stock the classroom stock the
classroom finished up this last week and
all of these locations served as
locations that you could drop drop off
anything that you were donating to this
drive and um SanTan Village even donated
$2,500 check that they came in with on
Friday I stopped by there as students
from as I like to call it Gilbert
Chandler Community College were there
separating all of the items they they
take every every box and package that
comes in and they separate it out and
they literally count all the boxes of
crayons all of the notebooks everything
that's donated and then they separate
those out into boxes to go out to the
two districts Gilbert district and
Higley District next slide June and they
collected $18,000 worth of supplies that
equates to if you see here on the notes
7,792 pencils 112 back packs 222 spiral
notebooks highlighters everything that
students can use but this isn't a drive
that goes directly to the students this
drive takes it to the districts and puts
it in their warehouse space so that when
teacher teachers need these items they
can ask for them and bring them into
their classrooms an average teacher
spends over $500 out of their own salary
for their classrooms each year so this
is to help them um is that is that all
my slides that's all my slides um then
Friday night I attended the
williamsfield high school meet the team
night um assistant chief angstead was
there from the Gilbert Police Department
we did a little selfie with some
football players the team does this
every year and they invite people in
from the community to attend and they
introduce every member of the dance team
the Pep Squad the the cheerleading
squads and there are well over 100
football players between freshman JV and
varsity and every kid gets to say their
name and introduce themselves and it's a
lot of fun it is hotter than blazes in
that Fieldhouse but and they've
definitely outgrown the space and need a
new sound system we talked about that
Friday night but the coach is amazing
and it's just a fun opportunity that on
Saturday we joined the members of
Gilbert Fire and Rescue along with their
families and some members of the Gilbert
Police leadership team they School
shopped with 52 kiddos from our Gilbert
district schools um Patrick shopped with
Rich Ganley and one young lady and her
mom I watched them pick up at least
three pairs of shoes I was looking at
them and um Shane McCord Dr McCord from
G Public Schools was there and I it's
just such a heartwarming event to
witness every year and I will say that
the smiles on the people shopping were
bigger than the smiles on the kids faces
if that's possible but it's just really
lovely to see and we had a very special
young lady who is the daughter of a
deputy chief with the Gilbert Fire
Department Whitney Connor who also ran
her own fundraiser she's in high school
she ran her own fundraiser and was
interviewed by Fox 10 and Man She
interviewed better than I do on TV I I
really was so impressed by her um her
parents were standing by watching her
and I couldn't help but get a tear in my
own eye just watching this young lady
and and how amazing she was I see
Chief's face back there and yeah thank
you Chief it's it's an amazing it's an
amazing event every year and I have to
give a shout out to Jean sperky because
she just does an amazing job putting
together but everyone else that came out
Saturday morning Debbie Dana the the
town manager's assistant was there chief
duin's wife was one of the people
checking people in and and just an
amazing opportunity and then this
afternoon before we came down for our
first meeting I had a visit from member
of our Hindu and Indian Community that
came and gave a few of us these lovely
tied on bracelets to recognize Universal
Oneness day I'm not going to or try to
even pronounce what that really means to
the Hindu Community I would never be
able to say it but for them it resonates
with one of the core ethos of Hinduism
and it means that the entire world is
one family and I thought that was a Leva
first to end this evening so can I have
a motion to adjourn I make a motion to
adjourn thank you second
all in favor I meeting adjourned