Study Session - 4/16/2024 5:00:00 PM

e
e
e e
good evening everyone welcome to the
Gilbert Town Council study session for
April 16th 2024 I will call this meeting
to order we have just a couple of items
on our agenda this evening discussion
and presentation of the Northwest
Gilbert Redevelopment and revitalization
public Outreach and I see Amanda Elliott
headed to the podium to present to us hi
Amanda hi good evening mayor and Council
I am thrilled to be here talking about
Northwest Gilbert's revitalization
efforts this
evening and as soon as the presentation
comes up we'll walk you through what
we've been up to since we saw you in
January so across the United States
there are many examples of the rise and
fall of Great American cities and as
such Gilbert has made a long-term
commitment to ensuring that areas in
Gilbert break the cycle of decline there
are many terms used for tools that break
the cycle so revitalization
Redevelopment reinvestment but what does
this actually mean the best way we can
describe it and the easiest way to
understand is to liken it to Home
Ownership homes need ongoing maintenance
to ensure that they do not become in a
state of disrepair and this Northwest
Gilbert effort utilizes data and public
feedback to determine how and where
Gilbert should focus its reinvestment
efforts um in the most mature portion of
the community another way to look at
reinvestment is to consider home
renovations over time you may find that
you want to update your kitchen or your
restroom um we think of this in relation
to Northwest in ideas like updating
street street Scapes or infrastructure
improvements or even new and enhanced
Park
amenities in 2014 business Outreach and
public feedback signaled that Northwest
Gilbert was reaching maturity at the
time Council instructed staff to begin
monitoring data in relation to Northwest
gilberg and so over the years staff has
continued to monitor data Trends and of
course interface with the public with
business owners and property owners and
bring in Industry experts like the Urban
Land Institute to determine the optimal
time for reinvestment and revitalization
effort based on the data and the
Outreach the time is now the area is
vitally important to the community as it
holds over 20% of the jobs in Gilbert
particularly those related to science
technology engineering and math
occupations within the two boundary
options or within two of the boundary
options excuse me the area also captures
neighborhood and aging neighborhood
commercial centers we know that this
area has a significant number of
homeowners who have owned their homes
since they were built and we want to
ensure that this area remains a vibrant
place to live work and play and that the
Investments that both our residents and
businesses and Gilbert as a community
have made continue to remain strong like
other Redevelopment efforts the town has
undergone an extensive Outreach process
everything from online surveys to
business walks um inperson meetings
virtual open houses um we've had one
oneon-one meetings and have gone and met
with HOA neighborhoods and we continue
to engage the public um we estimate that
we've met with or reached about 10 um
around 10,000 people over this time
frame um and our email list just in the
last few months since we met with you in
January has grown by over 300 additional
subscribers so that's
great um we are hearing a lot of great
public feedback just that they're
excited to see that we're driving this
project that we're reinvesting in this
really important area in the
community um but we know that the legal
requirements and terminologies all the
data and Technical jargon can be really
complic licated especially when it comes
to Redevelopment so we created a website
landing page and that answers a myriad
of questions in the FAQ section and then
in the background section we also have
um the last five years of public
presentations available
online we also have a Northwest Gilbert
map and we've asked the public to
contribute pins of specific
Redevelopment and revitalization
opportunities they'd like to report so
we are beginning to respond to all of
these pins and this remains
active we've had two committees um
throughout um this engagement effort one
an internal stakeholder committee
comprised of all departments across the
town and a second of an external
stakeholder Committee compris of the
groups that you see on this
slide but again Redevelopment um as
we've been talking with the public they
often think of it as um just essentially
demolishing an area and rebuilding a new
and we've really had to work to help
people understand that it's really a
process or a tool that addresses
Environmental economic social and
physical
conditions in in the state of Arizona
the state provides a toolbox for
redevelopment that a municipality may
may utilize in a designated area and
these tools are meant to Aid in the
prevention of or elimination of signs of
decline the statute allows for access to
this toolbox for uh a period of 10 years
so long as the community has a
community-driven plan for reinvestment
in place so right now we are in that
defining where we want to focus our
efforts portion or defining that
boundary and the best way to look at
this is to say first do we agree that
this area needs reinvestment and if yes
where are we going to focus at
reinvestment I know that we are all
really excited to talk about the goals
and the strategies and the tools that we
can tap into and that comes later after
the adoption of the area so our hope
would that be that if we move forward
with a boundary in this fiscal year we
can come forth to begin creating those
strategies and those goals with the
community this
fall um we also like to share you know
what is Redevelopment and what is it not
um Redevelopment is really one of the
most effective ways to Breathe new life
into an area that has signs of social
physical environmental or economic
conditions that lead to decline and so
you can see here it does a lot of things
it um it enhances quality of life it
provides flexibility um allows us to
access more tools creates equitability
for mature areas meaning that this area
that may feel as if it's forgotten as we
look at some of the comments from our p
uh our public Outreach um receives a
fresh look at it it helps us prioritize
our Capital Improvement projects
increases property values um engages
Property Owners um but I really want to
focus on what it will not do because
this has been the biggest question so
I've had a lot of people ask well does
that mean that my property will be you
know specified as an area that needs
Redevelopment or my neighborhood and it
is not it doesn't operate like that it
operates to say this area within this
boundary is again seeking to either
prevent signs of decline or eliminate
decline from happening um finally the
the other item that most people have
asked about is instituting zoning change
we know that the community is hyperfocus
and and concerned about multif family
zoning and we have shared with them that
um regardless of if you're in a
Redevelopment area or not private
property owners have the ability to come
forward and seek a rezoning through the
town of Gilbert's already established
process we have an example of a
Redevelopment area already in Gilbert so
the downtown Heritage District which is
our original Town site acts as an
entertainment district and the
community's living room it is a
designated Redevelopment area and based
on its designation we've seen a
community-driven vision a commitment to
character that that ensures downtown
feels authentically Gilbert we've seen a
reduction in neglect we've seen
increased reinvestment increased
property values whereby the properties
in downtown are surpassing their full
cash value per acre surpass the
properties within a 5 minute drive time
of downtown um and we've also seen
increase sales tax revenue generation
and so for the public that's really
important because it helps offset
service costs like our police our fire
and our Parks um but I want to be clear
that what's been the focus in the
Heritage District as an Entertainment
District and as the community living
room and the communities downtown is not
the same Focus for Northwest Northwest
is its own unique area uh we talked
about the importance of employment the
residential and the supporting
neighborhood commercial in the area we
want to celebrate what makes Northwest
Gilbert unique and not mirror the
downtown density or
entertainment as part of the designation
process for a Redevelopment area the
town must provide data that signifies
the need for redel velopment and access
to the Redevelopment tool the state
outlines nine findings of data which the
municipality must demonstrate that it
has a combination thereof so in essence
it says you don't have to have all nine
findings but you have to demonstrate
which of these signify your need to
either um eliminate or prevent maturing
signs of
decline we have presented three boundary
options um to the public and had a
really uh excellent dialogue with
everyone um first want to just mention
that the Heritage District um as noted
here is not included it is its own
Redevelopment area um so we have the
Northwest employment growth area
outlined in blue um it's a large
concentration of employment and that's
why the boundary is drawn as this kind
of abnormal shape because it's really a
contiguous area of employment um with
one residential neighborhood located
within it but then we look at the
Northwest connect boundary that takes us
again from Arizona Avenue to Burke and
starts to capture some of the
residential and the Aging neighborhood
commercial and then we look at the most
mature portion of U I'm Excuse me most
mature properties in Gilbert so the
Lindsay boundary again from Arizona
Avenue to Lindsay and those options
assist even more property owners in
revitalizing and reinvesting in their
property we asked the
public um where would you like us to
focus our efforts and 33% said the
Northwest employment area 48% said
connect and 19% said Lindsay um we want
to note that in our interaction in
dialogue with the public they also
shared with us that it was really hard
for them to select an option that was
not their own neighborhood and an area
that they really knew and understood the
needs for um and so we had people um
within the Lindsay boundary say I really
hope you'll consider this because we see
the benefits that this could provide and
so we are um recommending the Lindsay
boundary we're going to walk through the
data and the why we're recommending it
um and then we'll have a discussion
about it um so Northwest has incredible
attributes there's absolutely no D doubt
about that it's the densest employment
Corridor in terms of amount of people
employed it has 2.7% of the town's
employment um relatively low vacancy
rates for industrial and it's home to
Major
employers but it also has some
challenges it's got aging infrastructure
in this area absentee owners vacant
infos sites and one of the interesting
dialogues we've heard um from the public
is that there it feels like there's no
defined character for Northwest
particularly as you have Mesa bound uh
Mesa bordering to the north and Chandler
on the
west so let's look at the data um great
news the retail vacancy in this area is
relatively low and that's trending with
the community so that's excellent news
as we look at industrial it it's an even
better outlook for Northwest so
Northwest has approximately 1% vacancy
rate for industrial compared to 5% with
entire
Community um where we see challenges in
this area is certainly around office
vacancy I don't think that that's a
surprise to anyone given the change in
office um depending on the boundary it's
between 15 to 21% whereby the community
is around 11.5% vacancy rates
um the the leading factor in this just
so that the public understands um we um
we have you know a tremendous amount of
industrial in this area that was
transitioned to office over time and
then of course Co hit and we know um how
the change and use um of these buildings
has affected that and so you know we
have opportunity
here we are thrilled that this area
loves their Parks uh McQueen District
park and Activity Center is one of the
top five visited Parks throughout all of
Gilbert and as we begin to dig into you
know the data even further we look at
Gilbert Parcels built by year so on this
slide you'll see um the yellow and the
orange parcels and then that um NE
boundary and Lindsay boundary really
captures the most properties built
before 1990 in fact out of all of
Gilbert's properties built before 1990
the Lindsay boundary captures
58.8% we also looked at HooHa and Nona
neighborhoods not to say that one is
better than the other but just simply
that we know that there are differing
needs in these areas and of all of the
non-hoa neighborhoods the Lindsay B
boundary captures 28% of those
neighborhoods we also look at um vacant
Parcels this just signifies that this
area is already built out so there's um
opportunity for adaptive reuse of
buildings but there was an interesting
stat that showed up in our um analysis
that shows that there is some some
shrinking population this is less than
1% this is for both the connect boundary
and um the growth boundary and um we we
want to do some more research on what
that declining population means you know
is it really just um students growing up
and leaving the nest and and moving on
and if so how do we recapture them so
that they come back to
Gilbert we looked at 311 calls for
service so these are our Code Compliance
calls um on the left you see all of the
calls and then we did a heat map on the
right uh connect and Lindsay boundaries
had a parking trash and street lights
within their top five but they also had
water efficiency located within their
top five that one's pretty particularly
interesting because it means um a
property owner calls the city and says
hey my water bill is higher than normal
can you come out and help me understand
why that may be happening if we think
about again the age of the properties
that we're capturing within that Lindsay
boundary that would make a lot of sense
as our infrastructure um Even in our
homes um ages and then we looked at the
Northwest employment had uh road hazards
within its top five so that's different
from the other two
boundaries uh one of the data sets that
we had mentioned those nine findings of
necessity um include um uh properties
with a foreclosure history so we look
again at all of the properties in
Gilbert that have had a foreclosure
history 22% fall within Lindsay again
from Arizona Avenue to Lindsay and
Baseline array um 18 within connect and
1% in the employment area and then we
also looked at fiber optic connection
not to suggest that Gilbert wants to be
in the build business of building fiber
optic but when we think about 20% of
jobs being located in this area and
we've got 17.8% connection to fiber
optic whereby Gilbert as a whole has 21%
um and is leading we we really want to
tap into you know what do our businesses
need in this area to ensure that they
continue to be
successful we finally looked at um some
demographic information and so again we
looked at the entire population of
Gilbert out of the entire population of
Gilbert that is 65 plus 2% of them live
within the employment growth area
uh 19% live within the connect
boundary and 22% live within the Lindsay
boundary this signifies to us again that
there are individuals in this area that
may have differing needs that we should
be aware of and then we also looked at
households with disabilities for each
one of these boundaries the uh
employment growth area had 2% of um all
Gilbert households with disabilities
located within it the uh connect
boundary had 20%
and the Lindsay boundary had 25% of all
of Gilbert's households with
disabilities located within there um
this really tracks with the top five
police calls for service which was
welfare check again we're trying to
understand what what can we bring to the
table when we get to that goal setting
portion that can help individuals who
may be on a fixed income to continue to
reinvest in their own properties and
then we of course looked at the income
profile and while these are um great
Medan household incomes they are under
100,000 in um two of the boundary
options but even more um this particular
area of Gilbert applies more than 30% of
its income to its housing which
signifies to us that there's less
disposable income and again how can we
begin to help as we're revitalizing this
area so again we're not in that goals
and uh strategies portion but we have
heard from um residents and businesses
in the area and so we were inspired by a
number of business programs programs
like popups that fill uh vacant spaces
or grass removal and Water Conservation
strategies um we're going to highlight
two for you just so you can get a feel
for um some examples that we're seeing
so nationally facade renovation or
Improvement programs are a best practice
and in Mesa in 2022 they instituted a
program that allocated $5 million um
we've had some questions about how are
reinvestment projects funded and there
again this is part of that goals and
strategies portion would be working with
the community and Council and certainly
staff to determine that but they um
utilize their Community Development
block grant funds and American Rescue
act funds in order to fund the facade
Improvement programs and then there are
a number of neighborhood neighboring
cities Chandler Phoenix Queen Creek and
Tempe who also have um a facade
Improvement
program we also heard that uh the
business community and residents alike
um you know really want us to have a a
focus on safety and eliminating
loitering in this area in Arvada
Colorado instituted a crime and safety
program that assists property owners and
adding things like security enhancement
so like lighting or closed circuit um
cameras in an effort to minimize that
trespassing and lawyering the effort was
administered in conjunction with the
police department they set aside $3
million um from their Federal pandemic
relief funds but require that any
investment in this has to be a matching
fund from the private um owner property
owner so again not to suggest that those
are the things that we're going to do
but things that we're inspired
by um and like business programs we've
been inspired by a number of potential
residential programs as
well H in hearing from the community
Lori Goro and our Code Compliance team
POS the idea for a community Tool Shed
program and purchasing tools for a home
or uh yard Improvement can be costly to
an individual but low cost to a city um
and this could be potentially funded
from something like eneral funds um that
would provide tools for Neighbors
seeking to complete landscaping or home
repairs they'd be able to rent out this
uh Tool Shed uh neighboring cities that
already have this in place include
Chandler Mesa Phoenix Scottsdale and
Tempe we were also inspired by
Scottsdale's operation Fixit which helps
homeowners in a myriad of ways including
front facade upkeep and front yard weed
mitigation uh this program is fully
funded by financial and in-kind
donations so again we can see that
there's a trend and an opportunity to
really diversify our funding source and
then the purpose again is not to not to
suggest that we're in the stage of
developing goals and strategies now um
we have we do have um significant public
feedback that allows us to work with the
public to examine these opportunities
determine funding sources and then
identify which tools of the from the
Redevelopment tool box like public
private Partnerships uh may help us and
assist in achieving those goals
so where are we in the process uh we saw
you all in January and you gave us the
the go-ahead to begin interacting with
the public to seek their their feedback
on a boundary and we are providing a
boundary recommendation again just
hearing from um the public we are um and
looking at the data Trend we're
recommending the Lindsay
boundary and we're recommending this
because it does not split
neighborhoods um the boundary is only
18% of the total planning land area but
it captures nearly 30% of Gilbert's
non-a neighborhoods IT addresses nearly
60% of Gil Gilbert's aging properties 40
plus years old uh we heard one of the
number one requests was walkability and
bikability and this area provides that
opportunity for more connectivity as you
look at the power line Trail and the
canal it reaches the greatest number of
individuals on a fixed income with tools
and services and provides the most
opportunities to solve for calls for
service so with that um as I mentioned
we're recommending Lindsay and look
forward to your thoughts and and having
a dialogue here with
you thank you Amanda great presentation
we appreciate all the work you've put
into this and I especially appreciate
your enthusiasm I know this has been a
long time coming and I had some
conversations with residents at that
last open house that said well you keep
saying it's been 10 years but we started
we stopped we started we stopped we
started so this hasn't been going on for
a solid 10-year period any questions
comments for Amanda at this time council
member tilki thank you mayor great job
Amanda thank you for the presentation
and for all the hard work you and your
department have put
into meeting our residents where they
are and we've given so many
opportunities to get back and we'll
continue to do that um I
I I think that was my main message uh I
I'm supportive of the uh Lindsay
boundary so I'll just leave it at that
for now thank you
mayor any other comments council member
Buckley uh I just want to say I'm
obviously very supportive of adding the
Lindy boundary as well and I am
extremely excited about this
revitalization for this community I mean
this whole area so I'm definitely in
support council member
Kowski thank you Amanda um I also
support the Lindsay boundary for the
Northwest revitalization and just wanted
to indicate that the
from from this from the town's purview
the streetcape and building that into
our CIP projects I think is going to be
um an important element to make sure
that we're also doing our part in um
enhancing ing that area maintaining it
um and I know that I believe we we
already do have some of that
incorporated into the Guadalupe Road
Project and upcoming for the U McQueen
and Elli intersection project so just
want to make sure that we keep that
momentum going and and making sure that
we're we are doing our part to um invest
in in that area of town as well thank
you counc member torguson I just want to
say thanks because being read into this
about 10 years ago as you started the
project and to see it grow is great but
I would love for you to explain to some
people why Lindsay ends up being a
preferred boundary because of the
neighborhoods and things like that I
think that's important for some people
because this this is the biggest
investment most people have in their
lives and it's it's something important
and the uh the last meeting was great I
mean the turnout was fantastic I I was
stunned and maybe if we can continue
that a little bit because it's so
important to so many people and be able
to capitalize on this for themselves as
well as for the community so if we can
but if we can give a little explanation
as to why the uh Lindsay B boundary
showing as a preferable boundary be
great thank you mayor council member
torguson um one question uh for
clarification would you like me to go
back to our reasons tonight or would you
like this to be um as we continue to do
some online engagement and promotion
that we um
probably in the future because I yes
thank you very much thank you council
member Bon gavani thank you mayor um
great presentation I know you guys um I
don't want to use a pun but dug in deep
and um uh did a lot of work on this and
this was kind of my first I wasn't
involved 10 years of this but I was
really impressed with what jior team
have come up with so far looking forward
to it council member do you have a
preference to the boundary oh thank you
yeah Lindsay's f with me support that
thank you I'm just trying to thank you
vice mayor
Anderson thank you Amanda and Dan um you
know the city of the future initiative
that we've been working on for years
this fits perfectly with that and it's
IT addresses a situation that Patrick's
talked about many times and I know I
feel strongly about also is the Natural
Evolution that communities go through
and we want to make sure that we
maintain our quality of life in Gilbert
and that's the city of the future and
ISS itive and this fits perfectly with
it and I'm very supportive of that
Lindsay
boundary thank you vice mayor um I
always like to point out when we talk
about the city of the future we're not
trying to turn the town of Gilbert into
a city because that's always a bone of
contention with our residents but it is
focused on making sure that this town
doesn't become a city that we've seen in
the past go downhill we're trying to
make sure that we've learned from other
cities mistakes in the past and do
what's best for our community to move
move us into the future and forward I
always like to point that out when it
gets brought up because we hear from
folks all the time um I'm I'm really um
infavor of the Lindsay boundary too and
Amanda we met recently and I like the
idea of the Lindsay boundary for several
reasons but most of all because it is
the cleanest boundary that we look at
when we're looking at all three choices
and it's so easy for me to say Baseline
the ray Arizona to Lindsay right the
only point that Lindsay even has a tiny
curve is Still lindsy Road up to
Baseline and so I really appreciate that
I think it's going to be much easier and
cleaner for the future and um I love the
things that you're pointing out with
when you're doing these surveys of the
property you're looking at all
properties you're including commercial
properties and um and and family
Residential Properties and everything
included when you're doing all of the
statistical data that you're including
into this so the the only question that
I had for you the other day was and I
don't know that we need to work it out
today but um Lindsay on the east side of
Lindsay there are a few homes that face
the road and they're single family homes
I don't believe they're part of
neighborhoods so we need to decide if
it's the center line of Lindsay or are
we going to include the East boundary of
Lindsay Road because those are the only
folks that I would be concerned of I
live off a lindsy road so I pass those
homes all the time and I think we need
to determine that as we're determine the
the final outcome great yeah any other
comments or questions did you get what
you need Amanda mayor council members
yes I did thank you so much I just want
to share one other quick item um because
I want the public to hear what our next
steps are so post study session we will
be sending out an email um seeking
feedback of course this is our
opportunity to dialogue but if there are
thoughts or ideas that the public has
post this meeting we would love to hear
them and so there'll be an online
feedback form both on our landing page
gilbertaz.gov NW Gilbert and then for
those on the email list and then our our
hope is to be before you in June for the
boundary adoption and then back with the
public to start really digging into
those goals and strategies um in the
fall uh August and September time frame
so thanks thanks for pointing out
because the other thing that we heard at
that last meeting that was so well
attended was um they they felt like the
decisions had already been made we have
not made any decisions and tonight even
we're just offering more feedback we're
not voting on anything at a study
session so this still has a lot of time
to go through more of a process and to
hear from the public too yes thank you
thank you mayor thank you council
members thank
you have a great rest of your night um
the next item on our agenda is
dis all right uh good evening uh mayor
and councel Robert carono Parks and
Recreation uh director um so tonight's
really a continuation from our
discussion in December on the uh
wildlife feeding ordinances and and at
the time we we did a little bit of the
history of of what they currently stated
what some of the rules and stipulations
are and then we asked Council what
they'd be interested in us looking into
uh for the future so tonight's really
taking your feedback um proposing an
option or two that that may meet that
and and see if we're on the right track
as as we uh try to reach the next steps
in the process so just to kind of start
off um really when we talked about
wildlife feeding it all really started
from the trap neuter and return um
program and and just a reminder that is
allowed on private property for the
ordinances and we'll review the
ordinances here in a minute uh but not
allowed on town on property uh per the
ordinance the initial uh wildlife
feeding ordinance uh just again going
back into the into history was in 2015
this really focused on not being able to
feed Wildlife at The reparan Preserve um
with those those following
stipulations and then in 2018 um it went
from not only the repairing preserve but
any of the town-owned properties along
with public right
away when we did come to Council on
December 12th uh feedback from Council
at that meeting was um to continue uh
that it would not be allowed on public
property or town own RightWay but look
for options uh that could potentially be
assisted with private property um and
ask us to research potential options for
assistance to allow Community to provide
those Services um on the private
property through nonprofit assistance so
with that we really looked at it and say
what would what would be a goal of a
program like that and it's really to
make sure that we're you know managing
and reducing the the population humanly
and effectively along with with uh being
able to make sure we're we're not
impacting the areas that that we're uh
looking
into with that um a couple of potential
items uh that we looked at was the town
already has a nonprofit assistance
program where we could look at utilizing
where nonprofits could request
assistance through that program um but
something to keep in mind is that
program was based on the service needs
assessment um with those 10 categories
that were important to the town um so
identifying additional funding that
could potentially go into that program
uh would be an action item that we could
look into for for a future meeting and
if that was um the direction we could
also look to add information to the
website to direct customers to those
nonprofits so they know uh which
nonprofits they could go to to receive
that TNR system
um on their property if we did not want
to use the town assistance program we
could also create a new assistance
program uh which would be designed in a
in a similar way um where we could um
directly work with nonprofits uh
providing those TNR Services um but we'd
still need to look for an allocation of
funds onto how we'd like to to do that
and I I'll get into that a little bit uh
later some of the elig eligibility
requirements these are um not set in
stone these were more just you know
options that we would consider and
looking at um mainly you know that we
are working with an organization that's
a 501c3 or or similar with a nonprofit
of a track record of implementing those
programs um knowing that those programs
already have the you know local
veterinarians and Clinics for those
neutering services and permission from
the property owners where they'd be uh
taking place uh the TNR activities um
along with just understanding the the
staff being uh trained and we know
that's mostly volunteer
um who take their their time and efforts
to to provide the
program we could consider uh one-year
pilot program so looking at that um you
know choosing an allocated uh funding
amount for a one-year pilot where we
could um provide assistance to those
nonprofits providing those services and
then being able to uh have those
nonprofits provide those reports back at
the end of the year at a at a different
uh whether it's every other month every
six months um looking at potential
options how that would would work best
so that we can understand um you know
how many cats may have been trapped
neutered returned what those populations
are looking like um and some of the
success stories along the way so that we
can better allocate for for future
years with that that's kind of what
we're we're presenting here tonight just
for um conversation to make sure we are
going down the right path and if you you
wanted us to look at any other different
directions um along with if you were
interested is there any recommended
amounts or or areas those allocations
could come
from questions yeah thank you any um
questions comments for Robert at this
time council member tilki thank you
mayor Robert um I think that you've
looked at some of the other communi um
ordinances and programs
um I I like the funding for the
nonprofits so um but I want to make sure
we go a little further than that
one I want to make sure that the
nonprofits that we um partner with have
commitment to respond in a timely manner
and so we'll want to track that and make
sure that they have the expertise and I
think you mentioned that briefly but I
think that timely response is what going
to be really important um I'm and I
don't know what the normal cost is but
you know I for a year I'm willing to
start out at $10,000
and put it in a fund for the pilot
program um set up the the nonprofit I'm
sure we have to have some agreements or
whatever that is with it um and what our
tracking mechanism and um our um
methodology of how we're going to um
determine if it's successful um with
that needs to be an education program
because I think that working with HOAs
and and neighborhoods is going to to be
a key component component of that as
well so we want to make sure that the
whether it's an individual resident or
an HOA that they know exactly who to get
in touch with and that it will be
handled quickly so I know that's a lot
but I just want to make sure if we're
going to do this that those pieces are
part of it as well thank
you vice mayor Anderson Robert do you
have any idea how many nonprofits there
are out there would be competing for
dollar that may impact how much we're
willing to do yeah uh mayor council M
Anderson I think that you know we've had
uh you know contact originally you know
six months a year ago with a lot of
nonprofits I think there's a lot of
nonprofits providing those services that
are very dedicated to it and have
trained volunteers um I know of just you
know four to five off the top of my head
that um you know we would reach out to
and consider start you know working with
but part of it would be if we are
interested in that program we would
reach out to those nonprofits first have
those conversations understand how that
best way to make a program would be we
just didn't want to get too far ahead
not knowing what the full direction from
Council would be but that would uh and
council member tilky to your point as
well we would want to walk through all
those steps make sure we have all that
ironed out and really understand from
the agencies the nonprofits what's
worked best for them what works best for
Gilbert and find a way to to merge both
those worlds for the for the most
successful program but wanted to make
sure we had this conversation with
Council first
council member
kosi hi Robert um I had a couple
questions would do do you anticipate
this program being available to um
residents of Gilbert whether the
wildlife was on public property or
private property close yeah uh mayor
Peterson Council mosy the idea would be
that we would work with those nonprofits
to know that assistance would be
available only on the private property
but that's based on the direction from
Council that we had at the last um study
sessions um so that's how we would
devise the program or at least those um
those partnership agreements great thank
you council member
Buckley hi Robert hi um I only have one
question and that is who
will be taking the reports in other
words who's going to administer this
will will you assign someone will that
be your department or yeah that's a
great question so I don't think we've
ironed that part particularly out yet
but um my department would probably take
the lead in sort of setting up the
program uh work with the manager's
office and the other departments in town
to figure out where that best long-term
fit is and what makes the most sense for
community members and nonprofits to work
with um so while I don't have exactly
the processor who would run it I would
know that we'd follow this sort of same
game plan and and help get it to a point
where we feel it could move forward as
an official program okay and and the
funds that the town will put in there if
let's say the 10,000 that
uh council member tokki
suggested who who
will be looking at that budget and where
that those funds go and yes no we'll
we'll have to uh work with the team on
that obviously I know the budget is is a
process that's that's already happening
right now and a lot of conversations are
taking place so we'd have to work as a
team and and with our uh budget office
and executive team uh to find out what
makes the most sense unfortunately the
timing of bringing this back with some
of the other study sessions recently
couldn't quite line up so we're
uh push back a little bit but we would
work with the teams to to see if there's
any uh reasonable options understanding
where where council's preference that
allocation dollar amount would be okay
thank you no problem council member Bon
gavani thank you mayor uh
Robert um I like the ideas that everyone
has said so far in the suggestions but I
need to I I need to come back to square
zero again do does a town know how much
of a problem this is do we have counts
estimations yeah mayor pet Peterson
Council Bon Jani we do not track that as
as as a town or as a department into
colonies or or numbers okay I mean
before if we commit to any dollar amount
it's hard to do that without having some
data um I know in the last year I've
been asking people that are pro feeding
and against feeding to invite me to a
feeding let me see exactly what we're
looking at because that might determine
otherwise we're just I think we're just
throwing numbers in the air right 10,000
may be way too much it may be not enough
but we don't know what the problem is
cuz there hasn't been any kind of data
to show for it yeah and I think that's
probably one of the reasons why we
looked at it as a one-year pilot program
because I think part of that agreement
with some of the nonprofits who are who
are experts and sort of tracking what
those Colony numbers may be and being
able to provide the reports it gives us
a better idea in some of those areas
what those colonies or numbers may look
like and then be able to create the the
data sets to be able to to have that for
future years but um I don't think our
team would have that you know um right
off right off the bat but I I do feel
that um if we wanted to start a program
that would be part of it was to be able
to to track that and use some of our our
data statistics to understand that a
little bit better as we approach counil
on future years okay thank
you C May
Buckley um you answered most of what I
was going to ask but
on and you said we're not tracking
anything but I know there are groups out
there that are are um trying to do the
best they
can is there any certain area or have
you guys filled phone calls from certain
areas more so than others yeah Council I
think it's a great question so typically
Parks and Recreation probably doesn't
field those calls directly when it comes
to HOAs or or private areas or um it's
not a call we regularly receive in
relation to any of our Parks or
facilities um but knowing that I think
when we would start those conversations
uh we have heard from the community um
previously that there are certain areas
that that may be you know worse than
others um like I said I don't have all
the locations mapped out but that
they've expressed interest in before uh
it just hasn't been something that that
we typically track in in our in our
business but I do think that when we
start working with them we would
understand where those areas are and I
think through a through an assistance
program may be able to track that better
for for future years and understand
where some of those zones may
be and I think if the community and and
the HOAs and if we have an education
program they would be requesting those
services with those nonprofits directly
um to kind of understand the the needs
based in some of those
areas okay so so
you haven't got I haven't particular you
don't particularly know any areas or
have you disc maybe with some of the
groups how many they have um you know
taken in and taken care of and brought
back or just nothing I think we don't
particularly have those numbers or track
those areas but I know once we start
talking to the nonprofits more if that's
of interest to have that data I we would
have those conversations and be able to
provide those because I do know that
that's something that uh the groups
track um and and keep record of okay
okay thank you council member tilki
thank thanks mayor um I agree with the
comments from council member Bon javani
I think my intent was maybe uh not to
exceed a a certain amount as we go
through the pilot program what I by
putting a number out there it would
eliminate the need for them to come
back every month or so and ask us for
permission to give money out and so I
think that's where I was going with and
that may be too much or too little but I
think if we could at least agree on an
amount to start um if it's not enough
they could come back partway through the
program um as they collect all the data
um and I think at this point just giving
direction
um Robert um if we give direction to
move forward on the comments that were
made tonight do you feel that by
reaching out to the nonprofits you might
have a better idea of that number when
you actually bring it back for approval
or is it better to have not to exceed an
amount for you to work at from the
beginning yeah uh mayor and Council I
really feel like you know we the goal is
really to take in the information and
understand some of the direction and
feedback and I think the comments that
you've provided for us and some of the
things you'd be looking for and some of
the results and data sets and and how
you'd like to see that done we can use
that to make more of an official program
and have that lined out a little clear
we just didn't want to jump too far
ahead
um in terms of a number um you know I
think that's a reasonable number to
start out with to and not to exceed in
in a pilot program but with that being
said um I think that would be good for
tonight but we will start having those
conversations with the groups and make
sure to share um a little more detail
and and make sure that's an appropriate
amount uh but we would we would
formulate a much more succinct you know
lined up L up program before before it
began vice mayor I think that'd be
important because there are certain
costs that like the Vets cost and things
like that that we need to get a good
handle on um because that would kind of
determine how much you we could make
available I think to a nonprofit I think
also that it's good to hear that you're
talking about involving the HOAs there
are many HOAs and neighborhoods that are
not HOAs that um have cap populations in
them and they have an opinion and we
need to hear their opinions also
thank
you thanks for all the comments Roberts
um I think it's important to have a a
number out there so that we have an
expectation and to allow you as staff to
have an expectation to work with I I was
looking at this from a perspective of
parks and wreck not having to run a
program but maybe we do it the way we do
with our other nonprofits and have a
couple of groups apply to the town like
Melanie handles for us every single year
so you have a couple of nonprofits appli
to the town we choose those those
nonprofits to work strictly with
gilbertt residents on these issues and
then they keep track of all of the tnrs
they're seeing everything that they're
seeing throughout the year as part of
this pilot program I really want to try
and take this out of park hands and not
make this a situation where you're
having to allocate to individual HOAs or
to individual residents or to an
individual group I think it's important
to maybe make it a little bit more
succinct that I I think it would be
easier for you and I think it would be
easier to track yeah mayor I think
that's a great comment I think that was
our overall intention and goal is that
that assistance program would go
directly to the nonprofits and then we
would educate the community on how to
reach out to those nonprofits and
establish those relationships and I
think from a how the town runs it we
we'll work as a team and and with the
executive team and management to
understand you know what that best
process moving forward I think that's
very helpful to understand from from
Council and uh we appreciate that I
don't want to reinvent in the wheel like
we are already doing a process like this
let's maybe use the same process for a
different topic right that's what I was
thinking add it to those topics yeah
yeah add it to those topics exactly
because we we do this for um The
Heritage Center we do it with House of
Refuge we do it with Ascend we we
already do this with nonprofits for
other topics for our residents to me
it's the same thing these are our
residents Looking For assistance with a
specific topic but I don't want parks
and wreck to have to be the ones
constantly working on this I that would
take a load off your group on put a load
on your group and I already know that
you're overloaded with
Parks I definitely do so that's all I
was
thinking yeah thank you great um thank
you Robert appreciate thank you mayor
and Council we appreciate the feedback T
appreciate the presentation and look
forward to hearing what you come back
with um that is that concludes our two
topics for our study session for this
evening so I will go ahead and adjourn
this meeting