Regular Meeting - 6/6/2023 6:30:00 PM

thank you
foreign
sorry
give me them
okay council members we will well we're
missing a council member
we're just gonna go ahead and get
started
a drink oh okay thank you we will go
ahead and get started this evening
calling this council meeting to order on
Tuesday June 6th for the town of Gilbert
we will start with our invocation by
council member Scott Anderson please
no you're fine right here thank you
is your name in prayer
Our Father in heaven we are so grateful
for this opportunity we have to be
meeting together this evening
we are thankful for the many blessings
that we enjoy especially at this time we
the moisture that we've received and the
relief it is brought to the valley we
are so thankful for that
we pray that that will continue that we
might be able to enjoy the lifestyle
that we have all established over the
years
we're thankful for those who participate
in the public process and very they'll
bless each one that their needs and
their desires might be met and that we
might have good
conversations that will build this
community into and continue to
bless the lives of those who live here
again we are thankful for this
opportunity this evening may we have
wisdom and the things that we'd say and
do in the name of Jesus Christ amen
thank you councilmember Anderson next we
will have council member Buckley lead us
in the Pledge of Allegiance
okay
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
Republic for which it stands one nation
and indivisible with liberty and justice
for all
think you know if I could please ask
town clerk Herrera to do the Roll Call
mayor Bridget Peterson here vice mayor
Kathy tockey here council member Scott
Anderson here council member Chuck
bongiovanni here council member Bobby
Buckley here council member young
kaprowski here and council member Jim
Torgeson a quorum is present thank you
chevelli now we have one Proclamation on
our agenda this evening it is a
proclamation declaring June 2023 as
Gilbert leadership month
I will present to the Gilbert leadership
board chair Deb Carr so Deb if you could
make your way down to the front and any
members of class 31 the current class
and any alumni from Gilbert leadership
that would like to join us down on the
floor please
foreign
so Deb Carr couldn't join us this
evening but we have Jamie Johnson who is
here on behalf of the board and
Sarah Watts she's like I'm like where
are where are you Sarah Watts president
CEO of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce
Gilbert leadership is a program of the
Gilbert Chamber of Commerce foundation
and most of this group right here is in
the current class and then some of us
our alumni of the program
Patrick's alumni of the program
and Kathy tilkey vice mayor did you ever
think that we would be proclaiming a
month for Gilbert leadership when you
started this program 31 years ago
so
um you need to come over here and get
someone else to take a photo for us
please because you're in this year's
class also
I knew she'd try to get out of it
oh Chief where's Chief where's chief
are both my Chiefs both my Chiefs are
alumni come on now
whereas the annual Gilbert leadership
program is managed under the Gilbert
Chamber of Commerce since its Inception
31 years ago and whereas the Gilbert
leadership program is designed to
challenge educate and weave a class of
diverse individuals representing the
many Fabrics of Gilbert and whereas
class members take part in team building
and community-centric learning days
designed to expand their knowledge and
Leadership traits while fostering strong
and Lasting connections with a network
of leaders and the community and whereas
the Gilbert leadership is organized and
managed by a board of volunteers who
plan impactful experiences that explore
Gilbert's history government education
Economic Development Public Safety
health and wellness and non-profit
organizations and whereas class members
expand and refine their leadership
skills by conceiving planning and
implementing a group project that is
executed together and that benefits the
community
and whereas class 31 hashtag 31 saves
one the current leadership class project
focused on increasing mental health
awareness in the community while by
providing free QPR training free hope
kits and by planning designing and
installing Gilbert's own hope walk a
fully accessible 0.75 mile loop trail
within Gilbert's riparian preserve that
highlights positive messaging mental
health and well-being tips and a hope
inspired mural and now therefore I
Bridget Peterson mayor of the town of
Gilbert do hereby Proclaim June 2023
Gilbert leadership month in Gilbert
Arizona and extend the community's
appreciation to the Gilbert Chamber of
Commerce and 640 plus program graduates
many of whom have become leaders within
our community and across our region and
state for the program's success and
encourage community members interested
in the program to reach out to the
Gilbert chamber to learn more and apply
as the application process is currently
open for class 32.
I read this I read this on my phone
before but I didn't get that far so very
good work Kirsten the mayor's office
doesn't always write the proclamations
but when they do
they're taught much so I will present
this to you Jamie Johnson who I served
on the board with when I was the chair
of this program also thank you thank you
all for coming out this evening would
you say like to say something is you're
now or your past chair now right this
yeah no I just want to thank the
community I want to thank the chamber
all of our leaders everybody who's gone
through the program this program has
produced incredible people in the
community so if you are looking to get
involved please apply for Class 32 but
thank you so much for your support I'm
on the board because you encouraged me
to apply so thank you for all of your
support
I also taught you the trick that if in
your sixth year your chair that you get
one extra year seven years on the on the
board that's a little trick that we
learned so thank you for all you do and
it really is a fully volunteer run
program and the learning days wouldn't
happen if it wasn't for the board
members I'm so proud of class 31 and I
can't wait to be at your graduation soon
very soon all right big photo we're
gonna have to move over that way so
we're centered in front of my the town
seal up there Casey's taking selfies
Casey's taking selfies I wasn't
oh probably because you're taking them
or something right yeah all right
okay
thank you all congratulations
[Applause]
next we will have communications from
citizens I'll ask the vice mayor to
please handle that
thank you mayor
the Gilbert Town Council values citizens
comments and input anyone wishing to
speak before the council must fill out a
request to speak card for each item they
wish to speak on and submit it to the
town clerk or place it in a bin provided
prior to the start of the meeting the
communications from citizens portion on
the agenda provides citizens an
opportunity to identify for the Town
Council matters of Interest or concern
related to town government that are not
on the printed agenda under the
provisions of the Arizona open meeting
law the Town Council is prohibited from
responding to issues that have not been
properly noticed therefore the Town
Council may only listen to citizens who
wish to address them on non-agenda items
at the conclusion of the open call to
public response is limited to individual
members of the council responding to
criticism made by those who have
addressed the public body asking staff
to review a matter or asking that a
matter be put on a future agenda the
town asked that when your name is called
you come forward to the podium state
your name and place a residence and then
begin speaking all speakers are expected
to observe common standards of decorum
and courtesy personal attacks political
speeches or threats of political action
are inappropriate in the Forum and will
be grounds for ending a speaker's time
at the podium
so you'll be given three minutes when I
call your name if you'll come forward
the first person will want to turn on
the mic and you'll know the mic is live
when it's red like this and you'll see
the timer on your screen and the first
to speak this evening is Jennifer
schakowski
would you come forward and following
Jennifer is
Lark Gaddis
is Jennifer here oh okay if you'll come
up to this one please thank you Jennifer
snagowski
mayor Peterson tear down the blue tarps
as a longtime Gilbert resident who lives
in the nearby area I'm tired of looking
at the blue tarps what is the plan for
this corner the citizen of citizens of
Gilbert have put up with this for far
too long
that's all
thank you very much
Jennifer just you can just leave that on
thank you so much
next Mr Gattis and following
will be Terry Natty
Mark excuse me Mark Gaddis
mayor council members as a long time
Gilbert president of Gilbert I feel
compelled to share my observations
regarding Public Image our Public Image
over the past few years I have seen
Gilbert get dragged into the pattern of
cultural bullying that is starting that
is tearing down billion dollar
businesses across our country
and dividing neighbors all across the
nation
your social media has portrayed Gilbert
as standing with George Floyd and
kneeling with BLM
that portrays us as a community that is
Locus can be and I'm literally stunned
that our police and the majority of our
citizens would feel that strategy
necessary and I frankly doubt that they
do
you have told us
through social media
where to shop they've told us to shop at
Target highly recommended with their
openly aggressive merchandising of
transsexual attire to young people
previously BLM influenced support of
exclusively supporting black owned
businesses and that's great but it
shouldn't be exclusive
why are we taking political positions
and empowering only certain types of
businesses
the water tower is also becoming
something to count on when it comes to
promoting rainbow lighting
I had no idea that there were so many
causes searching out Gilbert Delight for
their particular special interests
I question whether this represents the
feelings of our citizens at Large
I wish you would praise the citizens
employees of this town rather than stand
on a virtue signaling platform
reaching out only to select groups of
your own political choosing you're
dividing us far more than you're uniting
us
I know of no one that is truly
prejudiced I don't
but I do know a lot of long-time Gilbert
residents who are feeling marginalized
by years of our public face embracing
everyone but them
I know of many of I know many whose eyes
roll frankly when they get another
Facebook updates
please consider your longtime residents
who apparently pay people to tell us
tell the world Who We Are
and many times we aren't that
please stop speaking for us in this
manner
the town of Gilbert is a Cosmopolitan
community
we are a microcosm of Arizona Society we
love our community and we welcome
everyone not just special interest
groups our public images
I'm sorry your three minutes is up vice
mayor I'm done thank you vice mayor
apologize our timer screen is stuck so I
believe he has a little bit more time
tea out here I apologize please continue
I'm so sorry right at the end I was
going to say thank you and that's all I
had left I'm so sorry thank you very
much I I just saw that it had gone off
thank you leave the red light on yes
please thank you so much
Miss Natty your next and following is
Casey Kendall
good evening my name is Terry Natty I
live in a county Island within the
Gilbert planning area
thank you for saying what so many people
want
um
I want to start by apologizing to you
councilman Anderson last time I spoke I
said former councilman Anderson and I
met former councilman September so I
apologize for that I misspoke so thank
you for uh the smile
um
when I was referencing that I was
referencing ww 1060.
and
I'd like to commend
the staff members that came up with so
many different design options
for that particular CIP project 10 they
came up with 10.
they came up with straight lines and
angles and all kinds of fun stuff
I wonder if that staff member no longer
works for Gilbert
because that staff member was definitely
not one of the staff members that redrew
the Ocotillo Road when step when Council
asked staff to address that issue and
see if they could take less property
where was that person that's that's the
person that I I'd like for you to have a
conversation with
I personally
I'm not against progress last time I was
up here I had my mother-in-law with me
she uses a walker she needs sidewalks
she'd use them I'm not opposed to the
progress
I am opposed to the excess I've said
that so many times and I I can't
reiterate it enough
I am not opposed to this project
um
you have a lot of CIP projects on your
agenda tonight that you want to talk
about I wonder if any one of those CIP
projects will affect somebody like they
affected me you guys are going to vote
on something and then the person that it
affects finds out months later and then
they can't do anything because that vote
can't be rescinded
well
well I didn't want you to resend a vote
I want you to change something there has
to be a word a special word similar to
rescind but not rescind that you guys
can do
um I I'm
I'm upset that you all were told that
minutes before the regular session where
I my project was on the agenda you had
no time to do anything but trust what
you were told you had no opportunity to
verify to ask questions
you you say and I and I'm getting a head
knot here I know I'm right so what is it
what staff members
have
what kind of dirt on you guys that you
can't make this happen I don't want to
go to court I will I don't want to
thank you
thank you Miss Natty next up is Casey
Kendall
followed by Rohit rain
good evening
thank you for allowing me to speak Casey
Kendall Gilbert resident
in November my neighbors and I
introduced to the previous Council
a recovery house
that was causing chaos in our
neighborhood
we shared different police incidents
that included violence gang graffiti and
the annihilation of our parks
and neighborhoods so that patients could
no longer stash drugs and alcohol
our quiet perfect neighborhood was
transformed overnight
when level three sex offenders were
deliberately placed next to our Park
without regard by a business owner
looking to make a queen a cheap quick
buck in a modern day slave trade and
human trafficking scam
the response from the mayor this Council
and town staff and the police chief were
Swift and we appreciate your time
and attention given to the seriousness
of this matter
this not only affects my neighborhood
but 101 other neighborhoods in our great
town
since the introduction
our police department has identified
different ways to work with the Arizona
Department of Health safety
to address Bad actors in this industry
and take control of the chaos
I believe those steps are working
and will continue to work with DHS to
make a difference thank you chief
solenberg
for taking the time to present your
solutions to us directly
this is an industry that has been
identified by Governor Hobbs and
attorney general Mays as a stunning
quote stunning failure of government
costing taxpayers hundreds of millions
of dollars through an access program
the results so far are 45 indictments
that includes fraud human trafficking
and kidnapping on a scale that's never
been seen before
this fight is not over the chaos
continues in my neighborhood with more
graffiti more criminal activity and
police involvement
Native Americans in and outside of our
states have been kidnapped from their
homes
targeted in their neighborhoods
and in some cases are still missing
because of the price access was paying
per patient
we must as Citizens protect our Native
American communities and protect our
neighborhoods
again I want to personally thank mayor
Peterson
councilman Chuck Bon Giovanni
vice mayor tilkey
council member Torgeson and the rest of
the council for your attention in this
matter Gilbert Town staff and police
chief Solberg for the attention in this
matter and I would urge you to continue
to support the state's effort to weed
out Bad actors who mean to harm our
people and our communities thank you
very much
thank you Mr Kendall next is Mr rain
good evening my name is Rohit we
recently moved from California to the
town of Gilbert
respected council members honorable
dignitaries ladies and gentlemen
thank you for giving me the opportunity
to speak and express my opinion
we live in the nearby community called
Warner Meadows
well I wish here uh to clarify that we
do not propose any new development in
the area
I do have few suggestions which I
believe would enhance the proposed plan
at the Morrison Ranch
I heard there is a commercial plan
coming up and I do have few few
suggestions over it
it is my understanding that the
development is spread across 310 Acres
out of which only 15 percent is
designated for multi-family purpose
allow me to present my recommendations
for the proposed plan
my proposal number one
we should we should be dividing the
multi-family two-story zones into two
phases one phase can be kept near East
musket Street whereas the other phase
can be moved to the East Warner Road
this Arrangement would allow inclusion
of generic commercial and mix use
element zones separating these two
components my proposal number two
I propose relocating the generic
commercial Zone from intersection of
East Warner Road and South Power Road to
the area near South 180th Street
and East Warner Road this adjustment
would subsequently relocate the
restricted light industrial Zone into
generic commercial area
and my proposal number three is
I propose multi-family two-story zones
at the South 180 Street and other zones
can be relocated towards the East Warner
roadside
I want to emphasize that these proposers
are not mere whims but rooted in with
their valid reasons that should be taken
into the account
firstly the South 180th Street
serves as a vital through fare for the
neighboring communities and frequently
used by commuters during the morning
rush hours as well as schools for the
bus transportations secondly
my proposals if those are implemented
the movement of heavy trucks would be
redirected to the South Power Road which
is a big road compared to the smaller
South 180th Street which is not
absolutely suitable for large vehicles
or heavy trucks or medium trucks
uh incorporating the aforementioned
proposals not only ensures the
practicality but also adds to the
aesthetic appeal of the proposed plan
by thoughtfully addressing the traffic
patterns and reloading relocating the
commercial multi-family and mixed-use
zones we can cultivate a balanced safe
and Visually captivating environment
which caters to the need of residents
fostering the welcoming environment for
all we call it as a home thank you
thank you very much Mr rain mayor that
is all of the communications from
citizens I was wondering I I thought I
saw Chief Solberg get up after miss
shakowski
so I don't know if you could connect and
let her know what's happening on that
lot
just as a follow-up and
um Kyle perhaps you could get with Mr
rain and take his comments just so that
you would have those thank you so much
thank you vice mayor next we'll move on
to our consent calendar and back to you
vice mayor thank you mayor I have two
items that will be pulled from our
consent agenda item number three by
council member banjiovanni
and item 16 by council member kaprowski
and with that I'd make a motion to
approve the consent items number one two
four
five six seven
eight nine ten
eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen
eighteen
1920 and 21.
I have a motion by vice mayor
second
by council member kroprowski please vote
motion passes seven zero
mayor councilman Bon Jovani would like
to address item number three
yeah is there a staff member that can
help with this one
Chief dungeon
evening chief
um
I just want you to know I am I am all
for this program but I have a couple
questions
um are we currently working with this
company with any of the fire stations
currently we are not we are we are not
we are not were you aware on their
website it does state that they're
working with two fire stations already
uh I'm not familiar with the website
States the locations that we're going to
put this equipment one of those is going
to be at a fire station the other is
going to be at the Public Safety
Training Facility okay it does say that
we're already working with them on two
two of the stations
um I appreciate the
marketing strategy of this company
offering a free donation for six months
but what is the cost after six months do
we know that
there is no cost other than the the
equipment's actually being donated the
only cost we have are the elect cost to
run the equipment would that be cost
after the six months there will not okay
excellent okay
um that's all my questions thanks thank
you
councilman Bon Jovani would you like to
make a motion or
yeah help you out with this one to
approve item number three
I have a motion by council member Bon
Jovani seconded by council member
Buckley please vote
we can't vote oh there it is
motion passes 7-0 thank you
mayor our next item is item number 16
council member koprowsky
item number 16 is for the capital
Improvement plan I've asked to abstain
from this vote due to potential conflict
of interest as owner of an engineering
company that provides Public Works
projects thank you
with that mirror I'd like to make a
motion to accept item to approve item
number 16.
I'll second I have a motion by vice
mayor tilkey seconded by council member
Bon Giovanni please vote
motion passes 6-1 with an abstention by
council member koprowski
to correction that was a 6-0 vote excuse
me I was looking at the one sorry thank
you
thanks for catching that chevelli
thank you vice mayor for handling those
items now we'll move on to the public
hearing portion of our agenda we have a
few items on our agenda I just wanted to
see if there are items that the console
would like to pull to discuss separately
or any that we could maybe bundle
together we have 22 the annexation 23
GPS and zoning
24 zoning 25 code for Gilbert's boards
and commissions that's the um that's the
creation of the Public Works board 26
budget for
pkids if I have them in the right order
oh street lights thank you and a 27 for
budget for pkids I knew I had them in
the wrong order when I said that
um
you need to turn your microphone on if
you have a question please thank you
because I sorry
someday
are are we pulling out the one for the
budget
the regular budget what is 28 and 29
that's not part of the public hearing
process those will be handled separately
okay
so my questions are on the several that
are under public hearing 22 23 24 25 26
27.
okay
seeing none
which one
22 23 and 24.
22.
23 and 24. okay anyone else
okay I will open the public hearing on I
on 25 26 27 close the public hearing and
ask if anyone would like to make a
motion on those three together
move approval
thank you second I have a motion by
councilmember Anderson seconded by vice
mayor telkey please vote
motion passes 7-0 now we'll go back to
item 22 annexation a22-02 I will open
the public hearing council member did
you have specific questions
I see staff member coming down to the
podium
you have to turn your microphone on
please
wait for him to come forward
mayor while we're waiting I think I'd
like to note that this is just a public
hearing only that we're not approving
anything today
but yeah for clarification this is the
first step of an annexation we have to
do it as a public hearing and kick this
process off if you will
and I just wanted to hear more about the
annexation what what you feel it's
headed towards
because I know that right now it's uh as
I recall there's a there's a closed
restaurant on the corner and it's across
from Polytech and if you tell us a
little bit more about it and what the
maybe the goal of the property owner is
council members mayor Peterson council
members good evening
so the annexation I I won't give a
full-blown presentation unless you want
it
um as far as the the project is
concerned obviously as as mayor Peterson
stated we are in the initiation stage
this process tonight will kick off the
applicant being able to
um obtain signatures from surrounding
Property Owners
um and as as they do that we're going to
continue the review of the annexation
and also there's some some companion
applications a Jeep a general plan
Amendment and a rezone as well but as
you know here's the site
um you I'm sure you're already familiar
with the site at that northwest corner
of power and Williams Field Road
and and the annexation exhibit it's
pretty simple I'm not going to go over
that too much but the request is 74 a
little over 74 acres in size
um the existing uh General plan
classification on the site is
residential 14 to 25 dwelling units per
acre and General commercial at the Hard
corner
um
so and the existing zoning is rural 43
which is a county designation
so the the family the property owner is
the debella family they've owned the
property for quite some time as you
notice there are some existing buildings
out there
I can go back to the aerial there was an
old there's an old commercial site
and one and then the building on the
corner was an old Cosmos restaurant if
those who have been who've lived here in
the town for a long time remember eating
the amazing Italian food from that
restaurant and then some other
commercial buildings that are out there
so the vision for the dibella family
um and and I'm going to show you an
exhibit that is a conceptual exhibit
only I don't have it in the presentation
but I will show it to you it's at the
very end I will show you a conceptual
land use plan that kind of shows kind of
the vision that the debella family has
for this property
they're proposing to change the zoning
from obviously ru-43 to sfd and SFA
towards that in that single family
residential portion at the north for
with various residential lot sizes
and then you can see up along Power Road
is will be they're proposing a
multi-family medium apartment complex
and then along Power Road and Somerton
or sorry Williams Field Road and
Somerton excuse me another multi-family
type of complex and these buildings are
super close to the street on both
arterials
and then also the the
one of the most exciting pieces of the
property is the commercial corner
which will have buildings right up along
Williams Field in power and then kind of
a unique kind of a little village uh
Center to the far west side where you'll
have a lot of parking right in front of
the shops kind of a little mini Village
Center commercial space there to take
advantage of of uh the residents being
so close by and you'll see a really good
integration between the commercial and
the residential so that's kind of the
project in a nutshell like I said we're
we're in the very beginning stages we've
reviewed the the general plan Amendment
and the rezone two times now
and um I don't know when they're going
to resubmit and when this is going to
come back before you for GP and rezone
and for the annexation final hearing but
we're progressing with the applicant and
the project is is we're we've been
fairly happy with uh
um with the project so far so that's the
project in a nutshell I'm open for any
other questions that you may have
um that's it
thank you you're welcome
Keith is this property within the
Gateway character area
um mayor Peterson members of the council
yes it is within the Gateway character
area and that's why the general plan
shows that it's 14 to 25 for billing
units per acre that is that is correct
mayor Peterson is this project coming in
within that or under that I'm thinking
the SD the sfd and SFA may be under that
14 to 25.
um mayor Peterson members of the council
it will come in a little bit under that
if you average everything out I can't
remember the the total density off the
top of my head but uh but it will be
under that as as you calculate
everything I think it's about 14 to 15
dwelling units per acre if you add all
of those residential units together and
the commercial area does that have to be
built under the hvc category or Gateway
character area mayor Peterson
um GVC excuse me GVC misspoke good
question mayor Peterson
um no it does not it does not have to be
they are actually proposing General
commercial zoning
okay
great thank you any other questions
councilmember Buckley yeah well I just
had a question so this right now this is
just for the annexation that you're
asking which is to get approval to Annex
this and then later you will come back
and we'll have the opportunity to either
approve zoning or not approve zoning and
all the other aspects for you yes mayor
Peterson um council member buchley so
today is just an an introduction of the
annexation
the annexation will be will I'll come
we'll come back to you at another
hearing in the future to approve the
annexation
and the general plan Amendment and the
rezone they'll probably be on the same
agenda and we will hear the annexation
case first so you'll have the
opportunity to approve the annexation
and then and then and then the general
plan Amendment and the rezone so that
will come later yeah I I just wanted to
clarify that
that that is correct councilmember
buchley that's what we're dealing with
today and it's just an introduction to
to get your input and and potentially
The public's input as we as we uh they
start the petition process okay thank
you very much you're welcome
councilmember Torgeson
so if I'm interpreting this right they
could
Annex yet it could all be commercial
there's no guarantee of zoning this to
anything
correct
um mayor Peterson council member
Torgeson
they could Annex separately without
the the Jeep the general plan amendment
in the rezone
um but
they have chosen not to do that and and
kind of part of us supporting this
annexation is that they have these
companion applications for General plan
Amendment and rezone I I can't stand up
here and tell you today we'd support an
annexation without seeing the actual
land uses that are being that are going
to be proposed now everything works
together
that technically in theory they could do
that but but
um they have chosen not to do that
they're going to move forward with with
one large project and master plan type
community so we're we're grateful that
they're doing that but yeah technically
they could Annex it without that but I
don't know if if staff would be
supportive of that
I hope that answers your question I
don't know if it does but
it does thank you
since this is just a public hearing and
no action do we have to do anything
other than just have it just close the
public hearing and be done okay thank
you yes ma'am I was just looking at my
agenda any other comments or questions
while Keith is at the podium
great thank you thanks Keith you're
welcome thank you information and there
is no recommended motion the purpose of
this is the public hearing to kick off
this annexation process that's required
by law
now we will move on to the next item
which is
General plan GP 23-11
zoning
z23-02 I haven't closed the public
hearing because we didn't have a motion
or a vote on that last one so the public
hearing is still open to discuss this
item
any
um would you like a staff report or
questions in particular
a staff report please Steph if you could
come down for this item please is it
Keith again oh no hi
foreign
good evening mayor and good evening
Council I can answer any questions uh
pertaining to
gp2311 or z2302 or I'm happy to provide
a presentation of this rezoning and
general plan Amendment case for the
Gilbert Spectrum project
do you have specific questions or do you
want a full presentation I want the full
presentation please okay
happy to provide that councilman tourism
so I will briefly introduce our project
here at uh the hard corner of
um McQueen Road and Elliott Road what
we're looking at here is a nine Acre
proposal for a general plan Amendment
and a rezoning to support the
development of a 120 000 square foot
office building that will be part of the
Gilbert Spectrum project which is mostly
developed in that industrial park that's
at that southwest corner of those two
arterials there just to briefly
demonstrate the context of this project
what you're looking at is a single
development site that the general plan
and rezoning boundaries vary slightly
compared to the design review boundaries
and that is just because of the unique
parcel Arrangement on this site there
was a rezoning done in 2008 that changed
some of the zoning District boundaries
here for a past project to do Commerce
commercial on that hard Corner that
commercial never came to fruition and
instead you saw commercial develop on
some of the other Corners at Elliott
McQueen and uh this the site is set
vacant since that rezoning was done
since then the Gilbert Spectrum
development has been replanted a number
of times and those parcel boundaries
haven't followed the the dimensions of
that original 2008 project and so some
of this project with the general plan
and rezoning is to bring
um bring that zoning a little bit more
into alignment with the rest of the
Gilbert Spectrum project and I'll walk
through that here just a moment here's
another example of that zoning map that
gives a little bit our general plan map
excuse me that gives just an example of
the current conditions on that site so
you can see that GC that General
commercial classification on the hard
corner there and so the rest of the
development of Gilbert Spectrum has been
classified as industrial and this would
bring that classification of that corner
into accordance with the rest of the
Gilbert Spectrum development so it would
classify those nine acres remaining from
General commercial to Industrial
and then here's just an exhibit that
demonstrates
um the the specific areas with the
parcel boundaries and showing that all
of that would come into industrial and
would remediate some of the concerns
that we have about zoning boundaries and
parcel boundaries not aligning with one
another
then for the zoning we have a community
commercial parcel on that corner uh it's
zoning classification the rest of the
Gilbert Spectrum development is light
industrial and so that would be uh
reclassified in our zoning ordinance
from Community commercial supporting
some of those medium scale commercial
uses uh to light industrial which can
also support some of the office uses and
other employment uses that tend to make
up the kind of varied nature of a lot of
our employment areas within the town and
then here's a similar exhibit just
demonstrating the relationship of that
zoning case with the parcel boundaries
surrounding it
just to show you a development plan
since rezoning cases especially ones
which would expand planned area
developments such as this one to briefly
go back to the zoning case this would
also expand the pad boundaries for the
Gilbert Spectrum development to
Encompass this development to just bring
it in alignment with the rest of the
Gilbert Spectrum development make it all
one unified development just showing you
the development plan for that kind of
whole pad with this project included
you'll see in blue here and I'll zoom in
just a little bit so you can see on the
screen the uh there'd be a two-story
office building on that corner which is
part of that concurrent design review
case and then some additional
improvements on that L-shaped parcel
there that's part of the design review
itself the zoning case only covers the
main portion of that lot that you see in
Blue on that hard corner and so it's
about two-thirds of that design review
case
and again would go to support the
improvements that you see in blue on
that screen that would fill out what was
originally proposed as part of the
broader Gilbert Spectrum Master site
plan
so the proposed recommendation to
council this evening is to adopt the
attached resolution for gp2311 and
approve the findings of fact and adopt
the attached ordinance for z2302 both
supporting the office building proposed
for Gilbert's Vector building three
with that I can answer any questions
that the council has at this time thank
you for your time thanks Noah questions
councilmember Kapowski
I know it do you know who the attendance
of that office building will be
uh Council councilwoman karpowski could
you repeat the question
do you know who the tenants of the
office building will be once it's
constructed
council member the proposed tenant would
be Northrop Grumman in looking to expand
the the footprint on that site obviously
tenancy plays a limited role in some of
the design review cases that we do but
that's the proposed tenant for uh for
this project
thank you
other comments oh councilmember Buckley
can can you can you go back to the I
think the first photo you showed
um
there not that one the next one there
you go
there there is an elementary school
right there
I don't know if anyone took notice to
that that's that's a a huge family area
of homes and properties and
um
I I'm I'm just not sure that I can
support this with
you know with having my children went to
this elementary school so I know what
this is and people bicycle there and and
I don't know if you had the opposition
from residents or not but
um I know that if I still live there I
would have an issue with this industrial
whether it's lighter you know heavier
Industrial in this particular area I I
just wanted to
let you know that uh council member
Buckley or I appreciate the the comment
regarding the proximity to the
elementary school that is an interesting
land use Dynamic you have on on McQueen
Road uh just given that the Gilbert
Spectrum site itself and I actually
pulled this up so that in the lower left
hand corner and I know it's kind of
difficult to see from where you're
sitting
um shows that the number of those
industrial buildings in that area
already exist which obviously doesn't
completely eliminate the concern that
there's some really interesting land use
tension between the surrounding schools
and that industrial component there
um
the uh we've taken that into account and
we're we're understanding that there's
some
um you know there's the risk of having
greater pedestrian and bicycle traffic
and things to take into account there
um uh we don't propose a lot of traffic
coming across McQueen Road or affecting
this site too much just because a lot of
the uh residents and and school children
come from the East through the islands
development there uh but I appreciate
you bringing that that concern up uh
regarding members of the public we
haven't received any uh public comment
on this case at this time and so I just
wanted to reiterate uh that uh item I
was not completely clear about that in
the staff report since we received
comments up to the time of the hearing
so and you sent out the public correct
cards okay council member all uh public
noticing was was done in accordance with
Town codes and standards
okay as as we know and we found out
sometimes
things don't always happen the way we
see them on paper and and you know I
mean there's there are kids that go
there from that entire area even across
the street I lived on the other side of
La myself so I I have a big concern with
that but thank you uh thank you for your
answers thank you thank you council
member Buckley you're welcome
council member Torgerson Noah thank you
your thorough is always I don't see you
as excited as you usually are but you
know I do appreciate it thank you for
taking the time
thank you council member Torgerson Noah
a portion of this project is our uh this
property has already developed on that
corner I know that the vice mayor and I
went and did a groundbreaking
on the south portion of this development
that I think is closest to the
elementary school closest to the LDS
um
it's not a church it's um Seminary thank
you I'm a little tired sorry traveling
um Seminary and the high school on that
side of the road and I know that a large
portion of that's already developed
correct and it's light Industrial
uh mayor Peterson just to uh just to
clarify you're talking about the Gilbert
Spectrum Master site plan area on the
southwest corner there
so it's I would say it's about 60
percent developed uh on your screen in
that bottom left-hand Corner most of the
Gilbert Spectrum development is included
there kind of surrounding that red box
that you see uh and I maybe could have
done a better job of highlighting that
uh but as you can see there's a number
of very large buildings there uh this
would be uh it's about 60 developed
right now and this building would
actually mirror the building that's to
the west of that in building five of
that development so it's something that
very similar to what you've seen before
uh and again would take it up to about
70 to 75 percent develop there's still
two or three vacant sites that have some
development interest but no official
proposals brought to the town yet
thanks so much Noah I think that the
commercial that developed on the north
east corner and the southeast corner of
uh probably
kept commercial from this corner also
and especially with the light industrial
that has grown up around it and with
Northrop Grumman there so I look forward
to Northrop Grumman expanding within our
community too that's a win for us for
sure thank you Noah any other comments
or questions on this project
no great I'll close the public hearing
bring them back to the council for
discussion
if anyone like to make a motion mayor
I'd like to make a motion to approve
General plan GP 2311 and Zoning
z2302 doing oh sorry vice mayor didn't
Interruption we need to do two separate
two separate motions two separate votes
or just one one's okay thank you so job
motion will be okay yes that would be
fine yep so I have a motion by vice
mayor second second by council member
karprowski please vote
motion passes with a 6-1 with
um council member Buckley as the one
vote thank you thanks everyone we'll
move on to the next item which is I'll
open the public hearing
c22-17
and ask staff to come on down
for this item would you councilmember
Torgeson you also asked for this one
would you like some questions answered
I'd like the full presentation full
presentation great thank you
all right good evening mayor and Council
Sal DeSanto planner one here with the
town it's a pleasure to present to you
all tonight your first time Sal yes it
is in front of council welcome
appreciate that so the project that we
are going to be taking a look at tonight
is z22-17 Baseline commercial
the subject site outlined in blue here
is an approximately 2.8 acre parcel
located within an overall 11.2 11.82
acre Joe Porter planned area development
pad outlined in green which is located
at the southwest and Southeast corners
of Lindsay in Baseline roads
the subject site is directly adjacent to
the city of Mesa right away just to the
north which is Baseline Road commercial
uses to the East and West in the porter
Acres residential subdivision just to
the South
the subject site and neighboring
properties roughly 500 Acres were
annexed into the town under case number
a7402 and following this annexation in
April of 1999 Town Council approved
cases e9835 and ordinance
1161. in this request rezoned
approximately the 11.82 Acres of rural
residential to Neighborhood commercial
and also established the development
guidelines for the Joe Porter pad
in 2006 Town Council approved case
z05-10 which amended the conditions of
approval of ordinance 1161 which is that
Joe Porter pad
it's important to mention while various
zoning applications have been processed
in the vicinity all properties
associated with the pad are still part
of the Joe Porter pad and must follow
the conditions of development provided
in ordinance 1161 in 1709.
which brings us to our request here
tonight and the request proposes to
amend ordinances 1161 and 1709
pertaining to the just over 11 acres of
the Joe Porter pad by amending or
deleting certain conditions of
development and modifying the conceptual
development plan
and no changes are being proposed to the
general plan designation or the zoning
classification
here we have a list of the proposed
condition modifications
the first condition modification was to
replace the language for condition w
modifying this condition allows the
applicant to proceed without the
creation of a water sore or drainage
master plan as a master plan for these
items has been previously established
and allows the applicant to move forward
for our current standards
secondly the applicant is requesting to
remove condition HH and the removal of
this condition allows the proposed
driveway to be centralized on site
allowing for adequate spacing between
existing access points and the proposed
driveway location has been reviewed and
approved by the city of Mesa as Baseline
Road is within mesa's jurisdiction
the removal of condition mm is also
being proposed the removal of this
condition allows a variety of commercial
opportunities to complement the
neighboring residential uses while
maintaining the intent of the Joe Porter
pad
and lastly is the amendment to condition
and end which modifying this condition
allows for parking to be located within
the required building setback which is
permitted for our current Land
Development code and also staff has
added language that parking within the
setback shall only apply to the site
located west of the southwest corner of
Baseline and Lindsay Road which is our
proposed site
as previously mentioned this request
um also includes to amend the conceptual
development plan that was approved under
case
z98-35 the previously approved
development plan showed One commercial
building roughly 35 000 square feet with
an east to west orientation along that
rare property line the updated
development plan provides three paths on
the commercial site which is including a
1275 square foot drive through
restaurant and 1800 square foot Express
Oil Change facility and a roughly 8 000
square foot retail building
access to the site is provided from two
access points off of Baseline Road one
access point is already constructed in
the northeast corner of the site and
that one access point is proposed to be
centralized roughly 207 feet from that
existing access point on site
sufficient circulation is also provided
on site from three major Interior Drive
aisles running north to south and two
Interior Drive aisles running east to
west
many aspects of the Joe Porter pad are
represented on the updated development
plan such as outdoor pedestrian
amenities building design and building
separation
future development shall be in
substantial conformance with this
development plan proposed tonight
the site at hand is currently within The
General commercial zoning district and
as I previously mentioned there is no
request to change the general plan
designation or the zoning
as for public participation a virtual
neighborhood meeting was held on August
2nd 2022 and five surrounding Property
Owners or community members attended
that meeting
the community members had questions and
comments regarding architectural design
of the proposed screen wall on the
Southern Property Line questions
regarding treatment to the existing SRP
canal and its Associated equipment
comments and concerns Also regarding the
medical use that was initially proposed
that's no longer on our updated
development plan and lastly there were
questions just regarding pickup or noise
from pickup for trash
and from the reason set forth from the
staff report Planning Commission and
staff recommend approval to Town Council
regarding
d22-17 Baseline commercial
and that concludes the presentation and
I open the floor up to any questions
thanks Sal great job thank you any
questions for Sal council member
I have a question regarding the site
plan what are the next steps for that
site plan does that go through further
review
in the process after this zoning gets
approved mayor Peterson council member
koprowski uh yes so the site plan will
come through a design review process
that is being reviewed right now by
planning staff and that will be brought
to Planning Commission in the near
future thank you
other questions comments
oh did did you were you given a word
that you were supposed to say since it
was your first time presenting to us
sometimes that happens spoiled it for me
[Laughter]
comments or questions no do we need a
presentation by the applicant I don't
even know if they're here because I
can't see oh there are yep they are here
do we need any no okay great thanks Sal
awesome much appreciated thanks we'll
bring it back to the dice I'll close the
public hearing bring it back for a
conversation or a motion
like to move to approve this zoning
z22-17 we have a motion to approve
a second I'm motioned by council member
torgus and seconded by vice mayor tilkey
please vote
motion passes seven zero
chop my make off now I need to recess
the regular meeting and reconvene in a
special meeting to discuss item 28
budget conduct hearing inconsider
adoption of an ordinance setting the
secondary property tax levy for FY 2024
at 31 600
000. and we have Ellie fost at the
podium Kelly
thank you mayor
the presentations
shipping up
I know we've talked about budget several
times so I'll be brief tonight
this is our final budget adoption
Gilbert is just Best in Class and we
continue to get accolades for the work
that we do in the community
as we always do zero base a third of the
organization every year most of the time
it reduces money out of the budget but
as you know this year with all of the
inflation and costs we actually had to
add money to the budget as a result of
zero base about 1.6 million
it's been a long budget process very
collaborative with kickoff in September
departments working together to get best
recommendations to town manager and then
to council we had meetings with Council
in April one-on-one meetings and then a
study session which was an opportunity
to get together publicly and give
direction to staff we incorporated that
direction especially with the crime lab
changes into the preliminary budget
adoption documents which were passed by
Council and tonight is that final step
of the budget process and all of the
public input Council input and staff
input for the budget
we are recommending 43 new positions
this is out about out of about 125 that
were requested
the capital Improvement plan includes
about 1.4 billion dollars of projects
mostly in Street improvements and water
improvements which align with the bonds
that were approved for those areas
with that CIP money about 900 million of
it is associated with projects that are
currently underway that will carry
forward and continue to work on those
projects and then about 450 million
dollars of new projects
in comparison with last year's budgets
about 400 million dollars different
mostly in the capital Improvement area
or The Debt Service associated with
those new bonds that were approved
this is the visual of how that looks and
you can see majority of the budget in
Gilbert is associated with the capital
projects that we work on
tonight we also have the property tax
which would be a 31.6 million dollar
Levy resulting in a 99 cent rate it will
be the sixth year in a row that we would
have 99 cent rate
so we've had our budget milestones April
study session May preliminary adoption
and public hearing and then tonight we
have our final adoption for the budget
and it is our tradition for final
adoption digital government has put
together a budget video pending approval
by Council of the budget we would
release that tomorrow and so we want to
give you the debut that is traditional
and the kudos to digital and to Oscar
they did a really always do a great job
uh but a very fun video for us tonight
Gilbert's new budget is focused on
helping us to manage growth across the
community
the new town hall opened this year and
there was a lot to look forward to in
the coming year
Gilbert will get its first all-electric
fire truck and will make an investment
in new Public Safety radios
many of our Parks will see improvements
including a renovation of the Water
Tower Plaza in our heritage district and
multiple restroom upgrades
in addition there will be a few
playground Replacements at Cactus yards
and Freestone Recreation Center
the kitchen at the community center
where senior meals are prepared will
also be renovated
we are also focused on a variety of
projects to remove Turf to help reduce
our outdoor water use as well as a few
shade projects including the dugouts at
McQueen Park
an if you see road construction and a
lot of orange cones please be patient as
we tackle many road projects that are
necessary in the town of our size
all of this will help us to plan for the
future focus on maintaining
infrastructure and be best prepared to
avoid traffic and transportation issues
anticipating problems before they happen
helps us find solutions to make quality
of life better for all of our residents
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
thank you
and with that I'm open for any questions
thanks Kelly any questions for Kelly
councilmember Torgeson
apparently
several weeks ago there was a
question about reducing the secondary
property tax from
0.9833 to 0.98
and I believe the after the next meeting
the response was that there wasn't a
consensus amongst Council to pursue that
correct
it at study session we didn't and then
there wasn't discussion but have it
changed at preliminary adoption and so
the documents tonight do continue to
reflect that
0.9883 okay and that
.00833 would be a mass of two hundred
and four thousand dollars right
council member Torgeson I believe the
email after study session with the
information would be a reduction of
about 265 000 to
31.335 would get it an even 98 Cent rate
that was the consensus you had I wasn't
given the information in advance to
present it to anybody on the dice
and therefore there was no discussion on
the dice about that because I wasn't
handed the information it was determined
there wasn't a consensus beforehand
yet I wasn't handed any information to
possibly gain a consensus
and so I have issues that there's wasn't
full participation in this
because I wasn't allowed to participate
properly
um
for that reason alone I feel that we
should reduce the secondary tax by that
265 000 that you determined
councilmember Torgerson I apologize if
you didn't receive that information it
did come in an email after the study
session to all of Council in the same
email
but it wasn't brought before when we
came to this last time when we voted on
it you were told you didn't feel there
was a consensus to be able to present
that
and show us the implications
correct it was not included in the
presentation but it was open for
discussion if any council members had
that they wanted to bring that up that
night
for tonight
well I would like to bring that up for
discussion right now
if I remember correctly at the
preliminary meeting you didn't bring it
up for a discussion actually you didn't
bring anything up for discussion that
evening and Kelly did send it out ahead
of time there was no con I'm sure kelly
didn't hear from anyone meaning she felt
there was no consensus because I didn't
respond to her asking that that would be
something that I would be
considering and then it would have been
the opportunity at the preliminary
meeting to have that discussion at that
point in time and yes you can have that
discussion this evening
any comments or
from the Council on lowering to if we go
I'm going to point out if we do go to
0.98 it will most likely be lower than
0.98 it's very hard to get it to
0.98 right now we're at 0.9883 when
we're claiming we have point zero excuse
me 0.99 correct Kelly it's very hard to
get it because we're looking at the
dollar amount more than we look at the
rate at this point
mayor that's correct Council does adopt
the levy and so sometimes we have to
have a more specific dollar amount when
we typically try and keep it an even
number that's easy for Council to
say and communicate with the public but
it can be made a more specific number
that gives exactly 0.98
and if we lower the rate this evening
then
the levy has to go down and
will we be able to collect enough for
what we need here in the community to
pay back the bonds that we've issued
mayor we still would have enough to make
The Debt Service payments next year if
we change and have a lower rate
continuing on forwards than it does
change the amount that we have available
for debt into the future
that could also
affect our credit ratings if we're not
collecting enough to pay our debt and we
also are seeing right now more residents
than aren't necessarily paying their
taxes
so we have to be prepared for that also
yeah yes the levy is approximately two
million dollars higher than last year
correct
approx approximately
so if property values had not risen we
would still be at approximately 29.6
million
regardless of what property values did
this is the amount that we would need to
pay debt service for next year so
it
so you would be asking to raise the the
rate if values had stayed consistent
mayor councilmember Torgeson
how Property Tax Works uh here in
Arizona the taxable value can only
increase by five percent per year even
though the market value is much higher
and so when we structured the bonds we
anticipated that there would be growth
because we know that we have quite a
distance between what properties are
being taxed at and what the bull market
value is so it was a reasonable
assumption
to assume that that we would continue to
have growth in that rate and then the
direction from Council in the past has
been to keep the rate at 99 Cents or as
close to it as we could so when we
structured the bonds we built that into
the Assumption to meet that direction
may or may I yes vice mayor thank you
thank you
um
Kelly thank you for the information that
you sent
um after the study session when Kelly
sent out the um the information the
follow-up information one of the
questions I asked was
so what does this mean for an average
homeowner and I I guess I fall in that
category and it's two dollars a year
that we might be saving our residents
and I know it it always sounds great to
reduce attacks for somebody but when you
talk about two dollars a year and the
impact that has on our our streets and
all of these other things that we're
providing that we're paying debt on that
we have Bond authorization it's
um
I feel like it's not
enough money two dollars a year to put
ourselves in a financial situation that
we fall below our financial policy
um
limits that we have in our funds to
ensure that if people don't pay their
their taxes that we can still pay our
debt and I think that's really important
um we we continue to see the escalating
um cost of not only construction but
financing as we move forward and we
start putting ourselves in a position
that projects will not get done
for that two dollars a year and that's
my concern is it's not what's happening
today but long into the future if we
start looking at that
um
I also I feel your frustration
councilman Torgeson but
um when when I look back at my
recollection and so let me know if I'm
wrong
during the study session it was brought
up as an option and I believe at that
time if the council members felt that
that was really a great idea that's when
everybody should have spoke up and said
yes let's let's move forward I think you
had asked for some information and we
got it back and at that point it was
presented at the preliminary budget
discussion and the council members still
didn't I remember that as it's pretty
much the same presentation but at that
point nobody else on the council said
yes
we should have that discussion so
um maybe we miscommunicated some way on
the council
and maybe we need to look at that I I
think that Kelly's presented the
information that she should have
um
so I'm trying to figure out how we could
correct that in the in the future but I
think for for this conversation I feel
like we've had three opportunities
and none of the other council members
said yes
let's let's make that a priority
councilmember Anderson
um
I I think I did say yes that I was
interested maybe it's just the Optics of
making a cut giving something back to
the citizens but I think I did say yes I
was interested in that
now that you say that I do remember that
so you were the only one though I
believe that said that in that meeting
that would have been at the study
session that we had specifically for the
budget and for the tax rate and Levy at
that point in time and that would be
when Kelly would feel that she didn't
hear consensus two out of seven is not a
consensus to move forward with something
she did provide the information
although without and um then it was not
brought up at the preliminary budget
meeting on May 6th on May 2nd excuse me
council member Buckley
um would
I mean maybe other people have changed
their minds since then but would there
be any contingency funds somewhere that
would cover this if if this sort of be a
to pass or or become anything I mean
that's just a question I'm I'm asking
I'll let Kelly give the technical answer
but secondary primary tax funds are
quite different than all of the rest of
our funding and so it's very particular
what we can and can't use funds for
really
that's correct mayor it is in a separate
area it has to earn its own interest and
it's not mingled with any of the other
Town funds we do maintain a fund balance
in there according to policy at least
percent but not more than 10 percent so
we would have a little bit less fund
balance in there but we would not be
below our required minimum fund balance
by policy okay so the contingency funds
and it's not that we wouldn't use them
but they're not allowed to be
intermingled with this
particular type of tax
just I mean on layman's terms to to put
it that way yeah yes we wouldn't mix it
and move others they're used for
different things in other aspects of
what what's allowed to be used the
contingency funds
but there's only property taxes that are
allowed in this aspect correct correct
that's all we would use the revenue for
is paying off that service
councilmember Torgerson
so there's five to ten percent held in
there
and we're talking about
point
eight three
point zero zero eight three cents
on the dollar
and there are percentages of different
numbers but yes five to ten percent of
The Debt Service payments but 24 65 000
or 300 31 million six hundred thousand
appears to be
a very small number
it would be a small number of the so
it's not truly putting us in any great
danger of anything is it
it it's the direction of council which
we can follow and if we but it's not
going to bankrupt this town or make us
default on our bonds at that smaller
number is it we would have enough money
to pay next year's that service payment
if the direction of council is to
maintain 98 cents instead of 99 it does
make a difference in how much capacity
we have or how fast we could repay debt
how much interest we would pay in any
future
debt that we might need for future
projects
thank you
mayor
mayor yes councilmember caprosky I just
wanted to add that
um I think why I don't support this
particular proposition or proposal is
because it seems to be in the wrong step
of the process previous councils have
set the secondary property tax rate at
0.99 and now because of rounding we want
to try to fit in and squeeze in a whole
conversation and vote to bring it to
0.98 and then in future years it's going
to continue to be maybe rounded down
if there is a majority of counsel that
wants to bring up that discussion I
think that needs to happen separately
and not during
this budget adoption and tax levy
adoption process
I also believe that
we are obligated to pay our debts based
on them only paying voter approved bonds
and that it just doesn't seem
appropriate at the last minute to make
this change given the process that has
moved forward for that reason I don't
support those changes and would like to
maintain the rate and the calculations
that Kelly has proposed
another comment
I agree I guess I'm sorry go ahead
you know I guess with that said I
understand what everyone's saying
um
but we also have to understand that
we have three new council members
this is brand new to us
and you know when we first started we
didn't know what we didn't know
so um
I had interest also along with council
member Torgeson and councilman Anderson
also but didn't know when to
put that into effect or didn't have
Direction
when we can make changes itself or
request changes
to the whole budget process to begin
with
um that's it for right now
vice mayor okay mayor um
I appreciate those comments
councilmember Bon Jovani
I think that maybe we could have a
further discussion after this meeting
and talk about that budget process and
how and when to have these big picture
conversations
and you're right
you are new in that this came up quick I
remember that when when I came on
Council as well and so
um
perhaps this can be a kind of a lesson
learned for for us as far as what the
budget process really feels like from
beginning to end and
happy to have that conversation on a
bigger scale with with staff in the
future
any other comments or questions
you need to turn on your microphone
please
sorry
this is uh this is number 28 that we're
on correct okay
I don't have any other questions on that
on that one the next one I do
councilmember Anderson
this is not without precedent where we
we cut the bed tax a few years back
didn't mean a whole lot but it was great
uh PR to give some money back to their
citizens and and I think this amount is
small enough
that there's not going to be a
significant
impact and it certainly can be evaluated
again next year but I think it's
something that would
gain a lot of mileage considering some
of the
some of the things have been going on in
the community and what it would do for
us
I will I will say that I agree with you
if you were actually going to give
something back
this isn't going to lower anyone's tax
bill in reality because what Kelly
explained is because of prop 207 207
your your evaluation of your home is
going through up five percent no matter
what
so your tax bill is constantly going to
increase so people aren't going to see a
difference in their tax bill it's not
going to go down I just I'm trying to be
clear I want to be very clear and
transparent as we're talking about this
residents are not going to see their tax
bill go down no matter what is done
tonight I'm not advocating one way or
the other I'm just pointing something
out and this and this rate has been
lowered over the past 10 years 12 years
several times can any of you tell me
when that was
no because nobody knows
because nobody pays attention and
because your tax bill is continually
going to go up but we as at the councils
passed in current present have been
fiscally responsible in the decisions
that we've made to put us in a position
that we have AAA Bond AAA credit ratings
with all the credits we are able to pay
debt off earlier which saves US money in
our residence money in the long run when
we have those extra funds in order to do
that if we cut we may not have those
extra funds and especially if others
can't pay then we will be paying more
and again not advocating one way or the
other explaining where we're at right
now to make such a tiny change
that nobody's going to notice or
recognize
but
it could have longer effects on the
community credit wise
fiscally with our policies just pointing
things out just want everybody to know
the big picture you're saying you don't
understand we had an extra we had an
extra budget study session to talk about
these things specifically that we don't
typically have with an extra study
session for the budget then we had the
preliminary budget meeting and now we're
having this meeting for this discussion
this is the meeting that's usually
pretty much a formality because the
preliminary budget night is
the night that we do all of the
discussing have the conversations make
the changes so that when Kelly comes
back on this evening hopefully she comes
back
um
it's a kind of a formality at this point
in time
so just want to throw that out there so
everybody knows what they're discussing
councilmember Bon Giovanni I I recognize
that but I also know that
when we walked into last meetings
um executive meeting
that's what we were told this is our
last time to ask questions
so I wish I had
a time before that to know that that was
the last time we can ask questions which
is why we're probably asking questions
tonight
and I'm the one who said that to you but
I didn't say it was the last time you
could ask questions I said typically at
the preliminary budget meeting is when
you ask your questions doesn't stop you
from asking questions the next time but
this is the night that was the night to
ask the questions and have the
discussions about anything that you
wanted to discuss typically and then you
would have the regular meeting again and
I said it on the diocese that evening
too that that the next meeting is
typically a formality
we're trying to educate you along the
way as we're going nobody did that for
me nobody did that for you I know young
was on the console two months sorry
councilmemberkowski was on the council
two months when she had did her first
budget it's there's a lot to get up to
speed on completely understand that I
just wanted to lay out what our options
are here
vice mayor thank you mayor um and and
thank you for summarizing that because I
I think that
um it was a very good summary
um our um our role as council members
is to make sure that we're financially
sustainable
today and into the future that we have
projects they're going to keep this
community at the Quality that it is
today and not turn into a
um a community that's going to be
rushing to catch up on maintenance and
deterioration
um
part of that responsibility is to ensure
that we
are funding our projects and paying
those back
and paying those back as quickly as we
can to save taxpayer dollars
I don't believe that it's our
responsibility to make decisions for the
Optics
and um
that it it doesn't
nobody's going to see it in their tax
bill I just feel like
um
it sounds really good and I'd love to
say hey I reduced your taxes but in
reality
your taxes are most likely going to
increase if your your assessed value it
increases if we don't do the maintenance
and we don't do the projects that we
have already scheduled through our CIP
projects
um then our community is going to
deteriorate in your assessed valuation
will go down it's not going to happen
this year
let's be clear it's not going to happen
this year one way or the other it's just
that if you're not
keeping in mind long term
how you are maintaining and financing
your community
we're going to be in a different
situation and the last thing I want to
do is
have assessed valuations going down and
our costs going up and then we have to
raise taxes in the future
I was here when we were 116 115 and the
Council made those decisions and they
were hard decisions
um
and
even after all those years if it's 12
years or how long
we continue
to squeeze every penny out of every
dollar
to to have a community that we have
today with the lowest taxes
in in Arizona in most every category in
fees and so
I just don't want to lose that
perspective of what our responsibility
is and I'd love to have an optic too but
not by jeopardizing the future of
Gilbert
thank you
and other comments questions
ready to make a motion yeah
thank you mayor I'd like to make a
motion to approve
item 28 which is setting the secondary
property tax levy for FY 2024 at
31 million 600. did I say that right six
hundred thousand six hundred thousand
thank you you're welcome
I'm sorry can you repeat the end of what
you said I didn't quite catch it
uh council member Buckley I I just read
the actual item on your agenda would you
like me to say it again
yes I did make a motion to approve
number 28.
sure sure
um
okay sure thanks
um I'd like to make a motion to approve
item 28 setting the secondary property
tax levy for
fy2024 at
31 million six hundred thousand
second I'd like to amend that motion
for the number of 31 million three
hundred and thirty five thousand dollars
do I have a second
I'll second that
I'm an amended motion for
um 31 million 300 and what was it 35
sorry yes ma'am 335
000 by council member Torgeson
with a second by council member Bon
Giovanni
please vote
yeah
motion passes with a 4-3 vote
American I request a 47 second bio break
not 47 seconds no you can't because I
know none of you can go that fast so
um we will
I need to address the first motion so
the first motion doesn't need to be done
because the second motion passed is that
correct
the original motion we just passed the
amendment
mayor just to clarify we we're just
talking about the procedural rules but
now we go back to the vote the original
motion which is
um item 28 as amended so it's another
vote with the amended amount of 31 335.
31 million oh sorry 31 million 335
that's the new motion on the floor
because the amendment passed so we need
a second vote
that would be approval of this item 28
the ordinance with that change to 31
million 335. so what happens to the vote
that vice mayor the motion that vice
mayor made it just dies
this is it this is her this is her vote
this is her motion as amended which was
amended so we need to do a second vote
there's no no new motion or second
needed it's now a second vote on the
amended motion
the original motion as amended okay so
the original motion as amended to board
the amount of 31 million three hundred
and thirty five thousand
I don't need a first and a second it's
already been handled so it's just a
police vote
motion passes five to two
thank you we will now take a I'm gonna
give you a I don't even know what time
it is I'll give you until 8 30 it's 8
17. so how about a 13 minute break thank
you
let's go
Chris if I said we were going to take a
break till 8 30 do I have to wait till 8
30.
okay
but Patrick oh Patrick's right there
okay
thank you
thank you
um then we'll go ahead and come back um
to our meeting we are it's still in a
special meeting portion of our agenda we
have item 29 budget conduct hearing
considered adoption of the final budget
of two
that's a bit billion 49 million five
hundred and one thousand three hundred
dollars for the period of July 1st 2023
to June 30th 2024.
and Kelly would you like to join us
again or would the council just like to
discuss
councilmember Anderson it's probably
easier if you have questions
specifically for Kelly maybe that would
be easier
uh I don't know that I have any
particular questions for you Kelly but I
know there are other council members do
and
I have
set up here for a number of years voting
on budgets and and I've often been
frustrated because there are no votes
just based on principle to vote against
the budget we can't operate without a
budget
we need a budget but I also recognize
and I think council member Bon Giovanni
mentioned that we have three new members
and I know that they have
questions and I don't know that they can
all be
addressed here tonight or not
I would not be opposed to putting off
our final vote until the 20th that's
kind of where I'm coming from right now
depending on I guess the answers to
questions and
how the other council members feel but I
wouldn't be opposed to that to give them
In fairness an opportunity if there are
questions that they have that you
haven't already addressed I'm not saying
that it has to be to their satisfaction
that they agree with your answer because
that can't sometimes that's not going to
happen but just that we give them an
answer that they have an answer to their
questions
Kelly is there um are there are there
steps that you need to take with the
budget before the end of June and the
reason that we address this budget so
early in the month of June that delaying
for two weeks would cause some issues
because I believe that there are from
past history
Mike on Kelly
there we go mayor councilmember Anderson
uh we have received some questions from
Council there were about 18 since study
session or since our one-on-ones and to
my knowledge all of them have been
answered but happy to answer additional
questions if there are additional
questions
um at that period of time always open to
help with that
mayor as far as
um what products what process is
happening we do have a year and close
and then opening of the new year that
happens and we do plan that timeline
around the proposed date for Final
adoption so what we've got on screen is
just part of an email that went out
earlier to all of the Town letting them
know here are the next steps that need
to happen when we'll get the budgets
loaded into our financial system when
the requisitions will be needed to enter
how purchasing can carry forward those
requisitions into next year it we also
don't allow any of the job offers to be
made on positions that Council might
approve until after the final budget has
been and fully adopted I am aware of one
Department who has a candidate they are
hoping to extend an offer to which they
can't do until after budget is adopted
so those are just some of the things
that are happening behind the scenes
that we will take the information from
Council on adoption and and work with to
set up next year
thank you Kelly
um did the council members have
questions
councilmember Buckley
thank you
um I don't really have any questions
with you Kelly as that you know as do
you know you and I chatted earlier and
I've spoken with a couple of other
people
um my my
you know I've struggled with this
because this is this is a
2.1 or 2.2 billion dollar budget I've
been a council member for about about
five months now I haven't really been
involved with this budget so I'm I'm
struggling with voting for a budget that
I've had no input on and
um you know I and it's not due to
you not doing your job properly I I
think you do a fantastic job
it's amazing I and I know what it takes
to put into this but I know that you
know this coming year when I can have
input on the budget and and we chatted
about that because there are things that
I probably would have done differently I
know there's for at least four council
members that have been here and have
been a part of this budget this entire
budget so I you know and I chatted with
Patrick he you know he's been great I
it's not you know what how my vote is
going to probably go is nothing to do
with
you or you know how you've handled your
job you've done fantastic Patrick's done
great
um and you know I've gotten budget
information from from other people as
well it's just I I can't justify
in my heart to vote for a budget in you
know in this amount that I've had no
input on I and and I'm not saying
there's anything wrong with it but
that's just that's where I am on on this
budget
but and I thank you for all your help
and you as well Patrick
councilmember Torgeson
in fact it's it's not there is no uh
individual
that's that's being a roadblock or
anything like that so please don't take
that as a some sort of you've not done
your job because hardly uh that's hardly
the case in fact I mean as you get into
this process for instance Public Works I
I'm just like a fan I think the public
works is just run so well and and
Jessica and Lee have done such an
incredible job there that uh I have a
hard time questioning things in that
respect uh I question other things uh as
I've tried to be involved in the process
uh oh you're a pulse okay oh this is
when you ask oh bring it up here bring
it there is no clear path and to feel
that I've had any impact whatsoever
other than 3 265 thousand dollars five
minutes ago I've had no impact zero
it's because of process it's probably
you have three new Council people you've
experienced a pandemic people aren't
communicating the same way there's a
process that's happened that's changed
this and uh do I
I can't say it's because you haven't
tried I'm not going to say that I refuse
to say that because I think you've done
you do a good job obviously
but again there's things where I look
and I I some things that I feel are
wrong as a policy maker I'm still
supposed to approve this
and I've not had inputs so I have a very
difficult time with it a very difficult
time with it next year this time I'll
probably have no problem with it
whatsoever but right now I have a
problem because when to ask what you say
it gets down a rabbit hole such as
consensus
and when to bring that up and how to do
that and that's my problem with this
budget is that I've had zero impact
and I hate to make it about me but it's
really not about me it's about spending
two two billion 49 million dollars
for the residents of this town and
I am not in depth enough and have had no
influence on how they're represented in
this process
thank you
Council membran Giovanni
um
I think vice mayor tilkey nailed it on
the head when she said it's about
process
so I want everyone to know all the staff
you know I'm looking around your eyes
right now you guys have done an
incredible job
okay you've done everything you've done
in the past years for other councils
but I think you have some council
members that are different kind of
council members and want to be more
involved
and if we didn't Express that I can
speak to myself I didn't Express that
then that's on me
but I had someone tell me the other day
um hey pretty soon you got through your
first budget season well to me
it was easier than my six-year-old
t-ball season you know and it's no
reflection on you guys none at all
I just thought we would be much more
involved
and uh I felt like I didn't have a voice
to make any kind of suggestions for the
people I represent
and I guess again like like council
member Torres said torgenson said next
year might be a little different
I I want to be involved in your Hunger
Games I don't want to participate I want
to just observe it I want to know more
about it and all staff has done an
incredible job the last five months
trying to get this up on speed on what
their department does and I couldn't ask
for a better staff to give us that
information I mean I want everyone to
know that
but I just expected a lot more as far as
our participation in it
um you know I I
don't even think I received the full
budget I mean I'm sure it's a couple
thousand pages but our meetings are a
couple of thousand pages and we get
those every every two weeks
so
again it's nothing that the staff has
done I think we just
uh effectively didn't communicate what
we thought was going to happen
and and again that's not a reflection on
you guys it's just a matter of us
feeling like or myself can only speak
for myself
um
wanting not necessarily to understand
the budget more I understand it I
understand why it's going up because of
the inflation and everything else
but you know
I probably would have had didn't know
that we could intervene at any point and
say hey can we look at this can we look
at that I don't want to micromanage it's
the last thing I want to do I own time
to micromanage but it just felt like if
a citizen came up to me and said hey
council member Bon Jovani what about
this I think in the way the process is
right now they've lost their voice
and I don't know whether it was because
of you know covered like councilman
Torgeson mentioned but you know you guys
have done everything possible
to put us up to speed and to educate us
like we did other councils before us so
it's not on you
I just wish we had a little bit more
um under a little more understanding a
little bit more input more than anything
else and I find it difficult to
ethically say hey here's a plus here's a
here's a here's a yes vote for a two
billion dollar budget that I don't feel
the people had a chance to be
represented for and again I'm going to
say it again it has nothing to do with
you it's nothing on you guys at all it
has to do with the process
I'm extremely frustrated and
disappointed at the comments that I'm
hearing tonight from the new council
members
you were elected into this position
to do a duty
to serve in this role
you've had over two months to understand
the budget process and what goes into it
in Gilbert Kelly could you go back to
the slide with the pie chart
please
Gilbert is extremely responsible in the
budget process
you'll notice that the CIP accounts for
likely over 60 percent of the current
budget with over nine hundred thousand
million going into the CIP carry forward
that's because Gilbert is one of the
only municipalities in this region that
budgets their full five-year CIP in in
the first year that that project starts
which means that regardless of any
recession or economic condition Gilbert
has that money in hand set aside for
those CIP projects
that's where you'll see a lot of
discrepancy or misunderstanding between
Gilbert's budget and the other
communities surrounding us that carry
forward it's part of the budget because
we've already allocated it and we need
to use it it'll continue to carry
forward until those projects are
completed and that includes the North
Water Treatment Plant which is a huge
amount
I ask you tonight to take on your
responsibility as a council member
and make a vote in this process
because the information has been
presented
I understand that you feel like you have
not been a part of the process but this
is the process
there's an understanding of the CIP and
the projects and our Retreats that we've
been to especially the financial
retreats are where town staff present to
us those future projects and those are
the opportunities that we have to engage
the town staff determines the needs the
council sets policy on the level of
service that we provide to our citizens
we set that policy
the town staff
identifies the resources needed to
provide that level of service
we provide an extremely high quality of
life in Gilbert at an excellent value
and I just implore you to take another
consideration
and understand that this is an important
vote tonight it's not something that can
just be dismissed easily
please thank you
thank you council member Kapowski
council member Bon Jovani I mean excuse
me councilman Buckley wrong end of the
diocese
um you know I I just want to say no one
on this dials tonight said that the town
of Gilbert is irresponsible I would be
the very last person that thought has
never come across my mind so so I'm I'm
a bit offended that that that
particular term was brought out because
I I don't know you know gentleman and
council member Torgeson and and council
member Bon Giovanni they're their own
people I My my what how I feel and what
I'm saying is me
and my thoughts and how I feel about
this I think
council member uh kopowski can you know
she she can sit up there and I want I
wish I had the knowledge that she has
that I could sit up here and say exactly
what she said I don't because I haven't
been involved I haven't you know I
haven't I don't have that experience yet
next year I probably will will maybe be
saying the same thing to another
different council member I don't know
but
um
you know my I I feel where I'm at and
and I need to
represent the people that have elected
me that this is a budget that they have
put together
and I I would love to have had a little
bit more information and and input on
this and I will and I you know I should
have maybe been more forceful in asking
to to be in meetings but you know
there's you know budget groups and
there's different there's different
groups and everything so
I'm not going to change I can't change
my mind because in my heart I I did not
have anything to do with this budget I'm
not saying it's a bad budget I it's
probably just fine but I I'm not going
to I can't vote on a 2.2 billion dollar
budget that I have had no input on I and
do I know what special revenues are sure
do I know what the what the general fund
is I know what those but all those
particular things I I have picked that
up in the last couple of months and even
being here for five months probably
budget time that I've had I don't know
about the other two council members but
I would say maybe
all together because the meetings are
usually you know 30 minute meetings or a
45-minute meeting we did do the budget
Retreat I picked up
a lot of stuff there but we're we were
also you know we're shot with a fire
hose of information so you you know you
get as much information as you can
Kelly you know you're one of my favorite
people you do a fantastic job and all
the staff does a fantastic job and it's
nothing to do with you or the town or
maybe even in particular the with the
budget it's just that I don't know this
budget and I I can I can't justify
voting for a budget that I had no input
on
and uh
and council member kopowski I mean she
did it she did a great plea there and I
understand that and I wish I had the
knowledge that you have so that I could
do that but I don't I have I just don't
have it I will have it I guarantee you
that I will have it and uh anyway and
that that's the end of my conversation
on this issue
the way that the council members are
involved in the budget process is the
policy that is set by the council
members
the council has set the policy as to how
the staff will come together to create
the budget
I've been doing this now since 2015. my
first year I was five months in just
like the rest of you
same process then that it is now not
saying that things can't be maybe
changed modified if there's if we have a
new Council and people want to see
things done a little bit differently
always open for suggestions
but to come in here this evening is very
disappointing from my perspective
we've had ample opportunity to meet with
Kelly one-on-one we had a special budget
study session we had
Retreats we had
the preliminary meeting on May 2nd and
this is our last opportunity
the preliminary budget passed 7-0 with
no conversation hardly no conversation
hardly no questions hardly no nothing
the the budget study session there was
hardly no questions hardly no
conversation hardly no nothing so I
really am really quite bewildered as to
how we got here this evening
we've all been new I mentioned a few
minutes ago that council member Kapowski
came in in April and had had to approve
a budget May and June
we do the best that we can with the
information that we have at hand the
council's previous to us including
myself including councilmember Anderson
have set policies
that allow the staff to bring us the
best budget that they can possibly bring
us councilmember koprowski pointed out
that
we expect a level of service in this
community as residents and especially as
mayor and Council for our residents we
are speaking for them we are
representing them the staff
does the job of putting that budget
together to meet those requirements and
that's what they've given us here that
we reviewed at a study session that we
reviewed at a preliminary budget meeting
and now we are here for the final vote
this evening
I'm disappointed I'm disappointed
that this is where we're sitting tonight
we have gone through a quite a long
process and and and I've heard that
you've asked questions and your
questions have been answered
and I don't understand why we're sitting
here at this point in time
we have a responsibility to this
community to pass a budget and if it
passes 4-3 it passes fourth right but I
know the public is going to be wondering
how did it pass 7-0 at a preliminary
budget meeting and now
not at the
at the regular meeting
and you know those are just my thoughts
like they said I've I've been part of I
guess seven budgets now because I missed
2020 when I had to step off the council
and I've never had a conversation like
this and I've had many new council
members come in over time and I sat
through the 2020 budget meeting right
here in this room so I'm just really
bewildered as to how we got here this
evening council member Giovanni I can
understand the you know frustration
mandible wilderness
um but I guess if
if we went through those meetings and we
didn't have questions
maybe it should have been a tip-off that
we didn't have questions
because
when we start you know when I started
here I didn't know what I didn't know
now I know what I don't know
and again my my qualm there's no qualm
at the budget at all there's nothing
nefarious about the budget
um it's just my feeling about the
process of it and not being involved in
it and I guess if again if if
no questions were being asked more by
new council members I guess I would have
asked him are you getting everything you
need how can I help you
but that that didn't happen either
so that's why I think we're here why
we're here because we just
didn't have didn't have a path to go on
that we that we totally knew and I know
next year will be completely different
right I mean I
we'll know what we what we know at that
point that's the whole process of
learning we're in stage two of learning
right now we need guidance uh to help us
with that process to say Chuck did you
did you get everything you need what
questions do you have
um that's what we needed I think that's
why I think we're here
vice mayor thank you mayor
um
if I may summarize what I'm hearing
um
it appears that
um the new council members feel that we
need to evaluate how the process works
in the future
so that there are some additional touch
points for us to provide some input
maybe earlier in the process maybe that
comes through our Retreat when we start
talking about priorities for the new
year so
um
I believe everybody up here and staff is
very open to that so if maybe we could
close that conversation saying yes let's
look at the process for the future
um
when it comes to this budget
Kelly had the timeline up there about
what the next steps are and the reality
is
probably the number one
priority for this council is to pass a
budget
so that we can continue the work and the
services that we provide and that's what
we're here to do tonight is to pass a
budget
not passing a budget is not an option
it's against the law not to have a
budget so
um you know if everybody decides to vote
no we're going to be in big trouble in
the with the state
um so I would like us to
um
take a look at what our responsibility
is tonight and that is
ensuring that we have a budget passed so
that the work can begin for our next
fiscal year and meeting a state
statute to do so
um
I'm hoping that you can separate the two
topics
with the with the understanding we are
going to look at this process for the
future but tonight this is what's before
us
um everyone here has stated they have no
qualms with with what's before us that
it's responsible that it's you know that
that's not the issue so I I hope that we
can separate those two
agree hopefully Patrick has taken the
notes that we do want to discuss the
process for the future but
with that if
if there's no other discussion I'll make
a motion okay
just for instance as I've gone through
this and and I try and
I've spoken with many former council
members some of which you would be
surprised at what their
interpretation of The Hunger Games is
and
consistently five out of the six very
much felt that the budget was presented
as take it or leave it they didn't feel
that they had enough input yet they felt
bound to move forward I'm just going to
point something out that I noticed
that's silly and it probably it probably
very explainable but to me right now I
think it's interesting that in 2023 we
had two safety officers but for 2024 we
have none
now that's that's pretty miniscule
that's a small Point yet
I don't know
why we no longer have that I don't know
why we had it in the first place maybe
maybe that's the problem
I look and I know that we're charged the
the most serious things we do are roads
they're police and fire
are the most important things that
people expect
I don't really comprehend how the asks
for police and fire were reduced to what
they have now because they obviously
were larger than what they got
and what was the trade-off I we weren't
part of that enough to understand to
influence it to what the policy that we
would like to set forward was there now
I I could sit here tonight and make
suggestions of what I think that we need
more full-time employees and police and
fire well that's great are you prepared
to have that discussion up here right
now because we can do it
but I look and I think I'd rather have
more ft's and police and fire I don't
know exactly where I'm going to take in
that moment but we can have the
discussion tonight if you'd like or we
vote on it and I vote no
it's simple
again there's an there's a topic that
you haven't brought up all along
that we sat through a budget study
session we sat through a preliminary
budget meeting and haven't had that
discussion you've met one-on-one with
Kelly
did you ask about the ftes in PD I know
there's less in PD this year because
there was a lot last year which vice
mayor and I mentioned at the last
meeting the preliminary meeting is that
last year's budget included a large
number of PD and fire for Public Safety
so we try to balance
where new ftes are going to be so that
they're not always public we could put
new Public Safety every single year
quite honestly we could it's just the
way that it is but we try to balance
which departments get new ftes while
we're still trying to keep a handle on
how many staff we have within the
community and what the what the needs
are for Public Safety and the Chiefs
would fight for what they need if they
needed them this year and that's what
the Hunger Games part of it is that we
talk about for the for the people
watching
to come to the last moment and not hear
any of this up until now is is it's it's
difficult it's difficult to discuss it's
difficult to handle
we all put in a lot of hours we all put
in a lot of work we all do the best that
we can do I don't know what you don't
know councilman Giovanni you run
multi-million dollar companies I didn't
know what you don't know about budgets
and
you've all said that you have budget
experience that's why I didn't think you
had any questions
how are we supposed to know that if you
have no questions it's because you don't
know
I I can't I can't answer that
and so
at the study session I asked over and
over again if anyone had any questions
we are not allowed to talk to more than
two people about any Topic at any time
so we can't do that off the dice we do
it on the dice I ask that the
preliminary meeting are there any other
topics any other questions I asked over
and over again
because I was surprised that people
didn't have questions
so to be here tonight is just
again
surprising and disappointing and
vice mayor you have your mic on
thank you mayor um
you know I I did go through the line
items that were presented and I did
call and email and ask the questions
because there were a couple budget line
items that I thought were extremely low
and I got the reason and it made good
sense and so I felt comfortable that all
my answers were given to me
um again
I'm ready to make a motion we're going
to continue to talk about what didn't go
right and I think everybody has already
made up their mind on how they're going
to vote I'm still open to having a
conversation about how we can be more
inclusive and make sure that you have an
opportunity to give feedback earlier in
the process but with that
I'd like to make a motion to approve
item 29 which is the final budget
I don't want to read it
I'll try 2 billion 49 million five
hundred and one thousand three hundred
for the period of July 1 2023 to June
30th 2024.
of emotion do I have a second
second
I have a motion by vice mayor tilkey
seconded by council member kraprowski
please vote
most motion passes four three
we have a budget we will move forward
and we will look at ways to make the
process
more appealing for our new council
members and easier for people to be
involved in thank you Kelly and the team
for all of your hard work when it comes
to the annual budget I know that it's
not easy and I know we've had a couple
of difficult meetings
past couple of years and I appreciate
all that you do Kelly keep coming back
please
I will adjourn the special meeting and
reconvene the regular meeting move on to
our administrative items number 30 is
Council Administration and it is the
rescinding of um to approve a resolution
we're sending numerous console approved
policies that we discussed at a separate
meeting
can I is there any discussion needed on
this item
then could I please get a motion
I'll make a motion to approve item 30.
second I have a motion by vice mayor
tolki seconded by council member
Anderson please vote
motion passes 7-0 that is a long list of
resolutions moving on to boards
commissions and committees reports from
Council Liaisons on any board and
commission items
councilmember Anderson
very quick report only because it
affects us and affects the entire State
you may all be aware of
the governor's recent
um
discussion about the groundwater use in
our state and there's been some
unfortunate comments made that have
gotten out to national press that
Arizona's out of water
and I'm looking back to Dana hoping that
she will make sure that we get the word
out that Gilbert's water portfolio is
not only extremely resilient but is very
sustainable
and it's something that
um the message that we need to get out
because unfortunately what's going into
the national press right now is that
Gilbert or that Arizona is out of water
and so why would you try to attract
Economic Development I'm looking back at
Jennifer and everybody in the back you
know what those kind of words can do
when we convey a message that we're
running out of a resource and it's not
true
the vast majority of communities in this
Valley in this state have done a very
good job in building very strong water
portfolios and we need to make sure that
that's the story that gets out I know
amwa is working very hard to do that but
we need to do everything we can too
I have a little statement that I'll
follow up with in a minute okay thank
you any other comments about boards
commission vice mayor
thank you Mira I don't know if you're
gonna thank the veterans Advisory board
for the um Memorial Day ceremony it was
very moving and thank all of the council
members that were there and
council member kroprowski and I went
down to the American Legion afterwards
and donated to their lunch and got a
chance to talk to some of them as well
but it was a very moving ceremony and
appreciate all the work they put into it
thank you for that vice mayor I
appreciate you standing in I was out of
the country I saw that all of the
council members attended it's the first
one I've missed I think it's the first
and I texted you all personally to thank
you for being there because I think it's
the first time that I've seen all of the
council in attendance and thanks for
taking up the task of going down to the
legion afterwards that's typically what
I do so we appreciate I appreciate that
and I know the veterans Advisory Board
does too yeah any other common Sports
and commissions moving on to item number
32 it's a policy item to consider
approval of council policy 2301
regarding purchases from members of the
governing board and this requires a
motion
correct Chris yes thank you
um would is there any discussion or
would someone like to make a motion on
this item
mayor I'll make a motion to approve item
32 which is an annual approval thank you
I second thank you I have a motion by
vice mayor Toki seconded by council
member Buckley please vote
motion passes 7-0 now moving on to
Communications report from the town
manager on current events
thank you mayor members of the council I
want to start by thanking Kelly and her
entire budget team as well as the entire
executive team and the organization that
helps with this annual budget process
you know I know
um
coming into your roles for our new
council members and for our existing
council members this is not an easy
process this is I think one of the
things that's unique about Gilbert we
call ourselves a town and and we love
that and it connotates a different
feeling for this community that we know
it we're a part of it we can make a
difference in it we know our neighbors
and it's a very special place as we all
know it's also a very large community by
any measurement or standard that you
choose to use whether it be geographic
area at 72 square miles planning area
that's bigger than Boston Miami DC
Seattle Minneapolis St Louis it's a very
large area it's also 280 000 residents
and climbing that makes it the 77th
largest city in in the nation and we are
still growing and as a result our budget
and the service lines we deliver are
very complex and it's an 11 month
process for staff it's it's a grueling
process it's one in which we focus on on
continuing to deliver over 200 different
lines of service that'll make Gilbert
what it is and make it special and
ensure that we do that with high quality
every year the revenues are Lag the
demand on Services the residents get
here first the businesses and then the
revenues follow so every year
we're always trying to figure out how to
meet an ever increasing growing Demand
on our services and especially in these
market conditions with inflation and
supply chain disruptions has made a very
difficult job feel almost impossible on
some days and then some of the stuff
we're facing from supply chain delivery
delays it it's downright
um
it's just downright um
scary at times for our service lines and
what happens if we lose too many Solid
Waste trucks knowing it'll take us two
more years to get one and so they are
literally figuring out every possible
way they can to keep that Fleet in
service and we have a very strong focus
on preserving our quality of life in
this community that we know is very
special not just for today but for the
next generation of residents that will
live here in the next generation of
leaders that will fill all our seats and
and serve in an elected capacity to be
the good stewards that we have been
and we also do all of this in a very
fiscally responsible manner which puts
additional pressure on us to figure out
how to achieve that high quality and and
do that with as as low as a possible
cost as we can to the residents and to
the businesses of this community who
deserve to keep as much of their hard
money in their bank account than ours
but it does cost money to do that and so
it is a grueling process and for our new
council members we'll very much look
forward to working with you and help you
understand the steps along the way
understand how you can be more active in
making sure we understand priorities
through Retreats through one-on-one
conversations through through all the
different touch points we have through
the year I would also encourage you to
continue to get to know our departments
and our service lines these individuals
work very very hard and our executive
team members who understand the needs
that they have to continue those
Services all doing incredibly
um
they do an exceptional job in working
together given that we've got one bucket
of money we work from and we've got to
balance the highest priorities and there
are times when Public Safety and Public
Safety gets a lot of our investment
because Public Safety is a very
important service line that we deliver
police and fire and so the times when
our Parks and Recreation Department is
going to have to wait on something so
Publix case D can get what they need in
that year and we rely upon the men and
women in those departments to inform Us
in those decisions and we rely on the
leaders of those departments to help
present a balanced budget to us and I
know that it can feel overwhelming
especially being so new in your role and
you have dealt with a lot that through
my career a lot of newly elected
officials have not had to deal with and
we know that and we appreciate that and
so I just want to conclude by thanking
you for approving the budget tonight so
we can begin the work of laying the
groundwork for fiscal year 24 and all
the great things to come and for our new
council members and for our Council on
the whole we'll look forward to working
with you next year to help you feel like
you are have a better understanding the
process more involved in that process so
that maybe next year we can have a 7-0
vote on our final budget but I do thank
you for the conversation I thank you for
the Civil manner in which that dialogue
occurred and I want to thank again Kelly
and her team the entire executive team
for the great work they do on almost a
year-long process to bring this to
conclusion to you tonight thank you
mayor
thanks Patrick
um now I'll move on to a report from the
Council on current events
seeing none move on to report for mayor
and common events I have a statement
about water water and development on
June 1st the governor's office released
the updated Phoenix active management
area groundwater model which showed a
shortfall in groundwater available to
meet already planned demands throughout
the valley as a result the state has
temporarily halted new assured water
supply approvals for developments that
rely solely on groundwater I want to
reassure our community that Gilbert is
not affected by these actions as we have
a designation of assured water supply
and are not solely dependent on
groundwater Gilbert is well positioned
to continue to develop and Thrive as we
actively monitor the plan and plan for
changing conditions on the Colorado
River Gilbert will remain resilient and
sustainable because of our diverse water
portfolio investment in infrastructure
and our water conservation and
efficiency programs
next we have a slide up for the heat
relief Network we are taking donations
as you can see items needed are bottled
water hats like colored t-shirts
sunblock and there's a long list of
donation sites if you would like to
visit gilbertaz.gov and heat relief or
as you can see the little tag down there
or scan that QR code right there on your
screen and it will take you right where
you need to go for the donations we'd
like to top what we did in 2019 looks
like that was our highest one at 14 285
and we would like to move higher than
that next we have
the parks master plan
is that the next item on our Judy yes
the parks master plan study is going on
now and asking for our residents and
business owners to participate in this
plan shape your share your ideas to
shape our future and again there's
another great QR code there if you would
like to scan that and participate and
plan where you play here in Gilbert's
this is our 10-year update for the Parks
and Recreation master plan
and I also have one other thing the
mayak mayor's youth advisory committee
applications are now open if anyone is
interested in applying that application
is open until and I just pulled that ape
up August 6th we're extending this
application out a little bit longer so
go to gilbertaz.gov and type in mayak
myac and it'll take you to the page that
you need to be on and now for a little
fun
um I was able to to
um fly to Poland last week and I spent I
spent time in Krakow and then zacopone
where you can see the little block on
the bottom of the map and then up to
kalish and khaleesh happens to be the
oldest city in the country of Poland and
they invited us there because they were
having City days and the organization
called bread of life which is a
non-profit that was started here in
Gilbert has a Gilbert address invited
myself and former council member Scott
September to attend the photo that you
see there are the ism is my American
flag at the delegates table that I was
sitting at at this at the mayor's
reception hall and those are the gifts
that I presented to him I want to thank
vice mayor tilkey and our friend Robin
Hansen for getting me the eagle the
eagle made it in one piece to Poland in
my suitcase which I was very concerned
with and then I also gave this book of
Arizona photos that
um Craig and Barbara Barrett have
provided photos for this book and
Barbara is the former Secretary of the
Air Force and she's also the chairman of
the USS Arizona Legacy Foundation which
of course Gilbert has a connection to
the new USS Arizona and that book is in
the Library of Congress next photo Judy
we presented the gifts to the mayor I'm
not even going to attempt to say his
name because it's very long and very
polish but in Poland they refer to their
Mayors as presidents so he is President
Christian I know that much his first
name and then for my fire chief and
police chief the photo on the right was
us presenting gifts that were sent to
the fire chief and police chief there at
another banquet that we attended and it
was a wonderful opportunity to meet
people from around the world and share
our Gilbert with them and get to know
them and they would like to maybe form a
relationship with us so I think that's
something fun that we could potentially
look forward to so thanks for letting me
indulge they also let me go read books
to a Kindergarten class I got to read
English books to a Kindergarten class
because all of their kids are learning
English every place we went people spoke
English in the country of Poland so
wonderful visit if you ever have a
chance to go I highly recommend it thank
you all and that concludes our meeting
and I will go ahead and adjourn