Regular Meeting - 5/2/2023 6:30:00 PM

good evening everyone welcome to the May
2nd 2023 Gilbert Town council meeting I
would like to ask you to please turn off
and Silent your cell phones and devices
all of your cell phones and devices if
you carry more than one please
and I would like to invite
clergy Steve louder of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the
podium to offer the invocation this one
please
clergy louder and happy birthday to you
thank you for being here
let us all take a moment to pray
together
our dear father in Heaven
we as thy children gather here
in the halls of the Gilbert Town
to be a part of the most wonderful
community
that we know
throughout this land of freedom
we are grateful for our mayor
mayor Peterson
we ask that she might be granted wisdom
and patience and the love
and the strength to do
and fulfill the responsibilities that
have been set upon her
we are grateful for our council members
for each one of them for Bobby and Scott
and for Jim and Kathy
for young
and for Chuck
we know that each one of them loves this
community
and we desire a blessing upon them
a blessing of continued kindness and
civility
a blessing that they know that the tone
they set in these Halls
is a tone that will ReSound throughout
our
wonderful town
we have blessed them pleased with the
ability to speak freely
and with compassion
that we will find unity in their words
we bless them with the wisdom
to not desire to be right but to do what
is right
we are grateful for the faith leaders in
this town
and we ask thee for a special blessing
upon their houses of worship that they
might be filled
with those who are humble
and the humility might reign in Gilbert
we are grateful for our business leaders
and we ask you to bless them with
integrity
and philanthropy in their success
we're grateful for our First Responders
and for the town employees
and we ask thee to bless them
with a continued love for all of the
citizens of Gilbert
that thy Angels May guide them
to those who are in need
and struggling
we are grateful for all of our friends
and family and neighbors and citizens of
Gilbert
help all of us to be a little kinder
a little more forgiving
a little more understanding
that we might break down
the walls of diversity and see each
other as you see us
thy children
struggling
and striving
through trials and tribulations
to do our best
help us to help others overcome
we pray this and we pray thy Spirit be
here
in this town meeting in the name of
Jesus Christ amen
thank you Steve now if I could ask
councilmember Anderson to please lead us
in the Pledge of Allegiance
please join me in reciting the pledge
[Music]
I could please ask our town clerk
Herrera to please conduct the Roll Call
mayor Bridget Peterson here vice mayor
Kathy tilkey here council member Scott
Anderson here council member Chuck Bon
Giovanni here council member Bobby
Buckley here council member young
koprowski here and council member Jim
Torgeson Quorum is present thank you
very much on this Municipal Clerk's week
I'm just going to keep saying it to
recognize you the first Proclamation
that we have this evening is National
travel and tourism week and council
member Buckley will be presenting to
economic development director Dan
Henderson Dan if you could please come
down and councilmember Buckley if you
could please make your way down to the
floor and Kirsten will assist you down
there
down there
Kristin can you please give her a
handheld mic
thank you very much
we don't want to stand you behind the
podium councilmember great thank you
you
so this is National travel and tourism
week whereas Gilbert serves on the U.S
travel Association and whereas the U.S
travel Association is the national
non-profit organization that represents
the advocates for all components of the
travel industry and whereas tourism in
Gilbert generated 310 million dollars in
visitor spending in 2021 and saw annual
revenue Hotel Revenue grow by 36 percent
in 2022 and whereas travel is a pillar
of economic growth creating jobs at a
faster rate than other sectors
nationally and whereas the Gilbert
office of Economic Development supports
vibrant communities to enhance the
quality of life for residents of Gilbert
and visitors to Gilbert now therefore I
Bridget Peter son of the town of Gilbert
do hereby Proclaim May 7th 7 13 7
through 13
2023 as National travel and tourism week
thank you
[Applause]
well thank you for this Proclamation and
those kind words we've got a couple of
members of our tourism Advisory Group
here and I'd like for them to introduce
themselves
my name is Denise Lopez and I'm the
president and CEO of HD South the home
of the Gilbert Historical Museum
my name is Dallin Timothy I'm a
professor at ASU I'm a geographer and I
specialize in tourism and economic
development
Jamie Belcher the general manager of
Phoenix Gilbert Hampton Inn & Suites
mayor members of the council wonderful
recognition and without these dedicated
individuals on our tourism Advisory
Group tourism wouldn't be what it is in
our community and so heartfelt thank you
to you all for all the work that you do
day in and day out mayor council members
councilmember Buckley thank you for the
recognition
thank you
foreign
don't go too far because you'll be up
again in a couple of minutes their next
Proclamation is Gilbert water
professionals appreciation week and this
Proclamation will be presented by
council member Anderson to our water
resources manager Lauren Hickson and to
say that Lauren's been working overtime
recently is an understatement with water
situations going on in the great state
of Arizona
and she's bringing a whole team down to
join her
okay
thank you
is Rebecca not here she
well she's at a conference okay
you are looking at a team that is vital
to this town and to our growth you may
have been watching in the the media here
recently about the shortage of water on
the Colorado River
our team of in Water Resources has made
sure that Gilbert is in a good position
our portfolio is strong and we can look
forward to the future thanks to the
vision of this team so we're very
grateful for their efforts
whereas Gilbert has a diversity of Water
Resources groundwater preserved and vast
underground aquifers runoff from the
mountain rainfall and snowmelt collected
in reservoirs Colorado River water moved
through hundreds of miles of canals to
Gilbert and recycled Wastewater treated
to drinking water standards
and whereas every home and every sector
of Gilbert's economy from Finance to
Health Care requires safe and reliable
water to thrive
whereas Gilbert has been a leader in
sustainable management of groundwater
resources
and has pioneered Innovations such as
water recharge and expanding the ReUse
of treated Wastewater to replenish
aquifers and improve local water supply
reliability
whereas Gilbert has become a 100 percent
water reuse Community that's very
important by the way
whereas water conservation efficiency
and water reuse are vital components of
holistic water management for
sustainable water future
and whereas Arizona's water industry
offers a wide variety of rewarding
career opportunities in engineering
hydrology water operations biology
policy economics business administration
law and Communications
now therefore I'm Bridget Peterson mayor
of the town of Gilbert do hereby
proclaim the week of May 8th through the
12th 2023 as Gilbert water professionals
appreciation week thank you so much for
all your efforts
everybody
sure
we're gonna have everyone introduce
themselves and say how they're connected
to the water industry as mentioned I'm
Lauren Hickson I'm the water resources
manager
good evening my name is Gene Jensen I am
the capital Improvement supervisor over
the utility space I'm also the incoming
chair of the AZ Water Association
my name is Viviana Esparza and I'm a
Wastewater pre-treatment inspector
good evening Ken snow town of Gilbert
Wastewater manager
Jeremiah Churchill water conservation
coordinator
Stephen walson water and energy
resources planning advisor
Jessica Marlow I'm the Public Works
director overseeing the water and
wastewater operations for the town
next up we have a proclamation for
economic development wink council member
Torgeson will will be presenting the
economic development to economic
development director Dan Henderson come
on down Dan and team
you're afraid of what I'm going to say
nice
how are you I'm good my friend
I've known Dan for 10 or 12 maybe longer
and this that the downtown that you see
everything comes out of his department
and comes out of this
so
I'm happy to present this
whereas Gilbert Gilbert serves on the
international Economic Development
Council and whereas the iedc is the
largest professional Economic
Development organization dedicated to
serving economic developers and whereas
Gilbert was the first Economic
Development organization accreditation
recipient of all economic development
organizations in Arizona as recognized
by the iedc and whereas the Gilbert
office of Economic Development promotes
economic well-being and the quality of
life for the community through their
efforts focused on creating retaining
and expanding jobs to facilitate growth
which enhances wealth and provides a
stable tax base
now therefore on behalf of Mayor Bridget
Peterson for the town of Gilbert I do
hereby Proclaim May 8th through 12 2023
is economic development week
well thank you
um economic development's a team sport
by all means and couldn't do it without
certainly mayor and Council our
executive leadership team and certainly
all of Team Gilbert and so uh just like
to thank you for the recognition and
with that I'd like uh
each of us to introduce ourselves
good evening Jennifer Graves I serve as
the deputy director for the office of
Economic Development
good evening Michelle Streeter I just
joined the economic development team as
their marketing and communications
project manager
welcome Michelle I knew your first time
in a council meeting
thank you team and congratulations next
we will have a presentation for the
cadet of the Year Cadet Lieutenant
Colonel Abigail Kramer from Higley High
School and I would like to ask veterans
Advisory Board chair Dave Rosenfeld
Patrick McNeil and Ken f enfiger for of
Southwest veterans Foundation to please
join me down on the floor
thank you
come on up here Abigail
so I I have uh well let me start by
saying thank you very much for those of
you that are here in attendance to to
help celebrate this young lady
um and I have
kiamishagaya up here as well she is with
the Chandler uh Council and she is the
CEO
of
Global maternal Wellness so she is also
going to be a presenter but
as the chair for Gilbert I found we were
not communicating very well with our
sister cities around the area so I've
reached out to a bunch of our other East
Side
veterans chairs so Scottsdale all the
way down here to Chandler Tempe Mesa out
to AJ and and Queen Creek we get
together monthly just to talk and one of
the things that is a passion of mine is
beating up on these young kids that are
in ROTC because they are taking a step
that the vast majority of their peers
are just not willing or able to do they
are stepping up and saying I want to be
a leader
this one Abigail Cramer not only has she
stood up and said I want to be a leader
but she literally is the commander of
the corps of cadets for Higley High
School she runs that program and and
Colonel Vaughn who is their instructor
will tell you that it's the it's a
student-led program
she has stood up and competed in many
aboards and we invited 20 high schools
20 high schools to participate in this
competition
they were a bunch of chickens
and that's hard for a for a 22-year army
vet to say the vast majority of these
schools just wouldn't participate they
didn't have the courage and intestinal
afford to do to do it this young lady
put together an amazing packet talking
about her achievements talking about
everything that she's done and there was
no competition
she is Head and Shoulders above
everybody else that could you know would
have competed if they had the courage to
do so so on that note
the town of Gilbert and the East Valley
Veterans Coalition is absolutely proud
to present you this JROTC Cadet of the
year
plaque and we've got this amazing goodie
bag that goes along with it I'm not
going to get into everything that's
inside there but you will need a gym bag
I promise you
so it is it is I'll double that for you
well I do this give her a big smile
right there
and we'll take a bunch more of these but
that said
cat or Patrick Ken you want to take a
moment and do your thing sure my name is
Pat McNeil I'm a Navy veteran I'm
president of the Southwest veterans
foundation and Ken is with the Southwest
veterans Chamber of Commerce
uh we're the fundraising arm of the the
chamber and we are happy to be here and
present you with a check for two hundred
dollars
to help you on your educational and
Leadership Journey
now this check is is really nice and
probably suitable for framing but you're
not going to get it into the ATM machine
at all
but we do yeah that'd be fun but we
would like to give you this check that
you can cash and you can put into your
funds and accounts so
congratulations thank you
okay Amisha
all right so yes my name is Kai Misha
guy I am a Navy veteran and part of the
East Valley Veterans Coalition and so my
husband and I Matthew guy we also are
going to present you from The Quiet
Waters veteran 501c3 that is located in
Chandler we have a card in here because
like I said I'm a mom so you always give
a card and So within that card is a 200
gift card to Walmart because every high
school and college student needs to be
able to shop for some groceries and
everything else so congratulations you
take care
chemistry
we'll do one with everybody
all right if we can get everybody up
here and we'll mom and dad you want to
join us Colonel Vaughn let's get up here
[Applause]
congratulations thank you
and she's going to tell us exactly
calm down
Cadet would you like to say a few words
I didn't put her on the spot but I'm
glad I'm gonna put her on this
yes yes I am
I would first like to thank the town of
Gilbert this is an amazing town to grow
up in and to go to school in I loved
writing the essay and I remember the
first time I even got to meet you it was
a year over a little over a year ago
during the Youth Government day and
really I love the Higley Unified School
District and everything is done for me
jrtc is an amazing program and I even
have some Cadets here today who came
supported me so I would like to thank
everyone here also I thank you so much
congratulations
proud to have you
thanks Dave
that was a great way to start our
meeting this evening it's always
wonderful to be able to recognize our
youth
no matter what capacity they're serving
in in our community and I can tell you
our youth are doing some amazing things
in Gilbert I get to see them all the
time for different events and I'm so
proud of them we will now move on to
Communications from citizens and I will
pass to you vice mayor
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 provide 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 placed on a future agenda the
town asks when your name is call you
come forward to the podium state your
name and place the residence and then
begin speaking all speakers are expected
to observe common standards of decorum
and courtesy personal attacks political
speeches are threats of political action
are inappropriate in this form and will
be grounds for ending a speaker's time
at the podium
we have several speakers today and
before I begin
I have a card from
Dominique
and so it's it says you want to speak a
Communications from citizens is that
right not the public agenda item
okay
okay great I'm gonna hold that if you
come back later and realize it's on the
agenda just let me know okay all right
yeah thank you I appreciate that okay so
we will begin
you'll have three minutes if you'll come
to the podium the first person will want
to turn the mic on you'll know your mic
is on when you see the red light and as
soon as you begin speaking there is a
clock there so you'll see how much time
you have left so everyone will have
three minutes and we will begin with
Tyler sedsmo sunsmo so please correct me
when you when you come up if I said that
wrong following
okay I get it nobody knows how to say
tilkey either so
um following uh Tyler will be Dominique
thank you all for being here and
listening to our um
our issues uh I'm here on behalf of my
son he um everyone who's a parent in
this town knows that there is a
transportation gap between teenagers and
16 year olds they still have places they
need to be they have limited ways to get
there especially when it's 115 degrees
outside
Danny over here at West Coast scooters
has provided an incredible way for
people to get from A to B using Green
Technology there's no motor that's
driven it it's all electric and they can
like my son goes to a
um he goes to a gifted program there's
no bus that can get him there my wife
and I both work
so he has to get himself there in the
morning which provides an opportunity
for responsibility self-reliance
accountability a little bit of mechanics
all things that young men need to have
growing up I think everybody can agree
to that he was hit by a car on his way
home
crossing a residential street hit by a
car and as he's on his way to the
hospital and I'm nervous and I'm freaked
out I don't know what's going on the
police officer tells me that he cannot
cite her
because they because they said that that
vehicle is illegal that is a problem
if you cannot classify this vehicle I'm
asking that the council please consider
it be a micro Mobility device
because that's the the best category
that it fits in when I looked up the
statutes now because
you know he he didn't hit her quarter
panel he was under the front of her
vehicle but because they said that it
cannot it's not an unclassified device
they can't just determine liability I've
got a 2600 electrical I mean ER Bill his
scooter is absolutely totaled I don't
know I mean I'm asking grandfather to
drive him to and from now which is a big
burden for a guy that's 76 years old
okay so I'm asking the council please
consider actually classifying these
devices so that no one else has to go
through this stuff again I already have
the headache of my my son you know
recovering from this accident and and
now I have to figure out the insurance
part of it when they there's no
liability established from the police
department
thank you for your time
thank you Tyler oops next is Dominique
and then following is Tom Smith
good evening Dominique hippolit owner of
the hype Network previous employee of a
small owned Gilbert business and friends
and contracted we'll see if when I send
them the invoice if they pay it or not
West Coast scooter that's I'm here on
behalf of them I was speaking with Danny
and Scott today they filled me in on a
lot of the details of what's going on as
in
I'd ask them to explain it to me as a
five-year-old coming into the situation
I actually am an owner of a West Coast
scooter as well I purchased it for my
son last year for his 16th birthday
because he didn't have his license yet
and quite frankly I didn't have the
funds to buy a car I'm sure we all know
what those costs look like right now
just to piggyback on some of the things
that Tyler said as far as
Mobility for our children when we're at
work for them to get home to school
different programs my son worked and
actually saved enough money to buy his
own vehicle but it's still sitting in
the driveway so we'll get there later
but
the ability to have resources in our
growing Community is extremely important
so what I'm confused about is
the classification of an apparatus that
can't even be
titled or insured or licensed because it
doesn't have a VIN number and my son as
a young
African-American
is he supposed to be riding around in
fear that he's going to get pulled over
his only mode of transportation is from
school to the gym and to work is going
to be confiscated and then his mom's
going to be hit with a 1900 ticket
for me as a parent in a community that
I'm trying to raise all three of my
children in to be productive citizens
how how are we regulating these things
and what can be done so that the actions
of maybe a few who
don't have as much supervision as they
should or maybe didn't get
the parents didn't quite understand the
responsibility of giving a bicycle that
can go 20 miles an hour to you know
someone to 13 or 14.
so I don't know if this specific
situation has been put on the docket for
there to be like real discussion about
it but I know that if emails are being
sent calls are being made and there's
not more than uh oh yeah I did get it
and I thought that I sent like
this is the town of Gilbert I think that
we should have a paper trail there is a
paper trail and I'm just trying to
figure out how do we come to a solution
so that my son isn't
taking two extra miles taking back roads
coming home from work at 11 o'clock at
night because he's scared that he's
going to get pulled over
so thank you for your time
thank you Dominic next is Tom Smith and
following Tom Smith will be Danny
Bassett
hmm
foreign
thank you mayor council I'm here this
evening to point out a huge discrepancy
in compensation in the town of Gilbert
we're the largest town in the United
States we know that
Gilman's Gilbert's median household
income is 142 804 bucks
the highest in the state seventh highest
in the country largely due to the Past
Council decisions and attracting great
employers thank you and all your past
ones
the lowest full-time Town employees
start around 58 000 and the highest paid
employees hover around two hundred and
fifty thousand we pay for the cream of
the crop and we expect to get what we
pay for
but here's what we don't pay for the
best we have a mayor who receives forty
three thousand dollars
we in a council that only gets twenty
one thousand dollars
uh my first suggestion is you may want
to change your career and apply at
McDonald's because you're going to make
more money
that's first
municipalities of our size pay far
differently Nationwide are you aware
that municipalities comparable yet
smaller than Gilbert such as Buffalo New
York Chula Vista California St Louis
Missouri pay their Mayors between 132
and 158 thousand dollars a year their
council members are paid between sixty
one thousand and seventy five thousand
dollars a year
and Maricopa County Gilbert is by far
the lowest of comparable communities
Phoenix pays their Council three times
what ours has paid Mesa pays their
Council twice what Gilbert pays tempe's
mayor has paid over 50 percent more
mesa's mayor is paid nearly 70 percent
more than ours
Gilbert's a far more affluent community
and growing while those other those
mentioned or not we need the best and
the brightest leading us
the compensation should be as such that
we attract that kind of talent for the
future and you're not going to attract
talent in my opinion by paying somebody
that's working full-time all of you guys
work full-time you guys work
many hours and those of us that are
around you know that and you're not
you're not being compensated enough and
I hope that in the future that can be
changed thank you very much
thank you Mr Smith up next is Danny
Bassett and following Danny is Scott
wisely
hello my name is Danny Bassett I am a
resident of Gilbert and a small business
owner nice to see you all again mayor
council members Town manager Rob nice to
see you
um we spoke a couple months ago Kathy I
did speak in depth with you about this
and Patrick also and I just kind of want
to know where we're at because I have
got zero response from anybody the only
person that has communicated with me was
Rob for a while and Mr torgus
so I mean I just want to know how this
is supporting small businesses in the
town of Gilbert
you know we've done nothing but good for
this town we bring in Revenue we bring
families together
we give people and opportunities to get
around other than driving their cars we
have special needs adults and children
that use our scooters I went over all
this in our last Town council meeting
and I didn't get any response and it's
just very frustrating as a business
owner and I want to also protect the 500
plus customers that we have out there
that ride our Scooters or now they're
not now they're just sitting in the
garage in fear that they're going to get
pulled over impounded and get a two
thousand dollar ticket
these are not motorcycles I did
everything that you guys requested that
I do I took it to the state ADOT
National transportation to do a level
one inspection I was laughed out of
there they told me there's no way they
should be on the road they're not DOT
certified we have an importation
document stating that they're not for
roadway use I don't know why these are
trying to be pushed on the road it's too
dangerous
this is not where they need to be I know
there's a group of kids in a certain
subdivision that are wreaking havoc with
these scooters motorcycles sorons
Etc but they need to be dealt with Case
by case
these don't need to be banned we need to
move in the direction of EV anyway this
gives people so many opportunities to
save money and get around town in an
efficient manner
so I just want to know
what we can do to resolve this
we're not trying to fight the city or
the town we want to come to a conclusion
and a resolution to this problem because
it's just getting worse and worse and
worse for us and our customers
so thank you
thank you Danny next up is Scott and
then following Scott is Jesse
Lars
hello I'm Scott Risley Gilbert a
resident or a resident Gilbert
um also business partner with Danny I
think he actually touched on a lot of
the stuff that I did want to talk about
but I am the original founder of West
Coast scooter I started this business
seven years ago
and
it's been great for six years
we've been invited by Gilbert every
single year to do events
we've been in the Gilbert Days parade
for five years now
I'm just really confused and bothered
how the city has treated our business
out of nowhere suddenly you guys deem
our scooters illegal
all because of one neighborhood
Morrison Ranch
because of teenagers
I don't think it's fair I don't think
it's right
and you know we can pick up and move to
another town
no Queen Creek or somebody else but we
do have 500 plus customers here that we
owe a responsibility to try to resolve
this issue it's already cost us 150 000
probably in last five months
I mean we pride ourselves on
on referrals we have 90 percent of our
customers referrals so this has really
hurt our business
and I just I don't understand it you
know my grandpa was a Arizona politician
my cousin's a state senator now U.S
ambassador
and I'm just ashamed of how we've been
treated as a small business
getting no response from anybody
nobody came to us tried to I mean this
is the only city that I know of that
treats these as a motorcycle
and I've sold these all over the place
other states there's other businesses
that have these City of Scottsdale has
storefronts that rent these scooters
they don't seem to have a problem with
them
but the City of Gilbert where we've done
business for seven years suddenly has an
issue
because of some teenagers in Morrison
Ranch
I just
want to take care of the savior
so I appreciate your time
thank you Scott Jesse
and following Jesse is Brandon riff
good evening my name is Jesse Lars I'm a
facility director at Arcos Health here
in Gilbert and I'm here in support of
West Coast scooter
my wife and I and my family came here
five years ago not knowing much about
Gilbert and where we came from before we
really did not feel like we were a part
of the community Gilbert has embraced us
and our family and the small town feel
has really gotten under our skin and we
really enjoy being here and and meeting
Danny and Scott and being a part of this
scooter these folks with scooters has
been such a great experience for us it
allows us to um you know go to a lot of
these small businesses
and spend spend our dollars having a
good time and being with family and just
being a part of this community and you
know you know we were told that you know
we we may be forced to be put back into
the street and
um this can I mean I don't know if it's
just this community but Arizona
I've never seen so much a traffic
accidents as we do here and I'm not sure
what the reason is and and putting our
slow vehicles on the streets would be
very dangerous for us and it would be a
shame to um to see that happen to the
small business and
um and hurt them and so I hope you guys
reconsider and put them in a in the
right category for us to be able to
enjoy
um
um you know the safety of of the
sidewalks and um
and and the safety of all these areas
that were you know like a lot of the
people that walk around can enjoy so I
just wanted to share share that with you
guys thank you
thank you very much Jesse
asked is Brandon Ripp
good evening mayor and Council Brandon
riff Gilbert resident somebody sent me a
video of the mayor giving the Gilbert
state of the Town presentation last week
near the beginning of the presentation
the mayor highlighted the absence of
certain council members in what appeared
to be a derogatory manner maybe it was
light-hearted
only the mayor knows
to me the mayor did appear to take
personal offense by the absence of
certain council members
insinuating from my perspective that
their absence somehow means that they
don't support the mayor or the town I
wanted to make sure everyone knows some
of the council members were not able to
attend because they were
Instead at a neighborhood meeting
regarding the largest industrial project
in the history of our town
and they were there to support the
residents who elected them
vice mayor tilkey has been most involved
and deserves recognition for keeping the
process peaceful and productive as it
relates to the developer and the
residents working through various issues
even more impressive vice mayor Toki was
able to meet to appear at both meetings
and I think that really speaks to her
dedication to this town and the
residents and I want to thank you for
that
um last Friday we ran into an issue
where planning staff had some objections
to the plan the residents
and the developer for the ranch project
have been working on for over six months
the disagreement had the potential to
derail the entire thing and I reached
out to Kathy and she was out of town she
was heading up North the last thing she
would want to do is deal with this and
but that's the first thing that she did
because that is the first thing that she
she wanted to do I meant one would not
want to do that you're out of town
you're out of town you don't want to
deal with this kind of stuff but not
Kathy
she said let me find out what's going on
and then our town manager Patrick
and Kathy
called me together
and wanted to discuss what was going on
and they wanted to bring about
you know some some calm and provide
information that clarified what was
really happening and it it tempered
emotions and it brought us to The
Logical side of thinking instead of the
emotional side of thinking and it it
kept the deal on track
so what I want to aside from saying
thank you to Patrick and Kathy and Kyle
miras also he was very helpful
um and and keeping everything factual
and objective
um my message that I want to leave you
guys with I'm running out of time here
is uh too much of the development in
Gilbert has been led by developer and
staff
and the residents
try to get involved and a lot of times
they do but a lot of times they don't
and I can tell you being the resident in
trying to interact with the developer
it's absolutely critical that we have
the support of the council and none of
the negotiations that you've seen happen
between the developer
and the residents would have happened if
it wasn't for the council vice mayor in
particular Jim has been also very
heavily involved and so please remember
that because this should not be the
developer and the staff running the town
as it relates to how everything is built
we really depend on you for our voice
being heard thank you
thank you Mr Ruth
um mayor if I could just make a
clarification
Mr Smith I
I just want to make sure that your
comment was for communications from
citizens and not in regards to our
budget later in the bud on the agenda
were you talking about a future
discussion not about this budget
okay thank you I just wanted to make
sure we had you classified in the right
department so thank you very much for
that mayor with that that's all of the
communications from citizens that we
have
thank you now if you'd like to move on
to consent calendar vice mayor yes
mayor I have three items to be pulled
number 17 a young kaprowski 18 and 19
for Jim Torgeson and with that I would
make a motion
to approve consent items number four
five
six seven
8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16.
20 and 21.
of emotion can I have a second
I'll second that the motion by vice
mayor tilkey seconded by council member
Bon Giovanni please vote
motion passes 7-0
thank you mayor um item number 17 uh
council member caprese thank you I'd
like to abstain from this vote as the
owner of Y2K engineering who's a
qualified vendor for the town and may
provide Engineering Services thank you
thank you council member um with that I
would like to make a motion to approve
item number 17.
second I have a motion by vice mayor
seconded by council member Anderson
please vote could we have our voting
there we go thank you
please vote
motion passes 6-0 with one abstention
thank you
thank you mayor um councilman torges son
did you want these separate or together
together together okay
um with that um I'll turn it over to you
get actually I believe the police chief
had something that he was going to be
able to tell me about the repercussions
of taking these two grants
mayor and Council regarding 18a and 18b
I was asked to provide a clarification
um with these grants there are no
matching funds required by the town and
we are not obligated to any future
expenditures or anything related to this
other than the terms within the grant
for this specific items granted any
other questions
regarding the grant
so basically it's it's done it's one and
done there's yes going expense no yep
nothing that we have to do besides
purchase that nope this uh it's one and
done as you stated however each year we
get gohs funding so you will see funding
from this but not related to what you're
approving or reviewing tonight each
one's handled separately all right thank
you sir yep
um mayor I I would like to make a motion
to approve items 18 and 19.
I was motion can I have a second
I have a motion by vice mayor telkey
seconded by council member Torgeson
please vote
motion passes 7-0
that concludes our consent agenda this
evening thank you vice mayor
moving on to our public hearing portion
of our agenda items what we heard at one
public hearing we do not have any slips
for anyone to speak on any of the items
ahead of us this evening I will go ahead
and open the public hearing
we have
the liquor license General plan rezone
code of Gilbert property acquisition and
two budget items would anyone like to
have a separate discussions
presentations on any of those items
seeing none I will go ahead and close
the public hearing and I would entertain
a motion to approve or I would entertain
a motion for items 22 23 24 25 26 and
27.
microphone please thank you I moved to
accept and vote uh I'm sorry I'm
um
can I have a second
councilmember Buckley did you second I'm
sorry did you second okay thank you I
have a motion by council member torges
and seconded by council member Buckley
please vote
motion still loading there we go Motion
passes seven zero thank you very much I
will go ahead and recess our regular
meeting and reconvene in special meeting
we have two items on our agenda for the
special meeting the budget which is the
discussion of the property tax levy and
the budget which is the acceptance of
the preliminary budget for July 1st 2023
through June 30th of 2024. I would
invite Kelly fost to the podium to give
us a short presentation on your items
this evening Miss Kelly
thank you mayor and Council
glad to be with you tonight I think the
presentation will pop up shortly just
one moment it's rebooting
oh
technical issues
perfect
I'm just going to test the little
Advance it will all right I'm going to
give a short presentation tonight you've
heard a lot about the budget so I'll be
very brief and then provide answers to
any questions you have or discussion so
we are here tonight for a preliminary
budget adoption Gilbert is Best in Class
we have a lot of accolades that we've
talked about
this mid-size employer in Arizona City
whose unemployment rates are bouncing
back most Gilbert's just a great place
to live work and and be ours we talked
about the zero-based results with the
inflation normally we have zero base
removing money from the budget but
because of the inflation it did add
money this year so our total savings
since 2018 is 7.6 million
our budget process takes a year long we
have done our Council one-on-ones in
April our study session in April tonight
is preliminary adoption and then final
adoption is in June
the preliminary adoption is important
although there are two adoptions this
will set the maximum amount so that the
town could spend in the upcoming year
the final budget can be less than but it
cannot be more than the adopted budget
tonight
in the budget there are about just under
44 requested positions across the Town
based on the business case needs of the
various departments
there is capital Improvement projects
about 1.4 billion dollars of capital
Improvement projects most of that
investment is on the street side and the
water Improvement side that are needing
investment now and that we've done some
bonding for those improvements
with the Capital Improvements there's
about 900 million dollars that's
carrying forward from projects that have
already started or in current year
budget and then about 450 million
dollars of new projects that would be
added and started next year
we have added a crime lab construction
cost of about 56 million dollars and
this is based off the feedback from
Council at study session so that is
included in the packet tonight
the comparison with the fiscal 23 budget
you can see it's about
378 million dollars more and the
different categories most of that
increase is associated with the capital
Improvement projects and then some on
The Debt Service side The Debt Service
is because some of the bonds that we
issued in 2022 had a first payment in
the 2023 budget but there's usually two
payments per year so now that we'll have
both payments that's reflected in there
in The Debt Service
council member caprasi asked for a
visual of this so this is the same
information but in a pie graph that lets
you see that most of the budget about
three quarters or 70 percent is
associated with the capital Improvement
projects and of that most are carried
forward about one-third of of that is
new projects
the property tax levy that is proposed
tonight is 31.6 million dollars which
would be an Associated rate of 0.9883
and that brings us to tonight for our
preliminary budget adoption any
questions that I can answer for Council
thanks Kelly love the pie graph that was
a great idea council member caproski any
comments or questions for Kelly this is
your time to speak on the budget
thank you
um I don't have any questions uh Kelly
but I just wanted to thank you for
taking the extra time with us to explain
the budget I I think the documentation
that we received is a lot more detailed
than what you gave here but the
comparisons year over year and
understanding the some of the challenges
that we've been facing with inflation
and all of these other you know the
length of service time to get our
equipment in all of that it was taken
into account I know it's a very long
hard process that staff goes through
before we get it but I think that as
always
we're being very conservative we're
being very wise with the way that we
spend our money and so thank you for
being there to answer all of our
questions because I know there's been
tons of of them from all of us so thank
you very much
councilmember Torgerson
hi I just wanted in this case we're
looking at the maximum but there were
some things I had asked about in the
past we'll be talking about that at the
retreat later in
are you mentioning property tax in
specific the property tax and what the
impact would be about taking better care
of our First Responders in retirement
so on the property tax side there was
not consensus coming from study sessions
so I left the numbers as originally
proposed but that could be discussed by
Council here tonight on the retirement
options with the First Responders I know
that human resources is looking into
that it's not reflected in the budget
here because it hasn't been studied and
an answer made from Council but changes
can still be made mid-year when that
information is brought and those changes
made at that time
Kelly just for reassurance would you
explain again how you're accounting for
the possibility of the food tax the
rental tax being taken away and or
recession
sure I'd be happy to councilmember
Anderson
so there is uh Gilbert relies very
heavily on sales tax which is a very
volatile Revenue source and so
recognizing that that there are
potential pressures from the legislature
making changes to our food tax our
residential rental tax or potentially
just a recession that could decrease
sales tax or sales within the town we've
budgeted very conservatively we're
probably going to get about 145 million
dollars of sales tax revenue this year
we're budgeting I think 128 million for
next year so we're being very
conservative trying to make sure that if
something does happen that our ongoing
operations are not at risk the benefit
of doing that is if revenues do happen
to come in at the higher amount for next
year then we're able to use that as
one-time money for the upcoming Capital
needs or projects as we look at fiscal
25 when the money's already come in and
then we'll be able to do the cash fund
some infrastructure where other needs
that town has on a one-time basis
council member koprowski
I know that each year the secondary
property tax comes up and the tax levy
comes up and just wanted to talk a
little bit about that and how Gilbert
does not have a primary property tax we
have secondary property tax which is
highly restricted money used to pay back
voter debt and it's more financially
prudent to keep to those levies and
payment schedules so that we don't
extend that payback period and pay more
interest over time and there are
programs available to reduce the burden
for low-income seniors widows widowers
and the disabled that come through
programs through the county and the
state for those taxes as well
thank you for those comments that's
great information
any other comments or questions
councilman Giovanni
um Kelly I was amazed at the whole
process of this can you explain a little
bit more for the citizens what
department heads go through it's kind of
Game of Thrones kind of thing isn't it
can you please explain that pull process
sure thank you councilmember Giovanni we
we do tongue-in-cheek call it our Hunger
Games process within the town but it's a
very collaborative process it's somewhat
unusual in government so all of the
Departments will put their requests
together and we will
get together as the executive team all
of the department heads in January and
February and go through each of those
requests and collaboratively decide with
the available funds what is most
important for the service levels across
the different departments in the town
and what has to wait it's very
beneficial because sometimes we find
efficiencies that we didn't even know
about having everybody in the room
together and then the executive team
will produce a recommended budget to the
town manager's office that's balanced
Town manager will ask questions know
some more of the broad level needs make
changes or adjustments
and then that combined budget is brought
to the council for questions and
any additional changes or thoughts the
council has so there's give and take
within the Departments correct yes yes
there is thank you
that's where the Hunger Games comes in
they have to fight for what they want
um
so the being the preliminary budget
night I I kind of mentioned to a couple
of the newer council members typically
this is the night that we do the most
discussion about the tax levy in rate at
this meeting because the budget can't go
up past this point whatever we vote on
this evening and our next meeting is
kind of more of a it it's a we just have
to take care of it at a second meeting
and we vote on the second this budget
for a second time tonight's the night
that if you have any questions or
comments or any concerns I would
recommend that you get them out
councilmember Buckley you have your
microphone on well I I don't have a lot
of questions I have gone over this and I
just wanted to say thank you to you and
the staff that the hours that go into
this budget are just astronomical and uh
so you've died I think you've done a
great job I know how to read budgets and
I know what the numbers are and what
they mean I don't
I'm still in this learning process for
the town and hopefully next year I'll
have lots of questions for you but thank
you and I appreciate you meeting with me
every month and going over the numbers
and what they mean and why we have them
so thank you
thanks councilmember I don't want to
insinuate that you can't ask questions
at the next meeting it's just typically
the process I'm trying to explain so
all right so since you know being a
newbie with how you set this up uh I am
I look at certain things in the
structure that I find different than I
think is historically happened here for
instance I look at a public information
officer that I think should be under a
specific Department not in a department
reporting to another person outside of
that whole chain of command and around
is that something that we can handle in
the budget process if we find it
worth handling mayor councilmember
Torgeson so structure is less
financially related and that might be
something to bring up with the town
manager or to have a study session or a
retreat discussion about that if you
wanted input from all of council or just
to do your one-on-one with the the town
manager to ask questions find out
information and we could get that to you
as staff but if they're paid four out of
one budget but operating in a different
Department per se
that budget would have to be turned over
to that department in this process that
we're going through right now correct
Council usually adopts the budget at the
fund level and money can be moved around
during the year based on the needs of
the organization so if if it's more of a
reporting or a structural question that
you have it would be
um good to address that through town
manager or through a study session or
something topic on that okay because
what I what I'm specifically talking
about is let's say buyer was to have
their own
Pio rather than that person being
budgeted out of somewhere else are they
budgeted out of fire
I could I can do my best to speak off
the top of my head but I don't know all
of where everybody's budget we do have
some positions that are budgeted in one
area and report to a different area
um like some attorneys that are working
in police but they report to uh Town
attorney's office or some I.T people who
work in courts and report that so I
don't know on the Pio if that's the
sworn person that reports and is paid
for out of fire or if that is uh I know
there's a digital person I don't think
it's the Pio that's paid for out of
digital government
right see to me I think that if
somebody's working for a department
they should be
they should be bothered to report to
that department head let's say the chief
of fire chief of police to then to Leah
and then to the mayor not around them or
not to the mayor to the manager but not
around
do you see where I'm going with that
I do it's probably more of a HR or
reporting question and we can move the
budget to the to the appropriate place
for the person as needed
that wouldn't be handled in this part of
it that would be handled afterwards that
that level of detail is not usually part
of the adoption process on the reporting
there might be if if there's a new
position that's been requested that
Council does or doesn't want to
authorize
um I haven't had any experience with
Council wanting to discuss any of the
existing already authorized positions
but could well I look at it as a
business sense I wouldn't have somebody
work for one person and report to
another and create separately I would if
somebody was working for me I want them
reporting to me I would want I have the
responsibility for them whatever comes
out of they say I'm responsible for I
would want them under my thumb not
someone else's
and I'm looking as purely business it's
how it's handled in normal business it's
not moved around so that's why I'm
asking this really it's it's an odd
sounding question but I don't want to be
well we can't because it's not in the
budget to do that
I'd like to see people that are truly
responsible for their own information
I'm gonna I'm gonna step in for a second
because I don't really think that this
is a line of questioning for Kelly
because I think it's more of an
organizational
question and I don't know if Patrick
wants to say something
thank you mayor councilman councilman
Torgerson yeah that would be a
conversation outside of budget um I
think what Kelly was trying to get to is
you approved the budget at the fun level
So within the general fund we can move
positions within the year
um as we deem appropriate for
organizational purposes and would be
happy to have a conversation on any
matters like that but for the budget
it's not a discussion we have as part of
this process
thank you
councilmember Bon Giovanni yep uh Kelly
um you mentioned it in the very
beginning but I want to make sure
everyone's clear on it the budget that
we're talking about today is a maximum
maximum amount
at the end of the year if there's access
what happens to that
thank you mayor council member Giovanni
it is a maximum amount and in Arizona
you're not allowed to change the budget
mid-year so we have to prepare for
unexpected things that happen so there
is always unspent money at the end of
the year if the Project's still being
worked on then it would carry forward
and we would look to adopt it in the
following year or if the project just
came in under budget that money would
return to the fund balance and be
allocated for for additional things as
needed in the upcoming year right I just
want to mention that was pointed out
again thank you
thank you any other comments or
questions
so I will I will make a comment um I'm
fine with putting the crime lab in and
keeping it in there for a placeholder
but I still think that and I wanted to
say this evening so we can get this out
but I still think there's more
discussion to go on the crime lab I
don't know that the council has come to
a consensus of um whether or not we
should be moving forward with the crime
lab but I think it's great to have a
placeholder for it in case we decide to
do that and
um the tax levy is the tax rate is
always a big conversation on this
evening every single year and I'm really
encouraged to hear that it's not as big
of a conversation tonight that we can
move forward we've done a great job
historically in reducing the tax rate in
Gilbert considering we don't have a
primary property tax we only have a
secondary property tax and it has gone
from a dollar 25 down to 99 cents in the
past about 15 10 10 years and before
that it had been the same forever like
back to 1995 it's been a dollar 25 from
1995 till about 10 years ago I had Kelly
send me the historical on that and to
keep it at 99 Cents which is something
that we promised to the public when we
did the bond for the public safety
training facility and when we did the
transportation bonds last year or two
years two years ago now we made that
promise that we would leave it at the
same rate and not have to increase it
and so I'm pleased to hear this
discussion this evening if anyone would
like to make a motion for the item 28
which is the FYI 2024 property tax levy
I would be open to that
mayor I'll make a motion I just want to
clarify is this one that I need to read
from the um packet
mayor vice mayor I don't think so I
think we just moved to approved by the
item number okay
um I moved to approve item 28 which is
setting the property tax levy for FY 24.
second I have a motion by vice mayor
tilkey seconded by council member
koprowski please vote
and that motion passes with a 6-1 with
council member Torgeson as a no
um now moving on to 29 we've had the
whole conversation together as the tax
levy and the budget would anyone does
anyone have any more comments or
questions about the budget or would we
somebody would like to make a motion
mirror I'll make a motion to approve
item 25 establishing the preliminary
budget for July 1 2023 through June 30th
2024.
I have a motion can I have a second
I'll second that I have a motion from
vice mayor seconded by council member
Bon Giovanni please vote
motion passes 7-0
great work everyone thank you again we
will see this item these items again in
June because we have to have a second
meeting by State Statute I will go ahead
and adjourn the special meeting and
reconvene the regular meeting and move
on to our administrative items we have
boards commissions and committees does
anyone have any reports from their
boards and commissions task forces
anything
not truly on my uh commission but I
wanted to say to the men of our fire
department
I sat at a cigar lounge on Sunday and a
man collapsed next to me he stopped
breathing and
he started again after some gentle
pushing on him but uh fire arrived very
quickly and they were so calm and so
professional and so
warm that it was noted by the people in
the lounge talking about it separately
fire had no idea I was on Council they
could care less but it was it was great
to see that they had made an impression
upon the people of this town about how
professional and concerned and and great
they were at their job and I just wanted
to take a minute to say that because it
was
it was really great to see that it was
really great to see people recognize
these guys as being great for them
that's really all I wanted to say
seeing
no other comments I will move to
Communications report from the town
manager on current events
come here members of the council first I
want to thank Kelly her Tire budget team
the entire executive team that is a part
of an 11 month process in Gilbert
putting together this budget serving a
very large community with a vast array
of services that I think the entire team
does an exceptional job in delivering so
thank you for another year behind us
enjoy July because we'll be right back
at it in August
I also like to recognize Amanda Elliott
from our economic development team she
was recognized by the Arizona
Association for economic development for
her leadership she received the
president's award for her work on the
organization's website redesign so
congratulations Amanda we're proud to
have you on our team
that's all tonight mayor thank you
Patrick moving on to report from Council
on current events
anyone
I will go ahead then and move to
comments from the mayor as I've done for
the past couple of meetings I want to
remind everyone that we will be having a
Memorial Day ceremony right here at Town
Hall on May 29 2023 from 8 30 a.m to 10
a.m our veterans Advisory Board and HD
South in in Partnership
have that hold this event here and we're
very excited to be part of it again and
to be back here at Town Hall in the lawn
I think it's a perfect location for it
I'd like to also announce on behalf of
Gilbert leadership class 31 that they
will be doing their project reveal on
Saturday at 10 A.M at The riparian
Preserve they have created a mental
health and wellness and suicide
prevention walk within the riparian and
we have several members of Team Gilbert
in this class and I'm very proud of them
I know that this has been one of the
focus of our community engagement task
force so it goes together very well with
what we're doing here in the in the
community and otherwise I don't have oh
please participate in the parks open
house for their plan that they are
putting together the parks master plan
is being done right now and there are
study groups being held and
opportunities for the public to be part
of those if you just go to our website
and search for that you'll be able to
find all of the dates that are available
or follow the town on our social media
because those dates are available to you
there and otherwise I think that is it
so I will go ahead and adjourn this
meeting thank you
foreign