Gilbert, Arizona Digital State of the Town

appreciated that way we can ensure that
most people can sit down thank you
we will begin in 60 seconds 59 58 57.
thank you to those of you that laughed
at my joke
foreign
so the lobby is empty but stuff
see a couple more people wandering in
you're gonna sit in the front there's
more kids in the front yeah good
good evening everyone I'm mayor Bridget
Peterson and welcome to Gilbert's 2023
state of the town
first I would like to recognize the
Gilbert Town Council an audience if you
would please hold your applause until
the end and council members if you would
please stand when introduced starting
with vice mayor tilkey
[Applause]
council member Buckley
foreign
[Applause]
thank you for your service to Gilbert
this isn't in my script but there are
four women and three men on the council
and the four women are here this evening
supporting women thank you ladies
next I'd like to recognize the elected
officials in the crowd please stand and
be recognized when your name is called
and please hold your applause until the
end I have Maricopa County board
supervisor let's see if you can all pay
attention and do the right thing
Maricopa County board supervisor Jack
sellers
Queen Creek council member Jeff Brown
Queen Creek mayor Julia Wheatley
member of central Arizona Water
Conservation District of Maricopa County
Barbara ciego
mayor of Mesa John Giles
Maricopa County Assessor and former
Gilbert council member Eddie cook oh he
moved he was over here there he is I'm
over here with you Eddie
um Chandler council member Matt Orlando
Apache Junction mayor chip Wilson
Queen Creek council member Brian McClure
and Queen Creek council member Travis
Padilla did I miss anybody
thank you all for joining us this
evening
I would also like to ask all Gilbert
board and commission members and Town
volunteers to please stand
and then Town manager Patrick banager
and the team that gets the work done day
in and day out with all Gilbert Town
staff please stand and be acknowledged
[Applause]
and also not in my script and she's
going to kill me but my aide Kirsten
Morgan for all of the work that she did
to make this event happen
she won't really kill me but it's hard
to it's hard to sneak things past her
and last but certainly not least thank
you to each audience member for being
here tonight you are all connected to
Gilbert in different ways and our valued
stakeholders within our community
speaking of stakeholders if you are
posting on social media during or after
the state of the town please consider
using the hashtags connecting Gilbert
Gilbert AZ mayor and Gilbert AZ sott
thank you
as many of you know Gilbert is currently
a thriving community of around 280 000
residents which is mind-boggling to me
because when I moved here in 1995 the
population was around 55 000.
by 2000 Gilbert's population had reached
over a hundred and seventeen thousand
and even more incredible the population
count just over a decade ago in 2010 sat
at 209 000.
Gilbert's growth is notable with a
tenfold increase in the last several
decades but what is more notable is the
community's dedication to the
preservation of connection and
engagement the roots of Gilbert Small
Town heart
over the last 30 years development areas
such as Heritage District Morrison Ranch
Gateway and Santan character areas and
agritopia have been measured against the
Gilbert we hold near and dear while we
envision the Gilbert of tomorrow
the development concerns of 20 years ago
remained the same today
we must balance our residents Community
stakeholders and businesses large and
small while molding the Gilbert of the
future
especially since build out is
anticipated to be completed in what will
feel like the blink of an eye but
probably within the next decade
Gilbert amenities and developments that
were once only ideas on paper are now
award-winning and nationally recognized
these amenities are What attracted and
continue to attract young families and
our highly educated Workforce
with the highest median household income
in Arizona and the seventh highest in
the United States
[Applause]
My Hope Is that tonight you will learn
and understand the connections that are
the heart of Gilbert
tonight you will hear from me some more
but more importantly you will hear
straight from town staff how Gilbert is
moving forward deliberately and
thoughtfully as well as hear from
Community stakeholders how they are
moving forward and why they continue to
choose Gilbert
a picture is worth a thousand words and
my goal with the state of the town is
you feel more connected to Gilbert than
ever
When developing a successful Community
there are many facets needed
infrastructure High Caliber educational
choices access to Quality Health Care
and smart development
tonight these pieces will be connected
for you
I am proud to serve the whole of Gilbert
and I could go on and on about many of
Gilbert's development decisions from
across the past 30 years
and how they connect to the Gilbert of
today and serve the Gilbert of tomorrow
but I have no plans to stand up here and
speak the entire time
rather I want to show you but first I
need to explain how in my mind I see
different areas of Gilbert as individual
pieces with distinguishing features
amenities and businesses
and one of those areas is Gilbert's
Heritage District
over a decade ago the development what
is now known as The Heritage District
brought forth discussions on how to
bring higher education to the area and
fit into the future of Gilbert
the then seated Town Council envisioned
a downtown that included a town-owned
educational building
this Vision culminated in the University
building which now serves as home to
Park University and the University of
Arizona's College of Nursing and their
accelerated nursing programs
Park University currently provides
liberal arts degrees here and abroad but
did you know that in 2018 the town of
Gilbert partnered with Park University
to offer a cohort program
available to town employees wishing to
expand their professional training
the one-year Gilbert master class is a
program with all completed courses
satisfying the first year of a master's
in public administration
to date 59 Town employees have
participated with over 15 employees
continuing on to complete their masters
the connection between professional
growth their education and promotions
has been astounding for Gilbert
employees who have participated in the
program
just a few months ago UA Gilbert held
their expansion ribbon cutting at the
University building with two floors
dedicated to supporting over 400
students as they complete their Bachelor
of Science in nursing with an emphasis
in Integrative Health the BSN IH program
or their master of science in nursing
entry to the profession of nursing the
mepin program
which is designed for students holding
University degrees in other fields who
want to become registered nurses
the BSN IH is the nation's first
Bachelor of Science in nursing with an
emphasis in Integrative Health program
and is a transfer only program that
succeeds due to collaborative
Partnerships with high schools and
community colleges for seamless transfer
process
on a personal note just one year and
three days ago I was a patient in the
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center emergency
room gearing up for an emergency
gallbladder surgery
I had a student nurse come into care for
me and I noticed she was a UA student
I asked if she was part of the mepin
program and she was surprised that I
knew about the program
she asked if her professor could come
observe her as she evaluated me and I
said of course I have to do my part
I told this story at the UA ribbon
cutting well as I say
as big as Gilbert gets as small as it
stays the professor was at the ribbon
cutting
and there she is UA assistant clinical
Professor Deb
and now please watch and learn more
about the UA College of Nursing
[Music]
[Applause]
hello my name is Craig Wilson Vice
Provost for online distance and
continuing education at the University
of Arizona
I've been in this position for three
years it's really all about providing
greater access to students who for
whatever reason can't make it to the
main campus of Tucson because you
recognize how important it is to put out
highly qualified nurses into society
so what you're looking at now is a
simulation lab that our students use and
these mannequins that are behind me are
highly technical it's it's pretty darn
close to a live setting the mannequins
themselves are actually under control in
a separate room called the control
center and in that control center the
person who's in there has the ability to
throw curveballs to our students the
more we can prepare our nurses for
reality the more effective they'll be at
helping our patients and our fellow
citizens
the Common Thread is the fact that our
students typically will not make it to
the Tucson campus because their lives
are so busy this allows us the
University of Arizona in particular to
meet those students where they are
allowing them to be socially mobile we
tried to make it as efficient and as
smooth a pathway as possible what we do
is we provide basically mapping and
other resources to the students as young
as possible so that they can see what
the path looks like in black and white
and make their way from the high school
to the Community College ultimately to
the University of Arizona
[Music]
the mayor and and her office and the
council they've all been really really
helpful in getting us to map out what
the future might look like they have
been very supportive I mean even
identifying the building in the first
place has been really really helpful I
think the last few years with the
pandemic has really shown us just how
important our nurses are now that the
parades and what have you might have
subsided we're still here and we
recognize that we still have a duty to
make sure that we're producing high
quality nurses for our citizens and
their families we recognize it there
will be a need for health care for the
foreseeable future and our ability to
play a role in that in even some small
part is something that we're very
thankful for
the future of the University of Arizona
Gilbert's College of Nursing looks
bright as they just received a 9.2
million dollar Grant to create over 150
scholarships and increase enrollment to
help mitigate the nursing Workforce
shortage with the grant funding this
also means the Gilbert Campus Master's
level nursing program will start to
admit students every semester instead of
one time per year
the nursing shortage is not unique to
get to Arizona but these types of
collaborations are critical to facing
the complications that can and will
arise without successful Solutions
access to Affordable and Quality Health
Care is critical to the success of any
thriving Community gratefully within the
town of Gilbert we have access to
Quality Health Care choices that will be
expanding very soon
more to come on that shortly
now let's move to the Northeast area of
Gilbert
Gilbert remains committed to providing
and maintaining the necessary
infrastructure required in the community
this commitment is reflected in the
robust Capital Improvement discussions
and decisions Town staff and Town
Council participate in annually
we all recognize the importance and
necessity of well-equipped and
well-trained Public Safety safe roads
and streets and access to Quality and
reliable utilities
I believe one of the biggest obstacles
facing Gilbert in the next 10 years is
the building and maintenance of core
Town infrastructure
with our rapid growth came huge amounts
of infrastructure installed
simultaneously and even with regular
maintenance their end of life will soon
be reality
I know talking about water treatment
plants and streets may not be exciting
or glamorous for most but infrastructure
is imperative to maintaining our
connection with current residents and
businesses and to attracting quality
businesses
water is on the Forefront of every
arizonan's mind
and the North Water Treatment Plant is a
five-year five-phase project and a
testament to this town's dedication to
the delivery and maintenance of quality
and sustainable water to Gilbert
residents
this project is currently the largest
public Capital Improvement project in
Arizona and more importantly the phased
approach ensured the plant remained
online and serving residents during the
expansion process
let's learn a little bit more about the
project from Gilbert's own
2022 government engineer of the Year
Award winner Jean Jensen
[Applause]
[Music]
my name is Gene Jensen
I am the Capital Improvements project
supervisor for the town of Gilbert I
oversee engineering and construction
management for water Wastewater storm
water and reclaimed water utilities
[Music]
I just celebrated my seventh anniversary
this past month
mostly I know seven years will take a
long time but it slung by
[Music]
you don't think about the air that you
breathe and you don't think about when
you go to fill up your water bottle at
the top am I going to have water today
you just know it's going to be there and
our goal is to make sure that you know
it's always going to be there and it's
always going to be clean and safe and
reliable
the water and wastewater utility space
is often referred to as a silent service
and often it is construed that if we're
doing a good job
you don't know we're here
[Music]
the overall goal of the North Water
Treatment Plant reconstruction project
is to take one of our most important
pieces of infrastructure which is our
safe and reliable drinking water and
underpin its future success so with the
existing facility that's here has
operated wonderfully for the last 30
plus years but the challenges out here
are real
[Music]
this is sort of indicative of where we
are construction wise in terms of the
overall quality we're having to rebuild
in part because the existing facility
was never really built to last
the water it's being asked to treat is
becoming
more and more challenging this facility
is the most important it's the key that
unlocks the flexibility of our whole
system so that the shortage at the river
does not ultimately turn into a shortage
at the top
so here it is here's the
the future home of
plants
one of the interesting things about
being in leadership in infrastructure
space is this profound and deep sense of
mattering
we get to plant these incredible little
seeds in our community
and some of them are flowers they grow
for a moment but some of them are these
beautiful stalwart things and by the
time they're fully grown and that the
fruit on those branches is grown heavy
we may not get to taste it
and we may not get to sit under the
branches of those trees
but we'll know that we left something
behind that's better
because you made everything stable and
reliable in that way
[Music]
now we'll move to the southern area of
Gilbert we value Mercy Gilbert's
commitment to humankindness and
compassion for all visitors and patients
over the last 17 years since they opened
their doors and are excited about the
new women and children's Pavilion
opening in late 2023 which will double
the size of the campus
The Pavilion is an amazing collaboration
between Dignity Health and Phoenix
Children's that will serve not only
Gilbert but also many East Valley
residents upon completion of the new
Pavilion Dignity Health will occupy
floors one through four on the side of
the tower closest to the main campus and
Phoenix Children's will occupy floors
one through five on The Pavilion side
closest to the 202 as well as the fifth
floor above Dignity Health the
collaboration will result in dignity
Health's existing women's and infants
service line moving from the main campus
into the new building which will more
than double the dedicated obstetrics
Services space
Dignity Health will care for the mothers
during pregnancy and postpartum and
healthy and well newborns 35 weeks and
greater
Phoenix Children's will operate a
children's hospital including surgery an
emergency department Pediatrics and NICU
and care for babies born less than 35
weeks old and or those needing NICU
services
this building UPS the ante for the labor
delivery experience for new moms and
babies
I was lucky enough to tour this
beautiful facility a few months ago and
appreciate being able to share it with
you this evening
[Music]
thank you hello I'm Mark slider CEO of
Dignity Health Arizona east valley
we consider ourselves the focal point
for health care in the town of Gilbert
and we're very proud of that
hello human kindness is not just a
tagline for us it's how we operate and
how we connect with Community there is
many challenges with a high growth area
like the town of Gilbert
this community is growing with a lot of
families a lot of babies and a lot of
senior adults we are working side by
side with the town on the infrastructure
on the needs of the community on the
growth our health care has to keep up
with that
for that reason we need complex care
[Music]
my name is Russ corkuska
I am the senior vice president of
planning design and construction and
special projects at Phoenix Children's
Phoenix Children's provides hope in high
quality health care for the children and
the families in the greater Phoenix
community and abroad
why did we pick the town of Gilbert
because this is where families are
as we serve those families it is so much
better for the children to be as close
to home as possible
we're doubling the growth of this campus
we're moving from 350 000 square feet to
over 500 600 000 square feet on this
this campus we're moving from about 190
beds to 290 beds our children's partners
are coming in and adding a hundred beds
and all the Specialties around
Pediatrics to be offered right here on
campus
this 400 000 square foot new Women's and
Children's Pavilion includes both a
mother portion for birthing the Dignity
Health is managing and Phoenix
Children's is bringing a full pediatric
care hospital to the community
and I will tell you what really is
special about the town of Gilbert and
this community is that the local
elective officials are very engaged in
helping each other out meet the needs of
for us the health care industry the town
of Gilbert has been a great partner with
planning permitting inspection services
and helping us bring this project to
fruition
we are planting many seeds for the
future of the town of Gilbert and the
surrounding communities this is a
personal investment for many myself and
the staff we want to cultivate a
Workforce that's committed to that
caregiving and that Spirit of healing
it is really just like anything else
about the people
we have that connectedness with our
community and really we're working hard
with this community to make it the very
best day one babies will be born and be
cared for in this facility and one day
have babies of their own that will be
taken care of in this community in the
town of Gilbert
part of the continued success by Mercy
Gilbert Medical Center and the soon to
open Phoenix Children's Gilbert Campus
is access to the community the recent
expansion and opening of the
infrastructure project Lindsay 202
interchange was essential to their
operations in fact Mark slider who you
just heard from Recently shared with me
his excitement and appreciation for
Gilbert's efforts in seeing this project
planned and completed before Phoenix
Children's Hospital officially opens
their doors this year
this brings us full circle to the end
right here at Town Hall
the vision for Gilbert and connection to
the community isn't complete without the
efforts of a town manager who
understands the pieces acknowledges how
they best fit together and respects the
process from start to finish I now
invite you to learn from Gilbert's Town
manager Patrick banger
my name is Patrick bandra I'm the town
manager for Gilbert Arizona this August
will be 12 years in the position
started my career right out of college
and city government and hadn't
anticipated making a career out of it
but really was drawn to it
more than just a job it's more than just
challenging work things we do make our
communities a better place to live a
better place to work
energy and growth is one of the biggest
areas of focus we have right now we have
a a beautiful Community with strong
schools and Safe Streets and vibrant
infrastructure we very much want to see
that continue on into the future as we
continue to grow as one of the fastest
growing cities in this country
we're currently managing our way through
a drought and making sure this community
can can be resilient throughout that
period of time
[Music]
another area that has had an even longer
focus is the Redevelopment of our
heritage District planning for that
Redevelopment started three decades ago
and one of the things the mayor and
Council had the vision to bring a
university presence into our community
into our heritage District to great
benefit to all of our major health care
providers
[Music]
Lindsay wrote interchange and looking at
the traffic needs in that general area
became apparent that we really needed
the Lindsay Interchange to be put in
place that was about a 10-year project
that's made a big impact for traffic
congestion in that part of our town
you know there are seats that were
planted decades before I got to Gilbert
and we are just now having the
opportunity to realize that Vision that
they had so many years ago and there are
many things we do from an infrastructure
planning standpoint that we're going to
start the process for these projects and
these initiatives but it's going to be
successive generations of leaders
they're going to see them through to
completion as well as maintain a very
high level of quality on those projects
and those initiatives into the future
[Music]
the last decade has provided us Prime
examples of unpredictable and
unprecedented events that policy and
decision makers could not have fathomed
nor incorporated into their decision
making I anticipate the next several
years to include robust and passionate
discussions about the future of Gilbert
even though the future can be hard to
predict focusing on the information at
hand and making data-driven decisions
are imperative in the process and for
our community
I'm grateful for this community's
dedication to the public process I know
that many developments Town facilities
and events ended up much better than
originally designed due to the
community's input
I am thankful for the community
commitment by Town staff as they provide
counsel with the facts we need to make
informed decisions
now let me connect all the pieces for
you
the undertaking of infrastructure
projects such as the Lindsay 202
interchange and the North Water
Treatment Plant Capital Improvement
project will improve the quality of life
for residents and businesses
and support our community stakeholders
in their efforts for decades
with vision from over 10 years ago town
of Gilbert employees are able to expand
their education and advance in their
positions within the town also within
that same building Gilbert supports the
efforts that play a small part in
ensuring there are nurses in our
Hospitals now and in the future
a relationship with Dignity Health and
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center is bringing
Phoenix Children's Hospital to Gilbert
because this is where families are
one of the most effective ways leaders
build communities is by forming
relationships and strengthening
connections strong leaders don't rely
don't only focus on today or tomorrow
they focus on projects that they feel
will serve the community well for
decades to come
and as we've seen this evening each and
every decision has a ripple effect
in closing as each of you leaves council
chambers tonight I invite you to view
and even take a picture with our lobby
art the colorful Collective by Rosemary
Pierce which celebrates the Gilbert of
the past present and future and is an
abstract representation in the shape of
Gilbert that highlights the fact that
everyone has a spot in Gilbert
I found my spot in Gilbert and I hope
you've found yours too thank you
[Applause]