Study Session - 1/24/2023 5:00:00 PM

I'll go ahead and give like a 15 second
warning and then we'll get started if
everyone wants to take their seats
okay good evening everyone welcome back
to Gilbert Town Hall
um we are here for a council study
session this evening January 24th and we
only have two items on our agenda I'll
call this meeting to order
and are we going to do a roll call for
study sessions chevelli
we typically do not mayor okay it was on
the agenda so I was asking thank you I
didn't think so so we have two items on
our agenda the first one is an update
and discussion on Phoenix Mesa Gateway
airport by Brian O'Neal Brian if you'd
like to come down to the podium
you have to turn the mic on first that's
the first bug
there you go if the mic is red then it's
hot okay
all right thank you
good afternoon mayor Peterson members of
the Town Council thank you so much for
inviting me here today to update you on
all the exciting changes going on at
Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport
um I before I get started I do have to
say that we really appreciate and value
the town of Gilbert as one of our owners
and I do want to thank you for loaning
us mayor Peterson she's serving as the
chairman of the airport Authority this
year and we have really benefited from
her leadership so I want to say thank
you and and again I also want to say
thank you for sharing Patrick and Amy
and Rob with us
um you know they're full of knowledge
and I I do want to tell you that they
are very protective of the town of
Gilbert as well so they're they're able
to serve both Masters I appreciate that
what I'd like to do today
I can see Brian clicking away but it's
not going anywhere
see bugs Brian I told you yeah I know
but it's good enough first meeting yeah
I'm glad that it's you actually
most likely operator error
I doubt that
I'm so sorry
we can work together
yeah he's coming together
sure
can I just say while we're looking at
that photo that's a great photo I don't
that's a great photo yeah we have one
more airline that serves the airport
WestJet we've never been able to get all
five on the ground at the same time so
these four is kind of an anomaly we were
really fortunate to get the four on the
ground at the same time
sorry it should be ready
thank you
perfect thank you so much all right
we're ready to go again mayor Peterson
members of Town Council thank you so
much for inviting me here
um
you know it's interesting those of us
that work at Phoenix Mesa Gateway
Airport we don't really think about is
working at a regional airport we think
of our job is working at a 3000 acre
economic development project that just
happens to have a thriving Regional
Airport with three ten thousand foot
runways as part of its infrastructure
what I'd like to do tonight is just
focus on three different areas our
growing commercial service the Airlines
and the passengers and then I'd also
like to talk about some of the exciting
construction projects we have going off
the airport and then I'll finish up with
some of the private development we've
got over a million square feet of
private development going on at the
airport
underway right now and it's really
transforming the landscape at the
airport if you had been out to the
airport two or three years ago and now
you're out visiting the airport it
certainly doesn't look anything like it
used to
as far as uh commercial passenger
service this is our growing non-stop
root map you can see that we've got over
55 non-stop destinations we've got a
legion that is the majority of those for
the domestic service and then we've got
we've got Flair WestJet and swoop three
Canadian Airlines and they serve five
Canadian destinations
uh Vancouver Calgary Winnipeg Edmonton
and Toronto and this year in 2022 we had
a record-setting year we had 1.9 million
total passengers and we're really
knocking on the door two million
passengers which is going to really be a
significant increase of where we were
just three or four years ago
you can see the green line here that's
our activity in 2022 we had nine out of
12 months that were setting records for
the year and and uh ended up again with
just under 1.9 million total passengers
one of the challenges associated with
having records setting passenger growth
is you've got more and more more and
more customers that you need to make
sure you're providing the facilities
infrastructure and amenities for two
years ago the board the Phoenix Michigan
airport Authority board voted to spend
two million dollars to invest and up our
game for our food beverage and Retail
concessions over the last two years
we've brought in an indoor outdoor Oso
Brewery we've got a large Panera Bread
and we just opened the Macayo's Mexican
food and infusion coffee and tea
Crafters
very popular at the airport we really
think we've done a good job of of
heightening
um the quality of the food and the
quality of the products we've got a
saguaro Mercantile there which is a
retail shop and it's the the highest
grossing retail shop in the country for
per passenger expenditures really doing
well at the airport and
um you know the airport benefits from
that we get a significant amount of
revenue from from our concessions and
that's what we're able to invest and put
into other projects at the airport so uh
really important that we've got the
right mix of food beverage or retail
there are a lot of construction projects
going on I could show you pictures of
runways being ground up I could show you
pictures of parking lots that are being
paved but I think one of the one is most
symbolic about what's really going on at
the airport is this picture and I like
this picture because it's a side-by-side
comparison of this is the rendering that
we saw three or four years ago before we
even had any funding to build the Tower
and and on the right that's the
completed Tower and I think it's really
cool when when projects come out and
they look like the rendering that they
that was pitched you know five or six
years ago so we're really proud of that
um the the tower is an incredible story
because before we were able to fund the
tower there was a provision in the FAA
authorization bill that said that the
federal government will not spend any
more than two million dollars in the
construction of a contract air traffic
control tower well we all know that
these days you can't get anything for
two million dollars I think the reason
why they put that in there is that some
of these smaller airports across the
country wouldn't build these Taj Mahal
monuments that weren't representative of
their Airport Phoenix Mesa Gateway
Airport is kind of an anomaly we've got
three ten thousand foot runways we've
got over uh 250 000 operations a year so
we went to Washington and we pled our
case and we were successful we enlisted
our Congressional Delegation we Enlisted
the House and Senate committees we were
successful in removing that two million
dollar cap for cut for the construction
of contract Air Traffic Control towers
and we ended up getting about 28 million
out of 30 million dollars to fund this
important project so I I think you can
see it from everybody's house in Gilbert
but we're really proud of that and as
you're tooling around the 202 it really
stands out as a monument in the East
Valley
another important project we have is
this we have a new five gate 30 000
square foot terminal Edition that is
currently under construction
what we found during covet is we had a a
small 10 000 square foot four gate
facility that was rolled in here as a
portable temporary facility back in 2008
that we never really got around to to
upgrading and improving what we found
during covet is that if we had more than
one flight out of that facility at a
time it really became a covid super
spreader and was uncomfortable and and
unhealthy so what we pledged to do was
we wanted to remove the the 10 000
square foot facility and we wanted to
replace it with a modern new five gate
30 000 square foot facility so here's
the exterior of it here's the interior
of the Meandering glass walk wave that
will attach the five gates to the river
rest of the terminal this is going to be
a real showpiece for the East Valley and
you can see the the inside of the
terminal Edition is modern we're using a
whole set of different colors and it
really is is providing a much better
experience for our customers one of my
biggest fears is the airport director is
once this is complete because I know how
my projects go at home once this is
complete we're going to look at the
remainder of the terminal and say look
we can't have the rest of the terminal
looking this way and so we're going to
start projects to improve that as well
but that's just the way it goes I I
think everyone is going to be really
proud of this project when it's
completed I put this picture in here is
because we had to take down the 10 000
square foot facility in order to build
the 30 000 square foot facility but
we've got record-setting passenger
activity we can't just go without those
Gates so the authority purchased a 6 000
square foot tension fabric sprung
structure that we erected on the ramp
and where the parking aircraft parking
spot 4 used to be and this is uh where
we're running Gates one two and three
out of this sprung structure has about
340 seats in it and there's a really
phenomenal facility so what we plan on
doing is once the new terminal Edition
is done we're going to take this down
and we're going to repurpose for
repurpose it on Airport possibly for a
temporary proof of concept FIS facility
for international services so that we
may be able to do more Canadian
destinations and possibly some Mexican
destinations as well so we're we're
excited about the future use of this of
this facility
another important airside project if
you've ever flown out of Phoenix-Mesa
Gateway Airport one of the challenges is
you go into the ticketing terminal you
you get your tickets you give your bag
and then you've got to walk back outside
you're going to walk up the the sidewalk
and then you've got to walk into the
security screening checkpoint if the TSA
doesn't have enough lanes open or it's a
very busy time the the TSA checkpoint
backs up out onto the sidewalk and at 4
30 or 5 O'Clock in the January in
January or at four o'clock in August the
external temperatures aren't conducive
for a positive passenger experience so
what we're doing is we're taking some of
our bipartisan infrastructure law grant
money and we're going to take down one
of the walls in the ticketing terminal
take down one of the walls in the
security screen checkpoint and we're
going to connect the two with a with a
facility an enclosed pedestrian walkway
one of the benefits of this facility
besides keeping everyone inside and
proving the the air travel experience is
this is going to allow us to to expand
our TSA queuing Lane queuing capacity by
about 30 percent so you know we get to
keep people inside and we get to have
more room for people to line up to go
through the security screening
checkpoint so this is a real important
project for the airport
now on to some of the private
development that's going on this is the
Gateway executive Air Park and this is
where Virgin Galactic is going to call
home so Virgin Galactic is building two
large hangers Hangar if you can see that
hanger B and hanger C they're going to
be constructing these two large hangers
one is going to house the mothership
their term not ours and one is going to
be where they're going to manufacture
six spaceships a year
and I would caution you if you're going
to talk to your friends and family about
what's going on at the airport I would
omit this because during the holidays I
talked to a lot of neighbors about the
mothership and spaceships and stuff and
I haven't been called back to their
house and I think they're trying to
distance themselves from me so it's a
it's kind of a new terminology that
we're still getting used to
another important project and that's the
front of the Virgin Galactic building
another important project is Sky Bridge
Arizona sky Bridge Arizona is a 360 acre
mixed use aeronautical and
non-aeronautical master development
opportunity that's in its beginning of
its fifth year
the owners of skybridge Arizona have
already constructed a 53 000 square foot
industrial building a uh 83 000 square
foot Hangar complex they've got a 129
room
129 room Hotel under construction and
they're also building two 250 000 square
foot flex industrial building so there's
a lot of activity going on in Sky bridge
and above and beyond all that in Q2 of
this year they're going to begin 40
million dollars of horizontal
infrastructure improvements they're
going to be building taxi Lane Sierra
they're going to be putting in all the
wet and dry utilities and the main
boulevards to access the the parcel so
really a lot of activity going on at Sky
bridge this is a rendering of the hotel
the hotel as I mentioned is 129 rooms
it's a dual brand so half of them will
be an Extended Stay product and half
will be for the transient one or two
night traveler like many hotels are so
we're really excited to get this this is
going to be right on Sossaman Road and
we think with the Legacy Sports Complex
not too far away that this is going to
be a real popular addition to what's
going on at the airport
I think most of you would have heard
that Gulfstream is
constructing phase one of a large campus
that they plan to build at Phoenix Mesa
Gateway Airport phase one is a 225 000
square foot West Coast service center
which is under construction now you can
see it here as the walls go up really
exciting and the first project that's
going on over on the east side of the
airport what I think is real exciting
about Gulfstream is that in November of
2021 they signed a lease on the airport
for 50 000 square foot facility because
they wanted that as a a beachhead so
that they could start bringing in
aircraft and start recruiting local
talent to work for Gulf Stream they're
now up to a hundred thousand square feet
of facilities on Airport and they've got
over a hundred employees hired and when
this facility is finished construction
they plan to have 350 for phase one 350
employees and those are high-wage
skilled jobs and they're working with
Chandler Gilbert Community College and
they're working with ASU Polytechnic
campus to try and really to to generate
a lot of local talent so that they can
have employees in the local pipeline
which is going to be important to fuel
this not only this but a lot of the
other uh expansion that's going on at
the airport
we've got another Master development
project called Gateway East and Gateway
East is a 300 acre all non-aeronautical
we just happen to own a lot of land at
the airport and this is a an opportunity
to develop the land that is bordered by
Ellsworth Road the expanding Route 20
State Route 24 and then the loop 202
Highway and and what this is planning on
being and we've got a master developer
named the Boyer company out of Salt Lake
City what this is planning to be is a
300 acre mixed-use development with
high-end Office Products some Flex
industrial and then commercial retail
along Ellsworth Road
right now they are working with the
authority and the City of Mesa on phase
one which is kind of Designing and
master planning the first hundred acres
of the 300 Acre Site and the City of
Mesa has contributed a significant
amount of money and investing a lot of
money in infrastructure they're putting
in the bridge and the first thousand
linear feet of Gateway Boulevard to open
up the site not only for Gulf Stream but
for the Gateway East project as well and
they're putting in all of the sewer
water and and other utilities that are
necessary to unlock the entire 300
parcel acre so we're really happy to
team with the city and look forward to
working with Gateway East as they
culminate the phase one design process
and start to to develop
this is a little bit of the design
concept that they've come up with that
they're going to be going forward with
the with the city of Mesa we think this
is going to be a real nice kind of
Lifestyle environment opportunity where
they're going to have sit-down
restaurants and hotels and other
opportunities along with the industrial
that they need and along with uh you
know in the future the possibility of
having a first class office complex as
well
people ask you know what's the goal of
the airport is the goal of the airport
just to get as big as you can and the
answer to that is certainly not you know
we're we want to make sure that we're
providing the infrastructure and the
services that this growing Phoenix East
Valley is looking for you know we don't
want to just grow and for the sake of
growing we want to make sure that we're
growing with a purpose and uh in 2021
the Arizona Department of Transportation
conducted an economic impact study and
that study revealed that back in 21 the
airport contributed about 1.8 billion
dollars to the local economy and if you
look at some of these numbers the the
money for visitor spending that's money
that they're spending on ground
transportation lodging uh food and
beverage entertainment attractions
they're spending a lot of money in the
East Valley and we see more and more
visitors coming through Gateway in the
future and we want to make sure that
we've got the facilities and
infrastructure available so that we can
handle the growing popularity of the
airport but this is some some important
numbers and and when we talk with our
member communities and we talk with the
board of directors we're really talking
about how are we going to how are we
going to create high-wage jobs so that
we can have economic sustainability and
diversity so that we're able to
withstand any of the highs and lows that
the economy may have over the next
several decades and we think that we're
doing a pretty good mix of of different
types of businesses and diversifying
enough so that we're going to be
insulated from uh the the challenges
that another airport may have that
doesn't have all the land that they can
develop and doesn't have the the other
activities going on that Phoenix Mesa
Gateway Airport does so not that's the
end of my presentation and I would be
happy to answer any questions that you
may have thank you Brian any questions
for Brian
vice mayor did you
hi Brian
um could I don't if I missed it I
apologize did you mention who the
partnering communities are with the
airport oh sure I'm sorry so the the
airport is a joint Powers Authority we
are owned by the town of Gilbert the
City of Phoenix the city of Mesa the
city of Apache Junction the town of
Queen Creek and the Gila River Indian
Community and the highest ranking
elected official sits in the diocese as
our board of directors and then we also
work closely with the city and town
managers and City staff to ensure that
we're truly taking a regional look at
developing the airport
great thank you I had the opportunity
way back when to serve on the ReUse
committee when you know they were
closing down Williams Air Force Base and
I remember us looking at the airport and
then the other property there that ended
up being our education Partners but
at the time it was really risky for all
of our communities to come together and
say that we we see this as an economic
engine and I I just mentioned that
because to see these numbers to come
back around especially
that I'm still alive and still here
because that doesn't always happen you
know that we've really made a
significant impact in what I would
consider a short period of time so
congratulations yeah thank you you know
I have to mention that this is a project
that has been
a shared vision and well planned for
many many years oftentimes I consider
myself lucky because it's just happening
to be at the right place at the right
time but there are a lot of people that
have worked hard over the past two or
three decades making sure that this
project would be a success so it's great
to see it come to fruition and we love
having the old employees out in the old
the former elected officials out to come
out and and talk about when they were
first visiting the airport and there was
nothing out there and they they seem to
take pride in what's going on there now
and you know we couldn't have done it
without them
I think can you can you back that the
slide package up can you go back to the
picture of um
the groundbreaking for oh why am I
blanking
that one right there so the day that for
Gulfstream thank you I was totally
blanking um the day that we drove out
there to do the groundbreaking on that
property and I I've been on the now the
airport Authority board for over two
years but the day we drove out there
and we kept driving and driving and
driving and driving and if this picture
really really spoke to me here and I
know you've showed it to me before but
here on my close-up screen I can see how
far away the tower is in the background
and you get a true sense of how much
land there is out on that airport and it
really hit me that day of course it was
hotter than blazes and we went out to
break ground in the middle of the dirt
I don't know why they picked days like
that but it always seems to happen but
the size of the land around this airport
that you're actually talking about that
you're managing on a daily basis is just
astounding really is astounding Brian
and thank you for showing us actual
buildings now because we talk about dirt
a lot that's right I over the last
couple of years you've seen a lot of
dirt now we're really excited to see
them going vertical and we're seeing
walls built and everything so I share
your excitement yeah it's very it's very
exciting thank you
um any other questions or
anything for Brian this is your
opportunity
um I think that we would be able to
arrange tours for our newest council
members absolutely I know that we've
been talking to some of the new
um the newest members about coming out
and taking a tour but I'd encourage the
the ones that have been on a while to
come out too because again there's a lot
of changes going on and we're really
proud and we'd be willing to show it off
to anyone who was willing to come out
and see it I think every time I've done
a tour I've learned something new and
again I sit on the board and I hear your
updates every month but I still learn
new things when I am able to do the
tours I brought Ryan Smith with me he's
the authorities director of
communications and government relations
and no one tours that airport more than
Ryan Smith so if you uh if you are
interested in touring and want to bring
your families or you know want to bring
others within the
community out we certainly would love to
host you and Ryan gives an excellent
tour
thank you we appreciate that and we're
proud to be a partner in the airport
thank you thanks Brian thanks Brian
Brian and Ryan thanks for being here
thanks for helping us work out the bugs
too Brian
we have one more item on our agenda this
evening that is the discussion on the
Water Tower Plaza design and the
Heritage District Redevelopment
who will be presenting this evening
oh I see Dan Henderson moving slowly
towards the podium
I can't help it I had to
thank you mayor appreciate the uh the
support there
um delighted to be with you and council
tonight to give you an overview of Water
Tower Plaza as well as a brief overview
of the Heritage District
and so with that
um
as I mentioned I'm here today to offer
context in history about the Heritage
District as you know the
Gilbert was incorporated in 1920 and we
celebrated our Centennial year in 2020.
the Heritage district is the original
Town site
which in turn brought about the town's
first purchase of a water tower
the original Town site intersected with
the railroad and Main Street and the
railroad is still in use today and was
instrumental in the growth of the area
in looking ahead
this photo was from 2010. there's a
perception that this is what the
Heritage District looks like today but
rest assured it is not
Gilbert's Heritage district and Cena
Renaissance of not only interest but
also investment in the last 10 years
alone
today this is what the district looks
like and it's a thriving downtown that
is continuously involving
Heritage District as you know is about
0.3 square miles
and is centered around Gilbert Road just
south of Guadalupe and just south of
Elliott Road
30 years ago the town made the decision
to begin purchasing land to redevelop
and today Gilbert owns 33 percent of all
land in the Heritage district
and more specifically
55 Acres
um
in total
um the vision over the decades has
allowed the town to complete substantial
infrastructure improvements and shape
the development of the district through
strategic land Acquisitions certainly
land sales as well as development
agreements
Community designated the Heritage
District as a Redevelopment area in 1989
and then again designated the Heritage
District as an Entertainment District in
2013.
presently there's approximately one
million square feet one million square
feet of existing development in the
district including the single-family
residences and the single-family homes
as of this this year there's
approximately 840 000 square feet of
approved development within the district
which is primarily attributed to the
Heritage Park project or what's also
known as the north anchor
this means that the total commercial
building footprint of the Heritage
district will effectively double within
the completion of the approved projects
in addition to the private development
projects there are over 30 cips that are
either active or planned within the
Heritage District at this point in time
foreign
the Heritage district is about 3.3
square miles and after removing land
planned for future projects there will
be about 16 Acres of vacant land
remaining that equates to only about 10
percent of the district remaining for
both private development as well as
future infrastructure projects
our efforts in the Heritage District are
Guided by a Redevelopment plan and we
feel that that Redevelopment plan is
always a great place to start our
conversations as a reminder Gilbert
undertook a five-year public engagement
process within the community to bring
about comments feedback perspective
directive Etc from the community and
that input ultimately manifested itself
into the creation of this Redevelopment
plan which not only serves as the vision
for the Heritage District but more
importantly the vision of the community
in addition to the vision it contains
goals and tactics that are outlined in
the Redevelopment plan and this body of
work was adopted by Council in 2018.
this visiting document also included for
the first time ever a master plan of the
town-owned property which identifies key
Redevelopment areas and essential public
amenities which then become future
projects within the Heritage District
there are over six Redevelopment plan
goals
that serve as sort of an overarching
function of of not only our efforts but
also the vision and the community
community goals and tactics and it
provides sort of that path forward to
Redevelopment to or redevelop the area
in accordance with the community's
vision
every project within the district is
related to achieving the goal within the
plan to reach the community's ultimate
Redevelopment goals for the downtown
during that five years of public
Outreach
the plan
provided a tremendous opportunity for us
the community and and public
stakeholders to understand sort of the
direction and the feedback of the
community and there were a number of
items that we wanted to share with you
that came about from from that public
from that public feedback most
importantly was this continued response
from the public for public open spaces
as well as Gathering spaces for both
passive and active events
in the Redevelopment plan there are
three key areas that that are sort of
created in what we call the north anchor
the district core and the South anchor
as you can appreciate there are several
different projects underway in each core
area of the district not only adjacent
to the water tower but also in the North
Area and the South area
so
this Water Tower Plaza is a key
component of the ultimate vision of the
core of the district and establishes the
framework for future projects
as well as the Redevelopment of the
areas in and around this Water Tower
Plaza
the numbers on this particular slide
coincide with the general order in which
a number of projects are planned to be
completed and a majority of these
projects are planned to be completed
within the next five years so mayor and
Council thank you for the opportunity to
present sort of a brief overview of the
Heritage District next up is Aaron Allen
with J2 to discuss the Water Tower Plaza
in more detail
foreign
good evening mayor and Council
so kind of just the the overview of the
presentation tonight is just kind of
giving a little introduction of the
project an overview of some of the
public Outreach that has occurred to
date and then just showing the current
preferred alternative
so a little bit of the history of the
Water Tower Plaza
1925 was when Council approved the
purchase of the land
1927 was when the water tower in the
pump house were completed that's the
little Adobe building that's on site
um in 1985 was when it was
decommissioned and then from 2005 to
2007 was when the pump house and the
water tower were rehabilitated and then
2008 was when the plaza came on board
so why the why the renovation
um the project since 2008 has just seen
a lot of Aging infrastructure there was
a an assessment that was done in October
of 2020 and that went ahead and it
looked at the existing pump stations the
electrical systems irrigation Hardscape
landscape the structures the Coatings
that are out on the different metal
features out there
um and what you found is that there's
just been you know this this Plaza has
been kind of loved to death
um water itself is a very uh corrosive
thing so you know breaking down of
surfaces and and pumps
um there was also a lot of first
generation technologies that were used
at the time
um so some of the very first generations
of LEDs were used
um what they call a vfd or a variable
frequency drive pump those were just
first coming out so now 10 20 years
later the advances in technology water
use efficiency has come such a long way
so here you can kind of see just some
from some of the photos on there that
um the the park was starting to
definitely age and wear
and so thinking about you know what are
these advances in technology what's
going to make the maintenance of this
long-term easier what's going to be more
energy efficient more water use
efficient and then just that whole life
cycle cost implementation
there's also as you can as Dan kind of
mentioned you know the downtown has
changed a lot since this was first done
and the Public's desire to have you know
larger events more diversity of events
and flexibility of space has also kind
of went to that need for change
and then Additionally the water tower
way living room Plaza and the Ash Street
alignment also have direct impacts on
the Water Tower Plaza itself
especially the the Ash Street
realignment that Ash Street realignment
is actually slated to go right through
the restroom building that's by the park
and ride lot that because the what the
splash pad is a recirculating Splash Pad
at Water Tower Plaza health code
requires that there's a restroom
facility within a certain distance of
that splash pad
so with that being interrupted we had to
find space on the site to accommodate a
new restroom building
and then also with like the water tower
way and living room Plaza the events
that are going to be potentially held
there and how do you have this West Side
interaction that those two new public
spaces can really talk to each other and
have some Synergy for those expanded
event opportunities
so the project scope is to look at
updating the the existing aging
infrastructure look out some layout
reconfigurations oops
um looking at parking modifications that
new restroom building and then you know
new amenities shade structures Street
Furnishings things like that
so we kind of started the project back
in uh January
we had some a lot of public Outreach and
some concept refinement that's been
happening from June to October currently
we're in that concept refinement and
design stage right now then we would
head into doing final construction
documents towards the spring and fall of
this year with then construction heading
into the fall of this year and Into
Summer end of summer of next year
so some of the outreaches that has gone
on to date is that in June of 2022 there
was some conversations happening with
the park and rec board there was an open
house with the Heritage District
merchants in July and both of those
meetings were kind of focused on saying
hey this renovation is coming you know
what are important features about the
park what do you like what you know what
could you see improvements that would
make it function better and and how it
may increase your business and things
like that
there was a community survey that went
out in August again kind of focused on
some of that same interaction and
feedback of you know what what what
needs do you see or perceive about the
current Plaza
and then we also had a public meeting
where we showed some different concepts
and solicited feedback on that and then
again going to park and rec board in
September and Redevelopment Commission
in October again showing those two
different concepts and getting feedback
on those kind of preliminary Concepts
um just this was one of the the boards
that we've that we used at the public
open house just kind of talking about
water usage
um and kind of just giving the public an
idea of you know the current Parks water
usage and then how we can kind of become
a little bit more efficiency with with
some of the redesign that might happen
so here are some of the preliminary
Concepts this was concept A
and you can see it it has kind of a nice
uh there's an event lawn there's a large
shade structure that has a splash pad
underneath it and the granite ball moves
from out by Ash and page to underneath
the water tower and then in the back
corner we have let's see if this works
here
the back corner here a restroom and a
pump station where kind of the current
Pump Station sits now
here's some views just from uh if you
were down in the park so image one is
looking towards the West you can kind of
see a large water wall on the South Side
you'd be looking at that future water
tower way you see the the shade
structure with the splash pad in the
background view number two is just
looking the opposite direction towards
Gilbert Road you can see some lots of
trees Incorporated view number three
looking at underneath the tower and how
some new Planters are introduced and
surrounding that new granite ball with a
little seating area underneath the tower
um concept day again so view number five
looking back towards the tower uh view
number six looking at that Splash Pad
that's underneath the large shade
structure
view seven if you're standing out on the
corner of Ash and Paige looking into the
plaza a new shade structure there and
view eight if you're looking to again to
the east from underneath that shade
structure
um concept B had basically an even
larger event lawn I kept the splash pad
underneath the tower but then introduced
a large shade structure on the East
property Edge and then you kind of see
that both of these Concepts were looking
to somehow tie the water tower way shade
structure into this design as well
so here are the the view
um number one looking at that event law
looking over to the West
view number two looking back to the east
you see kind of an again a water wall on
the south side that shade structure
that's kind of raised up
opportunity for multi-use of picnicking
but then could also be used for movies
in the park uh views three and four are
if you're standing along page looking
into the park there was a proposed Arbor
structure that could kind of frame the
walkway
uh view number five that Granite ball
got relocated again from the corner of
Ash and more to the interior of the park
view number six kind of looking back
towards where the restroom would be and
some new sidewalks and informal seating
uh view seven back again at it at uh
Paige and Ash looking into the interior
of the park and view eight Looking Back
East towards the water tower
so some of the things that came out of
the community survey results there was
over 3 000
respondents so the top five requested
amenities were shaded picnic area
restrooms grassy area for events food
truck connection and the Shaded Splash
Pad so that's why you saw a lot of those
Concepts that incorporated a lot of
these different amenities
um from the actual open house the public
meeting everybody got some survey cards
and gave us feedback
um and so we asked for comments that you
know what would you say that to that
about each comment that would improve
your ranking so concept A it was to
bring a historical aspect more trees and
sitting spaces eliminate parking along
page and then you know some people
thought that the shade structure was too
big and overwhelm the area for concept B
again more shade so shade shade shade a
bigger event lawn which is interesting
because concept B actually had the
biggest event lawn and then people liked
that they wanted shade over the splash
pad so kind of some conflicting results
here and there
um The Parks Board feedback on the
different concepts was to have a
flexible event space
to not have solid shade over the splash
pad to remove any ground sprays that
weren't actually part of the splash pad
and they wanted to see how Water Tower
Plaza and some of these other future
projects that were all tying together
and relating to each other
when we went to the Redevelopment
commission concept A was preferred and
actually to take a step back out of the
public open house concept A was also the
highest ranking one Redevelopment
commission like the big shade there was
some concern on the loss of parking
spaces but they understood the reasons
why and they would like to see if the
picnic Plaza could be raised in concept
A and they would like to activate the
pump house
as well
so the preferred alternative
which has kind of taken a lot of this
different feedback
and combined it
um
is that you have kind of this raised
picnic Grove here with some informal
seating and Planters all around a little
bit larger event lawn
there's a water wall that goes across
the entire back this is that restroom
and Pump Station
there is the granite ball stays under
the tower
a large Sage structure over the splash
pad though that we started to introduce
some perforated paneling to introduce
some dappled shade under here and then
lots of areas for uh Gathering to have
tables chairs and and things like that
so
Maybe
seems like I'm stuck now
oh there we go
so here's just a just a plan View
of that same so here's that picnic Plaza
the event lawn the water wall
that restroom and pump house
you know the existing Adobe building
with some planters and some seating
around
parallel parking along page with some
you know new treat streets tree
plantings
kind of this Ash Street this is where
water tower way will eventually go and
they'll have potentially some shade
structure here that could introduce and
offer additional shade to this outdoor
Gathering area as well
so some views on the interior of the
park so view one again you're on that
event law and you're looking towards the
West you can see the the water wall on
the south side
view two again at that event lawn
looking towards the east and you start
to see the the restroom building and
that water wall on the south side
view number three you're standing by
that adobe building and looking back
towards the the tower
uh view number four looking under the
tower this informal kind of seating area
rocking chairs lounge chairs and that
Granite ball
uh view number five kind of a long page
looking into the interior of the park
you start to see uh the seating along
the event lawn the water wall in the
background view number six looking
underneath the splash pad
you see the different different Jets and
that can be are configured on there that
informal seating you start to see that
there's a perforated metal pattern on
that shade structure it's actually kind
of mimicked off of a water wave pattern
letting some of that dappled light
through
views seven and eight showing kind of
the same views
uh number nine if you're standing under
the tower looking towards the South you
see the articulated seat wall with the
incorporation of the planters
view 10 seeing that raised picnic Grove
view 11 is just outside that new little
gathering area with the bistro tables
and some cantenary lights overhead
and then view number 12 would be if
you're standing in front of that
restroom building looking out into the
rest of the park
here are some different night views
um so you know having
um always wanting that that water tower
the lighting effects there to be the
star of the show but being able to have
some nice soft accent lighting around on
the different Pathways the water wall
being able to have some nice led up
lighting that can change
underneath the splash pad those would
all be illuminated Jets and so you get a
lot of great reflectivity off the the
shade structure and the light play there
with the water
um so this should be fingers crossed if
it plays
a fly-through of the preferred
alternative
Maybe
do you have to hit up play button
okay
it's not showing
oh
well now we lost the system
it's a great video I promise
council member Anderson just said it was
a night View
so
second
um
so if this one plays this is actually a
[Music]
um
a simulation of what the ground sprays
it'll show the different patterns
and kind of the lighting effects
and while the different patterns be like
random happen during the day yep so we
have the ability they'll all on the
different pumping systems and so it's a
complete random pattern and lighting and
and all that so very similar to how we
can program them now but you know if you
can dream up the sequence they can they
can create it
the tower under the tower now that all
are the same type of nozzle it's just
the kind of a clear stream this one has
I think four different nozzle types so
it'll be a lot more dynamic as far as
the the ground sprays
no
if you go into non-presentation mode
Maybe
for the PowerPoint
I promised I tested this before
of course you did thank you for your
patience Aaron and you know it's our
first night back in here so everything
is everything that can happen is going
to happen I'm sure
oh there we go
yeah so you can see that there's uh some
other the ones in the center are kind of
an arching spray
the ones around the outside are a lower
trajectory arching spray and then you
have some clear Jets and then also some
more uh columnar effects and
trying to give a variety because
sometimes when kids are playing on
splash pads you know if they're littler
kids they want to be in something that's
the more fan-like so they can kind of
hang out on the perimeter where some of
the older kids might want to be more
onto the into the interior and the
vertical ones
but then you can start to see how at
Night the Lights will change you get
that reflectivity off of the the roof
structure so pretty Dynamic at night as
well
you think can we go back to the other
slide through
all right so it's working
so this kind of just takes you around
gives the uh you'll start to see the
different views
I think it gives you a little bit better
sense of the park as a whole versus just
seeing the still shots
there was actually some really nice jazz
music in the background so I could sing
for you if you'd like but
I think it should kind of transition to
a little bit of a night fly through here
foreign
foreign
and so that kind of
concludes it right there
so we'll see if we can crash the system
again
so we kind of saw this one
and so with that it's you know kind of
feedback and questions and I can kind of
flip back through if there's you want to
see images again
thank you Aaron um any questions Council
yes councilmember koprowski
thank you mayor
hi Aaron I have a few comments and
questions I really like the preferred
alternative so thank you for presenting
that to us tonight
regarding the parallel parking along
page I assume that that area would be
where food trucks might be in a
temporary manner but I also saw that the
trees might be encroaching in this area
how are you going to mitigate that and
are there other amenities for the food
truck such as electric hookups to avoid
the use of generators yeah so let's see
if I can flip back to um
so on here
um what was the thought was that you
could potentially have either down the
central Corridor could potentially be an
option for where food trucks could
possibly be or along this is the um the
current Alleyway and that could be
another location where food trucks could
temporarily be staged in a temporary
type Manner and then yes looking at a
lot of these different Planters would be
where we could tuck in event receptacles
so that the food trucks in a temporary
they could hook in and not have to use
the generators
okay my next question is regarding are
there options I know it's a public space
but are there options for heated
amenities for like the cool winter
nights for heated amenities I mean
they do make outdoor heaters and things
that can be you know placed onto like
the shade structure if you will there's
electric ones gas ones
things like that there's
but that would definitely have to be a
discussion probably to think of what
those would be and what's going to last
in a kind of a public setting is it more
common to have like portable units that
for like special events versus something
that's built in typically yes
okay because then you can kind of put
them where you know like if there was a
large event going on here and you say
you had booths or tables and things like
that you can put them around where you
know they're going to be needed okay
with these improvements will there be
any consideration for raised crosswalks
across page
um so this one is not doing anything to
page
um I believe in the water tower way
concept that that had some raised uh
Crossings as associated with the water
tower way but this would be only working
kind of within the current uh curb to
curb line if you will
okay
a couple more things
with the shade structure above the
splash pad in the night rendering I
didn't see any lights in that structure
um
what are your thoughts on that in terms
of making sure that it's illuminated
sufficiently in the evenings yeah so
that's something that we're still kind
of working through
because we have
we have the the ground sprays that
whenever the ground sprays are on and
currently the way that they operate the
park is that those are always on when
the when the park is on and so you'll
always have that light source there so
some of the other ideas that we're
talking about is when those aren't on so
say there's an event going on and we
want to recapture that Hardscape that
are there covers that can just go over
kind of protect the nozzles but the
lights can still be on we're also
talking about potentially hiding light
up in the canopy that can wash across
and still provide that light or
potentially on the columns but
definitely we are trying to figure out
that aspect of making sure that it's
well illuminated
and might say a similar comment
regarding the in the nighttime rendering
video above the picnic area it seemed
like there were some lights in that area
but maybe not necessarily right above
the tables so just having that
consideration for where that light would
really be desired yeah and I will say
that that's a downfall of the rendering
software is that
it just doesn't translate to where the
light levels that we would design to to
make it show so but yeah we're
definitely run photometrics throughout
the entire park making sure that we
don't have dark spots and that those
other Gathering areas have appropriate
light levels that you can actually you
know be able to see at night and have a
conversation with somebody and not have
to bring out your phone to light them up
my last comment is related to
the splash pad and people that are
bringing their children there
um
like at the Phoenix Zoo they have little
changing areas in this restroom area
will it have sufficient space to also
accommodate you know families you know
changing their kids and drying off and
things versus more of a typical restroom
yeah so right now I believe it's
um
four stalls on each side so it is a
specific men's side a specific uh
women's side with large
um
Ada accessible on both ample room in
both so yes are there any benches in the
restroom changing stations yeah
or change stations for babies but are
there benches for toddlers and young
children to be standing on not at this
time but something that definitely could
be considered Western footprint is still
in
design okay I would suggest that um just
from experience thank you
any other questions or comments yes
councilmember were there was there any
feedback about using artificial grass
rather than natural grass
um some people there was some feedback
on on artificial grass
the artificial turf actually during the
summer time gets hotter than asphalt and
so there's that
water use versus actually being able to
have usable lawn during it so some of
the discussions that we've been having
is well if we're going to do a Turf to
make it from a maintenance perspective
make it a high performing Turf so
something like sand based field
level so it can handle the larger events
on it and stuff
thank you yeah
thanks mayor thank you mayor
um I have a couple comments
um first I support council member
kapowski's recommendation in the
restrooms for changing I think that's
going to be a key component and quite
frankly you don't want to put all that
stuff on the floor yeah let alone your
kids bare feet so if you could look at
that that'd be great
um
I I really like the additional shading
for for parents very seldom have I gone
downtown
and not seeing people at the splash park
and so that shading in the summertime
will be much appreciated
so
I don't like the parallel parking I
think I've already mentioned that to to
you guys individually but a couple
things one you're losing parking down
there and it's very important to the
businesses down there not to lose
anymore than what we've already you know
given up in the you know for the pickup
areas and things like that
um
so
having two types of parking
opportunities a parallel park and then a
pull-in whatever that's called sorry
thank you
diagonal thank you
um I think it it's confusing and you
know you just have to be there on a
Saturday and I could imagine the type of
backup we would get with people trying
to get that Prime parking in parallel
park at the same time
saying that I know I understand the
reason is you want to open up
opportunities for your special events
and perhaps food trucks
I would prefer to have the food trucks
in the alley
than on the Main Street
and kind of getting that away from that
activity also
um you know I think safety just walking
out between food trucks probably isn't
the best thing to do on a small Road
like that
um
speaking to businesses down there
they've they've been
very open about the fear of losing
additional parking and
anything that would appear to be
permanent food trucks competing with
their businesses and so I think the more
we can limit it that makes it feel very
intentional would be better for
for the retina the businesses downtown
but I appreciate you combining all those
comments and bringing them forward and I
really like the concept
um it's it's everything we ever thought
it would be back I know you were with us
when we first designed it and um
it's you know it is time for a refresh
and not just be for the looks but
because of the maintenance that needs to
be taken care of and I think you guys
have done a fabulous job so thank you
Aaron thank you
councilmember Anderson
thank you yes you have done a great job
um thank you in the spirit of art and
culture we we have established ourselves
and Gilbert as a leader in things
riparian
and it might be an interesting thing to
explore small sculptures of some kind in
in the area of different species of
birds that we know frequently and it
would tie this feature with the
repairing and the efforts of trying to
make and it also helps children as well
as adults identify the kinds of birds
that frequent riparian areas and come to
Gilbert
um but that's something I think we could
think about doing also to to make it
even more interesting down there
councilmember Buckley
I I just wanted to say I really like
this rendering they've asked most of the
questions and comments that that some of
them that I would have had but I would
really like this I can see the the
future of
of Gilbert and their families loving
this I do have one question though on
the rendering and maybe I just I'm not
seeing it now are we going to have the
town name are we going to have Gilbert
on the water tower oh
you know that is a huge oversight that I
left that off the tower okay yeah we are
not we are not touching that though the
water tower is not not changing it's
just the park below it oh I know I can't
tell you how many uh residents have said
tell them don't change the water tower I
said I don't think it's changing so so
that's great but I think this is
wonderful
yes I will yeah that's great thank you
councilmember Torgeson more of
operationally with the public restrooms
it can always present a problem how is
that going to be handled or have we
gotten that far in the process we have
restrooms down there already that the
parks maintenance take care of and I
think it would probably be very similar
the doors are locked at a certain point
correct and I don't know that you would
have that answer Aaron maybe the parks
department would yeah I mean that's some
of the discussions that we have still
been having of
their hours of operation and
locking systems and things like that so
yeah there are already bathrooms right
across the street public bathrooms that
the town takes care of so
similar
I would think well yeah definitely from
a standpoint of making sure that you
know it's still a very nice facility but
also can withstand the public abuse
that's going to occur there look from
design standpoints
I have a couple of comments
um I know this park when it was first
envisioned
definitely I'm sure nobody thought that
it would be used the way that it's being
used today and and we've and now we're
trying to create a space for the way
that we're actually using the park
currently and creating around that so I
appreciate that I really love the
preferred alternative thank you for
listening to all the input and bringing
it all together
I'm not sure why people asked about the
raised picnic area that would concern me
from a kid perspective of kids falling
that's the only thing that I can think
of with the raised picnic area that just
stuck in my mind I do love the comment
that council member Kapowski made about
electricity for the food trucks because
I know we've been down there and you're
trying to listen to a band play and all
the generators are running and you
really can't hear anything that's going
on so I think that would be that's a key
point and very helpful for anybody that
will be using the park I love that idea
that councilmember Anderson just had
about bringing some kind of art
structures features Birds even in the
background of the water feature I mean
you know there's I think there's lots of
ways to bring the art into the space and
to use it
um the granite ball it's a huge feature
down there now a very popular feature is
it going to have water to it still yes
that's the intent okay because that's
such a huge point for people wanting to
roll that ball in the water I just
couldn't tell and of course it's
probably the software that you can't
show something like that and
um
there's a lot of already mature trees
down there how are we handling that
um some of the ones that we can protect
in place that are more on the south side
we're going to try to some of the other
ones because of just the different
infrastructure that has to go in
unfortunately
aren't going to be able to be saved a
lot of some of the other ones are are in
Decline okay already and so
they wouldn't they wouldn't handle any
sort of Salvage operation
they wouldn't live through being moved
or something correct correct and um
there was a there was a fundraising
effort done many years ago and there are
pavers down there with people's names on
them will they be moved to a different
location yep so that's actually uh just
came up a couple weeks ago of making
sure that we go out there and do an
inventory of you know benches to have
blacks pavers all that making sure that
we catalog it and find you know new
locations or if we can still find maybe
who donated it find out if they want
their paver back or and things like that
though yeah yeah that's a great idea I
think the max flancer benches down there
right outside the Adobe building and I
like the idea of either bringing the
food trucks along the alley so I I think
you're talking between the Water Tower
and the back of Liberty market correct
yep right there or I do like the idea of
bringing them straight down the middle
if you're going to be having a big event
in there especially if there's
electricity and the generators don't
have to be running so the shade
structure I just want to confirm the
shade structure over the splash pad is
that actually it's it's just going to be
shade so some sun will come through it
because I know the kiddos and the adults
like to be in the shade but sometimes it
gets a little chilly when you're playing
in the water and so you might like a
little sun on you yeah so I think kind
of image these images on this page show
it a little bit oh yeah um so per health
code requirements we're not allowed to
have water ball onto the splash pad
because they're concerned about bird
roosting and what might come down onto
the splash pad from that so what we have
is we have a solid portion that's kind
of over the splash pad itself and then
all the edge perimeters are the
perforated that will allow that light to
come through those darn Health codes
right just causing all these issues
um never that wouldn't have been
something that I would have even thought
of though mayor if I might add we are
looking into that that was noted among
staff as well and we're looking at all
the available options yeah what the
options are because I think that you do
need a little bit of sun when the kids
are playing in the water like that to be
able to sneak you know seep through if
you can
um and maybe not as permanent a
structure or maybe something that we've
used over other Parks I don't know I
don't know what that looks like but
I think those are all my comments any
other comments as we close out
great job
Robert uh thank you Marion Council we
really appreciate all the feedback this
evening you know it's been important to
us to make sure that we reach out to
every group that's that's touched within
Water Tower and your feedback is greatly
appreciated and you know before Aaron
closed it out there are a few comments
that came up I wanted to make sure to
follow up on we will continue to explore
the parking I think uh you know that's
been something we'll continue to discuss
with council with the merchants there's
still additional public Outreach that'll
continue but tonight's been tonight's
been really helpful to to guide us down
the right path of what those next steps
are so we appreciate that and we look
forward to continuing those
conversations along with some of the
comments on the restrooms and uh
councilmember kaprowski you mentioned
the nighttime heat
um that definitely got my mind going on
to what that could look like at night as
well so we really appreciate that
feedback and this will this will not be
our last checkpoint we'll continue to
work through some of those options and I
know Aaron had a
one or two slides remaining but it was
really just touching upon the the point
that we will be revisiting those
discussions with um the merchants and in
the Heritage District the residents
along with Parks Board and and the
Redevelopment commission this has really
been a a collaboration between Parks and
Rec Economic Development CIP and really
trying to make sure that we we don't
leave any one uh surprised by anything
that goes on with this project so thank
you so much for the feedback this
evening
um thank you Robert and I think
councilmember kubrowski is probably
thinking about our night with the sister
cities down near the re down at the
regional park and how it got down there
and I'm never cold and it was actually
chilly down there so that was a great
thought and I think if we can bring in
heaters for special events like we did
in that location too that might be a
better option right yes and the good
news is the restroom building would have
a small storage area so that may be
possible to have something on site
that's great yes great thank you so much
Robert did Aaron have more slides or are
we done
yes and one other thing for
councilmember Anderson the public art I
think is a really important component to
what we want to continue to explore
there's a lot more real estate when you
think about the restroom building being
on site in some of those other areas
where we can bring even more public art
into the Heritage District so we're
excited to see what that could look like
with some of the possibilities and also
the Adobe building we have received
questions to make sure that will remain
but I really think it's an excellent
opportunity to possibly be kind of
worked into the history you know of
Gilbert and that public art so thank you
so much for that and speaking of art I
I'm sure that you're working on this but
you're working on relocating the Art
Walk while this is under construction
uh mayor Peterson absolutely great yes
we will be once we know the the
construction schedule a little more
we'll be working with all of our
partners to ensure that we do our best
not to displace as many people as
possible thank you and I know that um if
they choose to come back here and they
if they're going to have a much nicer
place to be able to use absolutely we've
we've really tried to design it with the
thought process of of a variety of
events but also a nice flow and that
everyone kind of has those major
amenities that were the top requested
from the community
great thank you very much okay that's it
thanks Robert
um that's the last item on our agenda so
I will go ahead and adjourn the study
session we have a few minute break
before we start our next meeting