Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee - May 29, 2025

Uh it is uh
501 on uh May 20 Thursday, May 29th and
this is the uh meeting for the city of
Scottsdale Citizens Bond Oversight
Committee. Uh we can have a uh call to
order uh for the meeting. If you Aaron,
if you mind doing the roll call.
Absolutely. Vice Chair Coughlin present.
Committee member Davis. Davis here.
Chair
Deoce absent. Committee member Fischer
here. Committee member
Holland absent. Committee member her
here. Committee member Kamasu here. All
right. Thank you. Uh Vice Chair
Coughlin, I'll turn the meeting back
over to you. Great. Thank you, Erin. Uh
well, we'll get started with the uh
agenda. First thing on the agenda is the
approval of the minutes from March 25
meeting. Uh, is there like to anyone
would like to make a motion to approve
the minutes?
Mr. Chairman, I I make a motion to
approve the minutes as written.
Thank you, committee member Fischer. Is
there anyone who would like to second
approval?
I second. Great. Thank you, committee
member her. So, minutes are approved.
Um, Vice Chair Coughlin, I believe the
second was from committee member Kamas.
Oh, Kamasuit, correct? those comments.
Okay, just so it gets read into the
minutes correctly. Thank you.
Uh we'll move on to the uh the agend
question two or part two of the agenda
today. That is a update on the uh 2019
bond program including questions one
parks, recreation, senior services,
question two, community spaces and
infrastructure. And question three,
public safety and technology.
Good evening. Allison Timku, city
engineer, um to give you just an update
on um our bond 2019 program and the
projects that are currently um
underway. So this is a summary of our
question one projects that are in
currently in the FY 202425 budget. Um
the first project is number two, add
splash pad and improve walkways at
McCormick Stillman Railroad Park. This
project is being constructed um in
conjunction with our McCormix Tilman
roundhouse project and the project
completion is actually scheduled for the
end of June and I have some photos on
the next few slides of this project. The
next project is 13 expand Granite Reef
Senior Center to meet uh demand for
adult daycare. Um the construction for
this project is being moved to um the
funding is being moved to fiscal year
2627. Uh there was some discussion with
the B uh the budget review commi
commission um about this project and
just about the feasibility of the adult
daycare. So we're going to be doing some
additional investigation in this and
that's why the funding is um being moved
to a a future fiscal year. Uh project 21
is expand via Linda senior center to
meet demand for senior services. Uh the
design of this project just kicked off
within the last two weeks. Uh 41 is
install solar heating system for Elorado
pool. We're currently uh evaluating
concepts with our design build manager
team for this uh location. 42 is add a
dog park to Thompson Peak Park and we're
tentatively planning to start
construction this summer. Uh 53 is build
multi-use sports fields in the area of
Bell Road. Uh the sports complex is open
and has been for some time. Um the
project is just in the final closeout.
We did have some temporary equipment at
our irrigation pump station. Um, and we
had to wait for the final equipment to
arrive, some pumping and electrical
equipment. That equipment has been
changed out, so we should be prepared to
close this out, this project out soon.
Um, 55 is build a 17acre park at Asher
Hills Drive in 74th Way. This park also
opened in February of 2025 and we're
just going through a project close out
on this as well. And then finally, we
have 61. Purchase land, expand Pinnacle
Peak parking lot, um staff office
restrooms, renovate hiking trail, and
construct art and interpretive trail.
So, this project requires some Arizona
state land um for us to actually
continue, but we are going to be looking
at um the concept here shortly just to
see what's feasible to do in this area
and if there are any alternates if we're
unable to acquire Arizona state land for
this
project. So, here are some pictures of
uh the McCormix roundhouse project and
the splash pad. So that concrete area in
the foreground is uh the splash pad
under
construction. This is a aerial view of
the roundhouse. And again, this picture
has the splash pad in the um rear uh
upper left of the
photo. And then this is just a closeup
of the splash pad. So all the um the
sprinkler heads are all installed for
the splash pad. and we're just waiting
for some vertical elements to arrive and
get
installed. Um this is uh the
implementation schedule for question one
for the projects. Um it shows basically
what projects are currently in design um
and construction and then any future um
years what we're targeting for design
and construction. Just a couple of
questions came up from um committee
member Kamasu on this. So typically um
if we're not showing so for example
project 41 Elorado pool solar heating
project that's just showing currently in
design and doesn't show construction
because again we are evaluating
alternatives to determine um when and if
construction would be feasible for that
project. Um but we will be showing that
in the future. And then um similarly for
uh the Appaloosa
uh library solar pro power um project
that also is being analyzed um what's
feasible for that location. So once we
come up with a concept we will be able
to slate a construction time frame for
that. And then these are the projects
currently scheduled for question two.
The first one is build a 200 space
parking lot off of 75th Street to serve
the city court and Scottsdale Stadium.
Uh this construction is being delayed,
but we're looking to reschedu it for the
spring of
2026. Um we do do construction in this
area uh following um spring training. So
we plan to start in the spring and be
completed for the following spring
spring training. So we're looking to
schedule that for next spring. Um 18 is
build roadway and pedestrian pedestrian
improvements along Second Street from
Drinkwater Boulevard to Goldwater
Boulevard. So um this project we are
just starting um to kick off the design
on this project again. So it was
previously on hold. We had prepared some
concepts um uh a couple of years ago and
we had presented them to city council
and it was going to require quite a bit
of additional funding to um do the work
that was proposed. So, uh city council
at that time um had determined that they
weren't interested in that. So, we had
put the project on hold, but we're going
to reinitiate it and just look primarily
at the scope, which is um the pedestrian
improvements along Second Street with
some minor roadway
improvements. Um the next project is 23
repair lakes and irrigation at Vista Del
Camino Park in the Indian Ben Wash. And
construction is uh progressing on this.
We're in our third guaranteed maximum
price. Um and that that was authorized
back in November by city council. 45 is
renovate horse barns to increase
runnable space. So we um have seven
barns complete to date and um we have
expended all the bond funds for this
project. And so each time uh we add
additional funds it's non-bond funds and
we request enough to build um
sequentially additional barns until we
reach 10 because there are 10 that need
to be replaced.
Um 458 is install solar shade at city
hall parking lot. Uh construction for
this is slated to start late this summer
and I do have some concepts uh
renderings of that to show you next. And
59 is install solar systems at Civic
Center campus. Um we've again our design
build manager has been evaluating
concepts for that. Um 63 is build
parking structures in Oldtown
Scottsdale. And uh the bond 2019 project
for this is the uh structure proposed at
Second and Brown. And we did hold our
first public meeting for this um just
earlier uh on May
22nd. Okay. So this is just a a
rendering of what the city hall um solar
project could look like. And it's an
aerial view looking out at the parking
lot that's outside of city
hall. And then this is just another
rendering that shows um the solar for uh
the larger parking
lot. And again the implementation
schedule for question two projects. Um
again uh I project 15 and 18. Um project
15 we are targeting now spring 26
construction. So I will add that to a
future presentation. Uh project 18 is
the one I just mentioned, Second Street.
We are initiating design on that. So
construction will be slated in the
future. And then um again 58 and 59 are
two of the solar projects um that we are
slating construction for 58 which is the
one I just showed you in city hall for
2526 and then the solar at uh civic
center campus will be slated for 2627.
So that will be on a future um
presentation. Excuse
me. Okay. And finally, question three
projects. Um we have project number
five, which is modernize computer
equipment rooms to protect city servers.
Um the final phase of this project is to
uh replace the HVAC in these server
rooms and those plans are in for permit
review. Um seven is replace outdated 911
computerated dispatch and records
management to improve efficiency. So
basically this is in final punch list
and um planning on um closing this out
through the end of June. Project nine is
install fiber optic infrastructure to
reduce operating costs and these are
just current uh multiple locations that
are currently in design and
construction. 14 is replace obsolete
planning and permitting software. So
they're working on um validating that
and configuring the elements to get that
uh software going live. Project 17 is
obtain a citywide data man management
and analytics solution for database
decisionmaking and they're currently
reviewing the architectural requirements
for that. 28 is build the new fire
station near Hayden Road in Loop 101 to
improve improve response times and
that's currently under construction and
slated to uh be completed in summer of
2025. Uh we have uh the fire police and
fire training projects. Um project
number 26 is to replace the deterior
deteriorating vehicle track at the
police and fire training facility. Uh
this project is currently in design.
Project 27 is modernize and expand the
police and fire training facility. We
actually just had the grand opening for
this um earlier this week on May 27th.
And then as you know from my last report
um project 38 build a new fire
department training facility. This
project was completed and the facility
um opened in January to its first class
of new recruits. Um project 33 is a
renovate vinda police station to
increase efficiency. We are doing some
work on this project um in support of
bond project 40. We're basically
renovating the jail there. So then when
we do construction at at project 40 um
we will have a a a jail available to us.
Project 37 is implement an inventory and
asset control system for city technology
and that's um now implemented and this
project will be closed. And project 40
is renovate and expand civic center jail
and downtown police facility to meet
demand. And again, this project design
is uh progressing and then parts of it
are um the support is under construction
with project 33 for the jail
relocation. And then these are some
photos of our police training facility
that's uh was just dedicated last week
or earlier this week, excuse me.
some aerial photos. Uh we have the new
um shooting
range. This is a photo of the defensive
uh tactics room where they do
training. Um and this was uh actually
just a classroom that was remodeled. So
part of the project was an addition and
part of the project was remodeling
existing space.
And again, implementation schedule for
our uh question number three
projects. And then here's a list of our
question one, question two, and question
three projects that are
complete. We have um in question one, we
have several uh court surfacing and
sports field lighting. Question two is
um a lot of work at Westworld. And then
of course our civic center plaza out
outside
here. And then question three, we have a
lot of IT related projects that have
been complete and some um bulletproof
glass at some of our police department
facilities and then some replacement of
fire utility equipment. And then again,
we just do have that one project that
has been eliminated, which was project
12 to update Scottsdale's 15-year-old
digital terrain model. and we were able
to obtain that information from the
USGS. So that project um became
unneeded and with that I'm happy to
answer questions.
A question from committee member her.
I'm just kind of uh wondering about the
the project number 63's about the public
parkings and then I noted that you
actually had a public meeting held on
the May 22nd and then actually wondering
like what was discussed during the
public meetings and then is there any
reasons for them to have these projects
particularly have a public meetings?
Um committee man member her so yeah that
was our first public meeting for uh the
design of the project. It's currently uh
we just kicked off the design and the
intent of the public meeting was to
gather input on um sort of the look and
the aesthetics of what the uh parking
structure design would be. And typically
on projects like this, we do have a
public involvement process um where we
invite the uh the public to come and
provide input into the design of the
project. Okay. Thank you.
Uh we have a question from committee
member Fischer.
Yeah, Alison.
Um, on the eliminated projects, question
three, uh, number 12. So, we got the
digital information enough from another
source. So, what happens to those funds?
Are those available for other, you know,
under the bound terms that available for
other projects or does that get set
aside? Um, committee member Fischer,
yes. So, what we do with um projects
like that and actually on the agenda
tonight, we have for your consideration
um another project where we're um
looking to reassign funds to we had
project savings and we're looking to
reassign them to another project. So, we
we did that with this project, project
12 um when it came uh when it we brought
it before um uh the committee to
consider where we should apply those
funds to and we transferred them to a
different project. and it has to be
within the same question. Thank you.
Uh we have a question from committee
member Davis
Allison on question uh one project 61
the pinnacle peak your comment sounded
like you don't expect the Arizona state
land to have an auction or that uh there
are alternatives to waiting for the
state to have the auction. Um, Committee
Member Davis. So, we uh are in
communication regularly with Arizona
State Land and they just haven't had any
interest in that parcel yet. So, I mean,
potentially in the future, we could look
at um purchasing it or um see if there
was any interest from Arizona State Land
to sell us a portion of um that parcel.
Um so in the meantime we are going to do
a concept to design to see what actually
is feasible to determine um the exact
amount that we would need of that land.
Thank you.
Any other questions from uh committee
members?
Perfect. Uh I'm not sure if we need to
let the record um show that um committee
member uh Holland is also in attendance
tonight. Perfect. Um if we want to move
on now to uh item number three, that's a
presentation, discussion uh and possible
action on bond 2019 financial report uh
from uh budget director Scott Selen.
Good afternoon uh Mr. Vice Chair,
members of the committee. Uh for the
record, Scott Selen, budget director uh
with the city. Um very happy to be here
today to discuss a financial update for
the 2019 bond program. I'll just
emphasize that the figures we talk about
today are accurate through May 19th,
2025. I did want to read into the record
that we caught a technical issue with
the graph on slide number three. Uh
we've updated that table in the
presentation on the screens and we've
also provided that to you all um in
paper form so you can see it. We'll make
sure that the posted packet reflects the
updated version.
Uh so as you know the approved bond 2019
program $319 million split between three
questions. What you're seeing on the
screen is the split between those three
questions. This has not changed since
the last
meeting. Oops going the wrong direction
here. So this is the slide that was
updated um when we caught the technical
issue. Um it shows a snapshot of the
financial status of the three different
questions as of May 19, 2025.
Uh we'll start with question one. Uh we
spent just over $53 million with just
under five committed and about 14.2
million in budget remaining currently
with 40 million roughly in future
funding for that question. Question two,
uh 46.6 million spent, 6.2 committed and
6.5 in remaining budget with 53 million
in future funding. Then question three,
we've spent
51.7 about 9 million committed, 19.6 in
remaining budget, and that leaves just
under 14 million in future funding
available. The first bond issuance
closed in February of 2021 and used $55
million of voter authorization. That's
been fully spent. The second one closed
in February of 2023 for 77.8 8 million
of voter authorization. I'll talk about
the middle column here, the planned
issuance in
FY2425 of 107 million. We'll talk about
that more on the next slide. Um, we
anticipate about 79 million in future
issuance planned in
FY2627. I think I emphasized this last
time um back in March, but I'll
emphasize it again that Scottsdale
remains a AAA rated community.
So, on May 20th, the city competitively
uh sold some general obligation bonds.
The bonds were sold as 20-year bonds
that mature in 2045. Here's some of the
information regarding those bonds in
this table. I'm not going to read every
line. Um the city does work with a bond
financing team that includes members of
the city attorney's office, the city
treasures office, our external bond
council, and our external financial
adviser. They all worked together to
price, market, and then issue the
bonds. The bonds were wellreceived by
the market due to our credit quality and
name recognition. The bonds received 10
bids with the lowest true interest cost
or TIC as it's sometimes abbreviated to
at
3.968%. And the series 2025 bonds were
rated by Moody's and S&P. Both of them
reaffirmed their highest ratings of AAA
for these bonds. And the factors that
they mentioned by the agencies in
support of this of the strong ratings of
AAA are our reserve policies and levels,
our prudent fiscal management, including
our conservative budgeting practices and
strong sales tax growth and an expanding
local economy. So with the sale of the
series 2025, we've now issued 240
million of the 319 million authorized.
That leaves 79 million in future
authority which I believe was scheduled
for FY2627 on the previous
slide. So with that that brings me to
the end. Um thank you. I'd be happy to
entertain any questions that you might
have.
A question from community member Kamasu.
Um so I guess the closing date is listed
as June 11th. So, do you expect any more
uh bids to be received or uh Mr.
Chairman, Mr. Vice Chair, Mr. Kamasu?
I'll defer to Erica to answer that
question. Hi, Erica Coons, division
finance manager. Um when we issued the
the debt, we put out a offering document
with a specific day and time for the
sale. So, the sale happened at um on the
morning of May 20th and that's when we
received the 10 bids.
Thanks.
I have a question. Uh in regard to the
rating for the bonds at AAA, is that a
natural AAA or is that an insured AAA?
It's a natural AAA. With that in mind,
are we paying Moody's and S&P for their
review of that AAA rating? And if it's
if it's natural, could we just skip that
and save money for the city? Um,
we we would not get the rating without
paying the rating agencies. Um, so we do
pay them. Yeah. I guess my question more
is if it's a natural AAA, we don't need
there. Oh, in order to say it's AAA, you
have to pay Moody's and S&P to claim
it's AAA. Is that correct?
um to get the rating to get the AAA for
them to do the due diligence to uh
reaffirm our AAA we do have to pay for
that rating. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Any other questions from committee
members?
Perfect.
Thank you for the presentation. Uh next
we'll move on to uh item number four. Uh
item number four will be a presentation,
discussion, and possible recommendation
for the council here to transfer up to
$153,421 in bond 2019 fund savings from
question two, project 57
uh to question two, project 59. Uh we'll
turn this over to uh Allison.
Okay, thank you. Um so as I previous me
previously mentioned um project 57
install solar systems north corporation
campus that project had some project
savings of
$153,421 and we are able to transfer
that savings to another project within
the same question. So question number
two
projects. So here's a list of the 20 um
projects in question two.
And then on this list, the six projects
that were complete were removed. And so
then there's 14 left for
consideration. And then on this list,
seven projects are scheduled for future
years or they're on hold. So there are
seven projects left for consideration.
So then we're looking at these projects
to determine which would be the
appropriate project to transfer um the
savings to. So, the first project here
would be project 15, build 200 space
parking lot for City Court and
Scottsdale Stadium. And this project,
again, we're um scheduled to uh
construct that project next spring of
2026. Um but it's not uh it's tentative
right now. So, um I wouldn't consider
transferring the money to that project
at this time. Um 23 is repair lakes and
irrigation at Vista del Camino and the
Indian Benwash. That is an active
construction project and um it is a
project that would be potential for
adding this funding. It's a very large
dollar project. So
$153,000 really wouldn't make much of an
impact to that project and it already
did receive general fund through city
council um two years ago. And then
project 45 is renovate Westworld horse
barns. And as I had mentioned, this
project is to renovate 10 uh actually
replace 10 barns. And uh we've already
completed seven and we already do have
funding for the remaining barns um in
the next several fiscal years. Um
project 58 is install the solar shade
structure at city hall parking lot. And
that's the project that I highlighted
that we're targeting to construct this
summer. and we do have sufficient
funding for it. The next project is
install the solar systems at the civic
center campus and this project actually
you know is very similar because it's
another solar project. Um the previous
project was solar at North Corp campus
and then this is solar at Civic Center
campus and this project could benefit
from the additional funds. Um project 62
is build a bridge on Thompson Peak
Parkway. That project is current
currently in design and slated for um
construction in the next uh fiscal year
or the following. And um that does
currently have appropriate funding. And
then project 63 is build parking
structures in the Oldtown Scottsdale.
That's the project that we talked about
um at Second and Brown. And uh we are
currently that has a has a $20 million
um budget for that project and we're
currently targeting that to come under
budget. So with that, um staff
recommendation is for um the committee
to consider
transferring the savings from project 57
to project 59, install solar systems at
the civic center campus.
Um are there's time for questions now or
Okay, perfect. Anybody have any
questions? Committee members, uh
committee member Ku,
uh Alison So on uh I guess item 59, you
know, with the solar systems
installation with with all the talk in
the news nationally about tariffs and
part of it is like, you know, solar
panels, could these tariffs potentially
impact the cost for this project or are
we pretty confident that it's going to
stay the same? Uh it uh committee member
Kamasu, yeah, there is potential for
that for sure with tariffs.
Um, regards that questions for u
transferring the funds. Is this due to
um potential cost overruns or just an
increase in scope of the project?
Um, uh, committee member Coughlin. Oh,
Vice Chair Coughlin. Um, yeah. So
actually I think with this project, the
one that we're considering transferring
to, um it was just uh
uh timing and not necessarily scope, but
just more timing and inflation from when
the project was initially estimated.
Uh question from committee member Davis.
Allison, do you know was there a
calculation as to the payback on this
project initially? How many years of uh
does it take to earn back the
investment?
Um, Committee member Davis, I'm sorry I
don't have that information, but I can
provide that to you.
Any additional questions from committee
members? Oh, yes. Committee member her.
Uh is there any kind of like I I think
every times when we actually uh
recommend the transfer of the the funds
between those projects I just kind of
always ask um uh is there any
restrictions or legal uh requirements to
prevent or prohibit these kind of
transfers or there's no restriction
limitations on this type of transfer as
long as within the bomb project?
Um, committee member her. Yes, I believe
our only restriction is that we are
required to transfer the funds um
between projects within the same
question. Okay. Thank you.
Any additional
questions? Fantastic. At this time, I'd
like to uh look seek for a motion to
approve uh transferring up to
$153,421 from uh the bond 2019 fund
savings from question two, project 57 to
question two, project 59. Uh anyone like
to uh
motion committee member Fischer? Yeah,
I'll make make a motion that we transfer
um up to
$153,421 in bond 2019 fund savings from
question two project 57 to question two
project 59.
And any member like to uh second? I'll
second. Thank you. That was committee
member uh
Holland. Um looks like the uh motion has
approved. I have Vice Chair Coughlin, I
need you to call for a vote. I call for
a vote to uh approve the transfer of
funds from uh project 57 to uh project
59. I I I
I
Perfect. Looks like we have a unanimous
vote for approval for the
motion. And I believe at this time, if
there's nothing else, it's time for
public comment. see if there's any
public comments. I'll read off the
uh read from here. The citizens may
address the members of the Citizens Bond
Oversight Committee during public
comment. This public comment time is
reserved for citizen comments regarding
non-aggendaized items. Arizona state law
prohibits the Citizens Bond Oversight
Committee from discussing or taking
action on an item that is not on the
prepared agenda. Citizens may complete
one request to speak public comment card
per meeting and submit it to city staff.
Public testimony is limited to three
minutes per speaker. Are there any uh
public comments? No, there are not.
They're not. Any other comments from the
uh board
members? Well, I believe I call to uh
adjourn for our meeting here on u May
the 29th.
Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank
you.