City of Chandler Study Session 8/11/25

[Music]
It's my sister.
[Music]
I know.
celebrate with you.
This one's
They always change these seats. All
right, we good.
fixing.
Good evening. Tonight we have three
separate meetings. They're all short.
The first one is called public housing
authority. Then we will move to the
regular meeting of which many of you are
here for that. Then we have a study
session after that to discuss items that
we will be voting on on Thursday
evening. So with that, commissioners, I
would like to call to order our public
housing authority commission regular
meeting. Clerk, would you please take
the role?
Chairman Hartkey
here.
Vice Chair Ellis
here.
Commissioner Lauren
here.
Commissioner Incas
here.
Commissioner Poston
here.
Commissioner Orlando
here.
Commissioner Harris
here.
Commissioner Hawkins here. We have a
quorum.
Thank you so much. Do we have any
unscheduled public appearances tonight?
Um, no. Chairman Harky, we do not.
Okay. Commissioners, um, next on our
agenda is the consent agenda. Is there a
motion or or a desire to have a
presentation on any of these?
Motion.
Motion. I would like to make a mot.
Okay.
I would like to make a motion to approve
the consent agenda items one and two.
Okay. We have a motion. Commissioners,
is there a second?
I'll second it.
Okay, we'll take I heard I heard Vice
Commissioner Ellis first. I always got
to get these titles straight. Uh clerk,
please uh take the ro the vote.
Um Vice Chair Ellis,
just got a vote.
Yes.
Um Commissioner Lauren,
yes.
Commissioner Enz,
yes.
Commissioner Poston,
yes.
Commissioner Orlando,
yes.
Commissioner Harris,
yes.
Commissioner Hawkins,
yes.
And Chairman Harky,
yes. Motion carries unanimously.
Great. Commissioners, that concludes our
meeting of the public housing authority
commission. Thank you for joining us,
Pekk member. And with that, we'll gavvel
out.
I've been accused of liking to gavvel,
but these are separate meetings as they
show up on TV, so we try to give them an
opening and a closing. I would like to
call to order the regular meeting of the
August 11th, 2025 city council. Clerk,
please take the role.
Mayor Hartkey
here.
Vice Mayor Ellis
here.
Council member Instin
here.
Council member Poston
here.
Council member Orlando
here.
Council member Harris
here.
Council member Hawkins
here. We have a quorum.
Great. Our invocation tonight will be
brought forth by pastor Preston Dobbins
from Bethl Sunrise and followed by our
pledge of allegiance led by Council
Member Poston. Pastor,
thank you. Well, uh good evening. Um
before I open up in a word of prayer, I
was uh just thinking about you all,
praying for you and and um thinking
about what to pray about for you. and uh
was going to just pray what I typically
pray for leaders, which is wisdom. But
then I felt um compelled to share a
lesson that I feel the Lord has kind of
um shown me the these last couple of
months as I'm I'm new to the pastor. I'm
two years in so feel like a rookie in a
lot of ways and realized that a lot of
my prayers were focused on wisdom,
wisdom, wisdom. God make me a good
leader, good leader, good leader. And I
felt the Lord tell me just recently
there's something more important than
wisdom and it's love. And that the most
important motivator for a leader is to
have a a heart of love. And so wisdom is
great, but wisdom from a heart of love.
And um so just a a reminder that I know
you guys know you're selfless and and
and you're serving, but a reminder to to
lead with love like you do. And so,
Father, I just thank you for uh this
night. I thank you for this counsel. I
thank you that the wisdom is already
there. And I just ask that as it says in
1 Corinthians 14, you tell us to pursue
love, to earnestly desire the gifts,
earnestly desire wisdom and success and
all the things, but to pursue love. And
I just ask, Holy Spirit, that um there
would be a heart pursuit of love and
that the love for people would be just
the the motivating factor in all of
these uh wonderful men and women in the
mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank
you.
Please join me in the pledge of
allegiance.
I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
Thank you, pastor, for those those
excellent words. Thank you, council
member, for leading us in the pledge.
Next on our agenda tonight is scheduled
public appearances, and I'd like to
invite Vice Mayor Ellis to join me out
front.
So, first on our scheduled public
appearances are service recognitions.
Like to call on our acting city manager,
John Pierre to lead us.
Thank you, mayor. Good evening. We have
two service recognitions for staff
tonight. If Leah Powell from
Neighborhood Resources would please come
forward.
Good evening, Mayor and Council. I would
like to call up Jamie Richens.
Jamie um is been with the city for 10
years of service. I'd like to
congratulate her in completing her 10
years. She began her career as a code
enforcement officer in 2015 and then as
the lead inspector and then she's been
promoted into her current role of code
enforcement supervisor. Over the past
decade, she has consistently
demonstrated knowledge and sincere
commitment to our community. Jaime is a
true asset to the organization. She
brings a calm, thoughtful approach to
every situation, especially when dealing
with the public, and has truly earned
the public trust. Beyond her exceptional
work ethic, Jaime brings a unique warmth
and personality to the team. She's often
the one organizing different special
events for our staff or supporting the
staff at different special events. And
she has a well-known love for animals
and her compassion. And I have to share
that Jamie through our our programs when
we also encounter people experiencing
homelessness that may have animals
experiencing homelessness that need
homes. Jamie has rescued guinea pigs,
chickens, turtles, and the infamous goat
that was in the parking garage that was
experiencing homelessness. So, thank you
Jamie for that extra touch. Yes.
And I have to add that Jamie does a
great rooster call and she is the one
that can find the feral roosters in
Chandler, too. So, thank you also for
that special gift, Jamie. Yes.
But we want to thank you for 10 years of
service, unwavering dedication, and the
heart you bring to everything that you
do. And we are so lucky to have you as
part of our team.
Okay. Before we take a photo, we need to
hear the call.
Okay.
You can't look though.
Ready?
[Applause]
Kota is going to be calling on a code
inspect.
[Laughter]
Mayor, next if we could have de
development services director Dr. Kevin
Snder, please come down. And mayor, I
would tell you that this next one is a
Hall of Fame service recognition award.
Wait till you hear this one.
Good evening, mayor, members of city
council. Ahilia Cesma, please come up.
So Mar and Council, it's 1985.
Miky Gorbachoff is elected the leader of
the Soviet Union. The first Nintendo
game console comes out. Microsoft
Windows 1.0 is released.
This one really hurts. I'm not sure if I
can say this out loud as a diehard
Celtics fan, but the LA Lakers beat the
Boston Celtics. Let's move on. Out of
Africa wins best picture of the of the
year for the Oscars. We are the world is
the record of the year. And most
importantly, Ailia joins Team Chandler.
So Ailia joined Team Chandler in August
of 1985. Yes, 40 years ago.
Throughout the next 40 years of her
relationship that is still with going
on, she's still with us. uh she worked
in various parts of the city. She worked
in planning, neighborhood services, site
development, and public works. She's
been part of the development services
team since 2014. And during her career,
she's provided administrative support,
supported boards and commissions, prop
uh process permits, prepared financial
documents, and assisted with public
records requests. She's kind of done it
all. As stated by her current
supervisor, Oilia's career has been more
than just providing exceptional customer
service and support, which she does.
It's been about connection.
He goes on to highlight that Oilia has
demonstrated to us that at the core of
every successful city, there are public
servants who care deeply about the
people they serve. And while the
portable CD player may have come and
gone, Ailia has been caring deeply about
the Chandler community for the last 40
years.
It's an incredible accomplishment, a
testament to your belief in public
service. And on behalf of the
development services department and the
city, I want to extend a heartfelt
congratulations and thank you for 40
years of service to this Chandler
community. Thank you.
And
[Applause]
so I think members of her family are
with us.
[Applause]
Mama.
[Music]
Hello.
[Music]
Okay, ready in this corner. Make sure
you can see me through the window.
All right. One, two, three.
That looks great.
All right.
All right. Next, we have a proclamation
drowning impact awareness month. If I
could have members from our community
service, police department, and fire
develop our fire department staff come
join us. We have a proclamation.
Whereas water safety, education, and
drowning prevention are at the heart of
the water you doing campaign, a
city-wide initiative dedicated to
keeping community members safe in and
around water. And whereas drowning
prevention begins with the ABCDS of
water safety, adult supervision whenever
children are near water, barriers such
as pool fences and locked doors are in
place. Classes, including swim lessons
and CPR training that teach life-saving
skills, and dvices such as Coast Guard
approved life jackets for non-swmers.
And whereas drowning hazards exist in as
little as two inches of water, including
household buckets, bathtubs, and
toilets, as well as rivers, lakes, and
backyard swimming pools. And whereas the
risk of drowning extends beyond the
summer months, especially during the
biddy busy back to school months,
reminding us that water safety requires
yearround attention and awareness.
Whereas recognizing the devastating
impact of drowning on families and the
community reinforces the urgent need for
continued education prevention efforts
and access to water safety resources.
Now therefore, I Kevin Hartkey, mayor of
the city of Chandler, Arizona, to hereby
proclaim the month of August 2025 as
drowning impact awareness month. And I
encourage all Chandler residents to
commit to water safety best practices,
connect and support one another and be
vigilant around bodies of water all year
long,
please.
Okay. So, as mayor stated, the ABCDS of
water safety. Um, A for adult
supervision. Uh, we want to see eye to
eye supervision. uh having an adult
around the pool is not good enough. You
have to keep your eyes on the children
and adults in the water at all times. Uh
we've unfortunately in the in the valley
have uh lost 31 uh individuals this
year. Uh here in the city, we've had
some tragedies ourselves. Um it takes a
community and we just are urging
everybody that's out there because this
time of year it's extremely warm. uh
individuals like to get in the pool and
other water sources and we just need a a
collective effort to keep our eyes on
our loved ones. So, thank you.
Thank you. Let's do a photo
council. This might be a good one for
you guys to get behind if you choose.
Why don't you come stand on behind the
dates? Don't for
All right, I'm excited about our next
recognition.
I read about this in a news release and
I called Alexis and said, "We've got to
see if she's able to come." So this
evening we're going to be recognizing
Ammani Gallera Young, the 2425 Gatorade
Arizona girls track and field player of
the year. So Ammani
and if your family wants to join you,
come on up.
[Applause]
All
right, come stand next to your daughter
here. Tonight, we have the opportunity
to acknowledge an outstanding Chandler
athlete. Ammani Gallera Young, a
Chandler High student, was named a 20 24
2025 Gatorade, Arizona Girls Track and
Field Player of the Year. The Gatorade
Player of the Years is the top honor in
high school sports, celebrating the
nation's best high school athletes for
their success on the field, in the
classrooms, and in the community. Ammani
has won the AIA state championship and
the 300 meters hurdle this past season
to lead the Chandler Wolves in their
overall team title. She's also won a
pair of individual state crowns at the
division one state meet in the 100 and
300 hurdles. Excelling on and off the
field, Ammani is a member of the
National Honor Society and serves in
Black Student Union and United Sisters
Youth Group. She's maintained an
impressive 4.3 GPA and has started her
senior year this year.
We are proud to have students like you
representing our Chandler community.
Congratulations on this exciting and
impressive achievement and would love to
hear anything you would like to say.
Um I'm just really um thankful that God
has gotten me here and blessed me with
the talents that I have. And I'm really
thankful for my family and supporting me
and my coaching staff. um also the
coaches that are not here, but I'm
really thankful for everything that I've
been given in life and yeah,
thank you so much.
All right, can we move you guys here?
Mama, you want to say anything?
Okay. All right.
She would
mom
Just a moment.
One more. One more. One more.
This is my daughter's coach and
actually.
[Applause]
All right, we have one more recognition
uh Google Fiber and IDIA partnership.
So, if we could have uh G Fiber and IDEA
team come up and join us.
Tonight, we have an opportunity to
recognize some community partners. And
uh I'd like to turn it over to you guys
for the presentation, then we'll do a
photo. So, is this Erin, you're leading
or who?
Hi guys, I'm Will with Google Fiber. Uh
just really excited to highlight IDIA,
the Institute for Digital Inclusion
Acceleration. Um, as you all know,
Google Fiber has been serving Chandler
uh customers since uh Veterans Day of
last year, and we're rapidly building
out the whole city. So, you can check
out fiber.google.com if we're not quite
to your house yet with fast internet.
But a big passion of ours is digital
equity uh STEM skills getting people
ready for the 21st century and that's
what these guys do and they have one of
their mobile hives parked outside. So,
we invite everyone after the meeting if
you want to come out and learn more
about what IDIA is doing in Chandler and
across the valley and uh Dr. Eron Carr
Jordan can tell you a little bit more
about it.
Thank you so much. It's so nice to be
here. Thank you for welcoming us. Uh
we're excited to be partnering with
Google Fiber. We're really excited to be
here in Chandler. We have a hive that's
located just down the street at San
Marcos Elementary School. Our mobile
hive really lets lets us get to folks
who can't make it to a hive. Everything
that we do is always free and we bring
21st century skills from educ education,
workforce development, access to
healthcare, uh access to community
building wherever we go. So, we look
forward to seeing all of you outside if
you're able to come and we we look
forward to to making sure that we can
get wherever Chamberlain needs us to be.
Thanks so much.
Very good. Coming up for a photo.
And Erin, just in case people are not
savvy with the all the acronyms, tell us
everyone else what idea means.
Sure. It stands for the Institute for
Digital Inclusion Acceleration.
Great.
Thank you.
And who's your favorite Flynn Brown
graduate?
You sir.
All right. So we encourage everyone if
you uh leave uh before our next set of
meetings or afterwards please go visit
the hive afterwards. That concludes um
our upfront presentations.
Council, we've got a couple items on the
consent agenda for regular meeting
before we go into our study session. Um,
a motion would be appropriate.
Mayor, Council Member Orlando,
I move to approve the consent agenda for
August 11, 2025, regular meeting items 1
through two.
We've got a motion. Is there a second?
Second. Second by council member Encus.
Any recusals? Any other actions? Seeing
none, council, please vote.
Motion carries unanimously.
Great council. That concludes our
regular meeting.
Welcome to the study session of August
11. Like to call this meeting to order.
Clerk, please take the role.
Mayor Hartkey
here. Vice Mayor Ellis
here.
Council member Incas
here.
Council member Poston
here.
Council member Orlando
here.
Council member Harris
here.
Council member Hawkins
here.
We have a quorum.
Great council. Just for information,
staff informed us right before this or
before our study session that or our
work session that uh item number five
has been pushed back to the September
round. So that will not be on we won't
be voting on that on Thursday night. It
was not called as part of our uh
meetings here tonight, but I did want
you to know that the first item called
in by council uh council member Poston
is requesting a presentation on item
number one, the airport ground lease
agreement with Chandler Air Services.
Ryan Reeves,
mayor, council, thank you. Good evening.
My presentation up here. Bear with me
one sec.
Okay. It's my pleasure to bring to you
tonight for your consideration amendment
one to airport lease number 018 with
Chandler Air Service. This lease will
result um in a single 14,400
ft hanger with adjoining 3,000 ft of
office on the hashed area of the
airfield just north of the terminal you
see pictured in the map uh before you.
The details of the lease are as an
initial 20-year term with two 10-year
options to extend. For our purposes
tonight, there are three items of note
included in the lease. The first two of
which are performance measures. That
first performance measure required that
within the first anniversary of the
lease's execution, the tenant was to
pull permits to begin construction. The
second performance measure was that the
tenant would complete the uh certificate
of occupancy obtainment by the second
anniversary. Um the third item of note
is that the lease did provide for a day
forayday credit for any delays
experienced during the development and
construction process not caused directly
by the tenant themselves.
The timeline that brings us here this
evening um is that given that day for
day credit and delays in obtaining FAA
environmental clearances for the project
to develop um
the notice of default for failure to
pull uh permits was issued in June of
2024 due to that delay. From July
through December of 2024, the tenant
worked in good faith and diligently for
to move this process forward to get
closer to construction start. We worked
in concert with them on those efforts.
Um, however, as many of you will recall
in January, um, we were notified that
their funding partner had pulled out of
the arrangement. They had lost the
funding and had to begin again on that
section. We notified council at that
time of our intention to terminate the
lease and that is in fact what we
proceeded to do in midFebruary the
following month. In midFebruary we
issued a letter of termination of the
lease which allowed them 30 days to
vacate the site as they were using it uh
here to four. However, very shortly
thereafter um they approached us with a
funding um partner. Uh there was a good
deal of veracity in the partnership. Um
we gave them staff provided to them
terms and conditions to consider an a
lease amendment to cure the default
state and they asked at that point uh to
delay or stay the termination which
staff agreed to. Um, by May of 2025,
they obtained all of their construction
permits and as of the end of last month,
they had obtained all of the bonds and
all of the other metrics required for us
to consider a lease amendment. So, why
an amendment? Um, these five points we
believe are key. The design process is
completed and they have approved plans
in hand. They also have obtained, as I
said, their construction permits. uh the
performance and payment bonds are in
place for the guarantee of the
completion of the project. The
construction manager has already been
selected and is under contract with the
tenant and the financial partner namely
core bank is committed. What this
amendment will do is extend the deadline
for the project for completion until
August 31st, 2026. That's to obtain
certificate of occupancy by 8:31 2026.
No other performance measures are
required by this amendment. And with
that very high level quick overview, I'm
glad to take any questions you may have.
Council member Fen.
Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for that
presentation, Ryan. You know, we talked
earlier a little bit about this, but
it's always a concern when a project
doesn't go through and it keeps getting
extended and extended. And we obviously
want to be sensitive to our Chandler
businesses. and Chandler Air Service has
been a business in Chandler for a very
long time. But maybe you could also
answer the question of why we didn't
just go back out to RFP on this one
through the mayor. Council member Poston
and glad to given the timelines um to
say nothing of the money expended in
planning, developing, and contracting
that the tenants already expended.
If we were to go back out and RFP, put a
new request proposal out for this
project, it would add, in our estimation
year or more to the project. We believe
this to be the most direct and equitable
path to hanger development and
development on the airport proper.
Okay. And then we'll look, we're we're
going to get the exact same project that
we approved some time ago and it's just
been a little delayed like quite a few
of our businesses are having that that
issue. That being said, what's your
confidence level in this being
completed?
Uh through the mayor, Council Member
Poston, uh staff and I are confident in
uh the guarantees that have been put in
place that this project is
set up for success as best it can be.
Okay. Okay. And then how close is it to
getting moving? Tell tell us where it is
today.
Uh should council uh um approve this
amendment. Um
I believe steel is to be delivered the
18th of this month of September. I'm
sorry. So steel is going to be delivered
next month and
we are essentially waiting for this
amendment to be approved if it's if it
is. um that then cures the default lease
state and they can proceed with
construction.
So basically we're ready to build.
Yes, ma'am.
Okay. Well, thank you very much. And I
also want to thank you for the
performance measures that you've placed
on this and your expertise in this. If
you say that this is getting ready to
go, I trust that I know you've looked at
it thoroughly. So, thank you very much
for this presentation and thank you to
the applicant as well.
Thank you, Mayor.
Mayor,
additional questions. Vice Mayor,
thank you Kevin. Thank you so much and
to the applicants. I really would like
to thank you for sticking to it. Um, I
know it was hard. You decided that you
you wanted to invest in Chandler no
matter what. You went out and worked so
hard to get a builder and to get the
money and come back and was able to uh
allow us to help you navigate to that.
The testament is the fact that when
mayor and council tell a director to get
to a yes, we always do our best to get
to that yes. So, I appreciate that and
we'd love to continue to see what else
you're going to be bringing into
Chandler because this is just the
beginning. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Additional questions, comments. All
right. Thank you.
Next item is item number six, agreement
with the pigeon guy presentation. Uh,
all right. Is the pigeon guy here?
I was referencing.
All right. I thought really that was the
reason why council member asked him is
he just wanted to see what a guy with
that moniker would look like.
I could wear a cardinal suit, I guess.
Yeah, that would work. Go ahead,
Michael. Presentation.
Thank you, sir. Uh, mayor and council,
thank you for having me today. Today,
I'm going to give a just a briefing on
our agenda item before you today for
pigeon abatement services or bird
abatement services. It is a
comprehensive uh proposal. Staff is
requesting approval for of contracted
services to implement a comprehensive
bird abatement program addressing
significant and persistent pigeon
activity at multiple city facilities. Of
those facilities, they include uh the
main library covered parking, main
police department parking garage, city
hall, city hall parking garage, city
hall cooling towers, courts police
department covered parking, center for
the arts, tumbleeed tennis center, as
well as Tumbleeed uh rec center and
Oregon Street parking structure. So we
have numerous facilities there and this
is not a a complete list. Staff has been
working with subject matter experts for
over a year to develop a comprehensive
plan to mitigate pigeon activity. The
city has experienced ongoing bird
related issues particularly the pigeons
at the above facilities for several
years. Past abatement methods primarily
trapping trapping and installation of
spikes have yielded limited and
temporary results.
Persistent bird presence has resulted in
property damage uh to include corrosion,
clogged drains, damage to building
services, health and safety concerns,
droppings, nesting debris, and airborne
contaminants, increased maintenance
costs, frequent window cleaning,
pressure washing, street sweeping, and
cooling tower servicing. These impacts
are especially pronounced in parking
structures and covered areas where bird
activity is concentrated. The city
continues to receive frequent complaints
from facility users.
The new contracted services represent
holistic multifaceted approach to
abatement including cleaning and
sanitizing of all impacted areas,
targeted abatement measures at nesting,
perching sites using humane industry
standard methods to reduce population
and deter return. Regular monitoring and
assessment through visual inspections,
acoustic monitoring and damage
evaluations,
as well as data collection, analysis
before and after implementation to
measure program effectiveness and guide
future maintenance strategies. Our
expected outcomes are significant
reduction in pigeon population and
activity at targeted locations,
mitigated mitigation of facility damage
associated repair maintenance costs,
improved cleanliness, safety, usability
for employees, residents and visitors,
and creation of sustainable abatement
monitoring program for ongoing control.
And with that, I would gladly take any
questions.
Council member Venzas.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Mikey, I
thanks for giving that briefing to me. I
just kind of wanted to know how we got
to this um to this point of reaching
this RFP because honestly I was a little
shocked at the price tag that was
associated with it um for the abatement
of pigeons and um can you tell me
exactly how many number of buildings or
facilities this is going to be for?
This involves at least 11 or 12
buildings I believe counts 10 buildings
on my list but there's probably a couple
additional I didn't list on here.
Okay.
And then um how much would you say? I
don't know if you have this number on
you by chance, but over this time frame,
how much has the city spent internally
here on pigeon abatement
through the mayor, council member? I I
don't have that number off hand. It's
been this is an ongoing not just a
couple years been in some cases since
the origination of the of the structure
itself. So for example, uh Oregon Street
parking structure, that pigeon issue has
been an issue since day one. um as well
as some of the other parking uh covered
parking facilities associated with our
solar program. So going forward, I I I
would say that we are putting in
specifications in our in our
construction specs to include uh pigeon
abatement controls in those
specifications going forward.
Okay. And these um abatement measures
that we're going to be putting in uh
potentially, are they going to be
permanent? Like you know how you said
the spikes and stuff, is there going to
be other permanent structures that are
going to be lasting long? Is this
contract just going to be for a one-time
just to get those things upgraded or is
this going to be a continual year after
year type of contract?
To the mayor, council member s these are
permanent structures that we placed in
at each site and facility.
Okay.
As far as maintenance go, it's very
minimal. We're talking the most
effective um probably method that we're
looking at is netting. Once you put it
up, really there's no maintenance on it.
It's just making sure that stays intact.
if it gets any any um tears through
other maybe associated work within the
facility. Uh we just make sure it's
repaired and I I personally worked with
netting in the past that's pretty
effective. It's expensive but it's
effective and there's some other methods
that we use too just depending on the
means and methods in which the
contractor deems necessary.
Okay. So we can put in permanent
structures that this is going to include
maintenance cleanup.
Yes sir. stuff. And this is for a
certain period of time or
as far as project implementation or as
far as how long they will last?
Um, not how long it'll last like once
the structures are in I I guess how you
said like there's going to be netting
and maintenance and and cleaning after
that.
Correct.
Okay. Is that going to be for a certain
time frame for this
for the duration for the life of the
building? We'll we'll maintain for the
life of the building. I mean, we're
we're counting on these measures to have
a have a direct measurable impact on on
the bird population and the the dropping
nuisance of of those of the bird of the
birds.
Okay. Thank you. That answers all my
questions.
Council member Harris.
Yeah. Um, Council Member Incas brought
up a good one, but I'm going to just
toss this over to the city manager and
officy. What we're doing right now is
we're just treating what the issue is.
this is going to create an ongoing
expense. I understand the installation
and what the cost is. Um, when I was
reading the contract, it it only allowed
it only said seven locations in this
contract that I'm reading before. So, if
there's something that needs to be
adjusted, then probably want to see what
those other buildings are because right
now I see seven. Um, but I guess my
thing is that we've had people come to
and it's not your problem. I'm just
addressing it. Just just take the
elephant out the room. We've had
problems with uh constituents and
residents feeding wild animals. Here we
are about to put a huge investment into
protecting our buildings because of wild
animals. And I'm just sitting there
thinking, is there going to be
eventually an appetite from us as a
council to make a decision on how we
address
feeding wild animals? Because if we
don't address that, that's going to this
is going to continue to be a burden. We
have another neighbor that was dealing
with it. Um I've called the city a
couple of different times where there
were we had to put spikes on top of um
lamp postes and things like that and
then they had to come out and clean the
sidewalk and scrub it. And this right
here, although I appreciate what the
initial cost is going to be, I I am
thinking about the ongoing cost of what
this is going to be forever. So, I just
kind of think that right now we really
need to consider maybe passing some type
of ordinance that addresses this issue,
city manager, or maybe we can look at
this a little bit further because right
now I just feel like we're just only
simply putting up a barrier to
counteract, but we're not addressing the
feeding of wild animals, birds, and
other different things that is is coming
on. So, I just think that this program
will be it's going to be great for what
it does for a starting point, but man,
we don't even we put $30,000 into feral
cats and protecting that. Now, we're
about to put 300 and some thousand
dollars in protective measures for
pigeons and we haven't yet addressed the
real issues. Now, Michael, that's not
your that's not a your problem.
It's our conversation type of thing, but
I'm just I'm just putting it out there
so that way city manager, we really need
to look at this in a more meaningful
way. We cannot just put money on issues
and then walk away from it. We really
need to address it from a meaningful
perspective and council can make
meaningful decisions such as creating
ordinances that can help reduce that
population and making sure that all
animals,
wild animals are treated the same at the
same level of respect to bring it down
since we are moving more into an urban
area. So, city manager, I just kind of
want to throw that over there to you
as something to what do you think, city
manager? Mayor, Council Member Harris,
we are a little bit ahead of the game in
the city for our buildings, but we are
currently working through one of your
subcommittees to address this issue in
the community and we're not bringing
that forward right now because we want
to be thoughtful and intentional on what
we do and make sure whatever we do is
enforceable and addresses the problem
that you bring forward. Staff is very
aware of it. they are working on it
quite diligently and we hope at some
point to be able to bring something
forward that gives you some comfort that
we're doing it in the community as well
as for our own buildings.
Okay. I just thank you for that city
man. I just want us to make sure we we
put 30,000 again into feral cats and
doing all that stuff. We're going to put
300 and some,000 into protection of
pigeons and pigeon poop and things like
that. So, I just want you to understand
what the correlation I'm trying to draw.
It just doesn't make sense. But let us
make it make sense if we're going to
address these type of wild animals.
Let's make it make sense across the
board. Is that cool?
Message is understood.
All right. Thank you.
If if I may if I may, just for clarity,
we're we're protecting our buildings and
infrastructure. We're not we're not
protecting pigeons. Just for clarity.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. I I think tonight's headlines
might be council runs a foul of pigeon
abatement.
I'm willing to do the work. Okay.
Next on our agenda uh being called in
item number 20, Monopole Tower Services
if John Kitson and and Matt uh Council
Member Lander was fine with this.
John,
thank you. Do you have a question or did
you want a presentation?
Great.
Real quick, I hope
you spent five minutes talking about
pigeons.
Don't pigeon hole.
I think it was 10 minutes on time.
10 minutes.
Yeah.
All right.
All right. Thank you, Mayor and Council.
Uh tonight uh utilities uh gets to bring
uh two issues uh for you tonight. Uh
both uh very positive things that we're
doing. Uh the first uh is item 20 which
is a council memo uh that is asking for
uh the uh purchase and installation of
seven monopoles for our advanced
metering infrastructure. So what's a
monopole? uh monopole uh pictured here
with that uh yellow arrow to it. Uh it's
about a 40 foot tall single pole looks
like a flag pole. On top of that is a
small antenna. Um we have seven
additional that we need to purchase uh
that are about or six that are about 40t
tall. Uh one that'll be 60 foot tall. Um
and these are going to be placed at the
remaining sites. We've got about 48 of
these antenna sites around town to
complete our uh antenna uh array that
we're installing for our advanced
metering infrastructure. So the map that
you see here uh the circles are the
locations of uh where these seven
additional monopoles will be going. Uh
the other locations that you see are uh
part of the 48 that we have uh in total.
Um many of these have been installed on
uh let's say the lighting at a high
school for the uh stadiums. Um we've
worked with COSD. We've got these uh
these uh small antennas placed all over
town. Um and this monopole or this
antenna infrastructure that we're
installing is part of a much bigger uh
and I'll say more exciting project. I'm
I'm really excited about getting it uh
out uh for the residents here in the in
the near future. Um so we also did a
notification to residents uh within
eyesight of these areas uh where these
seven monopoles were going to go. We uh
we notified 315 residents by postcard.
Uh and to date we've only received a
single phone call uh from the residents
and they weren't really interested in
the monopole but they were really
interested in in the customer service uh
portal that we're planning with our
advanced metering infrastructure. So uh
what these antennas do is they're
they're called gateway collectors and
they'll be uh picking up all of our
water meter reads. Uh we've installed as
you may know about 87,000
uh new water meters that transmit
uh on a periodic basis during the day uh
the the read the water value the uh the
the volume used. Um what this does for
us is that allows us real time access to
that data that comes into our utility
billing uh Don's group utility billing.
Uh and with that they can produce our
monthly bills. Uh and also that data
will be made available through a
customer service portal that we're
working on today with uh uh uh our IT
and customer service, our utility
customer service group. um that is going
to offer to the city a an big array of
things uh which will which will be
really exciting. Uh for instance, um
we'll be able to uh through this
customer portal, it'll allow for bill
payment, uh bill histories, start or
transfer of services, uh usage alerts,
and many many other benefits that we're
working together with utility billing
and it for uh and that'll be rolled out
uh I'll say in the near future. Uh we're
working really diligently hard uh
diligently on that right now. So, um,
it's part of a much bigger program. This
is just, uh, seven more antennas is what
you're seeing tonight. So, um, with
that, I can take any questions.
Council member Linder.
Thanks, Mayor. So, John, are these
covering businesses as well?
It'll be all of our meters. Yes.
So, the I have to I guess just to
clarify a couple things. This is a great
project. I know we've been working on
this for several years now and we're
finally coming to the end game. And
that's the the the question I have is um
this is what if I have a water leak? If
I'm not on the customer service portal,
how am I how would I know about that?
Uh through the mayor, uh council member
Orlando, uh there will be the ability to
sign up for alerts. So, if you are a
person that wants to see those alerts,
uh you sign up for that and then you
will be pinged either through email or
texting, I imagine. Uh so that it will
alert you. It'll be a push uh a push
notification that says, "Hey, you're
using more than you're supposed to." And
I think all those parameters will be
you'll be able to dial in those. We just
had a great presentation here uh just
the other day on this. So, I'm kind of
uh learning. So the savings is not so
much in uh people power because I think
you said you're converting the meter
readers to something else.
Uh currently uh council member Orlando
we have a a pretty lean uh metering
group uh today. Uh and there there was
when these programs were first
introduced in in cities they talked
about how oh it's going to reduce your
meter meter reading staff. uh the cities
that have rolled this out really haven't
found that to be the case because your
the what the meter readers begin to
become are more uh IT folks out in the
field replacing batteries working on the
meters and things. So what they do on a
daily basis may change but the the
staffing levels probably won't decrease
in the meter eating groups. So there's
really not a savings from that
perspective. But what we're really
hoping for is that water conservation.
Uh for instance, uh you know, if you're
out of town and you get a you get a
message that you've got a you've got a
leak, uh you know, you can call your
neighbor or your friend to come over and
and uh you know, take a look and and get
it shut down so that one, you don't see
that on your bill next month, and two,
you're not wasting that water. So that's
really the the great benefit of the of
this program.
Great. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, John.
Thanks. Any additional questions? John,
don't go anywhere. You're next. You
John, I I'm excited about this for a
long time. And I've got a friend, not in
our city, but left and had a major
irrigation break that it was in the tens
of thousands before he got back. So, it
was uh his acre had turned into a
swimming pool. So, this is really
exciting for our residents. Next we have
uh item number 30 um SRP landscape water
efficiency program called in by vice
mayor and council member Ellis brief
briefing and estimated cost savings.
Oh hi.
I'd like to introduce Simone Jolrude uh
a water resource manager and she will
address this.
Great.
Thank you mayor. Um I appreciate the
opportunity to share with you all a
program that I'm really excited about.
Our water conservation staff has been
working hard on this program for over a
year and um we're really pleased about
this partnership with SRP. Uh Chandler
works with SRP as a a close partner in
lots of ways, but this is just one more
step in in the exciting ways that we're
working to be the most sustainable and
water efficient city in Arizona. So,
this particular program is a 5-year
program which we will partner with SRP
for funding to help us make our parks um
irrigation more efficient. So, it's a
it's a landscape water efficiency
assessment program. See if I got all the
words in there. Um but it's really a
two-step program. So, the first step is
that SRP will fund 100% um the cost of a
professional irrigation consultant to
come and do an assessment on each park.
So the goal is that we would would like
to get through 15 parks each year. So
through the five-year program, we would
be able to complete all of our parks in
Chandler. And with that assessment that
would be written up in a report from a
professional consultant, we would then
follow up with the the irrigation um
improvements either repairs or or system
upgrades that are recommended in that
report. So the second step of the
funding would then be we have a 50% cost
share or a 50% matching program where
SRP would cover half of the cost for
those improvements at that site and then
the city would cover the other half um
just through our normal irrigation
repair budget through the parks
department budget. So the the benefit of
this program obviously is the water
savings. I mean that's that's the big
focus for the water conservation team is
to make sure that we are not wasting
water in our parks. Um, I see this as
just one small step in a much larger
program to make sure that as we prepare
for reductions to our water supplies in
the future, we all look at the headlines
that say we know we're facing Colorado
River reductions. Um, we might even have
reductions in the in the SRP system
soon. We need to make sure that we're
using water efficiently. We can't have
any leaks in our irrigation system. and
we really want to set the example for
our residents by making sure that all of
our city-owned irrigation infrastructure
is as efficient as possible. So, it's
really important um every once in a
while to try to to go through and do a
full assessment of all of our irrigation
systems and make sure that they're as
efficient as possible. With that, I'm
happy to answer any questions.
Vice Mayor, then council member Lando.
Thank you, Mayor.
You answer pretty much every questions
that I had. So, really well, thank you.
Um, I wanted to also highlight this
because to show the public and uh and
the private partnership, how does that
work when it comes to us um being out
there saying, "Okay, we want water
conservations, but the people that are
really at the top of the chin or looking
down at us and say, "Hey, I want to
partner with you as a city and I would
like to help you not only with fund, but
be hands on to help you conserve water."
So kudos to SRP for being a great
partner to us with this project and also
kudos to you and your team for having
really dreamed about it and I see the
vision. I see where we're going. Uh
lastly, let me you you probably brush
onto that. We have what 67 parks here in
Chandler.
70
70 at this time. So uh you saying 15 a
year. So which mean that all the money
will last us all this time. It's a five
years. I know you counted it. I know you
know the dollars and cents already. But
I want to make sure that they are going
to stick with us till the end of the
project and then still continue with the
second part of the project.
Thank you through through the mayor.
Vice Mayor Ellis. Um you you did the
math correctly. We we did um we did ask
for an agreement that gives us up to 15
sites per year. We're going to try
really hard to take advantage of every
single dollar of funding that SRP has
offered us. And so hopefully we'll get
through all 15 sites every single year.
We won't get behind on that. Um if we
manage to accomplish that, which I which
that is our goal and I and I think we
can do it once we get to the fifth year,
we will have gotten through all of our
parks. And so there are some other um
city-owned properties um storm water
retention basins, medians, those sorts
of things that have some fairly large
landscape irrigation. And so if we have
some extra sites left over in that in
that fifth year of the program, we would
look at doing an evaluation of some of
those sites as well.
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
Appreciate that.
Council member Orlando. Thanks, Vice
Mayor. Thanks, Mayor. Um, so the only
question I had for you is it wasn't
clear, um, as we do the first 15 parks,
will we be repairing those 15 parks as
we do look at the next 15? I don't that
wasn't clear. Uh, it was a two-part
program, but I'm assuming it was
concurrent
through the mayor, council member
Orlando. Yes, that is certainly our goal
is that as as we go through and do these
um we tend to call them irrig irrigation
audits or the more proper term would be
a water efficiency assessment. Um
certainly our intention is that as we go
through each of these audits we would
then follow up with it's a different
team that's going to do the repairs or
or do whatever system upgrades are
needed. Um that's going to you know
that's going to be a separate process. I
would imagine that as we're starting to
work on the improvements to one site
that we're continuing to move on with
audits at the next site. So there will
be sort of a concurrent process.
There will be concurrent. Okay, that's
again I heard two parts. I read two
parts and I didn't I'm assuming it was
concurrent. I just wanted to clarify
that.
Thank you for that question. I I should
have mentioned that. And it it is that's
why it's an aggressive goal to try to
get through 15 a year because that means
we're doing one more than one a month
and that means we kind of have to be
keeping on top of teeing up the next one
as we're working on the last one. So,
we're we're going to try really hard to
get get 15 done per year.
I know you could do it.
Thank you.
Additional questions or comments?
All right, council. Those are all of the
items that were called in for review or
questions. So, we'll see you all on
Thursday. And that concludes our study
session.