City of Chandler City Council Meeting 9/12/24

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good evening and welcome to the regular
meeting of the Chandler city council
September
12th I would love to call this meeting
to order and but I'll pause slowly
majestically as our Council makes its
way their way up here all right we're we
were able to do this clerk please take
the role mayor heartkey here vice mayor
Harris hell not on the phone yet so he
may be absent excused
council member enus here council member
Ellis here council member Stewart here
council member Orlando here council
member Poston here we have a quorum
thank you so much our invitation tonight
will be brought forth by Mr Don maun
from the Chandler community of the high
faith and our Pledge of Allegiance by
council member Mark Jo
oh my God oh my God verily I invoke thee
and supplicate before thy threshold
asking thee that all thy mercies May
descend upon these Souls specialize them
for thy favor and thy
truth oh Lord unite and bind together
the hearts join in accord all the souls
and Exhilarate the spirits through the
signs of thy sanctity and
Oneness oh Lord make these faces radiant
through the light of thy Oneness
strengthen the loins of thy servants in
the service of thy
kingdom oh Lord thou possessor of
infinite Mercy oh lord of forgiveness
and pardon forgive our sins pardon our
shortcomings and cause us to turn to the
kingdom of thy clemency invoking the
kingdom of Might and power humble at thy
Shrine and submissive before the glory
of thine
evidences oh Lord God make us as waves
of the sea as flowers of the garden
United
agreed through the bounties of thy love
oh Lord dilate the breast through the
signs of thy Oneness and make all
mankind as stars shining from the same
height of Glory as perfect fruits
growing upon thy Tree of
Life verily Thou Art the almighty the
self-subsistent The Giver the forgiving
the pardoner the omniscient the one
Creator Abdul bah
it's a beautiful prayer thank you please
join me in reciting the Pledge of
Allegiance i al to of the United States
of America the stands
na
indivisible
andice put that guy on a sleep thank you
Mr laun thank you council member
Stewart Council so next on our agenda is
our consent agenda but before we do so I
would like to ask if do we have any
members of our of our bond Committee in
the audience please stand or if you're
standing
wave want to thank you and the uh other
29 that will that we're voting on uh for
your willingness to help the city in
this particular case and uh we look
forward to our meeting coming up on
Monday as well Council unless there is
uh any interest to move something to
action a motion on the consent agenda
would be an order mayor council member
Orlando thank you I'd like to make a
motion uh to approve the consent agenda
of September 12
2024 regular meeting items 1 through
48 second uh second by council member
Inus any calls for recusal or anything
else if not please vote Vice May
Harris vice mayor
Harris I thought I heard him yeah um
motion carries unanimously okay thank
you um and those are our audience we had
opportunity on Monday to look at all of
these questions we also reviewed all of
the 48 uh items with the city and with
step beforehand so this might seem
rather uh quick but we did have
opportunity to uh question any of them
that uh were not clear to us on our vote
next on our agenda is unscheduled public
appearance I have three cards uh at
every council meeting there is
opportunity to speak and uh either
through scheduled or unscheduled this is
unscheduled what that means is that you
have up to three minutes to share your
thoughts this is this is uh not uh in
engagement this is a a monologue from
your part we cannot engage you because
of of open meeting law and not being on
the agenda so when I call your name if
you'd please come up to the the days
state your name and address the light
will be green and uh when you have up to
or 30 seconds left it will turn yellow
and uh please uh be as great as Dwayne
was on Monday when that thing hit red he
was done so
first up we have James W Jim Payne Mr
Payne Jim please state your name and
address for the
record thank you me uh mayor and council
members my name is James Payne Jim Payne
uh my address is 2209 West Colt Road
Chandler
85224 41 years ago this week I moved
into the orange tree orange tree uh
developed area and um at that time Estus
told me there was going to be a park
built and then after that I heard that
the church was going to build a park
well nothing happened and now we're at
the point where you are reconsidering
what we're going to do with that piece
of land the new developers have a
section of Park they also have the
retention Pond one of the issues we're
all concerned about is the they're going
to gravel the retention Pond and um uh
gravel it and fence it off so there' be
no access which cuts off about 2third of
what could be a part for us to use every
other retention Pond that I've seen
within five miles of that area is grass
and we think that changes can be made to
made to it um just some notes I have
here very quickly um what did I do with
that there it is um I have a letter that
I like to leave as well from one of my
neighbors I'm representing about 12
households on Colt Road as well as some
other families in the area
um uh they I like I said I moved there
in 83 and
um uh this progress has been very slow
in the development of actually the
buildings themselves of the houses so we
know that's going to take time and I
want to thank first off councilman
Orlando for his him coming to all the
public meetings we had about this
earlier and I'm sure some of the rest
have attended those meetings as well so
I just want to say that aesthetically we
like to make it more into looking like a
park the fence that they want to have
around them would be an ey sore and it
would eliminate access to two3 of the
piece of land um we want grass within
that area if possible and um uh it would
make it five degrees cooler and I know
there's an issue with the three and a
half foot depth of the retention Pond
but and as far as engineering and what
some of the things Wayne has mentioned
there are other ways that that piece of
land where the retention Pond could be
addressed as far as the depth how it
drains also draining making access to
drain into the county uh or the a do uh
retention pond that's right up against
the fence in the County strip
there and that's about it I'm running
out of time so I would like to leave
this I want to thank uh Dwayne once
again Dwayne lman for all the work he's
done on this and um I know that we had
about a hundred uh neighborhood members
there the other day so uh on Monday and
a lot of them just can't attend tonight
in fact I had two or three people who
are leaving the next day so once again
thank you for giving me the opportunity
to speak and let's hope we can have a
nice part Park where we can walk to Walk
our dogs and our children can play in
the Park thank you thank
you next up is Mary
[Music]
Ellen attav vuchi thank you so much can
Mary Ellen you have up to three minutes
to speaks please state your name and
address for the
record hi my name is Mary Ellen ad
anucci my husband and I have lived in
this neighborhood for over 30 years our
children grew up here but we always
drove to a park not good I'm speaking
tonight because I want to be sure that
the proposed Park will look professional
and will accommodate all residents
there's been some concern that rocks
will be placed in the water retention
area the retention area should be left
as a grassy area I can imagine say a
six-year-old with a new soccer ball
ready to play ball and the ball goes in
the Rocks trust me neither the child nor
the parent or grandparent whoever is
there is going to leave the leave it in
the rocks they're going to go through
there and get the the um the equipment
we need to have an open area where they
can run I believe the maintenance will
be easier if we only have grass I've
seen the U people that mow the lawn zoom
zoom they do it pretty quickly but when
you have a lot have a little bit of rain
and the weeds come up somebody's going
to have to like weed eat that and that's
going to take a long time I'd like to
see them have a walking PA path all the
way around the retention area because
there a lot there's a lot of children
that that are in the neighborhood more
and more now and um they also we also
have people that are older and it would
be as long as it's a smooth path that
would be very helpful um I visited the
homes out in Apache Junction by this
home builder the homes there will here
will be about 2400 square feet the
difference is that all the homes in our
area will be twostory they need space to
move just as our orange tree neighbors
do I read the proposal and that uh the
Builder said they would create a park we
don't want just like one little tiny
part we want to be able to run and play
football or whatever most people moving
to the new homes would love to have a
home close by to enjoy especially when
the hot weather ends pretty soon the
people who will be moving here are
probably looking at several subdivisions
it just makes good business sense to do
it well from the beginning I turned in a
paper last week with five suggestions
but I probably won't have time to to uh
read them all but you can look at them
um many of the folks uh many of the
Parks have sidewalks that will walk go
around the um Park and they have benches
and I saw that that was planned so
that's good but it would be nice to have
a nice big Walking park we want a park
that's done well and provide space for
the new neighborhood as well as our own
established neighborhood to the Builder
build ERS remember the people who will
be moving here are probably looking at
several different home builders it just
makes good business sense again I want
to say to to plan a great Park from the
beginning thank you thank
you and our last speaker is Tai Schuman
Mr
Schuman again sir you have up to three
minutes please state your name and
address for the
record oh my name is Ty Schuman
I've lived in the area I live at 2518
West
OA from my front porch I look at that
Park that fence is going to be an iore
our property values could go down
because who wants to look at a fence
like that I'm asking all of you as
council members if that was going up
across the street from your house and
you were going to lose value in your
home would you want that let's do the
right thing let's make the par happened
like it was supposed to happen and
uh I don't plan on leaving that area I'm
going to leave the house to my kids
so I want my grandkids to have a park
I've lived in that area my whole life I
was born and raised in that house
there's a reason I bought the house
because I like Chandler I don't want to
live anywhere else but you guys need to
think about the impact that all the
homeowners in that area that square mile
doesn't have a park so I'm asking you do
the right
thing consider how it would affect you
if you lived in that area in that
neighborhood it's all I got thank you
sir appreciate you
guys city manager I know that you know
like please take these comments and see
what we can do in terms of fitting these
in um
uh with city manager you can not a
general yes with city manager could we
get a update of the development there of
the new neighborhood as well as
exploring what those options look like
for the future thank you great and I
understand vice mayor wanted to audibly
say yes he's been being connected
disconnected so concerning the agenda
vice mayor how do you
vote I vote Yes sorry about the
disconnection issues we had but I vote
Yes all right thank you next on our
agenda is current events I'll start with
uh a few weeks ago we had our Arizona
League of cities and towns conference up
at in Phoenix Council and I joined
cities and the towns from across the
state to attend the league of Arizona
cities and towns annual conference at
this meeting we developed the League's
annual Municipal policy state M we
participated in the annual Showcase of
cities where we had our mayor's youth
commission um carry our flag across
their I guess I carried the flag with
them and we shared about all the
exciting things that make Chandler
Chandler we also met with our youth
commission to discuss issues facing
Chandler teens and as the vice president
of the league I also sat on panels
discussing effective manager and Council
Rel relationships how cities can join
the semiconductor ecosystem and was
sworn in as president of the league for
the upcoming two years I look forward to
Leading this organization and working on
behalf of my fellow cities to be
passionate about cities large and small
across the state to make sure that uh
our concerns are heard by the
legislatures and that we are able to
work as cities and towns together
secondly we are looking forward to our
gain
kickoff I want to make sure that our
neighbors are aware that our annual gain
kickoff event is this coming Saturday so
you've got a day and a half left to to
get on board our Arizona gain gain
stands for getting Arizona involved in
neighborhoods is a Statewide event that
is all about coming together as a
community and promoting safer
neighborhoods throughout our great
Community our gain kickoff and
registration event will be held on
Saturday September 14th from 9 to 11:00
a.m. here your neighborhood can get
signed up to participate in gain in
October have our Police Department
attend your block party and by the way
we love to go to your block parties as
Council it's we love to see the The
Pride the individuality of our neighbors
one Community might be showing a movie
one might have the best brownies that
I've ever eaten in my entire life life
they're all super fun as well as seeing
the Community Pride that we see every
year so at this um your neighborhood can
get involved and also sign up uh to be
part of the big block party gain gives
us the chance to meet our neighbors
learn from one another foster
relationships that will help keep our
community safe and by in essence by you
understanding or police and vice versa
you become the eyes and ears of
enforcement and awareness throughout our
entire community so I look forward to
seeing each of you there as well as many
others in our community this
Saturday uh council member and cenis
thank you mayor um I'm excited to
announce the kickoff in the beginning of
the award-winning gigo events here in
Chandler um from our libraries to our
museums you'll find a wide variety of
experiences learning opportunities and
ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage
Month here in Chandler we'll be hosting
a kin fashion show this weekend a low
rider story time at the makery at the
library and a movie night featuring
spare parts um just to name a few events
this is a great time to celebrate our
culture through art history music dance
food and drink I encourage everyone to
head to chandleraz.gov
backo to see a full list of all the
events or join me this weekend at the
kin fashion show at Hamilton High School
and I'll also be at the showing of the
spare parts at look Cinema here in
downtown so help us celebrate and we'll
see you guys out there thank
you good council member Ellis thank you
mayor there are so many causes that uh
uh that are very dear to my heart and
one of them is the Midwest fot bank I
have been a member of their board for
many years and I am deeply engaged in
the mission to alleviate hunger all over
the world and not only here in our
community they do great work in our
community also serving those that need
it the most on September 2 six they are
hosting day one drive hunger Golf
Classic I don't play golf but I will be
there this is a great opportunity for
anyone that is looking for a volunteer
opportunity or to contribute to Midwest
food bank's Mission I will be there as I
said ready to serve and I am looking
forward to seeing our community there as
well may and counil you are invited to
come and what should I say tia playball
play no play ball it's golf it's
swing away he was swing away please
thank you thank you
mayor did you also want to say anything
about the domestic violence commission
event coming up yes do
than turn on your mic please oh I
thought I did yes we do have the
domestic violence um commission is U
putting together with us to have a we're
going to have a candle light um vigil on
the October 24th I'm looking at the
mirror right now because it's not R in
front of me so on the 24th at 5:30 right
here in our Courtyard October is the
month that we recognize those who have
uh gone through domestic violence and
War thrivers and then also bring
Awareness on all those things that are
happening here in our community so we're
looking forward to have you come and be
with us and remember those who went
through that and those who are also
thriving in our community thank thank
you mayor for reminding me and I
apologize because you didn't have your
notes it's September 24th and it's a
morning banquet so there's two event
going on I thought you were talking
about my event which is on October 24th
and then the one on in September that is
the commission we do have um um DV
commission that uh mayor commission and
I met with them yesterday so they are
putting this breakfast together it's
going to be amazing at the aviation
center that's where it's going to be so
and I I didn't want to talk about it
because they sold
out I now remember
why sorry for putting you on the spot
they sold out that's right so you can't
go if you wanted to go now it's too
late council member Stuart that is good
news that that means there's no
breakfast for me though so no hey you
know you know the the first amendment is
one of the corner cornerstones of our
constitutional republic and uh it is the
way for Americans to debate freely and
exchange ideas and it's the Cornerstone
of what makes America what it is today
um you know for me it's the bridge to
the truth right we need to be able to
exchange ideas whether that's in this
room or out in public you know in a few
weeks ago we saw an unfortunate incident
in another city where a resident was
arrested for exercising their right to
free speech uh in the dis of that
particular City and uh while
unfortunate um it is a gentle reminder
of how important it is for us to protect
our our liberties and for the men and
women up here that I serve with I know
it hold they hold that very dear to them
as well and so whether you're here to
praise us uh which happens occasionally
or you're here to yell at us you have
every right to do that and you have
every right to address your government
in any way you see fit and and the great
thing about that is is that that creates
that idea and that flow of exchange uh
that is so important to us so you
know when I think about the First
Amendment it makes me OB obviously think
about our overall Constitution and those
rules are a set of rules for the
government they're not a set of Rights
for us but they're a set of rules for
the government in order for you to be
able to do freely what you think is fit
especially when it comes to addressing
your government which leads me to a
happier note which is this this uh
September 17th is Constitution Day which
is one of my favorite days of the it's
actually is my favorite day of the year
because I'm a huge constitutionalist and
I and I just believe in it so strongly
as the right rule of government but
we're going to celebrate right out here
in the courtyard we're going to have
snacks maybe a little breakfast council
member Ellis um but we're going to have
kids from the local high school We the
People group we're going to have a
mockup of a constitution that people are
going to sign and we're going to
hopefully post that in City Hall but
it's going to be a great day of
Celebration where people are going to be
speaking about what it means to have a
We the People form of government which
is what we have so I'm super excited for
that I'm really grateful for staff for
pulling together I it's going to be a
wonderful wonderful day so just to give
you some details on it it'll be 8:30 on
September 17th right out here in front
and uh if you want to find out more I
think it's up on the screen chandler.
goov backc Constitution Day or you can
go to my Facebook page I've got a bunch
of stuff on there too thank thanks very
much mayor thank
you um council member Orlando uh mayor I
wasn't going to say anything but I will
remind U thank you for your pitching we
had a chance to open up the tumble weed
uh uh softball facility the mayor uh got
on the mound he was very confident I was
behind the plate ready to
umpire and the catcher was confident and
the mayor threw a strike all right
congratulations mayor and to St it's a
beautiful project a gorgeous project I
cannot tell you in between calling balls
and Strikes and people out and safe how
many people come up to me and said it
was a gorgeous facility and they are so
proud to be a part of Chandler and the
girls league so Kudos a staff on that it
was a long time coming and Council for
Year back into that um it was a gorgeous
facility I couldn't get enough people to
say to me how great it is so anyway good
deal guys going mayor thank you council
member Orlando thank you council member
Stewart for documenting
this that's for sure playball that's
what I was wondering what would you have
done with that video if I if I had
bounced it
in all right um council member Poston
thanks mayor so we do have a a pretty
exciting grand opening coming up it's
the ACT Medical Park and it's a 28,000
square foot facility um it's going to be
a state-of-the-art medical facility
they're going to be hosting a Cutting
Edge medical and Research Services and
that will represent a major advancement
in the Region's health care and research
infrastructure which is great for all of
us so it's taking over a former gym and
that just shows the power of smart
Redevelopment um we'll get a new tenant
it will serve both our residents and the
greater region and I know our Economic
Development Division has been working on
this for a long time and we always like
to see them do those projects that fill
those large spaces so congratulations
and thank you to them so we really
appreciate that look forward to the
Grand open thank you and if you come
you'll get to see me speak okay
excellent W I will be there I look
forward to hearing you
speak C manager nothing tonight mayor
thank you all right Council uh good
meeting we'll see you uh soon