City of Chandler Council Meeting 05/23/2024

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hey
e e
Pine are sheltered beneath thy
Tabernacle all have gathered together at
thy table of bounty all are illumined
through the light of thy
Providence oh God Thou Art kind to all
thou Hast provided for all dust shelter
all confer life upon all thou Hast
endowed each and all with talents and
faculties and all are submerged in the
ocean of thy mercy oh thou kind Lord
unite all let the religions agree and
make the Nations one so that they may
see each other as one family and make
the whole earth as one home may they all
live together in Perfect Harmony oh God
raise aof the banner of thy Oneness of
mankind oh God establish the most great
peace cement thou oh God the hearts
together oh thou kind father God Gladden
our hearts through the fragrance of thy
love brighten our eyes through the light
of thy guidance Delight our ears with
the melody of Thy word and shelter us
all in the stronghold of thy Providence
Thou Art the mighty and Powerful Thou
Art the forgiving and thou art the one
who overlooke the shortcomings of all
mankind
amen please join me in the pledge i al
to the flag of the United States of
America to
fors
indivisible andice for
all thank you Susan thank you council
member Council before we vote on the
consent agenda we do have a few speaker
cards one on item number five and three
on item number 13 so I am inclined to
let's listen to our speaker card
and um and then to bring us to a vote so
item number
five uh Mr or I'm sorry Risman
bashid hello sir if you'd please come up
to the days state your name and address
for the record and you have up to three
minutes to share your thoughts on item
number five hi my name is rwan rased I
live at 4190 South Jesse Street which is
on the corner of Cooper and McQueen and
I'm here in regards to the new
development I've been living there since
about 2010 and I've enjoyed the the
quietness of uh this neighborhood and I
do welcome a residential neighborhood
I'm not opposed to it uh in the past
I've expressed that I don't like the the
number of homes being place there but it
seems like it's going to go through so
with that said I'm going to have seven
or so
neighbors attached to my
backyard and my other neighbor will have
about five so there was a proposal to
have a buffer zone between my property
and this new development seems like that
was removed so I would like to see that
buffer zone be present there was a
comment made by a council member last
time that that not having that buffer
zone will
discourage U migrants or something from
occupying that space but being that this
is a going to be
a gated community I don't think that's
going to be an issue especially since we
don't don't have those issues in our
existing neighborhoods so for privacy
for myself and for all those neighbors
I'd like to see that buffer zone be put
back into the plan if at all possible
and that's all that's all my comments
thank
you thank you um
just um
I'm I'm not aware of what this is but um
why don't we take the other
call we've got one more card that also
just came in on number five and then I I
might ask uh uh the developer to come up
and and address these these comments if
that's I'm really close to moving this
to action uh City Clerk or City attorney
give me direction on that but
uh mayor in light of the fact that you
want to have further conversation I
would recommend that you move this item
to action and vote the separately great
Council let's do that let's move this
one to action if there's any engagement
back and forth that will allow us to do
that
and okay item uh so I've got another
action card on that that we'll call up
afterwards I do have three cards related
to item number 13 first one up Bridget
Biga Miss VGA you have up to three
minutes good evening thank you mayor and
councel for your presence and
willingness to listen and thank you for
your eloquent proactive leadership it's
been almost seven months since Preston
Lord was brutally assaulted and murdered
thank you for taking a step in the right
direction with the two ordinances to
create a safer community and hold people
accountable thank you to the Lord family
and to Conor Jarnigan for your strength
and Grace throughout the process of
getting these ordinances passed along
with working on the language we do ask
as a community that you look at adding
to the language before voting tonight to
add in Banning brass neckles of all
material if this can't be added tonight
we ask that the ordinance be passed and
then later
changed to the jarnigans and to the Lord
family please know that we will continue
to stand by you as a community as you
stand in the face of adversity and be a
Beacon of Hope as a community we are
grateful for all of you admiss the chaos
you all continue to be a voice to create
a safer tomorrow as a community we ask
that you as a council lead again for a
regional task force on teen violence
throughout the summer especially we ask
for accountability and transparency we
will con will Chandler be implementing a
safety plan for the summer especially as
the goons have been released and is
there many as there are many more
causing further vandalism and harm to
the communities that have yet to be
arrested and held accountable and now
that Gilbert goons is classified as a
gang will the gang unit take
over as there are many open
investigations let's continue to keep
the Lord family and the jigan family in
your prayers and let's keep Preston and
the youth at the center if we can take a
moment of silence for Preston Lord and
all the teens who've been assaulted
mentally physically sexually and all the
youth who were wrongfully murdered due
to senseless acts of violence
we demand Justice for the Youth let's
continue to rise up Chandler thank you
thank you
and um I know um City attorney we we
talked about this materials and breast
Knuckles is a phrase that covers metals
and other materials right May our
ordinance specifically covers brass
knuckles and other uh Knuckles of metal
Metals any metal and and again if we if
we find the need to add this the best
direction would be to proceed ahead
because to dismantle this would be
starting over in a second read so we I
mean if there's interest in Council we
can pick this up at a if if there's
amendments to be made correct mayor that
is correct if we were to try and amend
the ordinance tonight it has to the
whole process has to start over again so
um I would recommend going forward with
this and if we uh discover a need we can
always come back and amend it great okay
um council member orando thank you mayor
you answered the question but uh I we we
have been getting some phone calls over
the last day or two about why a second
reading this is something in our Charter
it's Unique to Chandler I don't know how
any other cities that do a second
reading for an ordinance so that's why
we we pass it the first time then you
have to have a time frame you know a
period of time in between and then you
could pass the second time so that's why
we're doing it twice
so and and to our community that we are
this is a a possible uh we're we're
looking at some possible Charter
amendments that could speed up the
process of of not just this but of
business but at this point um this is
what we do and we can't arbitrarily
change that as mentioned by council
member Orlando because it is part of our
Charter our next speaker card is Conor
Jernigan
dear man and councel thank you for your
support throughout this process in
December of 2022 I was approach
approached by a group of teens who
demanded
$20 after I said no one tried to enter
my car and when I went to grab the keys
he punched me with brass knuckles in the
back of my head after feeling blood rush
down my head and not knowing if I was
going to be okay we called the police I
had to get two Staples in the back of my
head and deal with my injury for weeks
even months later I do not believe brass
knuckles metal or of any material have
any place in our communities they are
not for self-defense nor any other
activities by burning brass knuckles we
will send the people committing these
violent acts that a message that we will
not be t
thank you mayor Harkey and the council
for your
support thank you
con our last speaker card on item 13
Stephanie
JN thank you mayor and Council I decided
that I going to do something completely
out of character and speak from the
heart I wanted to thank you all for
being so supportive um from the mayor
meeting with our family just a few days
before Christmas to talk about what
happened to Connor and and this issue
and his ideas like who can just reach
out to a mayor and he said meet me for
breakfast that's amazing and it's the
community that I'm proud to live
in I also wanted to just share what an
amazing educational experience this
effort has been for both Connor and
myself we aren't political people and we
don't advocate for the changing of laws
ever so we've we've learned a great deal
and thank you for your help along the
way and your support and we hope that
other families might look to what Connor
has been able to do and see see that
they can make a difference too and get
involved in the city at whatever level
they're comfortable with whether it be
serving on a board like I've done in the
past or even writing a letter to Mayor
and councel and expressing their views
on whatever issues that make a
difference to
them the other thing that I wanted to
address was um earlier today we were
asked hey don't you guys support a full
B on brass knuckles for everyone not
just minors isn't this a
disappointment and I had to think about
that um we do support a full ban but we
also know that not everyone shares our
views 100% as much as I'd like to have
that happen and we there this is a
starting point in no way do miners need
to have easy access to a deadly weapon
like brass knuckles the fact of the
matter in Connor's case was a
16-year-old was able to go to a smoke
shop plop down 20 bucks and buy this
deadly weapon and the fact that you
today by passing this hopefully um will
make it harder and it'll be a deterrent
now and both Gilbert and Chandler is
something that's really important to our
family and it does make a difference and
just like Connor said even if this
initiative um prevents one single brass
knuckles attack it will all have been
worth it so thank you tonight for your
consideration thank you
Stephanie counil that's all the speaker
cards and item number five that's been
moved to action I know that we all had
opportunity uh just to share in in
previous times and just speaking on be
on behalf of council we are grateful for
your participation this is how
government is meant to work and uh we
will continue to support the safety of
our teenagers of our children and thank
you for uh helping us be aware and more
aware with this and we look forward to
that at Future opportunities as well so
Council um with that here we
would ready let's do it all right
Council let's vote I move no I need a
motion thank you I move it's okay mayor
sorry about that I thought you were
going into motion I move to approve the
consent agenda of mar May 23rd 2024
regular items 1 through 19 with the
exception of item five that's move to
action all right we have a motion second
second by council member
Ellis uh Council please
vote council member Stewart absolutely
yes council member
poon yes motion carries
unanimously okay thank you that's our
consent agenda um City attorney would
you recommend just just going on to item
five and then the rest okay so back to
item number five let me call up our
second speaker
and then I'd like to give uh Mr Pew the
opportunity to uh maybe share some
thoughts on these as well so uh Jennifer
Elie good evening please state your name
and address you have up to three minutes
to share with us okay right here yes
ma'am okay my name is Jennifer alvie I
live at 1154 East Grand Canyon Drive in
champ in Geneva States and our backyard
about the proposed project that we're
discussing this evening uh we've lived
here in Chandler for 22 years now we
think the city has done a tremendous job
in creating a livable familyfriendly
community and sometimes I actually call
the city's main switch board and leave a
little feedback on how much we
appreciate the um Parks or whatever it
is so we really appreciate all the time
of service to make it a wonderful place
um I do want to recogniz that the
Builder of this proposal has also in my
opinion done a good job of Listening to
We residents concerns and then making
some adaptations and that's very
appreciated I second my neighbor Riz who
spoke earlier ideally I would love to
see a buffer zone Incorporated um due to
the fact that there will be four single
family homes now uh abing my backyard
however my actual bigger concern is
about the traffic and other safety
issues related to this proposal due to
the unique features of the intersection
there at McQueen Road intersecting with
Alamosa Road the city's already aware
that because Cooper Road doesn't run
fully north south and gets cut off there
at the airport that already in South
Chandler McQueen Road and Gilbert Road
take on a disproportionate share of
traffic for those traveling
northward um we've increased our traffic
there through the Amazon facility the
cusd bus barn and an incoming housing
project going in at McQueen and Hunt
Highway already so McQueen is already
obviously at extremely high capacity
especially during those critical times
of the day when the most people are on
the road an even bigger issue for we
residents is the bottleneck there at
Alamosa Road unlike Blue Ridge and
Brooks Farms Road Alamosa is not a
feeder Road running from east to west it
is a tiny stretch entering into only
Geneva Estates and Alamosa Estates that
ends at A T which would force all
traffic to then Traverse either onto
residential streets in Geneva or
residential streets in Alamosa
considering the increased number of cars
expected from the project and the fact
that it's being marketed as a
familyfriendly subdivision the
likelihood of traffic increasing there
at Alamosa at certain times of day
specifically involving children and teen
drivers concerns we
residents it seems like the city is
likely decided toward this proposal and
I'm not personally entirely imposed to
the project myself however in light of
the potential negative impacts for
safety for the existing communities
already in the area I would respectfully
request tonight that the city council
include one of two things from the
Builder to be able to approve this
project either a commitment from the
city of Chandler from our city council
members here tonight that the city will
provide such police and traffic support
as may be necessary in the future to
ensure safe traffic flow at the
intersection of McQueen and Alamosa
roads and prevent our neighborhood
street from becoming a feeder Street
which it was never designated nor
designed to carry or that the city
required the Builder to include the cost
of the gate a gate at the intersection
of Alamosa and springs thereby creating
a gated entry in order to preserve
traffic and Community safety from the
impacts of the proposed project again
thank you all for the service that you
offer to our community we appreciate
your time and the opportunity to
interact with you thank
you
um Council rather than get a a full uh
presentation unless anybody would like
that i' would I'd be just inclined to
invite the developer to come up and
address these questions so so Mr Pew
mayor could the could the developer
address um any of the actions that the
neighbors have requested either yeah I
think that's what he's
yeah you want that yeah
yeah Mr Pew state your name and address
for the record and uh you could please
um address the concerns or possible
what's happened and what could happen
this
is okay Mr mayor council members we had
a little technology to straighten out my
name is Ralph Pew and My office address
is 1744 South Val Vista in Mesa it's a
pleasure to be here this evening on
behalf of KOB naan homes this project
has been worked on and talked about for
some time now there's been significant
Outreach to the neighborhood uh and let
me just address the two questions that I
heard and that were raised here this
evening the first one has to do with a
buffer area so early on in the process
of Designing this project there was the
concept possible concept of including a
trail along
the eastern boundary
here and the southern boundary of these
Lots here the thought at the the time
was that we would create a 20 foot Trail
there and that people could use it as a
poo they could walk on it exercise on it
those kind of things and it would
provide some additional buffer then it
dawned on us as we reviewed it again
with staff and thought it through that
it does create an area for Mischief
there's not a real good opportunity to
have eyes on that 20 foot area and it it
began to be a little bit awkward award
and didn't really work very well in our
mind from a security point of view it
didn't achieve what needed to be done so
we removed that trail from again one of
the early iterations of the plan and in
essence took that 20 foot width and put
it into the Lots so the Lots on the
project side
here and here that width and that
distance has been included in those Lots
now so there's a larger yards there's
larger setbacks all those things uh will
fit better and we don't have what we
think could be a problem uh with the
trail system back there so that's it
evolved as a thought and then it got
changed when we considered it more uh
from a security point of view the other
question that has come up in in the
course of this project has been and
continues to be as indicated by the the
lady who just spoke is the Alamosa
access here so that's been a subject of
some discussion from the beginning and
what we learned very quickly is that the
traffic department in the city has
indicated the transportation department
that having traffic penetration points
out onto McQueen not a really good idea
at this we all know how busy McQueen is
and so we were asked to design this
project without access points on McQueen
um that would be complicated ated in for
traffic purposes so what we did was we
took Alamosa which is a public street
today as as the nice lady indicated is
not a through street it's not a true
arterial but it is a neighborhood street
and we took that and what we've done is
at this point at this entrance we've
created a gated entrance and the gate is
only accessible by residents of the
community it's not if you're delivering
packages if you're seeing a friend visi
whatever it might be you can't get
through there you would have access up
on okao where it should be so for for
those reasons we we don't believe that
the traffic on Alamosa is going to be
unreasonable there will be some traffic
clearly going down to the school and
other things on public streets one
thought we have if it's possible and if
the traffic department would approve it
we're willing to put a no left turn sign
at an appropriate location here
determine by your traffic department
that would prohibit left terms going
into the subdivision uh if that would be
helpful we're certainly willing to do
that uh as a as a possible compromise
here but again uh those are the two
questions that we've heard the most
about and that's how we got to the trail
and how we ended up removing it and how
we have access on Alamosa because we do
need to have two access points one on
okao one on
Alamosa so with that mayor and council
members I've be happy to answer other
questions or we have much others to say
about it but I don't want to belabor the
point here this evening Cil additional
questions counc memberz thank you mayor
um with the removal of that buffer zone
what is the standard size of fence that
is going to be going up against those
neighbors excuse me council member did
you say the fence size yes the height of
it yeah I'm going to turn to Francisco
on that one is that six feet Francisco
six feet tyal six feet right okay is
there any way that that can be increased
if they're not if we're not going to
have that buffer zone that way there is
that separation between these neighbors
or is that
um per our city
code May if I may I I believe that is
above our city or six foot is within our
city code building it above that creates
I know some other issues I'm not I'm not
the best one to address that but it
would be above um our city code
requirements and Kevin probably can
address it
better good evening mayor council um so
our code allows up to seven feet uh for
for a fence height of that nature those
the existing homes today already have
their six- foot block wall um our code
does not allow dual dual walls to be
constructed so uh if it was can at the
council's direction to look into
dropping that six foot height and
raising it to seven it can't just add
blocks to it they would have to remove
the wall and build a stronger wall to
support the extra height and that would
take coordination with all of those
homeowners along that Eastern and
Southern kind of borders okay thanks
Kevin I just wanted some clarification
on some additional options for that for
the residents
it um CC member else Kevin don't go too
far
please try to get you back um you
mentioned that the Builder will have to
to remove the existing wall that the
current residents have and then build
another wall with the seven okay and at
this point um they will have to get
uh what will they required to get I
didn't hear that part they'd end up
needing to get temporary construction
easements from each homeowner uh to go
on their property just a little bit to
create the new footing and and build a
new wall we've we've done it in the past
other other subdivisions have had to do
that when an engineering solution can't
be found can so it it can work can I
take a look again at the that wall to
see how many houses will be affected and
how many permission that will need
there's currently five homeowners that
are about it on that southern leg that
comes down and then there's an
additional looks like four uh on the on
the piece that would start heading
yeast that's about N 9 to 10
homes okay
thank you additional questions or was
there any any suggestion or Direction
with with I mean if it's visible and and
and then we are able to get those
because what I'm hearing um is that
you're willing to work on this with the
neighbors and and the other part that
really impresses me also is the fact
that you did not totally take away the
buffer you added it in the other side of
the fence so those houses or a bit
further away from the wall but given the
fact that our cons member in C has asks
about the height and and if it's
something that you think that's
feasible um council member and council
member cus uh the height of the wall has
really never been a discussion point in
any of our meetings with the neighbors
it's yeah it's an item that's been
brought up here tonight so it's a fa
item to talk about yeah so we haven't
thought that through and planned on it
we've done other communities like Mr
Mayo said in Chandler where getting the
neighbors to agree wasn't all that easy
and to come with agreements with them to
have access and then to share
maintenance of the wall after it's done
sometimes it's complicated sometimes
like Mr Mayo said it works simply but
not every time um and the other thing
just to know we we have been very
meticulous in laying out where single
family homes can uh single story homes
on our side yeah match up with single
story on the other side so there's
really not that typical privacy issue
that we're worried about and the height
of the wall won't affect that I see
thank you so much for explaining that
because this is really telling me that
there was some thought that went behind
it um when it when it comes to thinking
about the neighbors privacy yes
appreciate that y thank you mayor thank
you any additional questions mayor
council member orando all right so you
answered my first question about the
single family AB budding those homes
correct and that's all the way through
the all nine properties there single
story single story single St yes yes
that all sides where where we had join
existing residential units have been
planned for that okay um the and you do
have a gate
there right yes right so I'm a little
confused the the resident said that
wasn't a gate there I'm just confused or
did she mean because she had two
stipulations one that we have the police
support the traffic and that a gate be
Alamosa in spring so there is one there
yes the council members there is a gate
on Alamosa that again serves only the
residents not visitors that is on the
okao side main oo side not on the
Alamosa side Alamosa is is is is a is a
private gate for residents that's it
okay okay you have a gate on the aao
side and you have a gate on the Alamosa
side correct okay so we have two gates
two gates got it want to double check
Mr May's reminding me that as you look
at the cursor here I don't have we
don't okay there was a request to put a
gate on Alamosa further east into the
existing Geneva subdivision that's
that's an oh into their subdivision I I
believe that's what was said okay yeah
yeah it was it was to move it install a
gate further to the east on Al to
prevent any of these future homeowners
from traveling into the neighborhood so
the Alamosa folks again I without a
visual here guys I'm sorry I need
without the they want to put a gate
closer to the neighbors that are already
there is what you're saying neighborhood
yeah okay I got you all right and just
for just for clarity um at the point
that that happens then those streets
become private streets if if a gate is
installed and then all maintenance
obligations go away from the city as a
public Street and onto the home or is it
have establish those rules to their HOA
and things okay that's an HOA issue
really
to be honest with you I mean I don't
know the ho had to vote but we've been
through this several times where HOAs
came to us say want to put a gate up I
know the Westside Chanel we had a couple
of them but and then they realized that
they had to maintain those streets one
of them went through the other one said
nah thank you very much for the for the
uh for the information okay so that's
something we'd have to we couldn't
stipulate that tonight because that
would be an HOA issue if the HOA said no
then we would be building that what I'm
hearing uh Council council member
Orlando absolutely it's an HOA issue and
a city of Chandler issue to decide
whether you want to put a gate on a
public street that hasn't been gated for
yeah a long time okay and as far as the
the police support um I know they have
been called a lot of time on traffic now
their duties and I know the police chief
is here Representatives here uh that is
something we could you know we could
continuously do uh to support that area
you know the school I know it's an
intense area and I get that um and the C
the Cooper bypass will that be done
when's the next time that's going to be
done what's the time frame again Mr
mayor council Mar we're in design on
that Cooper in sight Loop currently okay
would that relieve some of the traffic U
Mr Mayor councilor we hope that it will
it'll connect the traffic going
northbound over to Gilbert so it doesn't
go obviously through the airport but it
should provide some connectivity that
doesn't exist today yeah so there might
be some relief there that big area yeah
the other thing to keep in mind too is
that that uh traffic coming through here
is directed into this subdivision this
is a rezone from a commercial use that
was designated 24 years ago everybody
and didn't develop so and and won't and
frankly the traffic from a single family
residential unit 76 units is
significantly less than commercial uses
on this corner uh it it seems
counterintuitive some people but it is a
significantly less number and and and I
know I I know I've been watching this
for about four or five years now we we
had apartments that wanted to go there
they had a neighborhood meeting and that
was voted down then we had the QT there
that wanted to go Standalone and the
neighbors were saying no to that then we
had a QT and then we had houses be as a
buffer zone to QT you came back with 10
and something homes or I'm sorry well we
started with
9077 we're 76 now now you're 76 now
after much working with the neighborhood
but I know the one consistent argument
that I've been hearing as the last four
or five years I've been dealing with
this neighborhood um is that they rather
have homes there yeah so I mean that
that's and you came through on that so
one last question mayor and Council uh
staff the left hand turn only what does
our traffic folks say about that is that
something that's going to get us in
trouble here or from a liability
standpoint or is that a logical thing to
do would it even be helpful yeah would
it yeah that's fair mayor and council
member Orlando my understanding was you
wanted the left turn prohibited or what
you were proposing is the left turn
coming out of here so it couldn't come
into the neighborhood okay correct I
just wanted to make sure it was
understanding um it's certainly a
possibility that we could do um it would
if if people wanted to go that way I
mean it could become an Enforcement
issue but the odds of people it's a very
secure this route to get back out to to
aao on here so the likelihood of people
doing it is Slim I mean if they're going
somewhere like to the school or
something obviously that's different but
if they're trying to get out talking to
you um I I wouldn't expect that they
would typically go that way so I'm not
sure how much help it would be again
could we do it is there a lot certainly
we could post that if that's something
that we want to do there's there's and
and Kelly can correct me if I'm wrong
but from a liability perspective I don't
think there's any issues there but I'm
just not sure how useful it yeah okay
all right thank you thank you yeah Dana
stay up there for a second so um again
I'm just and put that picture up again
please I think what Mr Pew what you're
suggesting is really that people can
only go into your development there
right so they could come outad
they couldn't they couldn't go in there
but they could only go out is if you
said is that uh excuse me one second so
mayor and council member I the the the
thought on this issue about the no left
turn would be no at somebody traveling
south on that road the new the new
Spring Drive in our proposed project
coming to
Alamosa that we could put signage there
that prohibits a left turn into the
Geneva estate subdivision to the east
right you could still turn right and get
out on mqueen you would have to be able
to do that yeah but basically you
couldn't come you couldn't come
Southbound and then turn into Alamosa
States or Geneva States
correct okay so that that might at least
eliminate some some some traffic that
would go into their neighborhoods so
could okay yeah okay um quick pull of
our two residents would that be help to
you I appr and
would concern we're foreseeing in
mornings particularly as families with
children are taking their children to
school if you know where Santan
Elementary and Junior High located just
to the southeast of our subdivisions
there the problem we're envisioning is
you have half of the subdivision rly
leaving at about the same time for work
or school
they're all turning right hopefully yeah
out on Alamosa and then right onto there
is not
one
atossa
okay thank you Jennifer I understand
yeah um council member
Poston or was it was thank you mayor
sorry I was just having trouble with my
mute um are are there any I I would like
to find out from our our traffic folks
would there be any concern that we're
blocking access to all of Geneva Estates
when they've been used to having that
for more than a decade um that that
would be my only concern with that
left-hand turn it just I just wouldn't
want to do it on the fly without any
sort of input or understanding that
that's something that those residents in
Geneva states are used to having and
they might be upset that we've done that
we just might get a little blowback and
I I don't know if you have anybody has
any thoughts on that or if our traffic
folks could tell
us yeah
yeah I'm just excuse me mayor and
Council um just want to make sure that I
understand the question from council
member Poston are you concerned that um
um traffic's going to back up on Alamosa
Drive no actually what I'm saying is is
people traveling south on McQueens I
would assume that live in Geneva Estates
today are used to turning left and
having access to their homes that way um
but maybe it's just I'm looking at a map
maybe it's just those homeowners that
that back up to that back up to the
proposed development and and maybe it
only affects a few homes and those are
the homeowners in our audience today my
concern would be that Geneva Estates is
fairly large and if you have the rest of
the homeowners now we're telling them no
one can turn left well they've had that
access off of McQueen for many years I
just don't want any unintended
consequences I'm I'm not completely
opposed to creating a a blocking this
left-hand turn I just do think that
there might be consideration for
homeowners have been using that access
for years that really aren't related to
the current development council member
Poston I I don't think the suggestion is
to is to eliminate a left onto McQueen
it's more from the new neighborhood into
Geneva State so that I think your
concerns as no one is suggesting here oh
thank you okay because I I I'm not
seeing the the presentation very well
thank you yeah okay Council how would
you like to proceed here further
questions
[Music]
or I just wanted to make sure as long as
we're addressing the traffic issue and
and the development is willing to put in
um navig signs and work with the HOA um
to put up signs either inside their
Community as well as outside their
Community say this is a private or
however it needs to deter people I think
I'm okay with that as long as Ralph is
able to say hey we can make sure that
their signs here and make sure that the
HOA they can place it somewhere so
within the development and outside of
development people will know I think
that will solve I think that will solve
the issue Mr vice mayor council members
we're we're willing to do signage to the
extent it's agreeable to your traffic
department and transportation people
I've learned my lesson in a year or two
of doing this they they they know what
they're doing mayor then I want to then
then I would probably want to make a
motion to add that um into it or M wants
to make the motion that's fine
stipulation the stipulation that they
would add that well Matt say he wants to
make the motion go ahead Matt let the
Mayor run this
meeting I'm the vice mayor
though mayor you acknowledge all right
is there a motion somebody would like to
make here no that's good you all right
go ahead mayor I move I mooved that um
we approve resolution number five 5805
amending section code
23 area plan and uh attentative adoption
of the ordinance 5099 resoning
preliminary development plan and the
primary plat plh
24-12 plh
23-56 dplt 23- 002 viendo locating in
the Southeast Corbet McQueen it's
important we get all those in one motion
so that's why I had to read the whole
thing um adding stipulation number 11
Tak into account council members
concerned Tak into account we've talked
about the left-hand turn that you will
work with staff on the appropriate
signage based upon our discussions
tonight and as long yeah in the HOA as
long as it's a legal you know non um uh
you know liability on on the part of
us okay all right
like second
all right Council we have a motion and a
second please
vote council member
Stuart yes council member
posted
yes motion carried unanimously all right
thank you Council thank you mayor thank
you Council thank
you next on our agenda is item number 20
which is a public hearing annexation of
approximately 13.5 seven acres of land
in south of the southeast corner of
Arizona Avenue and Germaine road so I'd
like to open this public hearing and
have a staff presentation is that Darcy
om mayor council yeah if I could take a
moment to introduce Darcy om one of our
associate planners started with us about
two years ago and while she has brought
cases before Council she's dodged the
the bullet uh from having to come up
here and speak so tonight is her first
time before you so if you could please
don't take it easy on her
um good evening mayor and Council before
you today is the annexation Annex
2303 um this would be located at South
of the southeast corner of Arizona
Avenue in Germaine Road the surrounding
land uses to the north we have ind2 and
C2 within ameropa County um to the South
would be pad for industrial uses to the
east would be Railroad and then to the
West is Arizona Avenue then r43 within
Maricopa
County um just some background the site
is approximately
13.57oz District which is ind1 and light
industrial zoning District indd 2 within
Maricopa County and the initial City
Zoning will be planned Industrial
District i1
um an administrative design review has
been reviewed and approved by staff for
three industrial
buildings the general plan designates it
as employment there are public water and
sewer facilities in the vicinity of the
project the city of Chandler will
provide water Wastewater and reclaim
services to the subject property and
staff has circulated the request to City
departments and no negative comments
have been received that concludes my
presentation Council any discussion on
this public hearing great job thank you
you did an amazing job appreciate it
good job thank you Darcy ask you is
there any discussion from the audience
on this
item seeing none I'd like to close this
public hearing on the
annexation item number 21 additional
public hearing resolution number
5804 approving the fy2 2425 annual
assess ment for the city of Chandler
Downtown Chandler enhanced Municipal
Services District so I'd like to again
open this public hearing related to our
downtown enhanced Municipal Services
District uh Lauren Cole you have a
presentation for us
all right good evening everyone uh
tonight I'm here to present the fiscal
year 2425 emsd enhanced Municipal
Services District annual
assessment the emsd was created in 2005
and it's in its 19th year The District
covers 61.4 acres and over 1 million
square footage of commercial space an En
enhan Municipal Services district is
formed to provide services up and Beyond
typical Public Services uh elsewhere
with within the city such Services
include safety beautification marketing
promotion and professional management
and Communications these services are
provided by the downtown Chandler
Community Partnership the dccp through
an annual contract with the city which
will come to City Council next month for
for possible
approval to further expand upon the emsd
the annual assessment was uh authorized
by the property owners in the district
with 100% of the assessment proceeds
being paid to the district city council
is governing body who officially enables
the district and District must be
renewed each year the annual steps are
as followed step one set the rate by
city council this is the same assessment
formula that has been used for the past
19 years this year the dccp has
requested a 5% increase for both private
and public property that is allowed by
the emsd bylaws step two on March 21st
Council approved the tenative assessment
and set the hearing date for tonight
since then staff has published the noes
of hearing as required by AR for for
five consecutive days before the hearing
dccp staff has mailed notices to all the
property owners in the district of their
right to file for an objection and no
objections have been received at this
point step three tonight is the public
hearing and the resolution of approval
and step four is the annual contract
with dccp to administer the emsd which
will come forward forward with you guys
next month on June
24th and with that I'm happy to answer
any questions council is there any
questions related to the annual
assessment of the downtown in H
Municipal Services District nice
presentation thank you seeing none is
there any discussion from the audience
all right I would like to close this
public hearing we have to related to
this item number 22 resolution number
5804 approving the 2425 annual
assessment for the city of Chandler
Downtown City enhanced Municipal
Services District so that is Essence our
contributing our part to this area area
motion so we have a motion by vice mayor
is there a second second second by
council member
Ellis questions seeing none Council
please
vote council member Stewart yes council
member posted yes motion carries
unanimously all right thank you item
number 23 resolution number 5800
adoption of the FY
2425 tenative budg budget and FY 2425
tenative CIP Don you want to give us the
highlights of this I know we've seen
this before we've spent hours on this
but
uh proceed all right thank you mayor and
councel and residents that may be in the
audience or listening from home uh
tonight is the um tentative budget
adoption of the fiscal year 24 25
proposed budget and 25 through 34
Capital Improvement
program um you know every year we go
through this very extensive budget
process and it's a lot like going into
battle um we
uh we have to prepare ourselves you know
we have to mentally prepare there's a
lot of discussions and you could say you
could say that you know going into
battle the kickoff in many ways is Mayor
and Council leading us into that battle
early on in October and um as
accountants and um Financial
professionals I could maybe refer to you
as general
ledger so with that um there is some
statutory process um this this adoption
of the budget is driven okay first of
all Matt Dunbar his daughter is
graduating tonight and he said I had to
tell a joke so there you
go so moving on um the statutory budget
process um we're to that point and as
you said mayor there's been a lot
happening leading up to this so tonight
is is required by the Arizona revised
Statute to adopt the tenative budget it
sets forth all of the different uh
numbers that meet mayor and council's um
expense for the fiscal year so uh what
is required then is we enter into to the
minutes um we prepare uh forms for the
auditor general that are attached to the
resolution we publish it on the website
for public review and then once the
budget is tentatively adopted it cannot
increase after tonight it is set at that
limit after tenative adoption the public
hearing will shall be um with we will
hear taxpayers um and the resolution
also sets that date for June 13th
um that is coming up directly following
that public hearing uh the Arizona
revised Statute require a public meeting
for the final adoption of the budget and
then the final statutory action is the
adoption of the final tax rate U and
that would take place on June
27th and I should move
this forward I did not have it on that
slide but that is everything I just went
over all right so uh the 2425 proposed
budget is a total of 1
billion
629 million
72,8 of that total the general fund is
500 about
578 million uh that is a
1.6% decrease overall all funds and the
general fund is actually going down 5.4%
decrease and that is over the current
Year's budget
this budget would begin on July 1st I'm
happy to report that it does adhere to
financial policies it's structurally
balanced meaning ongoing for ongoing and
one-time Revenue support one-time
expenditures we use the Strategic
framework to guide decisions it provides
for cost effective quality services uh
maintains long-term Financial
sustainability through our forecasting
and also resident engagement was very
important throughout this process we
held the kickoff like I mentioned in
October the resident budget survey went
out uh received that feedback uh we had
three budget work sessions with mayor
and councel the all day budget briefing
and finally tonight with the tenative
adoption our next
action so just to give a little bit of
an idea of some of the things driving
the budget um from a revenue standpoint
it does reflect the economic environment
um and through our update of our
forecast every year we use data from the
state the league national and local
economic data as well as our trends that
have happened in our local local
government um all of this updates uh the
revenue streams as well as our state
shared Revenue forecasts uh and then I
need to mention too on from a revenue
standpoint uh there has been significant
development that has continued and this
is actually helping with the revenue
coming in um but we've also seen a
slight decrease due to the legislative
action to remove residential rental by
January 1st
2025 from an expenditure standpoint we
are still seeing significant inflation
um and because of that uh labor
materials utilities water purchases
chemicals all of these things that has
been included in this budget along with
the fact that our service delivery um we
we still maintain our existing Service
delivery levels which is good news um
but we've also been able to add some
enhancements that are noted within
Council strategic Focus areas uh the
other goal was to convert one-time
funded positions if a program was going
to continue into the future and many of
those positions have now been converted
to ongoing so that program can can
continue using an ongoing Revenue
Source um additionally Personnel costs
um are increasing just like many private
companies are seeing um so we Council
has included in this budget the
investment in our city Workforce uh
including Merit markets and health care
costs um we also have capital projects
that are seeing significant inflation
and all of those projects have been
adjusted accordingly along with a focus
on Aging
infrastructure grants continue to be a
focus in this budget as well as the fact
that um we do have minimal borrowing but
when that does happen because of our AAA
Bond rating we have lower borrowing
costs um there are items also that are
helping us reduce future expenditures
the investment in solar energy as well
as Turf to zeroscape um our our plan
reduction in utility
costs so a couple items to point out
that are budget highlights from an
operating standpoint incor at in the
proposed budget uh this budget includes
a reduction of the primary property tax
rate this is the ninth consecutive year
that mayor and Council has reduced that
rate there is no change to transaction
privileged tax rates shop Chandler but
we are the lowest in Arizona so that is
important to note um moving to the right
here no planned water Wastewater or
solid waste rate changes in the new
fiscal year um we our next planned rate
changes are not until January
2026 and then moving again um to the
right budget maintains existing service
levels um continuing down to the bottom
um adds funding for labor Association
commitments and general employees it
continues debt elimination and that
includes U the goal of Mayor and Council
to pay off the public safety personnel
retirement system and maintaining that
payoff um and then then finally this
budget does include strong reserves um
with in the general fund as well as a
budget stabilization Reserve depending
on what happens with the
economy so this is always a an important
slide if you are wanting to get a little
better view into where the money comes
from and where the money goes in the
proposed annual budget this represents
all funds that we maintain so general
fund of course is the largest but we
have a lot of utility funds Capital
funds and so on so when you look at
where the money actually comes from that
pays for all the operations and capital
the largest amount showing is in blue
and that is fund balance and what that
represents is if you have um good
example is large capital projects if
they are in process we sold Bonds in
2023 those will continue for two three
years at times those capital projects so
those Bond proceeds get re they get put
in our revenues and re-budget it that
carry for the capital project carries
forward so we have those funds budgeted
and available to continue those capital
projects so fund balance is a really
important part of our budget the largest
part moving to the right the maroon
color there is our local transaction
privilege taxes or sales tax and license
fees um at
22.6 million
um and then in yellow is Grants we rely
on grants quite a bit within our budget
as well as utility charges that supports
the Water waste water solid waste and
reclaimed um and then into the blue we
have other charges use of facilities um
and other types of charges that falls
into that category um we have state
shared revenues the majority of those
all or all of our state shared revenues
actually flow into our general fund at
134.4 million as well as property tax
and system development fees system
development fees 100% support capital
projects tied directly to growth and
then if you flip down to where the money
goes this is where we uh show all the
expenditures that would be uh available
or appropriation that would be available
come July 1st of
2024 to start the new year the largest
or the blue section is our department
operating that includes all the
Departments such as police fire Park
Streets libraries um water Wastewater
and so on that is the expenses that pay
for all the services that are provided
to our residents and businesses you move
to the right the maroon and the gray
part um are very very large sections of
the budget that in that represents the
major Capital Carry forward and new
capital projects and you'll notice this
year our Capital Carry forward is very
large you've seen in our uh in our
community that there are a lot of really
great additional project projects in
process right now um that are going on
across the entire city and all of those
can of course span multiple years so we
carry forward that appropriation that
allows us to continue those capital
projects um new projects total
238.9 million we have some contingencies
and reserves that are there if needed
can only be used with Council approval
and if not used would fall directly back
into fund balance and then finally Debt
Service on our bonds as well as some
replacement funds so that's the big
picture one thing to note here is that
we must balance revenues must equal
expenses unlike the federal government
Municipal governments you can only spend
what you have we don't print money
so uh a couple things to note some good
news here to remind residents um that if
you live in chamir your average annual
residential cost compared to many of our
neighboring communities is the lowest
and this represents this is a study
that's actually done by our neighboring
City Tempe um and it shows a typical
family of four if you were to pay water
Wastewater Solid Waste property tax and
then the average amount of sales tax you
would contribute or you would pay on
product that you would purchase for your
family we are at
1,816 the average cost across other
communities is
2,363 if you were to carve out just the
utility bill Water waste water and solid
waste the city of Chandler is at $75 and
that's for an average home that consumes
about 10,000 gallons on a single family
resident
moving forward um we talked about
capital and here's some highlights in
our 10-year plan our 10-year Capital
plan totals almost 2.5 billion there's a
lot of great projects coming um a big
focus on Aging
infrastructure and um there is one thing
to note here is that uh we had a bond
election in
2021 and because like many other of our
our surrounding communities are seeing
projects are C more in this time of
inflation and we've seen inflation like
we've never seen before so our bond
author authorization is not lasting as
long as as was planned so that will be a
conversation coming up in um very
soon so when we uh bring forward the
tenative budget adoption it only
includes year one of the 10year capital
plan this is the year one total that um
kind of Sedona red circle there to shows
the total CIP that's included the total
capital projects of
8765 million breaks out into our Capital
Carry forward of 631 new funding of 239
million and a small reserve for a
develop developer
reserve and finally uh key budget dates
there's been a lot of conversations and
planning and strategizing throughout
this entire budget process you can see
all the meetings that have taken Place
uh public meetings that have taken place
here and Survey when it was posted um
the tonight is the first formal action
on the budget for that would start on
July
1st and uh and of course the next would
be June 13th for the final and public
hearing and then adoption of tax levies
before we start another year in
Cham and uh finally mayor and councel
for your consideration resolution number
15 800 to approve the attended him
budget Council any
questions with vitation thank you you're
welcome we've seen this before yes you
have very good um all right Council no
questions a motion would be in
order mayor vice mayor I would like to
make a motion to pass the there we go U
let me go down here oops wait AE sorry
got to get down to the action I know uh
I would like to make a motion to uh for
Action 23 resolution
58 100 adopting the fiscal year FY 24
2025 tenative budget in 2025 2034
tenative Capital Improvement plan giving
notice of the dates and times of the
hearing Dax bears for the final adoption
of the budget and for setting levies tax
levies tax rates I like so motion second
we have a motion by vice mayor second by
council member
Ellis Council please
vote council member Stewart yes council
member
Poston C member
posted did we lose her we might have
lost her so motion carries unanimously
okay motion carries
um thank you Council um next unscheduled
public appearances do we have any
unscheduled public appearances city
clerk mayor there are no all right
seeing none current events I'll start
Chandler chamber Awards coming up next
week the community will be coming
together for the Chandler chamber annual
community Awards this event provides an
opportunity to celebrate the businesses
Educators residents and public servants
that make Chandler the exceptional City
that we are I look forward to joining
Council in our community uh and the
Chamber on May 30th to celebrate our
community and the 2024
awardees secondly uh I recently had the
opportunity with council member Orlando
to attend the
dccp annual meeting um council member
Inus I think you were there too
right no okay
really
me anyway it was a great opportunity to
connect with our downtown businesses and
provide a state of the downtown yeah you
should just take it whenever they have
yeah yeah was
there you and Johnny Apple seat I like
it as you can guess there were many
exciting updates we've welcomed nine new
businesses have five new Concepts in our
downtown coming soon and we are
investing in the future to make sure
that our downtown will continue to be a
destination driver for years to come our
downtown is truly the heart of our
community it's a place full of Music
Entertainment dining shopping and just
getting together so we want to thank all
of you who make this pro has who have
made this possible including our staff
our partners at the dccp and most
importantly our downtown businesses
thirdly do you want to congratulate our
graduates it's that seasoned uh we're so
excited that uh Chandler will once again
uh release and produce so many talented
intelligent young men and women that are
are going to continue their life goals
we hope that you all have a safe summer
wish you luck wherever your path will
lead and finally yes
finally I do want to uh just make
mention Monday is Memorial Day I
encourage everyone to take a moment to
honor our nation our nation's Heroes and
those whose lives were lost during
serving our country be safe this weekend
and God bless you council member and
cenus um no official announcements just
congrats to our grads and again as well
honoring our uh service members on
Monday council member Ellis thank you
mayor we had some great things happening
in our city the first one that I would
like to talk about tonight is the golden
nebor
birthday celebration on May 15 I had the
opportunity to join our neighborhood
resources staff to celebrate the third
uh birthday of our golden neighbors
program this program is a dear is very
very dear to my heart and it's much
needed by our community it was started
to connect our seniors with services
offered by the city and local partners
and to help create a sense of community
for our older residents it was wonderful
to connect with our seniors at that
event and C vice mayor you were there
too um our neighborhood programs teams
have done a wonderful job putting this
together I want to oh mayor was there
too yes thank you mayor for being there
I would like to thank Miss venca Tona
Leah and all the team of Chandler who
have contributed to those last three
years of great success with this program
thank you so much for everything you do
the second thing that I would like to
bring to you is community Services uh
autism certification our city uh has
really worked with Mr Turner to really
put this thing through I'm very excited
to let our community know that our Parks
and Recreation division has received a
certified Autism Center designation and
so now our staff are now trained on
Autism Awareness recognition and
understanding of sensory sensitivities
to make every interaction with our
residents safe positive and we can focus
on Recreation and have so much fun this
is inclusive this this is inclusivity at
work which is part of our diversity and
staff at the direction of this Council
mayor included have been working to
ensure that our services are accessible
to all of our residents last but not
least I want to talk about uh an
opportunity that I had to film uh a
program that I do here in the city and
it's called breaking
barriers I wanted to share an impactful
interview that I have taped this last
week and I want you to pay attention and
get to watch it in June it's coming to
you the opportunity that I had was to
sit down with two trailblazing women in
media first was
desire
flen that's her last name and Nikki
Christian so we talked about breaking
barriers in the media industry and how
to handle negative feedbacks and how
mentorship plays a role in empowering
young women please don't forget to turn
in on Chandler YouTube in June lastly
mayor I would like to take a point of
privilege I just received um a text from
one of my young mentees that has taken
her nclx which is her nursing board exam
and Miss Elizabeth hair pass with a
flying colors so congratulations and we
all here May and counil would like to
tell you again go with God and have an
amazing nursing career thank you mayor
thank you vice mayor yeah thank you
mayor um also this weekend is Memorial
weekend I'll be speaking at the Sun
sunir Valley of Valley of the Sun yes
Valley of the
Sun I will be speaking there this
weekend on behalf of um mayor and
Council so I hope to see many of you
guys there my dad was a Vietnam vet uh
he uh passed and um I think when he
passed away I think the president um the
president at the time William Clinton uh
sent us something in the mail and gave
us a flag and things like that and that
was really really nice uh that was
really really nice um but just remember
Memorials Day is about honoring people
we've lost um veterans that we lost you
know it's us a lot veterans is the ones
that have passed away so make sure you
take time to honor a loved one or
someone you know this weekend to
recognize their life sacrifices also
tonight council is finally adopting the
brass knuckles and also uh the unruly
Gathering ordinance aka the presson Lord
uh ordinance these items will go into
effect on June 24th I would like to
thank our community members who have
been a part of this process from the
beginning uh in the audience we do have
the Lord family as as well as the Conor
family here um to see this to the end
from day one we have condemned team
violence in the city of Chandler have
maintained a zero tolerance policy
tonight is another example of this
commitment to action by working together
with police and larger Chandler
Community we will continue to ensure the
safety of our teens and families thank
you again for your continuing engagement
feedback and Communications throughout
this process I'm very proud to have
voted on these items and thank you so
much thanks
mayor nothing tonight mayor all right
city manager nothing tonight mayor thank
you all right that brings us the long
awaited gaveling out