Chandler City Council Meeting 2/22/24

good evening and welcome to the February
22 2024 regular city council meeting uh
just for our audience there's several
components of this meeting we have uh
we'll have the presentations of which
many of you are far we have uh uh
consent agenda then there is a public
hearing and then we have some action
items that we will vote on
separately at the end so we're glad that
you're all here we love to see full
council chambers especially when people
aren't split up in opposing t-shirts for
or against an issue and uh I don't see
any commonality of t-shirts here so
we're just glad that you are here so uh
clerk would you please uh pull the or
take the role mayor Harkey here vice
mayor Harris here council member Incas
here council member Ellis president
council member Stewart here council
member Orlando here here council member
Poston here we have a quorum very good
our invitation tonight will be uh
presented by Pastor Mike Gowens from
bethl Chandler church and our Pledge of
Allegiance by council member
Ellis well thank you I just want to
begin by saying thank you U mayor and
vice mayor in the council uh I will be
graduating my last child here and it has
been a joy to raise my kids in Chandler
love this city and just wanted to
display that gratitude to all of you and
the leadership so uh let's bow our heads
and pray Heavenly Father we uh We Gather
today to to discuss matters concerning
our city we humbly invite your presence
into this council meeting grant us your
servants the wisdom to make the
decisions that will lead to prosperity
and peace in our Community Lord we ask
for your guidance uh in our discussions
that we may be fruitful and constructive
help us to listen with open minds speak
with kindness and respect to one another
and may be may we be reminded of the
responsibility dispo diso disposed upon
us to serve our community with integrity
and fairness we pray for Unity amongst
us that despite our differences we may
work together toward the common good
of all who live in our city instill in
us a spirit of cooperation that we may
tackle the challenges we face with a
Collective Strength and and
determination bless our city Lord with
safety Health Prosperity protect it from
harm guide its development so that it
may be a place of opportunity and joy
for all of its citizens May our actions
today contribute to the well-being and
growth of our community we thank you for
the opportunity to serve and we place
our trust in your loving guidance May
our efforts today reflect your love and
Justice we pray all this in your name
Jesus amen
amen
flag
States stands Nation God indivisible
lice thank you Pastor thank you council
member we've got a fun number of
scheduled public appearances and for
those of you who filled out a card here
these are unscheduled public appearances
and then we will be uh giving you an
opportunity to share at the end um per
open meeting law so I would like to
invite council member Orlando to come up
front with
me we'll go from
there all right first we have a
proclamation for dis ability awareness
month and if I can invite Tom Fay the
chair of our mayor's committee for
people with disabilities to come on up
[Applause]
front whereas individuals with
disabilities are valued contributing
members of our community furthermore
individuals with any disability be it
physical physical or mental have the
right to achieve a self-determined and
valued lifestyle and whereas the
strength of our community lies within
its inclusivity and empowerment of these
individuals so every person regardless
of ability is afforded equal
opportunities rights and respect and
whereas it is our Collective
responsibility to Champion the rights of
people with disabilities fostering
awareness and understanding of the
challenges they face to create a more
inclusive and accessible society and
whereas every Community member's
participation and their openness to
learn and acknowledge each individual's
contribution we all P play a role in an
inclusive community for people with
disabilities whereas through education
advocacy and collaboration let us work
together towards creating a community
that recognizes celebrates and empowers
the abilities of all now therefore I
Kevin Harkey mayor of the city of
Chandler Arizona to hereby proclaim the
month of March as National disabilities
awareness
[Music]
month and Tom you've got some comments
you're gonna make I think
right so I'm G to give you the mic in a
minute so every year our mayor's
committee for people with disabilities
hosts their annual disability awareness
Awards to create awareness about
developmental disabilities teach the
importance of inclusion within every
aspect of life and share the stories of
individuals with a disability to show
that a successful life is possible so I
am proud to help recognize our student
educator volunteer and employers of the
year so Tom here you go thank you so
much man
Tom Fang grateful to be here uh the
Chandler mayor's committee for people
with disabilities is proud to recognize
the following award recipients uh the
first is student of the year which is
Jakari
[Applause]
Johnson Jakari is a senior at Chandler
High throughout his high school career
Jakari has participated in the Unified
sports and helped create a culture of
acceptance amongst his peers
he's an example for all for our for all
students to have high expectations for
themselves and to rise to meet any
challenges they may encounter when faced
with adversity Jakari does not give up
and he continues to work hard until he
meets his goal Jakari is positively
impacted as peers and students with
disabilities throughout the community
congratulations Jakari on being the 2024
student of the
[Applause]
year
the next is the educator of the Year
Christian
[Applause]
wol CH is an adapted PE teacher for cusd
he has been in special education for
over 15 years and is adored by students
and respected by his PE years one of
Christian's many achievements was
implementing a partner PE program to
create a more inclusive learning
environment while forging lasting
friendships Christian also dedicates his
time outside the classroom to positively
impact the lives of those with
disabilities he spends every summer
working with the city's adaptive
Recreation camp Camp Challenge and
coaches many special Olympic sports
thank you Christian and congratulations
on being award the 20124 educator of the
[Applause]
year
[Applause]
the next is volunteer of the Year John
[Applause]
Marshall John has volunteered as a coach
for special olymp for over 10 years he
has coached softball basketball and
bowling John is recognized as being
incredibly patient and genuinely enjoys
enjoys coaching and leaving a lasting
impact on the athletes he inspires
athletes to work hard and continuously
improve thank you John and
congratulations on your 2024
[Applause]
award
this year the committee would like to
honor two employers of the Year Bobby
Vasquez from
[Applause]
Fri and Sean Christen from the Crayola
Experience Bobby goes out of his way to
hire employees with disabilities not
only not only do these jobs benefit the
employees with increased confidence and
self-sufficiency but by hiring these
individuals the community is made aware
that people with disabilities are an
asset and Valu to contributing members
of our community thank you Bobby and
friy at Rigs McQueen and congrat
congratulations on being awarded the
2024 employer of the
Year SE frisman from the crayo
experience was nominated by one of his
employees who said that Shawn treats
everyone so well and I'm so happy I work
there he took a chance on me and treats
me like a normal person I love working
at Crayola Experience Shawn is known for
caring deeply about his employees and
the community and creating an inclusive
work environment thank you Sean and the
cray experience and congratulations on
being awarded 2024 employer of the
[Applause]
year
all my Award winners you guys can come
back up for a quick
grp thank
you
[Applause]
all right our next recognition has to do
with Recreation and Athletics for
individuals with disabilities and I'd
like to invite John sepon the staffer
with the best hair in the
city all jealous John Recreation and
Athletics for individuals with
disabilities or rad has been serving the
Chandler Community for decades rad Works
to make sure that financial resources
are not a barrier when individuals with
a disability look to participate in the
sport or hobby that they're passionate
about and after 20 years of service to
the community we are honored to
recognize and thank rad for the work
that they do to ensure Chandler
continues to be be a premier city to
live work and in this case play for all
of our residents John well said mayor
we'd like to invite the board from rad
to come down and as you make your way
down those that want to get a photograph
with the mayor I'm going to give a
little bit of a history it was 20 years
ago just a few Chandler parents noticed
that a
program that program cost kept some
athletes with disabilities from
participating in sports program in with
the city's adaptive program a
conversation during a basketball game
led to the formation of a fundraising
group aiming to reduce those costs and
and to provide additional access to the
program while lacking fundraising
expertise initially their passion to
make a difference was
insurmountable the fund first
fundraising attempt you guys remember
this a rummage SK a rummage sale at the
Chandler bowling alley AMF parking lot
raised 2
50 which in today's dollars might have
been about 25,000
right but it only fueled their
determination in 2004 the group
officially became a charitable entity
Recreation and Athletics for individuals
with disabilities Brad they elected a
board crafted a mission statement and
established bylaws over the years they
learned the intricacies of Grant
applications volunteer solicitation and
organizing successful events like the
biannual or the annual bathon and the
golf
scramble rad has since been a pillar of
support for the Chandler Community
easing Financial commitments associated
with adaptive Recreation and learning
programs allowing more individuals to
participate fully in addition to
supporting Chandler special Olympic
sports programs with equipment and
uniforms they have organized social
events such as the spring dance the um
family luow and movie Nights at the
theater there scholarship program
enables individuals to apply for
assistance and they have facilitated
entry into National competitions
covering fees and travel cost rad has
reason to be proud for the service over
the past two decades they have
successfully raised and donated over
$500,000 or half a
million to Chandler
adap while remaining true to their
commitment of being 100% volunteer
organization
their original motto rad pays so others
can play continues to guide their
unwavering dedication to this goal thank
you rad for 20 years of commitment
contribution and fun in in the city of
Chandler
[Applause]
blessed
all perfect thank
[Applause]
you
next we would like uh to recognize our
gfoa distinguished budget award for f f
y
2324 and if we could call up our budget
team
right and John let me turn the mik to
you
okay hi guys tonight we recognize the
budget staff and and here they are uh we
are short one this evening who's
watching from home but our budget team
is made up of Matt Dunbar who is their
their lead here um Helen Parker who's
watching from home cat Dixon Enrique
sandal and Savannah Martinez and they
are small But Mighty we have one vacancy
right now but we also recognize the
efforts of Julie belt and Libby
stressman who promoted during the budget
process in the prep of this last budget
to positions in police and utilities
taking their talents within other areas
of the city but they contribute Ed in
meaningful ways as well this year also
included on top of it all the
implementation of a new budget software
and document creation software that
required significant efforts during the
process which can almost be compared to
flying a plane while trying to build it
the city of Chandler has earned the
distinguished budget presentation award
from the government Finance Officers
Association or gfoa for many years and
the fiscal year 2023 24 budget document
award makes this the 36th consecutive
year this award reflects the commitment
of Staff in meeting the highest
principles of governmental budgeting to
receive the budget award the city must
satisfy nationally recognized guidelines
for Effective budget presentation the
guidelines are designed to assess how
well our entity's budget serves as a
policy document financial plan an
operational guide and a communication
device budget documents must be rated
proficient in all four categories within
the categories there is 14 mandatory
criteria to receive the award and I'm
happy to report that Chandler's budget
has rated outstanding in many of those
areas additionally I want it would I
would be remiss if I did not also
recognize the vast amount of work done
by every Department throughout the city
the city manager's office staff and
mayor and counsel for their Direction
and support to create and improve the
budget document annually we are thankful
for everyone's contributions and
congratulate the city and the budget
team for this accomplishment and we're
proud to have such a talented and
dedicated team and celebrate team
Chandler tonight thank
[Applause]
you
well that concludes our upfront part of
the uh public
appearances
we'll wait a we'll wait a few seconds
and allow people to exit before we
continue thanks
guys
for
all right our last remaining public
appearance is uh Mr Tony Rodriguez Mr
Rodriguez are you with us tonight all
right uh please come forward and Sir
uh got a seat for you up
front
bring thank you so much appreciate it Mr
Rodriguez if you would state your name
and address for the record and then you
have up to three minutes to share your
comments that green light on the days
will be lit and when you have 30 seconds
left it'll turn yellow and then red
means your time is over so if you state
your name and address do I speak into
this yes sir we can hear you uh my name
is Tony V Rodriguez my address is 1869
West Estrella Drive in Chandler Arizona
85224
um good evening my name is Tony
Rodriguez I live in 1869 West strer
Drive 85224 I am asking for the city of
Chandler to pass an ordinance to make it
illegal to feed wild birds which is
pigeons doves Etc since last July I've
submitted over 75 submissions to the
city council meeting public comment form
website to date this was advised by the
city clerk's office with only one
response last August 1st 2023 with no AC
action uh my wife and I are disabled
homeowners who have lived in our
Chandler Arizona residence since March
of 2004 over the past several years I
have been getting more and more pigeons
doves and other wild birds in my yard
and on my home's roof back patio block
fencing City Light Pole City sidewalk
and other neighbors properties they are
exponentially increasing and now number
approximately 50 to 80 birds or more at
any given
time thus causing more more damage to my
roof which in turn has void has voided
my roof's warrant my 30-year warranty
and resulted in current repair cost of$
11,825 all this from their activity on
my roof and excrement dropping over time
as well their excrement makes its way
down to my backyard pool patio AA
flooring and various parts of our
property which is a significant Health
concern because it carries harmful
diseases this is not only a nuisance
causing property damage but also
unsanitary living conditions for my
myself my wife and our neighbors
including anyone who walks on the
sidewalk or works on the light poles
which is city property not allowing us
to enjoy our outside yard any longer
this is all due to my back neighbor who
admittedly told me and my friend that
they feed the wild pigeons and other
birds that it doesn't help my situation
at all they feed the wild birds three
times daily if not more with their
feeder in the early morning early and
late afternoons since it is currently
currently law for lawful for them to do
so this issue is only getting worse each
day since it is not legal at this time
in the city of Chandler there's nothing
I can do to stop or prevent my neighbor
from continuing to feed the wild
birds as per my conversations with
Maricopa County and the City of Chandler
officials myself and my neighbors have
our hands tied on this issue and it
continues to escalate it has gotten way
out of hand I am here asking the city of
China to adopt similar ordinances as our
neighboring cities have recently done
due to the same issues that we are
experiencing Mesa tempy and Phoenix all
have passed ordinances making it illegal
to feed pigeons and wildbirds within its
City Limits please support us by passing
an ordinance to make it illegal to feed
pigeons and wild birds not only for our
protection but for every channel of
Resident as well thank you all for your
time and consideration of this matter I
look forward to hearing from each and
every one of you thank you sir thank you
very
much
that's
mayor um Tony did did you what did your
neighbor say like have you brought this
to them I'm sure you've talked to them
about it they just don't care basically
no I I had a conversation with them and
they came over and I'm like Hey by what
you're doing is causing a lot of damage
to my property and I explained to them
how how badly it is as far as health
concerned and disease and I thoroughly
went through everything and I explained
it all to them and it seems like after I
went through that conversation it didn't
get nasty or anything like that I just
kind of kindly spelled it out to them
then the issue got actually got worse
after that so she said basically told me
hey it doesn't help that I feed the wild
birds I'm like no it does not help me my
situation or everybody else's that live
in this neighborhood either and that's I
asked her I said it would be nice if you
stopped and that that was basically
ended the conversation that conversation
was about a year and a half ago
approximately it's interesting City
manag we ever dealt with anything like
this before where like have we helped
like sort of create a a buffer or
communicate with neighbors or help them
um Mr Mayor uh council member Stewart um
in this particular situation we have
looked into this matter and there's not
a code violation that we we can site
however we have had several
conversations between staff and Mr
Rodriguez to try to find maybe some
Alternatives that could help mitigate
the problem we're still working on that
issue with him
presently mayor I've I've had
conversations with the city of Chandler
Police Department as well expressed my
concerns and basically they were pretty
cool they were pretty nice about it they
explained to me that yeah it is it is
legal right at this moment and they're
saying well basically your only option
is to sue your neighbor and I'm like man
I was brought up not having to sue my
neighbor right you're supposed to love
your neighbor and get along with your
neighbor and everything but basically
for my property damage that was they
told me that was that's the only thing
that I could
do thanks mayor yeah thank you so much
for sharing your story just had a couple
questions um okay you live in a Trad HOA
Community a Nona community no I do not
okay is there um city manager is there a
way that how how do City how do we
normally help residents like this do do
we have them go out and do a survey or
have them go out and do a petition how
do we normally go about trying to if
there's an ordinance or someone that's
trying to put something forth like this
do we typically have them go back and
and do a petition with their neighbors
or how do we normally look at things
like this um if we want to move it to
action you know sure um Mr Mayor um vice
mayor Harris um there's not a specific
protocol for an ordinance to here
obviously if a resident wanted to submit
a petition if there was a group of
neighbors we would present that to you
if you'd like us to draft some language
around this we certainly can and present
that through our normal either
subcommittee or work session process for
your evaluation um at this point what we
are working on because there is not an
ordinance is other ways to perhaps deter
birds um from landing near this property
so there may be some other mitigation
tools that we can offer and maybe some
volunteer services we can partner with
so we're investigating if that is an
option at this point well can you um
what I think what what I would like to
see happen if there if you can come back
to council I know we probably all have a
lot of question but maybe um I know
you're working with the city right now I
know that they're working on mitigating
your issue right now behind the scenes
putting up you know different things to
mitigate the birds I know we're working
with you behind the scenes but perhaps
um you can continue to work with the
city um and then maybe we can work
together to um figure out how we can
move something like this uh forward but
you know it's going to take your
community neighbors as well getting
involved and things like that but I
would like to see if we can continue to
work with him behind the scenes like we
are help him mitigate what he's dealing
with right now on his personal property
and then come back with some options to
to counsel about some things that you
think we can look into and and get back
with us and and if you could please uh
submit to us he said he sent 75
different requests to the city council
if you can get that to Mayor and Council
so we can just kind of review that as
well that would be that would be great
and and hopefully that will be helpful
we can probably get back with you and
give you some more options look further
into that work okay thank you as far as
like the um can I ask a question as far
as like the um the side of being
unhealthy and disease
ridden what can I do as far as like the
health department or something like that
because ISS is going to continue to
happen as long as she
continues doing her action by feeding
these birds right but my concern not
only it's poverty damage but my wife is
visually impaired and she can't see when
she's walking out on the back patio and
stepping into this excrement right it's
kind of concern on both both sides so do
I get the health department involved or
that something we we can probably I
would think that we can um work with uh
Tom our our police our fire chief Chief
and and get with city manager you can
help look into the health concerns that
he has to mitigate any risks to to help
support what you're dealing with right
now would that would that help that'll
help and I'm gonna continue how however
are many whatever you guys need me to do
to come back I'm willing to do whatever
it takes but I would really like to see
this ordinance passed to the city of
Chandler because I think it's going to
help not only me but a lot of folks that
are in this the same situation that I'm
in thank you for sharing your concern I
really apprciate it thank council member
Ellis then council member Orlando and
then council member hon thank you mayor
just wanted to talk to our City attorney
to what level that we can in get
involved here with this uh because this
is wild animals uh birds and things that
are probably um most people don't have
any control over except for putting
things around the house and fixing which
I know that the city manager says that
they're working with trying to install
things that will deter those birds to
what extent can we intervene
actually um mayor if I may um council
member Ellis obviously there there's a
point where there's private property
interest that we can't tread on and
without an ordinance in place um there's
no legal violation so we are going to be
limited and as there are things we can
look at to try and help short of
bringing it into the court
system okay am I just
let let us do this first and S speak to
me if you want to talk then we can go
from there so all right thank you
appreciate that yeah counc
member yeah mayor I think we're skirting
around this maybe I like to see what
these ordinances are that are out there
let's see how I mean I'm going to be
very little bit Bolder here let's look
at let's get some ordinances let's take
a look at them and then maybe we could
like you said do a subcommittee see if
this thing is something we could we
could live with and work with if other
community are doing it uh I mean I can
remember those who been here a long time
remember all the farms and the dairies
and all the pigeons and everything else
and so yeah we uh we're Way Beyond those
areas and maybe it's time we take a look
at something like that to help us uh as
we grow into a City versus our Farmland
so we have staff get back with us on
that some ideas okay that's posted thank
you mayor um and Tony I don't know if
you can answer this um otherwise i' ask
the city manager if we can take a look
um to dovetail on what council member
Orlando said I'd be interested in the
other city ordinances but what I'm
curious about is do they exclude items
like hummingbird feeders or other birds
that maybe wouldn't be considered so
intrusive as pigeons so that that's what
I'm kind of curious um you know you just
don't want to get too detailed into
property rights and and people's ability
to attract maybe some birds that aren't
considered understandable the same so we
could find that out yeah
counil any other
comments Tony would you like to say
anything else um I have my my air
conditioning company for for example
they brought to my attention with all
the excrement on my AC unit right they
advised me to put a screen around the
bottom American dis because they seen
how much damage was being done not only
to my my roof but to my ecn in so that
is something we instrumented already to
put that that netting around so they
can't Roost underneath the air
conditioning but I found out from my
roofin company my warranty is voided now
because of what's happened but if I put
any kind of um deterrent devices or any
spikes or anything like that on my roof
they're like no that that definitely
avoided your warranty too so there's a
lot of things I've looked into that I
can't do okay thank you sir thank you
yeah and I guess City attorney and city
manager I'm again just a a voice of
caution I I think we're all uh I I clean
my car every day because because of on
my neighbor's tree but I I'm also
cautious of migratory birds that that go
through here and people who have
backyard doves and and other things so
I'm I'm uh I'm just would I Want To
Tread with caution here that we don't uh
throw out the baby with the bath water
here but if there's if there's one other
question I would ask is there anything
just under the guise of a nuisance law
here are attacking something there that
could be explored if one person on one
property is creating a nuisance for
another
is there something there that maybe we
can at least explore I don't need an
answer right now so okay thank you sir
thank you very
much all right Council consent agenda um
I know one council member has asked for
a presentation on items 18 19 and 20 so
just to Foster other conversations I I'm
G to move those three to
action uh so leaving whoever makes a
motion
uh exclude those and but I'd also would
like to give people since we did not
have uh the opportunity Monday if you
would like to comment on on any of these
things that normally we might do on
Monday rather than just do a a sweep
vote so that would be appropriate after
we uh have a motion in a
second uh Sans 1819 and 20 so 19 going
to going to action yeah mayor May vice
mayor yes would like to make a motion to
approve the consent agenda on February
22nd 2024 regular meeting items
excluding 1819 and 22 20 20 um but the
remaining one through 27 excluding the
ones that followed and shared okay we
have a motion is there a second second
second by council member and cenus and
Council again before we vote uh normally
on Monday you would have a chance to to
call things out and uh you know and draw
highlights so why don't we start with uh
council member Poston and work our way
this way if anyone would like to say
anything thank you mayor I don't have
any comments on the consent agenda great
shame all right mayor I had a I had a
question for John canson on the Zer
Escape program and kind of there's
pretty good expense here but I want to
understand the savings and then not only
that the water savings as it relates to
this I think this is a good program but
I think the public would like to
know how this is going to work thank
you
thank you mayor council for uh having
interest in this particular program
council member Stewart uh this
particular item in front of you this
evening uh represents uh request
represents the city's uh water
conservation commitment to Red reduction
of nonfunctional turf in 14 of our
City's rainwater retention basins uh
this should result in Savings in both
water and in in maintenance for those
for those facilities um it's a Turf to
zeroscape conversion so what that means
is these 14 areas are largely uh grass
so city has to maintain those mow upkeep
as well as a pretty hefty water bill for
those uh over the years so those
acreages will be converted to a
zeroscape uh let me show you hopefully
if uh I know what I'm doing here again
uh the 14 yeah we got the 14 sites I've
got them circled uh typically the ones
we're dealing with are in uh Northern
Chandler because that's where these
large uh landscaped areas exist so we
got these 14 areas that we're showing
you here that are majority of of uh
grass I've got some examples here
of kind of give you an idea here's one
that exists on Alma School uh and you
can see these fairly large areas of
grass um as you drive along alas School
you look off left and right and you can
see these large areas of grass uh and
there's really we call them
non-functional because they're not Park
areas they're are not used for virtually
anything so um the uh there's been a
push uh recently because of uh the
drought on the Colorado River for cities
to look towards reducing that
non-functional Turf so we've got several
of those that's one we've got another
here on Elliot and these are pretty
characteristic of the 14 that you'll see
around now what they'll look like when
we're
done uh is we're headed towards this
look and these are also retention areas
that we already have in town so this one
exists at Alma School and Elliot and you
can kind of see the the the look that
we're after there um desert you know
trees vegetation uh so it's it's very
much like uh the others that we have in
town and I'll show you another picture
here this one is
Warner at
Arrowhead so just you know nice
zeroscape uh water savings water savings
landscape and we're looking uh through
some recent calculations in the vicinity
of uh about 20 million gallons a year in
savings and in the vicinity of uh I
think $50,000 Plus in water savings
alone uh so we'll also see quite a
savings on the maintenance side as well
because uh we won't be mowing these
we'll have to maintain them obviously
but the mowing will be dramatically
reduced or that that cost John that's
that's great great great program I'm
glad you guys brought this forward real
quick I know we require our neighbors to
have 50% uh coverage with like trees if
they change out from if they take
advantage of our rebate program they
have to have 50% I noticed some of those
pictures may not have had 50% coverage
by trees and so we have this heat island
effect which is like real and you know
when you walk through the green belts
it's definitely cooler y this will
change that especially for the neighbors
that live close by do we have plans to
use some of this cost savings to put in
some low water trees and add more
trees the the the design clearly not
done yet but the idea is to provide good
coverage probably very similar to what
we're requiring for the residential as
well um these are some older areas I
just wanted to kind of bring these in
and show you uh another program that we
have we call it a reveg program uh we
also go back into these older ones and
dress these up as well okay so you'll
probably see uh this program the CIP
program working on the new ones and then
our rev program going into some of these
older ones and uh you know when you lose
a tree replace a tree that sort of thing
so okay the idea is to make all of those
uh retention areas you know look similar
uh different but similar yeah and and
thanks for bearing with me since we
didn't have a study session one quick
question is we're short on soccer fields
and practice fields and as we get longer
into the Spring Daylight stays longer
and I know the kids are we po are any of
these being used for soccer or softball
or any of that right now or these all
just kind of green belts that nobody's
using well it it is possible
that occasionally a neighbor you know
might go down and kick a ball uh I know
you know a piece of grass grass is
difficult to find um these are typically
irregular sized they're not anything
that would normally be used for like uh
a local team's soccer practice where
they could just you know drive in and
and use these are much smaller typically
so we do intend to have public Outreach
we are going to be contacting Neighbors
in the direct vicinity so we will be
having those conversations so we hope
that any situation like that would arise
and then we could we could you know kind
of flex and shift on that depending on
what we find out sure because those
green belts for neighbors that it could
be important if like you said they go
down and kick a ball so great that we're
going to do neighborhood Outreach
because if we find out five or six
neighbors like no no no I kind of want
to keep this green belt then we have to
kind of weigh the the good with the bad
here right so we're going to there's a
process we've all been there um I you I
was a soccer player
yeah all right great thanks John thanks
mayor C I just want to Echo council
member Stewart's concerns um this is
like similar to Alleyways you're going
to find folks that love keeping them
you're going to find folks that want to
get rid of it so tread lightly my friend
oh yes okay because we'll get the emails
and we'll get the phone calls okay well
public Outreach is part of this and
we'll be we'll be with each and every
one of the locations going through that
that process okay very good thanks
thanks uh council member Stewart you had
another one you want to mention I'm GNA
take advantage of my the time here since
you're going down the line here he I
just want to thank um the Cambridge
Medical facility for choosing Chandler
you know when you're bringing hospitals
and and uh Medical Services into the
community that's a really big deal so
you could have chosen many communities
throughout the Comm uh you know the East
Valley and you chose Chandler so I just
want to thank you for that that's item
number eight on here so thank you
W um well I just wanted to talk about
the item oh wait a minute I can go ahead
all right yeah okay yeah I'm sorry about
that you guys just want to make sure
because it's a long day
today um just how we continue to expand
on our we have a grant that we that we
went out to reach out for and um to
continue the Chandler Flex program
because everyone's been talking about
the Chandler flex and I love how we're
working that particular item and also
it's going to come with new technology
so for the next three years expect the
flex to continue to happen and I'm I'm
really just excited about what that
program
is Mayor vice mayor council appreciate
the question yes we did apply for a
Federal grant called aain and really the
goal of it is to expand a service
delivery through the use of technology
and then also see how we can modify the
service to expand into other areas to be
clear the expansion would really come
from freeing up potential local funds on
existing service to be able to Pivot
over into expanding out the Chan Gilbert
Community College we also have the Air
Park area that we're looking at
expanding into or at least studying the
feasibility of that and what the cost
might be and how many riders we might
pick up so we're certainly encouraged by
that but fingers crossed that we win the
Grant and um it'll be all federally
funded with a pretty minimal local match
over three
years thank
you counc member Ellis I appreciate that
mayor I wanted to uh bring up uh item
number 13 the purchase of our mobile uh
coming vehicle and said uh what a
wonderful idea and I think that it's
congratulations are in order to the
Chief and it's department for receiving
that mainly I wanted the people of
Chandler to know that these things are
happening for their safety so whenever
there is an issue we can respond very
quickly and chief will come up right now
and give us a little bit of a background
and why we doing this and how important
it is for us to continue to make this uh
kind of innovative ideas uh come to pass
sure thank you mayor council uh through
the mayor council member this is a
mobile command unit uh these units are
in place for our largest incidents in
public safety and so uh this will be a
joint unit for both the police
department and the fire department uh
there are so many times through our
response throughout the year where we
are in situ situations where we have a
police situation with an active fire
situation with an EMS situation all
unfolding at one time and what happens
is we end up using multiple radio
channels uh oftentimes we're in
different command posts throughout the
incident uh we could be in our vehicles
police in their vehicles and then any
other uh out outside stakeholder Who's
involved in this uh also within their
own vehicles or in their own command
posts with this unit does it's a lot
like our EOC yeah where we can bring
everybody Under One Roof we can all be
on the same page even though that we're
working on different uh aspects of the
mission to achieve whatever it is we're
trying to achieve we are all under one
page we're uh we're working off of one
sheet of music we're able to communicate
with each other uh and it really at the
end of the day this is about safety it's
about keeping our police officer safe
our firefighter safe and ensuring that
uh we are delivering the best service to
our citizens and so uh this is a great
project for us uh we did receive grant
funding for this uh partial grant
funding for it uh but it is like I said
this is something that we've had in the
CIP for quite some time uh and it's
something that was moved forward because
of this Grant and so we are extremely
grateful for it appreciate that thank
you chief for bringing us to point about
all these great things that your
department and the our Police Department
also uh Chief uh Deandra is really
helping with all of these things thank
you of course thank
you council member in us no comments
from me mayor all right Council we have
a motion a second on the floor please
vote mayor yes sir I just for the record
um I'd like to we know that I'll be
voting no on item number 10e uh 35-1
1804 relating to multif family um
parking requirements in supporting us
very good thank you mayor council member
St I'll be voting on no on 10 n
all right 10 so we have both of those
okay Cel please
vote motion carries unanimously with the
exception of item 10e and 10n all right
thank
you next on our agenda tonight is a
public hearing uh modified system
development
fees so we have
met coming to give us a great
presentation good evening mayor and
Council uh great to be here with you
tonight as we talk about the system
development fee update this is nearing
the last phase of our SDF update process
that we've gone through over many months
so we're getting close to the end and
this is specific to the actual fees that
uh are attributed to the the updated uh
land Improvement and infrastructure
Improvement plan and land use
assumptions that were uh voted in by
mayor and Council in January uh so
tonight we're just going to briefly talk
about the background and program
requirements for the SDF fees the fee
categories and service areas that the
city of Chandler has uh the fee update
summary and then comparisons and and the
remaining project
timeline of course we'll be going
through fairly quickly through this
presentation but it is available to the
public on our website as well as all the
presentations we've done in the past uh
additional information and the uh
specifics on the plan the 100 page
document is available there as well so
all that information is available to
anyone that is interested uh so this SDF
process is governed by Arizona revised
Statute uh and these are the developers
that pay sdfs during the building permit
process I did learn something
interesting about developers as I was
doing a little bit of research uh they
all have a favorite musical group which
is the Carpenters so I found that very
interesting
you've only just begun that's
right uh with these sdfs These are
onetime funding sources that are for
growth related Capital infrastructure so
it cannot be used to fund repairs
operations and maintenance can't be used
for Capital that's not directly
attributed to growth and it must be
infrastructure that's necessary for
public services and directly provides a
benefit for the
developer
okay that one stayed finally uh so why
do we charge Sy development fees well
Chandler is one of the first cities in
the state of Arizona to uh Implement
what was called impact fees at the time
in 1997 and effort to ensure that growth
paid for growth uh these SDF funds
really allow us to provide the
infrastructure that we need at a time in
which we are experiencing rapid growth
and as we had in the 80s 90s early 2000s
uh as the city of Chandler grew we were
able to use these funds for a variety of
purposes
uh if not for these sdfs Chandler would
have had to find alternative sources
Revenue sources either additional Bond
related sources or additional taxes to
fund the needed infrastructure for the
growth uh so really the SDS have allowed
Chandler to keep our taxes low over the
many years that we've had them provide
the capital funding necessary for the
growth that we are experiencing some
examples of what we've done through
arterial streets fire stations police
facilities libraries parks utility
projects and we have a list below of
some of the many things we've been able
to accomplish using SDF fees over the
many
years of course Arizona revised Statute
has some requirements that we must com
uh make sure that we follow the first is
to complete a land use assumption and
infrastructure Improvement plan report
every five years uh we are legally
required now to update our report
January of 2029 as we just adopted the
latest Lua and iip on January of 2024
uh in this new five-year report which
includes updated fee schedules uh we had
public Outreach and a council approval
process we are also required under a
revised Statute to prepare an annual
report and post that online which we do
on our website and we complete a
biannual audit which is also posted on
our website uh and results require a
public hearing for that that audit uh
that has to be prepared by a qualified
professional so we have an outside audit
group that looks and makes sure that all
of the expenditures that were were used
SDF fees were for projects that were in
our report uh and that all the fees
collected were
legitimate we do have several fee
categories we have arterial streets
which has its own unique area in
Chandler we have Parks which has three
service areas in Chandler fire police
and public buildings all have the city
of Chandler as a whole as a service area
and then we also have some fees that are
based on meter size for Water waste
water and reclaimed
water uh this is a a map of our arterial
Street service areas so any developments
that uh go in that darker brown area are
the ones that would pay the a arterial
streets SDF
fee and then for Park service areas we
have three the Northwest Northeast and
Southeast uh primarily the Northwest is
now closed there's no fee in that area
all of the Parks have been built uh
Northeast still has uh Still Remains as
there are some outstanding debt that's
that one's paying off and then the
southeast is the one that you'll see
some increases on because of the
additional Parks that'll be going in uh
in this next year or two mosqu grows
being the
largest uh this chart shows the fee
update with the strikeout of the current
fee and then the new fee underneath uh
and this shows the different fees by
unit or whether they're by square feet
and then for the reclaimed Wastewater
and water it says c table a which is the
next slide which are by uh meter size
again to put this in perspective uh here
are some examples of what some of these
permit costs will do uh for a Northeast
service area development when they pull
a permit uh per dwelling unit for single
family that there's an increase of about
9% in the Southeast service area uh the
increase is more substantial at 28% the
biggest driver there being that that
there are two parks remaining in the
Southeast service area to be built the
SK grows in Lana
Ranch again for the Northeast service
area a multif family uh single family
unit would pay per unit about a 1%
increase whereas in the Southeast
service area because of those Parks uh
driving the increase there of about
36% for commercial or retail SDF permit
examples uh we have actually some good
news for them as their cost would be
going down about
16% whereas for our offices those would
be going up about 26% the primary driver
for offices is the arterial streets they
made some adjustments in the
calculations for the Lua and iip of how
arterial streets are managed for office
specific properties uh which caused an
increase in that that segment of the
cost for the industrial permits those
are going up about 1% uh pretty
flat and then institutional which
include our police fire public buildings
schools those are going up more
substantially at 70% the primary drivers
there arterial Street at a significant
increase again due to the change in how
they calculated the utilization of
streets uh and then all other
non-utility which are like police fire
public buildings actual collections
going
up a significant amount but the dollar
value of that is more is less
significant on these
permits so just a reminder of the
timeline we are under the yellow
highlighted section tonight our public
hearing uh the first read of the
ordinance will come uh before you as
well tonight uh the final adoption of
the ordinance will be in April on April
4th to meet the 30-day requirement
between sessions and then the new fees
would become effective July 1st of 2024
for the developers to pay on it new
projects that start in the new fiscal
year and with that I'd be happy to
answer any questions thank you man
Council any questions understood thanks
so in our Outreach who we reached out to
we reached out to any of the uh
commercial brokers chamber you know like
what's been the feedback on this and I
like what you're doing right it's it's a
fairness play which is good I mean
everybody's paying their fair share if
you will for the development this is for
things that are coming not things that
are here just to be clear yeah yeah
through the mayor council member Stewart
uh for the the outreach program we
reached out to all of the local
developing companies that typically pull
permits with the city of Chandler um
including major uh home owner or home
associations the Builder Association of
Arizona uh commercial Builders of
Arizona and then the major home builders
that pull permits in the city ask them
if they would like to come in and have
discussions with us we had a group
meeting in which we had only five
individuals from that represent the
developers show up to those meetings
they didn't have any questions or have
any issues with it other than they were
appreciative of how conservative our
approach was in how we kind of do our
process uh we did have one specific the
Arizona um Home Builders Association a
representative from them met with us
individually also was very appreciative
of the work that we're doing and the
conservative approach that the city of
Chandler takes so they didn't have any
issues or see any kind of glaring
omissions uh with the work that we're
doing there you know in light of
inflation and everything that's been
going on you know these are really
modest increases and decreases in some
areas so I grateful because at the end
of the day right these get passed on to
the consumer one way or another so I
appreciate you being mindful of that and
keeping it under control so thanks
appreciate the the the Outreach too
y I um I did notice on the I think one
of your last slides that you said
non-institutional including police and
fire so we're in essence we're paying
for those right yes okay to the mayor or
mayor we would pay for those if we pull
a a permit for a new uh construction and
that has an SDF or impact fee upon it we
would pay an increased fee for those
okay yeah just to be clear that we're
we're again I know that also gets uh
passed on but ultimately we're not
exempting oursel from from these fees as
well so any additional comments or
questions from our
Council seeing none is there any
discussion from the
audience
hearing none I'd like to close our
public uh hearing thank you
mat this moves us to our action agenda
and the first item is actually voting on
this so council is there a motion mayor
May council member I
um council
member all right thank you mayor um
there's been some media attention on
we're we're voting on this oh I pardon
I'm sorry I thought you want to make a
motion I thought your arm wrestling for
a motion no I thought we were moving to
the action item we are but this is the
first action okay all right thank
council member Orlando thank you
mayor I'd like to int the introduction
intive adoption of ordinance 5083
amending appendix a of chapter 38 the
Chandler city code to modify certain
Aral Street firep Parks police reclaim
water Wastewater and water development
fees second so we've got a motion by
councilman Orlando second by vice mayor
any comments additionally and mayor just
want to say um this has been a long
process as we all know we've had several
meeting I don't know three or four
meetings on this and certainly
appreciate the the the value of that
process and the stakeholders so uh this
a good one yeah thank you Council please
vote motion carries un
great thank you um next before uh
council member post I'd like to call up
rayin neelson and uh give a presentation
on items 18 19 and
20 I have to
slide
did Matt berdick break it yeah I did
well I was waiting for you to comment on
second best hair in the city
but you are in a class of your own thank
you thank you thank you you you w
talking about Matt right what about my
ballhead uh good evening May and Council
I'm here tonight to talk about agenda
items 18 19 and 20 which are as a result
of the meet and confer ordinance this
ordinance was put into effect in 2004
when the Chandler voters approved the
amendment to our city Charter the meet
and confer ordinance establishes the
employee organization and management
rights as well as those who are able to
participate in the process So currently
we have three Chandler Law Enforcement
Association or CLE Chandler lieutenants
and Sergeant Association or classa and
International Association of
firefighters or iaff
the ordinance establishes the process
that we follow which has allowable
activity so we spend our time talking
about um items like wages hours benefits
and other conditions of employment um
those areas such as Staffing performance
evaluations and other employment actions
uh fall outside of this
process so our goals in the process are
to recognize and reward our employees um
remain competitive in the market to
attract retain quality employees
maintain parity within groups when
possible regardless of the employee
Association and be fiscally responsible
when we're when we are reviewing pay and
benefit packages as well as balancing
City
needs so this process began with a
combined budget briefing to all three
associations done by the Management
Services Department in August the
associations presented to Mayor and
Council in an open meeting at the
beginning of September
we had two executive sessions at the end
of September for Council to provide
staff with Direction on this process and
then we began negotiations at the
beginning of October with tenative
agreements at the end of November
wrapping up the process in December good
Christmas present for us
all so the significant provisions of the
agreements in front of you they are all
a two-year agreement beginning on July 1
2024 expiring June 30 of 2026 six they
include Provisions for 5% Merit
increases for those covered under the
agreements um a market adjustment based
on an analysis that we will do in August
holiday overtime pay um an increase to
the vacation acral and cap contributions
to a post employment Health
Plan and then in the CLE and classa um
agreements we have additional specialty
units that we've added for pay
differentials we've made some minor
adjustments to the compensation Market
methodology in both the classa and fire
agreements and then a one-time incentive
payment of $1,500 per employee each year
of the agreement for those covered um in
the CLE
agreement the current agreement which
began in July of 2022 again expiring
this June of
2024 includes Provisions Merit increase
of 5% for all covered under the
agreement a change to our compensation
Market philosophy moving us from fourth
in the market to third in the market um
again Market increases based on an
analysis done um in that market a
removal of our longevity cap an increase
to the post-employment Health Plan um at
retirement and then additional specialty
units were added to pay differentials in
the classa and CLE agreement a one-time
incentive payment of $2,000 in year one
and an increase to the uniform allowance
again in the classa and Clea agreement
and then on the fire side we had an
increase to the vacation Cash Out limit
prior to that we were again in a
two-year agreement which began July 1 of
2020 uh expiring on June 30th of
2022 which included um Merit increases
of 5% for those eligible mark maret
increases based on the market analysis
we complete in August um this is where
we added specialty pay for those in
certain specialty units in the classa
and CLE agreement and then we increased
shift differential again in both of
those
agreements so tonight before you you
have three agreements for you to vote on
if those are approved our next steps
between now and June are um updates to
our systems and our processes for
implement ation um the provisions go
into effect on July 1 and then we will
complete those Market compensation
surveys again in August of each year of
the agreement with those applicable pay
increases going into effect at that
time so with that if you have any
questions for me happy to answer it all
right council member Stewart you had
requested this thank you mayor can you
go through and thanks for putting this
together I appreciate you doing that I
mean it's so important that we take care
of the men and women that take care of
us it's very important that our Public
Safety feels valued so I have a I have a
handful of questions um can you tell us
what theou cost the taxpayer from the
2020 agreement the 2022 agreement and
then what the cost was for this
agreement for each of
them I am sorry I did not I'm not
prepared to answer that right now I can
get back to you on that I just had the
provisions of the agreement I don't have
the cost in front of me do you know like
you can get back to us with that I can
get back to you on that I I would not
want to speculate because there are
Market adjustments that are included in
that do you have any round numbers on
what it was maybe just two years ago and
what it is this
time I again I don't think I would want
to speculate on that um it would it
would be anywhere from the $2 million
Mark upwards up to about six $6 million
for this year and for agre for for each
or is that everybody combined no each
individual agreement has a different
cost to it so combination of that would
um
yeah is that in the in the she can get
that information to us council member
it's it's available she just wasn't
prepared that question wasn't offered
her yeah this is like one of the biggest
things we do from a contract perspective
for our our men and women of our police
I think it's just important that public
knows what we so real quick uh another
question I have for you is um um do we
do anything like this for maybe this is
a better question for the city manager
do we do anything like this for uh the
generals or the uh like the commanders
and the assistant Chiefs or or the
Chiefs do we do they get this kind of
deal too are they included in this
um you want me to answer this or yeah Mr
mayor council M Stewart um we we
typically offer a benefits package and
some pay adjustments to the general
employees as well as what we call those
or uncovered employees that are not
represented by a labor Association um
historically we have looked at what uh
the um P public safety covered labor
associations have received as part of
this negotiation meet and confer process
and use that to uh make sure that we are
uh applying benefits that are hopefully
competitive to other ranks that are not
covered as well I got you so you
mentioned that we went from fourth to
third with with our folks which is
really good like compared to what like
what they do out there in the is is our
is our um I guess what we call our
leadership team are they in that same
range are they in third for pay compared
to their
peers so we I mean is it all married up
so we're not yep um their methodology or
Market is just a little bit different
because the public safety and those
covered under theou have a very specific
defined Market that we look at and it
includes other um additional things like
the retirement health savings
contribution or deferred compensation so
with our new class and comp philosophy
um we now view the general employees and
we look at the the top 25th percentile
to make adjustments to that and we base
that on the maximum of the pay and
exclude those other things that are
included in the Theus okay so city mayor
is so that that's a policy then we were
in the top 25% with our with our
leadership team as well and is that are
they all in the top 25 compared to the
peer groups that we're comparing our our
U our groups to our our labor groups um
Mr mayor council member Stewart so uh
when we first did the comp and class
study and prepared for that um we
brought that to you in a work session
back in June of
20201 222 excuse me um and that was the
philosophy that Council endorsed at that
time was the 75th percentile philosophy
and that was applied to all positions
that are not covered by one of the labor
agreements so all of our leadership team
was in the top 25% all those positions
were the same time okay with with the
market and that's total comp yeah or is
that just salary um so the max the
maximum of the range yes okay all right
well good I appreciate
that I think that's all I have for you
mayor I mean if if that's in policy I'd
love to see it
I I just haven't seen it but I think I
remember talking about it but we go
through so much stuff here it just would
help me to have that in my back pocket
appreciate it additional questions or
comments council member Orlando you bet
um you know to the residents of Chandler
U there's no secret out there that uh
throughout our nation our Public Safety
officers particularly police officers
are being uh branded uh they're being um
uh
I don't know I I don't want to get into
the the politics but you know we're
having a problem recruiting and
retaining good people for our
officers um this this agreement
tonight uh fixes a lot of things that's
been occurring over the last three years
uh in our city it's allowing us to
retain good officers it's allow us to
recruit good officers it's allowing us
to be competitive so that we can
maintain that compe Edge it's also
allowed us to not only take care of
those officers and again Chief Fire
Chief you're in this too but I want to
allocate our police officers because
they're they're the ones that's
suffering a lot of of slings and arrows
of and taking some beatings out there
um not only takes care of them while
they're uh on uh active employment or
service but it takes care of their
families and you know being a military
guy for 30 years I can't do my job if I
know my family's not being taken care of
this does that this fixes a lot of holes
in there it fixs a lot of Wellness
issues and behavior health issues and
not only that it will uh help those
officers and again fireplace so that
when they do retire because their injury
rate their suicide rate their mental
rate is degreg and phys physical rate is
degreg and there's there's a lot of
effort out there there's a lot of
studies out there this package I have
done a lot of these this is my I don't
know tent this is the best package and
the most concise package that we could
ever offer the men and women that serve
this city every
day we're not ready for you did the mic
drop
listen everybody has questions um as a
military veteran myself you know I
understand you know the sacrifices that
the men and women of our city have to
make each day uh this particular
contract helps us outline those things
that helps them go a little bit further
I would I will refer back to what the
state of the city was uh and what the
mayor shared um to all of our residents
when he said the people of Chann quality
of life when we did a survey came back
99% of the people in chaor supports and
agrees that they have a high quality of
life he also shared that
98% when the survey went out 98% feel
like they are Cared by our First
Responders 98% of our
residents
um 92% feel safe in the city of Chandler
because of our men and women who's
sacrificing who's going out there and
doing their job
94% of residents in the city of Chandler
Fields they have a good return on their
tax dollars and as you heard today we
had an audit by a third party our books
are in line and I'm a financial guy and
every dollar that we've said was going
to be spent for the purpose of our
residents have been spent and has been
accounted for and lastly I'll say this
city services the survey came back and
said 96% of people feel that they are
getting good
Services that's why we do these type of
things because when we're delivering
great service guess what we want our men
and women to feel not just compensated
but they have the support that they have
a mayor in a council in a city that
supports their
efforts I think that this is another way
that we can continue to help our men and
women from our First Responders feel
supported and what we're doing and this
was a long tedious process and we thank
you railin for all the many
conversations the the public gets an
opportunity to weigh in on all these
many different things and you know what
they always say to me I love our Public
Safety our Public Safety is the best I'm
so happy when I see Public Safety out
there smiling and waving because we got
great people working for us in the city
of Chandler and no doubt about that this
is the best place to live work and
playing because we have individuals like
our fire and our police who working
day in day out making sure that you and
I can have this privilege of sitting in
this room having an uninterrupted
meeting and peace and Harmony so with
that I land the plane as a veteran I'm
very proud of our city very proud of our
city manager I'm proud of our mayor and
our counselor you guys are doing the
work Don everyone I love everybody and
you're doing a great job thank
you I was wondering what country we're
were going to with that plan but uh
to remember Alis thank you mayor as the
first responder sitting here this
evening I want to take a moment to
commend you railand for having really
done the work and uh working with the
team that uh was given to you you did
the best that you could to for us to
arrive Where We Are Tonight and it was
not without difficulty I mean we could
sit here and uh pontificate about how
everything was great and everything but
there was a lot of challenges that we
had to overcome whether it was through
the process of understanding what the
needs were and then for us to be able to
have the money to meet those needs and
throughout it all we really remain very
well balanced and I will say that the
people of Chandler or getting worth
whatever it is that they are paying for
at this point want to thank you want to
thank your department for doing all the
work and also I would like to uh thank
the team Clea that spent the time to to
speak with you I personally had a chance
to speak with uh the previous president
and those who were at the table with you
they said this time they felt that there
was more conversation and there were
more amicable way for them to come to
the table in order for them to be able
to talk to you and receive uh and and
come to a compromise for us to arrive
where we are tonight so this is a good
place for us to be right now and I
appreciate all you have done um to make
it happen thank you Miss valin thank you
I appreciate I really relationships with
the association thank you appreciate
that counil we will be voting on these
three separately not a single vote for
our attorney but any other questions
before I tender a a a
motion council member
posted would you like me to make those
when that comes around or can I do that
now you can whatever you would like to
and I'm sorry I'm a little rusty being
up here on the DIA so I jumped the gun a
little bit earlier there so thanks for
your patience
um oops Ray Lin got out of here really
fast that's okay I just wanted to say
thank you for your work I just wanted to
Echo the thank you I know I know that
was a long process and I appreciate that
you put in all the work and and made
this a good process all the way around
so thank you very much um so finally
there's been some conversation about um
my company's work with uh CLE um prior
to my joining Council and and so I just
wanted to clarify for the voters and the
Chandler residents what's been done and
I did want to ask C the attorney um I
didn't take this lightly and so I
approached you more than a year ago when
I first came on Council and asked your
advice on whether there was a conflict
of interest between my company's prior
work and um C so would you just mind
explaining what your opinion was at that
time about a year ago I
believe um mayor if I may uh council
member Poston um when we spoke prior to
you taking the oath of office for the
council position we talked about your um
agreement with the association your
company's agreement and um I did I
believe advise you at that time that if
any matters came before the council
relating to the organization while you
had a contract with them that would
result in a conflict of interest and my
understanding is you terminated that
agreement before you took office okay
and and if I remember your advice
correctly at the time at that time you
said at this point you don't have a vote
in front of you so let's wait and and
address this issue again when you do
have a vote in front of you which is
tonight so for item number 20 could you
please um provide your legal opinion on
whether there is a conflict of interest
for me
tonight again Mr may I may and council
member post then that is correct there
was no nothing for you to vote on in b
the organization that's where the
conflict would have arose um but based
on your representations to me um that
the contract with your company J2 media
has been terminated was terminated over
a year ago um that um you have not pro
J2 media and yourself you have not
provided any compensated services to an
employee organization during your time
on Council that you do not intend to
seek any um contract while you are a
member of council based on these fact
and under a legal analysis under title
38 of the Arizona revised statutes I do
not believe you have a legal conflict of
interests at this time on any of these
agreements okay thank you very much City
attorney and thank you for that comment
tonight and coming prepared with that um
mayor I will be voting in line with the
city attorney's advice on that item okay
thank you Council any other comments
before we make a motion on each of these
three want a motion seeing none uh let's
start the motions all right let's move
uh approve item 18 memor of
understanding Chan lieutenants and
police sergeants Association classa
second all right we have a motion in a
second on on 18 18 yeah oh that was I
would like to make a motion on 19 that
we got to vote on 18 so yeah each one
separately yes okay you did 18 and you
second thank you all right we got that
settled vot
vote Cil before changes before I do vote
I do want to thank uh rayin I do want to
thank our our Union folks that uh I
really thought there was uh just above
board in all the negotiations you guys
were looking out not only for the
interest of uh the people that that you
represent but I I thought there was a
lot of great faith in looking out for
the interests overall of the city as
well and the long terms and looking at
one term that ongoing so I'm just
appreciative of the way that everything
came together this time as well
so motion carries unanimously all right
I someone else do number 19 who wants to
do that all
right a middle motion we passed uh
number 19 and accept it this that second
all right we've got a motion in a second
with our firefighters item 19
motion carries
unanimously all right who wants
20 20 20 vice mayor all right I'll do 20
um I would like to motion memoranda of
understanding for channel law
enforcement uh
Association second so we have a motion
in a second on item number
20 motion carries unanimously all right
that concludes our action next is our
UNS scheduled public
appearance and uh we have a very
extraordinary first presentation for
unscheduled David Payne
[Applause]
Jr and David you have uh well you're
going to be good but you got the three
minutes to share we cannot comment
because this is unscheduled but you you
have the
Flor good evening mayor and Council and
City staff my name is David Payne I am
the son of Officer David Payne who was
killed in land Duty here in the city of
Chandler I am here tonight to not only
speak on my behalf but for everyone else
across Arizona but has lots of loved
ones and or Heroes I would like to
invite you all for this year's fall
officer race on Sunday March third in
downtown Phoenix and don't worry you
don't have to run you can just walk with
my mom soon
last year team team pay 574 received
three medals I was one of them but guess
what not only did my family run the race
with me but council member enas and
councilwoman Ellis came out to join us
too I was indeed a pretty famous guy at
the race because of this my dad deserves
more than a race but we do our best to
honor him and every other Fallen officer
in Arizona every year I would appreciate
your support and look forward to having
the whole team Channel One Day at the L
thank you for all that you do in our
city and a big thank you for my fellow
boo family who protects us
daily thank
you Alexis can you make sure that that
information is presented to us and the
times and locations Etc thank you can we
make sure he gets a little Chandler pin
as well oh you gave one okay got it all
right next in our unscheduled public
appearances uh I've got several uh
related to uh an an a development in
Gilbert if I could and I'm just going to
read them in order um Rosanna Mena again
we cannot comment to you but you have up
to three minutes to share your thoughts
if you so
choose
was Min
yeah I didn't want to the first one yeah
you I'm
sorry just the way they came to me if
you please state your name and address
for the record you have up to three
minutes to share your thoughts we can so
my name is Rosana mana and I am a
resident in ch um Peterson Farms Gilbert
and uh gerine road so I'm just going to
read this paper and and uh be alerted
that gilber is preparing to amend
location South of Southwest uh Germain
Road and muston drive from a general
office to a residential more than 25 to
50 at um to a highdensity
multifam development with a plan area
development to allow for multif family
residential development as a citizen of
Chandler and your constituent I write to
say that I am entirely opposed to this
development which would
disproportionately impact Chandler
neighborhoods and quality of life in key
ways if this is approv in
Gilbert we are not going to be feel
loved in Chandler and we are not going
to feel safe in Chandler I'm just
repeating the words that were said here
before so we are asking Chandler to help
us fight this development that is going
to come to 10 ft from my back yard 10 ft
from my
backyard
um so um it will further create an
incredible influx of traffic on gilber
road and Germain transform our
residential Chandler neighborhoods even
further into high density areas and
bring additional risk of crime to
familyfriendly Road Runner Park just
yards from this developments I fully
expect you to represent me a chanler
resident against gilber plan to encroach
on our beloved communities Chandler and
Gilbert share a long and mandering
border and the citizens of Chandler are
watching to see how you our elected
representatives uphold our interests
moreover if this body fails to preserve
our neighborhood doing nothing against
the encroachment of high density
developments just yards from where we
live we are willing to take political
action with our vote to install stronger
Representatives who Champion the
champion the Chandler
voice exploiting the municipal lines
between Chandler and gilber against
Chandler residents will not become a
president for easy resoning projects
simply because the impacted party does
not live within the lines of others
building projects the citizens of
Chandler will be heard the Gilbert
contact for this proposed resoning is
Nicole Russell thank you
ma'am r
r our next speaker card is Carlos mayor
I have a question real quick to the city
manager okay may I you may okay city
manager from my understanding this
project has nothing to do with Chandler
right um Mr mayor council member Ellis
uh this project is not located within
the boundaries of the city of Chandler
is my understanding it's in the town of
Gilbert so this body would not hear that
case my understanding as well is that
this has actually not been submitted
formally to the town of Gilbert yet I
believe a neighborhood meeting was held
but they have not actually made a formal
application for the rezoning as of yet
is the latest we have heard from the
town of Gilbert um this one will be for
our
attorney since this is a city of Gilbert
issue what is it that do we the mayor
and Council here and Chandler have to do
with
that if I may mayor please council
member Ellis um this body has no
jurisdiction over it development being
proposed in
gilber all right our next speaker is
Carlos Val valo valo thank you I
apologize for butchering your name so
badly and you have up to three minutes
to state your name and address for the
record sir so I'm also a resident of
Pian Farm I've been there since 2003 so
it'll be 21 years in the same home and
it should be noted regarding this
project that AC acoss the street
adjacent to the Chanel neighborhood of
Eagle Glenn one they changed the zoning
to approve the Liv now called The Curve
Apartments to have
356 units on only 19 Acres as well as
the project Town Germain which is going
to have 209 units on 14
acres both of these developments are
adjacent to the city city of Chandler
subdivisions which are single family
homes and they already those
developments in Gilbert are rated at 14
to 25 du per acre or medium density both
of those projects they are now asking to
change the zoning on this parcel the
last piece of land they have left to
develop in that
area to accommodate a
134 units on only 4.4 acres and these
are mostly single bedroom
units this is a change to a residential
25 to 50 du per acre or high
density they are planning two towers of
Apartments four and three stories high
with balconies overlooking the backyards
of our
homes and they only propose a 10t
landscape setback before the parking
starts they do not have enough parking
it's only a 10- foot
setback somebody's got to stand up for
us the city of count Chandler needs to
say you need to listen to our neighbors
because they're your neighbors they're
right next door to you you can't do
whatever you want there just because
they're not subject to your
planning so I asked you guys to get
involved and say hey you need to treat
these people as if they were your own
now I will mention that on the
subdivisions next door they have almost
52 feet of setback so why are they only
giving us
10
so my time is almost up so I leave it at
that but I would like for the city of
Chand to make their Pres known so that
they don't use this project to give the
developer a bunch of money because they
packed as many units as they possibly
could fit in whatever landed remaining
in that
area thank you thank you
sir our next speaker is uh Marcus
Cabrera
Marcus again sir if you please state
your name and address for the record
sure and you have up to three minutes
all right thanks so much Mr Mayor it
seems Council Alexis who put her steps
in tonight um I speak on behalf of my
fellow uh neighbors and your voting
constituents on the same issue uh
Peterson Farms by the way um we're all
from the same area uh so the project um
that we've been talking about here uh
it's going to permanently change
Chandler communities so that's Mr Mayor
the the uh expressed interest in
council's um involvement with this plan
while not in Chandler uh it is going to
permanently change our our border
communities um on behalf of your fellow
Chandler voters um please we ask Mr
Mayor and Council that you work with
Gilbert to stop the project as soon as
you can before it gains further traction
as mentioned in Gilbert uh they they
only have it in a proposed uh committee
it is not up um on one of their agenda
items so they can't take our comments um
formally into consideration although we
have been working with Nicole Russell at
in Gilbert communicating with her um
providing her lists and comments um but
she has no place to to put them on
record since it's not um formally up for
vote yet which is actually a good good
for us because we're hoping that you can
represent us um to work with them to
stop this development um which only
impacts predom well it predominantly
impacts Chandler residents especially
our parks on our access to the freeway
um we understand that this position is
is uh difficult for you and it's Unique
in that it is not pertaining within
Chandler's boundaries um but that's why
we're asking while a difficult position
for you while and a temporary position
for you it is is a permanent position
for us we are we are homeowners we live
in this area um council's come and go
but we will be there forever and so
we're asking for you to be our voice be
our neighbor get involved with us and
work with with Gilbert um which we also
love we love Gilbert um but we need to
work together to make this um livable
for us um they can't just dance along
this this border um and playing these
zoning these zoning games knowing that
the constituency is not their voting
constituency it's another city
constituency
um we ask you to help us essentially
helpless Chandler residents with the
power that we've we've bestowed on you
as voters to represent us um we expect
that you will advocate for our interests
championing the Chandler voice beyond
our City's borders work with Gilbert to
stop this as I said um again our parks
and our streets are going to be impacted
by this development um we ask that you
put the full weight of what makes
Chandler great behind this um stopping
this project or at least having a
dialogue you know we were talking before
this meeting um we're 100% open to uh an
assisted living facility has less
traffic less high density brings jobs
things that a high a three-story high
density complex would not do um so we're
we're open to to dialogue here but we
need your help um I've communicated with
Nicole as I said my time is almost up
but I do have 45 uh names in households
um it would mean a world the world to
them if if you heard what their names
were um I have these here if you're
interested thank you thank you Mr Mayor
and councel thank you sir if you could
bring those over to the clerk yes or to
him thank
you I have one more speaker card I I
believe very
similar Bridget Vega is Bridget Vega
here again if you would please state
your name and address for the
record mine's not on that topic okay and
it might go a little bit over as it is a
community statement on teen violence
good evening mayor and Council for God
has not given us a spirit of fear but of
power love and self-control God is love
we want to take a moment to acknowledge
you mayor and council members for being
a Beacon of Hope during this epidemic of
teen violence I personally want to say
thank you as a Survivor Advocate on the
front lines of human trafficking
Outreach thank you for spending $2.5
million dollars to fight against the
evil of sex trafficking it was nice to
see your council members at the night of
Hope taking a stand to say not in our
city when we don't have all the answers
you have opened your arms to meet the
community to help create Solutions while
acknowledging and taking a stand against
teen violence thank you all for
listening to understand showing
heartfelt condolences empathy aathy
compassion and genuine concern thank you
for leading the way and showing what
true leadership looks like even outside
of the meeting you have brought
awareness and prevention pieces into
multiple events and speeches outside of
the community and these four walls
amidst the
darkness there is a Beacon of Hope and
an amazing community that is not letting
the council members school districts or
police off the hook
17-year-old named Connor Jarnigan he
took a courageous stand against the
narrative in the face of opposition he
spoke out met with members of public
office and gave his testimony showing us
what true courage looks like it has been
said this is the goodness that
17-year-olds can do to wake a up a
community his actions remind us that
courage is possible even in the face of
adversity we must confront the
uncomfortable truth within our
communities we cannot turn a blind eye
to the struggles our teens face every
day from mental health issues to
societal pressures we must address the
underlying issues of Abandonment control
anger alcohol drug abuse that plague
families recovery begins with
acknowledging our faults and seeking
Redemption we must trust in a higher
power humble ourselves and embark on the
Journey of self-improvement only then
can we extend a helping hand to others
and heal our communities let us not be
by standards but agents of upst
standards and change let us commit to
Breaking the cycle of harm and fostering
a community built on love empathy and
accountability together we can create a
brighter future for generations to come
we have no future if we don't protect
the children we have a duty to protect
the innocent if not that blood is on our
hands together we must rise for the
children it starts with one person it
starts with you stand tall and speak
your truth the world will adjust they
cannot take your voice it's never too
late to do what's right as a community
we wanted to see how to go about getting
a teen violence Justice for the Youth in
Preston Lord table for awareness and
prevention at the ostrich Festival
please continue to keep the Lord family
and all the youth who've been murdered
and assaulted mentally sexually and
physically Bridget thank you I'm almost
done two two seconds to the youth we are
sorry for everything you've endured
please know we're here for you you are
enough your voice matters we see you we
hear you we stand by you if we can take
a moment of silence for Preston Lord and
all the youth and those we've lost due
to senseless acts of violence thank
you thank you see something say
something do something rise up
Chandler
city manager before we uh go into our
next set of stuff could you have staff U
just communicate to council any
opportunities in Gilbert to to um speak
regarding this other um possibilities
and and keep us AR breast if there are
speaking junctures that we can help with
our voice on this particular one yes
sir all right that brings us to current
events and uh I'll start
I do want to thank each and every one of
the members of our community who took
time out of their week to attend our
state of the city address last Thursday
or who have con conversely watched it
online our theme what brings people
together is emphasized uh again and
again and uh by the hundreds of folks
that were there and we will continue to
move forward I do want to thank our
staff that are behind this wall uh Stacy
Courtney Julie M Merinda
uh for making this possible and the rest
of Team Chandler the Center for the Arts
and of course I want to thank my fellow
council member for your support in uh
making this awesome as well so it was uh
uh very pleased with the the
presentation and and really the message
that we're able to
communicate secondly uh I was going to
communicate uh budget survey results but
my
uh
so
thirdly oh shouldn't have done that I
threw something away there uh yeah I
thirdly I did have the the chance to uh
attend a groundbreaking today uh
Wedgewood Pharmacy they're going to be
uh moving in about 100,000 square feet
over by airport on uh northrip and uh
cutting its treatments to uh that that
address diseases in animals uh cancers
and others that it would be custom made
and really an incredible group of people
and I'm proud that they're part of our
Innovation node at the airport and we'll
be having a Riven cutting uh expect in
in a year from now and then lastly
before I turn it over to the council um
from my state of the city does anyone
remember what the word struthio means
ostrich ostrich that's why I'm wearing
my ostrich tie the ostrich Festival is
around the corner this is our last
council meeting before it starts and so
get ready for two funfilled weekends at
Tumbleweed Park on March 889 and 10 and
151617 you can see musical guest Shaggy
Big and Rich Young gravy and Chris Lane
to name a few and had you been at our
our disabilities run you could have seen
the the incredible dance team of incus
Ellis Harris and heartkey as we were out
uh doing a Twist yeah so anyway I hope
that you will join us all at our ostrich
festival and lastly did I say lastly
before yeah you did I'm a preacher and
lastly uh this week is in the middle of
uh Engineers week yeah OD you have
nothing to say on this one
sir uh we have many skilled engineers in
our city that keep our city running uh
from our fire department to Public Works
and utilities so thank you to all of our
skilled professionals that make chanler
what it is council member and cus thank
you mayor so last week I had the
privilege to join the mayor and my
fellow council member um Christine Alice
here at the Hartford Sylvan cenus
Elementary School where all 830 students
were surprised with a free new bike this
was all made possible thanks to the
going places and the dean Flores shirts
Foundation which was created in her
honor uh for the former Hartford teacher
uh the big big bike reveal took place on
what would have been her 60th birthday
and it was a beautiful way to honor her
memory and show the love for community
that is so present here in Chandler this
was such an exciting day for our Harford
students and I want to thank everyone
that was involved all the volunteers all
of our uh police officers that help
build those bikes and make this great
event
happen that's all for me
today just one hope you guys all have
one announcement oh my goodness well
well let's talk about a Sand's egg
benefit breakfast it just came out last
Thursday was the annual egg benefit
breakfast this event provided an
opportunity for attendees to support
asend in their mission to change lives
by nourishing Minds bodies and created
connected thriving Community we had a
couple of people there that were so
amazing about the things that they do uh
for the community one of them was almost
a 90y old lady who still volun ering and
then we had another gentleman where his
whole life was changed when asend came
into play to find him a place to live
asense is a very critical Community
partner that provides food boxes
participate in I health program and
facilitates rent and uh utility
assistance to name a few of the services
they provide this Community Partnerships
are vital for the city to do our work
effectively and for our community to
receive the services that they need so
I'm I was very glad to be there and
enjoy you were there with me too con
member was really mayor was there um
council member uh vice mayor Harris your
name was mentioned but you were not
there so thank you for skipping out on
us my next my next announcement was is
about North the musical it's coming
again uh continuing the Black History
Month this celebration this year we're
going to continue with the north the
musical will be features as Chandler at
the Chandler Center for the Arts on
Friday and Saturday I'm planning to be
there on Saturday afternoon so join me
this uplifting story of black power and
perseverance is just one of many
opportunities offered throughout the
month of February to celebrate the
contribution and history of the black
community so we ask you to come out for
more information and to purchase ticket
head down to Chandler
center Chandler Center .org that's said
I thought it was going to be Center
cca.org but it's gendler center.org last
one we have Pastor Victor uh here but uh
Friday night also um it's going to be
the 12 annual African-American banquet
uh last year I received an award as the
first female responder to ever receive
an award from the men of Chandler
organization up they are providing a
great excellent and uh I I will say
more it's going to be a lot of dancing
going on would be yeah y there will be a
lot of dancing so it's going to be
remarkable contribution of outstanding
men who have made a lasting impact on
our community so they always really
bring in young men that's the part that
I'm really U
very I would say happy about because you
always use those young men and give them
Awards to help them move forward and Mr
Cooper is going to be there he's always
MC for them so it's going to be an
amazing evening if you're are not at the
North please make sure that you're at
the musical tomorrow evening you won't
see me but you will see me Saturday
afternoon thank you thank you
mayor I don't know if I should got that
I got multiple call outs
on but I wanted to say thank you to
Pastor Hardy because we tasked him with
the the the incredible opportunity to go
out and make black H black history
happen in the month of February and he
did such a fabulous job stepping up
making it happen and coordinating with
all the different African-American lead
groups and I just want to tell you thank
you so much I'm excited about tomorrow
night I can't wait you know I'm going to
be on the dancing floor so put on the
wobble I'm gonna be wobbling with anyone
that wants to wobble with me thank you
then so so I want to get to my
announcements on Friday I had the
opportunity to co-chair and host the Big
Brothers Big Sister of central a on a
big night Gayla Big Night Out Gayla this
was an incredible experience connecting
with in inspiring mentors and mentees
hearing the work of Big Brothers Big
Sisters doing to help our young people
to reach their full potential uh it was
an amazing opportunity just to kind of
be able to remind people of what it
really means to have a big brother as
you can see my wife and I we was the
co-chairs for it and we helped raise
$430,000 that night night um through
sponsorships and through giving it was
an amazing event it was absolutely it
was sold out actually there was no se it
was Marty gron my wife is Creo so she
really enjoyed that we had the bands
going through it was just a a great time
for us to to celebrate Big Brothers Big
Sister mentees and helping um the the
youth um for tomorrow inspiring them for
tomorrow so also I had the opportunity
this week to speak at various um schools
for Black History Month as well um I
went to I was just I went I've been all
around the valley actually I was in
chanler then I was in a h Phoenix but I
will say this much you know being able
to get opportunity to talk about you
Council ell the first the first black
female to serve on the city council I
talked about you I talked about KY Payne
uh who was the first black mayor I also
talked about uh Phil Westbrook Who was
the uh who was a vice mayor here as well
I also had an opportunity to talk about
um um Mr Foley who also fought Muhammad
Ali but he was a council member as well
so I've been having a great time talking
about the rich history of Chandler as
well as NJ Harris so we continue to have
strong roots grounded with African with
the African-American community and I
just love bragging on what we're doing
in Chandler so this was just another
opportunity for me to brag on those
things thank you all right are you done
I'm done well I'm not planning on
wobbling with you but since I don't know
what it is please let me know if I
accident
wobble I got you council member St
that's fantastic and I think eight
tomorrow at 8 there's the uh black Le
business round table at west alley
barbecue too which is good I hope I
didn't see anybody's
announcement but I want to thank council
member Ellis and vice mayor uh OD Harris
for attending night of Hope with me on
this past Sunday so Mike Gowens the
pastor for bethl church who offered our
prayer this morning or this evening uh
was actually joined several other
pastors from around the valley um at
Grand Canyon University and we spent an
evening um basically shaking our fist at
human traffickers and raising awareness
we brought together law
enforcement um
clergy elected officials and Fighters uh
against this human trafficking epidemic
and uh we are everyone up here is
committed to stamping out human
trafficking in Chandler and there are
several other cities that well there
were 20 other cities that signed a
proclamation um that they're making a
commitment so the the awareness is
elevating folks and we need to be
talking about this and so um I will
continue to serve on the board of night
of Hope and I'll continue to do whatever
I can uh to end human trafficking as we
know it um the last last thing I'll say
is that Chandler and this mayor and
Council and staff has been instrumental
in helping raise awareness and also
provide the funding that's needed uh to
make this happen I know our chief and uh
our officers will continue to work on
that on another note as it relates to
Public Safety Not Public Safety but on
uh uh encouraging our youth our team
Leadership Academy applications are up
and available so we are currently
accepting applications for our 2024 teen
leadership Academy this program is
scheduled for Friday March 15th which
falls over cusd and other school breaks
and will provide Chandler teens inside
look at government this event is planned
by teens for teens so our mayor's youth
commission works all year to plan this
event so make sure it's something that
teens want to attend applications are
accepted on a first come first serve
basis and can be found at
chandleraz.gov
team leadership that's all me mayor
thank you thank you
counc thank you mayor it must be a full
moon tonight I think this is a a Rowdy
Council we're good well this the 13th
annual chanler Innovation fair is
returning this Saturday in fact this the
third year that we've combined with the
students from the channel Unified School
District science fair we used to have
two separate ones about three years ago
we brought them together as even more
successful it'll be from 10:00 a.m. to
2: p.m. in downtown Dr AJ Chandler Park
so the community is invited to come and
explore the business Arts students
innovators in the community as Chandler
participates in the Statewide Arizona
Science Tech festival and I can't wait
to see that rocket launching uh again
this is a free event it offers unique
opportunities to tend explore despies in
our backyard and as it's being free and
as the mayor like to say it's free
parking all right mayor likes look that
so I'm looking forward to come on out on
this Saturday from tended to and enjoy
the beautiful weather and it's really
cool talking to the kids and the
students are so excited about their
project so coming out there and you have
a good time that's all mayor council
member posted just very quickly mayor I
just wanted to say that um this has
probably been a very the most difficult
month for me and my family that I've
ever experienced in my entire life but I
will say that the outpouring of support
from the community and I just want to
specifically thank every member of this
Council because the outpouring of
support from you has been more
meaningful than I think you will ever
know both for myself and for my family
so from all of us I just want to just
give you a very sincere thanks tonight
so I really appreciate
that we're glad to have you back here
with us tonight
too C man are you nothing tonight mayor
thank you all right that concludes our
time