foreign well welcome again to the Mesa city council meeting for March the 20th of 2023. I'll note for the record that all of our Council are present at this meeting we will begin this meeting with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance I'm excited that tonight our Pledge of Allegiance will be led by three of our great local Girl Scouts so I'd invite everyone to please stand for the moment of silence and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you ladies would you please lead us in the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you very much uh a particularly grateful that our Girl Scouts are with us today because of the first item of business that we have today which is uh under Awards and recognitions uh I am excited that today we have one Proclamation on the agenda and I am proud to Proclaim March of this year as women's History Month in Mesa Arizona this month is a celebration of women's contributions to history culture and Society we have a remarkable group of women working at the city of Mesa at every level from Deputy city managers Department directors and Engineers to police officers firefighters electricians and gas inspectors women play a huge role in operating our city and I'd like to recognize them for doing a great job and this is also a very special moment in history for the mesa city council as you all know right now is the first time we've had three women elected to the council and I'd like to offer each of them some time to speak on on the significance of this council member Duff would you like to start yes um thank you very much it is quite exciting when I was elected in 2018 started serving in 2019 I was the only woman on Council during that period so I'm so thrilled to be joining um council member Goforth and council members Pillsbury three of us on Council I am and just thrilled to be able to serve with these phenomenal women and in recognition of women's History Month I'd like to add that today centuries later and inspired by those who came before them women are still showing us the way showing us what's possible and fighting to make our world a safer healthier and more Equitable and just place for all and I I do want to take a moment and say thank you to the Girl Scouts for being here to lead the pledge it is something that I've been wanting for a longest time and I it could be the first time that I've seen in my service that you're leading the pledge so thank you very much for being here your representation is is very meaningful thank you especially in women's History Month thank you council member council member spilsbury yes thank you to our Girl Scouts and I love how tall you are yay tall power I love it I'm you know I had to bring that up um I just also want to say how proud I am to be one of the three women on Mesa city council for the first time in history I have five daughters and with just slightly over half of our Mesa population being a woman it is so important that our voices are represented on the city council and I also want to say a huge thank you to the men in my life who honor women and who have always made me feel like my voice matters and we have men on Council and staff and my husband and and other people in my life who I just think we need to also celebrate the men who help us women shine and and who value our opinions because women believe belong in all places where decisions are made and so I love that we are here and that our voices get to be heard amen thank you uh councilmember Goforth excuse me thank you I would also like to thank the Girl Scouts it's fabulous to have you all here and thank you for coming I I'm honored to serve on the city council to serve the residents of Mesa to serve the women of Mesa I'm honored to serve with these other two amazing women thank you for serving thank you for Paving the way for me we among the three of us we represent a broad spectrum of the women in Mesa we are some of us are wives mothers Community leaders business owners Advocates and so we are we are proud to represent everyone in Mesa including the women of Mesa so I hope this is the beginning of many years of many many women serving on our city council and Leadership roles for the city thank you amen I agree let's go ahead and go down in front of the podium and take this a copy of this a photo of this Proclamation and then we'll begin the business portion of our meeting oh look at that we moved to the middle [Applause] thank you that was a well-deserved Proclamation we all feel great about that moving forward with our agenda next item on the agenda is the consent agenda Mr Christopher would you please come forward and read that for us foreign good evening mayor and council members these are the items on the consent agenda all items with an asterisk will be considered as a group of the city council and we'll be enacted with one motion there will be no separate discussion unless a council member or citizen request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as a separate item item two approval of minutes of previous meetings is written item 3A act on the liquor license application for Super Stop liquor 321 West McKellips Road item 3B at the liquor license application for American Patriots writers Club three-day event March 24th 25th and 26th 922 South Country Club Drive item 3C excellent liquor license application for ultimate imaginations one day event April 1st 55 North Center Street item 3D actual liquor license application for ultimate imaginations won the event April 15th one North McDonald item 3E act on liquor license application for rustic glows events 1458 East Main Street item 3F act on liquor license application for Circle K 824 West Broadway item 3G liquor license application for East Valley firefighter Charities one day event April 1st 4927 East Falcon Drive item 4A approving Mesa City Hall project construction manager at risk guaranteed maximum price number two item 4B approving contract for Southern Avenue and Country Club Drive roadway improvements construction manager at risk item 4C approving contract for water transfer station number two upgrades construction manager at risk guaranteed maximum price number two item 4D approving dollar limit increase to the contractor purchase microwave radio communications equipment and services for the topaz Regional Wireless Cooperative h-60 Public Safety radio expansion site the cost of share between the city of Mesa and the six other members of The Cooperative item 4E approving dollar limit increase to the term contract for electrical services for utilities infrastructure for the Water Resources Department item 4f approving purchase of two cable haulers for the energy resources department as requested by the Fleet Services Department item 4G approving dollar limit increase in one year renewal of the term contract for emergency vehicle equipment and installation services for the fleet services and fire and medical departments item 4H approving use of a Cooperative contract for emergency vehicle equipment and installation services for the fleet services and fire medical departments item 4i approving use of Cooperative contracts for the dollar limit increase to the term contract for Motorola and Kenwood radio equipment parts Network and services for the fire and medical Department item 4J approving use of a Cooperative contract with a 15-month term contract with five years renewal options for Smart City parking Solution Services for downtown Mesa for the Department of innovation and Technology item 4K approving use of a Cooperative contract with the purchase of public Wi-Fi project design and installation for the Department of innovation and Technology the majority of fundings from the American Rescue plan act through Federal allocations in May the two Mesa item 4L approving five-month renewal of the term contract for PC cycle replacement and supplemental computers recognized laptops and tablets for various City departments as requested by the department of innovation and Technology item 4M approving term contract with renewal options for line clearance tree trimming services for mesa's electric service area for the energy resources department item 4 and approving three-year term contract with two years of renewal options for transportation amenity cleaning and repairs for the transportation department item 4-0 approving one-year term contract and four years of renewal options for traffic signposts for the materials Supply Warehouse for the transportation department item 5A approving resolution to enter into an amended and restated development agreement with Chicanos poor La Casa for development of property on the northwest corner of Country Club Drive and Main Street item 5B approving resolution to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with ADOT concerning maintenance responsibilities within the ADOT right-of-way for the sauceman road Ray Road to Warner Road arterial Improvement project item 5c approving resolution to extinguish two public utilities and Facilities easements and a portion of other easements within the 3800 block of East McClellan to accommodate a new residential subdivision item 6A introduction of ordinance regarding a property generally located east of Greenfield Road and south of US-60 rezone with planned area development overlay and site plan review to provide housing accommodations for patients and their families at Banner Gateway Medical Center item 6B has been removed from the consent agenda item 7A approving ordinance regarding zoning case 22-1270 for property generally located west of Country Club Drive and north of Baseline Road rezone of the bonus intensity Zone overlay Council use permit and site plan review to allow for Social Service facility and item 8A approving Subdivision plat for power 42 on property located south Elliott road on the east side of Power Road mayor and council members these are the items on the consent agenda thank you Mr Christopher Ms Mosley do we have any requests to speak on an item that's left on the consent agenda no mayor we have none thank you very much I see that Mr Freeman has made a motion seconded by council member Summers so please vote thank you the vote is unanimous in favor of adopting the consent agenda next item we have first item we have off of the consent agenda is item 6B this is the introduction of an ordinance and setting April the 3rd of this year as the date of the public hearing on this ordinance this ordinance is amending the mesa city code to revise the formal procurement and Council approval threshold and update and modernize the language we do have two requests to speak on this item so gentlemen I invite you forward we have three minutes to eat hear from each of you we'll begin with Carrie Davis welcome Mr Davis good evening honorable mayor and city council my name is Carrie Davis I live at 7963 East Plata Avenue Mesa Arizona agenda item 6B as I understand increases the threshold for city council approval for procurement expenditures from twenty five thousand to one hundred thousand I believe expanding the city manager spending authority to 100 000 without city council approval weakens the city council's ability to exercise prudent fiscal oversight of government expenditures therefore I strongly oppose item 6B and request the mayor and City Council vote no on agenda item 6B I reviewed Macy's 2022 annual comprehensive financial statements and compared them with the cities of Phoenix Tucson Chandler Gilbert and Tempe the city of mesa's net position statement shows that Mesa has the highest level of debt compared with these cities mesa's change in the net position statement reflects that Mesa is the only one of these cities that overspent its General government activity revenues by 55 million dollars none of these other cities overspent their governmental activity revenues instead they all reported surpluses the city of Mesa transferred 115 million dollars from the utility funds to the general governmental activity funds to cover its overspending due to the city's overspending I fail to understand why the city council is considering increasing the city managers spending Authority when it seems to me the city needs to improve fiscal oversight and again I request the mayor and City Council vote no on agenda item 6B I also want to thank those that serve on our Council for the hard work that you do I know that it's a difficult job and you spend a lot of time doing it and I thank you for the service that you provide our community thank you for your time and attention thank you Mr Davis sorry we don't we don't applaud thank you though next is Mr Peter anello good evening mayor and Council Peter anello live in East Mesa and I'm here in opposition of this proposal I believe that I know in my family if I'm going to do anything above a certain limit I have to get agreement with my wife and if you're going to be having the city manager have access to a hundred thousand dollars without oversight from your from your uh committee I think that's wrong I think you need to have input into what the city manager is going to be spending and not giving card blank to spend a hundred thousand dollars that's short and sweet that's all I have to say thank you okay thank you Mr anello um let me just to clarify the kind of set expectations here the what would the vote item agenda item 6B is not the approval of the policy that is being discussed it is setting a hearing for April the 3rd uh and giving public notice that there will be a a hearing at that time to discuss this change so uh the vote tonight is not on the merits of this proposal the vote tonight is on setting the hearing to then have a vote on on the merits of this uh having said that I can't help but uh also remind people that this is this Vote or this this motion is is happening following uh a vote of the citizens of Mesa that approved amending the charter to allow this idea to come forward and yeah the results from the voters was to yes want the city council to address this in an ordinance and to amend the charter so that's what set the stage for for the vote that we'll presuming that we we do set that to public hearing that will vote will be on April the 3rd and so I'm sure we will have additional discussion on the merits of this idea at that public hearing on April the 3rd added a normal Council yes yes and the question was asked by Mr Davis is that at a formal council meeting and yes it is it'll be the first Monday night of April 3rd 5 45 in this room is when that meeting will take place Council any uh any discussion on this item yes Mr Summers I'll do that uh I've expressed concerns about this issue as well and the level of threshold again to reiterate this is just an introduction so this the you get to come back here in a couple weeks if you'd like to and do that uh do that again I'm continuing to collect some information to make an informed decision on what that proper level is because it is a policy decision right so we're we're moving these decisions off to the city manager's office and the question is how much do we want that to be so I'm continuing to work on this I've got more information about this today and requested staff to come out I'd like to thank Mike Kennington or Deputy city manager provided me with some very timely information I appreciate his efforts thank you all right thank you any additional discussion we have a motion from council member Freeman seconded by council member spielsbury please vote that motion passes unanimously so again if you're interested in this topic there will be a a city council public hearing on this proposed ordinance on April the 3rd in this council meeting next item on our agenda is an item item 9A this is to conduct a public hearing prior to the release of the petition for signatures for the annexation case for the proposed Legacy Gateway hotels development located north of East Williams Field Road on the west side of State Route 24. I declare the public hearing open MS Mosley do we have any requests to speak on this item no request mayor thank you do any council members wish to address this item either I then declare the public hearing closed again this is not an item an action item the next item on our agenda is related to this this is items 10A and 10B these are introductions of the annexation and zoning ordinances for the proposed Legacy Gateway hotels development for the development of multiple hotels and a retail pad this is the introduction the public hearing on these ordinances will be on April the 3rd 2023 much like the last agenda item we were discussing at that at that council meeting uh Ms Mosley do we have any requests to speak on agenda items 10A or 10B no requests all right thank you council do we have any any discussion on the side of Mr Summers I'd just like to bring up we did receive one public comment online was in support of the project all right thank you um is there a motion to proceed thank you council member Summers made a motion seconded by council members billsberry please vote and Council investors for for both items to move for both items we'll just do one motion thank you very much if there's no objection we'll ask for a one motion to introduce both of these ordinances so this is for both agenda items 10A and 10B both relating to the same subject matter thank you and the second Mr Ms spilsberries for both 10A and 10B correct thank you that passes unanimously so again that annexation case will be up for a public hearing uh at uh our council meeting on April the 3rd next item on our agenda is items from citizens present I do have two requests to speak you know find them right oh I'm sorry just one request to speak that's why this isn't the wrong State uh Ms Mosley we don't have any other requests to speak to we no just Mr Furniture thank you we'll now hear from Mr Burl Farnsworth Mr Farnsworth welcome back you have three minutes mayor council I think I with the rest of you would agree that the clouds that have been present over Mesa the last many months have brought of much anticipated moisture to our to our community and has the prospect of relieving the concerns that we all have related to the drought conditions that we have all faced but the cloud that I wish to address tonight is basically present with what you viewed when you came into your meeting tonight that may say is covered with a cloud tonight the cloud that I speak of tonight is one that uh is one of Doubt mistrust uncertainty disappointment and a host of other feelings I speak about the claims the laid open three weeks ago regarding 15 elected and employed persons in the city of Mesa government potentially involving activities that are repulsive dishonorable and possibly Criminal I've read many accounts that the that attack The Messengers but have yet to read or hear any statements from those accused denying any or all of the allegations that have been made This Cloud is so thick and dark and ominous that immediate action should be required these just accusations must be investigated and must be determined if there is any validity to them this investigation is necessary for the confidence and the trust of the citizens of Mesa to be restored immediately those individuals whose names are on that list need to respond by public statement to Mesa citizens if there is no guilt the answer will be easily and quickly made the citizens of Mesa deserve to know the truth to not speak is to speak to misspeak is to lie deceive obstruct fail and ultimately make matters worse if there is guilt then there needs to be immediate resignations of all of those who are guilty I'll leave a copy of the public list with a city clerk to become a part of the public record thank you for your time thank you Mr Farnsworth I would love to respond to this but we can't do that because this item is not on our agenda but uh that's tough not to respond to that okay we'll just proceed then um that is all the items on our agenda for this meeting is there a motion to adjourn thank you Mr Freeman and Mr Summers all in favor please say aye aye we are adjourned [Music]