uh welcome again to the Mesa city council meeting for the evening of May the 15th I will note for the record that all of our Council are present for this meeting we will begin this meeting with an invocation offered by Pastor Charles Hart with Cornerstone Church followed by the Pledge of Allegiance so please stand for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance let's pray father you are gracious and merciful your slew to anger and abounding in steadfast love you father are good to all and your mercy is over all that you have made you are faithful in all of your works you uphold all who are falling down you raise up those who are bowed down in the eyes of all look to you father we do recognize that every good and perfect gift comes to us from your good and gracious hand and father we do pray that you would be with those who seek the welfare of this city that you would bless them that you were Grant to them wisdom insight and understanding that you would bless them with unity of mind that you would bless them with humility we pray that your face would continue to shine and smile upon them that you would uphold them and bless them in their work we do pray in Jesus name amen amen thank you Pastor please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flower 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 we do have an item under award recognitions and announcements we have a proclamation to add to our agenda tonight along with some awards I'd like to Proclaim this month May of 2023 as historic preservation month we have a an historic preservation program in Mesa that facilitates an understanding of mace's past it promotes awareness of its architectural and cultural history and preserves that history so future Generations can learn about our unique cultural heritage each year the City Historic preservation board hosts a contest with Mesa students K-12 students who either write an essay or create a video about historic topics selected by the board this year the topics were historic buildings in Mesa historic signs in Mesa and history marker imagine that you are an influencer describing mace's history we're here to present uh we we are pleased to hear that there are four or four contestants but with us tonight to accept the proclamation and talk about more about this contest is Brandon benzing mesa's historic preservation board chair welcome Mr benzing you had a great event over the weekend as well that we were happy to participate in yes thank you mayor Giles and uh again an extended thank you to yourself and vice mayor Heredia the council members and Mr Brady for all your support of the preservation program it continues to grow as mayor Giles mentioned and you know a special thank you to Mayor Giles and council member Duff and council member Freeman and council member spilsbury for attending our event on Saturday it was a small gathering we're hoping to grow it in years to come I got a chance to speak with a few of the members that were in attendance and they were very appreciative of just the visible signs of the the city and their support for preservation and just what it's done especially in the downtown area and how we continue to grow that so they were very welcoming of the words that were shared and very encouraged at where we're headed in that direction so with us today we have one of our contestants and winners and I'd like to add that this year we added a third category which was Visual Arts to it and that is what the contestant we have with us today all our winners are going to be posted online in the historic preservation website and the two visual art pictures are available for viewing at the planning desk in the planning office so I would like to call up Eliana Coldwater she did a marvelous painting of the Buckhorn bass Monument sign and it's very terrific so if you get a chance to either go online and view it when it's posted tomorrow or head over to the planning desk and view it there it is terrific so congratulations Eliana can we get a picture with everyone with Eliana yes let the council let's go down and we'll present the proclamation and congratulate Eliana on uh on her award as well no no no I'll let you off right in congratulations I'm proud of you so I'll hold the proclamation up and do we have everybody here all right all right thank you very much there's [Applause] foreign thank you we're I think we all uh frequently are complimented on the the very uh authentic Rich cultural uh assets we have as a community particularly in our downtown so it's a it's an honor for us to uh to Proclaim uh this month as historic preservation month and we appreciate everyone on our historic preservation board and around the community that takes pride in in the historical assets that we have as a city so thank you for the good work that's being done there next item on our agenda is the consent agenda we invite Mr Kevin Christopher forward to read that agenda good evening mayor and council members these are the items on the consent agenda all items listed with an asterisk will be considered as a group by the city council and will 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 minutes of previous meetings is written item 3A act on liquor license application for American Patriots writers Club One Day event May 26 922 South Country Club Drive item 3B acting liquor license application for lit Smoke Shop 2753 East Broadway Road item 3C accident liquor license application for Tumi 2.0 1245 West Guadalupe Road item 3D act on liquor license application for smoking hot smoke shop 350 West Baseline Road item 4A approving contract for Central Mesa reuse Pipeline and plan improvements pre-construction services and construction manager at risk item 4B ratifying an emergency purchase an establishment of a seven-month term contract with a one-year renewal option using a Cooperative contract for the purchase of gasoline and diesel fuel for the Fleet Services Department item 4C ratifying an emergency purchase of adult and pediatric automated external defibrillator pads for the Mesa firing Medical Department item 4D approving three-year term contract for randox drug screening and testing supplies for the Mesa Police Department item 4E approving three-year term contract with two years of renewal options for the rental of combination sewer cleaner trucks for the Water Resources Department item 4f approving dollar limit increase to the term contract for roofing repair and installation services for the parks recreation and Community facilities Department item 4G approving three-year term contract with two years of renewal options for deceased animal collection services for the community services department item 5A approving resolution extinguishing a 20-foot water line easement located at 3960 South Everton Terrace to allow for placement of a telecom easement item 5B approving resolution to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the town of Queen Creek for installation of the city of Mesa gas line at the intersection of North Ironwood Drive and Easter Main Road item 5c resolution to enter into three separate intergovernmental agreements where the flood controls District of Maricopa County for drainage improvements within the city the city's contribution for all three projects is funded by the highway user Revenue fund item 5D approving resolution to enter into a development agreement for reimbursement for water line improvements with a proposed residential development at 3844 South Hawes Road item 5e has been removed from the consent agenda items 5f and 5G are for approving resolutions for the following pass-through Grant applications to the pasquay Yaki tribe 5s for the gene Lewis boxing club five genes for Desert sounds Performing Arts items 5H through 5l are for approving resolutions for the following pass-through Grant applications to the tahana Odom Nation five ages for the gene Lewis boxing club five eyes for Desert sounds performing arts 5js for Alice Cooper's Rock Solid teen centers 5K is for the Native American fatherhood and families Association in five hours for Unity item 6A introduction of ordinance amending title 6 chapter 10 section 4 of the mesa city code to include prohibitions and restrictions related to marijuana and Parks item 6B introduction of ordinance for zoning case 22-1097 for property located east of Val Vista Drive in the north side of Main Street rezone the planet area development overlay inside planner view to allow for multiple residents development item 6C introduction of ordinance for zoning case 22-1176 for property generally located east of Alma School Road and south of Southern Southern Avenue rezone the new planet area development overlay Council use permit and site plan review to allow for a multiple residence development item 6D introduction of ordinance for zoning case 22-1175 for property located west of Lindsay Road in the south side of Broadway major site plan modifications to allow for a minor automobile vehicle repair facility item 7A introduction of ordinance for zoning case 22-1008 for property located south of Ray Road and West of Ellsworth Road rezone the new planetary development overlay and Council use permit to allow for a commercial and Industrial Development item 8A approving ordinance for zoning case 22-1271 for property located south of Elliott Road and East of Power Road rezone and site plan reviews will allow for commercial development item 8B approving ordinance zoning case 22-1278 for property located north of Germain Road and East of Ellsworth Road major site plan and modifications to allow for an industrial park item 9A has been removed from the consent agenda mayor and council members these are the items on the consent agenda thank you Mr Christopher uh should we have um I'm sorry any requests to speak on an item agenda no request all right thank you I see we have a motion from council member Summers seconded by council member spilsbury please vote thank you the consent agenda passes unanimously first item off of our consent agenda I believe is item 5e this is approving and authorizing the purchase of the real property and improvements located at 6733 East Main Street the authorization the and authorizing the execution of necessary documents related to the purchase council is there a discussion on this Mr Freeman thank you mayor um Mr Barry maybe a question for you on receiving the federal dollars I didn't ask this in the last study session is there a timeline that we have to keep possession of the hotel I see on the page number three that this proposes the city operate at this location for the next five or ten years the timeline rests with the city council's Authority so is there does the federal dollars require a timeline at all or Mr Smith mayor and council member Freeman so the the federal dollars by themselves don't have a specific timeline but we would have the with the treasury they give you sort of three options if you want to basically pay it back um or they or they can as part of a sale or you can pay it back and keep the property additionally there's a an IGA for uh also arpa funds that will come flow through the county the County's IGA will come to council here probably in about a month that IG has initially proposed from the county included a requirement for us to continue to operate it for 10 years we've proposed back to the county some more flexibility where we could have a similar to the arpa where we could pay back the money that they're providing to the city four million dollars and we would be relieved with that requirement so that there isn't a specific specific time frame as a as opposed to just simply paying back the funds yeah so the arpa medis have no timelines attached to them other than what we're creating ourselves correct yes I mean at some point I think it's within about three years after we receive it we'll have to go through an audit so it'd probably be good for us to be in a position to build a show what we've been doing with it okay thank you that's all the question I have thank you Mr Summers I spoke at this on the at the council study session but I'll just make a few brief comments here before the vote well I'm empathetic to the use of this property I the issue for me here on this vote is with the cost we'll be coming back later to discuss console use permit and its operation but the purchase price of this property of 7.44 million dollars exceeds all appraisals and this property sold on the market just two years ago for 3.75 million dollars the city's own appraisal which I was able to get a copy of valued the property here at 6.48 million nearly 1 million dollars less than the proposed purchase price furthermore I asked for a separate appraisal to be done by someone who does commercial real estate if this property were to remain on the market and that property returned a comparable sales approach of 5.2 million dollars and if an income approach reuse the Blended value would be 4.3 so if this were to stay an operating Hotel the price would be somewhere between 4.3 and 5.2 million purchasing this hotel also means requires that we're going to bring on new ongoing general fund expenditure something the city has not done for this purpose the American Rescue plan act the funds that we're using to purchase this price they're guiding principles even emphasize the temporary nature of the arbor funds and advises quote that care should be taken to avoid creating new programs or add-ons to existing programs that require ongoing Financial commitment so I just do not feel that the purchase price of this hotel matches the value as far as so from a fiscally conservative perspective I won't support moving forward thank you Mr Summers I express support for this on on Thursday morning so I'll do so again um homelessness is continuing to grow in our community and across our country anytime I travel particularly to the West Coast or East Coast or Texas I'm always struck by um the universal tent encampments that are located on public property uh we in Arizona are subject to a ninth circuit court case that says that in order for us to enforce urban camping laws we have to have uh offer people Alternatives we have to have shelter beds emergency housing and thus far we've been able to stay ahead of the curve on that and that's why Mesa stands out is looking different than a lot of other cities you see in the United States for us to be able to maintain our ability to enforce those laws we have to continue to provide emergency shelter um and uh so and I I think it's fortuitous that we have these arpa funds kind of a one-time Federal endowment of money that can be used in this way I think going forward years from now we will look back with gratitude that this occurred and that we were able to take a step forward in in providing the facilities that we need to address this situation in our community uh the appraisals and the comparables that have been applied to this building are if you look at it per unit for this purpose they are within the comparables uh that other communities in our area have spent for these types of facilities um the only General funds that I think we anticipate spending on this facility going forward have to do with Public Safety and the police department we spend about eight hundred thousand dollars a year right now uh providing police services for the facilities that we operate right now uh I don't think that's that problem that's money that we're going to spend regardless uh addressing this population and probably less expensive uh if if with this facility than it would be without this facility uh we are fortunate that we'll continue to have money to operate this facility through 2026 and then after that I think we all know that our city manages a lot of Hud money in the in the way of cdbg and home dollars and and those are the so I don't anticipate there'll be City general fund money that will go to the operation that this facility it will be financed the way we we Finance the homeless services in our community and always have so I think this is a great opportunity and I'm very much in favor of proceeding Council any other discussion Ms Pillsbury well I was just going to ask that question are are there any other increase in general funds that councilmer Summers was alluding to that we were aware of besides the police caused no I mean today right so we're doing this today so let's this is not new this is something we're doing today at the Windermere we have federal funds that are helping pay for The Navigators at the location they also help pay for the rent or the water brand the leases at the hotel we cover the rest with general fund dollars you know at some point in the future those decisions will have to be made every year by the council about how we want to fund it we'll have the choice of using the federal allotment of dollars we get to use it for continuing pay for Navigators and the good news here is by purchasing this we won't be leasing these rooms they will already they will be paid for we we just think it's better to be an owner of property than a tenant a property and especially believing we're going to be in this for the long term this seems like a Sound Investment for us to move forward so the public safety dollars the police officer dollars are ineligible under the federal criteria so that's why they're funded under the general fund okay and I I just want to I've been very open and honest about my support of this from the very beginning this isn't currently in my district the current programs in my district and this hotel will also be in my district um I was in support of it even when it wasn't going to be in my district but there's not a lot of other options is what I understand either so I think there probably is a little bit of a case of working with the city and the owner knows that there's not really a way to get around that at this point um for the cost of it but I um I love that our city has this program that we treat each of these individuals as an individual we don't lump them all into a category of the homeless we take each person and look at them as an individual and see what their individual needs are with 74 success rate is just not what other programs have across the country it's been a very successful program the neighborhoods surrounding these the current hotel is appreciative of the 24-hour police press since it's helped decrease crime in in the neighborhood and so that is just an added bonus to this I think but I think that will continue this is about a mile and a half east of the current program so I am in support of this and I appreciate the the work that we're doing to move forward in this process to keep this program going for the people who need it thank you councilmember spilsbury uh thank you for mentioning that this is not a new program we have been operating this program for the last three years and have learned a lot and is it is a a successful program with over 75 well about a 75 success rate in transitioning people into stable housing so um I'm glad that we've developed that expertise Council other discussion Ms stuff yes all right I would like to also express my support for this purchase homelessness is a growing problem and it's it's just getting so big with our cost on housings and and such and we it is urgent that we do something we've been searching for quite a while for a hotel to do this program to get out of the lease rates at the existing hotel are escalating as the economy is turning back and so it makes sense to get into a property that we can own and control the those Baseline costs and provide the service that has a very high success rate and provide solutions to homelessness the cost of homelessness on our society and our public services and and um just the impact on the city and our quality of life here is tremendous so there is an offset here I with the timelines we have to work with and the urgency I am in support of making this purchase thank you thank you Council any additional discussion all right I see we have a motion made by vice mayor Heredia seconded by council member Freeman please vote thank you that passes with four eyes uh Duff Heredia myself and Ms spilsbury next item on our agenda is item 9A this is to take action on the tentative adoption of the fiscal year 2023-24 budget we do have a request to speak from Mr Carrie Davis Mr Davis good evening honorable mayor and city council my name is Carrie Davis I live in Mesa Arizona according to the proposed 2024 budget the city projects general fund resources of 461 million but expenditures of 516 million in other words the city is budgeting to overspend general fund Resources by 55 million if the city budgeted control general fund spending at the same level as the prior year the city would generate a general fund surplus of 9 million the budget projects Utility Fund resources of 467.3 million and expenditures of 240.4 million why is the city charging rate payers 226.9 million more than the cost to provide Utility Services if as previously stated by the mayor and Council the city uses the Utility Fund Surplus to subsidize the general fund in lieu of the primary property tax then the transfer from the Utility Fund should approximate the amount that would be collected for primary property tax of approximately 40 million dollars not a transfer of 126.2 million per the proposed budget page three of the budget projects total operating resources of one billion 542 million but total expenditures of 2 billion 98 million or 556 million more expenditures than resources the overspending Gap is covered by use using 516 million of Reserve balance and 40 million of previous Grant Awards carried over the prior year budget reflected 4 399 employees and Personnel compensation of 569.95 million paid five of the tenant of budget reflects 4620 employees in Personnel compensation of 633.2 million or 137 000 per employee this is an increase of 2 221 employees and 63.7 million over the prior year budget in light of the likelihood of a recession beginning during the 2024 budget year why is the city adding employees instead of trying to control labor costs our Arizona State Legislature recently passed a budget for 2024 lowering the budget by 300 million for the prior year I respectfully request the mayor and city council not approve the tenant of proposed budget and require the city manager to revise the tenant of budget to reduce overspending City resources and balance the budget without using the Reserve balance thank you for your time and consideration thank you Mr Davis and thank you for your participation uh for the last several months we appreciate the the good questions you're asking Council any discussion on this all right uh I'll just say that uh We've we've responded to your uh statements in the past Mr Davis with this is the culmination of months of budget hearings and discussion on this topic so I don't have a lot to add to what's previously been said but I do sincerely appreciate you being here and raising some some important questions uh we have a motion to proceed made by Mr Freeman seconded by vice mayor Heredia please vote thank you that passes unanimously next item on our agenda are items 10A and 10B this is to conduct a public hearing and to take action on a resolution for the annual assessments for the Mesa Town Center improvement district I declare this public hearing open um is mostly do we have any requests to speak from the public on these items no request mayor thank you to any council members wish to address these items I therefore declare the public hearing close is there a motion to approve the resolution for item 10B I see that's been made Thank You by council member Freeman seconded by vice mayor Heredia please vote thank you that passes unanimously uh next item on our agenda is items from citizens present I do have a request to speak from Mr Burrell Farnsworth Mr Farnsworth thank you Mr Brunswick I think you're aware you have three minutes thank you Mr mayor council my concern for the Integrity of this city continues to increase even after I took your advice to see what the Main Street Media had to say on this matter of corruption within the state county and in particular the city of Mesa I am seeking to debunk the allegations made and to support this city but the direction you gave me led me to find that no real investigations have taken place only inquiries whatever that means my findings include Maricopa County Sheriff Penzone who said his office conducted an inquiry not an investigation and the FBI who found the evidence did not meet a predicate for continued investigation it appears that inquiries were shallow at best and with no test of whether statements of money laundering through real estate transactions were valid individual citizens who are fed up and are now seeking through their own investigations to determine whether alleged money laundering through real estate transactions is true or false their findings so far have confirmed phony notary signatures on several high profile political officials along with properties being heavily borrowed against and quickly paid off and remortgaged again within weeks that fits John thaler's accusations to quote Mr thaler who does this mayor when I was here on the 17th of April you mentioned that Mesa had already issued a statement on this subject when I went to the city website the statement that I found is dated April the 18th the day after I was here 404 pm one can only come to one conclusion no one has been willing to conduct an investigation including the city of Mesa the only act performed by anybody is to attack the messenger and report his faults or weaknesses my desire is for transparency and I request again an investigation take place you asked me to come involved and I'm here I volunteer to assist in this investigation to clear the city of Mesa affirm integrity and I request that this subject become an agenda item for that purpose remember Integrity is what you do not what you say you'll do each of you have received tonight and my word is my bond statement I can wait and pick those up from you tonight or you can turn them into Miss Mosley and I'll pick them up from her thank you thank you Mr Farnsworth that concludes 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 aye thank you we are adjourned [Music]