e if I could ask everyone to please take your seats we will get started this evening welcome to the Gilbert Town council meeting for October 24th 2023 I will call this meeting to order as a reminder to please turn off or silent your cell phones and devices I look at council member torguson it's a it's a thing you guys it's okay um the first thing I'd like to do is um invite Amy Keller down to offer the invocation for this evening and Amy thank you for pitch hitting with about an hour's notice we very much appreciate you our Father in heaven we come before thee tonight with gratitude in our hearts for the many blessings that thou has given us we thank thee for our rights and our freedoms and the many opportunities that we enjoy in this country and father we thank thee for the men and women that serve in our military and as our First Responders who frequently risk their lives to protect us and to maintain Law and Order we ask thee to please watch over and bless them and strengthen them Father we thank thee for our elected officials and our Civic leaders many of whom are here tonight who have a great desire to improve our community and who often serve without much compensation or thanks we thank thee for uh our Educators and pray that they will be sustained in this important role as they strive to teach the children in our community we pray for families in our community that they may be strengthened that we may have more love and understanding in our homes um father we know that there is much conflict in our society and in our world and we pray that our hearts may be softened that people will be more willing to listen to one another and to compromise when needed and that we might have more peace in this world we are mindful of all those who are suffering and we pray for those who labor on their behalf we pray that we will take every opportunity to come together and to alleviate suffering and and especially in this holiday season that our hearts will be more generous that we will be willing to share all that thou Hast given us both our material resources and our time and our talents and above all we pray that we might love one another as thou has loved us and we say these things in the name of thy son Jesus Christ amen thank you Amy Amy is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we very much appreciate her and nobody picked on the fact that I said pitch hitting I used a baseball term since the Diamond Backs in game seven just saying um now we will have the Pledge of Allegiance led by Cub Scouts Pack 522 wee below stand if you'll come down to the front and Kirsten will assist you please stand everyone pledge algi 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 all of us can everyone please join us yeah I I offer also gave a gift to the which was a pocket Constitution as a gift from the mayor and Council and I did a little half hour Q&A with them before our first meeting at 5:00 I think I was with them it's hard to keep track of it all but we thank them for coming out and participating this evening now I would like to ask town clerk Herrera if she would please conduct the roll call Mayor Bridget Peterson here vice mayor Kathy tilky here council member Scott Anderson here council member Chuck Bon Giovani here council member Bobby Buckley here council member Yan Kowski here and council member Jim torguson a quorum is present thank you cheli the first item on our agenda this evening is Proclamation declaring October 22nd to October 28th 2023 is Native American internship management week it's Namy to us it is a program that we run here at the town I will be headed down to present to Melanie dystra any Mi participants and grads and any tribal leaders that might be here in attendance Leah coming down Leah look at our Nanny thank you and our Deputy Town manager that really started this program with the town of Gilbert Native American management internship week whereas the Native American management internship program engages motivated and driven students aspiring to influence change within a tribal community and whereas Nami interns develop and Elevate their strategic thinking problem solving and communication skills as they work on executive level research projects complete public speaking presentations and whereas Gilbert recognizes the value in preparing students for success uccessful lives with real world Hands-On experiences and congratulates and thanks the 36 interns who've completed 52 internships over the last 10 years and whereas this year Gilbert celebrates a 10-year partnership with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community who since 2013 have financially supported the internship program through 12% gaming grant funding and whereas Gilbert recognizes and appreciates the fort McDow Yavapai nation and he River Indian Community who have also financially supported the internship program through the 12% gaming grant funding and whereas Gilbert's commitment to this program ensures that not only is a professional Municipal learning experience for indigenous interns provided but also that Gilbert's employees learn and understand local tribal culture and customs and now therefore I Bridget Peterson mayor of the town of Gilbert to hereby recognize the we week of October 22nd through 28th 20 23 as Native American management internship week in Gilbert Arizona and thank the interns for their commitment to the Nami program the local tribes for their condition for their continued support and the staff for their dedication to this invaluable program congratulations so I'd like you all to introduce yourselves and um for our Nami interns if you could tell us what tribe you're with and what years you went through the program here at the town of Gilbert and I'm going to start with you Leah and maybe just a couple words on the program and how you started it thank you mayor Leah reinheimer assistant Town manager um started the program in 2013 in recognition of Gilbert's desire to build authentic meaningful and long-term relationships with the tribal Nations and communities in Arizona and how we could learn from that and offer in exchange an internship opportunity to promote both our cultural growth as well as provide learning opportunity for the interns I'm Ellie D I'm the volunteering Community Resources manager and I get to come along on this program and I do a lot of logistics but really it's the best part of my job where I get to work with all of these uh wonderful folks and we've had great learning experiences and lots of fun and it's really fun every single time we get some um new ones in the door hello um I'm Crystal Franco I'm Yaki and chawa Apache and I now reside in AO Arizona and work for the international sonor and desert Alliance hi my name is Kristen beay and I'm a member of the Navajo Nation and I am currently a management analyst with the town of Gilbert hi everyone my name is Laticia Gilmore I did the Nami internship in um the summer of 2022 I'm a member of the Navajo Nation and I currently work for the city of Chandler hello everybody my name is Burke wheeler I was an intern here in Fall of 20 2013 13 I believe and um I'm from the Navajo Nation and I'm a policy anal analyst for the Bureau of Land Management y um hello my name is Octavia Freeland I'm from the Navajo Nation and I'm a current Nami intern yeah it's a um my name is Tash maain I interned in I believe 2018 2019 um I'm current I'm from the Navajo Nation and I'm currently the grants coordinator for the American Indian Health area health education center um y hello everyone my name is Aiden cus I am a current Nami intern with Octavia um and I am a recent graduate from Arizona State University yeah some impress some impressive young ladies here um we do have men in this program too they just couldn't be here this evening but these are some very impressive Young young ladies and I've worked with a few of them over the years and they have they have really gone off to do some great things within our local community so congratulations for that let's get a photo together who wants to hold this who's here somebody else is here we do okay TAA oh tiisha I can't see that far away tiisha I'm gonna put you on the spot just to have you introduce yourself and tell us what tribe you're with and what you're doing now and if you remember what years you went through our program okay hi good evening everybody I don't know where to stand sorry um hello my name is tyisha Yello hair I actually was an Nami intern here between 2018 and 2019 um I worked on one of the biggest projects of My Life um and without it because of it I was able to Define where I wanted to do with my career so I worked with the family violence unit and reviewed some data um that was able to help the be able to collect data and see data in faster time so um because of that I found my passion for social work and so I in 2019 I ended up graduating with my bachelor's in American Indian studies and then from there I applied for a dual master's degree at Arizona State University and I graduated with my um Master's in social work in 2021 and then I graduated with my masters in public administration in December this this past December in 2022 and yeah and now I work as a senior behavioral health counselor I'm a child's therapist I now work directly with native women and children and I help prevent removal of child uh children from their homes yeah just in time for a photo I'm you go on that side you tried Melanie you tried she's going to try and balance us out right that right conratulations [Applause] next we have a proclamation for alzheim Alzheimer's and caregiver month and if council members Bon Giovani and council member kosi come on come on down they will be presenting to Steve and Amy Adams and the Gilbert Alzheimer's Association and Advocates if you'd all come down and join us in the front this is on thank you where's M can't you tell you know oh my God you're right thank you that was small hey [Applause] buddy you move over and then move you go that way you started out great there you go that way you're in the good light all righty evening everybody this one uh means a lot to me um steveen Amy have been dear friends for a number of years and so with that I have the honor to give the proclamation for Alzheimer's and caregiver month whereas Alzheimer's and related dementia significantly impacts the health and well-being of residents and whereas more than 150,000 arizonans over the year 65 or approximately one in 10 suffer from Alzheimer's and demential related diseases which is why awareness is critically important and whereas in 2022 more than 261,000 arizonas provided 5 11 million hours in unpaid care to their loved ones living with Alzheimer's and related dementia and whereas the town of Gilbert recognizes the importance of Alzheimer's and related dementia care and supports all efforts to educate and support those affected and afflicted by Alzheimer's and related dementia and whereas arizonans are actively engaged in education of the disease advocating for the proper continum care and improve for TR the training and care of patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia and whereas the Gilbert water tower will be lit purple on November 3rd 2023 in honor of Alzheimer's awareness month and and walked to end Alzheimer's and now therefore I Chuck ponani for Bridget Peterson mayor of the town of Gilbert Arizona do hereby Proclaim November 2023 as Alzheimer's and caregiver month in Gilbert and and encourage all residents to learn about Alzheimer's and the related dementia and patient care can I say so well thank you Chuck thank you mayor Peterson thank you for proclaiming November's Alzheimer's awareness and caregivers month my wife Amy was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's a form of dementia 7 years ago thus our commitment to alzheimer's awareness we have lived in Gilbert for 25 years and love living here but then again who wouldn't I mean last year we were ranked the number one place to live in Arizona by ranking Arizona per the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce we have been nationally recognized as the most Pro prosperous City in the nation one of the safest and the best place to raise a family in Arizona Gilbert has an abundance of destination Parks restaurants nightlife business opportunities to that enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors alike but there is one recognition that's missing and that is being recognized as a dementia friendly Community demension friendly Community is a village a town a city a county that is informed safe and respectful of individuals living with dementia their families and caregivers and provide supportive options that Foster quality of life we are currently building a team made up of town leaders experts from both the Alzheimer's Association and banner Alzheimer's families dealing with the disease such as Amy and I and leaders from Sun Lakes the most recently recognized demential friendly community in Arizona I want to give a special shout out to two council members Chuck and young thank you and young earlier today I got a call from Marty Marty province is is the conductor of the gilbertt symphony orchestra Marty informed me that you were instrumental no pun intended um in making the upcoming concert a dementia friendly event that is just very cool and I want to thank you um you'll be hearing more about this program over the coming weeks and thank you again everyone for your support and go ebacs yep yes Mary you want to come up I'm cut space I am sor me you could always be a part of it come on looking forers sor all you guys ready thank thanone thank you sir I will send you all the photos so you can get them to him and I'll send you I'll email you some other photos yeah no worries have a good one next up we have a proclamation declaring October 24th 2023 as youth service day and council member Kowski will be presenting pres ing to Joseph Yang and Sasha revon [Applause] revon whereas Forest teen Unity is committed to the betterment of the community and teen leadership development by helping teens gain practical knowledge about their future careers and helping them find their passion and step into their future and whereas youth volunteer recognition inspired as a community young and old to get involved in the their community and whereas 29.6% of Gilbert's population is under 18 years old and whereas a community's youth serves as a vital source of insight and assistance in community projects and whereas teen students often still find time to come together for their Community while juggling their studies family responsibilities and preparing for Life After High School and whereas experience and a volunteer capacity assists youth in gaining practical knowledge in the life and in the workforce now therefore I young Kowski on behalf of Mayor of town of Gilbert hereby dedicate and Proclaim October 24th 2023 as youth service day in Gilbert Arizona thank you so much mayor and Council for this Proclamation um as she said in as council member Kowski said in the beginning uh this is part of fores te Unity uh part of forina I'm going to let our founder and CEO Betty talk about for Su for just a minute good evening everybody my name is ber Ramirez and um have on organization the name is fores femina and we give you support and um Mentor women and we decide three years ago that we're going to take under our wi um for this te so that's why we have this Young Generation because after all the future of this country is our young generation thank you thank you now with that said I'd be remiss if we don't also recognize every year we like to uh recognize a teen leader that's been exceptional in the community so with that said my name is Joseph Yang I'm the director of for this teen Unity as well as the CEO of the chanler G Asian festival I myself at the age of 12 began serving my local community I started volunteering at the local library and through networking and lots of hard work I'm proud to consider myself a community leader that works hard every day to make this community a better place it is so important and vital that we recognize and appreciate volunteer service to the community because the one thing the most precious thing that anyone can give is their time once you give it there is nothing you can do to ever get that back which is why your time is the most valuable thing you have but what's even more commendable is that at such a young age to give of your time when we all know that teens are already bogged down with extracurricular high school and trying to maintain a healthy social life they healthy social life for them to give even a little amount of their time to me is admirable and commendable when I was 14 I received the presidential volunteer services award so it is a true honor for me now with the support of Mayor and counsel in the town of Gilbert to recognize another teen volunteer with the same award that I received the presidential volunteer service award for the third year in a row it truly is an honor and I'm going to go ahead and read I've got tooo many things in my hands don't I'm a good multitasker I'm not that good though the American story depends not on any one of us not on some of us but on all of us I congratulate you on taking it upon yourself to contribute to the public good and I'm proud to present you with the president's gold volunteer service award in recognition of your 330 hours of service to this great nation throughout our country's history the American story has been stren rened by those who combine an optimism about what can be with the resilience to turn that in Vision into reality I know I'm not alone and recognizing that those who are willing to step up and volunteer in service of community and country are essential to the ongoing work of forming our more perfect union by sharing your time and passion you are helping discover and deliver solutions to the challenges we Face solutions that we need now more than ever we are living in a moment that calls for Hope and light and love hope for our futures light to see our way forward and love for one another through your service you are providing all three on behalf of the American people I extend my heartfelt appreciation to you for your volunteer leadership and I encourage you to continue to answer the call to serve the country the country is counting on you with that said Gilbert is has always been a town of Community Helping one another and kindness so I'm honored to recognize oh and this that was a letter from President Biden sorry should have said that but with that said I'm honored thank you mayor and Council for allowing me to come and do this tonight and recognize for the thir year Sasha revron a teen that is exceptional and Volunteers in our community and I'm going to let you say a few words have to sorry I have to pull up my speech too okay good evening everyone my name is as stated Sasha revon I am a high school sophomore at basis Mesa um I'm very active in my school I miss juneth of 2023 I participate in many clubs such as Model United Nation Multicultural Coalition and student ambassadors just to name a few and I'm also a athlete of track and field and a very active member of my church LifeLink Church um so to be honest I am extremely grateful to be receiving this award today and I've been I guess to talk about my volunteer work I've been volunteering at my church since I was 9 or 10 and volunteering my community as well and from my participation in church to the participation in the worship team community outreach days traveling on mission trips and to now leading Sunday school children in their lessons from a for kindergarten to third grade I feel like volunteering has always been something I've done but not because it looks good or gets accolades or because well because it looks good on a resume but honestly because my parents and everyone in my church and who mentors me has taught me that as a Christian it is one one of the most important things to do is serve but not just that to serve with a willing heart so I guess the sum I'm just here to say that volunteering isn't just about giving our time it's about giving a piece of our hearts to something greater than ourselves it connects us to everyone in our community and it Fosters a sense of belonging and shared responsibility and honestly it's a chance to make a real like tangible difference in our world so I'm hoping that this award serves as a symbol of the importance of volunteering to everyone in here and that it encourages everyone to get involved with our community roll up your sleeves and get out there and surf so thank you that was a wonderful message thank you congratulations we'll take a photo oh Betty's gonna pin her pin on I'm just kidding love you love you [Music] Betty give a sorry Sasha's cheering section ready [Music] [Applause] [Music] Sasha congratulations congratulations for that to our community thank you thank you Miss Miss D bye Joseph nice to [Applause] [Music] [Applause] see next we have a proclamation for veterans week I think I have a member of the veterans Advisory Board here Pamela Rin Smith if you could come down and join me veterans week I'm gon to have to have you start printing these larger for me too veterans week Veterans Day November 11th is an annual holiday to honor and celebrate America's military veterans and began to commemorate the end of World War I hostilities that went into effect on the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and whereas annually November 11th honors America's Veterans for their patriotism love of country and willingness to serve and their sacrifice for the common good and whereas just as their forefathers did America has a ready and capable new generation of military members fighting for justice and safeguarding freedom around the globe and whereas we honor our veterans with ceremonies the week of November 5th through 11th 2023 let our actions honor both those who served and those who whose ultimate sacrifice of their lives ensured our freedoms remain in place and whereas the Gilbert water tower will be lit red white and blue on Saturday November 11th 2023 to honor all who have served our country and whereas 49 veteran banners purchased by Gilbert residents are being are hung in Gilbert's Heritage district from Memorial Day and Veterans Day honoring veterans and now therefore I Bridget Peterson mayor of the town of Gilbert Arizona do hereby proclaim the week of November 5th through 11th 2023 as veterans week and I encourage Gilbert residents to honor and recognize the heroism courage and sacrifice our veterans and thank them for their service I invite Civic and fraternal organizations places of worship schools businesses and the media to support this National observance with commemorative expressions and programs congratulations and thank you thank you for your service [Applause] Pamela there will also be a veterans celebration on Thursday November 9th starting at 5:00 5 o' it but at 3:30 there's a classic car show if you want to come see that and that's all being held at Gilbert regional park down at Higley and Queen Creek roads if you would like to come down and participate there will be food trucks and entertainment and there's always a commemorative speaker that always really doesn't leave a dry eye in the place typically so please come down and join us and make sure to honor our veterans for the week of November 5th and 11th and in Gilbert we do that every day thanks Pamela next we have a presentation recognizing the 2023 MVP Award nominees and winners for the town of Gilbert jacqulyn Parker organizational development manager from the people team please join me oh hi Jacqueline I saw you sitting there yes I'll give you a mic thank you thank you mayor members of council I'm really excited to be here to share some recognition uh here at the town of Gilbert oh thank you I will need that here at the town of Gilbert we are committed to our core values which are driven kind bold and humble and each year we provide employees across the entire organization the opportunity to nominate others who exemplify those values and we do that by them submitting nominations for our MVP Most Valuable Player award for each of those four values this year we had over a hundred nominations from employees across the town and we had a selection committee who anonymously we anonymized all the information and the selection committee chose our four winners which I'm excited to share with you today we provided uh or we presented a a special meeting last month in recognition of those four winners and I'm excited to just share who they are today some of them are in attendance and some of them couldn't make it tonight but as I call your name if you'll please come to the front I'd love to share just the value that you were nominated for and a little tidbit about that and then we'd love at the end to have a picture with the mayor okay here are our four winners for driven kind bold and humble first we have Ashley namore who's not here with us tonight but she is a project manager a program manager in our tax compliance office and she is truly somebody who inspires everyone that she works with and routinely exceeds all the expectations that are set forth before her Ashley is an incredible addition to team Gilbert we also have kalissa Wilkerson who's a police officer here at the town and works with our crisis response unit kalissa was nominated for the value of kind and a couple of the things that were shared about kalissa are that she's really passionate about helping others and in the work that she does that so important and she also does it without wanting any recognition or personal accolades even though we're going to give a little bit of that that to her tonight we have Steven vanzile who's with us as well and he was nominated for our value of bold Stephen works as a fleet supervisor here I'm helping make sure all those trucks are on the road to provide services to our residents and Stephen is known as a leader with a lot of character he's forthright with his staff he's an excellent communicator and he does everything that he can to help everyone that he serves on his team just be the best that they can be and lastly we have Jonathan Blum who's a fire captain and has worked for Gilbert's fire department for quite some time and Jonathan was nominated for the value of humble and here's his peers shared that as a tenear employee here that John is somebody who works really hard and I can vouch for that he's dedicated to his uh service to his people and he's also a lifelong learner um and so we recognize Ashley kalissa Steven and Jonathan as our four win winners for this year's 2023 MVP award as they come up to the front I also just wanted to quickly shout out all of our nominees we're so proud of them some of them are in this room as well um and just continuously provide the Sellar service that we want to provide you uh in our community and to one another as employees here at the town of Gilbert thank you may we'd love to have a picture 2 thank you everyone for letting us get through those proclamations and presentations it's always so wonderful to share all the great things that are going on in our community now we will move on to Communications from citizens and I will pass the mic to vice mayor tki thank you mayor the Gilbert Town Council values citizens comments and input anyone wishing to speak before the council must fill out a request to speak card for each item they wish to speak on and submit it to the town clerk or place it in the bin provided prior to the start of the meeting the communications from citizens portion on the agenda provide citizens an opportunity to identify for the Town Council matters of Interest or concerned related to town government under the provisions of the Arizona open meeting law the Town Council is prohibited from responding to issues that have not been properly noticed therefore the Town Council may only listen to citizens who wish to address them on items at the conclusion of the open call to public response is limited to individual members of the council responding to critic ISM made by those who have addressed the public body asking staff to review a matter or asking that a matter be put on a future agenda the town asks that when your name is called you come forward to the podium state your name and place of residence and then begin speaking all speakers are expected to observe common standards of decorum and courtesy personal attacks political speeches or threats of public action are inappropriate in this forum and may be granted rounds for ending a speaker's time at the podium so at this time um I'll call the first Speaker up and then who will be following that speaker if you'll come forward the first speaker will need to turn on the mic which is the button on the bottom you'll see the red light come on so you'll know that you'll be ready to go and you'll have three minutes first up is Jim freedom and following Jim is James Arthur hello I am Jim Freedom resident of Earth I'm a independent reporter for Street News network uh I stand before you today still waiting on a response of any kind to a public records request I placed on August 15th over 2 months ago I didn't even request audio or video it's just some emails but the the custodians in Gilbert Arizona have thus far been unable or unwilling to produce those documents for me uh and you're here to talk about raising the price significantly I hear tonight so that's funny uh you hold me and everyone else to such a high standard that if we don't fall in line and play along with your decisions you lock us in a cage if we rightfully resist an unethical detainment you will use any means necessary to force our compliance up to and including ending someone's life yet you refuse to hold yourselves to the same standard proof of negligence gets swept under the rug and disappears and any questions asking why get ignored I know the perks of the job up there make it difficult to challenge the status quo but I just wish some of you Mayors and council members across the country would peek your head out of your safety Bubbles and notice what's happening around you the gap between the people and the politicians gets bigger and more insulting every single day if our society collapses it will be directly your fault fault and your grandchildren are going to know that it was your fault how would you feel if you were responsible for the next civil war you've probably never even thought about that from your comfortable positions but I assure you that that is The Logical conclusion when you have a government that holds secret meetings and has secret courts a government that won't even let us speak freely in our own building a government that refuses to produce records of its own actions in a timely manner and a government that doesn't believe the people are boss you don't believe that I'm not saying that you not getting me records is going to cause a civil war I'm saying that you have no idea which straw it will be that will break the camels back if you think my feelings and my opinions represent a minority then you have your head buried too far in the sand I don't expect any of you up there to solve all of society's problems I just want you to start taking Freedom seriously and you can start doing that by respecting the Freedom of Information and producing public records in a reasonable amount of time once you are capable of Performing this most basic task efficiently then people like me will be able to more effectively expose the problems inside our government so we can work to correct it thank you for your time thank you Jim next next up is James Arthur following James is Terry Natty hello my name is James I've lived in downtown Gilbert for over 35 years I'm here to talk also about your proposal to increase the price of public records requests uh state law ARS 9-4 n915 requires you to take multiple steps when assessing an increased fee as you know specifically you must prepare a written report or data that supports the increased fee you have not done this the closest you have come was when Chief Michael suberg wrote a barely over one-page communication not to the people of Gilbert but to the mayor and counsel the communication notes the fee is in order to recover the costs including all personnel and Equipment costs and any relevant costs that will be incurred by the town of Gilbert to process including reviewing transmitting making a copy of and as necessary redacting a video recording public records requests for law enforcement video recordings uh if you're not paying attention that's one long sentence but it is only one sentence there is excuse me it does not come close to being a report that supports the increase it has no data and it falls very short of the spirit of the state law which is to make sure the increases are supported one way to support this increase would be to report the number of Records requests handled last last year the average price per request the amount of overtime paid out for such work um Etc if you can't answer these questions uh you may be violating state law and you do not deserve to even put this to a vote assuming that you'll argue the one sentence from the chief is the report there are many other reasons why this is a bad idea in the last few years here's just some of the things uh that we've accomplished we heard more earlier number four safest city in America number one best city for early retirement number six best city to raise a family uh some of those are in the nation uh our successes are really hard to square with you asking us for more money for our own records it's hard to square with the police department that spent over $1 million on the bike Squad alone this year and spent over $22.5 million on patrol Services asking for more money for our public excuse me asking for more money for our for our public records speaks to poor leadership and poor budget budget management a public-minded council one that uses funds effectively would instead be voting here tonight to make public records cheaper thank you thank you James next up is Terry Natty and following Terry is Tommy Lions good evening my name is Terry natti and I live in a county Island within the Gilbert planning area uh I'm going to speak to an article that was brought to my attention regarding uh Miss Dana burchman uh who is the Gilbert Chief digital officer it's a lovely Q&A article uh but it was the last two paragraphs that really got my attention which read let's go 10 years from now what does a decade look from now look like for you I see my department evolving I've gone from everything from Office of communications to to office of digital government to office of Civic engagement let other people come in invite them in and let them tell you what they think that you're doing not the people that show up at Council meetings or as I say the Pitchfork people that have a grievance but the average person who's Busy Living their lives what do they really think because they do care a lot about these issues whether it's Parks or their school in the future we know that everyone is passionate about the same things but we often don't create spaces which is wonderful and lovely but I really have an issue with the Pitchfork people words have meaning words have power I often tell my Scouts that Scouts that were up here tonight I'm affiliated with that group my son my employees words have meaning words have power I'm pretty sure that she didn't mean foram Devils that kind of pitchfork I am a Asm by the way pretty sure she wasn't talking about our farm routs with American Gothic not that Pitchfork but I did run that Pitchfork this weekend as well pretty sure she was talking about angry mob Pitchfork with the Torches and stuff um I really I don't like to take offence to words cuz that seems silly to me but you all have this like track record of having awesome staff that I've told you is absolutely Liars manipulative and now condescending to add to that which is great so uh on the the subject of words have power uh on the OKO widening this the words that I'm going to mention are uh an a case of first impression and I'm really looking forward to how that works out because as far as I can see this David versus Goliath I got a lot of people back in David thank you Terry next up is Tommy Lions hello uh my name is Tommy Lions a resident of Gilbert uh I was here in the beginning of August to speak of a concern with a traffic violation of people going the wrong way through a one-way uh driveway off of Picos by Val Vista and I just wanted to come by and say thank you to the council for not only hearing my complaint but actually listening to me and having it addressed through the appropriate channels I don't know all the aspects that are involved with it whether how many uh different departments were involved or the police specifically but am very happy to say that in just 6 weeks actually implemented not one but all of my recommendations just short of the oneway severe spike strips uh but it was a lot to have my voice seemingly go falling on deaf ears through multiple attempts and it was this Council that did have something come of it so want to say to my fellow residents here today uh that I cannot I know that different issues have different complications and length of time so I cannot speak to how fast things are resolved but that if you do have a concern or issue to bring it to the council uh that you are heard and that one voice can make a difference and again thank you thank you very much Tommy any comments from Council no thank you mayor then I'll turn it back and thank you vice mayor um moving on to our consent calendar I turn it right back over to you vice mayor thank you mayor um on our consent agenda today uh we will be pulling item 22 council member Tason we have a note that item 31 was pulled from the consent agenda in item 38 there was a correction in the dollar amount in 38b for $100,000 um with that I would like to make a motion to approve items 6 through 21 23 through 30 32 through 44 with those Corrections we have a motion by vice mayor do we have a second second second by council member Kowski please vote motion passes 70 on to item 22 Yeah May um mayor item 22 council member torguson requested that to be pulled did you want a a a staff report okay yeah thanks thank you mayor vice mayor if I could ask Susanna strubel excuse me this is the first time of standing in front of of you for a while so thank you um good evening U mayor and and council members um tonight we have before you um the um GMP for uh moving forward with construction for the um st99 project okao Road uh we're moving forward with that um it will include all of the road rideway um en enhancements as well as the road itself and uh sewer line as well um that will be improved with this project and moving forward and addition to that we have a couple of change orders that are moving forward on this project as well sorry I'm going to grab my notes here um the change orders that we have um before you will be one that is the increase for CM services this project has taken us quite some time to get to this point in construction the work that we're looking at right now is to um finish the construction we are estimating about a three-year time frame to complete that work will um begin at this point in time around November 10th with some survey and then moving into construction a little bit within probably 8 8we time frame um into construction on the rights away um clearance that we need to do um as as we have U moved forward with the with the design and the and the property acquisition we also will have a change order to our Design Group which was their effort that was necessary to support us as we were moving through the design and the um longevity of of that design as well as the acquisition of the property we also have a professional construction or Consulting Services contract in front of you tonight um with energer construction um which is allowing us to do some quality assurance and quality control with geotechnical testing to make sure that we're uh meeting the the compaction requirements Etc on the project as it moves forward um and I'm open for any questions after to that thanks Susanna council member torguson I am curious how how far over or under budget is this and the property acquisition associated with it um a great question I don't know that I have that answer right on top of it but um we have been negotiating it through we are asking for a contingency tonight of about $1 million that contingency includes bringing some money that is programmed for next year to do the sewer which is about $5 million the other $6 million that the a contingency which would be an increase in that overall budget for the project which includes the the construction and and the RightWay acquisition that is is really just escalation from the time frame of when we estimated this project to where we are today thank you any other questions council member bonani thank you mayor um sozan um change order C on here for $812,000 can you explain um um what does that entail what that basically entails is for the contractor to move or not the contractor our our Professional Services contract or uh contract with a firm that does construction management um of the project they have been with us from the beginning of the project during design to make sure that things were were being done in accordance with the expectations of the project they've also supported um the discussions with the contractor as well as the designer and the property owners as we went through there um this $800,000 that you see right here will be taking us through 3 years of construction for them to oversee that construction as it goes goes um forward um can they miss the mark to begin with or are we asking them to do more things we're asking them to do a few more things we did um it was really we estimated a shorter time window for the actual construction the original estimate was based off of that shorter time frame we now are seeing that that's really a threeyear Long window that we're going to have to go through to do this we probably estimated closer to about a year year and a half um initially with that and so we are really increasing it from that perspective thank you thank you mayor any other questions for Susanna council member Anderson Susanna our um neighboring communities experiencing the same type of inflation issues that this reflects I'm assuming that's what we're talking about is inflation and time which is really costing us a lot of money yeah that that that really is what we're seeing throughout the throughout the industry right now on almost every one of our CIP projects we have sat on several panels along with other adjacent communities throughout the state as well as just immediately here in the East Valley that have also basically indicated they're seeing very very similar in these cost increases um and somewhere between 30 to 45% um is what we've seen in the last one to two years thank you any other questions for Susanna unfortunately that's a common theme right now in every committee that I sit on would anyone like to make a motion on this item or more discussion mayor mayor I'll make a motion to approve have a motion by vice mayor do I have a second second by council member Buckley please vote motion passes 70 thanks Susanna thank you moving on to the next portion of our agenda thanks vice mayor for handling consent moving on to the public hearing portion of our agenda items will be heard at one public hearing at which time anyone wishing to comment on the public hearing May item may do so we have three liquor licenses an annexation and a general plan zoning item on our public hearing agenda would anyone like I'll open the public hearing would anyone like a separate presentation on any of these mayor I just like a staff report on 4849 on the GP zoning and the annexation okay then I will go ahead and close the public meeting and entertain a motion for items 454 6 and 47 the three liquor licenses moved by council member torguson anyone else would like a second uh second by council member Buckley please vote oh mine didn't go through sorry my screen is different and motion passes 70 moving on to the next two items on our agenda opening the public hearing annexation a 22- 02 and um if staff if we could have a short presentation on that item and moving right into GP 2211 and Z 2210 hi mayor Peterson members of the council good evening if you don't mind I'll just present these uh three cases all at once that would be perfect okay so the bellastoria project um is uh first slide is um the location of the project is is located at the northwest corner of power and williamsfield Roads you can see that highlighted on the screen in front of you and I and I've got on the on this aerial map some context of the surrounding properties in the area um single family fure fields to the north um West you've got um some existing multif family to the to the West as well um and then some more single family to the southwest and Commercial to the South and to the north you have um some business park and some u a little bit of commercial zoning so I just wanted to to show you this graphic so you can get a little context of what uses are surrounding this uh project area so as far as the requests are concerned as you've already stated there's an annexation on uh 74 about 74 Acres a general plan Amendment for only about 11 .6 Acres of the project and then a pad rezone with with a few deviations on on the remaining um about 73 uh acres and you'll notice in your report as you probably read through these documents there's a lot of um where where the acreages go up and down it's different for the rezone than it is the P than the general plan and the annexation that's because the boundaries are different because there's some existing zoning already along Road and some along williamsfield roads so that's why there's a bunch of differences in the acreages but overall as far as the annexation is concerned it's a little little over 74 anres uh Acres excuse me the blank petition was filed in May of this past year we have received those signature the signature from the property owner already and on June 6th I brought this annexation item before you and the first hearing and and only input was was required at that time and there was no moot so I just wanted to show you this annexation exhibit really quickly bringing this project in from Maricopa County um existing General plan um I really like this exhibit because it shows it breaks down um and shows you very in a very simple manner of all the general plan designations that currently exist on the site so you can see there's about 4 and 1/2 acres of General commercial up on the up in the northeast corner and then the large swath of um uh residential 14 to 25 dwelling units per acre in the middle and and then about 19 Acres or so of General commercial as along power and williamsfield Roads so what the applicant is proposing to do with this General plan amendment is that piece up in the northeast corner that's General commercial they're proposing to change that to multif family or or not multif family excuse me residential 14 to 25 dwelling units per acre and then you can see it kind of gets a little funky as you get um closer to the South part of the site and and like I stated earlier it's only about 11 and a half acres of the general plan Amendment change thank you um so you have a portion of this I'll go back that red portion that West portion of the red about um 6 Acres of that is being changed from General commercial to oop excuse me to um residential 14 to 25 and then you have these little teeny pieces of little 0.119 acre piece and then .003 that are changing as well um don't ask me why uh that's just the way they drew the boundaries and those needed to change and then there's a little sliver right at the intersection close to the intersection of power in williamsfield road that we found out has never been um General planned so we're going to General plan it don't know how that happened but it did so we're fixing it so that's basically the general plan so it's only about 11 1/2 acres um as far as exist existing zoning on the side is is County Rural 43 zoning and we're proposing to change that I know this one's not the the beautiful color exhibit but we're proposing to change that to you can see the multif family medium about 13 acres along power and williamsfield or Power Road excuse me for for a multif family project and then and then at the corner of power in williamsfield is is is General commercial which that's just shrinking the original General commercial um and then of course um multif Family medium along Power Road excuse me williamsfield road and then towards the north half of the project um there's some single family um attached and detached which is very similar to some of the developments you see in the area already that that are to the West in station so the proposed development plan here's the black and white version but I like to uh reference the the pretty picture so I'm going to show you the pretty picture next this is a lot easier to kind of digest and understand excuse me um this uh what's happening in this proposed development plan so the project got something in my throat excuse me is about 73 Acres um that's the portion that's being rezoned 73 Acres about about 60 Acres of residential and I've already talked about the single family portion and then the multif family portions and all of that residential total is about 14.3 dwelling units per acre for the whole entire project but if you break it down a little bit the multifam pieces are about 20 acres each multif family 20 dwell units per acre for each multif family piece and then the residential towards the back the single family is about a little over seven seven dwelling units per acre but we obviously averaged that all out we took the density of the whole project or the acreage of the whole project and came up with that 14 dwelling units per acre as a whole so there's um 28 Acres of multifam in total with 628 units and I wanted to point out that there is a typo in my staff report that says like 800 um 8 um 209 something units I just mixed up the numbers it looks like but that that's actually 628 units of multif family and then there's um 32 Acres a single family which consists of of 238 lots and the lot sizes vary on those but they're about some of them are about 47 ft wide um the lot sizes but those will be finalized exactly when they come in for preliminary platting but there's various slot sizes in that SFA and sfd portions and then you have 13 acres of commercial on the corner at Power in williamsfield which equates to about about 100,000 square ft of of commercial space in um shops and things along the streets along the roadways along power and williamsfield and then a little Village Center kind of towards the west side of the project but we worked really hard with the applicant to try and place all of the buildings along the streets along power and williamsfield to create a more neotraditional type of walkable pedestrian friendly streetscape environment and in and in addition to that the multif family projects even though they are kind of more traditional multif family we did uh work hard with the applicant to place those buildings up along the roadway frontages to create that pedestrian friendly environment that that is more prevalent in coie station um all of those units the residential units for the apartments will have or a majority of them will have access straight from the apartment unit on the ground floor out to each roadway and the the commercial will also have access from the street straight to the to the building as well so here's some site renderings I just wanted to show you this is kind of the view looking at the kind of the corner of power in williamsfield and you can see these are the commercial buildings right at the corner you can see this nice obviously this is kind of um it's not finalized and it's not to scale so this is kind of the view of what it could look like from the power in williamsfield intersection and then here's another view on williamsfield road looking at the commercial and you can see this really cool uh kind of Village Center that has the applicant has created and you can see the integration between the multifam and the Village Center kind of commercial area which will have a kind of a plaza for and have some amenities in that Plaza so we worked really hard with the applicant to create a high level of integration between the multif family and the commercial to kind of maintain that station even though this is not in station but that Gateway character area Vibe here that that we're trying to create um and then this is the street hascal street uh that that kind of continues on it goes through station and continues through this project and you can see the relationship between the apartments and the street and then the single family on the north side in the street as well which there will be parking along that street which is very similar which is similar to what is in kolie station to to the West so as far as the deviations are concerned there's a few deviations um in the commercial zoning District they want to go um from 25 down to 20 ft for the building setbacks along Power Road for the the landscaping and the um building setbacks and then at the arterial Corner intersection which is normally 50 x 250 they want to go to 20 20 ft wide but they're still going to have a big Plaza in between the buildings so staff felt that that was appropriate and then for sfd lot sizes will decre they're proposing a 200 um square foot decrease in lot size and then also um lot coverage up to 52% from 50% and then the SFA and they're only requesting one deviation in the SFA zoning District separation between buildings to decrease that by 5 ft so that's basically the deviations which staff is supportive of now I did want to make note that the buildings in the residential the multif family portion um I'll go back to this table right oh I don't have the MFM table because it's in your staff report because it's not a deviation but in the MFM table in your staff report you'll notice that building Heights are allowed are up to 56 ft in in this in this area because if they're they're within a ver overlay District which allows buildings to go taller so um and also in that's in that report you'll notice and you may have caught this but I put that there in the staff report I showed that there was a Dev deviation in MFM for for landscape setback from from 20 to 30 feet which that's a typo they they're not proposing any deviations for the multif family medium so I just wanted to bring that to your attention so that is um my presentation um oh sorry public notification participation I forgot I apologize that we held the applicant held two neighborhood meetings one that uh was required and that was on January 27th there were a few people residents who showed up and they just had some general concerns uh or not General concerns but questions about the grocery store or a grocery store if there's one provided and questions about the two with two homes will be proposed they were all in support and then also the applicant held another neighborhood meeting that wasn't required but they did it out of their own free will and they had four surrounding Property Owners attend and they were all in support but since the writing of the staff reports um Town staff has not received one phone call from surrounding residents throughout the whole process so as a result um staff recommends that you approve the annexation the minor General plan Amendment and the rezone subject to all of the conditions and if you have any questions I'm available I believe Ralph Pew the applicant's here tonight and he may have a a short presentation if you if you wish to allow him to do that um but that that's it thank you very much for your time thanks Keith um does anyone have any questions for Keith at this time fit mayor thank you mayor um Keith thank you so much for your presentation I always like to be able to have this public view of the um these type of cases that come before us um you know there's a lot of history in this piece of land and even though it wasn't part of Gilbert at the time um Mr delloo had a cosmos restaurant there on the corner and it was the go-to place and uh he just a wonderful family and I'm I'm glad to see them come in with such a nice project there was a lot of concern conc ER from the family I know when Power Road was divided there many years ago and I think that this fits very well um for that entrance into Gilbert um and saying that I I really want to make sure that it is showcased as an entrance into Gilbert people flying in to the airport there that's going to be one of the first things they see when they come out of the airport so hopefully um you will be able to work with the applicant to make sure that is something of a showcase for us um and the project um I don't have any questions of the applicant or for you I just wanted to make those few comments thank you thank you thank you vice mayor um I wanted to mention that Keith you mentioned that you hadn't heard from any of the public I have no online public comments and we have no slips from anyone in the public wishing to speak on this item tonight does anyone would anyone like to have a presentation from the developer or or are we good the zoning attorney council member Anderson you can't let Ralph get away with not making a presentation but if you bring him down you realize it could be long I'm just pointing that up that's that's up to him even longer than mine we would be happy to have Mr Pew come down and keep it to a Reader's Digest version please Mr Pew it sounds like we don't have a lot of concerns is that better thank you mayor it'll be shorter than reader digest Ralph Pew here tonight on behalf of uh Franchesca and Vince muscarello who are The Heirs and the managers of the business that was uh Cosmo Della as you so happly mentioned vice mayor I've always wanted to say this at the turn of the century this property was designated for multif family development medium density and Commercial and we bring to you tonight the completion of that process the entry to the Gateway area it's been in the town's plan that long and thanks to the staff we've been working on this case with them for a long time to create all the connections that you see we urge your support and approval but it has been since the turn of the century thank you mayor we urge your support thanks Ralph does anyone have any questions for Mr Pew council member Buckley yeah uh I I don't really have any questions I I I just wanted to say thank you to Mr Nome who answered all my questions to save Ralph all this time today thank you thanks for that council member okay I will go ahead and close the public hearing bring it back to the dis for a motion they'll have to be done separately one for the annexation one for the GP and one for the zoning would anyone like to tackle them I motion to approve the annexation so we have a motion to approve the annexation by council member Buckley can I have a second I'll second second by council member banani please vote the annexation passes 70 now if I could have a motion for the GP 22-11 mayor do we have to do each of those separate I would do each of them separately please um I'll make a motion to approve General plan GP 2211 can I have a second second I have a motion by vice mayor tilki a second by council member Anderson please vote and that passes 70 now moving on to the zoning would someone like to tackle z 22-10 may I'll do that thank you um I'd like to to make a motion to approve zoning case z 22-10 can I have a second I'll second it I have a motion by Vice May toi seconded by council member Bon Giovani please vote motion passes 70 I think that's the shortest presentation I've ever seen from you Mr Pew and I appreciate it have a great evening moving on to our administrative items boards commissions and committees do we have any reports from Council liaison for any of these items oh Council M kosi I just want to make note that the Public Works Advisory Board is off to a great start they've been meeting every two weeks for the past couple of months they're um working on some important topics related to our water and wastewater rates um which we will hear at our fall retreat but just wanted to um thank you for your efforts and support of that board and uh for the public those are published um on the website and the next one is on Monday thank you for that any other comments from leaon moving on to policy items item number 51 policy item 2012-05 consider approval of amendment to the council policy number 2012-05 regarding electronic equipment and services policy for elected and appointed officials and members of boards commissions and committees does anybody require a presentation on this no would anyone like to does anyone have any comments on this seeing none would anyone like to make a motion on this move to approve um council member torguson moves to approve can I have a second I have a second by council member Buckley please vote and that motion passes 70 moving on to Communications report from the town manager on current events thank you mayor members of the council a couple items tonight first want to recognize a Parks and Recreation longtime volunteer Theona Vivio She was recently named volunteer of the Year by the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association and abc5 aired a segment yesterday on our award and service the owner volunteers that they raran preserve and Gilbert Community Center and has been a vital team member for uh caring for our Gilbert Community uh over many many years I also wanted to once again congratulate and thank all of our MPV winners for uh embodying the town's value and everything they do and the recognition of that by their peers also um additional appreciation to Leah reinheimer for the Nami program that's in its 10th year for the town it's been incredibly enriching for us as an organization uh hopefully for them as well and they have done some really critical and vital projects for that which for which we're very grateful thank you mayor thanks Patrick moving on to report um from the Council on current events anybody have vice mayor thank you mayor um just want to remind everyone that this October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to take a moment just to acknowledge all of the loved ones that have survived breast cancer and to remind those that we do love to have an Danel mamogram thank you mayor that's a great reminder um vice mayor um lost my own mother to breast cancer um does anyone have any updates from council members on current events seeing none I have a couple I have and I and I want to just point out thank you for everybody sitting through the presentations and proclamations tonight when you only have one meeting in a month and this is our only meeting for October we get backed up and we have everything to present on one evening so I have a couple of updates too um I wanted to from the faith summit that we held last week I wanted to thank Chief Michael soberg and chief Rob Dugen for joining me on a panel appreciate your time and your insight into the community and then Pastor Eric Jones for co-moderating with me Pastor Tim Thompson Noah Thompson Jared Everton Amy Keller and Rabbi shimmy for praying over our Public Safety our town our youth our country and Israel um a quote by Pastor Thompson that day that resonated with the group was the only only thing necessary for the Triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing I also wanted to point out that the on Thursday October 26th from 5:30 to 7:30 at 75 East Civic Center driveway which is the Gilbert police station across the street please join us for Gilbert's inaugural domestic violence awareness night an evening dedicated to Bringing awareness to the societal impacts of domestic violence the event will feature a series of speakers including stories from a domestic violent Survivor a ribbon tying ceremony educational materials and resources from local organizations and local food trucks on Friday October 27th at 4 p.m. join us at the Gilbert Fire Station 2 located at 2855 East Guadalupe Road for the unveiling of Arizona's first electric firetruck during a community pushin ceremony if you haven't attended one of these ceremonies before it is a really fun ceremony to bring your kids and grandkids to the fire department hoses down the fire engine and we then push the fire engine into the station and we all get cloths to wipe the engine down and it's pretty Chief's down there shaking his hand it's a pretty fun event to be able to do and um I I have to say that I was I was leery to even bring this event up tonight because I've been disappointed with the reaction that I've seen online about this electric fire engine I'm I'm disappointed that a topic like electric vehicles has become so divisive within the public when not only gilberton but so many people around the world are really embracing electric vehicles and and it's we're not telling you you have to I don't have one I'm not promoting them in any way but I think it's become a very popular item and I think it's something that's potentially here to stay and I'll tell you because I'm on the transportation policy committee I know that when gas engine Vehicles came out gas stations were picketed because people didn't want gas stations in their neighborhoods and in their towns and in their cities so let's find a way to embrace the options and the right that we have to have those options whether it's in our town or this County or this state or this country okay I'll jump off my Soap Box um remind you all that Student Government applications are open for our high school kids right now they get an opportunity to come in and Shadow the employees of the town and most people if you ask them who works for the town of Gilbert they'll say police officers firefighters and garbage truck drivers there are a lot of people that help Run This Town on a daily basis and this gives our teens an opportunity to come in and Shadow those folks and find out what the opportunities are for them to come in and have shoot your careers here in their own Community or maybe a community that's surrounding us so look for that at gilber da.gov slsg for Student Government day and Halloween is next Tuesday I just want to say have fun and be safe and drivers please drive with care and caution and watch for trick-or Traders yes oh mayor yes council member kovski would you like to make a comment yes we have one more announcement to make and that um as a liaison to Gilbert sister cities I wanted to mention that our student ambassador program is open and this is an um extremely valuable program for the students and for the community more information can be found at Gilbert sister cities.com uh the application are due on October 30th and there's an application information and etiquette Clinic um this Thursday October 26th at 700 p.m. at Sona Ranch Elementary so if you have a junior in high school attending any High School um in Gilbert or if you're a resident of Gilbert you can apply to this program and four uh amazing students get selected to uh go on a really enriching trip next summer but those applications are open so thank you thank you council member I meant to add it to my notes and it slipped my mind so I appreciate that one more thing before I forget council member Anderson's birthday was last week so we have a card for you sir and we have Donuts in the back room so everybody grab a donut and um bottom of the eth the Diamond Backs are up 4 to two meeting adjourned so