I can have everybody uh be seated. We'll go ahead and get started here. >> Hello. >> [laughter] >> I'm going to call to order the regular council meeting of December 2nd, 2025. Our invocation this evening will be by Pastor Tim Almond of Christ Greenfield Lutheran Church. Pastor, >> good evening, Mayor and Council. It's an honor to bring a short word for you as we begin your work tonight and then to begin our time in prayer. >> [cough] >> There we go. Yeah. Good evening. Good to be with you. Uh, a quick word from 1 Timothy chapter 2. First of all, Paul writes, "Then I urge that supplications, prayers intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings, and all who are in high positions, uh, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." I've been a pastor here in this wonderful town for the last 12 years. And it's a privilege to live and do ministry and life in the town of Gilbert. It is an honor to raise kids and to live with peace and quiet here in this city. And I don't know what's going to be disquing tonight, if anything, as a leader in a community. It's there can be trouble and there can be trial. But I pray for peace and for unity as we uh unite to create the best community possible for the sake of ourselves and the next generation. With that, let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank and praise you for our leaders in the town of Gilbert. Give us great wisdom and great diligence as we steward this wonderful town well, the resources and the people. Thank you for not just our leaders, but those that protect our community for the safety, peace, and quiet that we experience here. And where there is disqu, where there is disunityity, bring unity. Thank you, Jesus, for your love. a love shown through sacrifice and service on a Roman cross and the hope that we have because of your glorious resurrection. May this team exemplify sacrifice and service as they provide this wonderful service in leading our wonderful town, the town of Gilbert. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. Thank you, pastor. Our pledge of allegiance will be led by Council Member Kapowski. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. We'll do the roll call. >> Mayor Scott Anderson >> here. >> Vice Mayor Bobby Buckley >> here. Vice or sorry, Council Member Chuck Bonioani >> here. Council member Kenny Buckland >> here. >> Council member Young Kapowski >> here. >> Council member Monty Lions >> here. >> And council member Jim Toruson >> here. >> A quorum is present. >> Thank you. We have one presentation tonight. A presentation recognizing the 2025 MVP award nominees and winners for the town of Gilbert. I think we have a presentation first. Thank you, mayor. Good evening, uh, mayor, vice mayor, members of council, and everybody in attendance and listening tonight. My name is Andrew Hirs, and I'm a member of the organizational development team for the town. One of my duties includes supporting internal employee recognition programs, including the annual MVP program. This program allows employees to recognize and showcase their achievements of their peers, supervisors, and colleagues over the past year. Employees are nominated based on their accomplishments that align with town values of driven, kind, bold, and humble through written nominations and are anonymous anonymously scored by a committee of previous MVP winners. And tonight, I would like to reflect on our values and highlight the four winners that emerged from last month's ceremony. When I call your names, please stand to be recognized. And then after I get done reading all four, I'd like to invite the mayor down for a picture. Um, first I'd like to begin with the value of driven. We are passionate and driven to excel. Always hungry for new challenges and opportunities to achieve more for our community every day. Average doesn't interest us. We are always pushing ourselves for amazing. We understand the importance of our work and strive every day to give Gilbert the future it deserves. Our winner for the category of driven was Glenn Troutman. Um he is a storm water utility worker senior for the town. He unfortunately could not make it tonight but let's give him a round of applause. [applause] Next kind. We believe in the inherent worth of all people and are inclusive and spread Gilbert kindness in our words and actions. We promote emotionally intelligent leaders who put people and relationships before processes and tools. We serve each other and our community with respect and civility at all times. We believe the ability to connect and help is just as important as talent and knowledge. Our winner for kind is Christa Tri, a rec coordinator too for the town. Let's give her a round of applause. [applause] Next is bold. We innovate and take risks so we can keep growing, improving, and learning. New ideas and innovative approaches means sometimes we'll stumble. If we do, we'll quickly refocus to find the best path forward. Gilbert is a safe place for big ideas. We are committed to constant improvement and doing things differently. We value curiosity and creativity, knowing that community solutions often require new approaches to complex challenges. Our winner for Bold is Renee Meznik. She's a grants coordinator for the town. [applause] And then finally, humble. We have a flat organization where titles are the least interesting thing about us. Service is at the heart of everything we do. We all have meaningful contributions to make. We embrace a servant leadership model and relish opportunities to facilitate the success of others. Authenticity and collaboration are critical to our success. And our winner is Keith Bradshaw, a police counseling manager for the town. [applause] Thank you. Thank you and congratulations to our winners on a great accomplishment that uh over 150 nominations this year were submitted. Um it's a great honor that I get to do MVP every uh year. Uh and it's just keeps growing from uh the year before. Um but right now I'd like to ask the mayor and Patrick if you do want to join us uh for some pictures and the winners please come down. group photo. >> Oh yeah, you can do group and then individual ones. >> Okay, great. >> That's good. Got it. Let's give them another round of applause. [applause] >> Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Patrick. We'll move on to uh communications. Vice Mayor, thank you, Mayor. Uh to begin communications from citizens, I'm going to read the rules of decorum. So we value your participation and of we value the participation of our community members and robust exchange of ideas. However, it's essential that this discourse remain respectful, constructive, reflecting the professionalism expected in such forms. Misinformation and personal attacks undermine our collective efforts and do not contribute to the productive dialogue necessary for our town's progress. This is an opportunity for the public to address the town council directly um about issues impacting the town. Accordingly, the town council will not allow for moments of silence or playing of music or other recorded material which could distract from meeting decorum or violate copyrights. While we understand and appreciate our passion um the passion our community members bring to this session, we remind everyone that clapping during the meeting is not acceptable. This practice can disrupt the flow of discussion, potentially intimidate others, and detract from the respectful atmosphere we strive to maintain. In accordance with state law, we are not unable to provide responses to public comments at this meeting. be uh and then I am going also to add that council members can respond to criticism at the end of communications or they can direct staff or to schedule for further direction. Uh please be assured that your your concerns and inputs are valued and heard in accordance with the with town code. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. Priority will be given to Gilbert residents, business owners, and property owners. Public comment will be limited to 30 minutes total at the beginning of the meeting. The town clerk will not will notify the council once 30 minute limit has been reached. In addition, an additional comments remain. They will be heard after the conclusion of the public hearing items with the same three minute limit per speaker. When you come up to the podium, please state your name and the city of your residence. And with that, our first speaker speaker will be Noah James Markham. [snorts] [clears throat] Wow. Nice to be back. Um, aloha mayor and to the rest of the city council. My name is Noah James and I am a resident of the great city of Tempee. Gilbert has about 25 stakes and dozen of local congregations that are Mormons and 443,000 to 450,000 members here in Arizona. And they're not in the Bibles. So, we need to stop building any more of these temples or Mormon churches in Gilbert. Also, there is about three million I mean, there's three Catholic churches here in Gilbert and about 2.4 million Catholics in Arizona. And did you know a small part of the congregation, they liked Hitler and bowed down to him and they're not in the Bible and we should not be building any more of these churches here either. I know I am so sorry about this, Preston Lord, but there's a thing that happened here in Gil, but I I just don't understand. It's something iffy about Preston Lord. I don't think that the murderer killed like it just doesn't make any sense. It's not because of the gold chain. There has to be more to that story. And also to your police officers, you guys are very awful here. I think you need to retire your chief officer here because one of the police officers pulled me over as a disabled person on the road for for no reason just because I had no car insurance just to let me know that I I mean come on we should be pulling people over driving 100 miles hour in a 45 mph hour lane because your police officers maybe be the ones that are not following the law and maybe that's why American Legion, thank you for the people that have stuck up for KJAS, but you have some folks that like the Nazism and I'm not for that. Also, I'm not for businesses and companies in Gilbert that don't give out water for free. Not water bottles. The kind of water. Y'all, you know what it is. I'm talking about the free filter water. The companies offer at the companies. For example, I went to Starbucks and I asked for a free cup of water and ice. And they said, "No, you need to purchase something." But Arizona, one of the places here that needs water is Arizona. And we need the water. This is very very very um crucial. It's something that should never happen in any company, especially Starbucks. So, mahalo and thank you for listening to me today. >> Well, thank you. Uh our next and last speaker is Cararissa Arnold. My name is Cararissa Arnold. I was a resident of Gilbert but recently moved to Mesa. The comments from council at the last meeting were a pathetic display of pa political theater and unchecked egos. Some of you spewed false information from the dis while others sat silently ignoring citizens please for action. You were no less complicit. According to Chuck, the council has heard corruption, corruption, corruption for the last two and a half years. If you don't want to be called corrupt, stop doing corrupt things. Just a thought. Evidence has provid been provided to you that shows unlawful conduct by town officials, including illegally deleting public records, man manipulation of police data, open meeting and campaign finance law violations harassment threats and allegations of possible extortion, withholding and deleting evidence, and weaponization of police and unlawful influence of police investigations. I believe this council is criminally negligent in its failure to take action despite having sufficient evidence to do so. The phrase montine mass seems to accurately describe how the town manipulates data to mislead the public. Many of you are obsessed with a belief regarding public records. However, not a single shred of evidence has ever been provided to validate this narrative. Most statements made on the subject by council are completely false and under circumstances blatantly unlawful. The most disappointing comments came from one council member who linked allegations of corruption to mental illness. According to this council member's own logic, thousands of residents, including the families of Nick Cordova, Rachel Hansen, and Preston Lord, would be considered mentally ill simply because they demand transparency and justice from a system they believe is failing them. This council member appears consumed by false narrative. He frequently trolls online, accusing people of using fake accounts, fake names, or being bots, and then targets and harasses those with opposing viewpoints. This conduct is concerning to say the least, and approaches the threshold of criminality. My daughter, like most sexual assault victims, was terrified to come forward. She was raped and too ashamed to tell me. She was terrified that she wouldn't be believed by anyone, including the police. She feared retaliation for coming forward. Her fears came to fruition. And like so many other victims under extreme mental stress, she contemplated suicide. I nearly lost my daughter as a result of the same misogynistic and bully behavior demonstrated by certain council members. Frivolous and false accusations of sexual assault and mental health distract from real victims being believed and justice being served. Shame on you for weaponizing these issues to score cheap political points. Chuck, you have known about my case for two years and only now when seeking re-election feel the need to get involved. I will not meet with you and the persistent requests are being beginning to feel creepy and disingenuous. Stop asking me. The only words I want to hear from you are that an investigation by an outside agency is in progress. This council needs to face the reality that you are part of the problem. Efforts to cast yourselves as victims or deflect blame do not excuse your lack of action. While some of you may feel compelled to respond to my comments, perhaps even offering an unqualified mental diagnosis from the dis, I would suggest taking a moment for genuine self-reflection as you look up the word narcissist. It's time for council to have a wakeup call. It's past time to investigate the town of Gilbert. Thank you. >> Thank you. Does anyone have any comments? Okay. Well, with that we will end um communications from citizens [snorts] and we will continue on with the consent calendar. So to begin Patrick uh to begin the consent calendar portion of the meeting, I will pass the time over to our town manager Patrick Banger to provide an overview of the items on the consent calendar for this evening. Patrick. Thank you, mayor, vice mayor, members of the council. Okay, we have a fairly short consent agenda tonight. I'll run through what we do have. Again, for the members of our audience watching, we categorize our our actions in three areas. Strong economy, prosperous community, and exceptional built environment. Starting with agenda item number two involving the police service dog transfer under exceptional built environment. This is an agreement with the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Re-entry to transfer ownership of a police multi-purpose service dog from the count town of Gilbert to the ADCRR. Currently, a Kame K9 named Kylo works in the police department's patrol services. Kylo has been serving for many years and has reached the end of his service and patrol. The ADCRR has the capacity to utilize Kylo. There is no financial impact to the town. In exchange, ADCRR will host a training on detention operations specific to force cell extraction and will invite Town of Gilbert personnel to attend. Additionally, ADCR will allow a Town of Gilbert employee to sit in ADCRR's a postapproved instructor course once that employee meets the minimum [clears throat] requirements and basic handler course. Moving on to item number three, video license agreement. again under the exceptional built environment. It's a motion to approve a resolution authorizing the execution of a video license agreement which grants Fiberf First Arizona a non-exclusive license to operate a video-based telecommunications network within certain public rights of way of the town of Gilbert. Pursuant to state statute, municipalities are required to adopt a standard form of license agreement application and affidavit for video service providers. The license agreement grants the LE authority in the delivery of video service to use and occupy and construct and operate a video service network and highways in the service area. The town expects to generate an annual fee of 3.5% of gross revenue as man mandated by state statute. Agenda item number four involves Hickley Road improvements again under exceptional built environment. It's a motion to approve an architectural engineering services contract for construction manager at risk project contract with Kimley Horn and Associates in an amount not to exceed 323,000 and change for the Higgley Road-Rigs to Stacy CIP project in the amount not to exceed 323,000 and change. This contract is for the completion of a design concept review with a 15% design plans which will illustrate proposed improvements and provided traffic analysis to support corridor planning and decision-m. This item is funded with a voter approved 2022 general obligation bonds and the road system development fee. Item number agenda item number five heritage trail crossing change order and contingency request under exceptional built environment. approval of a change order with Dibble and Associates to increase the contract amount by 74,000 for the Heritage Trail Crossing at Lindsay and a CIP fiscal 26 contingency request in the amount of 39,000 and change with 2022 geo bonds as the designated funding source. This change order addresses the scope change for the design and construction of a pedestrian hybrid beacon Hawk with a high visibility crosswalk, ADA compliant ramps, and extended vertical curbing to enhance safety. Again, this item is funded with the 2022 general obligation bonds. Agenda item number six, non-residential grass removal rebate program contingency request. This is a motion to approve the contingency funding in the amount of $150,000 to support the non-residential grass removal rebate program through the remainder of fiscal 26. The non-residential grass removal rebate programs fiscal 26 budget will be depleted by year's end due to unprecedented participation following the April 2025 rebate increase to $3 per square foot up to 10,000 square ft with a maximum of $30,000 per participant. Since July, nine projects have been approved compared to only six projects in the previous two years. The funding request is to sustain the program through fiscal 26 and approve approximately six more water saving projects. This item is rate supported via the water purchase fund. And that concludes the consent agenda for this evening. >> Okay. Thank you, Patrick. Um I believe we're going to have to have a voice vote because the the something's not working. So with that, um does anybody have any questions first? No questions. Okay. So, if no questions, then um I will move to approve the consent agenda items 2 through 7. Can I have a second? >> I'll second that. >> Okay. So, I have a second by council member Bon Giovani. And Chaveveli, do you call for that voice vote? >> Vice Mayor, I can do it or yourself. Just call for the vote. >> Okay. Well, then I'll I will um since I've have I have a motion and I have a second. Um and then can we please vote? So, >> all in favor? >> All in favor? >> Pardon me. >> All in favor? >> Okay. Oh. All right. All in favor? >> I >> Okay. >> Okay. Yeah. Any opposed? >> No one opposed. Okay. Well, then [clears throat] we have we Okay. So, we did it we did it all together, right? Okay. All right. Well, then it we had a motion and it has passed. So, [snorts] that will um that will conclude the public not public hearing the consent agenda. >> Sorry, we don't we don't have a voice vote up very often. >> All right, mayor. I'm It's back to you already. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Uh we'll go to the public hearing section. We have uh items 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. And I know that item 10 we'll pull off separately for some uh discussion. Does anybody have any other they want to pull out? If not, I'll entertain I'll open the public hearing on items 8, 9, 11, 12. close the public hearing and ask for a motion on items 8, 9, 11, and 12. >> Okay. I I make a motion um to approve items 8, 9, 11, and 12. >> There a second. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Uh item 10. don't know [clears throat] that we'll need a presentation, but council member Kapowski has uh some uh thoughts. >> Thank you. Um during our study session, I had asked staff to evaluate um the exceptional items menu that is provided in order for um a development to obtain a height bonus. There are two tables in exhibit A of the LDC text amendment. Table one has items like subterranean parking, public parking, and non-combustible construction type. And one action could be picked from table A. In table B, it currently says that only two items need to be selected, but those qualifying actions are open space, art, um, sustainability, and public amenities. And due to the lower value of those items in table B, I suggested during study session and I'm suggesting now to um make the motion with the adjustment that three actions are required from table B instead of only two. And if there's no further discussion, I'd be happy to make that motion. Uh, we do have one public comment card on this item, so I'll ask him to come up first before we do that. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Noah James Markham. Oh, it's nice to be back up here already. Okay. Um, aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. I would like to talk about this issue um with the Heritage Village center and I hope that we can bring section 8 to Gilbert, Arizona, but also the Heritage Village is um around the heritage district. So I hope that we do expand and make it more beautiful and um yes so other people can come um and enjoy it. Yeah, because we need this here. We need it in Gilbert. So mahalo and thank you very much. >> Thank you. I'll close the public hearing back to Council Member Kapowski for a motion. >> Thank you. I'll make the motion to approve item 10, zoning case Z25-10, the LDC text amendment for the HVC development standards. This is adoption of ordinance number 2971 amending the town of Gilbert land development code chapter 1 zoning regulation section 3.5 of the Heritage Village Center zoning district with the um revision to section 3.5 item B2 in order to obtain a development height bonus um either one action from table A or three actions from table B. >> I'd like to second that motion. >> There's been a motion and a second. Please uh voice vote. All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. We have no further communications, no administrative items tonight. You see the future meeting items that have been requested for study session and or separate consideration. We'll go to communications report from the town manager. Okay. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. Tonight, we'll go through department, division, and highlights, and we're going to focus on our municipal core. about our municipal courts. There's three main areas they they handle in Gilbert. They resolve criminal and civil complaints, handle cases from police, prosecutors, and code enforcement. And it matters to because it ensures fair and impartial justice and upholds community safety. They also issue protective orders, grants legal protection for individuals facing threats or abuse. And it helps safeguard vulnerable residents and supports public welfare. And third, they manage sentencing enforcement, overseeing fines, counseling, community service, and compliance. And it matters because it promotes accountability and rehabilitation through structured followup. A couple statistics we'll run through. They had over 16,000 new filings in fiscal year 25. They issued over 500 protective orders and they had two thou over 2,000 hours of community services uh community service which they coordinated under retirements and recognitions. Oh, I don't think we had any retirements and recognitions. Uh, we did receive a silver silver award for station design excellence. The police department dispatch center expansion has been honored with the silver award by the officers magazine station design awards. This national recognition honors the project's exceptional design, functionality, and positive impact on public safety operations. The project will be featured in the November December issue which will be released on December 16th. And that's all I have for this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Reports for many council members. Council member Bonjiovani. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh Parks and Rex. This month we're talking about Jingle Bell Express. This month's storytime adventures with be with Bear will look a little different. Wear your favorite jammies and join us for a holiday themed story time. Crafts, cartoons, popcorn, and a special visitor. I wonder who that will be. No registration necessary. Stop by and join us for the fun on December 12th, 2025 in McQueen Park Aivity Center from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30. Also, our holiday afternoon tea for seniors. Join us join us for a cozy and festive afternoon filled with warm teas, delightful treats, and cheerful holiday spirit. Guests will enjoy finger finger sandwiches, decadent desserts, and a variety of teas and beautifully decorated setting perfect for relaxing, mingling with live music, and celebrating the season with friends and loved ones. Each person will receive a one printed 4x6 photo to take home. Each registration is $10 for one admission. This event is for adults only. December 19th, 2025, Gilbert Community Center from 3 to 4:30 p.m. >> Thank you, Annie. Council member Kapowski, >> Gilbert Sister Cities is having their Irish social um this Friday and this is open to members of Gilbert Sister Cities and anyone can become a member if it's $25 for individuals and $40 for families. Uh December 5th is the Iris social and then February 5th uh 2026 is going to be the East West Fest. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Any others? uh from the mayor, I'll just uh mention that um Monday night was water tower lighting uh extremely successful. I have never seen that many people attend that event. I don't know if they kept count or not, but uh it was wonderful and kudos go out to all those who were responsible for putting that together. It was a very uh successful evening and brought the community together in our community living space which is the water tower plaza. So, thank you. There's nothing else. I'll take a motion to adjurnn. Been moved that we adjourn. We are adjourned.