Transmission Line Project for $1.8 million was underway and should be completed in the summer of 2002. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Goal No. 2 was to develop and implement a comprehensive program to improve and revitalize the older residential and commercial areas of the community.  He stated that a number of projects were in the design phase.  He stated that one dealt with sidewalk improvements in the Cashion, Las Ligas and Rio Vista areas and he hoped to have construction begin early the next year and be largely completed by the end of the fiscal year.  He stated that other street improvement related improvements were being undertaken and design was in progress for street repairs to the Cashion Area.  He stated that there would be a major repair and resurfacing project in that neighborhood.  He stated that there were also miscellaneous repairs in Central Avondale, Las Ligas and Rio Vista area. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that street light improvement projects were scheduled, and a major one was in the south central Avondale neighborhood.  He stated that it was a $500,000 project and the design work had already been started.  He stated that in regard to revitalization of commercial areas, there was a major project, as the Council was aware, called the Old Town Avondale Street Scape Project.  He stated that components of that project included angled parking to increase parking spaces in front of the businesses, new landscaping had already been installed, and handicap access that had already been completed.  He stated that the road was purposely down to two lanes of traffic and the design recommended that so that traffic could be slowed down to hopefully make it more of a destination spot for patronage of the businesses along that segment of Western Avenue.  He stated that there were some new benches, bus stop shelters and plans for the installation of some old fashioned street lights and entry signage.  He stated that there would be some decoration of the bus stop shelters.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that another revitalization effort that was underway was a marketing brochure for the Old Town Neighborhood to compliment the streetscape improvements.  He stated that it would be distributed shortly and that that the design of the brochure had not yet been completed.  He stated that earlier in the year, the Council adopted an overlay zoning district for the Western Avenue area to hopefully make it a little easier for new businesses to come in and open in that particular area of the City.  He stated that the process was underway and nearing completion for Western Avenue.  He stated that the façade improvement grant program was being implemented, that three projects were completed that past year and more were forthcoming.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Goal No. 3 was to aggressively promote new economic development in the community.  He stated that the goal was highlighted by the opening of the new Avondale Automall and the construction of three dealerships including Avondale Dodge, Avondale Chrysler Jeep and Gateway Chevrolet.  He stated that hopefully, more dealerships would be announced over the course of the coming year.  He stated that other major economic development projects included the new Gateway Pavilions Commercial Power Center located off of 99^th Avenue and McDowell Road and was highlighted by two, major, anchor tenants. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Costco was scheduled to open in the fall of the coming year and the Harkins 18-Plex Theater was scheduled to open in the winter of the next year.  He stated that a Cole’s Department Store was proposed at the northeast corner of Dysart and McDowell but would probably not open for another year to two years.  He stated that he was very excited to have a Kohl’s coming into the neighborhood and that it was a very fine department store.  He stated that the International House of Pancakes opened in the Coldwater Plaza that year to join Home Depot.  He stated that negotiations were ongoing with a couple of other major tenants that he hoped to have some good news on in the coming months.  He stated that other projects included the travel center on 99^th Avenue which was open for business.  He stated that Las Pamillas Phase II south of the Fry’s Shopping Center on Dysart was under construction.  He stated that the Westwind Plaza was under construction on Indian School Road and plans were approved for the new Rancho Sante Fe Medical Center off of McDowell Road on the south and east side of Fry’s. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that economic development efforts included preparing a new marketing brochure which was presently going to print.  He stated that he mentioned the Old Town brochure and that there were advertisements in select trade publications and the Avondale Advantage newsletter.  He stated that was an example of advertisement in the Arizona Business Gazette.  He stated that in regard to economic development, he was pleased to announce that Raul and Theresa’s Restaurant was the recipient of the Business of the Year.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Goal No. 4 was to provide adequate public safety services to meet priority needs and concerns of all residents.  He stated that regarding a new truck was delivered and in operation at Fire Department.  He stated that the new thermal imaging equipment was acquired to assist the fire fighters in their duties and four new fire fighters were hired.  He stated that the Fire Department did a good job in getting out and doing various community initiatives with the fire and life safety program.  He stated that the program was held at different schools throughout the community and reached approximately 6,000 children.  He stated that the Police Department made several new hires including a new Police Chief. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that there were 14 new police officers.  He stated that the good news was that new officers were hired and the bad news was that a lot of those were to replace ones that had left.  He stated that a priority for the coming fiscal year that the Council would be looking at was to incorporate into the budget an increase in the total number of positions in the police force.  He stated that a crime victim advocate position was also added.  He stated that also worthy of mention was Avondale’s first female sergeant hired that year.  He stated that a new communications system was finally installed.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Goal No. 5 was to keep citizens better informed and involved in community affairs.  He stated that in terms of the level of participation, there was an ongoing update to the General Plan.  He stated that the update of the General Plan had an extensive amount of public involvement throughout the year including four town hall meetings and several public meetings as well as technical advisory meetings. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that the public vote for the adoption of the General Plan Update was scheduled for May 2002.  He stated that in regard to boards and commissions, the City was pretty active in trying to reactivate and create some new boards.  He stated that in terms of a new board, the Citizens Water and Wastewater Advisory Board had been working very hard and would be presenting an annual report to the Council in January.  He stated that a couple of other boards were activated including the Board of Adjustment and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.  He stated that another item on the Council’s agenda that evening was the proposed creation of a Youth Commission.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that in regard to Council Outreach activities, the Council continued its practice over the course of the year holding quarterly meetings in different areas of the community.  He stated that in addition, the Council held several joint Council/School Board meetings throughout the year.  He stated that the Citizens’ Academy continued to provide services to the residents throughout the southwest valley including citizens of Avondale. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that the Neighborhood Budget Meeting process was continued and meetings were held in October to provide input for the Council’s goal setting retreat which was held in November to set the stage for the preparation of the budget for the next fiscal year.  He stated that there were a couple of meetings in two different neighborhood areas regarding implementation status of the current fiscal year capital improvement plan.  He stated that numerous, monthly meetings were held in the southeast planning area and addressed a wide variety of topics.  He stated that the Neighborhood Services Coordinator attended several different homeowners’ and neighborhood association meetings throughout the community.  He stated that some upgrades were made in terms of the vehicles that were used to provide information to the residents of Avondale.  He stated that some of those included upgrading the City Page, the City newsletter, and as he would discuss later in the meeting, the upgraded web site.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Goal No. 6 was to increase the diversity of the community and recreation services and activities provided to the residents of Avondale.  He stated that various park improvements fell under that category including the Donny Hale Park improvements.  He stated that there was a rededication ceremony in March of 2001 which helped to upgrade the overall appearance of that park.  He stated that the Las Ligas Neighborhood Park was nearing completion and was located off of Lower Buckeye Road.  He stated that from his vantage point, one thing that was particularly noteworthy about the project was the heavy amount of citizen input that was involved in the design.  He stated that a dedication ceremony was scheduled for early January. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that in regard to Avondale Friendship Park, earlier in the year, the City took delivery of some gifts from friendship city in Kaizu, Japan.  He stated that most noteworthy was the gazebo and other items such as lanterns that were out there.  He stated that a ceremony was held earlier that year to take receipt of those items.  He stated that some masterful, skilled work was done by friends from Kaizu, Japan in installing those different improvements.  He stated that a dedication ceremony was held for the first phase of Avondale Friendship Park in December and Phase II would be a major youth sports complex.  He stated that it was announced that the City would receive a grant from the Tourism Sports Authority for $3.4 million to help build the regional youth sports complex.  He stated that would involve the construction of several more multi-purpose fields for soccer, Pop Warner Football and other baseball fields to accommodate little league play. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Avondale, as most people knew, was the City of three rivers and there were several projects underway to help take advantage of those natural amenities.  He stated that the City was notified that it received a $500,000 grant to help start the development of a multi-modal trail system.  He stated that the first phase was envisioned to link Avondale Friendship Park to Coldwater Park.  He stated that the City continued to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maricopa County Flood Control District on another potential $6 million project to help fund habitat restoration throughout the Agua Fria River Corridor.  He stated that the money would hopefully go for additional passive trail type recreational amenities along that corridor.  He stated that in regard to new community recreation programs, the highlight was the expansion of the leisure activities for the seniors including day trips, arts and crafts activities, financial planning and exercise classes and something additional for the youth including the Punt, Pass and Kick Contest.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that numerous special events were held including celebrations for Veteran’s Day, the Easter Eggstravaganza, the fireworks display festival at the Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale and the holiday lights festival that past Saturday.  He stated that various enhancements were made to the Avondale Public Library.  He stated that a grant was received from the Gates Foundation for four new computers and software.  He stated that those four computers were very heavily utilized by the public library.   He stated that various renovations were made to the interior of the facility to make it more user and customer friendly.  He stated that the media center was converted to a children’s library.  He stated that Avondale had its first annual country fair and book sale which was a success.  He stated that there were 11 health talks and a summer reading program.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Goal No. 7 was to provide competitive working conditions for the City’s labor force in order to retain and recruit quality employees and provide for the effective delivery of services.  He stated that the City implemented a compensation classification study in conjunction with the adoption of the current fiscal year budget.  He stated that other benefit issues were addressed that were identified by the work force.  He stated that insurance costs were kept the same with no increase for the current fiscal year.  He stated that the monthly meetings of Employee Connection Committee continued.  He stated that the meeting provided front line feedback from employees on different issues and concerns that they had.  He stated that several new hires were made in 2001 for different positions including Community Recreation Services Director, City Judge, Police Chief, City Engineer, Planning Manager, Planner, Safety Risk Coordinator and IT Manager, who would be making a presentation on the new web site.  He stated that joining the City in January 2002, would be a new Economic Development Director and Intergovernmental Affairs Officer.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that one highlight that involved a tremendous amount of work was the passage of the sale tax election in May.  He stated that was extremely important for future financial liability of the community.  He stated that the Council would see that as they worked through the capital improvement plan update for the forth coming fiscal year.  He stated that without passage of that sales tax increase, the City would have been in an extremely dire straights in order to move forward with some real basic types of infrastructure improvements.  He stated that the Council would see how that money was being put to use in the updated, five year CIP.  He stated that several projects that were ongoing including the Cashion Street resurfacing project and the south Avondale street light project.  He stated that those were all being funded directly as a result of the passage of the sale tax election. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that in September 2001, were the Council elections and in November, the City had the passage of the amendments to the City Charter and the passage of Home Rule.  He stated that he thought that was noteworthy for a couple of reasons.  He stated that there was tremendous citizen involvement in terms of the Charter Review Committee that forwarded recommendations for amendments to the City Charter to the City Council.  He stated that there was a total of 16 separate, proposed, charter amendment items on the ballot and all of them passed.  He stated that the 17^th item on the ballot in November was the Home Rule which also passed.  He stated that there was a tremendous amount of citizen involvement and those were really two major endeavors to try to tackle in the course of one calendar year.  He stated that he thought it spoke well for the citizens and residents of Avondale that both of those passed.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that in regard to recycling, in October, the Council approved a preliminary recommendation from the Citizens’ Recycling Committee to begin a recycling program.  He stated that in the latter part of the next calendar year, the Committee was planning on promoting educational activities.  He stated that the Committee was currently searching for a slogan.    He stated that the City was looking to hire a Recycling Coordinator in January and the goal was to get that program underway by the fall of the next year and tied in with the preparation and adoption of the next fiscal year’s budget.  He stated that water conservation was an important topic and there were a number of activities held.    He stated that banners were seen throughout the community and there were pamphlets and information on the web site. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that there was a preventative street maintenance program.  He stated that the sealing program was undertaken in the spring in Rancho Sante Fe and Garden Lakes.  He stated that as a result of that, there was a dedicated revenue stream of about $400,000 per year which was being allocated for preventative street maintenance activities throughout the community.  He stated that other street improvements included the design of the segment of Dysart Road from I-10 to Van Buren on the west side of the Road.  He stated that there was a design of the traffic signal at 107^th Avenue and Thomas and that had been completed.  He stated that the design of a traffic signal at 115^th Avenue was underway and when that was completed, the City would go out for bid on both of those projects.  He stated that 25 different bus shelters were installed throughout the community.  Mr. Schrader stated that in regard to other community outreach endeavors, there were several clean ups throughout the community.  He stated that other events were held including a resource fair at the community center, landlord/tenant workshops, a Christmas Drive and a Citywide Adopt-a-Family Drive. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that major grants were received throughout the course of the year including CNAC funding of approximately $300,000 to acquire new street sweepers.  He stated that MAG funded $800,000 for three new start buses and there was a federal appropriation of $250,000 to help fund the City’s transit endeavors.  He stated that a grant for $500,000 was received to help fund a pilot project for the multi-modal trail system along the Agua Fria Corridor as well as a COPS Grant for $500,000 to fund four school resource officers.  He stated that the total amount of grant funds received was $3.9 million.  He stated that a very difficult project was completed in terms of approving a mitigation agreement with APS and SRP for the proposed substation project.  He stated that the project was within the unincorporated part of Maricopa County but within Avondale’s planning area.  He stated that in terms of the City’s image a new logo was created and some new entry signs were posted.  He showed an example of a new subdivision identification sign that would be posted. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that in closing the year was filled with challenges, and even though the mark was not hit each time and there were areas where there could be further improvement, he was gratified by the tremendous amount of effort from the City employees.  He stated that he thought the employees had all worked very hard and that a tremendous volume of work was accomplished.   He stated that a number of major initiatives and endeavors were taken on and completed and a lot of others were well underway.  He stated that there was a lot more work to do and he appreciated, from staff’s perspective, the Council’s support and direction.  He stated that he could not emphasize enough, the role that the citizens of Avondale had played in the community with the two major initiatives that were passed.  He stated that the citizen involvement that the City had with the different boards and commissions had been tremendous. 

 

Council Member Carroll stated that he wished to thank Pier Simeri, Public Information Officer.  He stated that Pier was a genius with the camera and how she was able to get a group of politicians to do the same thing, the same way at the same time was amazing. 

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she wished to give thanks to Lee San Miguel for his contribution and organization for the Southwest Citizens’ Academy.  She stated that the Academy was so successful that it was being copied by the City of Apache Junction.

 

c.        Rock Garden

 

Scott Schrader, City Manager, stated the rock garden was at an existing location in Sunnyslope in Phoenix and the current owner of the location felt it needed to be moved.  He stated that the members of the West Valley Fine Arts Council, the Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Central Business District Advisory Group of Avondale all had an initial look at it either personally, directly or second hand through the same information the Council had.  He stated that there was some interest in potentially pursuing possible relocation of the rock garden to a location along Western Avenue. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that there were a couple of potential locations thrown out for consideration to date but were, by no means, exclusive.  He stated that some could be part of the Doc Rhodes or DeConcini Parks, and some could even be housed at the library.  He stated that he needed a feeling from Council that evening on whether they thought it was a project the City would like to continue to explore.  He stated that a visit could be arranged for any staff or Council members who wished to visit the garden. He stated that the item needed to be moved forward fairly expeditiously because another institution might be interested in acquiring exhibit.  He stated that he was looking for direction that evening on whether the Council thought it was an endeavor that was worthwhile to pursue.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that when she saw the item she was very intrigued because it was a very unusual and creative art form.  She stated that she would like to encourage the City to attain it and wanted to see it go into the Doc Rhodes Park.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she too, wanted to see the City pursue the attainment if indeed it was not already taken. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that the information he received last week was that it was still, potentially available.  He stated that he would look into it and if that was not the case, he would report back. 

 

Council Member Jones stated that she would also like to see the City move forward with the attainment and any opportunity for Council to visit it would be very much appreciated as well.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he too, wanted to see the City pursue it.

 

b.       Website Presentation

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item was the unveiling of the new web site and the presentation would be made by the IT Manager, Tim Greene.

 

Mr. Greene, IT Manager, stated that one of the things that Mr. Schrader stated was that the Council wanted to actually move forward to better inform the citizens and potential economic developers.  He stated that staff felt the new web site helped further that goal.  He stated that it would keep the citizens better informed and help bring in potential economic developers.  He stated that he wanted to thank Pier Simeri, Public Information Officer, who was instrumental in helping him get the content from the department heads.  He stated that was key, because without that information, the web site would not serve anyone.  He stated that without further delay, he wanted to present Michael D’Amico, CEO, Alpha Internet Systems, who developed the web site. 

 

Michael D’Amico, CEO, Alpha Internet Systems, thanked the Mayor and Council for the opportunity to work and collaborate with them on the web site.  He stated that Mr. Green and Mr. Simeri did the “heavy lifting” and he simply worked on the bits and bites for them.  He stated that what the Council was going to see, was a work in progress and there was no way that they would ever see a finished City web site.  He stated that it was constantly evolving.    He stated that the Council would see about 200 screens of information whereas the old site had about 30 to 40.  He stated that there were 1,000 physical pages of content in it.  He stated that he anticipated that within two months there would be about 350 screens and probably 5,000 pages of information. 

 

Mr. D’Amico stated that what the Council was seeing was something that evolved out of his experience with other web sites, and it was basically a newspage.  He stated that everyone had come to realize that City Hall was the generator of news and one way for the City to get its story out in a new way was to do a video news cast.  He stated that there were omnibus links which connected to everything that had to do with the entire site and operation of the City.  He stated that there was a site search engine to negotiate the entire site, a phone directory, services information for bee stings or car removal, events calendar and an Avondale snap shot for developers.  He stated that additional buttons would be added for job opportunities which were already inside the site but would be brought to the front because, in his experience, job opportunities was the number one portion of the site that people visited.  He stated that news releases would be placed in the front as well as Council agendas.

 

Mr. D’Amico showed the main navigation buttons and how all of the things that the City did could be accessed with those buttons.  He showed how the Mayor’s greeting operated. 

 

Mr. D’Amico showed the main portion of the site.  He stated that the site was divided into City Council, Boards and Commissions, City Manager and Administration and Employment Opportunities, which was an eagerly sought portion of the site.  He stated that it was divided into Community Services and Recreation, Public Safety, Development Services, Capital Improvements, Permit and License Center, which went toward permitting.  He stated that it was divided into Codes and Ordinances, Economic Development, Utilities and Field Operations.  He stated that the important thing about the Permit and License Center, Codes and Ordinances and Development Services was that they created a triangulation.  He stated that in Development Services, there were procedures to do certain things for a building permit or zoning request, in the Permit and License Center, there were application forms, and in Codes and Ordinances, one could access the Code or Plans that covered the activity that was desired.  He stated that for example, if someone wanted to get the General Plan changed, he could find the General Plan in its entirety in Codes and Ordinances.

 

Mr. D’Amico pointed out the pop-up and drop-down menus.  He stated that a pop-up and drop-down menu was designed that would show everything on the site simply by moving the mouse.  He stated that the City Council piece had an array that included a way to get back home and an e-mail button at the lower right which was on every screen. 

 

Mr. D’Amico stated that there were 300 e-mail buttons that sat on the site currently and gave the population a chance to communicate directly.  He stated that the e-mail buttons were set to whomever the City decided to set them to.  He showed one that was directed to the City Clerk.  He stated that each one of the Council members had their own screen and current issues which was a very interesting concept.  He showed where the City Council agendas and minutes were kept.  He showed the Mayor’s page and e-mail button that went directly to the Mayor.   He stated that each one of the Council members had a similar set up. 

 

Mr. D’Amico explained that at the bottom of each screen, there were always the same 12 buttons so that no one would ever be lost in the site.    He stated that the site was a way to open City Hall.  He stated that anything could be published that the Council wanted citizen response on before acting.  He stated that the Council could request that an issue be placed there for citizen comment and get responses through the e-mail button. 

 

Mr. D’Amico stated that the City Manager and Administration area was one of the most intense portions of the site.  He stated that it had not only the City Manager, but the Assistant City Manager, Public Information Office, Intergovernmental Office, Information Technology, Contribution Assistance Program, City Judge, Prosecutor, City Attorney,City Clerk, Finance Department and City Court.  He stated that each one had a full component for publishing what they wanted to get out to the general public.  He stated that the site was up and available to view and it was always in evolution.

 

Council Member Shuey stated he really liked the individual pages for the Mayor and Council and felt that it came out very well.

 

Council Member Jones stated that it looked great and was very user-friendly.

 

Mayor Drake thanked Mr. Green and stated that it looked excellent.

 

3)                  APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a.  Public Hearing of October 1, 2001

b.  Regular meeting of November 5, 2001

c.  Work Session of November 5, 2001

c.  Work Session of November 7, 2001

 

Council Member Lynch moved to approve the above minutes as amended.  Council Member Karlin seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

4)         RECOGNITION ITEMS (MAYOR PRESENTATIONS)

 

There were no recognition items at that time.

 

5)         UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE

           

Enrique Ochoa, citizen, said, in Spanish, “Good Evening.  Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.”  He stated that he wanted to say that since he was probably not going to be able to see everyone before Christmas because he was taking his family to Albuquerque and the Sante Fe area.  He stated that he wanted to read an excerpt from a letter that he wrote to the Council.  He stated that it was a recommendation for an employment policy for adoption in the future.  He stated that he wanted to request a review of employment practices that excluded minorities and hispanics in the City of Avondale.  Mr. Ochoa read the following excerpt from his letter:

 

“In the spirit of constructive criticism, I want to present a very serious problem that exists in Avondale.  It has become very evident in our community and specifically to members of our minority community that a pattern of exclusion is the mold for the City in regard to many issues and employment in particular.  The administrators of our City are being referred to with derogatory adjectives.  Avondale does not need racial divisiveness. 

 

“This nomenclature has surfaced because of the ethnic composition of the administration of our City.  Our current City Manager was brought in to clean house and make a new start.  He has done his job and has done it well.  However, it is also maybe at the expense of compliance with federal equal employment opportunity laws, the spirit of the law and principles of fair play.  For that reason, I am presenting the following two requests before the City Council.  One, is that you establish an employment policy that will give consideration and ensure the employment of candidates who are residents of the City of Avondale, candidates who are bilingual, multi-cultural and understand the concepts of diversity, and candidates from Avondale’s ethnic minority community.  The second request, is that you direct Mr. Scott Schrader, our City Manager, to undertake a review and an assessment of current employment practices that have resulted in a pattern of exclusion of minorities, particularly Hispanics. 

 

“I have thought very seriously on my request to the Council for the adoption of the employment policy and it is based on the public policy research and analysis.  And on my personal experience, and that of other members of our community who have sought employment with the City of Avondale.  ‘Shop Avondale.’  This slogan should refer to human resources and not only to goods and services.  The reason our City is promoting this concept is because of the positive financial impact it will have on our economy.  Our City should shop for employees in Avondale first.  The result will be a positive socioeconomic impact on our economy and on the social, cultural and the intellectual fabric of our community. 

 

“It is very important for our City to shop in Avondale.  Avondale has very qualified individuals who are willing and wanting to work for the City.  We must not go shopping elsewhere first.  Resident employees of the City will spend their money locally and help with the development of our City.  It is good public policy.  It sends a very positive message to our community and to our children.  It tells them that if they go to school and want to work for the betterment of their community and the City where they live, that they can have an opportunity to work here, even during hard economic times.

 

“Upon adoption of a policy, such as the one that I have mentioned, it would have to be included in the decision making process of the City Manager and other administrators would have the guidance and the direction from our policy makers, our City Council.  Currently, the employment decisions have been made in favor of non-residents of our City and our State.  There is no requirement to consider residency, diversity factors or linguistic abilities.  Our City has a responsibility to provide services to our bilingual, evonolingual non-English speaking citizenry.  Avondale is 46.3% Hispanic according to the 2000 Census.  This and the labor force availability are factors legally required to be considered in all employment and other decisions by our City regarding services to our community. 

 

“In conclusion, I am requesting that by the beginning of 2002, the City of Avondale adopt an employment policy that will ensure opportunities to local residents, compliance with equal opportunity laws and ensure the hiring of minority employees.  The ethnic composition of our community requires an ethnically diverse administration.  It is imperative that our current City administrators undertake a review and assessment of current employment patterns of exclusion that affect our minority community and Hispanics in particular.  To do otherwise would expose our City to unnecessary risks, liabilities and loss of critical project and service funding.  Sincerely, Enrique Media Ochoa.”

 

Mr. Ochoa thanked the Council for their time, for his appointment to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and for their help and support in his other endeavors and requests.

 

Michael Hinton, 312 N. Central Ave., Avondale, wished the council a good evening and Merry Christmas.  He stated that he operated a business, Avondale Southwest Designs Custom Upholstery, the only upholstery business in Avondale.  He stated that one of his main concerns was about the Avondale Elementary School. He stated he had a first grader that went to school there  and he has noticed that in the mornings, with the kids going to school there and the people that lived across the street from the school, there seemed to be a hazard as far as people crossing the street.  He suggested there be a cross walk involved in that area just south of the school. 

 

Mr. Hinton stated that with people leaving the area, making a left turn was somewhat of a hazard because they were making a left turn into the facility from the center lane so it was practically impossible for someone to exit and make a left turn.  He stated that it could possibly have a right turn only and no left turn between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and then from 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.  He stated that would possibly free up some of the congestion and reduce the possibility of traffic accidents coming out of that area.  He stated that it would be a good safety issue to get a crosswalk near the preschool area.  He stated that a crosswalk could easily be put there which would be about one half block away from the school entrance and far enough away from Western and Central intersection which would help with the congestion with people stopping there. 

 

Mr. Hinton stated that another thing he wanted to mention related to the Central area businesses was that the Western area had already been redeveloped and looked well.  He stated that there were no incentives for people like him with his business at 312 N. Central where the Ed’s Fish and Chips and the dance studio was.  He asked if there would be incentives to get businesses that were already in the area to relocate to Western or if it would be a possibility of rezoning the east side of Central in the 300 or 400 block north for commercial and residential.  He stated that would free up some spaces about two blocks from the 200 block to the 400 block where Dr. Norman’s Office was where there were patches of residents and commercial businesses already there.  He stated that it did not seem like it would be a big issue to rezone that to both commercial and residential instead of only residential on the east side of the street in the 300 and 400 block.

 

Mr. Hinton asked if there was a possibility of the Council doing some kind of business incentive or minority related issue to relocate business from Central to a brand new redeveloped area on Western.    He stated that Central went completely through the City and if there was more development or development incentives on Central Avenue, he had a business there and would like to stay.  He stated that he could be talking about moving to Western.

 

Bill Costello, citizen, 1801 N. 127^th Dr., Avondale, stated that maybe the City Manager, Mr. Schrader, could answer his question.  He stated that when the sales tax increase was approved, part of the promise was that there would not be a rate increase.  He stated that on the last agenda for the Water and Wastewater Commission, there was a proposed rate increase.   He stated that there was not supposed to be an increase and the first thing on that agenda was a rate increase.  He asked if Mr. Schrader knew anything about it or what the story was.

 

Mayor Drake asked if Mr. Schrader could get in touch with Mr. Costello.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that if Mr. Costello wanted to contact him, he would explain the issue.  He stated that one thing he would say, was that it was an advisory board’s recommendation and there had been no final decision.

 

Mr. Costello stated that he did not think it should have been on there.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he did not think he wanted to preclude any board or commission from asking any question or making any recommendation.  He stated that the recommendation had to go through the process and the Commission was not an actual, implementing agency but an advisory board.  He asked that Mr. Costello give him a call.

 

6)        CONSENT AGENDA

 

Mayor Drake stated that he wished to pull Item Nos. 6C and 6I for individual consideration and discussion.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she wished to pull Item Nos. 6G, 6H and 6J for individual consideration and discussion.

 

a.      CLAIMS FOR OCTOBER 2001

 

b.      REQUEST TO RESCHEDULE COUNCIL MEETINGS

         City Staff requested that the Council give authorization to reschedule the regular council meetings of Monday, January 21, 2002 to Tuesday, January 22, 2002 in observance of Martin Luther King Day  and Monday, February 18, 2002  to Wednesday, February 20, 2002 in observance of President’s Day.

           

d.      CHANGE ORDER 1 – WEBER GROUP

         City Staff requested that the Council authorize change order 1 for $45,358.25 to Weber Group’s contract to construct the Well 14 pump station.

 

e.      CHANGE ORDER 1 – WEBER GROUP

         City Staff requested that the Council authorize change order 1 for $43,545.50 to Weber Group’s contract to construct the Well 18 Pump station transmission line.

 

f.       LIQUOR LICENSE – VALENTINA’S MEXICAN FOOD

         The Council considered a liquor license application from Maria Colmenero, Valentina’s Mexican Food, 425 West Western Avenue, for a Series 16 restaurant license to sell spirituous liquor.

 

k.      PRO TEM PROSECUTOR SERVICES CONTRACT – IACOVINO & KAYLER

         City staff requested that the County approve a possible contract with Iacovino & Kayler to serve as pro tem prosecutors.

 

Council Member Lynch moved to approve the amended consent agenda, Item Nos. 6.a, 6.b, 6.d, 6.e, 6.f and 6.k.  Council Member Carroll seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

c.      CHANGE ORDER 1 – GRIMM CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

         City Staff requested that the Council authorize change order 1 to the Grimm Construction Co.  Coldwater Springs Booster Station and Well 15 construction contract for $41,536.00.

 

Council Member Carroll stated that in reading the packet information on  Item 6C, in the purpose and action requested, staff was asking the City to pay for conduit installation and supply trenching requests from SRP.  He stated that the item came forth in the form of a change order.  He stated that he wanted to know where Southwest Gas and Cox were.  He also wanted to know why it was being done and brought to the Council as a change order.  He asked if it was something that the City left out of the contract and how it would benefit the City.  He stated that the way he read it, it would benefit those public utilities.  He asked why the utility companies were not paying for it and why the City was being asked to pick up the tab.

 

Scott Schrader, City Manager, stated that he appreciated the question and would let David Fitzhugh, City Engineer, provide most of the technical information.  He stated that he was sure that the recommended change order providing the additional work was required in order to make the booster station fully operational.  He stated that it was something that was required and with any project, one would like to fully scope it out to the nth degree ahead of time.  He stated that it was not something that was originally included as part of the design and hence, the additional work needed to be performed.  He asked Mr. Fitzhugh to provide greater technical explanation.

 

David Fitzhugh, City Engineer, stated that there was a provision in the contract for electrical service and the item was for service for the site.  He stated that a booster station was being installed and there was a building there for the workers.  He stated that there was equipment involved which needing electricity and telephone service.  He stated that those were both services provided to the site to make it run.  He stated that the design was based on preliminary information from SRP.  He stated that SRP finalized their design and were telling precisely where they would allow the service to be taken from.  He stated that the City bid the job and went forward with it. 

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that the City had no control over SRP’s schedule and wanted to proceed with the job.  He stated that staff felt at that time, there was enough information to bid the job.  He stated that after that, SRP came back and said, “No, we want you to go 400 feet further and tap into the power at this source.”  He stated that was where the 400 feet of trenching came from.  He stated that it also went onto the site so that the telephone service was a component of that and was included in that trenching as well.  He stated that the City incurred costs above and beyond the original bid amount that were reflected in the change order.  He stated that staff still recommended that Council look favorably on the request.

 

Council Member Carroll asked why staff did not see the cost in the beginning when the first contract was put together.  He asked if staff knew what was going to be required to operate that facility.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that staff knew that power and a telephone were needed.  He stated that the design and information that was provided to staff changed after the bid went forward.  He stated that the other choice was to wait until SRP provided the final design which was not until November.  He stated that staff would have had to wait to start the contract until that information was received.  He stated that staff made a decision at that time, to go forward with the bid based on the best information available.

 

Council Member Carroll stated that he understood that people were busy and had a lot of different jobs going on but SRP and Qwest both had people on staff that communicated with the City from a level that was elevated from the staff position.  He stated that maybe it was a question for Mr. Schrader, but staff, he was sure, talked to the City Manager and let him know there was some difficulty in getting the reply of necessary information needed from SRP.  He stated that he would expect Mr. Schrader, if he ran into the same type of road block that he contact, to come before the Council to say there was a problem with SRP not being as responsive as they should be.  He stated that the Council could help out.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that was a good point in terms of how to address situations that arose such as that.  He stated that it was not the only circumstance where staff had run into a challenge with another entity and needed help in putting together all of the pieces of a large scale project dealing with a utility company.  He stated that other governmental organizations, from time to time, can impact the implementation schedule.  He stated that the recommendation was a good one and staff would try to follow up on that as best as they could with all of the different constraints that everyone was operating under.  He stated that it was a good rule that if there was an issue there, it would be worked out at a staff level.  He stated that if it was a really major issue, it could be brought to the Council to see if additional assistance could be given to try to resolve the issue.

 

Council Member Carroll asked Mr. Fitzhugh, with the electrical supply lines, if it involved a need for electricity in addition to what was needed to run the pumps.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that the system was designed as a central booster station and reservoir.  He stated that the current plans called for four reservoirs to be sited there as well as multiple booster stations.  He stated that the electrical source was sized to handle the future need.

 

Council Member Carroll stated certainly, electricity was needed to run the pumps and in the building for the staff that would be working there.  He asked why one of the lines could not be tapped into what was going into the pumps.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that he would have to surmise that the load that was put on the line by the booster pump exceeded what was required for the original well pump and another additional one was brought in.

 

Council Member Lynch expressed her concern about road work being completed and then utilities having to tear it up to do work with their lines.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that staff could certainly try to continue to upgrade the extent and level of coordination with the different utility providers as it related to major projects.  He stated that he thought that was already being done and to a great degree with preconstruction meetings for most of all of the major projects.  He stated that staff tried to bring in representatives from the utilities and make sure they were aware of what was going on.  He stated that from time to time, those issues would arise and staff would try to work through them as best as they could.  He stated that Council Member Lynch’s point was well taken to try to go back to see if staff could further impress upon the different utilities the need to try to work with the City as best they could and coordinate efforts to avoid the type of situation Council Member Lynch just mentioned.

 

Council Member Lynch suggested that the utility should pay for the street repair if they don’t act before the street is improved.

 

Council Member Carroll moved to approve Item No. 6.c along with staff’s recommendation.  He stated that since the item was not one that was for the sole purpose and benefit of SRP and Qwest.  Council Member Lynch seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

g.      PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT – W.C.  SCOUTTEN

         City Staff requested that the Council approve an agreement in the amount of $27,400.00 with W.C. Scoutten, Inc. for updating the City’s Engineering Design Guidelines.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she had a concern on this item.  She stated that W.C. Scoutten provided work and engineering services to the City and did the same things City staff would do if there was sufficient staff.  She stated that she was not sure if it went out as an RFP but asked how the City could award a contract to someone who was working for the City to determine the standards under which they or the City would do a job and then do that job.  She stated that in reading it, it looked like a conflict of interest.  She asked for help on the issue.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that there was a difference in that Mr. Scoutten was not actually a contractor or developer that would be coming in with projects or under the scenario Council Member Lynch mentioned, to develop rules that would benefit himself.  He stated that was not the role Mr. Scoutten served for the City and that he basically operated under contract for the Engineering Division to help review plans.  He stated that one could make an argument that Mr. Scoutten was probably particularly well qualified having served in that role for some time. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Mr. Scoutten had picked up along with staff, a number of different issues or deficiencies in terms of design and development standards.  He stated that if those were in place, it would arguably benefit in helping to improve the overall quality and timeliness of the review process.  He stated that was what David Fitzhugh, City Engineer, indicated in his report.  Mr. Schrader stated that he did not see it as a conflict in that regard, and if anything, there might be some benefit in how closely Mr. Scoutten had worked with staff.  He stated that he would let the City Attorney address the conflict issue and let Mr. Fitzhugh talk about the benefits that he saw derived by moving forward with the endeavor.

 

Mr. McGuire, City Attorney, stated that he thought the issue was clearly that if Mr. Scoutten’s firm was involved in procuring public works contracts in the City, for one, they probably could not do design review as they did for the City.  He stated that secondly, Mr. Scoutten could definitely not be involved in drafting the guidelines for Engineering Services.  He stated that the services Mr. Scoutten provided were specifically to implement those rules across the plans that were reviewed.  He stated that he thought Mr. Schrader was correct in saying that there was probably a significant savings to the City to have someone who had actually worked with the rules for quite a few years, be the one to upgrade the rules at that time and implement all of the new things that the City was trying to do.  He stated that he thought Mr. Fitzhugh was the best person to answer questions in terms of the actual design guidelines and where the City was going with them.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh, City Engineer, stated that there was a set of guidelines that were developed in 1977 and Mr. Scoutten had used those extensively during his contract tenure with the City.  He stated that staff had penciled in changes throughout the working copy and there were hand drawn sketches of street cross sections.  He stated that was what staff was trying to use currently to review plans and there were inconsistencies throughout the document that needed to be updated.  He stated that Mr. Scoutten was very familiar with the key and critical areas of the plan that needed to be updated. 

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that he met Jim Badowich, the Engineer responsible for plan reviews, and with Mr. Scoutten a number of times. He stated that he wanted to talk specifically about components the City wished to add to the guidelines including traffic control, traffic signal design standards and things that were presently missing from the design guidelines.  He stated that he thought Mr. Scoutten’s familiarity with the design guidelines and the City’s process, desires and goals for establishing design guidelines would help develop a product that improved customer service and give clear and consistent direction to both the consultants that did the design work as well as the development community. 

 

Council Member Lynch asked if Mr. Scoutten would be developing, not the guidelines that he would be making sure were implemented, but the guidelines that someone else would be using.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was correct.

 

Council Member Carroll asked Mr. McGuire for help.  He stated that he had looked through all of the information he had at home and could not find the definition of “force majeure.”

 

Mr. McGuire stated that force majeure was the generic term used to describe anything that was beyond the control of the people signing the contract.  He stated that it generally referred to acts of God, war, strikes or anything that would make performance of the contract by one party or another impossible.  He stated that it was in the City’s standard form contract because it was often a contract used to procure services or goods. 

 

Council Member Carroll asked Mr. Fitzhugh, when looking at the contract and the price, how he would compare the cost, versus putting out RFPs.  He asked if there was someone else that could have taken the plan and returned the quality type of product that Mr. Scoutten could since he had a working knowledge of the City and the guidelines as they presently existed.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that he would have to answer that question by going back to the Arizona Revised Statutes.  He stated that by State statute, the City was required to select consultants based on their qualifications.  He stated that the most qualified consultant was the one the City was required to select, regardless of price.  He stated that was what the State statute said in a summary.  He stated that practically speaking, he thought that Mr. Scoutten was the most qualified person because of his extensive experience with the existing guidelines and the City.

 

Council Member Carroll asked if the City was able to hire Mr. Scoutten at a lower cost than if someone else was chosen.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that he really could not say because it was not a consideration of the process.  He stated that Mr. Scoutten was selected based on his qualifications and felt he was the best person to do the job.

 

Council Member Lynch moved to approve Item No. 6.g.  Council Member Carroll seconded the motion.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he had a question for Mr. Schrader.  He stated that in Section B, Streets, Part B Grading, the section had not been developed at all and it was not clear what the purpose was.  He stated that when looking at the fee proposal for that, it was 20 hours.  He stated that when looking at the sign section that was also fairly well developed and should require only updating the nominal expansion, that was six hours.  He stated that water distribution maintenance Section 3, was 16 hours.  He stated that those were reported to be very little work and there was an extra ten hours on one reported to be fully developed and very complete.  He stated that when looking at the taxpayers dollars, if he were out in the crowd, he would question that.  He stated that it did not correspond with his written description of the work that was entailed.  He stated that since there was a motion on the floor, he wanted the Council to consider that was the type of description that was given and to consider that when voting on the motion.  He asked if Mr. Fitzhugh had an answer for that.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that under Section 2B regarding grading, there was an existing section there that Mr. Scoutten would have to rewrite in order to clarify some of the issues.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he was okay with that and that was 20 hours and a day’s work but he had another day and a half on the technical work.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh asked what the other section was.

 

Mayor Drake stated that Section 2.D. regarding signs said that it should require only an update and nominal expansion that required six hours.  He stated that was okay but when he went to distribution mains it said, in Mr. Scoutten’s words, that it was fully developed and very complete and he wanted 16 hours.  He stated that to the taxpayers that was an extra $1,500.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that although the section was fully developed, Mr. Scoutten still needed to develop the spread sheets that would be used and all of the appropriate text that went along with that.  He stated that each one of the sections would also have a check list developed and there would be a lot of clerical time that went in to doing the leg work to put that together.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he appreciated Mr. Fitzhugh’s explanation but was not comfortable with that.  He stated that he thought other taxpayers would be wondering.

 

Mr. Schrader asked Mr. Fitzhugh if, in terms of the proposal, that it was something where the actual, final payments made would be on the actual work performed.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was correct.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that if the consultant came on board and started working with staff if it turned out that, as the Mayor questioned, there was not that much work required in the water distribution of water main section that the City would necessarily be charged for that total amount of time.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was also correct.  He stated that Mr. Scoutten made a statement on the last page on the difficulty in putting a cost estimate to the process because of the unknown of how many hours it would take to rewrite the section.  He stated that Mr. Scoutten’s work product would be reviewed by City staff and that a billing would need to be supported by a product.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that as she went through, she initially had the same question as Mayor Drake and thought that Mr. Fitzhugh answered part of it earlier.  She asked if the City required checklists so if the City took over the project and Mr. Scoutten was no longer then the City would have a product to work with.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was partially true.  He stated that the checklist was actually for the benefit of everyone.  He stated that the developer’s engineer would be able to have a checklist that specified exactly what the City expected to see on the plans.  He stated that each one of the sections would have a checklist developed.  He stated that staff used that checklist to compare against the plans and it expedited staff’s review process.

 

Council Member Carroll stated that when looking at the overall cost, who Mr. Scoutten would be reporting to for a determination as to if the project was or was not complete. 

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that Mr. Scoutten would be doing the work off site in his own offices and that he would not be able to directly oversee how he went about his preparation.  He stated that either he or one of his staff would be reviewing the changes that Mr. Scoutten made and that would give an indication of how much time was involved. 

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she wanted to make a comment in accordance with the new Council Rules of Procedures, that she would be voting positive on the item based on the comments from the City Manager, City Attorney and Mr. Fitzhugh.

 

Mayor Drake stated that no vote had been taken yet.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she knew that but was simply giving the explanation as the new policy required.

 

Mayor Drake asked for a roll call vote and stated that the motion was to extend the contract with W.C. Scoutten in the amount of $27,400.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Council Member Jones	Aye
Council Member Karlin	Aye
Council Member Shuey	Aye
Council Member Lynch	Aye
Council Member Carroll	Aye
Vice Mayor Rogers	Aye
Mayor Drake	Nay

 

Motion passed 6-1, Mayor Drake voted nay.

 

h.      KOHL’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

         City Staff requested that the Council approve an economic development agreement with Kohl’s Department Store, Inc.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she asked that the item be pulled even though she knew the Council had been working on it for many months, was aware of what it was all about and who Kohl’s was.  She stated that during a training meeting out of state that year, she had an opportunity to visit one the stores.  She stated that she was hoping the City Manager and Mayor, who had seen and lived where the stores would explain who and what Kohl’s was.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that Kohl’s was a major department store that was headquartered out of Wisconsin.  He stated that the stores had a pretty extensive presence throughout the Midwestern section of the country.  He stated that it was a very nice department store that provided a wide array of items for sale such as shirts, clothes and other types of accessories for the household.  He stated that the proposed store would be 86,000 square feet and should be a nice sized facility. 

Council Member Lynch moved to approve Item No. 6.h.  Vice Mayor Rogers seconded the motion.

 

Mayor Drake stated that Kohl’s was a store that was probably in between a Mervyn’s and almost to a Penny’s type of quality goods and services.  He stated that it would incorporate everything that was needed in a household.  He stated that he thought it was an unbelievable addition to the City of Avondale and the City was fortunate to be getting it rather than see it go across the street to Goodyear.  He stated that as a citizen, it really did not matter where it went as long as it went some where close to home.  He stated that the important thing was that it was coming into that area of the valley.  He stated that it was being offered to the citizenry as part of an Avondale amenity.  Mayor Drake stated that he did not think there was anyone that would not enjoy being a patron of the Kohl’s store once it was built.  He stated that one thing he thought it would also do for the community was bring other types of businesses that would feed off of the Kohl’s type of establishment.  He stated that he was hoping a Border’s Book Store would want to be a neighbor to Kohl’s Department Store.  He stated that was his hope and that there was nothing that was in the works but that was the type of future development that he saw on that corner.

 

Motion carried unanimously.

 

i.       COLDWATER SPRINGS DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT REIMBURSEMENTS FOR SEWER AND TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEES

         City Staff requested that the Council authorize the reimbursement of impact fees in the amount of $248,407.51 to Coldwater Springs Development Company, L.L.C., and Schulke Investments, L.L.C. for the City’s proportion of sewer and offsite paving infrastructure.

                       

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that he wished to have the City Engineer provide some additional information. 

 

Mr. Fitzhugh, City Engineer, stated that he wanted to point out on the first table under budget, the third column over on the CIP Fund, there was a statement that said, “paid by developer for portion, signal and bus bay.”  He stated that was a misstatement and that was actually the amount of money that was owed for the water used on the golf course.  He stated that he apologized for that typographical error.  He stated that having said that, basically what the Council report included, was payment back to the developer for improvements oversizing the two sewer lines and a portion of Van Buren Street improvements.  He stated that the Coldwater Springs Boulevard sewer was oversized to 18 inches at the convenience at the City to provide the capacity to serve some other areas outside of the development.  He stated that $56,246 was the City’s share of the project.  He stated that the other sewer project was oversized to 18 inches for Parcels 7, 15 and 21.  He stated that the City’s share of that project was $67,057. 

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that although the total amount that the City agreed to was $731,977.93, they were being reimbursed based on the number of building permits they had pulled.  He stated that would equate to $218,400.  He stated that they also owed some money for water they used on the golf course that the City had to pay for.  He stated that they already paid $11,628 and that left a balance of $93,534.52.  He stated that they also owed the City for a share of traffic signals and a bus bay.  He stated that was the $93,296.  Mr. Fitzhugh explained that the City would deduct the water from the amount of the money that the City would pay them.  He stated that the developer would write the City a check for the amount of money they owed for the traffic signal and bus bay.  He stated that the developer would receive a check from the City in the total amount of $248,407.51.  He stated that he would be glad to answer any questions.

 

Council Member Lynch asked if Mr. Fitzhugh said the developer would give the City a check for $93,000.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that they were going to give a check in the amount of $93,534.52

 

Council Member Lynch asked if they were going to give that check, why was the City going to pay them the net.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that he did not understand the question.

 

Council Member Lynch asked if they were going to give the City a check for the $93,000 then why the City was only going to pay them the net of the $248,000.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was because there were two items for $93,000.  He stated that there was $93,534.52 for the traffic signals and $93,296 for the water.

 

Council Member Lynch asked how the City would get paid by them in the future when the City did not owe them any money.  She asked how the City would monitor the fact that it was not getting paid for the water and so forth.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that the City would get the billing straightened out on the water and work with Utilities and Finance to make sure that they were being billed as they used water.  He stated that the Utilities Department had initiated conversations with them and discussions and it would be handled that way.  He stated that the City would get the amount of money for water resolved and could release the balance that the City owed them which would probably come around in the next quarter.  He stated that he wanted to point out that it would be happening on a regular basis until the development was built out or until the City repaid all of the funds due to them.

 

Mr. McGuire, City Attorney, stated that he was not quite sure if it would be the first meeting in January or the second, but the Council would see an amendment to the Coldwater Springs Development Agreement that addressed the SRP water for non-member land which was what the payment was for.  He stated that the hope was that through that amendment and through subsequent implementation, the wells that were on site that were not on SRP land, would not need to use any of the SRP water on a number of the lands or tap into the City’s water either.

 

Council Member Lynch moved to approve the item as recommended.  Vice Mayor Rogers seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

j.       PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REAPPOINTMENT

         The Council considered the reappointment of Anita Hedrick as a full-time member of the Planning and Zoning Commission to serve a three-year term.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she asked that the item be pulled for the same comments that she made when appointing people to the Commission and to the Board of Adjustment.  She stated that the Council could take two view points.  She stated that the Council could say those were the people that applied and they all happened to live in the same neighborhood or the council could determine that they wanted a more varied group.  She stated that in this case, there would be three residents of Rancho Sante Fe on that one committee which was almost a majority and that was her concern.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that was ultimately a policy decision that Council had to consider.  He stated that as the Council may be aware, Ms. Hedrick was an alternate and a vacancy occurred and she assumed the permanent position and that was what the recommendation was for to serve a full three year term.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that it had nothing to do with the individual and she just wanted to explain her vote.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that he looked at the item very closely and based on the history as to how the Council tried to act and handle the situation, certainly the Council would not like to have one area heavily dominated in any board, commission or committee, but sometimes it was going to happen.  He stated that he appreciated the willingness of all of the residents that had stepped forward to serve.

 

Councilman Carroll moved to appoint Anita Hedrick to a full three year term on the Planning and Zoning Commission.  Council Member Shuey seconded.  Motion carried 6 to 1, Council Member Lynch voted nay.

 

7)         YOUTH COMMISSION PRESENTATION

City Staff requested that the Council consider the establishment of a Youth Advisory Commission to provide input to council on youth related issues.  Youths from the ad hoc committee presented the suggested goals and structure of the Advisory Commission.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that as the Council was aware, staff followed up on a recommendation by City Council made earlier in the year, to explore the possibility of creating a Youth Commission for the City of Avondale.  He stated that Vice Mayor Rogers had been involved quite heavily and from the staff side, the Organizational Development Grant Coordinator, Mike Powell, had been working on trying to bring the proposed endeavor to fruition.  He stated that it involved a number of meetings with representatives of the youth of the community over the course of the past several months to assess their interest in establishing and participating in such a Commission.  He stated that he would save the presentation for Mr. Powell, but that the purpose of the item was to gain further input and direction from Council in terms of any recommendation modifications to the formation and constitution of the proposed Youth Commission. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that if the Council wished to proceed with it, staff could bring back an actual resolution at the next meeting to formally establish the Commission incorporating what ever possible additions or modifications the Council wanted to make upon hearing staff’s presentation.  He stated that as indicated in the staff report, if the Council wanted to move forward, staff could even start the recruitment process on a parallel track.  He stated that shortly after the beginning of the new year, staff could bring back an additional piece of legislation to make appointments to the Commission.

 

Mr. Powell, Organizational Management/Grants Coordinator, stated that it was his pleasure to introduce the youth adhoc committee that had worked very hard on the project.  He stated that there were many representatives from a number of different schools including Agua Fria High School and Estrella High School.  He stated that the four individuals standing behind him were the ones that really carried the ball.  He stated that those individuals would be making the presentation to the Council.  Mr. Powell explained that the Council had his report in front of them that gave the history. He introduced Matt Eckhoff, Arizona School for the Arts, and stated that he would begin the presentation.  He introduced Oscar Farfan, Avondale Junior High School; Neoli Hernandez, Westview High School; and Alessandra Rucco, Arizona School for the Arts.  Mr. Powell commended the individuals for their efforts and turned the presentation over to them. 

 

Matt Eckhoff, Arizona School for the Arts, stated that he and the others were representatives of the adhoc committee of the Avondale Youth Advisory Commission.  He stated that he really hoped to see the Youth Commission come to fruition very soon and with the help of the dedicated, Vice Mayor Rogers, Ms. Thomas, Mr. Powell, Mr. Buckley and a handful of others, an infrastructure would be created to start the Youth Advisory Commission.  He stated that with the guidance of the experienced adults and the new voices of the youth of the community and the adhoc committee, he felt confident and excited to represent the first stage of accomplishment of the Commission.  He stated that he hoped the Commission would be able to begin right away and hoped the support of the Mayor and City Council would be found that evening.  He stated that he would like to present the proposal of the Avondale Youth Advisory Commission.

 

Mr. Eckhoff stated that for the mission statement, attaining a group of well rounded, diverse youth was a priority to the Commission.  He stated that the group hoped to do extraordinary things throughout the community.  He stated that for example, he wanted to see the Commission facilitate service projects, host speak outs where the youth of the City would be able to voice concerns and opinions and share thoughts of what could be put into positive action.  He stated that in doing all of that, he would like to reflect and work cooperatively with the leadership of the community.  He stated that the needs of the youth really needed to be identified such as having safer places to go, more positive things to do.  He stated that in identifying those needs of the youth, the negative could be improved.  He stated that the actions for improvement would in turn allow for the creation of service projects to better the lives of the youth in the community.  He stated that he believed that what the community saw through positive action and service projects and other events, the view of youth in general could change.  He stated that the positive thought and action plan was how to accomplish an all around positive view of the youth in Avondale.

 

Oscar Farfan, Avondale Junior High School, stated that the committee had a lot of goals at the beginning and decided to eliminate some that were not as important as the others.  He stated that the final four that were developed included youth involvement in the community, a safe environment, positive thought into positive action and identify and protection of youth rights.  He stated the main job was to give recommendations to Avondale City Council.  He stated that the leadership was built up of a chair person, a vice-chair person, a historian, a treasurer, a membership/public relations officer, a non-voting adult member to act as an advisor.  He stated that the advisor must be someone involved with the City that liked to work with youth and had experience with kids aged 13 to 19.

 

Alessandra Rucco, Arizona School for the Arts, stated that in the application process the City Council would be asked to choose the initial Commission members through a process of their favor.  She stated that the following choices were provided as options:  the City Council to receive applications and directly choose the members to fill openings; one youth representative from the Commission could work with the City Council to review the applications and provide input; or applications could be initially submitted to the Avondale Youth Advisory Commission and recommendations could be sent to the City Council for final approval.  She stated that the Commission membership structure would be based upon City of Avondale residents aged 13 to 19.  She stated that the total number of Commissioners would be 19 voting members including the five executive officers.  She stated that the five officers would be composed of a chair person, vice chair person, historian, treasurer, and membership/public relations officer.

 

Neoli Hernandez, Westview High School, stated that member selection would be sensitive to certain criteria when choosing the Commissioners.  She stated that diversity would be ensured and there would be representatives from each high school, junior high school, home school, charter school and parochial school.  She stated that in addition, there would be representatives from the different residential communities in the City.  She stated that the Commission meetings would be held twice per month as decided by the seated Commission.  She stated that after the first quarter the Commission would consider changing the number of meetings to once per month for the full Commission.  She stated that the executive officers would meet one additional time per month to set the agenda.  She stated that it would probably be one to two weeks before the full Commission meeting.  She stated that it was requested that the meetings be held at the Public Safety building on 107^th Avenue where all of the prior meetings were held. 

 

Ms Hernandez stated that in regard to budget considerations, the Commission requested $500 for supplies including paper, pens and so forth.  She stated that $2,500 was requested for training because it was very important to have professionals come in and teach about Robert’s Rules of Order and youth development issues including leadership or decision making.  She stated that $500 was requested for transportation including van rentals for the leadership training, visits to other youth commissions in action such as in Peoria or Glendale.  She stated that $500 was requested for refreshments.  She stated that $1,000 was requested for advertisement including placement in the West Valley View, flyers, school papers and newsletters around the City. 

 

Mr. Powell stated that the total request was for $5,000 and that staff identified some money sources up to $5,000.  He stated that he wanted to recognize the various teams that participated in the program and read the following names: Albert Bueno, Matt Eckhoff, Stephanie Flores, Neoli Hernandez, Yvette Logazo, Andy Bueno, Oscar Farfan, Nelly Gonzales, Yvonne Lagazo, Cherish McCombs, Maribell Medina, Carmen Miguel, Kristen Straite, Tony Mendez, Alessandra Rucco and Jeremy Torres.  He stated that four of the members were members of the Keys Program. 

 

Mr. Powell stated that the adults who participated in some of the organizing activities were Elizabeth Baca-Gallagher, Anthony Castiglia, George Flores, Mark Buckley, Linda Cutright and Vivian Flores.  He stated that he wanted to give a special thanks to Vice Mayor Rogers, and Melissa Thomas with the Southwest Community Network who donated her time to help facilitate all of the activities that took place.  He stated that it had been a wonderful process so far and obviously, it was the beginning of a new Commission.  He stated that it was one of the goals that the Council stated within the Fiscal year 2001-02 strategic goals and planning within Community and Recreation Services.  He stated that he was happy to entertain questions for the four representatives.

 

Mayor Drake asked Mr. Powell why the purpose statement stated that it was to change the community’s attitude about youth.  He asked what the community’s attitude was about the youth and how was it determined that there was a community attitude.

 

Mr. Powell stated that he would let Mr. Eckhoff address that question but basically the process involved a group of about 12 youths who took a look at various different items.  He stated that the youths worded the purpose statements and mission statements based upon their own personal beliefs of how people or adults looked at the teens.

 

Mr. Eckhoff stated that in no way were the representatives saying there was a totally negative view of teenagers in the community.  He stated that it generally talked about the media and the views of youth in the media.  He stated that he was not saying there were not positive things shown in the media, but wanted to see a lot more positive things such as getting involved with the YMCA and things like that.  He stated that getting involved needed to be viewed more positively.  He stated that there was a need to be viewed more positively.

 

Mayor Drake asked if Mr. Eckhoff thought there was an attitude in the community currently that the youth were not involved or cared about the community.

 

Mr. Eckhoff stated that he could not speak for everyone.

 

Mayor Drake asked how he would speak for the group.

 

Mr. Eckhoff stated that the group that had come together was very determined and really committed to their beliefs.  He stated that for the group, he would answer “no” to that question.  He stated that they were very dedicated to the things they believed in.

 

Ms Hernandez stated that it was very important to note that the group of people who came together were very dedicated.  She stated that in talking about experiences they or some friends had in the City of Avondale, it was quite obvious that the majority of youth, and especially teenagers, were not viewed in a positive way.  She stated that there were attitudes of people coming down and assuming that teenagers out after dark was perhaps not one of the best things for the community.  She stated that the group was very dedicated in doing what they wanted to do and through action, could show that teenagers and youth in the community were better than the opinions of most people in the City.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers stated that first of all, it had been a long process.  She stated that she thought at the beginning, the youth probably looked to the adults to tell them what to do and that was not the case.  She stated that as the youth found out, it was their job, their work and they had done a fabulous job.  She stated that she simply wanted to say how very proud she was of them, that it all came together and she was excited about it.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she simply wanted to say, that if those four young people were in anyway representative of the rest of the group, the media was present and listening, and she thought they said it very well.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she had the opportunity to sit in on one of the initial planning sessions and had to say that she was very, very impressed especially because she used to be a teacher.  She stated that she taught seventh and eight graders in a wide variety of areas and she was so very impressed because of the organization and ideas that were coming forth.  She stated that she was impressed with the fact that those kids were being empowered to make the decisions themselves, she was very pleased to see that.  She stated that she looked forward to seeing very positive things in the future from the group.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that he appreciated seeing the youth that evening and that they really did not have the foggiest idea as to how proud and swelled they had made his heart.   He stated that there was a whole new world out there that was waiting for them, that they would move into it with their heads held high and represent the City of Avondale proudly.  He stated that there were some things that he would like to see the Commission do and would talk with Mr. Powell about that. 

 

Councilman Carroll stated that he noticed the budget that was put together and supported the youth in that budget.  He stated that there was another budget item that the Council had to look at as well.  He stated that for $1,000 the representatives would not be able to fly to Washington D.C. and back which was a place he wanted them to see.  He stated that they would not be able to fly to Salt Lake City or Nashville so that they could meet with other youth commissions and groups from other states throughout the nation.  He stated that he definitely wanted to get them to participate at the national level as quickly as possible when the finances could be worked out.  He thanked the youth for coming and participating, and stated that they really caused his heart to swell.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that along those lines, she also wanted to add that the National League of Cities had newly instituted a new constituency group which dealt with youths.  She stated that it would be wonderful if they could become part of that as representatives for the City of Avondale.

 

Mayor Drake stated that when he was their age, his parents thought of him the same way they felt their parents thought of them, and that it just sort of went in generations.  He asked as they went around in the community that they started looking at areas that would improve the community.  He stated that was the charge that they were asking for themselves and for people their age because that was what the Commission was for.  He stated that the idea had been in the making for three years and had finally come to fruition with the help of everyone that had put it together.  He stated that as they went through the community, he wanted them to look at areas and say what would be great for the City to do.  He stated that there was a proposed skate park three years ago which never came about.  He stated that it was an idea that got brought to the City Council by kids their age and it was all paid for.  He stated that it could be done and would not cost the City anything to build that park.  He stated that it did not get built even though kids their age brought it forth and got all of the people to sponsor it.  He stated that there were things that could be done like that and but would take hard work on their part.  He stated that he thought it was really exciting for the City to have them and he looked forward to their input.

 

Council Member Jones stated that she simply wanted to wish the young people well in their forthcoming adventures.  She stated that she knew it had been a subject that had been near and dear to Vice Mayor Rogers’ heart and she had probably seen several young people grown up into adulthood since the initial idea came up for it.  She stated that she simply wanted to wish them well in their forthcoming adventures and endeavors and thanked them for doing what they were doing.

 

Mayor Drake asked Vice Mayor Rogers if, as a Council, there was any action they wanted to take.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers stated that staff was going to take a look at it and bring it back in the next month.

 

Mayor Drake asked if it would be at the next meeting.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that at the same time, based on the Council’s input, he would recommend with the Council’s concurrence to start the process of soliciting applications from the youth to serve on the Commission.

 

Mayor Drake asked about making the budget approvals.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that staff would bring that back as part of the formal legislation to create the Commission.

 

Mr. Powell stated that on behalf of the youth adhoc committee and all of the people that worked on the project, he thanked the Council and looked forward to continuing on with the Youth Advisory Commission.

 

8)         COUNCIL SELECTION OF NAME FOR NEW CITY PARK FACILITY

The Council considered a recommendation to name the new city park facility located at 12421 West Lower Buckeye Road.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item dealt with the establishment of a name for the new neighborhood park in the Las Ligas neighborhood off of Lower Buckeye Road.  He stated that he referred to the park in the end of the year highlights presentation.  He stated that the park was largely complete and that he was looking forward to a dedication ceremony in early January.  He stated that as with the process for naming the Avondale Friendship Park, staff solicited names from the community.  Mr. Schrader explained that the process focused on the Rio Vista and Las Ligas neighborhoods since it was a neighborhood park.  He stated that the Council had a list of the suggestions that came forward from members of the community.  He stated that the item went before the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board in accordance with City policy for their recommendation.  He stated that the Board forwarded a recommendation that the new neighborhood park be named Las Ligas Park.  He stated that was basically the recommendation before the Council.

 

Dan Davis, Director, Community Recreation Services, stated that he was happy to answer any questions.

 

Council Member Shuey stated that he had one question.  He stated that in looking at the various options, he saw that one of them was “Bailey Park.”  He asked what the background on that name was.

 

Mr. Davis stated that he was not sure of the origin of that suggestion.  He stated that there were a variety of sources.  He stated that a booth was set out at the Friendship Park dedication and names were taken there.  He stated that names were taken through direct mail as well.  He stated that he was not really sure if that was in harmony with the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  He stated that names were received from a variety of sources.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that in looking at the names, he really did not have any heartburn about them but he had a name that he would much rather see than what was listed there.  He stated that he much preferred, because of the geographical location of the park, that it be named, “Las Ligas Rio Vista Park” instead of just “Las Ligas”.  He stated that it was there to serve the whole community and City of Avondale but specifically Rio Vista.  He stated that he wanted to see that included in the name.

 

Mayor Drake stated that last time there was a discussion on the other park and one of the names that was brought to him was,  “Garcia”, after the Garcia family for all of the work they did in the community.  He stated that he would like to add that name for Council to consider.  He stated that the Council could do what they wanted but thought that would be appropriate. 

 

Council Member Lynch stated that it had nothing to do with the name but believed there was a procedure step put in as to whether a park could or could not be named after an individual and what had to take place in order for that to happen.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers stated that she did not know what the process was to name the Las Ligas Park, or if anyone went into the research of what Las Ligas meant.  She stated that Las Ligas was the little rubber bands that were used to tie the green onions with by farm workers.  She stated that those farm workers all settled in that area in Las Ligas and Rio Vista.  She stated that to her, it was very appropriate that it be named Las Ligas Park.

 

Council Member Jones stated that she really like the name Las Ligas Park and thought it was something that the neighborhood would greatly appreciate.  She stated that she also took into consideration, Council Member Carroll’s suggestion that Las Ligas Rio Vista be considered.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers moved to adopt the name, “Las Ligas Park.”  Council Member Karlin seconded the motion.

 

Mayor Drake asked if “Las Ligas Park” was what she wanted to name it or “Las Ligas Community Park.”

 

Vice Mayor Rogers stated that she thought the committee recommended, “Las Ligas Park.”

 

Councilman Carroll stated that as he stated earlier, he thought the park should also bear the name, “Rio Vista” because it was geographically located in that area.  He stated that because of the people that lived in Rio Vista equally along side the people that lived in Las Ligas that the necessary work was done to bring the park about.  He stated that there was an attitude and a belief in the past that the City was not going to develop any more neighborhood parks and he was very happy to see that the City got away from that idea.  Councilman Carroll stressed that he also thought if the park had the name of both communities it would not show favoritism to one.  He stated that what Vice Mayor Rogers said was important but to leave out Rio Vista would be a slight.  He stated that he did not think the Council wanted to slight anyone.  He stated that his original recommendation was that the Council name the park, “Las Ligas Rio Vista Park.”  He stated that if the Council wanted to add the word, “community”, or “neighborhood” that was fine.

 

Council Member Jones stated that the residents were very much involved in the development of the park all along.  She asked if there was any discussion with them about naming the park.

 

Mr. Davis stated that on a couple of different occasions, he sent out direct mailings to the Las Ligas and Rio Vista areas with a recommendation form for names.  He stated that at one of the planning meetings held last month, he made a special presentation and took names at that time.  He stated that at that meeting, he received another four or five recommendations, the majority of the recommendations that came through were listed.  He stated that there were seven nominations for the “Las Ligas Community Park.” 

 

Council Member Jones asked if the Rio Vista residents were in attendance through most of the meetings and hearings.

 

Mr. Davis said they were and the planning community that staff worked with was representative of Las Ligas and Rio Vista.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he did not think he could definitively give the exact breakdown in terms of the planning area meeting numbers that came from Rio Vista versus Las Ligas.  He stated that basically, several of the Council members attended one or more of those meetings over the course of the design process for the neighborhood park, and that was the forum where a direct presentation was made to offer suggestions.  He stated that a request for submission of names was sent by direct mail, to all of the residents who had been attending those meetings over time.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Council Member Jones	Aye
Council Member Karlin	Aye
Council Member Shuey	Aye
Council Member Lynch	Aye
Council Member Carroll	Nay
Vice Mayor Rogers	Aye
Mayor Drake	Aye

 

Motion passed 6-1, Council Member Carroll voted nay.

 

Mayor Drake offered congratulations to Mr. Davis and stated that it was a good name.

 

9)         ZONING CASE Z99-386-A – WATERFORD SQUARE – TIME EXTENSION

The Council considered a request for a one-year extension of the PAD for Waterford Square located at the northwest corner of 111^th Avenue and Van Buren.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item dealt with a development as indicated by the reading of the title called, Waterford Square.  He stated that it was approved in December 1999 as a planned area development with 51 acres, both single multi-family housing product proposed with 295 single family residential units and 406 multi-family units.  He stated that City Code required that development should commence within two years of receiving P.A.D. approval and this particular development had not moved forward in terms of any actual development.  Mr. Schrader stated that the developers requested a one year extension to allow them to finalize a proposal in the way of a plat.  He stated that part of the reason for the delay in commencing construction, dealt with the original plat submittal which staff found inadequate regarding internal traffic circulation concerns relating to refuse vehicles being able to navigate the internal street network. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that to his knowledge, that issue had still not been resolved and he asked Nathan Crane, Planning Manager, to provide additional background on it.  He stated that in essence, that was the request being made of the Council by the developer to consider further extension of the P.A.D. to allow them to complete the process of working with staff and move forward with the project.  He stated that was one option, to grant the extension, the other was to not grant the extension but request that the case go back through the rezoning process.  He stated that the City Attorney was also prepared to answer any questions the Council had relative to procedural issues in terms of the options.  He asked if Mr. Crane wished to add any additional background.

 

Mr. Crane, Planning Manager, stated that there were a couple of things he wished to add.  He stated that since January of last year, the applicant had been in contact with staff and had met fairly regularly to try to discuss different alternatives that would resolve the concerns for emergency and trash access.  He stated that through the process of developing and trying to find buyers, the applicant had not been able to submit a preliminary plat.  He stated that the applicant was present to answer any questions.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that in reading the packet, the second page, bottom paragraph said, “the developer now has a site plan and produce type that seems” with an emphasis on “seems”, “to be acceptable to the Planning staff and was currently preparing a  revised preliminary plat to submit.”  He stated that that caused him to really question what was being presented.  He stated that in looking at it from an engineering standpoint, it either fit or it did not.  He stated that even the developer would have to meet the guidelines and the standards of the City or his project was going to be unacceptable and he would not support it. 

 

Councilman Carroll stated that there were standards for the street as to how wide they had to be, what type of turning radiuses had to be provided.  He stated that consideration also had to be given to access for law enforcement people, emergency medical people and fire safety people.  He stated that anything that did not fully meet those requirements was unacceptable and the Council should not accept it.  He stated that he was being asked to grant an exception on something that started nearly two years ago.  He stated that if a developer wanted to develop a project and could not within a two year period, there were many things that could happen.  He stated that if he had a piece of property and held on to it and was not able to get it developed then he would sell it.

 

Mr. Crane stated that since there had not been an official submittal to the City regarding a preliminary plat or even a plat revised to address the concerns, there had been meetings with the applicant where he had shown potential concepts that may work for the City.  He stated that the City could not make a determination until actually seeing an official submittal.  He stated that once the official submittal came in, staff would make sure that it met the applicable codes and ordinances that the City had before it came to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council for approval.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he was personally comfortable with the idea to extend it so that the City could work with the developer to get a product that was a win/win both for Avondale and the developer.  He stated that originally he was not happy with the project but was glad to hear that these were developers that wanted to work with the City and make it work.  He stated that the Council had to consider that it was approved by the City Council.  He stated that some of the members present that evening were present when it was approved but if the City went ahead with what was originally proposed to that Council, he did not think anyone would be happy.  He stated that the developer was willing to work with the City and make it work and that was a testament to the developer.

 

Council Member Shuey asked, with the developer working with the City, how close or far would the final product vary from the map the Council was seeing.  He stated that he had real concerns with the map in terms of trash collection, public safety and there was only one point of ingress and egress to the neighborhood.

 

Mr. Crane stated that he thought the Council would see a plat that varied quite differently from the current map.  He stated that he would let the applicant address that question.

 

Mayor Drake asked if the plat was the issue or the extension.  He stated that the Council would address that plat at a future time.

 

Mr. Crane stated that it was only a request for an extension of the zoning case that was before the Council.  He stated that the plat was not before the Council at this time.

 

Council Member Lynch asked what was actually approved in December 1999.

 

Mr. Crane stated that in December 1999, the Council approved the P.A.D. for Waterford Square which allowed for a two part development including a multi-family and higher density single family portion of the development.

 

Council Member Lynch how that could be approved without seeing some kind of plat or plan.

 

Mr. Crane stated that as part of the P.A.D. an exhibit was included and that was what Council based their decision on.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that the letter from the developer’s attorney talked about a new person in charge of trash removal who would not approve the plat.

 

Carlos Cabrera, Director, Field Operations, stated that at the time, Solid Waste was moved to Equipment Management and it came to him for review.  He stated that staff looked at the plat and realized that the proposed way to collect trash would not work.  He stated that what the developer proposed at that time was to have cluster collection of individual cans.  He stated that meant that the nearest individual would have a front door can but the furthest individual would probably have to walk 200 feet and that was not acceptable to the City.  He stated that the second revised plan was a little bit better because a loop could be made in the streets.  He stated that in the first plan, that was not possible. 

 

Mr. Cabrera stated that the issue of having to push a can to a central collection point was not addressed at that time.  He stated that the developer proposed to address it through the homeowners’ association which may or may not have worked for the City because it would require the residents to have to push the can that far.  He stated that when that happened, as soon as the residents found they had to push the can further, they would call the City to ask, “Why?”  He stated that he dealt with that, the issue went a way and he did not hear from the developer after that.  He stated that he had not seen any more revisions and as Mr. Crane stated, nothing had been submitted.  He stated that staff’s main concern was the issue of having to push a can and of no looping streets.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she agreed with him on that.  She asked the applicant if he requested to meet with individual Council members.

 

Michael Curely, Earl, Curely and Legarde, P.C., replied yes.

 

Mr. Curely stated that he wanted to explain the chronology of it to give the Council an understanding and convince them that the delay that had occurred since the time of the original zoning was understandable.  He stated that it was not a situation where he was dragging his feet but,  one of the original concepts that was the foundation to the project, such as bringing the garbage out to a common point of collection, was a concept that some jurisdictions would allow as long as the collection was done by a private refuse collection company.  He stated that some jurisdictions did not allow it for the very reasons that were given and he did not disagree.  Mr. Curely stated that since he was not part of the original zoning case, he was very careful in putting together the chronology.  He stated that he checked it with the client and spent a good amount of time with both Mr. Crane and Mr. Zubia, Former Planning Director, who walked him through what had happened. 

 

Mr. Curely stated that in December 1999, the zoning was approved and Cavalier Homes was going to be the developer of the single family portion.  He stated that for the next six to seven months the applicant worked with staff, the Engineering Department, the Planning Department, went through a number of variations with the site plan and spent about $150,000 in Engineering fees.  He stated that seven months later, the concept of the plan was that people would be rolling their garbage cans out to one point of collection.  He stated that the concept was not objected to initially.  He stated that he was not there but it was his understanding in talking to staff, that the case went to the Planning and Zoning Commission and was approved.  He stated that it was then caught by the refuse department a month before it was to go to the Council that it was a concept which was not acceptable. 

 

Mr. Curely stated that during that six to seven months, the whole concept was to have that particular refuse collection and that was the basis for the circulation system.  He stated that in October or November, Mr. Zubia told the client that the circulation system would not work because the Sanitation Department objected to it.  He stated that a time out was called one month before the plat went to Council.  He stated that a continuance was requested to work out different designs and the next six months was spent working with staff on different designs.  He stated that as Mr. Crane said, the applicant had been coming back with different concepts to see if, from an engineering standpoint, the circulation system would work. 

 

Mr. Curely stated that in summary, the delay in knowing that the circulation system was not going to work caused about a year’s delay in terms of the two year time period.  He stated that if it were not for that delay and objection, Cavalier would have been in development currently.  He stated that as a result of the delay, Cavalier had dropped out of escrow and he had talked to a number of different homebuilders who were interested in the concept.  He stated that the same house product would be required and the circulation system would differ to address the concerns expressed earlier.  He stated that the only other comment he had was that in talking to a couple of the Council members and the Mayor, there were two or three items that he was asked to look into.  He stated that that one option was to consider a reduction in density and he was happy to report that the developer would agree to that.  He stated that the single family product which Mr. Crane referred to was approved by the Council for 295 units.  He stated that the client had agreed to reduce that down to 217 units with a loss of 78 units.  He stated that there was a request to reduce the 406 multi-family units and the developer had agreed to reduce it to 340. 

 

Mr. Curely stated that there were two other items mentioned by Council members he met with and one was to specify amenities.  He stated that he would put everything discussed into a letter spelling out the amenities.  He stated that there would be tot lots, ramadas, swimming pool, and jacuzzi would be included in the open space area for the single family component of the project.  He stated that there was a concern about landscaping.  He stated that if the Council agreed to extend the zoning the stipulations for landscaping would read, “Mature landscape features shall be added at the main entry way at both the multi-family project and the single family component.  Mature landscaping shall also be incorporated within both projects main open space areas.”  He stated that the stipulations would become conditions of the approval so that when the plans came back before the Council, they would be required to comply with those stipulations.  He stated that he hoped he provided a clear explanation and was happy to answer any questions.

 

Council Member Lynch asked when the client was told by Mr. Zubia that it would not work.

 

Mr. Curely stated that it was in October or November of 2000.

 

Council Member Lynch asked if he had been submitting new sets of plans for the last year.

 

Mr. Curely stated that there was a six to eight month period when he became involved in the case.  He stated that through the summer and fall, he met several times with staff dealing with different concepts.  He stated that he thought he had a concept that would work currently, but the problem was that he had spent $150,000 in engineering and did not want to continue spending money unless he knew he had the time to get the job completed.  He stated that what he would basically have to do was to get the new plat approved by the City and get the property sold and developed and without a year’s time to do that, it would not give enough time under the current time table without an extension.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that her concern was that during the time Mr. Curely was spending $150,000, the City had spent two years of staff and management time working with someone in his organization trying to get the standards that the City required.  She stated that she would have to agree with Councilman Carroll that two years had been tied up doing all of it and she would think during that time and by October or November of 2000 that it would have been quite clear what the City standards were.

 

Mr. Curely stated that his intent that evening was not to point fingers but to simply tell the Council that the case, the plat and the whole design went through the City process from basically December until October of the Year 2000 and he never knew that the design was not acceptable to the City.  He stated that it was only after the plat went to the Planning and Zoning Commission that the Sanitation Department looked at it and said that it was not going to work.  He stated that for a good seven months while the applicant was working with the City the unacceptability of that concept was not made aware to them.  He stated that the developer thought the concept was okay because it was allowable in certain jurisdictions.  He stated that it was not allowed in Avondale, that he did not disagree and understood the reasons why it was not acceptable.  He stated that the developer was laboring under the impression that it was because during that December 1999 to September 2000, he was meeting regularly with the City and it was not objected to.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she was not pointing fingers but simply pointing out the other side of the coin to his $150,000.  She stated that the City also had a side to that coin.  She stated that she was disturbed that the City had put all of those efforts in as well and if during the two year time frame, the proposed project had only gotten that far, she was not sure what an additional year was going to bring.

 

Mr. Curely stated that the first thing he would report to his client that next day was that he better get it done within the next year otherwise he was not going to find a very receptive City Council the next time he was before them.  He stated that he was aware that it was going to be the last delay.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that no matter what the feeling, the plat that was attached was part of the original approval.  She stated that she agreed with Council Member Shuey in that it had to be part of the conversation that evening because it was part of the conversation in December 1999.  She stated that she for one, did not see how the City could continue to expend it’s resources with all that was going on and devoting so much time to one developer when there were so many others that needed attention as well.  She stated that would be her concern.

 

Mr. Curely stated that he would correct it if the statement he was about to make was a mistake, but the time that was expended in the last six months really involved four to five meetings at one hour apiece to review the concepts.  He stated that the objections to the original plat were well known.  He asked Mr. Crane if that was correct.  He stated that the applicant met with staff for one hour about four to five times and did not want to leave the impression that the applicant was spending dozens of hours at the City because that would be objectionable to him.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she had the same concerns Councilman Carroll raised and was very concerned that it was the developer’s responsibility to know what the standards of the City were.  She stated that she could not accept the “we didn’t know” part of it.  She stated that it was part of the applicant’s job to understand those standards whether it was Mr. Curely, Cavalier or any one.  She stated that she could not accept that blame either and stated that was how she felt.

 

Mayor Drake stated that it was approved  by the Council.  He stated that it was not approved by everyone on the current Council.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she understood that.

 

Mayor Drake stated that by the standards that the Council set at the time that it was approved, it was acceptable.  He stated that he thought everyone understood what Council Member Lynch was saying but in all fairness to Mr. Curely, he was not here either.  He stated that the standards had changed and that was a good thing.  He stated that the Council had been down that road with developments from other Councils and it was clearly told to the present Council, that when push came it shove, it was their deal even though they did not approve it.  He stated that he would again ask the Council to consider that here was someone willing to work with the City.  He stated that the applicant had reduced the homes by 30% and the apartment number by 15%.  He stated that the applicant was working with the City and it was something the Council had to deal with.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that the P.A.D. was approved by members that no longer served on the Council except for him.  He stated that it was the Council’s responsibility and duty to set policy.  He stated that when items were brought before the Council, it was the Council’s responsibility to look at those and examine them based on the policy the Council established.  He stated that he did not know what the vote was and would not request that staff go back over two years to look for the minutes to see who voted on the item.  He stated that the Council acted upon recommendations brought before them by the staff to approve something that had all of the problems in it. 

 

Councilman Carroll stated that if the Council had knowledge that those kinds of problems existed and went ahead and approved it, they messed up, including him.  He stated that the Council should never have voted to approve the item.  He stated that regarding the time limit, the applicant was given two years to start working on the project and nothing had been done.  He stated that Mr. Curely did not even have a set of approved plans ready for presentation and was asking for another year.  He stated that he did not agree.

 

Council Member Jones stated that her memory was a little bit different from everyone else’s and did not think it was ever approved for the reasons that Councilman Carroll stated.  She stated that she did not think it actually ever went through and was passed by Council.  She stated that it did not really matter and was not worth getting into an argument over.  She stated that she thought the case before the Council was that a time extension was being requested and if there were wrongs, there were wrongs on both sides apparently.  She stated that the applicant had suggested to reduce the densities, do the amenities and the other things he stated.  She stated that the applicant would be bringing back a complete replat.  She stated that the plat was not an issue.

 

Council Member Jones moved to approve a one year extension and try to work with the applicant and see what could be done.  Vice Mayor Rogers seconded the motion.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that if the item was going to be passed, she would like some kind of guarantee that the Council was going to get what met the standards of the City within the next year.  She stated that at present, she was not comfortable with Mr. Crane saying that there may be something that may be acceptable.  She stated that it was not going to go through the Planning and Zoning Commission again from what she gathered.    She stated that she had not seen anything positive in the presentation that gave her a comfort level and did not know if it was something that needed to be continued until Mr. Curely could provide information to those who were unable to meet with him.  She stated that maybe that would give her a better comfort level.  She stated that there was nothing on that piece of paper that gave her the comfort level that she would like.

 

Council Member Shuey stated that in regard to Council Member Lynch’s concerns, there was a way the density could be reduced that would not affect the traffic flow, improve the ability of the sanitation trucks to access the individual homes, or have the ability to provide public safety services.  He stated that he had always understood that it was a standard of the City to provide two points of ingress and egress for the public safety equipment yet he did not see it there.  He stated that the densities that were being proposed could easily be reached by extending the central storm retention area to take out a few extra homes and it would be right where it started in terms of the inability of the City Sanitation and Public Safety being able to adequately serve those residents.  He stated that amenities did not take the place of good public safety nor good public sanitation services.

 

Mayor Drake asked Mr. McGuire, City Attorney, if the request was for an approval of an extension and not to do a new P.A.D. for the property.

 

Mr. McGuire, City Attorney, stated that the action item for approval that evening was for an approval of an extension.  He stated that as it currently sat, the P.A.D. had lapsed by time, according to the original P.A.D.  He stated that as discussed before, what that meant was that at that point, the Council could initiate a rezoning to either revert back to the original zoning or to some other zoning category.  He stated that there was no automatic reversion back to AG or anything else with the lapse of the P.A.D.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he was sure that the applicant would bring something to the Council within a year for approval but asked what would happen if they did not.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that the one year extension was a “one shot deal.”  He stated that only one one-year extension was permitted.  He stated that if in one year, nothing had happened, there would be a lapse of the P.A.D. at the end of the year following when the P.A.D. ended before.  He stated that an extension that evening would be an extension for 11 months, roughly.  He stated that at that point, it would be in the same position.  He stated that there would be a P.A.D. that had lapsed and the need for the Council to take action to either revert it back to another zoning category or back to its original zoning.  He stated that it would initiate another rezoning case that went to the Planning and Zoning Commission through all of the public hearings and to the Council again.

 

Mayor Drake asked if staff was working with the developer through the process of  designing a P.A.D. and could not agree, if it would revert.  He stated that if both parties were working on it, an extension may be needed at that point because of all of the effort that was put into it.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that the actual language of the ordinance stated that the development must commence with one year or two years if there was an extension.  He stated that he thought that would be an interpretation issue of whether development had commenced.  He stated that typically, staff would refer to that as if the permits had been issued and the developer was turning dirt or at the very least, if permits had been issued.  He stated that it the City did not have a set of approved plans within one year, there may be difficulty in coming to the conclusion that commencement of development had been reached.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that everyone was trying to work with the developer however, everyone needed an equal comfort level in order to do that.  She stated that some of the Council members, at the last minute, could not meet with the developer to hear what he had to say one on one to Council.  She stated that she thought it would be only fair if those who had not been privy to what was discussed at the meeting could see it in writing from the developer through a continuation of it to the next Council meeting.  She stated that she would probably have a better comfort level to be on the positive side of it and not have to vote “no.”

 

Councilman Carroll stated that if the motion was allowed to stand, he would request a roll call vote.

 

Mayor Drake stated that there was a motion on the floor to extend it for one year.  He stated that as a courtesy to Councilman Carroll, he would ask for a roll call vote.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Council Member Jones	Aye
Council Member Karlin	Aye
Council Member Shuey	Nay
Council Member Lynch	Nay
Council Member Carroll	Nay
Vice Mayor Rogers	Aye
Mayor Drake	Aye

 

Motion passed 4-3, Council Members Shuey, Lynch and Carroll voted  nay.  Mayor Drake stated that hopefully Mr. Curely could get his client to work with the City expeditiously and asked if he could meet with the Council members that were not privy to the meeting or to inform them of his claims.

 

10)       ZONING CASE Z01-513-AM – ST. THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Council considered a request for approval of an amendment to the Palm Valley PAD to increase the building height for a church from thirty-five (35) feet to seventy-two (72) feet and allow a one hundred (100) foot tower to be located on 37.5 acres generally located at the northwest corner of 137^th Avenue and Thomas Road.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item deals with the proposed amendment to the Palm Valley P.A.D. and specifically dealt with the proposed new facility to be constructed by St. Thomas Acquinas Catholic Community.  He stated that the request was for Council to grant some exceptions to the typical height limitations.  He stated that as the Council could see from the background material, there would be quite and impressive structure to be located on a 37½  acre tact of land on the north side of Thomas Road.  He stated that the specific request was to grant a variance from the 35 foot height limitation for a couple of buildings that would be part of the overall building complex. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that the first height request was to allow for the main parish hall, also referred to as the central dome structure, to be built to a height of 72 feet.  He stated that the second request was for the tower structure to be built to a height of 100 feet near the entry way and serve as a point of identification.  He stated that as the staff report indicated, both of the buildings were relatively centrally located within the overall complex.  He stated that the buildings would not be located in relatively close proximity to any residential developments that presumably might, if located closer, raise an objection.  He stated that the case went before the Planning and Zoning Commission and was recommended for approval to the Council.  He asked Mr. Crane to provide further background.

 

Nathan Crane, Planning Manager, stated that the reason it was a P.A.D. was because it would allow for flexible standards and a case where P.A.D. was appropriate.  He stated that he thought it was also important to note that the increase would only apply to those two buildings.  He stated that all of the buildings, whether on the site or elsewhere in the P.A.D. would have to remain at the 35 foot height level.  He stated that he was happy to answer any questions.

 

Mayor Drake asked if the tower was in any flight path.

 

Mr. Crane stated that he did not know and would assume that it was not.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that Mr. Crane would have to check with the F.A.A. to determine if there were flight paths for the students that were going to school out here.  He stated that he knew that those planes flew all over that area.  He stated that he had no objections to the tower being that high but would certainly want to see it be illuminated with red lights on the top of it so that at least at night the pilots would see it there.  He stated that during the daylight hours, there would not be any problems with seeing it.  He stated that he would hate to see the church work on building the tower and have one of those planes fly into it.

 

Mr. Crane stated that he knew there were F.A.A. regulations that required lights and identification on a certain height of towers and the applicant would be responsible for those.  He stated that the applicant was present to address those issues specifically.

 

Mayor Drake stated that as silly as it seemed, it may be appropriate to do that.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she knew Father Kleczewski was present and she could gather from the Planning and Zoning Commission minutes that he had sufficient meetings with both the college, elementary school and those Goodyear residents in the immediate vicinity of the property.  She stated that the one thing that was not answered in the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, was what really was the 72 foot height and what really was the 100 foot height.  She stated there were crosses and crucifixes that would go on top of those and asked what the true height was for both of those.

 

Mr. Crane stated that he would ask the applicant to address that specifically for the Council.

 

Father Kieran Kleczewski, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, stated that the actual height of the tower was 100 feet including the cross.  He stated that the height of the dome was 72 feet without the cross.  He stated that when it was brought up at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, the regulations allowed for a cross the size of the structure to be placed on top of that building although he did not plan on putting a 72 foot cross on top of that building.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she thought it was an absolutely beautiful facility that she would be very glad to have in her neighborhood.  She asked if Father Kleczewski knew yet what the color of all of the buildings would be.

 

Father Kleczewski stated that there was a color chart in the information provided.  He stated that the buildings would have a classic, mission look in an off white color and a natural tile roof.

 

She asked Mr. Crane if the facility fit in with the new General Plan and the new North Avondale Plan.

 

Mr. Crane stated that it did.  He stated that church and school type facilities were allowed in a residential district, which the P.A.D. was.

 

Council Member Jones stated that she wanted to thank Father Kleczewski for choosing Avondale for the facility.

 

Mayor Drake also thanked him.

 

Mayor Drake asked if the facility would also be like a college prep type of curriculum.

 

Father Kleczewski stated that the initial school would be the grade school and the high school, when it was up, then a college prep program.

 

Councilman Carroll asked about the design.  Father Kleczewski stated that the color schemes were put together by the architect.  He stated that there was an elaborate stone piece over the front of the church over the front doors which was precast.  He stated that he believed that was the precast for that façade of the church.  He stated that the rock was for the fountains and the flooring sample for the internal structure of the church was in the upper right hand corner.  He stated that he also wanted to mention that the tower would be illuminated at night.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she also had a question with the bells and asked if they would be rung on a regular basis because it was going to be bell tower. 

 

Father Kleczewski stated that in the existing church, there was an electronic bell system and his thought currently was that he did not know if the church would be able to initially afford a set of bells for that tower which could be as much as $500,000.  He stated that the thought was that he would probably bring from the old facility, the electronic bell system.

 

Council Member Karlin asked if they were rung every hour or only on special occasions.

 

Father Kleczewski stated that the bells were currently set to play at noon, just before mass and for funerals and weddings.

 

Mayor Drake asked Mr. Schrader if there was an ordinance for bells.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that there was not one that he was aware of.

 

Mayor Drake asked Mr. Schrader if he thought one was needed.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he did not unless someone complained.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that he did not know if any of the bell tones would rise to a level of a noise nuisance and that the decibel level was quite low.

 

Mayor Drake asked Mr. McGuire to look into it to cover all of the bases.  He stated that if a concern was raised, it would already be addressed.

 

Council Member Jones stated that she lived in that neighborhood and was in favor of the bells.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he liked the bells too and did not want to lose them.  He stated that was exactly his point.

 

Council Member Lynch agreed with Council Member Jones and did not know about the Arizona laws but knew that in Connecticut, no one could touch those bells.

 

Mr. McGuire, City Attorney read the ordinance by title.  Council Member Carroll moved to approve the request.  Vice Mayor Rogers seconded the motion.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Council Member Jones	Aye
Council Member Karlin	Aye
Council Member Shuey	Aye
Council Member Lynch	Aye
Council Member Carroll	Aye
Vice Mayor Rogers	Aye
Mayor Drake	Aye

 

Motion carried unanimously.

 

11)       ZONING CASE Z01-496-CU – PURCELL’S WESTERN STATES TIRE – SITE PLAN

The Council considered site plan approval for Purcell’s Western States Tire located at the southwest corner of Indian School Road and Westwind Parkway.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item dealt with a proposal for site plan for a new commercial facility called Purcell’s Western States Tire to be located on Pad C of the Westwind Commercial Development on the northeast corner of that particular commercial development abutting Indian School Road to the north and Westwind Parkway to the west.  He stated that the proposed development consisted of over 5,000 square feet in size.  He stated the architectural design facility would match within the overall development scheme of the proposed Westwind Plaza Commercial Plaza Commercial Shopping Center which was also designed to tie in closely with the Fry’s Shopping Center located to the west.  He stated that there were a number of design features incorporated to try to minimize perceived objections to the type of use. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that basically, there would be a tire store and the main issue as it related to the item was that as it went through the process there was neighborhood participation and hopefully, the Council could glean from the staff memorandum that there was an extensive process to involve neighborhood participation and input.  He stated that when he went to the Planning and Zoning Commission the first or second time that the developer was directed to go back and hold another neighborhood meeting because they were not assured or felt comfortable that they had gotten sufficient neighborhood input and a follow up neighborhood meeting was held.  He stated that additional input was gathered and as a result some of the concerns were allayed. 

Mr. Schrader stated that there was some discussion about when there might be a signal located at Westwind Parkway and Indian School Road and the response was that it had not been planned as yet and did not meet any warrants but that was certainly something that staff would continue to monitor like other heavily traveled intersections in the community and at the time that particular intersection would meet warrants then consideration would be given to putting in a traffic signal.  He stated that the Planning and Zoning Commission after having gone through their somewhat lengthy review process had ultimately recommended approval with the stipulations in the attached staff memorandum.

 

Nathan Crane, Planning Manager, stated that one thing he wanted to add was that as part of the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, the applicant proposed additional stipulations which were included in their recommendation for approval.  He stated that the stipulations came from a neighborhood meeting that the applicant had to address resident concerns.

 

Mayor Drake asked if the hours were 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and no Sunday hours.

 

Mr. Crane stated that was correct.

 

Council Member Lynch asked what else the store would sell beside tires.

 

Mr. Crane stated that his understanding was that a Purcell’s Tire Store was a service station for automobiles.  He stated that he knew it would sale tires and offer various other services.  He stated that he would ask the applicant to explain further.

 

Lyle Richardson, 1928 E. Highland, Phoenix, stated that he had the developer with him that evening, Gil Young, and Gary Kimball and he also brought a representative, Tom Moyer from Purcell’s Tires who he would let explain exactly what the operation would entail.  He stated that he wanted to say that the stipulations were created as a result of fairly extensive neighborhood meetings and hopefully they addressed all items of concerns.  He stated that he was prepared to make a presentation but it seemed late and he thought he would defer to Mr. Moyer so that he could answer any questions regarding other services provided.  He stated that if the Council had any other questions, he was glad to answer them.

 

Tom Moyer, Purcell’s Tires, stated that the automotive services provided were light automotive services including brake jobs, front end alignment, shock absorbers and tune ups.  He stated that the store did not do heavy engine work such as removing engines and only did transmissions and those types of services. 

 

Council Member Lynch asked if the store would provide oil changes.

 

Mr. Moyer stated that it would.

 

Mayor Drake asked if muffler services would be provided.

 

Mr. Moyer stated that muffler service would not be provided in the normal course of business.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she wanted to clarify up front that her comments had nothing to do with that particular store but with a particular belief, not only her own, but of people in her neighborhood.  She stated that recently a store such as Purcell’s tried to come to her neighborhood and she had to agree with the residents that a tire store just automatically, had certain odors associated with it.  She stated that one could drive up to any tire store and smell the oil, tires and the environmental odors there.  She stated that there was an air pressure machine, wrenches falling on the ground, tire rims bouncing on the ground and all of those kinds of things. 

 

Council Member Lynch stated that at that time, she had to support her own neighbors in the fact that a tire store should not be in a neighborhood shopping center.  She stated that her feeling was the same at the proposed site.  She stated that it was nothing personal but in general regardless of who it was.  She stated that she knew the applicant had worked with the neighbors and tried to address a lot of the concerns but she foresaw what would come back to the Council because it was a neighborhood shopping center.

 

Councilman Carroll stated that he could not remember off hand but in the new General Plan that was being studied and with the matrix that was supplied, he asked if that type of operation was restricted from being in that type of neighborhood.

 

Mr. Crane stated that the General Plan talked about different land use categories and the commercial districts that talked about C-1 uses, C-2 uses and C-3 uses.  He stated that the case before them was a P.A.D. which established the uses allowed for it.  He stated that at the time the P.A.D. was approved, it allowed for that type of use. 

 

Councilman Carroll asked if Mr. Crane was in essence, saying that the Council was stuck.

 

Mr. Crane stated that it was an allowed use in the P.A.D. as a conditional use.  He stated that the commercial amendment would not affect the P.A.D.s.  He stated that the use would actually have to be prohibited within the P.A.D. to not make it allowable.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that what she was saying was that if the P.A.D. was not there, it would not be allowed at that time.

 

Mr. Schrader asked if it would have been allowed as a conditional use.  He asked if that was how it was processed before the Planning and Zoning Commission, as a conditional use permit.

 

Mr. Crane stated that was correct.  He stated that it would not have been allowed in C-1 zoning but in C-2 as a conditional use permit.

 

Mr. Moyer stated that he sympathized with the point that was being made and that was one of the reasons that he went back and had the level of discussions and created the level of stipulations in anticipation of the very things being discussed.  He stated that for example, the compressor units would be in an enclosed building and that the operation that took place would only be allowed inside the building during normal service hours.  He stated that when talking about a tire store, one might typically see guys in the parking lot doing the work and that was not what would be done at the location.  He stated that was the reason the stipulation was created to address that.

 

Mayor Drake asked if the doors would be closed during business hours.

 

Mr. Moyer stated that they would not be closed during business hours but obviously during off business hours they would be closed so that no one would be able to see in there.  He stated that the doors had to be kept open to move the cars in and out.

 

Mayor Drake stated that would allow the noise of the wrenches and compressors to be heard.

 

Mr. Moyer stated that the building was oriented to try to address that.  He stated that the store was well in excess of 150 feet away from the first residents.  He stated that an attempt was made to try to enclose the bays and orient them so that the sound was not going out toward any residents but out toward what he would consider a far heavier producer of noise and that was Indian School Road.  He stated that he tried to be as sensitive as possible with the orientation of the building and how the building would be constructed. 

 

Vice Mayor Rogers stated that there was some information about how the development would conform to the landscape plans approved December 12^th.  She asked what percentage it was.

 

Mr. Crane stated that there would be 29% total with 10% required.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers stated that she personally appreciated that and that it helped.

 

Council Member Karlin moved to approve the item as recommended.  Council Member Jones seconded the motion.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Council Member Jones	Aye
Council Member Karlin	Aye
Council Member Shuey	Aye
Council Member Lynch	Nay
Council Member Carroll	Aye
Vice Mayor Rogers	Aye
Mayor Drake	Aye

 

Motion passed 6-1, Council Member Lynch voted nay.

 

12)       RESOLUTION – INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT – MARICOPA COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT – LEVEE ALONG AGUA FRIA RIVER

            The Council considered a resolution approving an intergovernmental agreement with Maricopa County Flood Control District for the use of the levee for a multi-use trail along the Agua Fria River.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item was a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the City of Avondale and the Maricopa Flood Control District to allow for use of property within land that was controlled by the Flood Control District specifically the levy area to be used as part of the proposed multi-modal trail quarter system up and down the Agua Fria River.  He stated that it was basically saying that while the County will allow the City to construct or have homeowners’ associations construct trails within that area that they had jurisdiction over, they were making it clear that they were not responsible for the construction cost nor for the maintenance. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that as indicated in the staff memorandum, initially, the first trails that were envisioned to be constructed were those that were part of approved residential subdivisions and the developer would be responsible for putting in the trail and the homeowners’ association would support the actual maintenance of the trail.  He stated that moving on to the future as part of the broader proposed trail system improvement project, it was something that needed to be understood up front in terms of putting in trails that there would be maintenance costs associated.  He stated that David Fitzhugh, City Engineer, and staff had worked closely on the item and asked if he wished to make any comments.

 

David Fitzhugh, Acting Development Services Director, stated that staff had made an attempt to identify what it would cost to construct portions of the trails based on current costs for maintaining landscaping and sidewalks and rights-of-way.  He stated that through Field Operations, staff had come up with a figure of $250 to $400 per month per mile.    He stated that a representative from the Flood Control District was present to answer any questions.

 

Mayor Drake stated that County Supervisor, Mary Rose Wilcox, was before the Council and told them that the County would maintain those.  He asked if he was mistaken.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was never presented in any of the discussions that he had with the Flood Control District.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that the City had always been told to maintain it.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that Greg Jones from the Flood Control District was present and that it would probably be best to let him speak on behalf of the County.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he remembered the question being asked about the maintenance road.  He asked if the discussion was about the maintenance road also.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that the proposal was about future trails that would be constructed in there.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that there was probably a joint use potential there for the Flood Control District to use a portion of the trail.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she had a couple of questions and hoped he could answer them.  She stated that if not, she was sure Mr. Jones would be able to.  She stated that in the agreement itself, No. 21, Page 7 of 12, there was information about how the City understood that the use of the easement for public recreational purposes was not an exclusive right.  She stated that if that was the case, she wanted to see something in there that the City should be notified.  She stated that if there were other entities expressing an interest so that not only would it go to the District but it would also go to the City.  She stated that what it was saying was that the City did not have exclusive use of those trails and so forth for public recreational purposes.  She stated that it could also be other people if they had an interest.  She stated that for example, if someone from Tempe wanted to do a balloon fest and all of the sudden they decided it was an area they wanted to use.  She stated that Tempe would contact the District and the District would say that was fine and then the City would not have any knowledge of it or any say in it.  She asked if she was misinterpreting that.

 

Mr. McGuire, City Attorney, stated that the language there was referring to the larger easement area and the way it had been drafted and envisioned was that there was an easement area over which the City was granted the right to go into and construct trails.  He stated that the entire area may be used by other people which could include the trail area as well.  He stated that if the Council wished to include a notification provision in there, he did not think the Flood Control District would have any heartburn over it.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she would like to make sure the City was also notified when there were other people interested in using it.  She stated that she would especially like to be notified because the City would be maintaining it and carrying the liability and so forth.  She stated that she also had a concern with an item on Page 5, No. 13.3.  She stated that she had talked before about the removal of sediment and debris.  She stated that because it is in the unique position of having the three rivers converging, when there was a lot of rain, a lot of it from the Agua Fria moved down to those areas. 

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she knew with the levy that those helped prevent a big rush of water but she knew it was right there at the very end.  She stated that she was concerned of the build up of the silt that would occur.  She stated that it said that the sediment and debris would be removed but that was only in a major flooding event.  She stated that she would like to see something that said that periodically, and she did not know the hydrology and having to do with the silt, how often it would build up and so forth, but it seemed to her that perhaps as a maintenance thing, there could be some kind of responsibility on the Flood Control District regarding that.

 

Greg Jones, Flood Control District, stated that he appreciated the Council taking the time to consider the resolution.  He stated that he had been working hard with City staff.  He stated that to specifically answer Council Member Karlin’s question, the District would be doing maintenance and do yearly maintenance inspections.  He stated that in that stretch of the river so much of the build up of the silt was not as much of an issue as the degradation of the river or in other words, the loss of the silt.  He stated that he did not see that as a huge issue at that point in time.

 

Council Member Karlin asked if he was not so much seeing a build up of silt but rather a digging away or erosion so to speak.

 

Mr. Jones stated that was the problem that was occurring with the Agua Fria.

 

Mayor Drake stated that it was a one sided agreement if he had ever read one.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that it really was.

 

Mayor Drake stated that the City was getting clobbered.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that if he could provide any comfort at all, the agreement was a lot more lopsided in favor of the Flood Control District before he spent a lot of time with it.

 

Council Member Jones stated that one of her concerns with the maintenance with the staff report was that it said, “it is anticipated that developers will be responsible for the construction of the trail.”  She stated that was assuming there would be new developers.  She stated that she was okay with that, however, if the City was looking at the homeowners’ associations to be maintaining the trails, in looking at the makeup of the Council, Council Member Lynch, herself, the Mayor and Council Member Karlin would be paying for the maintenance of those trails because they had homeowners’ associations.  She stated that Vice Mayor Rogers, Council Member Carroll and Council Member Shuey would get a free ride.  She stated that they could use the trails and would have the same access that she would. 

 

Council Member Jones stated that it was anticipated that there would be a tremendous amount of tourism on the trails.  She stated that it would be paid for one way or another through homeowners’ associations, the general fund or what ever.  She stated that she saw it as an undue hardship on the homeowners’ associations.  She stated that Anita Hedrick, citizen, was present in the audience that evening and would agree.  She stated that Ms. Hedrick saw the item, was quite concerned and would take it to her board.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he wanted to point out that what it was referring to were trails that were being constructed as part of the new developments going in.  He stated that he was not sure it was talking about retroactively going back and unless there was already a system set in place for existing subdivisions that had trails.  He stated that if there was a trail or some sort of amenity and someone was in a homeowners’ association he would be paying for it and would continue to pay for it.  He stated that it was not necessarily talking about putting in a new trail for example along Rancho Sante Fe that did not exist there at the present and then saying that the homeowners’ association had to pay for it.  He stated that was not what it was referring to.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that was correct.  He stated that when Coldwater Springs constructed their next phase and made a trail along their frontage, it would be an isolated piece.  He stated that he thought what would be seen for some period of time were blocks of trails being constructed that really would not be inner-connected and would serve that immediate development.  He stated that Council Member Jones’ point was well taken and understood that it maybe in the future it could be revisited as it became a regional trail.

 

Council Member Jones stated that she would expect it would be.  She stated that in Rancho Sante Fe, the residents maintained the trails up to the river.  She stated that she would not expect the homeowners’ association to maintain the trails in the river.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that it did not propose that.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that it was discussed in there.  He stated that was the way he read it.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he did not read it that way and he thought the Coldwater Springs example was the right one where it was part of a development and incorporated as part of the overall physical infrastructure of that development.  He stated that if there was an existing trail system currently within Rancho Sante Fe or Garden Lakes then the homeowners’ associations should be maintaining it and they were.  He stated that it was talking about going in and putting in new trail systems that may run along existing already approved up and going residential subdivisions whether they had or did not have homeowners’ associations, it was not talking about going in and charging those homeowners’ associations as part of it.  He stated that he thought Mr. Fitzhugh raised a point and Council Member Jones did too, that as some point hopefully as it built momentum and actually started to take form and shape, the Council may be back to look at creative ways to address the funding issue for maintenance.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that one other thing to keep in mind was that the most recent agreement with respect to a new trail and a homeowners’ association was Coldwater Springs which put the requirement for maintenance of the trail itself, the concrete structure on the City and maintenance of the landscape on the homeowners’ association.  He stated that the balance was in favor of the homeowners’ association in terms of cost with basically plants and water as opposed to physical in the ground mechanics such as benches, trails, and what ever else may be out there.  He stated that he suspected that the future agreements would look about the same so that the homeowners’ associations would be taking care of the soft things nearby but not the hardscape.

 

Council Member Jones stated that she still wanted to restate, that it still seemed like an issue of fairness as long as it was for the exclusive use of the homeowners within that area that they should be paying for it.  She stated that once they got into the river bed, there should be another way of funding it.  She stated that she just wanted to make that point.

 

Councilman Carroll asked, with the trail system that was being discussed, if it was already planned that there would not be any individual trails out there but it would all tie in with the master plan so that it would be part of the Tres Rios and the El Rio and also with the County trail system that was planned would circle around through the whole valley.

 

Mr. Fitzhugh stated that there was a plan to try to inner-connect all of the trails.

 

Councilman Carroll asked if the costs should be shared because it was part of a common system and everyone in the County could use it.  He stated that everyone in the County should pay for it.  He stated that the system would be part of the County system.  He stated that the County had park police and some type of law enforcement people in the parks.  He stated that he knew they were out at the Estrella Park, the White Tanks and South Mountain and probably at the other parks.  He stated that with the County having that ability in mentioning Parks and Recreation, he asked if Parks and Recreation would be the people that the maintenance responsibility would be handed off to for them to take and maintain.

 

Mr. Jones stated that the County would not hand off the maintenance responsibility for the flood control features.  He stated that what the County was offering was the use of their land for other amenities so that it was not fenced off from the public.  He stated that currently, all of those facilities were not being used by the public because the County had the three strand barbed wire or chain link fences up.  He stated that what the County was trying to do was come up with ways to form a cooperative agreement so that the facilities could be used year round by the public.  He stated that if agencies such as Avondale were not willing to step up it would continued to be fenced off from the public. 

 

Mr. Jones stated that the Parks and Recreations mentioned was Maricopa County Parks and Recreation and there were intergovernmental agreements where the County allowed them the use of those facilities but they did the maintenance for the facilities which they had intergovernmental agreements for.  He stated that if at some later date the Council could work out an intergovernmental agreement with the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation for the Sun Circle Trails and some of the other amenities that was between Avondale and Parks and Recreation.

 

Mayor Drake stated that Mr. Jones said something that he did not think he should have said and that was telling the Council to step up.

 

Mr. Jones stated that he apologized.

 

Mayor Drake stated that the Council would step up but that it was a very one-sided agreement.  He stated that he saw that the County would authorize the City to put something in that area and then determine that it was engineered incorrectly and then it was the City’s responsibility to fix it and then the County could go fix it and bill the City back.  He stated that it was not about stepping up but was a pretty one-sided agreement.  He stated that Item No. 11 regarding future commercial revenues generated by the City was that the City would come up with an idea to generate revenue and the County would determine at a later date a reasonable cost share on the project. 

 

Mayor Drake stated to Mr. Schrader, that he did not like the agreement at all.  He stated that if it was one-sided before, it still was not brought to the middle.  He stated that there were things in it that went on and on such as adverse impact on Item No. 16.  He stated that it was not about stepping up but the City and the County were supposed to be partners in the deal.  He stated that he did not see a partnership at all.  He stated that the Council wanted to make it happen for the benefit of the whole valley and not be dictated to by the County of what was going to happen or not happen.  He stated that was what the agreement said.

 

Anita Hedrick, citizen, 12338 W. Lewis Ave., Avondale, stated that being a part of a homeowners’ association, she had not had an opportunity to actually look at the information that the Council had but had glazed over it quickly that evening.  She stated that if the homeowners’ associations would be required to do that, she asked if any had been notified of that possibility.  She stated that her homeowners’ association never received anything from the County or anyone.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he thought the City Manager clarified that it was not an existing homeowners’ association issue but any new or future homeowners’ association.

 

Ms. Hedrick asked if the County was going to contact the future homeowners’ associations.  She asked who would monitor the individual homeowners’ associations that would accidentally give the residents a fee even though it had already been done before.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that the new homeowners’ associations as the City Attorney mentioned, that would be dealt with through development agreements that the City had control over and working with the developers of those new subdivisions.  He stated that for example, for Coldwater Springs, it was clear up front as part of that overall development agreement and then would be worked into the actual homeowners’ association regulations and would be part of what the homeowners’ associations would be responsible for. 

 

Mr. Schrader stated that the second part of her question was if they would be reimbursed.  He stated that the City could not do that for them and obviously, if all of the sudden a homeowners’ association found out through the process of being an active member of the homeowners’ association that the residents were being charged all of a sudden for some improvement then the residents needed to deal with that with the homeowners’ association.  He stated that if the City somehow was involved, the residents could ask how come that was done but he was saying that was not what was proposed. 

 

Ms. Hedrick stated that was not her concern.  She asked if the County or who ever was developing and putting it through would eventually come to the homeowners’ associations even though they were a preexisting build out.

 

Mr. Schrader stated he was sure there would be notification and no one could all of the sudden put in a mysterious charge without thinking that it did not deserve public input and discussion.

 

Ms. Hedrick stated that in a sense, she had to agree with Mayor Drake.  She stated that in all of the things that she had read and seen in the past, and in going to some of the Parks and Recreation meetings, it was never mentioned before that there would be any cost to anyone.  She stated that it was presented as a cooperative effort and the County would do all of the wonderful things to bring all of those people together.  She stated that now she was finding that perhaps some of the homeowners’ associations were going to have to pay for it.  She stated that she also agreed with Council Member Jones that where there was the river bed on the other side, the homeowners’ associations were already maintaining their own sides.  She stated that she agreed with Mayor Drake that it did seem very one-sided.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers moved to postpone the item indefinitely until the Council could come closer to the middle of the agreement as opposed to it being so one-sided.  Council Member Carroll seconded the motion.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that it Council was going to move in that direction, it would be useful to assist staff and principally the City Attorney who had been working on the agreement with the Flood Control District, any specific provisions or sections that they had issues with.  He asked if those concerns and comments could be individually given to the City Attorney so that he could work on those.

 

Mayor Drake stated that if the item could be brought back at the first Council meeting in January, he thought the Council members could have reviewed the agreement.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she thought a work session was needed before another Council meeting.

 

Mayor Drake stated that he did not necessarily know if he wanted to have a work session but thought that if the Council members could bring suggestions back to staff  that would be good.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that would be fine or e-mail in between.  He stated that anything would work and what ever the preference was on comments would be fine.  He stated that Council Member Lynch may have hit on a useful topic to bring some of the members of the Flood Control District out to express some of the concerns to them personally.  He stated that some of the provisions that were highlighted as the most onerous were some of the provisions that staff fought the hardest to try to get rid of or to change. 

 

Mayor Drake stated that the only thing he was worried about was that if the work session turned out to be attorney versus attorney and discussion versus the Council trying to hammer something out.   He stated that he would rather, as a group give direction to the City Attorney on issues that were unfair and let him go back and try to address it with the Flood Control District.  He stated that he did not know how much would be accomplished in a work session with the Flood Control District talking about an intergovernmental agreement.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that it was very difficult to send individual items to the City Attorney without knowing the thoughts of the other people.  She stated that she had a whole bunch of thoughts and some of which she wanted Mr. Jones to address.  She stated that no one knew those thoughts and now she was being asked to send individual thoughts to Mr. McGuire who would put them together.  She stated that at least in a work session, the Council members could give and take back and forth.  She stated that for example, Mr. Jones just said that the Flood Control District was going to take down the fences.  She stated that if the fences were taken down, everyone would be coming into the trails at Rancho Sante Fe. 

 

Council Member Lynch asked who would reimburse Rancho Sante Fe for any damages that were done to that when it was already being taken care of.  She stated that once the Flood Control District started taking down the fences, the whole County could use the trails which Rancho Sante Fe was paying for and taking care of.  She asked what would happen with the mining operations and if anyone had talked to them to see if they would agree to take care of their pieces.  She asked if it was just assumed that the mining operations were going to do what the County wanted.  She stated that there were so many issues like that in need of discussion in a work session and not just a few minutes at a Council meeting.

 

Council Member Karlin asked if Mr. Jones had also done intergovernmental agreements with other cities that were impacted by it.

 

Mr. Jones stated that the agreement was identical to another intergovernmental agreement with the City of Peoria and was being negotiated with the City of Glendale.

 

Council Member Karlin asked if any questions were raised by those cities.

 

Mr. Jones stated that he was not privy to those negotiations.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she was curious to know what some of the concerns were from the other cities and with some of the verbiage that had gone into those contracts.

 

Mr. Jones stated that basically what the County was trying to do with the intergovernmental agreement, and he apologized if it seemed one-sided, was to allow the City use of the County’s properties with no fees.  He stated that to waive those fees, the agreement stated that the properties were in maintenance.  He stated that in accordance with State statute, the Flood Control District was required to seek some sort of reimbursement when allowing use of their properties.

 

Council Member Karlin asked if it was part of the West Valley Recreation Corridor, the El Rio, Tres Rios Project.  She stated that they were all inner-connected.

 

Mr. Jones stated that those were all portions of the inner-connection project.  He stated that along the West Valley Corridor, portions of that were being implemented and it was proposed to use portions of the County levies to get it implemented.  He stated that the way the Flood Control District was trying to allow that implementation was by the use of their property.  He stated that County taxpayers had spent millions putting in the levies along the Agua Fria River back in the 1970s.  He stated that the Flood Control District was very protective of those facilities and did not want to see some sort of facility, and did not anticipate any problems but that was one of the reasons the agreements were one-sided.  He stated that the County wanted to make sure that the flood protection was there when needed and it was a safety issue.

 

Council Member Karlin asked, if the item was going to be postponed, if it would come back as a work shop or agenda item.

 

Mayor Drake asked Vice Mayor Rogers to restate her motion.

 

Vice Mayor Rogers moved to postpone the item to a work shop item.  Council Member Karlin seconded the motion.

 

Mayor Drake asked if a date was needed.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that there was some good discussion and the big picture was if the Council wanted to move forward and start the first trail linkage between the two parks and talk about getting the $500,000 grant.  He stated that hopefully, the City could work the issues out and move forward.  He stated that he would not want to postpone it for too long and would try to bring it back as soon as possible and he would have Mr. McGuire go back and work on those issues that the Council collectively decided that needed to be further addressed.

 

Mayor Drake stated that hopefully, this would be culminated at the work shop with all of the concerns.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that if he received a fair number of comments individually, he could prepare an intergovernmental agreement version that he had with a notion of the comments by different Council members for review before the work session to get an idea of what everyone had been discussing with him individually.  He stated that further comments on those comments could be brought to the work session.

 

Mayor Drake asked if staff could make sure that Mike Ellegood, Chief Engineer, Flood Control District, could be there.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he was going to suggest inviting someone else from the Flood Control District as well.

 

Mayor Drake stated that Mr. Ellegood seemed very cooperative when he worked with him before.

 

Council Member Lynch asked what would happen if a new development was coming in and was told that the new homeowners’ association had to agree to those stipulations.  She asked if they would do one of two things, that they would build the trail and fence it off and use it ourselves, or not build a trail at all.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that he thought Mr. McGuire had worked through that in giving the Coldwater Springs example.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that the way that the City had addressed that with the developers along the Agua Fria was that if it were along another arterial road, they would be maintaining the landscape up to the hardscape.  He stated that the City would maintain the sidewalk and the developer would maintain the landscape and have to give the buffer zone anyway.  He stated that it was the equivalent of an arterial road along Coldwater Springs in that the City maintained the trail and the developer maintained the landscape.  He stated that it was considered a normal development exaction.  Mr. McGuire stated that the same would happen moving down the river with other private property developers.  He stated that the softscape portion would be the developer’s and the hardscape portion would be the City’s and it would be treated just like any street.  He stated that eventually, it would have to be patrolled when having a continuous trail, it would be easier to do but police services would have to be provided on to those trails and be treated as if it was a street.

 

Council Member Lynch stated that she would then go back to where Council Member Jones began, that in moving south with all of the developments, because that was where the land was currently, those people would be hit unfairly, in her mind, by those fees for the County or the whole state to use.

 

Mr. McGuire stated that would be much the same way as anyone could use the City’s streets and that was the way that staff had been looking at it.  He stated that in terms of the commitments from the homeowners’ associations that were adjacent to it, it was really the same commitment being asked of homeowners’ associations whenever they were adjacent to any public infrastructure. 

 

Motion carried unanimously.

 

Council Member Karlin stated that she wanted to thank Mr. Jones.  She stated that she knew he had a very long evening before having to discuss the item.

 

Mr. Jones thanked the Council for their time and consideration.

 

13)       RESOLUTION – GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Council considered a resolution establishing priority goals and objectives for fiscal year 2002-2003.

 

Mr. Schrader, City Manager, stated that the item represented the product of the annual goal setting retreat held in November.  He stated that the resolution would, if adopted by motion, establish the priority goals and objectives for City Council for Fiscal Year 2002-03.  Mr. Schrader read the goal topic statements for those who were present in the audience.  He stated that they were not necessarily in priority order.  He stated that the five top priority goals were: To improve the long term financial stability of the City; Upgrade the City’s public safety capabilities; Promote the revitalization improvement of neighborhoods across the community; Improve the City’s public facilities to better serve the City’s residents; and Encourage the retention and recruitment of quality staff.

 

Mr. Schrader stated that there were a number of subobjectives listed under that.  He stated that what staff would do if Council saw fit to approve the goals and objectives, would be to make sure they were distributed throughout the workforce and communicated to the residents as well.  He stated that as the Council saw hopefully, from the end of the highlights presentation, he thought they served as a useful guide to focus the City’s overall work program.

 

Mr. McGuire, City Attorney, read the resolution by title.  Council Member Carroll moved to adopt the resolution.  Council Member Lynch seconded the motion.

 

ROLL CALL VOTE AS FOLLOWS:

 

Council Member Jones	Aye
Council Member Karlin	Aye
Council Member Shuey	Aye
Council Member Lynch	Aye
Council Member Carroll	Aye
Vice Mayor Rogers	Aye
Mayor Drake	Aye

 

Motion carried unanimously.

 

14)       DISCUSSION ITEMS

None

 

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council, Council Member Carroll moved to adjourn.  Council Member Shuey seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:10 p.m.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                     Mayor Drake

 

                                                           

            Linda M. Farris, CMC

                     City Clerk

 

CERTIFICATION

 

I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Avondale held on the 17^th day of December, 2001.  I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that the quorum was present.

 

                                                           

                     City Clerk