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Home My WebLink About12/07/2004 Study Session MinutesNIINUTES OF 3TITDY SESSION ' _ MARANA TOWN HALL .. ,, DECEMBER 7, 2004 PLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, December 7, 2004 I. CALL TO ORDER The study session was held informally and the roll was not called. Vice Mayor Kai called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Mayor Sutton was delayed but scheduled to arrive at the meeting momentarily. All other Council members were present and seated at the dais. Due to the late aIrival of several presenters, items were not called in the order shown on the agenda. 3. Presentation: Professional Service Agreement with Swaback Partners, pllc (Barbara Berlin) Ms. Berlin gave a short description of this item. She said that on November 30~ the Town of Marana had entered into an agreement with Swaback Partners, pllc, for guidance with the Town Center planning effort She explained that the agreement outlined the procedures and processes that would follow with the understanding that the consultants would have complete recommendations for the Town Center plan within one year. She " ~. said that over the next few weeks Town staff would be meeting with the Swaback staff to outline a time schedule for all of the meetings including regular staff meetings and public meetings. There was no further discussion. 4. Presentation: Marana Combined Appeal Program (Mike Mencinger) Mr. Mencinger presented this item and explained that the Marana Combined Appeal Program was anon-profit corporation formed to accept payroll deductions from Marana employees for distribution to local charities. He asked for the Council's concurrence. Vice Mayor Kai commented that he thought this was an excellent program and that he was glad to see the Town's employees coming forward in support of the community's needy. Mr. Reuwsaat remarked that he felt this organization would be a tremendous community asset and that he anticipated the response by the employees would be outstanding. He also commended the staff for _~ acquiring the 501(c)(3) status in record time. 1 r... ,,;.,.~.., ...,_ ,.. _.. ._ T... ~, .,~..,_ . ~, . ., ' =` °: MIlVUTE5 OF STUDY- SESSION :. _ ' =~ 11~IARANA TOWN HALL < `. . DECEMBER 7, ,2004_ 3. Presentation: State Treasurer's Office (Mike Reuwsaat) Mr. Cuaron introduced the State Treasurer, David Petersen, who spoke about the Treasurer's office activities. Mr. Petersen distributed an informational packet which has been made a permanent part of the record. He gave an overview of the Treasurer's goals and objectives and briefly touched on programs and duties such as distribution and receiving functions, the short-term investment function, the custodial function, the Treasury Pools, the Financial Literacy Program, the Permanent Endowment Fund, and the Global Security Risk Program. He welcomed the Council and public to visit his office at any time for a tour. Vice Mayor Kai asked about revisions to the checks and balances system since a substantial loss recently by the State involving the LGII' Pool. Mr. Petersen responded that there had been extensive revisions and more stringent checks and balances put into place since the loss. He gave a brief explanation of the LGII' Pool decline. He said that at the end of the last ~„~ administration, aAAA-rated bond was purchased and met the Treasurer's policy guidelines but the Treasurer's office did not have all of the rating tools necessary to monitor the bond properly. He noted that the past Treasurer was unaware when it began to decline. He stated that it was a loss of $700,000 and that his office no longer purchased bonds of that type. He added that the Treasurer's office now possessed much better rating tools for assessment purposes and that his office performed quality inspections on all bonds on a monthly basis. There was no further discussion. 1. Presentation: Sanders Grove Specific Plan Update (Barbara Berlin) Ms: Berlin spoke before the Council regarding this item. She said that the project was heard before the Planning Commission in November and had been recommended for approval with conditions. Mr. Parker, Chair of the Planning Commission, came to the podium and commented that the only concern the Commission had was that there was no sewer capacity in place or planned for the future. Ms. Berlin turned the floor over to Michael Racy, representing Diamond Ventures, who continued with a short presentation. MINUTES OF, STUDY SESSION .~ ~ '~ _, ,. -_-~ ~ ~ ",`A~IARANA:TOVVNHALL ~;;~ DECElViBER 7, 2004 Mr. Racy explained that the 845-acre project located near the Marana Road/I-10 Interchange was currently owned by the LDS Church and that Diamond Ventures had been in negotiations for the property for over a year. He said that the developer had placed the property under contract in the fall of 2003. He described the project's location as bounded on the south side by Marana Road, on the east side by Sanders Road, on the west side by Wentz Road, and on the north side by Hardin Road. He pointed out that the project had very good access to the Linda Vista Interchange and was a high profile piece of property viewed as a gateway into the Town, especially from the approaching southbound I-10 traffic. He said that the Town's decision to hire Swaback Partners coupled with the field trips to other Town Core concept projects was exciting and created an excellent opportunity for Diamond Ventures to work with the Town on making this project something special. He noted that the project's current design included the exact criteria contained in the Town's design standards with only two or three variations. He said that they would like to go ahead with the already scheduled public hearing on December 21St and then come back before the Council in January with design changes that more closely mirrored the master planned Town Core communities the Council recently visited in Maricopa County. Mr. Racy said that Swaback Partners, pllc, was one of the leading planning consultants in the area and was highly respected in the development community. He said that Diamond Ventures had worked with this firm in the past and would like permission from the Council to work with them again in order to arrive at a joint vision for this unique project. Mr. Barr added a little humor to the meeting and thanked Mr. Racy and Diamond Ventures for leading the charge against monotonous communities. He also thanked them for their partnership with the Town staff in leading the way against the dull and boring developments. He said that the Town staff would like to hold the Sanders Grove public meeting as scheduled and then move the action to a later date. Vice Mayor Kai asked Mr. Racy to address the issue of large trucks using Kirby-Hughes Road to service the Marana Stockyards auction barn. He pointed out that these vehicles were large 18-wheel cattle trucks traversing east and west down the road. He asked how Diamond Ventures planned to handle that type of traffic. MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION ~_ -MARANA TOWN HALL ~ _ .,_ . DECEMBER 7, 2004 Mr. Racy replied that after meeting several times with the sale barn owners and learning that the stock trucks came up the frontage road and crossed through the middle of the projects property traveling down to Kirby- Hughes Road. He said that their plan proposed to pave Hardin Road and have the major truck traffic coming up the frontage road rather than going through the middle of the project. Vice Mayor Kai said that truckers always wanted the quickest, straightest, and shortest route. He asked about the neighbors on Wentz Road and if they were happy with this situation. Mr. Racy replied that they had talked with the property owners along Wentz Road and that they seemed pleased with the Sanders Grove plan. He pointed out a section of proposed roadway approximately a third of a mile in distance and said that it was specifically designed to discourage truck traffic. He said that there were enough turns back and forth that it was not the quicker or easier route to the auction barn but that it would be much faster to go around via Hardin Road. Council Member Honea commented that the original plan called for the primary ingress/egress to be located off of Sanders Road. He asked if the developers anticipated or intended for the roadway to be closer to Wentz. Mr. Racy said that the roadway would be evenly split between Sanders and Wentz Road and that both would be major entrance points to the project. Council Member Honea stated that approving residential densities without design guidelines was what had gotten the Town into some of its current trouble. He said that if improvements to the quality of the housing industry's product in general could not be made, including design improvements, improvements to the home itself, and to the facade on the street, then he would have a problem with the density on this project. He said that this would be because the Town had imposed stricter standards on Gladden Farms, San Lucas, and other larger projects, by requiring those projects to provide 50% in 6,000 sq. ft. lots, 25% in 7,000 sq. ft lots, and 25% in 8,000 sq. ft lots. 4 . .. .. " ."MINUTES OF;STUDYySESSION MARAi~TA:TOWN AALL, ., . ~_ -. ., ; ,_ _ .. , _"... `` _ DECEMBER;7, 2004 . XI. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Sutton adjourned the study session. The time was 6:25 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council study session held on December 7, 2004. I further certify that a quorum was present. Joc' yn Bro on, Town Qerk ~~~®®~aF'~'~®°i l,~~1,``oeq~~u~rn~~,,~ ~j ~®~~coa~ rF~s ~„ _ _ .. •~ ~44~iuuN~'~~~ ~~®®~% 1111 ~~`~ s MARANA TOWN COUNCIL MEETING' Pub lic A tten dees DATE: ~e (-.et4~ b~r 7~ ~-aa 9" Nflme Address / /, b, ///. MARANA TOWN COUNCIL MEETING' Public Attendees Address .f