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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/7-9/2005 Council Retreat Minutes Marana Town Council/Commission/Staff Retreat Esplendor Rio Rico Resort October 7, 8 and 9, 2005 The concluding session for the retreat commenced at 8:35 a.m. on October 9, 2005. Present were: the Mayor and all Council Members. Staff present were Mike Reuwsaat, Gilbert Davidson, Jim DeGrood, Frank Cassidy and Jocelyn Bronson. Mike Reuwsaat recounted an overview of the Saturday sessions and stated that he felt the retreat was positive in many respects, especially in the cooperation of the Council/Commission and staff brainstorming session. Most of the evaluations indicated that as well. It will be important to get all of the questions and answers out to the Council for prioritization. He would like to hold a joint study session with Planning & Zoning in two weeks. Staff will work to prioritize and develop a work program. He also stated that the Council, Commission and staff should be working together toward a true branding effort and that we must all be careful to be inclusive of existing residents involving them in the input process. He noted that there seems to be a gap between what they know and what's going on. A weakness that the Council and staff must address is the division between the three distinct areas of Dove Mountain, Continental Ranch and old Marana. The difficulty in unification stems mostly from the physical distance barriers, which causes separation and makes continuity difficult. Mike also noted that the Council and staff must look at transit and connections and how people are going to get to the Town Center. Carol McGorray noted that the northern interchange will make a huge difference. Mike agreed that Council/staff must pay attention to the north connection so that there will be a triangle of continuity from border to border. Carol also noted that Dove Mountain residents are spending a lot of their retail dollars in Oro Valley because of shopping availability there. A retail center at Tangerine and 1-10 will help that as well as the Dove Mountain Retail Center. She also noted that the town should be emphasizing back transit routes. Mike noted that the R T A has elevated transit in the minds of the residents by emphasizing and incorporating connector routes between neighborhood, shopping and regional features. Marana Town Council/Commission/Staff Retreat Esplendor Rio Rico Resort October 7, 8 and 9, 2005 Mike indicated that all of these events underscore the necessity for moving forward quickly with the branding process, especially with the resort and pro golf tournament on the horizon in two years. Ed Honea indicated that he felt that more important than the branding was the identity aspect of the process. He felt that Marana had already reached the branding that was necessary to encourage development, but that it was the identification of Maran a as an entity separate from Tucson that needed emphasizing. He felt strongly that the Council and staff needed to go back to the drawing board in getting the addresses of Marana residents to be Marana instead of Tucson. There was general discussion between Mayor Honea and Mike Reuwsaat regarding the previous attempts at changing the addresses for Continental Ranch and the InafThornydale/Orange Grove business district. Ed Honea noted that the work needed to begin at the top of the chain, with the Postmaster General, and that Congressman Jim Kolbe would be helpful in that area because he was the chair of the postal subcommittee two years ago. Direction was given to staff to revisit this project as part of the identification process. Carol McGorray felt that that effort would also help bring ancillary and research laboratory type business to Marana, which would also bring higher-paying jobs to the area. Mike Reuwsaat stated that bringing branding and identity to all -- residents, businesses, regional partners and potential builders and buyers -- would be the goal for Council and staff Patti Comerford noted that the project must be brought to completion; that this could not languish given the potential to draw people to Marana for upcoming events. There was discussion about annexing the island ofRillito and Happy Acres and the Maybrook and Airline Roads as points of ingress and egress from A vra Valley Road to the northern part of Continental Ranch. Jim DeGrood will look into the road aspect. Frank Cassidy noted that the annexation laws could be interpreted beneficially to annexing the island. There was general discussion about getting the signs within Marana's boundaries along 1-10 for Oro Valley replaced with specific signs that have mileage to Oro Valley. Tim Escobedo noted that in his travels to Hispanic meetings across the country, Hispanics think of Maran a as the City of Pigs rather than the dense thicket. This could be remedied by adding a tilde over the "n" in Marana. Ed Honea agreed that perhaps adding the tilde should be pursued, especially in light of the branding and identity process the town is contemplating. Marana Town Council/Commission/Staff Retreat Esplendor Rio Rico Resort October 7, 8 and 9, 2005 The meeting adjourned at 9:28 a.m. Respectfully submitted, ~\,\,nU"'I~ ~_,OF M4. ~ ~ ..\."'=.."'''''''''''' ~~' ~ s ~~ ~~~ S EicoRPoRAr/\~~ -= QCX:) =- - -SEAL- - - ~ s - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~;:: ~ AI ~/'"'m,\\!-t ~ ~/jIZ.19'~\~ ."UU\\'"