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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/02/2002 Regular Council Meeting MinutesII. V, III. PLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, July 2, 2002 CALL TO ORDER By Mayor Sutton at 7:05 p.m. _PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Sutton INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE A moment of silence was observed. IV. ROLL CALL .COUNCIL Bobby Sutton, Jr. Mayor Present Herb Kal Vice Mayor Present Jim Blake Council Member Present Patti Comerford Council Member Present Tim Escobedo Council Member Present Ed Honea Council Member Present Carol McGorray Council Member Present STAFF Michael Hein Town Manager Present Michael Reuwsaat Assistant Town Manager Present Dan Hochuli Town Attorney Present Joel Shapiro Planning Director Present Jocelyn Entz Town Clerk Present Attached is a list of public attendees. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Upon motion by Council Member Escobedo, seconded by Council Member Blake, the agenda was unanimously approved. VI. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES By motion of Council Member Comerford, seconded by Council Member Escobedo, the minutes for the June 4, 2002 regular Council meeting were unanimously approved. VII. _CALL TO THE PUBLIC/ANNOUNCEMENT:'; Troy Mattson, Marana High School student, spoke before the Council regarding his desire to participate in a worldwide Olympic-style athletic event, The Down Under Games, being held in Australia. Mr. Mattson was chosen to be the sole representative ~rom the Marana-Tucson area in the golf division. He explained that the selection process was initiated by area sports coaches and based on character and ability. He continued by stating that he was raising funds through raffle hckets sales and solicitations of donations and that he had raised approximately half of the necessary $3,400 trip costs. He asked for the Town's support. VIII. Mayor Sutton commended Mr. Mat~son for his accomplishrnent and asked the Clerk to provide the proper forms to the student for his funding request. The Mayor recognized several audience members who were representing local Boy Scouts of America. STAFF REPORTS IX. There were no questions regarding staff reports. .GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINES£ A. CONSENT AGENDA Resolution No. 2002-75: Agreement between the Town of Marana and US Home Corporation for construction of water facilities under private contract (Brad DeSpain) Resolution No. 2002-77: Sonoran Vista Final Plat An application for a request of final plat approval to construct a 66-lot single family subdivision on approximately 17 acres located on the north and south side of Coachline Boulevard just east of the northern intersection with Silverbell Road, in the Continental Ranch Specific Plan area, within a portion of Section 17, Township 12 South, Range 12 East (Joel Shapiro) 3. Resolution No. 2002-78: The Hyatt Regency Resort Vacation Club at Dove Mountain. A request to construct 270 vacation timeshare units on 38.15 acres within the Dove Mountain Specific Plan. The project is located north of Dove Mountain Boulevard, south of the proposed Hyatt Resort in Planning Area 3 (Resort) of the Dove Mountain Specific Plan, within portions of Sections 14 and 23, Township 11 South, Range 12 East (Joel Shapiro) 4. Resolution No. 2002-79: Re-appointments to the Town of Marana Business Advisory Committee (Roy Cuaron) 5. Resolution No. 2002-71: Request by Marana Police Department for Renewal of Undercover Vehicle Registrations (Dave Smith) Upon motion by Council Member Honea and seconded by Council Member Blake, the Consent Agenda was unanimously approved. B. COUNCIL ACTION 1. Discussion/Presentation: Update on 4th of July activities/circulation plan (Ron Smith) Ron Smith began the update on the Fourth of July festivities. He commended Randy Robbins and staff for all of their hard work preparing for this annual Town event. Mr. Robbins acknowledged that the Independence Day planning effort had been a joint collaboration of all of the Town departments as well as outside organizations and included the Parks & Recreation department, the Marana Po/ice department, the Public Works department, the Town Council members, plus volunteers from Town Hall, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the Marana Chamber of Commerce and the Marana Unified School District. He provided the Council with patriot/c shirts and hats commemorating the national holiday and introduced his~ staff members, Mary Weaver, Mike Brummet, and Brian Engstrom, who described the numerous activities planned. These events included a teen dance, a laser light show, family-oriented carnival games, contests and races, a free swim, lots of food vendors, a beer garden and a dunk tank. A first aid center, a police command center plus water and ice centers will also be available during the celebration. A map of the Ora Mae Ham District Park and surrounding area was distributed to the Council. This map, indicating the locations of the varied activities and available parking areas, has been made a permanent part of this record. Mayor Sutton said that he appreciated the enthusiasm and team spirit displayed by the Parks and Recreation employees. He commended Kelle Maslyn and the Marana Chamber of Commerce for elevating this annual celebration over the years. He vowed that the annual event would be showcased by the Town and built up into a premier attraction for visitors from all over southern Arizona. 2. Adoption of the Fiscal 2003 Tentative Budget (Roy Cuaron) Mr. Hein spoke briefly regarding this item and thanked Roy Cuaron and his staff for their hard work on the FY 2003 budget. Mr. Cuaron explained the budgeting process and said that the biggest challenge facing the Town this year was the modest growth and recurring revenues. He pointed out that the recommended budget reflected the Council's priorities and commitment to police, parks and the employees. He confirmed that 30% of the budget was dedicated to transportation improvements, primarily in the Continental Ranch/Ina Road area, and that $4.5M was allocated exclusively to parks expansion. He listed the additional employee positions provided for in the proposed budget. These positions included four fulltirne parks maintenance employees to support the expansion of the parks facilities, three fulltime police officers and one police support staff position. He said that two of the police officers would be equestrian officers in anticipation of the completion of the parks trail system in the late fall of this year. Other Town positions listed were a plans examiner and building inspector, a water operator, an O&M Superintendent, and an IS analyst. He noted that a 2% or 20¢ an hour increase would be given to all Town employees along with a livable wage increase bringing all employees up to a minimum of $9.09 per hour. He announced that the 2002-03 budget represented a 15% increase from last year, mostly attributed to the Capital Improvements Program. He concluded by recommending the adoption of the tentative budget of $71,874,260.00. '- - Council Member Honea commended Mr. Cuaron for simplifying the budget process and commented on the miniscule $68,000 budget adopted during his first term on the Town Council over 20 years ago. Mayor Sutton spoke about the hard times the entire nation had faced this year and said that the Town of Marana was one of the few municipalities to be fiscally sound and online with financial projections. He complimented the outstanding work by Mr. Cuaron and Mr. Hein. 4 Vice-Mayor Kal inquired about the reserve or fund balance. He commented that $2.5M was the figure for the reserve balance in 2002 and that the amount had risen to $5.3M for this budget estimation. Mr. Cuaron stated that the funding of certain capital improvement projects had been budgeted in past years and that the figure had fluctuated from $1.5M to $3M. He noted that the Town had not yet used any of those budgeted reserve funds over the years and that, in fact, surpluses had been accumulated. He explained that this year's increase was due in part to the tight budget year and also in order to follow the Council's direction by making the Parks and Recreation department the focal point. Mr. Cuaron concluded by complimenting Mr. Hein and Mr. Reuwsaat on their outstanding leadership during the budget process. Upon motion by Council Member Honea, seconded by Council Member Blake, approval to adopt the Fiscal 2003 Tentative Budget of $71,874,260.00 was unanimous. EXECUTIVE SESSION. Pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03 (A) (4) for discussion and consultation with the Town Attorney in order to consider the Town's position and instruct its attorney regarding pending and contemplated litigation in Tortolita vs. Town of Marana, Aspen Green v. Tucson, and related cases (Dan Hochuli) Mayor Sutton announced that an executive session was not needed at this time. 4. Action on Executive Session. There was no action regarding this item. 5. Legislative Update (Mike Hein) Michael Racy updated the Council with an end of session report regarding actions taken by the State Legislature. He conveyed that 2002 was the single most frustrating year in 20 years due to the financial declines and budget frustrations suffered by the State. He emphasized that the revenue numbers were very bleak and, in fact, that the May revenue numbers were $50M behind the worst case estimate. He reported that he expected to be back in special session soon. He maintained that all of the easy solutions for the State budget dilemma were gone and that the State was looking at a $1B deficit for 2004 as well if the current trend continued. He warned the Council to be very careful in its watch over the future because of the State's push to shift expenses onto local governments and to take revenues from local governments. He predicted that the upcoming year would be the most intense in Arizona's history in terms of shared revenue cuts. Vice Mayor Kai inquired if there was any indication that the State would be able to get the budget on track or if this dire situation was a long term dilemma for Arizona. Mr. Racy replied that there was a great deal of debate on that exact issue taking place in the Legislature. He reported that there was a group of legislative members and others who believed that the economy would rebound and that growth rates would be sufficient within a year for a turnaround. He pointed out that, in fact, that had worked in the past but with the financial realities associated with the State's growth and the growth of mandated expenditures, coupled with tax cuts over the last 6-8 years, this theory was difficult to demonstrate analytically. He maintained that even if the best case scenario for State expenses was taken, along with the best case scenario for budget growth, the State budget still could not be balanced next year. He said that some people believe there were structural issues in the Arizona tax system that the State was surviving based on the phenomenal growth rates enjoyed for many years. He commented that, it was not clear that, without something very dramatic happening, the longer the delay of some form of increase occurred and the longer the more serious programmatic cuts were delayed, the more difficult the deficit would be for the State. He continued by saying that, even though the budget dominated the session, there were 1,300 to 1,400 bills introduced but that many of those died. He pointed out that a number of bills, including the Growing Smarter bill passed, allowing for additional time for cities and towns to ~adopt their General Plans. C. MAYOR AND COUNCIL'S REPORT Council Member Escobedo reported on his recent trip to Albuquerque, NM, for the National Association of Latinos Elected and Appointed Officials Conference. He said that he met many members of the U. S. President's Cabinet as well as the one of the Housing Directors of the Fannie Mae. Mayor Sutton urged everyone to attend the Fourth of July celebration scheduled in the Ora Mae Ham District Park. D. MANAGERS' REPORT Mr. Reuwsaat reminded the Council of Ora Ham's daughter's illness and asked for prayers and support for the former Mayor and her family. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS There were no future agenda items suggested at this time. XI. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion by Council Member Escobedo and seconded by Council Member Comerford, unanimous approval to adjourn was given. The time was 8:08 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on July 2, 2002. I further certify that a quorum was present. 7