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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/18/2009 Regular Council Meeting Minutes~~~~ " C~"""4 ~A~A~A ~~r REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 Council. Chambers,. August 18, 2009, at or after 7:00 PM Ed Honea, Mayor Herb Kai, Vice Mayor Russell Clanagan, Council Member Patti. Comerford, Council Member . Carol McGorray, Council Member Jon Post, Council Member Roxanne Ziegler, Council Member REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Honea called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. Vice Mayor Kai was excused. All others present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE Led by Mayor Honea. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to approve as amended moved by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Clanagan with the following changes: Move item C2 to A3 and change BI to B2. Motion: carried unanimously 6-0. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Francisco Rodriguez spoke regarding his support for George Gleeson as Building Official Lead Inspector during the current transition period. David Morales spoke regarding the water ordinance being an oxymoron. The purpose of a tiered water system is to punish high-end users. He felt it was fair for high users to pay. His concern is that commercial, industrial users get the same price per gallon. That's an oxymoron and discrimination against Marana, and he would like Council to address this issue because this is a strain to water lines. His second issue is the question of becoming a city. He noted that Council Member Clanagan brought this issue to the Council's attention previously. He asked to have Council put this item on the ballot. It's an advisory question that should be put to the voters. His concern is that the area should be called the Greater Marana Area rather than the Greater Tucson Area and we can't be "greater" if we are a town. Mr. Davidson responded that the staff has completed an analysis and study and will be transmitting this to Council. Clarence "Scotty" Scotton, representing a group that provides transportation for veterans, was called on by Mayor Honea later in the meeting after his speaker card was found with other cards on another item. For consistency, Mr. Scotton's remarks to Council are included in this section. Mr. Scotton has a shop where he repairs junk cars so that they can be used by veterans to help them get back and forth to appointments at the VA center. He is seeking Council and community assistance to help with veterans' transportation issues and left contact information with Council and the audience. PRESENTATIONS ANNOUNCEMENTS/UPDATES. PROCLAMATIONS MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS: SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS No reports MANAGER'S REPORT: SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS Mr. Davidson noted that the Council Executive Report submitted as part of the agenda. STAFF REPORTS Presentation: Marana Chamber 2009 2nd Quarter Report and Business Plan Ed Stolmaker made a short presentation on the number of active members; ribbon cuttings, two networking events; visitor center statistics comparisons from 2008; new member orientation and educational classes being held. He also reported on past and current activities. He concluded by thanking council for its support. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS CONSENT AGENDA Motion to approve moved by Council Member Comerford, second by .Council Member Posh Motion carried unanimously with a 6-0 roll call vote. C 1: Resolution No. 2009-127: Relating to Utilities; approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement for construction of water facilities under private contract for the Continental .Crossing project * Moved to action as item A 3 * C 2: Resolution No. 2009-128: Relating to Development; approving and authorizing a development plan for Legacy Apartments at Dove Mountain Centre II Mayor Honea asked for a brief executive session with counsel on this item. Motion to go into Executive Session, relating to E 1, moved by Council Member Council Member Comerford, .second by Council Member McGorray. Motion carried unanimously 6-0. Council left the dais at 7:25 p.m. Council returned to the dais at 7:37 p.m. In public session Frank Cassidy provided background legal context for this approval with the rezoning approved as part of the Specific Plan Amendment process going back to 2002. This development plan is being brought forward pursuant to the zoning shown on that development plan. He described the process as one to determine that all of the requirements of the town code and the Specific Plan are met -- essentially a checklist. If it does meet those requirements it needs to be approved. It's what's known as a ministerial process. Development plans generally don't come to Council because they are approved by staff. When the developer proposed the Specific. Plan regulations for Dove Mountain, they included in that Specific Plan a procedure that said they would bring all development plans to council for approval. There is another one like that - Continental Ranch -where the development plans come to Council, but it doesn't change the nature of the review. The question today is "Does this development meet the requirements?" The town staff indicates that it does meet the requirements. Lisa Shafer then presented the item to Council. She indicated the proposed property on several overhead views for Council and the public and indicated the approved 7-lot plat, the proposed location for the apartments, Basha's Center and the Preserves residential area. One hundred sixty-eight units are proposed for the property. She also explained the amenities. The maximum building height within the designation is four stories and 45 feet. This development is proposing two stories and 25 feet with a flat roof design. Bill Hallinan with Cottonwood Properties then addressed Council. He referenced several concessions that they are willing to make including height of the buildings, landscape along the north property line and possibly a fence to control pedestrian traffic into the open space area depending on whether it becomes an issue. Mayor Honea then asked for speakers from the audience. Tom Taylor of 5049 New Shadow Way, expressed is disappointment over the height of the buildings in light of his deed restrictions for one story structures. While it may help Dove Mountain, he believes this zoning has caused his property to decrease in value. Norman Fogel, 12925 N. High Hawk Drive. He stated he had no objection to the project as designed, and he doesn't think the two store structures will block views. He did object to the process which was followed. He suggested that the 5:00 p.m. meeting could have been avoided if there had been a different public process rather than as a consent item or brought to Council as a fait accompli. He suggested taking a look at the Specific Plan for Dove Mountain as well as Continental Ranch because there were so few residents in those areas when they were approved. He also suggested that realtors and builders are the ones telling prospective buyers that they will always have view shed lots. He also indicated that there needs to be more transparency. Richard Feinberg, 13805 N. Spring Desert Place, thanked Council Member Clanagan who sent him an email to alert him that something was going on at Dove Mountain. He indicated that the previous speaker echoed many of his own concerns. He asked what the term "luxury" meant and asked what the rent/lease would be for the apartments. He felt that was important information, especially when people hear numbers and he listed many of the high end amenities already in place. He also felt that there was not good public communication regarding projects like this, and it would be helpful to have the newspapers present this kind of information. Randy Roberts, 12396 N. Fallen Shadows, spoke primarily regarding the traffic conditions surrounding this project and how traffic is already impacted. He was particularly concerned about why the traffic study didn't indicate the need for a traffic signal and why a second traffic signal was warranted at Tangerine Crossing and not at the new road leading into the apartment complex. He quoted numbers of vehicles traveling east and west at this location - a car every three second -and how it would affect the safety and security of motorists and their passengers at the prevailing rates of speed currently be tracked and studied. Mr. Roberts concluded that he would pay for the traffic design study for a signal. Larry Steckler, 12317 N. Fallen Shadows, addressed Council against the immediate approval of the Legacy apartments and expressed his concern over notification to the public. He also expressed his concern about the height of the buildings and how that would affect property values of existing residences. He indicated that he had taken measurements and photos that show how the height of the apartments would affect existing views. He indicated that current times and economy have already taken a serious toll on everyone. To impose further hardship on property owners now is very close to a criminal act. It is certainly an unethical act. He passed on additional discussion of the traffic light, but he did note that there is currently no left turn permitted out of the Dove Mountain Center parking lot. He asked for the Council to send the project back to Planning & Zoning for reassessment. He noted that even though every legal measure has been taken, some concerned Dove Mountain residents are circulating a petition which will be presented to Council. He then read the language of the petition which is attached as part of this record and contains a resolution of demand. Council Member Comerford responded to Mr. Steckler and noted that he as a property owner and a realtor who represents people who live in Dove Mountain. She stated her intent that he and others are responsible for understanding what he is selling to his clients. Since this project was put through in 2002 along with the Preserve property, her opinion is that it was irresponsible to call the Council criminal and trying to pull one over on the public when this information has been available since 2002. Mr. Steckler asked to respond. He indicated he had presented the information to clients who had purchased within the last month. He cannot be responsible for what other realtors and builders have done. He again reiterated that had it not been seen on the agenda last week, this item would have not had public input. The town never displayed these plans prior to this. Mayor Honea announced that all who had presented speaker cards had been called, and requested comments from the Council. Council Member Ziegler stated that she took umbrage with what Mr. Steckler said especially in regard to transparency in saying that the Council put this on the consent agenda so that no one could see it. That is wrong. It was a surprise to see this on the agenda because it is an administrative task. It's been in the public domain since 2002, available for viewing at town hall on the map zoned as commercial. Each corner in Continental Ranch is designated commercial -not necessary apartments and the key will tell you what that means. She also stated her displeasure that people paid $50,000 for view shed lots and that a realtor would tell anyone they could protect their view by paying a premium. That is criminal because the only way you can protect view shed is to buy the surrounding property that protects it. La Paloma has apartments and Ventana has apartments and it is wrong for the residents think that Cottonwood Properties would do what they have done in Dove Mountain and then bring in a shoddy property to diminish that. Council Member Clanagan also asked if Mr. Cassidy would explain Prop 207 how that works and how that limits what the Council can and can't do and the definition for zoning is. Mr. Cassidy explained that Proposition 207 requires a government to pay for any action that effectively changes the zoning below what the rights are at the time Prop 207 was approved in 2006. What that means in the context of something like this where somebody has the zoning is that it raises the town's level of potential liability if we were to try to take an affirmative action to downzone the property to preclude this type of use, so there's a much higher level of potential financial liability for the town now after Prop 207 than there was before. Council Member Clanagan noted that one of the things that was a concern was this happened so rapidly. He asked if it would be possible for Cottonwood Properties to voluntarily postpone this action to allow people who did not know that the meeting was going to take place at 5:00 p.m. this evening, so that he could continue to education residents. Mr. Hallman noted his appreciation of the value of education and at the same time noted that it was important to look at all of the facts starting with the view shed impacts and the perceptions over premiums paid. There is a football field's length of open space separating this property from existing homes. As far as the representations in the public, they have tried really hard to provide disclosures by hosting the annual meetings, answered questions about future uses ofmulti-family uses which have always been answered in the affirmative. As far as moving this forward, he would appreciate being able to move this forward tonight. He stated his intent to continue to disclose but doesn't believe it serves a benefit to stall the ministerial act. Motion to approve with the inclusion of the tree buffer on the north property line as agreed to by Mr. Hallman on behalf of the applicant moved by Council Member Ziegler, second by Council Member Posz Motion passed S-1 with Council Member Clanagan voting nay. Council Member Comerford asked to provide another meeting so that the residents could ask more questions of the architect and the developer when the snowbirds are back and want to see what the development will look like. Council Member Post asked if anything can be required as notice when homes are sold in Marana and also addressed the issue transparency and how people think things are on the consent agenda to avoid dealing with them. His last issue regarding his view and how Dove Mountain now restricts his view where there was no one when he grew up, so be careful of who you pick and choose to tell about ruining your view. The first thing on his mind is the community not his individual issues. Council Member Ziegler also addressed the concerns over traffic. As a learning experience, when it is warranted a signal will be installed. The Council always wanted the safety of the citizens to be a priority and a signal will happen eventually. Mayor Honea noted a speaker card that he thought was on this item, but it was for another transportation issue. The discussion on this item has been placed under comments from Call to the Public. The speaker was Clarence Scotton. He gave his contact information to Council. C 3: Resolution No. 2009-129: Relating to the Police Department; approving and authorizing the Town Manager to execute a funding agreement with the Governor's Office of Highway Safety Under The Highway Safety Program (23 U.S.C. §§401-404) to fund the Marana Police Department's participation with the Click It or Ticket Next Generation Mobilization C 4: Resolution No. 2009-130: Relating to the Marana Municipal Airport; approving and authorizing the Town Manager to execute a grant agreement with the Arizona Department of Transportation (E9F65) to provide state share match funding to FAA 3- 04-0058-17 C 5: Resolution No. 2009-131: Relating to Intergovernmental Relations; authorizing staff to coordinate with Pima Association of Governments to complete a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the Town of Marana C 6: Resolution No. 2009-132: Relating to Development; adopting a notice of intent to enter into a retail development tax incentive agreement for the Marana Mercantile development project proposed to be located southwest of Interstate 10 at the northwest corner of Marana and Sandario Roads C 7: Resolution No. 2009-133: Relating to Personnel; approving and adopting amendments to the Town's Personnel Policies and Procedures, revising Chapter 5 -Work Rules, Policy 5-7 -Personnel Action Review Board (PARB); and declaring an emergency C 8: Resolution No. 2009-134: Relating to the Police Department; approving and authorizing full participation on the Pima County/Tucson Metropolitan Counter Narcotics Alliance, a law enforcement task force C 9: Resolution No. 2009-135: Relating to Development; approving and authorizing a final plat for Twin Peaks Retail Center C 10: Resolution No. 2009-136: Relating to Community Development; approving and authorizing submission of an application for funding under the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery C 11: Resolution No. 2009-137: Relating to the Capital Improvement Program; approving and authorizing funding to support the design, environmental assessment, and permitting for the Tangerine Traffic Interchange C 12: Resolution No. 2009-138: Relating to Administration; approving fiscal year 2009-2010 budget adjustments C 13: Resolution No. 2009-139: Relating to Utilities; approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement for construction of Water Facilities Under Private Contract for the Marana Mortuary and Cemetery project C 14: Minutes of the July 21, 2009 regular council meeting and August 4, 2009 regular council meeting COUNCIL ACTION A 1: PUBLIC HEARING: Relating to Annexation; public hearing to discuss and consider an application by the Town of Marana to annex approximately 47 acres located at the northwest corner of Lambert Lane and Blue Bonnet Road alignments into the Town of Marana Presented by Lisa Shafer. No action is required during the public hearing process. John Conant, Jr. addressed Council as a resident of the area the effect of development impacting water use, the water table and the well on his property and do the road plans have any contingencies for flood control since it is a floodplain. Ms. Shafer responded that it would be a residential property. A future desire to rezone to commercial use would have to go through the rezone process. In the General Plan it is intended for low density homes and small or neighborhood type uses. Keith Brann addressed the road issue. The Camino de Marana project was designed by the town with a drainage report analyzing the effects of a 100-year event regarding drainage and what the road would do for that. There are approximately 19 box culverts on Camino de Marana to maintain existing drainage patterns. Dorothy O'Brien addressed the issue of the water line design. The water line has been designed from Twin Peaks up to Tangerine Road although the water department does not have funding to put the water line in at present. It is anticipated that the main water would be served from another area as there are no plans to drill another water line within that particular area. A 2: Resolution No. 2009-140: Relating to Personnel; approving and authorizing an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 classified salary schedule adopted by the Town Council on June 23, 2009; adding the position of Utilities Services Supervisor and eliminating the position of Utilities Technology Coordinator; and declaring an emergency Presented by Suzanne Machain for approval of the amended classified salary schedule and is also related to item C 12. Some of the town organization's structure changed and with that in the Utilities department there was a position realigned to take on some supervisory responsibility and there was no classification title or description for that position, so a class title has been developed and she asked Council approval to incorporate that position into the classified salary schedule and eliminate the position of Utilities Technology Coordinator. Motion to approve moved by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Jon Posz Motion carried unanimously with a 6-0 roll call vote. BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES B 1: Resolution No. 2009-141: Relating to Boards, Commissions and Committees; standardizing and modifying the terms and term expirations of members of Town of Marana Citizen Advisory Commissions Presented by Mayor Honea as setting up staggered terms that is more concise and organized. Motion to approve moved by Council Member Clanagan, second by Council Member Posz Motion carried unanimously 6-0. B 2: Resolution No. 2009-142: Relating to Boards, Commissions and Committees; making appointments to the Town of Marana Citizen Advisory Commissions Mayor Honea explained how the selection process was made. Suggestions from commissions had been made to Council and Council reviewed all applications. One application had been pulled due to a work conflict of the applicant. He asked for approval. Motion by Council Member Clanagan, second by Council Member Posz Motion carried unanimously 6-0. This item was later amended as the terms were not determined in the original motion. Upon motion by Council Member Post, second by Council Member Clanagan, passed unanimously 6-0, with terms selected at random. Council Member Post asked if Loyalty Oaths should be given tonight. Many of the. applicants were present. Council Member Clanagan asked if they could be administered after the next item. B 3: Resolution No. 2009-143: Relating to Boards, Commissions and Committees; appointing members to the Town of Marana Personnel Action Review Board; and declaring an emergency Mayor Honea presented and asked that John Anderson, Jack Noble, Roger Forrester, Annie Hoffman and Thomas Hestwood be appointed. He noted that Mr. McCauley had already served a full term on the PARB and this would give others a chance to serve. Mr. McCauley also serves as a member of the Public Safety Retirement System Board with the Mayor, so he will continue to serve the town. Motion to approve the five candidates moved by Council Member Clanagan, second by Council Member Posz Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote 6-0. Motion to approve resolution 2009-143 moved by Council Member Clanagan, second by Council Member Posh Motion carried unanimously 6-0 by roll call vote. Amended motion by Council Member Post, second by Council Member Clanagan to choose the terms of the appointments for two and four year terms by random selection. Motion carried unanimously 6-0. The Loyalty Oaths were then administered by the Town Clerk. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION D 1: Resolution No. 2009-144: Relating to Intergovernmental Relations; authorizing and directing Town of Marana representatives concerning proposed Arizona League of Cities and Towns Resolutions Presented by Steve Huffman. He noted that Mayor Honea appointed Council Member McGorray to the League Resolutions Committee. He noted that the resolution is included in the Council packet and the 26 resolutions submitted by various cities and towns in Arizona. A subcommittee met on Thursday and is in the process of winnowing down the list. He will forward that information to Council when he receives it. Motion to approve moved by Council Member Post, second by Council Member Clanagan. Motion carried unanimously 6-0. D 2: Legislative Issues: Discussion/Direction/Action regarding all pending bills before the Legislature Steve Huffman noted that there was one bit of legislative activity that happened today during special session. The House passed out SB 1025, a budget bill. It's ready to go to the Governor. They adjourned until Thursday. This Senate Bill has many things we have talked about in other legislative reports but of particular importance to cities and towns it will change over $3M in sweeps in LTAF. It contains the $22M in what the League believes are unconstitutional sweeps of vehicle license tax monies that are shared with local governments. To get around the constitutional requirement of a 2/3 supermajority vote in the legislative, they have directed county treasurers to take money from local governments and donate it directly to local school districts so it avoids going to the general fund. That will be challenged by the League, so they opposed it all the way along. The bill also swept directly about $19M from Maricopa County, about $3M from Pima County, allows municipalities to sweep directly from impact fees that have been collected to offset the vehicle license tax monies that have been taken away. This is believed to be unconstitutional by federal and state constitutions as well as various state statutes. Missing from the proposal is the Governor's insistence on passing any sort of temporary sales tax increase. There is also no mention of the voter protection act changes being contemplated for the ballot to allow the Legislature to address border protected issues. The Legislature passed it out with almost no amendments. Council Member Ziegler asked for clarification on the impact fee/vehicle tax shared with local jurisdictions based on populations. Mr. Huffinan responded. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS Motion to go into Executive Session on item E 4 moved by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Comerford Motion carried unanimously 6-0. Council left the dais at 8:49 p.m. Council returned to the dais at 9:03 p.m. E 1: Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A)(3), Council may ask for discussion or consultation for legal advice with the Town Attorney concerning any matter listed on this agenda E 2: Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3),(4) and (7), discussion or consultation for legal advice with the Town's attorneys and discussion and to consider its position and instruct the Town Manager and staff concerning possible acquisition of certain water infrastructure and accounts and water rights and/or resources E 3: Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3),(4) and (7), discussion or consultation for legal advice with the Town's attorneys and discussion and to consider its position and instruct the Town Manager and staff concerning (1) the lawsuit entitled Town of Marana v. Pima County/Pima County v. Marana (consolidated), Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2008-001131, (2) pending legal issues, settlement discussions and contract negotiations relating to the transition of Marana wastewater collection and treatment to the Town of Marana E 4: Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(4) and (7) to consider the town's position and instruct its representatives regarding negotiations for the purchase of property rights needed for the Camino de Marana & Dove Mountain Extension project, CIP number 2001-052, from the parcels of property generally identified as Pima County Assessor's parcel numbers 216-26-003A and 216-03-0040 In public session Cedric Hay presented. In regard to parcel number 216-26-003A, asking for Council approval for a total not to exceed $54,100 and in regard to parce1216-03- 0040, asking for Council approval for an amount not to exceed $60,600. Motion to approve moved by Council Member Post, second by Council Member Clanagan. Motion carried unanimously 6-0. E 5: Executive session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(1) for discussion about and interviews of prospective candidates for various Town boards, commissions and committees FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn moved by Council Member Post, second by Council Member Clanagan. Motion carried unanimously 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on Au st 18, 2009. I further certify that a quorum was present. ~`®®t~l Ott-r,I ~~31~rflurrii®sh! ~Sl~ celyn C. onson, Town Clerk ~Q;~`~R~ F ~~At r