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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/01/2009 Regular Council Meeting Minutes~A~A «~~~~~. REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 Council Chambers, December 1, 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 7:00 p.m. All Council were present except Council Member Comerford, who was excused. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/1NVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE. Led by Mayor Honea. APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Motion by lice Mayor Kai, second by Council Member McGorray, to approve the agenda as amended by removing Item C4 and deleting the emergency clause from Item CS. Passed unanimously. CALL TO THE PUBLIC. Ceth Johnson spoke regarding a positive experience he had with a Marana staff member, Janine Spencer, from the Environmental division. Richard DeBernardis, on behalf of Perminter Bicyling Assin and executive directior of Tour of Tucson Mountains, spoke regarding the recent El Tour de Tucson. He thanked the Council for their support and announced what a success it was, especially the great work of the Marana Police Department. Council Member Clanagan commented on the race as well. Phyllis Farenga spoke regarding the bankruptcy filing of Saguaro Ranch . She also noted issues with Marana Estates and noted that she was still looking forward to a meeting with town staff in that regard. Tim Blowers and Steve Blomquist spoke regarding their issues with Saguaro Ranch and the town's involvement with that project. Sharyl Cummings spoke regarding recent activities at the Saguaro Ranch/McClintock's project, and handed out copies to Council of a Complaint she and Steve Blomquist filed against the town today in the US District Court of Arizona. PRESENTATIONS P 1: Presentation: Marana Chamber 2009 3rd Quarter Report. Ed Stolmaker reported and showed slides of his recent trip to China with other Chamber members. Council Member Ziegler asked if she could get updates on Marana businesses that closed or were closing. ANNOUNCEMENTS/UPDATES PROCLAMATIONS MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS: SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS. Council Member McGorray reported on the recent contest between the Mayor and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to get food and money for the Marana Food Bank. Mayor Honea reported on several items: the Marana Food Bank contest with Congresswoman Giffords; the open house for Habitat for Humanity in Honea Heights with the Ransom family; a ULI event at the Ritz Carlton; the State of the UA Address by President Shelton; the official tree lighting and Twinkle Parade on December 5; articles in golf magazines about the two best golf courses in the state being The Gallery and at the Ritz Carlton; and the Regional Transportation Symposium he attended. MANAGER'S REPORT: SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS. Mr. Davidson reported that there would only be one more Council meeting in 2009 but that there would be a study session in January. Deb Thalasitis reported on the transit service, noting that there were 785 riders on the Marana route in its first month. STAFF REPORTS GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS CONSENT AGENDA. Upon motion by Council Member Post, second by Vice Mayor Kai, the ConsentAgenda was approved as amended by removing C 4 and deleting the emergency clause from C S. Council Member McGorray abstained from the vote on C 3. Passed unanimously. C 1: Resolution No. 2009-192: Relating to the Police Department; approving and authorizing the Chief of Police to execute a Tactical Diversion Task Force Agreement between the Marana Police Department and the United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration regarding investigation and disruption of illegal trafficking in controlled substance pharmaceuticals and other chemicals C 2: Resolution No. 2009-193: Relating to the Police Department; approving and authorizing full execution of a grant agreement with the Governor's Office of Highway Safety funding a new motorcycle under the Police Traffic Services Program (U.S. Code, Title 23 Section 402) C 3: Resolution No. 2009-194: Relating to Community Development; granting $2,000 to the Community Food Bank, Inc. an Arizona 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to support Marana Food Bank programs for Marana senior citizens, youth, and families ~..~«~~~ C 5: Resolution No. 2009-195: Relating to Finance; approving the transfer of $250,000 in budgeted expenditure authority from the General Fund contingency line item to the uninsured loss line item for the partial payment of the settlement of the case entitled United Fire & Casualty Company v. Pima County, Case No. CV 08-381-DCB, involving sewer installation and connection within Honea Heights C 6: Minutes of the November 17, 2009 regular council meeting COUNCIL ACTION A 1: Ordinance No. 2009.07: Relating to Development; clarification of Town Council added condition pertaining to the rezoning approximately 4.8 acres of land located on the east side of Breakers Road easement, approximately one-third of a mile south of Tangerine Road from `C' (Large Lot Zone) to `HI' (Heavy Industrial) for Advantage Materials. Presented by Kevin Kish. He noted that the Planning Center on behalf of the applicant had requested clarification of a Council added conditions at the May 21, 2009 Council meeting. The applicant has concerns with Condition 11 regarding "stockpiled sand, gravel, dirt and dirt materials shall be removed from the rezoning area not later than June 20, 2010, and no processing of these materials shall occur on the rezoning area from or after that date." He stated that the applicant and the owner believe that the wording of the condition does not accurately reflect what the Council's was at that meeting and want to come back for clarification. He also noted that there were two motions in the staff recommendations -one to readopt the ordinance with the working as is, or to modify or change the wording. Council Member Clanagan asked what part of the paragraph didn't the applicant understand. Mr. Kish reported that it was the issue about processing and storage and clarified the details. Mayor Honea asked the applicant to come forward. He stated that he remembered the discussion that the HI zoning wouldn't have been approved had the applicant not agreed to the additional requirements that were put on. One of the reasons being is that Council didn't want someone crushing rock in that area - it did not fit well in that neighborhood. He stated that in reading the minutes, Council wanted the dirt out of there and it wasn't set up as an above-ground gravel pit, which is basically the operation that the applicant is trying to do. The reason the wording was put in there was to eliminate that. It seems the applicant is coming back to ask to relieve them of that - is that correct? Jack Neubeck, the Planning Center, replied that that was incorrect. The condition 10 which was read into the record, condition 11 which is what they are asking for clarification on, was not read into the record. When Bob Connant, who was representing the property on that evening - he never got any endorsement from the applicant. This business is gone without being able to recycle - and I think it is recycling of materials. Ninety percent of that pile that is there is from Saguaro Ranch. They excavated, they put in the utilities, they come in, they separate the materials. The only processing that they do would be to grind rock and make it into a smaller, more manageable size. And I would say that Marana Code -heavy industrial - the purpose - and I just want to read this "The purpose of the HI zone is to provide for those employment activities that often require outdoor activity and/or storage. It is also the purpose to provide employment opportunity." Then if you go further into it -processing is a major part of this zone. If the Town Council had not intended to put these people out of business -that's fine, but why were we required to do an HI zone which, if you look at the other zones in the area -this would be giving an undue disadvantage to this property (pointing to property on overhead projector). Other properties that have HI zoning, there's no restriction on them. There's no restriction on Hayden. He emphasized that they were recycling and in the future they would like to recycle construction materials. The preliminary development plan shows a building on the property that would be 35 feet in height. This pile is .not 35 feet in height. Steve Miklosi at the Planning and Zoning Commission stated that they have been good neighbors to The Breakers water park. So for the Council to say it's not conducive to this area, if you look at other businesses and Marana's General Plan, by doing this you (the Council) are putting these people out of business. Until this came to the (new) owners, they had no idea this condition was this restrictive. He asked if it could be rephrased as to the process, stating that there was a disconnect on this. He is willing to work with town staff on coming up with better language. Council Member Clanagan proposed that Mr. Neubeck work with staff to come up with some amenable language so that the goals of the applicant......we've got aneither/or motion here......Mr. Neubeck stated he thought everyone could do better. Council Member Ziegler stated that she wasn't present when it was voted on in May and in reading the materials it's still not clear what we (the Council) did, so she would rather not take a vote tonight until she better understands. Vice Mayor Kai stated that Mr. Mikilosi wasn't able to be at the meeting tonight, and he did talk to him and he's trying to be a good neighbor, but he did have some concerns with the outdoor activities going on with the processing that could disrupt what he's trying to do, too. Perhaps the code needs to be re-looked at by staff to see what is allowed and what's not allowed. In his opinion, it's not an acceptable use having the processing activities near where the children are. Mr. Neubeck argued that it's a definition of processing that could be of concern. The issue of grandfathered rights and uses on the various adjacent properties was also discussed between the Vice Mayor and Mr. Neubeck. Mr. Neubeck stated that they could have gone for a significant land use change which would have been less complicated, but at the town staff's recommendation, they went for the HI, and he cautioned that if there is an HI zone and you have surrounding properties that have HI zoning, to prohibit one property from doing something that the other properties can do, that's a very slippery slope. The Mayor asked to go back to the zoning slide. It was recognized that the property was formerly C zone, and when HI came before Council, Council was ready to vote `no.' Mayor Honea reviewed previous discussion at the May 21St meeting. He recollected that the property owners had requested a zoning change and the Council didn't think that would work. Further discussion ensued as to which conditions had been read into the record at the May 21St meeting. Mayor Honea asked whether Council wanted to send this back or vote on the issue. Council Member Clanagan made a motion to direct staff to work with Mr. Neubeck and his client on seeing what can be agreed upon, taking into consideration the information and concerns of various members of Council that were part of the record back in May -- take all of that into consideration and come bacl~ Second by Council Member Ziegler. Motion passed 4-2 with Vice Mayor Kai and Council Member McGorray voting nay. A 2: Ordinance No. 2009.24: Relating to the Police Department; amending Town Code Section 4-1-4 ("Departmental Rules and Regulations") to eliminate the requirement for Town Council approval of Marana Police Department rules and regulations and to establish that police department rules and regulations shall be in compliance with federal and state law, the Town Code and Town ordinances, policies, directives, rules and procedures; and declaring an emergency . Presented by Jane Fairall. She noted that the police department maintains a procedures and policies manual that guides the direction of the police department. This manual contains policies regarding a wide range of topics and things that are very broad like mission and values and conduct of conduct to things that are very specific such procedures for dispatching canines, how to deal with Africanized honey bees, use of force in certain specific situations, so it covers a broad range of polices and procedures. It also covers property and evidence, communication and records of the police department. Town Code Section 4-1-4 stated that the police chief is charged with implementing rules and procedures with the approval of the town council. The proposed ordinance removes the language that requires council approval of these department policies and allow the chief of police to implement these policies directly. The ordinance does not give free reign to whomever the chief is to implement any policy that he or she may want. The ordinance places the responsibility of the chief of police to ensure that policies are in compliance with state, federal and local law, including personnel policies and directives, rules and procedures that the town council or the town manager have put forward to make sure that if a policy that's in the PD manual that's touching on the same subject that there is already a town rule for, it can't be in conflict with that existing rule. Ms. Fairall worked with Chief Tometich on a PD manual to address the policy of procedures. That will be completed based on the outcome of the information from tonight's meeting. That policy will require the police department, the chief or his designee, when developing new or revising existing policies, other departments within the town are also reviewing these items, such as by Human Resources for personnel issues; for the disposition of property by the police department, Finance would be involved. The Legal department would be involved in reviewing the policies to make sure they are in compliance with town rules and procedures. Mayor Honea asked if this exempted police personnel from the regular town code. Ms. Fairall replied that it did not, it supplements town code and town policies. Council Member Clanagan asked for clarification on which departments will be reviewing. Ms. Fairall clarified that Legal would review all policy changes. Upon motion by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Clanagan, the item was approved unanimously after a roll call vote. A 3: Resolution No. 2009-196: Relating to Intergovernmental Relations; authorizing and directing those authorized to lobby on behalf of the Town of Marana to represent and pursue the Town of Marana 2010 Arizona State Legislative Agenda Priority Issues. Presented by Steve Huffman. He noted that this is the annual resolution that is done to direct those folks working on behalf of the town as to policy decisions and directions of the Council. In Section 2, it lays out some general principles of the town regarding interaction with the state such as supporting local control, giving local ability to make decisions avoiding cost-sifting. Section 3 gets into issues of concern to the town and protecting cities and towns shared revenue tax cuts, opposing cost shifting, supporting economic development programs to preserve access to water resources, supporting the housing trust funds and renewable energy sources. This resolution is significant because of policy the town has already laid out. Motion by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Posh Passed unanimously 6-0. A 4: Resolution No. 2009-197: Relating to Utilities; adopting a notice of intention to increase water rates, rate components, fees and service charges, and setting a January 5, 2010 public hearing on the proposed adoption. Presented by Dorothy O'Brien. After a brief review of this item citing the earlier rate increase that occurred and noting that Council had requested a more frequent update of this item, she introduced Dan Jackson from economists.com to give the presentation. She also noted that the rate study had been filed with the Town Clerk and a copy was available for public viewing. Mr. Jackson highlighted the geographic challenges of integrating several systems which are being addressed through the Master Plan and the cost of resource acquisition for replenishment. He reviewed current monthly residential water rates, a monthly charge comparison based on 10,000 gallons used, the forecast for future increases, the historical forecast for new water accounts and the cost of service. He then discussed groundwater resource acquisition and development fees and related costs, the proposed water rate plan and the impact of the rate plan on monthly charges based on water usage. Although water resources are available, they cost more to develop. The acquisition costs are the primary factors driving the needs for the rate adjustments. Most residential ratepayers will experience an increase of $3 to $5 a month under this plan. Under the plan, the town is requesting the ratepayers pay only what it costs them to provide the service. If you charge less than the recommended rates then you'll require the general fund to subsidize the water and sewer fund. Ended by recommended that adopting these increases are in the best interests of the town. Mayor Honea asked for questions from the Council. Council Member Post asked about statistics on slide 7. Are those increases based on the current customer base or on an increased customer base? Mr. Jackson replied that it assumes a very modest growth rate that was included in the prior slide. The customer base is larger in 2019 than in 2010 and that is one of the factors that go into the projection of future water costs. Council Member Post wanted to know if the water companies that were purchased by the town -did that put the town into the replenishment obligation? Ms. O'Brien stated that the rules under the State Department of Water Resources requires replenishment of what's been withdrawn. Whether or not water companies previously met the rules or not, she was not sure and would have to research that information. She noted that the town is replenishing now but would not comment on what CAP has incurred or would be incurring for repair and maintenance schedules. Vice Mayor Kai noted that the replenishment obligation came from the Department of Water Resources (in 1980) to balance the basin so that the majority users were not mining water. Council Member Post noted that he didn't want to buy any more water companies that don't have a replenishment obligation. David Morales spoke regarding his concerns that the rate increases be equitable for all users and that regardless of whether use is small or large, the water still has to be replenished and flat rates don't necessarily inspire conservative use. Council Member Post asked if the replenishment fee required on commercial accounts? That is correct. If a commercial account does use 500,000 gallons, they're just going to pay the $.30 replenishment fee as well, is that correct? Ms. O'Brien stated that they would pay the water resource acquisition fee. Mr. Morales if this was straight across or based on volume? Ms. O'Brien replied that fora 50,000 gallon user, the base rates that were for the minimum charge is the same. What is recommended for the volume charges is the same. The first 1,000 gallons which was originally included in the base rate is no longer included, and that everybody pays the $.30 ground water resource acquisition fee on a per gallon basis no matter what rate you fall into. Mayor Honea noted that at 50,000 the commercial would pay the same as Mr. Morales. If you get higher than that, it might be less. They pay more up front. Upon motion by Council Member Ziegler, second by Council Member Clanagan, passed unanimously 6-0. BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION D 1: Legislative Issues: Discussion/Direction/Action regarding all pending bills before the Legislature. Steve Huffman noted that one significant thing happened. The League of Cities and Towns made their argument before the Supreme Court on HB 2008 passed in the third special third session. The League has been challenging that bill because the Legislature had been piling different bills into it, some of which had died during the regular session. The Constitution currently requires that the bill be written on a single subject rather than multiple subjects. The League is specifically concerned about the provisions making it a criminal penalty if an employee of a town does not collect proper documentation proving citizenship It also contains provisions putting atwo-year moratorium on impact fee increases, construction sales tax increases. So the League made their arguments today violated the single subject clause of the Constitution. They asked in closed session for a stay on those provisions of the bill. He expects a ruling from the Supreme Court on Wednesday. He will continue to let Council know of impacts from that on the town. Council Member Ziegler commented on the article regarding the proposed bill to donate to the state of Arizona. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS 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 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Notwithstanding the mayor's discretion of what items to place on the agenda, if three or more council members request an item to be placed on the agenda, it must be placed upon the agenda for the second regular town council meeting after the date of the request (Marana Town Code, Title 2, Chapter 2-4, Section 2-4-2 B) ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Clanagan. Passed unanimously. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on December 1, 2009. I further certify that a qu~~O~ru~~~~~ resent. ~,~ celyn .Bronson, Town Clerk ~ ~ ~ cam F °. ... - ~ - -~ ~®®~®iouauee~,°°~