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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/17/1991 Special Council Meeting MinutesMINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING~ MARANA TOWN COUNCILL STUDY SESSION, DECEMBER 17~ 1991 DATE December 17, 1991 PLACE Marana Town Hall I. ~AL~L_~Q_O~_P~ Mayor Ora Harn called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. II PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Ham led in the Pledge of Allegiance. III. INVOCATION Council member Elwin Clifton delivered the invocation. IV. ROLL CALL Ora Ham Mayor Doug Mostyn, Vice Mayor Etwin Clifton Council member Eddie Honea Council member Helen Key Council member Jo Rex Council member Bill Schisler Council member Stall Kirk Cookson Roy Laos Charles Dinauer Jean Hooper Town Attorney Town Manager Planning and Zoning Administrator Stenographer Public Seven members of the public were present. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA A motion was made by Elwin clifton, unanimously carried to approve the seconded by Jo Rex and agenda as submitted. VI. PETITIONS AND COMMENTS None VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Leilani Schisler, Representative of the Marana Regional Council, announced there would be no annual "Afternoon of Music and Art," as planned because she is going into the hospital, and there is no one else to put it on. Mayor Ham announced that applications are being accepted at the Food Bank for families who will have hard times at Christmas. 1 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING.~ MARANA TOWN COUNCIL~ STUDY SESSION, ~EC~B~__i__7~ 1991 VIII. A. ORDER OF BUSINESS Tortolita Mountain PropertiesL Phase III Pre-Annexation ~greement Mike Grassinger of the Planning Center, and Katherine Magner, representing Westinghouse Communities of Arizona, appeared before the Council to address concerns regarding the Town's commitment for financial contributions for construction of roadways in Phase III of the development, and to supply additional information regarding the infrastructure of the development. Mike Grassinger said that as a result of this development in the community, there will be a minimal amount of infrastructure to provide access to the area, and as other properties start to develop in conjunction with the resort that Westinghouse plans to build, more 'traffic will be generated. He said that in previous discussion between the existing Town Council and Westinghouse officials, there was mutual concern as to how that t~affic will be handled since the existing roads wouldn't handle it, and there was a recognition that it was the responsibility of both parties to provide that kind of access. Mr. Grassinger said that upon recognizing, at that time and possibly now. that the Town does not have the financial capabilities to develop the roadways that would be needed, Westinghouse, in this agreement, has offered to do the road construction and to provide financing up front. He said that the Town is protected in that no reimbursement begins until the resort is constructed and operating, so there is no out-of-pocket expenses by the Town prior to having revenues coming into the town from the resort. He said if the resort is not built, the town will have no liability for the cost of the road construction, that Westinghouse will bear the entire cost of the construction. Mr. Grassinger said the pre-annexation agreement is for twenty years from the date it is signed. He said if the agreement were signed this date, realistically, the resort could not be built for two years, and at that point there would be only 18 years of liability left. He said that under some of the original agreements which was signed in the '80s there are only about 15 years liability left to the town. Mr, Gr~ssinger stated that the reimbursement is limited to only one-half of the revenues generated by the resort through room tax and sales tax and the other one-half of that revenue could be used as the Council sees fit. He said no reimbursement would be required for construction of roads outside the Town limit at the time they are built. MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING~__M~RANA_TOWN COUNCIQ~_S~_O~ SESSION, DECE~BER~_~__l~9% In reply to Mayor Harn, Mr. Grassinger replied that the various agreements include the Avra Valley link for the interchange north from Avra Valley across State land, and then entering the property at some point along the south boundary, and the other is Torto]ita Mountain Parkway and the road up to the resort area. He pointed out that no road will be built by Westinghouse without approval of the Town Council, and added that includes the design of the road, the number of lanes, and how much money is spent to build the roads, Mr. Grassinger said the approximate cost for building the roads in question is expected to be in the vicinity of nineteen million dollars. He said the projected revenues, taken from the fiscal impact analysis prepared by the Drachman Institute from hotel room tax and retail sales tax, come to about twenty million dollars. Mr. Grassinger said that annexation had already occurred in Phases I and II and the specific plan has been adopted for Phase I, and they are in the process of adopting the specific plan for Phase II. In reply to Elwin Clifton, Mr. Grassinger said Phase 1 is mainly the hotel complex, Phase II consists of 98% residential, and Phase III is predominately residential, with some commercial and office space, Eddie Honea said the problem he has with this agreement is that the Town has not paid for road construction in other developments before, and if the Council does not sign for Phase III~ there will be no reimbursement to Westinghouse for the portion of roadway in this phase of the development. He asked if Mr. Grassinger had any other recommendations or suggestions to present to the Council. Katherine Magnet said that Phase I and Phase II agreements already cover a section of Tortolita Parkway and on to the resort access, and when Phase II was annexed that covered Avra Valley. For Phase III, what they are talking about is Tortolita Parkway where it connects with Phase I and west on over to 1-10. She said the portion of roadway in Phase III is about six-miles and would cost approximately six million dollars. She said they would also have to build two bridges and that the total cost would be about ten million dollars. She said these figures are based on a ~our- lane split road, landscaped mediums, drainage, side walks, bike paths, lighting and intersection improvements. Eddie /{onea said that Mr. Grassinger had made a statement that as the property between Moore Road and 1-10 develops, the Town could MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETINGL MARANA TOWN COUNCILz STUDY SESSION, DECEMBER 17~ 1991 charge the new builders the price of the roadway, but that the problem with that is the vast majority of that land is not developmental property because it is low ]and and in a flood area. He expressed the opinion that to build the road past Phase III down to the freeway, a lot of the road would have to be raised at least two or three feet, and that would cost a lot of money, and he does not know if he wants the town responsible for it. Mr. Grassinger pointed out that the County is responsible for that portion now, and added that road alignment is within the town's transportation plans. Mr. Honea said that if the Town annexes that area then it would have the financial liability for it. Mr. Grassinger replied that the town's obligation would only be up to ten million dollars. Bill Schisler said the County is planning to squeeze that roadway down or eliminate it altogether. Mr. Grassinger replied that is one of the reasons Westinghouse wants to take it out of the County's jurisdiction, Mr. Grassinger said that Westinghouse's position has been that they will be providing public facilities that will serve more than their properties and will be of benefit to the town overall, but if that is the only hang-up, they still want to bring the property into the Town of Marana. He said the alignment is there because it is part of the town's transportation system, but that the Westinghouse property can be developed and accessed using alternate roadways. Katherine Magner said she had talked to the cooperate officers in Florida this date and told them of the concern for reimbursement of the section of road through the property and they told them if that is the only issue holding up the annexation! then they would put that exception into the agreement. Mayor Ham said that in the town's General Plan~ the Council had some idea of how it wanted the town connected with new development and added that construction of the Tortolita Parkway down to the freeway would open up a ]or of territory for new development in the town. She asked the Council to conside~ this before voting to eliminate this road from the agreement. In reply to Bill Schisler, Mr. Grassinger said the cost would be more if the revenue were higher. Bill Schisler said he is concerned about the cost to the town to provide police protection from %:he Phase III portion of the development to 1-10. In reply to Helen Key, Katherine Magnet said there is no time frame at the present for construction of these roads, Mr. Grassinger said they are not ready to proceed yet due to economic 4 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING, MARANA TOWN COUNCIL~ STUDY SESSION, DECEMBER 17, 1991 conditions, and he added that is in the Town's favor because the delay eats away at the twenty-year agreement. He added that there might not be any cost to the town if Westinghouse opts to go for a community facilities district. The Town Attorney advised the Council that it is already obligated for one-half of the cost of the road construction for Phase I and II, and that approval of financial contribution for construction in Phase III does not add to the town's liability. She added that the additional verbiage does not mean anything, that the town has to turn over one-half of the tax it receives to Westinghouse for road development for a period of twenty years from the date the agreement is signed. In reply to Jo Rex, the Town manager explained that the time frame for financial reimbursement for construction of these roadways in each agreement is twenty years from the date they are signed, and that the roadways to be constructed are set forth in previous contractual agreements. in reply to Eddie Honea, the Town Manager said the town does have the ability to pay off those roadways earlier than twenty years, but there is no way the town would know in advance the amount of tax that would be collected, and that move is not advisab]e. Ne reminded the Council that they have the option, in the agreement, to pay for their one-half of the financial liability with sources other than the revenue from the resort. In response to the Town Attorney, Mr. Grassinger said that neither he nor Ms, Magnet could say clearly that if this agreement is not approved the developers would build the type of roads described in this agreement. He said taking this portion of roadway out of the agreement may change priorities ~or that road; they may want to take it slower, do it later, or try other mechanisms of funding rather than having it come out of their pockets. He added it might also delay construction. He said it could be ten years down the road before construction starts on Phase III. The Town Attorney informed the Council that there is a pre- described road system in this agreement, and if it is not approved they would not know what the developer might do in future. the Eddie Honea moved to direct staff to amend the Phase III Pre-- annexation Agreement to relieve the town of a financial obligation for construction of the portion of tile Torto]ita Parkway running through Phase III and west to 1-!0. Vice Mayor Mostyn seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, Council Members 5 MINUTES OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING~ MARANA TOWN COUNCI~_L__S_T__UD__Y S_ESSION, DE_CE__MBER 17, 1991 E!win Clifton, Helen Key, Jo Rex, Bill Schisler, Vice Mayor Mostyn and Mayor Ham voted "Nay," Eddie Honea voted "Aye." The motion failed to carry. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Sexual misconduct in park X. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Vice Mayor Mostyn, seconded by Elwin clifton and unanimously carried the meeting be adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Certification I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of special study session meeting ot the Town Council of Marana held on the 17th day of December, 1991. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 24th day of December, 1991 n Hooper, Stenographer