Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/17/2013 Regular Council Meeting MinutesREGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 Council Chambers, December 17, 2013, at or after 7:00 PM Ed Honea, Mayor Jon Post, Vice Mayor David Bowen, Council Member Patti Comerford, Council Member Herb Kai, Council Member Carol McGorray, 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. Town Clerk Bronson called roll. All Council Members were present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE. Led by Mayor Honea. APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Motion to approve by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Bowen. Passed unanimously. CALL TO THE PUBLIC. David Morales asked how much the town is spending on consultant fees and why the town is hiring consultants when there is staff hired to perform their jobs. Secondly, he asked when the town going to put up a street light at the intersection at Sandario and Marana Road near Circle K. It should be a priority for the safety of travelers and citizens. PROCLAMATIONS MAYOR AND COLJNCIL REPORTS: SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS. Council Member Comerford reported on a combined project of High Heels for Hope and Avra Valley Fire District to put 100 food boxes for Marana residents. The groups have been collecting donations and are short of their goal by $500. The boxes will be put together this Saturday and delivered with toys and food for kids who normally get free lunch at school. Donations are welcome and appreciated. Mayor Honea noted that he attended the year-end meeting for Arizona Town Hall. This year's Town Hall theme was early education; on Saturday he Meeting Minutes —12/17/2013 participated in Wreaths Across America, a national event where every veteran in the U.S. has a wreath placed on their grave. It was a very rewarding event. MANAGER'S REPORT: SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS. Mr. Davidson showed a video of the Holiday Tree Lighting event. He thanked all the staff who worked on the event as well as the marketing team who prepared the video. He noted that the video is on the town's website. Mayor Honea that it was a great event for good, clean family fun, and he also thanked the staff. PRESENTATIONS P 1: Presentation: Relating to Intergovernmental Relations; Legislative recap and forecast by Representative Steve Smith. Mayor Honea stated that Rep. Smith is one of the town's representatives from District 11 Rep. Smith gave highlights of some of legislation that was passed in the previous session including HB 2111, Transaction Privilege Tax or state t� bill, HB 2531, the instant tax depreciation bill, HB 2076. Rep. Smith also described some additional legislation he has been working on for several years or helped sponsor, and noted that it is much easier to push legislation when it is brought to his attention earlier in the session rather than at the end. He urged contacting him at any time with questions about bills or to sponsor legislation. Rep, Smith also noted that he flies a flag at the state capitol in recognition of someone or some thing. Tonight, as a new representative of Marana, he presented Council with one of the flags flown over the capitol. The sealed flag was accompanied by a brief statement of Marana's contributions to the state and patriotism to the nation. The flag was flown on Patriot Day on September l ltn CONSENT AGENDA. Motion to approve by Council Member Ziegler, second by Council Member McGorray. Passed unanimously. C 1: Resolution No. 2013-115: Relating to Community Development; approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute amendment number 1 to an intergovernmental agreement between the Regional Transportation Authority of Pima County and the Town of Marana for the regionalization of public transit and special needs transportation services and maintenance of effort funding. C 2: Resolution No. 2013-116: Relating to Administration; approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding between the Town of Marana and Northwest Fire District regarding the sale of 911 dispatch consoles C 3: Resolution No. 2013-117: Relating to Development; approving a final plat replat for Saguaro Bloom Block 8A (formerly Saguaro Springs Block 8A) lots 27, 28, 29, 73, 74, 87, 88, and Common Area'B'. C 4: Resolution No. 2013-118: Relating to Development; approving a final plat replat for Saguaro Bloom Block 4(formerly Saguaro Springs Block 4) lots 441, 476, 477, 480, 481, 485, Meeting Minutes —12/17/2013 486, 487, 491, 492, 513, 536, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 579, 607, and Common Area'B'. C 5: Ordinance No. 2013.028: Relating to Health and Sanitation; amending Town Code Section 10-2-7 (removal by town, costs assessed, appeal, recording of assessment) to modify a provision regarding costs assessed by the town for removal of rubbish, trash, weeds and dilapidated buildings from property; and designating an effective date. C 6: Ordinance No. 2013.029: Relating to Municipal Court; amending town code Title 5 (Municipal Court); amending Section 5-7-2 related to commencement of action to modify the methods of commencing civil code violation cases; amending Section 5-7-4 related to authority to detain persons to serve civil code complaints to add reference to the Arizona Traffic Ticket and Complaint; and designating an effective date. C 7: Approval of December 3, 2013 meeting minutes LIQUOR LICENSES L 1: Relatin t�o Liquor Licenses; recommendation to the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control regarding an application for agent change and acquisition of control of an existing liquor license submitted by John E. Baxla for Southwest Pizza Inc. DBA Peter Piper Pizza, located at 3780 W. Ina Road, #122. Presented by Jocelyn Bronson, who noted that the application was properly reviewed and posted, and no protests were received. Staff recommended Council approve. Motion to approve by Council Member Bowen, second by Vice Mayor Fost. Passed unanimously. BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES COUNCIL ACTION A 1: Resolution No. 2013-ll 9: Relating to Intergovernmental Relations; adopting a 2014 Town of Marana legislative program and authorizing and directing those persons authorized to lobby on behalf of the Town of Marana to represent and pursue the legislative interests of the Town. Presented by Mr. Davidson, who noted that this is the standard resolution prepared for Council each year to present to the town's legislative consultants to enable them to deal with any bills that are proposed by the legislature. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Post, second by Council Member Bowen. Passed unanimously. A 2: Resolution No. 2013-120: Relating to Traffic and Highways; establishing a railroad quiet zone for all current public and private railroad crossings within the town limits of Marana. Presented by Keith Brann, who stated that there are ten railroad crossings in Marana, two of which are grad separated crossings. Discussion ensued among Council on the merits of establishing a quiet zone, including the potential liability the town could incur. Mr. Brann stated that nothing will change regarding the way horns are used if the train engineer feels there Meeting Minutes —12/17/2013 is a safety issue. Under federal regulations, the town can implement the quiet zone. Flagstaff and the City of Tucson have partial quiet zone. What is being brought to Council tonight is full implementation of a quiet zone within the town. He further elaborated on the process necessary to establish quiet zones. Jane Fairall addressed the question of liability, noting that there is no case law currently to help shield the town from liability. After Council discussion Mr. Davidson presented a variety of options of voting on the item tonight, or studying the item further and getting feedback from citizens through the town's social media. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Post, second by Council Member Bowen. Mayor Honea asked the town clerk to poll the Council. The motion passed 4-3 with Council Members Ziegler, Comerford and Kai voting nay, and Council Members Bowen, McGorray, Vice Mayor Post and Mayor Honea voting aye. A 3: Resolution No. 2013-121: Relating to Public Works; approving and authorizing the Mayor to sign a Donation Agreement with Granite Construction Company for acquisition of lands needed for the Santa Cruz River Path Phase III, Town of Marana Project No. PK006 (2009-153-016). Presented by Jane Fairall, who also addressed Council with some additional revisions to the agreement that were not included in the agenda packet. She noted that this donation agreement is for 17 acres needed by the town to build Phase III of the Santa Cruz River Path. The appraisal came back at $51,000 which includes the town constructing a six-foot chain link fence along the path adjacent to Granite's property. Motion to approve by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Kai. Passed unanimously. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION D 1: Presentation: Relating to Utilities; discussion, consideration and possible action regarding current water/wastewater rate analysis preliminary findings and recommendations. Presented by John Kmiec and Dan Jackson, from economist.com, the town's water/wastewater rate consultant. Mr. Jackson discussed forecasts, noting that they are not guarantees; they are predictions based on reasonable assumptions. These assumptions lead to the recommendations. The average utility has been increasing its rates five to six percent per year. Rates are expected to triple in the next 15 years due to inflation and the costs of providing water such as chemicals, electricity, gasoline, insurance, workers' compensation, all of which have been going up at an astonishingly high rate. To the extent you don't charge your customers what your costs are, you will be operating at a loss. Thirty to forty percent of utilities across the country have rates in place that don't cover their costs. He stated that many of the reasons for cost increases are beyond the town's ability to influence. Next, he covered the reasons for having a long-term water and wastewater plan in place. One, you want it to fund the cost of providing high quality of service, capital repairs and replacements, and debt service and debt coverage. He then went over the variables in the current rates for water and wastewater as well as the proposed water and wastewater rate plans. The proposed increases depend on level of consumption, so that the overall rate plan impact for water and wastewater monthly charges will range from $5-$6 per month per year through 2017. Mr. Jackson concluded with next steps which are to review rate plan assumptions to ensure general agreement among all parties regarding those assumptions and the rate plan, make agreed- upon updates to the rate plan, schedule Council meetings to adopt "Notice of Intent" to adjust Meeting Minutes —12/17/2013 4 rates, and schedule public hearings 30 days after the "Notice of Intent" to present the proposed rate plan to ratepayers. He recommended that the first meeting to adopt a Notice of Intent be held in January 2014. He thanked Council for their time. D 2: Relating to Parks and Recreation; discussion, consideration and possible action regarding the development and construction of the Marana Heritage River Park. Gilbert Davidson presented the item and introduced Barbara Johnson, consultant on the project, who introduced the team composed of staff Tom Ellis and Jennifer Christelman. Also introduced as part of the design team was Ricardo Aguirre, community member. Mac Murray from the CIP division was also noted as a member of the team. He noted that the Council has been actively involved in this project over the past decade, but specifically in 2009 and the update in 2012 of the town's Strategic Plan; it's called out multiple times in various focus areas as an important project for the Town of Marana. For FY 2014, the Council adopted a budget authorization that allowed staff to move forward with some of the first modules, which will be highlighted during the presentation. The Council also spent time at the last study session dealing with the Strategic Plan, and the focus was on the Heritage Park and in particular the arena. He believes that this project presents the town with two tremendous opportunities: park attractions and demonstrating heritage. Through innovation, reuse of materials and best practices, there could be an entire educational piece for people to learn about how farming has existed for thousands of years and that we are mindful of the resources we have and their sustainability into the future. Barbara Johnson said the team would like to look at how they see this part so that we can begin to see a return on that investment right away and start using it. How we spend the balance of the money already authorized, whether we spend it in planning and design or whether we spend it digging holes will depend on where we go and how we approach the next fiscal year. The second thing is to talk about some one-time dollars that they'd like for next fiscal year to do about three projects. In January she would like to have a study session to talk about some innovations and how we operate it and maintain it so that the town can continue to afford it because that's where the hard dollars come in. Under the umbrella of the Master Plan Concept, Tom Ellis will be talking about the farm, the splash pad. Jennifer Christelman will be talking about the ranch/arena and what's already been done and what they would like to do with the remaining money. Tom Ellis noted that the farm is all about celebrating Marana's agrarian history. Town staffs from several departments and some residents from the treatment center have constructed a community garden, which will be opening up for residents and school kids. They are also finalizing the community garden and demonstration learning center. In the future, there will also be economic opportunities through the creation of farmers' markets, commercial farming and niche gardening as well as retail opportunities in the area. Currently, there are 40 separate plots which people can begin using this spring; the demonstration garden is coming to fruition. That section of the park has been hooked up to the sewer, and the overall layout and design has been accomplished for the 28 acres. This was done with money allocated in FY ' 14 for a cost of $189,400. Moving forward, staff is asking for the amenities that bring people to a site, specifically restrooms, additional parking, security lighting, paths and sidewalks to move people Meeting Minutes —12/17/2013 around and complete the garden. The estimate for that is $278,000 and would be completed in 2015, and the future would bring the retail opportunities of a farmers' market and other business opportunities and niche gardening. The construction on the farm started in July 2013, the community garden will open in the spring of 2014, and if we can move forward we'll open the farm in the fall of 2014 with parking, restrooms, lighting and access. Next, he talked about incorporating a heritage-themed splash pad, just outside the Gladden Farms Community Park, with covered ramadas, lighting and additional parking. The estimate cost of construction is $747,000. Construction would start in February 2014 and open in the spring of 2015. Mr. Ellis noted that although splash pads cost a little more up front, they are very easy to maintain. The water is recycled and it only runs when someone is there to play in it April through October. Next, Jennifer Christelman presented on Heritage Ranch. The idea is to make this a working ranch, mostly to draw different regional members to the community. Included would be two arenas, one covered. Both arenas would be about 150 by 300 feet. They would include lights, loudspeakers, seating and concession stands, restrooms, a maintenance facility, overnight stalls and landscaping. Parking is a big issue for this site — 240 slots for rigs and about 200 parking spots along the front for spectator parking. There is a utility line running through the site that would have to be relocated underground and will be costly. The proposed budget for the ranch is about $7.9M. The undergrounding of the Trico utility is about $1.1 M. With authorization to proceed, the facility could be open by the summer of 2015. Completed so far is the facility master plan and a master grading plan. The next phase would be the design of the facility — the vertical structures, the maintenance facility, restrooms, and the arenas, underground utility relocation, lighting, parking and access. Some improvements need to be made on Tangerine to get the contestants and spectators into the facility. With authorization, the project could move fairly quickly, as there are no major obstacles as far as environmental permitting or federal clearances. Tom Ellis noted that the Heritage Park is incredibly visionary, and it's coming together because of the vision and town Council and community leaders. Although the items talked about tonight are expensive, it sets the roots for what happens in the future for the rest of the Park. The biggest piece of the Park yet to be developed is the Heritage Plaza, the intent of which is to celebrate all the peoples of Marana. The Plaza is tended to be a partnership venture between the town, the public, commercial development with private resources, all of which will allow interpretation and innovation to occur. The area includes a large event space, and a pad site to locate the Producers Cotton Oil building that was located on Sandario. We found the construction documents for that building to be able to reconstruct it and make it a modern, usable building inside while still retaining its original outward appearance. Another large piece of development that sits out there is to construct an amphitheater for theatrical productions and special events. That facility is anticipated to seat about 400-600 people. After considerable discussion between Council and staff on the various pieces of the heritage park and how it will be funded, Mayor Honea asked for a motion to direct staff to proceed as per the staff presentation. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Post, second by Council Member Bowen. Passed unanimously. Mayor Honea reiterated that Council was giving basic direction Meeting Minutes —12/17/2013 for meeting the dates for planning and design. Staff will have to come back to Council for additional spending authorization. Mr. Davidson: So what we'll do for this fiscal year is complete all the design, and in January we want to come back and have that conversation about the maintenance and how we're going to operate it long-term. And then as part of our preparation for fiscal year 2015, we'll talk about how this is going to be funded — whether it is from reserves, bonds or however we're going to do it. But there's a lot of prep work that we want to get done this fiscal year so that we're ready to go. If the Council wants to move forward with the arena piece, we will be able to load those dollars into the construction accounts and begin to move forward. We also want to bid this out so that we get numbers and we know what we're looking at in terms of the arena that would be built for Marana so that we know what kind of funding we want to use. D 3: Relating to Legislation and Government Actions; discussion and possible action regarding all pending state, federal, and local legislation/government actions and on recent and upcoming meetings of other governmental bodies 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. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Notwithstanding the mayor's discretion regarding the items to be placed on the agenda, if three or more Council members request that an item be placed on the agenda, it must be placed on the agenda for the second regular Town Council meeting after the date of the request, pursuant to Marana Town Code Section 2-4-2(B). ADJOURNMENT. Motion to adjourn at 9:44 p.m. by Vice Mayor Post, second by Council Member McGorray. Passed unanimously. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on December 17, 2013. I further certify that a quorum was present. o elyn C. nson, Town Clerk Meeting Minutes-12/17/2013