HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-13-2016 Study Session Minutes+iF'r
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STUDY SESSION
MINUTES
1 1555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653
Council Chambers September 13, 2016, at or after 6:00 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
STUDY SESSION
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL. Mayor Honea called the meeting to order at 6:03
p.m. All Council Members were present except Council Member Kai, who was excused.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE /INVOCATION /MOMENT OF SILENCE. Led by Mayor
Honea.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Motion to approve by Council Member Bowen, second by Vice
Mayor Post. Passed unanimously 6--0.
CALL TO THE PUBLIC. No speaker cards were presented.
DISCUS SIONIDIRECTI ON/PO SSIBLE ACTION
DI Relating to Administration; presentation, discussion and direction regarding proposed
designs and the selection process for the Town's new logo /seal. Presented by VicIde Hathaway
and Ramon Armenta, graphic designer, who began by noting some recent awards the town
received due to the efforts of the Communications & Marketing team and supported by
additional town staff. These were top national awards for (I) the town's website redesign and for
(2) a graphic design program and mailer campaign for the Tangerine Sky Community Park to
increase citizen participation and feedback. She continued with an overview of the overall
rebranding of the town, including the current logo and seal. The initial efforts were to correct
some design flaws and confusion in the way the seal reads. At the same tinge, her staff viewed
this as an opportunity to modernize and consolidate the seal and the logo into one mark. She
September 13, 2016 Study Session Minutes
reviewed previous seals and logo, noting how they evolved over time. Another aspect of
modernizing the seal was to unveil it as part of the town's 40 birthday in 2017, which will
provide many opportunities to reach out into the community and reinforce our brand and
celebrate with the community. The 40"' anniversary will be the kick -of f of the new mark.
The logo we currently use was designed by a University of Arizona student in 1987, but it wasn't
trademarked until 2003. Also in 2003, the seal was created and trademarked by town staff. She
then covered the details of the process to design a new mark. The marks presented to Council
this evening represent many months of research, design and review. Upon Council approval,
these marks will be presented to the public for input and feedback using various sources of media
outreach. The Council can vote individually on their favorite mark, but the ultimate decision
will be based on citizen votes. The plan is to have a decision made during the fourth quarter of
this year in time to coincide with other marketing materials for the 40 anniversary. In response
to some questions from Council, Ms. Hathaway noted that the seal in the lobby of the municipal
complex as well as the seals hanging in the Council Chambers and the Court will not be
replaced, but will remain as historical artifacts of the town. She was also able to explain some of
the history of the town represented by prior seals. Ms. Hathaway also pointed out that the
renderings each say "Marana, Az" instead of "Town of Marana" for purposes of branding
nationally and internationally so that people know where we are located. Each of the Council
present had an opportunity to express their preferences for the proposed designs.
D2 Relating to Special Events; presentation, discussion and possible direction regarding
special events in the Town of Marana. Presented by Gilbert Davidson, who noted that over the
past couple of years, the town has worked very hard to enhance its signature events as well as
community and recreation activities to engage citizens, so much so that we have a new challenge
— requests for town support of community- driven events. Non - profits and other community
organizations seem to have the expectation or hope that the town will contribute in -kind services
or money to their events. The conversation we want to have is how to move forward beyond
what we are already doing, which Ms. Hathaway and her team will go into in more details, how
we not be an organization that says "no" to everything, but to be aware that these requests or
expectations are beginning to proliferate. Even as Marana's success continues, we must remain
cognizant that there could be shortfalls due to a recession or unanticipated event that causes us to
cut back or eliminate programs and expenditures or obligations that we cannot meet for the long
term while still maintaining our community as a welcoming place.
Vickie Hathaway began by enumerating the focus areas of the strategic plan which the
Communications and Marketing team follows to engage residents in Marana's heritage and
culture and also promote Marana as a destination for arts, culture and family events. Monique
Meza, special events coordinator, highlighted the signature events and new programs being
launched this year, the purpose of events, current programs offered, including employee events
and unexpected events such as the opening of the splash pad, and sports events. Several
successes that are also being acknowledged include moving to professionally managed events,
increased attendance at signature events, the requirement for partnerships, and the launching of
the Maranaevents.com app this year. MUSD participation is growing steadily as is recruiting for
talent on our own as opposed to using a third party. She continued by noting resources available,
both from a financial and a staffing perspective, how attendance at signature events has
September 13, 2016 Study Session Minutes 2
increased, partnerships and involvement from the business community and the interest expressed
from other municipalities in what Marana is doing. The process for third parties wanting to put
on their own event has been streamlined to have an event in our parks. This also gives us ample
notice to have our staff prepare the park site in advance.
Ms. Hathaway then continued with some examples of the challenges such as demand for non- -
pre- programmed events that require time and money that were not budgeted, which in turn takes
away from other events and essentially becomes a balancing act. Currently, in their special event
budget, they have only $8,000 for unexpected events. where possible, they use interns and
volunteers, but that assistance may not be continuous throughout the term of the project.
Mr. Davidson concluded the presentation by discussing next steps and what staff is seeking
from Council. There are several options. The first is to continue as is. we don't have to have
the reputation of saying "no" to different groups rather than working with them. However,
sometimes events run parallel to town events which can drain resources. The second option is to
sponsor events on a case by case basis based on Council - -approved criteria. A third option is to
continue to grow the town special event staff and their budget. A fourth option is to fund only
town - programmed events by bringing an actual sponsorship form. to Council such as for the
Bluegrass Festival, A fifth option is to create a limit on how much the town will invest in an
event before presenting it to Council.
Council comments were varied including having some kind of monetary incentive to put on
events, re-evaluating annual town events using the same formula, the amount of expenditure tied
to a guaranteed participation number. However, there was consensus that this item was too
complex for a quick decision. To be mindful of all the elements presented by staff, the general
feeling was to bring this item back to a Council retreat for further consideration and discussion.
D3 Relating to Mayor and Council; presentation, discussion and direction regarding possible
video streaming of Town Council meetings. Carl Drescher noted that this item was brought up
at the August 2, 2016 Council meeting. His presentation focused on some of the requirements to
do that. He gained information from other cities and towns around the state who currently video
stream their meetings. Although not an exhaustive list, there are a couple of towns doing audio
streaming only, and some like Marana, who are doing neither at this time. To stream both live
and also for archival purposes for past Council meetings, the diagram he used uses three different
cameras which would be installed and operated remotely, plus the presentations would be fed
into a mixer along with the cameras, then compress that through a video encoder and feed that
over the web to desktops through any web browser, tablets or smart phones. our partner vendor
would be the one who controlled the mixer remotely during the meeting, moving from one
camera to another; then the video would go streaming across to their servers and they would host
the video for the meetings. Embedded within the town's web page would be a video of the
meeting. once the meeting was over, you would have a summary of the agenda items and video
icons that could go to the point in the agenda that links to that position in the video. So if you are
interested in looking at one particular item from the meeting, you just click on the green camera
and it will take you to that item in the meeting.
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The cost to do something like this and the assumption that we would start something January 1,
2017, would be about a $31 K. investment for this fiscal year. That's the initial investment for all
of the hardware, the cameras, the video encoder, and then the ongoing costs after that would be
approximately $1500 per month for the servers, to host the video, to stream it, to have someone
tag the video components, and to keep that for about three years. For following years, the cost
would be approximately $17K annually. These costs are based on 50 meetings per year, so we
could video other meetings in addition to Council regular and special meetings. Council
Member Bowen asked if Mr. Drescher had any statistical viewing information on usage from
the cities or towns who currently video stream their meetings. Mr. Drescher responded that he
didn't pursue that information, but stated that we would be able to get the analytics on live
streaming and then for those who look at the meeting after the fact. We can collect the analytics
and report on those monthly. The computer equipment will need to be replaced every three
years, approximately, depending on usage. These cameras will have about a three to five year
life span. The cameras are about $1000 each, and those prices continue to drop. He reiterated
that this would be live streaming as it happens. Council Member Bowen expressed his desire to
consider this further.
Motion to authorize the funds to have the town procure the necessary equipment to initiate the
live video streaming of Council meetings starting in January, 2017. Mr. Drescher noted that
the funds are currently not budgeted and would have to come out of contingency. Vice Mayor
Post seconded the motion. Motion carried 5--1, with Council Member Bowen voting nay.
D4 Relating to Development; discussion of lot split and subdivision authority and issues.
Keith Brann presented this item for Frank Cassidy. He noted that this item was requested at a
previous Council meeting. Mr. Brann started by noting that the town complies with state law in
our development code. Any time you are dividing in a municipality or city four lots or more, or
two lots if you have to create a new street, you fall under the definition of being required to do a
subdivision plat. There is also a companion law in the subdivision code that if you're doing 10 or
fewer lots, the municipality can reduce some of the steps such as the preliminary plat and some
of the road standards.
We have a three -split or less, the minor land division. We have the 10 or less subdivision plat,
and then the full subdivision plat. All three of those options are within our land development
code, and all are compliant with state law. What happens is that as you do the minor land
division, you are doing a record of survey. In an area where there might be complicated
drainage. we might still require a drainage report in our code; many times we do not. There are
no real infrastructure requirements, because to be in the land division part of the code, you are
dividing land that doesn't require a street. Basically, you are doing a split of property along an
existing public roadway, and the parcels that results are just putting in driveway onto that
roadway. [once you get beyond that, or needing a street, there is a process for the 10 or fewer
lots. We skip the preliminary plat stage and do an improvement plan and go straight to final plat.
Because of that, the final plats do not go to the Planning Commission. You basically do enough
plans to show staff that you are compliant with our regulations, and we finish it up quickly to get
your final plat to Council. We also have lessened street standards. After that, once you get
beyond the smaller types of development, you are in the full subdivision, which is what we are
used to seeing here in the town. We don't have a lot of small properties that lend themselves to
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1.0 or fewer lots. Most of those are on the Tortolita Fan. In the large subdivision, you go through
a preliminary plat phase, all improvement plans, Planning Commission review, all reports in
addition to drainage reports, traffic studies, geotechnical reports as well as title reports. We also
have our standard street sections, which include sidewalks, rolled curb and 28 -foot asphalt. In
the lessened sections, which are 10 or fewer lots, we don't have the need for sidewalks, there is a
smaller curb section, and we have a narrower pavement that does not support on- street parking.
As lot sizes get larger, a lot of our requirements start dropping out of the subdivision process.
It's a cheaper road to build for the smaller subdivisions. Typically, on the Tortolita Fan because
of the lack of sewer, we generally have large lot subdivisions that tie in with a lot of our
requirements anyway. Because of the lack of sewer, you have a requirement for a minimum acre
lots, so generally large lot -small subdivisions.
Mr. Brann then gave case examples of non - subdivided land within the town, including Desert
Falcon along Twin Peaks Road. This area started lot - splitting in early 2000's and was subject to
investigation by the Department of Real Estate. There was some collusion of how the lot
splitting was done that circumvented state law. We have done some clean -up on some of the
parcels that have not been fully split to bring them back into compliance. Another area
wildcatted in the past is in Dove Mountain in the Sandra Lane /Wild Burro area. Within that area
is Garden Estates which has limited development but with proper streets. There are a number of
parcels that could be impacted by the FEMA floodplain in this area. Another area of concern is
the Joplin Lane area of about four or five parcels with a commercial area. There is no legitimate
legal access to that area. They drive down the TEP property and then access Cortaro Road next
to the railroad tracks. That is going to be a problem to be dealt with, but we have been working
with the various rezonings surrounding the area. As developments come through, we have been
asking for dedications of right of way to get a legal public access to the Joplin area. At some
point, Cortaro Road is going to get the Ina Road /1 -10 treatment with a grade separation. When
that happens, it won't be possible for Joplin residents /businesses to get on Cortaro very easily.
He then referred to a couple of subdivisions outside of Marana with similar access issues,
unpaved roads, floodplain issues and lots of wells. That means there is a lot of competition for
water because there is no public utility serving the water, and there are significant drainage
issues.
All in all, staff believes we have a good process in Marana for the three subdivision types he
presented. vice Mayor Post thanked Mr. Brann for his recommendations and confirmed that his
recommendation is to leave things as they are. Mr. Brann concurred.
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 35- 431.03, the Town Council may vote to go into executive session, which
will not be open to the public, to discuss certain matters.
El 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
September 13, 2016 Study Session Minutes 5
Notwithstandin the ma discretion re the items to be placed on the a if three
or more Council members re that an item be placed on the a it must be placed on the
a for the second re Town Council meetin after the date of the re pursuant to
Marana Town Code Section 2-4-2
ADJOURNMENT. Motion to adjourn at 7:29 p.m. b Vice Ma Post, second b Council
Meniber McGorra Passed unanimousl 6-0.
CERTIFICATION
I hereb certif that the fore are the true and correct minutes of the stud
session/presentation of the Marana Town Council meetin held on September 13, 2016. 1 further
certif that a q uorum was present.
bnson, Town Clerk
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September 13, 2016 Stud Session Minutes 6