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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/04/2003 Regular Council Meeting MinutesPLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, March 4, 2003 II. III. CALL TO ORDER By Mayor Sutton at 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Sutton INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE Led by Mayor Sutton IV. ROLL CALL Mo COUNCIL Bobby Sutton, Jr. Mayor Present Herb Kai Vice Mayor Present Jim Blake Council Member Present Patti Comerford Council Member Present Tim Escobedo Council Member Present Ed Honea Council Member Present Carol McGorray Council Member Present STAFF Mike Hein Town Manager Present Dan Hochuli Town Attorney Present Jim DeGrood Development Services Admin. Present Jocelyn Bronson Town Clerk Present Joel Shapiro Planning & Zoning Director Present Jane Howell Human Resources Director Present Attached is a list of public attendees. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Upon motion by Council Member Escobedo, seconded by Council Member McGorray, the agenda with a change was unanimously approved. The change was that Item IX. B. 3. Presentation on results from survey administered by the Arizona Department of Public Safety to the Marana Police Department was moved to the first item to be heard under IX. B. Council Action. VI. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES VIII. Upon motion by Council Member Escobedo, seconded by Council Member McGorray, the minutes of the February 18, 2003 regular Council meeting were approved 6/0 with one abstention. Council Member Comerford was absent from that Council meeting so abstained from the vote. VII. CALL TO THE PUBLIC/ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no speakers from the public at this time. STAFF REPORTS There were no questions regarding the staff reports. IX. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS A. CONSENT AGENDA There were no items presented for consent. B. COUNCIL ACTION 1. Presentation on results from survey administered by the Arizona Department of Public Safety to the Marana Police Department (Richard Viduarri) The newly appointed Chief of Police, Richard Viduarri, spoke before the Council regarding this item. Chief Viduarri gave a brief overview of the results from a recent survey conducted by the Arizona Department of Public Safety of the employees of the Marana Police Department. He reported a 62.2% response rate and informed the Council that the key areas covered in the survey included job satisfaction, unit environment, communication empowerment, job performance, supervisors, and customer focus. Chief Viduarri admitted that the survey results were not totally positive for the law enforcement agency but emphasized the positive indicators that had been determined by the survey. He said that these indicators included a strong customer focus and a job satisfaction enjoyed by many of the department's employees. He commented that the top three areas of major concern included communication, employee recognition, and training. 2 The Chief announced that he had already been meeting individually with every division and unit within the agency regarding the problem areas. He voiced his intention to use the survey as a positive tool for improving department deficiencies and stressed that this effort would require teamwork. He remarked that he hoped to have the support of the entire police force as well as the Mayor and Council. Chief Viduarri affirmed his sense of pride in being named the new leader of the Police Department and said that he had high expectations of his officers. He thanked the numerous officers and MPD civilian personnel in attendance for their show of support. He concluded by vowing to work diligently toward speedy resolutions of all problem areas. Mayor Sutton commented that a similar survey would be conducted again in a year and would be used as a progress barometer. He urged everyone to prepare to work as a team in resolving the identified problems. Roxanne Ziegler, Continental Ranch resident and former Council member, spoke before the meeting. She pointed out that she had voiced concerns regarding former Chief Smith's leadership abilities after an initial internal survey was conducted in 2000 by the Human Resources department. She urged the Council and Town staff to pay closer attention to any future survey results in order to avoid the escalation of serious problems. She congratulated the new Chief on his appointment and applauded the MPD officers overal1 for their dedication and community service. Vice Mayor Kal welcomed Chief Viduarri and offered his support and that of the Town Council's with any budget problems or program needs. 2. Discussion/Action: Select Priorities for 2003 Community Development Block Grant Funding (CDBG) (Dan Groseclose) Mr. Reuwsaat gave a brief outline of the CDBG projects proposed for the upcoming fiscal year. He noted that he and the Town Manager would be working closely with Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson in an attempt to receive funding for all six projects. The proposed projects included playground equipment for the Marana Apartments complex, a housing rehabilitation program for low income homeowners, an extension to the Santa Cruz River Multi-Use Trail, and remodeling funds for the Marana Health Center. The total requested funding was $529,500 and also included $30,000 earmarked for administration purposes. He recommended that Council forward the listed projects to Pima County for consideration and funding. Council Member Honea inquired about the playground equipment and whether the Town was able to apply for funding for a private venture such as the Marana Apartments. Mr. Reuwsaat replied that TMM, the company building the Marana Apartments, was a nonprofit organization. 3. Update on Sewer Extension Into Honea Heights Subdivision (Mike Reuwsaat) Mr. Reuwsaat briefly outlined the progress being made on the sewer extension into I.ionea Heights subdivision. I.ie said that the installation of the main sewer line coming in from Luckett Road to the Gladden property was expected to be completed by the end of March or early April and that residential hookups for this area were expected within approximately fifteen months. He asked the Council members to expect a CIP expenditure request for next year's budget and explained that this funding would enable the sewer hookup process to begin within the neighborhood. Vice Mayor Kai asked if the individual homeowners would be responsible for any of the hookup costs. Mr. Reuwsaat replied that the homeowners would not have to pay for either the Pima County connection fee or the construction fee. He said that those expenses were being absorbed by the Town as part of it's significant commitment to this project. He said that the funding was accomplished in three ways and went on to explain that Gladden Farms, the developer, was putting in the main line at a cost of approximately $3M, then Pima County had used the private sector construction figure as a match figure for funding the rural development grant of SIM which would extend the lateral connections and the step outs. He added that the Town joined in the funding process by matching this figure with approximately $1.3M and facilitating the hookup costs from the property lines to the residences. He emphasized the importance of this level of commitment by the Town for quality of life, for the water table and for many other reasons vital to the success of the development of northwest Marana. Council Member Escobedo inquired about future sewer connection costs if property owners choose not to participate in the initial hookup process. Mr. Reuwsaat replied that this offer was for the initial hookup process only and that sewer connection costs would indeed be passed along to the homeowner after this timeframe concluded. Mr. Mein added that these types of questions were important for public information and that it was plausible that certain members of the community might choose not to exercise the right to connect with the new sewer line but instead continue using their existing septic system. Me commented that there would be a monthly service fee averaging approximately $10 per household for use of the sewer line. Council Member Honea inquired about connections for seven homes located directly contiguous to Monea Meights yet not technically within the neighborhood. Mr. Hein said that internal cost estimates would be performed by the Town staff regarding these properties but that the bottom line on this issue would be meeting with Pima County in order to ascertain which households were calculated in income levels when the Town initially applied for the rural development grant funding. Me said that if these homes were not originally included in the funding proposal then he doubted that the CoUnty would extend the offer without changing the scope of the grant. He continued by saying that Town staff would look into extending the sewer connections to those bordering residences and present the Council with cost estimates for consideration. 4. State Legislative Issues - Discussion/Direction/Action regarding all pending bills before the Legislature (Mike Hein) Mr. Hein spoke to the Council regarding this item. He reported that the only bill before the Legislature at this time that was of importance to Marana was the McClure Bill, HB 2411. He explained that MB 2411 proposed that if a government act were to diminish a property value by 25% then the property owner had the right to sue the jurisdiction in Superior Court. He explained that this bill was a concern to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns as well as to the State's Counties because of the arbitrary nature of the determination of the appraisal reduction. He said that there were clear logistic issues involved that the bill didn't answer and substantive policy issues that were not addressed such as dynamic XI. changing times, pygmy-owl critical habitat, overlay districts, setback requirements, and zoning. He pointed out that the bill was scheduled to go to committee as early as tomorrow and he invited the Council members to voice their opposition to this pending legislation. C. MAYOR AND COUNCIL'S REPORT Council Member Escobedo reported that the first graduating class of the Citizens' Emergency Response Team (CERT) was honored on Saturday, March 1, 2003. He said that the 49 graduate volunteers were from the Sunflower community. He thanked Officers Melissa Trimble, Michelle Ochoa, and Bill Derfus for their excellent guidance and instruction throughout the program. He added that several other CERT classes were being offered to the community at this time and that this local program had been nationally recognized for its excellence by the USA Today newspaper. D. MANAGERS' REPORT Mr. Hein reported that complimentary hard hats, vests and bags were presented to the CERT graduates upon their course completion. He also announced the cancellation of the Marana Health Center's fundraiser honoring Ora Mae Ham because of scheduling conflicts and other reasons. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS There were no items suggested for future agendas. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion by Council Member Escobedo, seconded by Council Member Blake, approval to adjourn was unanimous. The time was 7:30 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on March 4, 2003. I further certify that a quorum was present. ~~own Cler 6 MARANA TOWN cOUNCIL MEETING Public Attendees DATE:~ '" Address_ MARANA TOWN COUNCIL MEETING Public Attendees Address Name