Council Regular/Special Meeting

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL IN SPECAIL MEETING OF FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 AT 7:00 AM, UNIVERSITY CENTER - 92 WEST VAUGHN AVENUE, ROOM 151, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Jenn Daniels, Vice Mayor Victor Petersen, Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Eddie Cook, Brigette Peterson, and Jared Taylor COUNCIL ABSENT: Councilmember Jordan Ray STAFF PRESENT: Manager Patrick Banger, Clerk Lisa Maxwell, Parks and Recreation Business Manager Rocky Brown, Police Chief Michael Soelberg, Development Services Director Kyle Mieras, Parks and Recreation Manager John Kennedy, Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan, Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman, Town Engineer David Fabiano, Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers, Public Works Director Jessica Marlowe, Chief Digital Officer Dana Berchman, Economic Development Director Dan Henderson, Economic Development Deputy Director Jennifer Graves, and Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck AGENDA ITEM CALL TO ORDER Mayor Jenn Daniels called the meeting to order at 7:08 a.m. 1 Welcome and Opening Remarks Mayor Jenn Daniels welcomed everyone to the Council Retreat. She is excited about the upcoming discussions. She thanked the Executive Team for the work they do every day. Town Manager Patrick Banger said staff always enjoys retreats as a time to share what they are working on and to get feedback from Council on the direction they wish staff to go. Learning and Development Manager Nathan Williams set guidelines for how the day would progress. 2 COMMUNITY LIVABILITY - presentation, discussion and possible direction on: a) Parkway Improvement District (PKID) Contracted Services; Parks and Recreation Business Manager Rocky Brown said he oversees PKIDs 1 for several neighborhoods in the Gilbert. If the administration and irrigation work of the PKIDs were contracted out then staff time would be freed up for other work. The cost of administering a PKID is currently not being assessed to the property owners. There would be a small increase to property owners whether the work is contracted out or the Town starts charging to recover the full cost of the work done. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if anyone had talked to the property owners in the PKIDs. Parks and Recreation Business Manager Rocky Brown said he spends one-fourth of his time working with PKIDs and that costs is not passed on. There are irrigation and management analysts’ costs that are being passed to property owners in the PKIDs. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if everything would shift to contracted work. Parks and Recreation Business Manager Rocky Brown said all the work would shift and the staff currently doing the work could transfer to the new regional park. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said he does believe there should be full cost recovery. He would like to hear feedback from property owners to see whether they prefer contracted services or Town-provided services. Either way the Town will not continue to subsidize the work. Councilmember Scott Anderson said the property owners will still come to the Town to resolve issues, whether they use contracted services or not. Parks and Recreation Business Manager Rocky Brown said he meets with the property owners every October and he will discuss the options available to them at that time. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked what problem staff was trying to solve. She believes if there is an outside contractor the property owners will still come to Town and demand different levels of service. She is not sure contracting the work out will solve the problem. Parks and Recreation Business Manager Rocky Brown said contracting out the work would solve the day-to-day issues. This would be similar to a Homeowners Association (HOA) model. Mayor Jenn Daniels said if the work is contracted out there needs to be a policy that details how a person complains about problems. Town Manager Patrick Banger said this is an HOA function and there are times when there is not an acceptable resolution for property owners. Right now the property owners are not paying the full cost for the work done and this is an opportunity to contract with people who are experienced in this area. Councilmember Scott Anderson said it is important to point out to the property owners they are paying approximately $30 a month and HOAs are charging much more than that for the same work. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said he would like to give developers the option of either having an HOA or a PKID as long as the Town is receiving full-cost recovery. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she would like to try this and see if it works first. b) Police Department staffing; 2 Police Chief Michael Soelberg reported as the community continues to grow the need for officers is also growing. The number of all calls for service has gone up eleven percent since last year. This does not include emergency calls or traffic stops. Police Chief Michael Soelberg showed the process of recruiting an officer in the Police Department. The hiring process takes 17 weeks. It then takes 40 weeks to complete training. Another problem facing the Police Department is the fact that the attrition rate is outpacing the hiring rate. In FY2024 a large number of people will be eligible to retire. In the spring there will be a hiring push to begin trying to keep up with the attrition rate. There are five people in the hiring unit and they can complete three to four background checks a month. Of 125 applicants that were eligible for hire from the April 2017 recruitment, only 60 of the background checks are complete. The short-term solution is to contract out the polygraph services. Until that contract is in place, polygraph operators from other agencies can be used. Police Chief Michael Soelberg plans to use overtime hours too. Staff on light duty can help work on files. Contracted temp employees can also help. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said he has fifteen positions reserved in the Mesa academy and some positions in the Phoenix academy so he is hoping these changes will get applicants through the hiring process in time to attend the academies. Another short-term solution is to reclassify two officers to background investigators. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said he would like to establish a recruiting team that is trained in the background checking process and who can also go to hiring events. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said he has treated Commander Randy Brice as if he were in the position of Assistant Police Chief. He had planned to move Commander Brice back to his position but there is so much work he has kept him where he is. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said he would like to add an Assistant Police Chief. This would allow him time to focus more on planning and community events. There is a position that would need to be reclassified. There are some budget savings for this year to pay the salary difference. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said he does not understand the need for an Assistant Police Chief. He likes the flat structure and he is not sure what problems are being solved. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Commanders were used as Assistant Chiefs in the past but they were not receiving Assistant Chief pay. As large as the Town is, the Police Chief needs additional leadership support. Former Police Chief Tim Dorn had Commanders function as Assistant Chiefs. Police Chief Michael Soelberg has been using Commander Randy Brice in that role since Police Chief Michael Soelberg started work in Gilbert. Commander Randy Brice is doing so much work Police Chief Michael Soelberg cannot move him back to his rightful position. This 3 would be another level of management but it is needed to manage all pieces of the department. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he has talked with Police Lieutenants and staff is spread so thin if someone wants to take a vacation day there is no one to cover for that person. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked what the target number is for a fully staffed Police Department. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said he estimated an additional 25 people are needed to get the department to where it needs to be. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked about additional vehicles. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said after the number of staff needed is determined then the number of vehicles and other equipment can be determined. The goal is to have the vacancies filled in the spring. After that Police Chief Michael Soelberg can report back to Council. He would like to get to the point where he is able to pre-hire so new officers will be coming out of training as others retire. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if the Police Department would ever been 100 percent filled. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said it is possible but the Town would have to spend money and over-hire for that to happen. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she saw the target as being plus/minus five staff members at all times. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she would like to add an item to the parking lot to look at the impact this many additional officers would have on the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office. Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman said the staffing report she created looks at that the connections between departments. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen is going to schedule time for further discussion with the Police Chief about what standards need to be maintained and so he can get an understanding of how the number of officers needed is determined. c) General Plan Update Schedule; Development Services Director Kyle Mieras discussed the purpose of the General Plan. The Town is required to update the plan every ten years. The last ratification of the plan by voters was in 2011. The next update of the plan will be on the November 2020 ballot. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras showed the proposed schedule for updating the General Plan. The last time this was done there was public input and community outreach which will be included this time as well. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked how much a consultant will cost to do the work. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras estimated it will be $300,000 to $350,000. He is basing his estimate on what Chandler spent to update their plan. Councilmember Scott Anderson said he would to talk with Development Services Director Kyle Mieras about the community outreach plan. Mayor Jenn Daniels noted Parks and Recreation did a great job with outreach on the regional park. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said the consultant will have ideas too. Mayor Jenn Daniels said it is important to streamline the public’s time because the Town does not want to wear down same group of people. 4 Councilmember Scott Anderson said the last time the plan was updated the Town got people involved through the schools. School children were engaged and they got their parents involved. d) Regional Park including Parks Needs Analysis, Sports Fields Assessment, High-Level Funding Discussion, and Shade; Parks and Recreation Manager John Kennedy said shade is a priority in the department. There are some funds available in FY2017 and the Parks and Recreation Department would like to know Council’s priorities. Parks and Recreation Manager John Kennedy covered the number of playgrounds and gathering spaces that are in need of shade. Shade can come from either shade structures or trees. Tree planting priorities are to fill in existing areas with trees and then plant next to those areas. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he talked with someone in another community and they have a program where people can donate trees. He asked if there was the opportunity for residents to do that in Gilbert. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said the Gilbert Rotary Club is planting 25 trees this year. Parks and Recreation identified the location and type of tree. If anyone is interested they can call the Parks and Recreation Department. Parks and Recreation Manager John Kennedy said if this information is not available on the Town website it will be added. Councilmember Brigette Peterson asked how the decision was made of whether to plant trees or to erect a shade structure. Parks and Recreation Manager John Kennedy said if the area is a place for parties that can bring in revenue a shade structure is used. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said if it is a present need then a structure is put up but if it is a future need a tree is planted. Parks and Recreation John Kennedy said he expects all playgrounds will have shade in two years. The fabric tarps on the shade structures have to be replaced when they wear out. Councilmember Eddie Cook said shade between ball fields has been requested. Parks and Recreation Manager John Kennedy said that is being planned for the future. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan discussed the Parks Needs Analysis. The Parks Master plan identified the need for 1070 acres of park land at buildout. Recently 9 acres were added with the disc golf course and the miniature golf course with no Town money spent. There is approximately 456 acres of undeveloped park land available at existing parks. There was discussion about the residents’ list of priorities for park amenities. Councilmember Jared Taylor noted when the list was compiled residents were not asked if they wanted to pay for the requested items. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the Town does not have to build and run everything that was on the list. Private companies could run some of those items. There was discussion about the need for an all abilities park. Councilmember 5 Eddie Cook said he was going to bring the topic up at a future Parks and Recreation Board meeting. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said 37 additional fields are needed at build-out. There is enough property to build the remaining needed fields. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked for a timeline of when the fields would be completed. The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) shows delivery over the next ten years but no funding source is identified. Six fields will be completed at the Rittenhouse Basin during phase one of construction. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan went over the funding strategy for the Gilbert Regional Park. Currently staff is in the developing phase one at Gilbert Regional and Rittenhouse Parks. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued to see if there was any interest in a public/private partnership. The responses received were not good so the RFP was put out again. There could be one promising submittal and Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan will bring it to Council for their consideration. Phase one of Gilbert Regional Park should be complete in Fall 2019 and phase one of Rittenhouse Park should be complete in Winter 2019.The costs of the parks will be paid with System Development Fee (SDF) funds. There are courts at the parks which are rentable and revenue generating. Councilmember Brigette Peterson requested a simple shower to rinse off kids be installed at the restrooms. The shower could be located outside. There was discussion about funding options for phases two and three. This included using general funds, issuing bonds, or selling naming rights. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if phase two could be paid for with money from land sales. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked about trails which Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said were located around both parks with access to the Water District’s trail. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the location of restrooms is important. They should be near the fields. Also playgrounds should be centrally located for children with siblings that are playing on the fields. The fields for smaller children should be closer to the parking lot. Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman discussed the sale of three Town owned parcels. There was interest from homebuilders but no bids at the auction in May. Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman has been gathering feedback since May. There are still people asking about the land. State law requires the Town to sell the land to the highest bidder at a public auction. Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman asked if Council would be interested in engaging a consultant to provide market data, pro forma calculations and other information on the parcels of land. 6 Councilmember Eddie Cook said he would like to raise the zoning density numbers for the land. He does not believe a consultant is needed to do that. A consultant would cost around $100,000 and they would look at what makes the most sense for market. They would provide other options then just rezoning. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked if staff consulted registered bidders on why they did not bid on the property. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said there was too much risk for the developers. Town Patrick Banger said there are challenges with the nearby wastewater plant and soccer complex. The Town wants as high a density as possible that makes sense for the area. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said developers look at a site and determine how they want pockets at different densities to fit. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen suggested asking developers what they want then compile the data and get the aggregate. Mayor Jenn Daniels questioned whether it might be a conflict of interest to engage developers in part of the process when they are going to be bidding on the property. Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman has had conversations with homebuilders. The problem is finding a way for the Town to follow statutes and provide flexibility to developers. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said he does not want to pay a consultant when staff has already done half the work. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said a consultant could provide a pricing strategy and staff cannot do that. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked for the data to be compiled and the reports already gathered be given to Council. Councilmembers will provide a list of contacts they know to Interim Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said staff cannot set price points because they have never had to develop land. A consultant could go out and talk to builders and get that information. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan asked what other information Council wanted to hear at the Spring Financial retreat. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said he would like to hear more of Councilmember Eddie Cook’s idea of setting aside money to pay for the Regional Park. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked if the SDF funds for phase one had all been collected. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said they were. She also noted new SDF funds cannot be used at these parks because of a change in State law. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he talked with the Parks and Recreation Board about reactivating the Arts Board to discuss the Ocotillo bridge, benches and murals downtown. Town Engineer David Fabiano said staff is working on plans for the bridge now. There are lots of pieces to the bridge and it is important that it functions well. e) Safe Railroad Crossings; and Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers gave an update on CIP projects regarding safe railroad crossings. There was a diagnostic review of the 7 crossings in Town and in 2015 Council prioritized four as the most urgently in need of replacement based on safety and community livability. There are CIP projects set for the four projects. Based on the price Chandler paid converting crossings will cost approximately $1,000,000 per crossing. Mayor Jenn Daniels noted the Town would have to pay for any conversions at private crossings. The next steps are to work with the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and Salt River Project (SRP). Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers said she needs direction for projects in FY2020. After the four projects are complete another diagnostic review could be completed. There was discussion about the Western Canal crossing. It is more complicated than other crossings because of utilities located there. The cost of that one crossing is $3,500,000. Mayor Jenn Daniels said after discussions with UPRR there is only one option for this crossing. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if SRP aesthetic funds could be used for this project. Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers replied they could. Mayor Jenn Daniels said Maricopa Area Governments (MAG) regional funds are set aside for the Western Canal crossing as well. There was discussion about quiet zones. The four current projects which concern safety must be completed before the Town can move to have a conversation about quiet zone. Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers said in FY2020 the big CIP projects will be complete and pedestrian crossings are planned. She will come back to Council for more discussion then. Councilmember Scott Anderson asked about the Gilbert Road crossing and whether there would be a day when the tracks were under the road. Town Manager Patrick Banger said it is a serious safety issue. Any work would be disruptive to the Heritage District. Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers said there is the same issue on Val Vista Road and Cooper Road where the train crosses. f) Water Quality Update. Public Works Director Jessica Marlowe gave an update on water quality status. She gave an overview of where Gilbert’s water comes from and testing requirements. The Town was over the 80 parts per billion (ppb) for trihalomethanes (TTHM) in April and May. The Town was required to give notice to affected residents. Operational changes were made to freshen the water and decrease the TTHM levels. Public Works purchased equipment and they are now doing additional testing in-house. Staff talked with SRP about the water and they were told to expect the dirtiness of the water to continue. The dirty water is linked to the health of the watershed. The snowpack water runs through areas where there were wildfires and this causes the dirty water. 8  Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if this was happening in neighboring cities. Public Works Director Jessica Marlowe said Tempe had problems and had to notify their residents. Other municipalities have different methods of treating water and they do not have a TTHM problem. Public Works Director Jessica Marlowe is looking into making changes. One potential change is treating the water at the plant before it gets into distribution system. As water sits in the system the TTHM number goes up. Public Works Director Jessica Marlowe said staff also tries to use surface water whenever available. The problem is holding the water for a long time. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if the TTHM problem could be an argument to be more cognizant of the watershed. She asked if spending money on the watershed could help with this problem. Public Works Director Jessica Marlowe said the only thing that will improve the source water is to improve the water shed. Councilmember Eddie Cook said this is the job of the federal government. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked what SRP was doing to protect the watershed since it is their land. Intergovernmental Relations Director Rene Guillen said the problem is Congress has acted but getting contracts out to people to do the work is not getting done. 3 TECHNOLOGY LEADER - presentation, discussion and possible direction on Open Data Portal. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Open Data Portal will provide access to Town data for anyone to search. Chief Digital Officer Dana Berchman said the Town is working with What Works Cities to create the Town’s Open Data Portal. Examples of data in the portal will be population, Full Time Equivalent (FTE)s and building permits. The Information Technology department is working to get the portal set up and working. The goal is to provide the data so people can use it in a meaningful way. The Town will be able to use existing technology to provide the data. The front facing end of the Open Data Portal will be called Alex. The purpose is to have a tool that is easy to use and understand. Alex will be able to walk someone through the portal. Town Manager Patrick Banger said as more data is added there will be the opportunity to overlay different datasets to see information in a new way. The exciting thing about Gilbert’s Open Data Portal is that it is personalized and not dry. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if traffic data would be available as he believes it could be useful. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she wants to have a discussion about having a policy to ensure private data is protected. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Town is not going to put out personal data in the Open Data Portal, even if it is available from a public records request. There will be useful information but an individual’s information will not be identified. 9 4 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - presentation, discussion and possible direction on: a) Economic Development Strategic Plan Update; Economic Development Director Dan Henderson showed how activity in the Office of Economic Development has increased from FY2013 to FY2017. There has been a movement away from retail jobs to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) based industries. Economic Development Deputy Director Jennifer Graves said the updated Economic Development Strategic Plan will cover the years from FY2018 to FY2022. An RFP was released and staff identified a company to update the strategic plan. Targeted industries for Gilbert are STEM and STEM related industries. The goal is to keep Gilbert residents working in Gilbert. The Town needs to look for other advantages in attracting jobs including accessibility, labor force, housing, community, entertainment and retail, and growth. The three main goals of the Strategic Plan are to strengthen the economic base; enhance selection of retail, restaurants, etc.; and increase general fund revenue. The plan can be flexible as economy changes and priorities shift. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said he is interested in a policy that defines when and how incentives are offered to businesses. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said that policy will not be identified in the strategic plan. It is difficult to have one policy for all types of businesses and locations. What would work in the northwest corridor would not work in the central employment district. Mayor Jenn Daniels suggested Vice Mayor Victor Petersen schedule time with Economic Development Director Dan Henderson to discuss this policy. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson discussed performance measures and benchmarks. The Economic Development Department looks at how Gilbert compares to the state and how the state compares nationally. There are strengths and weaknesses for each of the four employment corridors. There are problems in Northwest corridor with outdated infrastructure. Creating a redevelopment area designation in the northwest employment corridor would allow for changes in the area. Mayor Jenn Daniels suggested Economic Development Director Dan Henderson have one-on-one discussions with the Councilmembers to explain the pros and cons of moving in this direction. Councilmember Scott Anderson asked that Development Services Director Kyle Mieras and Planning Manager Linda Edwards be included as this would affect the General Plan. b) Redevelopment Plan Update; The main goal is connecting the Heritage District with amenities. It is easy to 10 track traffic counts in the area but there is no way to capture pedestrian counts. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson sees an opportunity to develop an immersive experience for the Heritage District. The first Redevelopment Plan was adopted in 1991. The last plan was updated in 2008. The goals and objectives from 1991 have carried on to 2018. The update process began in January 2015 with staff engaging the public, holding merchant meetings, and taking suggestions from consultants. A consultant to update the plan was selected and the contract will come to Council at the September 21 meeting. There will also be a Master Plan developed that assesses all Town owned properties in the Heritage District. The plan should be complete and ready for Council approval in August or September 2018. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if residential guidelines would be incorporated into this plan. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson replied they would. Staff and the consultant will be looking to work with residents to see what they want to do with their properties. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked that feedback from residents be documented in the plan. c) Ash Road Realignment; As the Town acquired property in the Heritage District the question has been what is the vision for that property. The Master Plan will help show that. The Town needs to look at efficiencies in the roads and parking. As roads are developed the Town needs to look at what can be done with other parcels. Depending on how Ash Road is aligned there is potential for ground level retail, loft living, and pedestrian and bicycling areas. Town Engineer David Fabiano said it is not possible for Gilbert Road to get any wider. Staff looked at extending Ash Street across the railroad but UPRR said that was not possible. All options for realigning Ash Street include a left turn lane added on Gilbert Road to keep traffic from becoming blocked. The first option is to go through a parking lot making a reverse curve realigning Ash Street and lining up with Cullumber Street. This is the recommended option. The second option was to go straight through the parking lot but that is not recommended because it would interfere with existing infrastructure such as the park and ride lot which was paid for with federal funds. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked how much circulation would be improved. There would still be bottleneck where Cullumber Street ran back to Gilbert Road. This also does address what happens when building picks up south of the railroad tracks. Town Engineer David Fabiano said there will be more land available to make changes to the south. Looking to the east of Gilbert Road a crossing would be better at Neely Street as well. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if it would be possible to have a commuter rail stop 11 in this area. Town Engineer David Fabiano said he does not believe these changes would constrain a rail stop. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked why it was necessary to make these changes. Town Engineer David Fabiano said if the street is not connected it will be more difficult for traffic to get around. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked the difference in cost for the different options. Town Engineer said cost is not that different. There is utility work that has to be done in the area so the road would have to be reworked anyway. Staff needs direction from Council to determine the alignment. Phasing and strategic process will need to be examined so there will still be parking and pedestrian access during construction. There will be public outreach and the Redevelopment Commission and merchants will be involved. Mary Ellen Vasquez asked if direction is given from Council on the Ash Road alignment then has a decision been made without public input. Mayor Jenn Daniels replied this is a different process because of the nature of the work being done. Public input is important but there is more involved in this instance and there are very specific goals. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said decisions are not final until a vote takes place. Councilmember Scott Anderson said the October Merchant Meeting would be a good opportunity to discuss this plan. Councilmember Brigette Peterson asked if the work could be done in the summer as there is less activity downtown. d) Parcel Request for Proposal (RFP); Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said he needs direction on issuing RFPs for parcel use in the Heritage District. The first parcel is a nine acre lot north of Vaughn Avenue. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked if the person leasing the University Building might need that property to expand. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson replied more than one group is expected to lease the University Building. Town Manager Patrick Banger said property to the west of the University Building is being reserved for that purpose. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said an RFP does not require the Town to do anything. The Heritage Village Center (HVC) zoning is very flexible in what is allowed. Town Manager Patrick Banger suggested an RFP worded to get free thinking ideas for use of the parcel. Mayor Jenn Daniels said it was important to include on-site parking as a requirement. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said to keep the RFP broad and see what market wants. The second parcel is located on the northwest corner of Gilbert and Elliot Roads. It is almost three acres with good car counts but lower pedestrian activity. It is currently zoned for multifamily HVC zoning. Council is not ready to move forward with an RFP for this location at this time. 12  e) HD Smart Cities Pilot; Combined with item 4f. f) Lighting and Sound; and Economic Development Director Dan Henderson discussed how Smart technologies could be used in the Heritage District. Sensors in parking lots could track vacancies and a digital board could let people know if parking was available and where it was located. Public wi-fi could be provided in the Heritage District. Digital kiosks could provide community engagement, information, way-finding, calls to 911. These kiosks are located in other cities but none in Arizona. Lighting could be used to enhance the downtown or to highlight special events. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he would like merchants to have some stake in this project since they are the ones who will benefit. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked how much it costs and who would pay. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said the system can provide data the Town currently does not have. Town Manager Patrick Banger said this would be a way to differentiate Gilbert from Tempe or Scottsdale. It would help people find parking and keep down the frustration level. Most of the cost for the system is paid through advertising on the kiosks. Savings in electricity costs from changing to LED lights could pay for replacing bulbs. People feel safer in lighted areas Mayor Jenn Daniels noted the Town is at a point in development when things are easy to implement. If the Town waits too long the cost to implement new things is higher. This is forward thinking we can do now so the Heritage District does not become a trend that dies. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson would like to do a pilot program in a test environment to see the benefits. Councilmember Scott Anderson suggested talking with the consultant hired to work on the Strategic Plan and see if they have done anything like this. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he wants to see a business case. He is not in favor of continuing to pour money into the Heritage District when he is not sure it is coming back. Town Manager Patrick Banger said staff would compile that data for the Spring Financial Retreat. He will include property values and crime statistics as those radiate out from the Heritage District. Councilmember Brigette Peterson said she would love to be the first at something and she loves this concept. g) Garage Update. Town Engineer David Fabiano said the second parking garage will be opening January 2019. Staff is working to coordinate everything that is happening in the 13  Heritage District as much as possible. There have been public meetings and public outreach regarding the parking garage. It will be a four story structure with five levels of parking. On-street parking will be eliminated on Vaughn Avenue so a left-turn lane can be added. Underground work is starting in the area next month. Councilmember Brigette Peterson said there needs to be a discussion on Uber stops. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson will have the consultant look into that. 5 HIGH PERFORMING GOVERNMENT - presentation, discussion and possible direction on: a) Compensation Philosophy and Benchmarking; and Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said she is excited to talk with Council about compensation. She covered the Town’s current process of benchmarking 13 percent of jobs with the remaining 87 percent of the jobs are tied to those benchmarked jobs. Employees are frustrated because they do not feel the system is fair. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said there are false assumptions that lead to frustration. She would like to have job benchmarking done by Town staff and not by consultants. She would also like to benchmark close to 100 percent of jobs and to price more jobs with the market. This could be completed before reviews are done next spring. Councilmember Brigette Peterson asked if the cost of living was included. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck replied it is reflected. There has been a shift to short term bonuses instead of pay increases. Employees will be involved in the process. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said the Human Resources Department is working on job descriptions. Also there will be a path for employees to advance. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked how far off the Town was from the market. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said there are pockets where there could be improvement but the Town is not far off. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if Public Safety would be treated differently. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said there are still parts of Public Safety that are treated the same. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said the idea was always to map Town salaries to the market as close as possible. Conceptually this plan sounds like it will do that. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said unlocking the job titles to be benchmarked and priced will be better. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen asked if there was any need to change compensation philosophy and Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said no. Councilmember Brigette Peterson said she has been watching people come and go and she would like more people to stay. b) Council Communication Plan. Town Manager Patrick Banger said Town staff communicates with the Mayor 14 and Council, other staff and residents. A variety of information is communicated to variety of internal and external customers in a variety of ways. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the intranet can only be accessed from in the Municipal Center. Councilmember Brigette Peterson said the links or pictures embedded in emails are not visible. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he does not look at these messages as he trusts Town Manager Patrick Banger to do his job. He only wants a high level update. Town Manager Patrick Banger asked what information Council wants to receive and how they want to receive it. Councilmember Brigette Peterson said she believed getting information to Council is lacking. When an item is continued at a meeting she would like to know ahead of time. She learns about things happening in Gilbert from the GilbertNOW webpage. Town Manager Patrick Banger said a list of confirmed projects can be sent to Council. Mayor Jenn Daniels said there is activity in Economic Development that she is unaware of. It is not at the level of a policy decision but it is still information she needs to know. She questioned how GilbertNOW gets its information. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said the information may come directly from the businesses. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said some information may come from a network of brokers. Mayor Jenn Daniels said some of the information is not always Town’s story to tell, it is the business’ story to tell. Development Services and Economic Development are areas where things are happening. Town Manager Patrick Banger said there are things he does not know are happening. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson talks to a lot of people and maybe 20 to 30 percent of the discussions lead to any activity. Council said email best way to get information to them. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he is interested in controversial items and he would like to get that information. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she would like to know more about community meetings? Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said those meetings are scheduled early in the planning process. A Planner does attend but sometimes the developer schedules a meeting with a neighborhood and Planning does not know. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she would like to have that information when it is known. Councilmember Brigette Peterson said planning projects are important and she knows about them because she is the Council liaison to the Planning Commission. She said she did not know about the American Leadership Academy case until she was at the Council meeting sitting she at the dais. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said citizens expect Council to be in the know. He would like to have information available and Councilmembers can look at what they want. 15  Town Manager Patrick Banger said he would like for GilbertNOW to put a notice on their website that they are not an official Town of Gilbert website. Digital Government Director Dana Berchman said GilbertNOW is not the only site that has published this information. Intergovernmental Relations Director Rene Guillen said he will try to get updated information to Vicky Songer so she can update the Council calendar. Councilmember Eddie Cook said other municipalities have staff dedicated to work with Council. Councilmember Brigette Peterson asked how does the Town know when it is at that level. Town Manager Patrick Banger said staff has worked to live within revenue the Town has. It is hard to get personnel added for Council review. The Town has not asked for more money from citizens. Staff will go back and think through a structure and see if that works. Vice Mayor Victor Petersen said Council expects staff to work hard and the Council should do the same. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she would like Parks and Recreation, Fire Department and Police Department events added to the Council calendar. Mayor Jenn Daniels said to include special events sponsored by the Town and not events just facilitated by the Town. ADJOURN Mayor Jenn Daniels thanked everyone who came. She always enjoys the information gathered at the retreat. Mayor Jenn Daniels adjourned the meeting at 4:06; p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Jenn Daniels, Mayor Lisa Maxwell, CMC, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the special meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 15th day of September, 2017. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________. ___________________________________ Lisa Maxwell, CMC, Town Clerk 16