Council Regular/Special Meeting

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL IN REGULAR MEETING OF FRIDAY JANUARY 11, 2019 AT 8:30 AM, UNIVERSITY BUILDING, ASSEMBLY HALL, 92 WEST VAUGHN AVENUE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Jenn Daniels, Vice Mayor Eddie Cook, Councilmembers Brigette Peterson and Jordan Ray COUNCIL ABSENT: Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Jared Taylor and Aimee Yentes LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION: President Pro Tempore-Elect Farnsworth, Majority Leader Elect Petersen, Representative Grantham, Representative Pawlik and Representative Weninger STAFF PRESENT: Manager Patrick Banger, Town Attorney Christopher Payne, Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona, Water Resources Manager Eric Braun, Intergovernmental Relations Director Rene Guillen, Development Services Director Kyle Mieras and Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost AGENDA ITEM CALL TO ORDER Mayor Daniels called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1. Presentation and overview, including but not limited to the Town of Gilbert demographics, economic development achievements, legislative issues, and future plans. Town Manager Banger reviewed Gilbert statistics including economy and population, community highlights and residential and commercial permitting statistics. He gave an overview of major trends and item of interest including Smart cities, Data analytics, Micro-mobility, Open data portal and Cybersecurity. Town Manager Banger concluded with a discussion of the Town’s long-term sustainability goal. Parks and Recreation Director Carmona gave a presentation summarizing Gilbert Regional Park amenities and Desert Sky amenities. He stated System Development Fees are providing funding for part of Phase I and land sales for Phase 2. Mayor Daniels noted in each of the five park phases the Town will reevaluate their needs. 1 Water Manager Braun gave a presentation on the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. He gave an overview of the history of Colorado River uses and Lake Mead and a summary of Arizona’s Implementation Plan. Water Manager Braun stated Gilbert’s reasons for supporting the Drought Contingency Plan and Arizona Implementation Plan. Mayor Daniels said Water Manager Braun and Town staff are available to answer questions. Gilbert is still growing and ordinance changes requiring companies to bring their own water are being considered. Representative Weninger asked about reclaimed water usage. Water Resources Manager Braun stated reclaimed water usage within the Town. Gilbert is a 100% recharge community and it is one of the reasons behind the San Carlos Apache Tribe water lease. Vice Mayor Cook issued an invitation to the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) legislative breakfast in late January. Intergovernmental Relations Director Guillen said Gilbert benefits from water in the Non-Indian Agriculture (NIA) pool, unlike some other cities in Arizona. Development Services Director Mieras gave a summary of Town efforts to reduce regulations including combining the Planning Commission and Design Review Board, creation of a Land Development Code subcommittee, stacking permits, administrative approval for expansion of businesses, programs designed to attract businesses such as Self-certification and annual facilities permit, Building Code subcommittee, changes to Special Event permits and a streamlined process to approve Small Cell. 2. Discussion with State Legislative Delegation that may include but is not limited to questions and answers related to the budget and priorities for the upcoming legislative session, opportunities for legislative support and partnership, and potential proposals relating to legislation. Representative Peterson reviewed the Arizona House Republicans 2019 Majority Plan. Highlights include Conform and reform, Pay off debt, Drought Contingency Plan, Corrections Pay Raises, Increase the Rainy Day Fund and K-12 Education. Representative Grantham said he plans to introduce a few bills. He is looking regulations for car renting industry, for example Turo. Representative Pawlik said the Minority plan will be released soon. She provided a brief background and shared her committee assignments which are Education and Judiciary committees. Representative Weninger intends to introduce bills on the rainy day fund, Yuma rockets and a block chain training program through community colleges. Senator Farnsworth said the Senate priorities include Education, Drought contingency plan, Rainy day fund which needs to be used correctly and Corrections pay. Senate goals are in line with the House plan. With his leadership responsibilities he does not intend to 2 introduce a lot of bills this year. Mayor Daniels spoke on the Town’s creation of responsible fiscal responsibilities. There was discussion on sound financial policies. Representative Weninger said corrections officers deserve a raise. Senator Farnsworth said he believes there is a need to use the surplus responsibility to pay off debt. He believes the economy is nearing a down-turn. Office of Management and Budget Director Pfost provided a brief analysis on how the Town looks at forecasting revenue. Town Manager Banger discussed the Town’s efforts to pay off debt and add to the reserve fund. Office of Management and Budget Director Pfost explained Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) pay-off efforts by the Town as part of the annual budget. There was discussion about how other cities are handling PSPRS liabilities. ADJOURN Mayor Daniels adjourned the meeting at 10:00 a.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 11th day of January 2019. 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 3