Council Regular/Special Meeting

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING OF TUESDAY DECEMBER 13, 2022 AT 6:00 PM, GILBERT PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING FACILITY, ATLAS AUDITORIUM 6860 S. POWER ROAD, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Aimee Yentes, Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Yung Koprowski, Scott September, and Kathy Tilque COUNCIL ABSENT: Councilmember Laurin Hendrix STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Patrick Banger, Town Attorney Chris Payne, Deputy Clerk Judy Martinez, and Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera (attended virtually), Economic Development Director Dan Henderson, and Economic Development Project Manager Michael Martella AGENDA ITEM CALL TO ORDER Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Deputy Clerk Martinez called roll and declared a quorum present. PRESENTATIONS; PROCLAMATIONS 1. RECOGNITION - Recognition of Aimee Yentes for her service as Vice Mayor for the Town of Gilbert. 1  Mayor Peterson recognized Aimee Yentes for her service as Vice Mayor for the Town of Gilbert. Vice Mayor Yentes was presented with a pen as a gift. 2. COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION - consider adoption of a Resolution of Appreciation for Councilmember Aimee Yentes. Mayor Peterson thanked Vice Mayor Yentes and read a Resolution of Appreciation, then presented Vice Mayor Yentes with a monogrammed journal as a gift and a certificate. Vice Mayor Yentes thanked her family and spoke of the changes in her life since becoming a Councilmember. She said it was an honor and privilege to serve the community as she strived to uphold the public trust and be a good financial steward of taxpayer money. A MOTION was made by Councilmember September, seconded by Councilmember Anderson, to approve Item 2. Motion carried 5-0-1, with Vice Mayor Yentes abstaining. Resolution No. 4339 was adopted. 3. COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION - consider adoption of a Resolution of Appreciation for Councilmember Scott September. Mayor Peterson thanked Councilmember September and read a Resolution of Appreciation, then presented him with a monogrammed journal as a gift and a certificate. Councilmember September stated it had been a humbling honor to serve the Town and work with such great people. He spoke highly of Gilbert staff, then thanked Town Manager Banger for bringing a culture that promoted high quality service and striving to “do more with less”. He spoke of his family support in allowing him to serve and thanked his wife. A MOTION was made by Councilmember Anderson, seconded by Councilmember Tilque, to approve Item 3. Motion carried 5-0-1, with Councilmember September abstaining. Resolution No. 4340 was adopted. 4. COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION - consider adoption of a Resolution of Appreciation for Councilmember Laurin Hendrix. 2 As the Interim Mayor when Councilmember Hendrix took office, Councilmember Anderson told stories about working with Hendrix and thanked him for his service. Mayor Peterson read a Resolution of Appreciation in honor of Councilmember Hendrix who was absent for the meeting. A MOTION was made by Vice Mayor Yentes, seconded by Councilmember Anderson, to approve Item 4. Motion carried 6-0. Resolution No. 4341 was adopted. 5. PROCLAMATION - Proclamation declaring the month of January 2023 as Anti-Human Trafficking Month. Mayor Peterson asked Councilmember September to assist her with the proclamation. Councilmember September invited different pastors from the community to accept the proclamation, along with City of Chandler Councilmember Mark Stewart. Mayor Peterson read a proclamation declaring the month of January 2023 as Anti-Human Trafficking Month and encouraged the community to take a stand and say, “not in our city!” Councilmember September discussed the problem and said it was happening in Gilbert too, also noting the increase of human trafficking around events like the upcoming Super Bowl in Arizona. He asked people to go to www.notourcity.org and pledge to take a stand. Councilmember September presented the proclamation to Pastor Mike Gowans of Bethel Church, then stated Gilbert was the first jurisdiction in Arizona to adopt that proclamation, but said other cities would also be signing as a valley-event. Pastor Gowans spoke of the importance of the issue. 6. PRESENTATION -Presentation on Gilbert Parks and Recreation achieving the status of Certified Autism Center. Mayor Peterson invited members of the Parks and Recreation Department to come down, then read a statement regarding the Department’s endeavors to complete the steps needed to achieve Certified Autism Center status. She discussed the different accommodations 3 including training, education, and modifications made to five sites that would have sensory guides available at the parks. She congratulated the Department on achieving this status. The following staff members introduced themselves: Facilities Manager Milan Perisic, Parks Manager Kylie Sorensen, Recreation Manager Lane Gram, Business Manager Rocky Brown, Public Safety Training Facility Manager Rene’ Carlin, Assistant Facilities Manager Amy Nugent, and Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona. 7. PRESENTATION - Presentation on the findings of the Gilbert National Business Survey 2022. Economic Development Director Henderson discussed the overview that would be provided with the National Business Survey. He said it would give staff business feedback, as well as allow them to understand the perspectives of the business community. He introduced Economic Development Project Manager Martella. Henderson said the survey participants tended to be business managers and owners with a long history in Gilbert, that they valued Gilbert as a place to live and do business, and that most felt very positive about the business climate in the Town. Economic Development Project Manager Martella introduced the presentation and said the results could be utilized to help show the businesses that they were valued members of the community, that Gilbert cared about their thoughts, and that the Town was committed to making data-driven decisions. He said the data would be used for strategic planning, resource allocation, and for providing the best customer service. He said thinking long term, the Town also conducted the National Citizens Survey as well, which could be possibly be replicated for benchmarking purposes and for monitoring progress. Jade Arocha from Polco-National Research Center provided the results in detail, stating it was the inaugural survey of its kind for Gilbert. She said the role of business surveys in local governess was to monitor trends in business owners’ opinions; measure government performance; inform budget, land use, and strategic planning decisions; and to benchmark service ratings. She discussed the six core indicators of: community amenities, business climate, employment opportunities and workforce support, workforce readiness, business 4 growth, and governance. She summarized the methodology, including a mailing to 4,000 randomly-selected businesses in Gilbert with a response rate of 8%, which she said was typical in business surveys. She discussed comparisons to National benchmarks. She said Key Finding No. 1 was that Gilbert business owners valued Gilbert and felt positive about the business climate, then said that 9 in 10 gave excellent or good ratings to the overall quality of life in Gilbert. She said Key Finding No. 2 was that participants applauded Gilbert as a place to work, then noted there were improvement opportunities for workforce training. She said areas of focus were access to trade schools and the affordability of education and training opportunities to build work skills. She said Key Finding No. 3 was that Gilbert businesses tended to be pleased with local government performance and Town service delivery. She discussed additional special topics including COVID-19 effects and recovery. She recapped the conclusions which were the key findings, then discussed the data platform. Economic Development Director Henderson discussed the value of the data and said the Gilbert community was very pleased with the Council and the work of Town staff. He said there was always opportunity for improvement, adding they would work with the stakeholders to turn the improvement points into strengths. Mayor Peterson thanked those involved with the survey and presentation. ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned meeting at 6:41 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Mayor Judy Martinez, Deputy Town Clerk 5 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 13th day of December, 2022. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2022. ___________________________________ Judy Martinez, Deputy Town Clerk 6