Council Regular/Special Meeting

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING OF MONDAY, MAY 22, 2023 AT 10:30 AM, SOUTHEAST REGIONAL LIBRARY, 775 N. GREENFIELD RD, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Kathy Tilque, Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Chuck Bongiovanni, Bobbi Buchli, Yung Koprowski, and Jim Torgeson COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Patrick Banger, Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Town Attorney Christopher Payne, Assistant Town Manager Mary Goodman, Assistant Town Manager Dawn Prince, Assistant Town Manager Leah Rhineheimer, Assistant to the Town Manager Allyna Bay, Assistant to the Town Manager Jennika Horta, Management Analyst Kiersten Begay, Chief Technology Officer Sasan Poureetezadi, Public Works Director Jessica Marlow, Fire Chief Rob Duggan, Development Services Director Kyle Mieras, Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona, Chief Digital Officer Dana Berchman, Presiding Judge David Cutchen, Chief People Office Nathan Williams, Intergovernmental Relations Director Rob Bohr, Police Chief Michael Soelberg, Economic Development Director Dan Henderson, Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost and Chief Performance Officer Nikki McCarty. AGENDA ITEM CALL TO ORDER Town Clerk Herrera verified that a quorum was present. 1 Mayor Peterson welcomed and thanked everyone for joining the Strategic Retreat, adding it was important for everyone to get together on the same page. She expressed appreciation for Evelyn Casuga and the team from Arizona Town Hall for facilitating the Retreat. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1. Discussion and Presentation of timely issues across the organization. Town Manager Banger stated a combined Strategic Retreat had not been done in quite some time, noting there were normally two retreats in the Spring and Fall with focus areas, project overviews, and timely issues with important direction given by the Council. He discussed the importance of retreats as opportunities to ask a lot of questions and provide direction to staff; he then noted how many things took years from the initial conversations, to coming to the Council for a vote, then through implementation. He highlighted the City of the Future initiative and continuing those efforts into the future, adding that if we did not act with more forethought or intention today, we would be setting up new leaders with difficult decision to make later. He said the participants would divide into breakout groups to discuss the three strategic areas of Strong Economy, Prosperous Community, and Exceptionally Built Environment, adding that after the breakout sessions, all participants would come together for a short presentation and discussion among the entire body. He said at the end of Day Two, the entire group would again come together to have deeper conversations and hopefully provide guidance for staff. Town Manager Banger introduced Lead Facilitator Evelyn Casuga, Lead Recorder Tara Jackson, and Senior Project Manager Ashton Johnson of Arizona Town Hall and thanked them for their participation. It was noted that the Executive Team participated in a half- day retreat and identified major areas of need or focus and priorities for discussion with the breakout groups. It was also noted that the end of the Retreat would include two presentations, one on a potential Public Works Advisory Board and another to get recommendations for the Council Communications Subcommittee. 2 Assistant to the Town Manager Bay discussed the protocol for the Retreat and said it should be device-free to allow full participation and focus. She explained that the name tags all had different colored stickers which would correspond with sheets for breakout groups. She noted the food and break schedule as well. Town Manager Banger noted that almost everyone on the Team was familiar with issues on the sheets and encouraged the Executive Team to provide additional details that may be helpful for the Council to know. He briefly addressed focus areas of each pillar which included the following: Strong Economy Diversified Economy and Gilbert Based Businesses Prosperous Community Police, Fire, Parks and Recreation, Other Government Services, K-12 and Higher Education, Neighborhoods, Healthcare, and Non-profits Exceptional Built Environment Clean Air, Land, and Water, Infrastructure, and Utilities Tara Jackson of Arizona Town Hall led a quick exercise, stating she often did this exercise with leadership groups. For the exercise, she had placed various objects on the table and asked, “what is it you’re looking at?” She said there were no rules, and they were allowed to come up and take a closer look, and ask questions. Various staff and members of the Council went up to take a closer look and shared what they observed. Tara Jackson remarked that some people created a story of what they observed, and some shared a detailed list. She also shared how other different groups had responded to this exercise stating children and younger youth groups had approached the exercise with a creative investigative thought process and often leaders observed more quietly, adding that there were no right or wrong answers. She expressed value in having diverse perspectives and importance of bringing them together collectively to move the community forward. 3 2. Discussion through Strategic Planning Sessions with organization-wide leadership focused on the future needs of Gilbert surrounding the Town pillars of Prosperous Community, Strong Economy, and Exceptionally Built Environment. Evelyn Casuga, provided a brief background on the Arizona Town Hall stating it had been around for 60 years as a non-profit organization that tackled important issues to Arizona. She said the issues of importance included vulnerable populations, education, creating vibrant communities, and working with communities, non-profits, and chambers of Commerce to address issues. She discussed working with Executive Team to design questions in small groups. She said there were four stations that each staff member and member of the Council would go to, determined by the color of the sticker on their nameplates, adding they would need to designate one person as the scriber and one to report out their discussion as a whole. Members of the Council and Town staff were divided in their respective groups for discussion. Strong Economy Discussion Points Question Number 1: To what extent are we achieving our goals to create a strong economy? The combined responses from the groups included:  Strong revenues, growing and predictable  Growing but nascent tourism  Diversified portfolio and industries  Heritage District/SanTan/Rivulon  High income and low poverty  Pro-business environment and strong employment corridor  AAA rating  Higher education and good schools 4  Connectivity and infrastructure  Retaining daytime population  Mixed/diversified land use  Low taxes  Job opportunities  Strong sales tax  Strong brand and community identity  Good private partnerships  Strong Parks and Recreation services  STEM-related operations and pathway for students  Low crime and high safety  Long-term transportation planning in place  Processes in place for small businesses  Being proactive and fiscally responsible Question Number 2: Where are our greatest opportunities to create a strong economy? Question Number 3: What should be our most important priority to ensure a strong economy? Question numbers two and three were discussed at the same time among the groups. The combined responses from the groups included:  Water resources, favorable conditions, maintaining strong water portfolio  Vacant land availability for repurpose  Redevelopment of Northwest Corridor  Limited land left for preserving  Higher education  Leveraging community and quality of life  Resiliency for recession from short, mid, and long term perspective  Diverse business portfolio and revenues  Infrastructure and technology 5  Maximize efforts in Parks and Recreation, sports, and driving tourism opportunities  Business retention and incentive opportunities, improved marketing  Supporting entrepreneurism and small businesses  Workforce development  Focus on community buildout  Understanding role of multi-use zoning  Building neighborhood amenities and arts and culture  SanTan Mall and reinvest in additional areas  Code compliance and enforcement with aging neighborhoods and properties  Changing/aging of demographics  Amenities for the young and students, STEM education  Attracting families and new businesses  Affordable housing  Conference Center with hotel or high-end hotel  Increased amount of desired office space for new businesses  Strong water portfolio  Development/revitalization of Northwest Corridor Facilitator Casuga led a discussion of the identified priorities and the redevelopment of Northwest Corridor. Public Works Director Marlow noted that without underlying infrastructure, redevelopment could not happen. There was discussion on bringing in new income, which was a common theme among groups, then about losing the younger population and feeling those effects. Councilmember Koprowski discussed supporting jobs and bringing professionals to Gilbert. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer discussed infrastructure, demographics, and water supply, stating you must be very strategic about how you target development with guidance and leadership. 6 Town Manager Banger stated it was an area of focus for Gilbert, then discussed the broadband age of technology which had grown exponentially. He discussed setting goals through this exercise strategically and with measures. Mayor Peterson stated Gilbert had been known for consistency among Council working as a team. She spoke in support of expressing any turmoil or indecision during the Retreat, that it was an opportunity to express concerns. Facilitator Casuga encouraged everyone to find their voices and speak their thoughts on priorities. Assistant to the Town Manager Bay said one of the things that Gilbert had was an identity of a big city with a small-town feel and that embraced culture and could create even more welcoming spaces for people to be part of our community. Question Number 4: What are the most important areas for Council to provide guidance and support to staff? Councilmember Koprowski discussed the Northwest Corridor where the Council could provide guidance, then apply it to other areas where the Council would have impact on zoning, funding, direction on timing, and be involved in process and planning. She said the Council would provide land use acquisition; she gave an example if private partners were not providing product and the Town would want to buy land and redevelop, they could provide vision and help for setting and standards for Gilbert’s quality. She discussed the need to understand that the Council would give direction but staff execute the long term plan, that the Council provided direction but did not hold back or constrain staff. Councilmember Bongiovanni said it was important to have two-way communication, for the Council to provide guidance but could not do anything without information from staff. He discussed how the Council guided policy but there needed to be resources and a full understanding of projects. He discussed the need to take ownership of any direction 7 given, making sure to give same message to community with decisions made, and to make sure the community understood the Council was the one to give direction to staff. Vice Mayor Tilque shared she had a lot of the same thoughts, that one of the key components was for the Council to give clear and concise policy and direction to allow staff to move forward. She discussed the importance of staff understanding what the priorities were, what were the touchpoints, scope of work, and what would be accepted and not accepted as tools moving forward. She discussed phasing of projects and looking into the future, asking how do we come together with that long term vision and how does the Council move that forward in a positive manner together and not splintered. She asked what that communication plan should look like, starting with the Council to staff and then into neighborhoods and businesses. Mayor Peterson discussed the Northwest Corridor asking how to best handle that. She said the Council needed a briefing or update to make decisions on the redevelopment boundary areas, adding they did not know if it involved a new designation status. She said she would like to set a timeline and to see the overlay land use regulations and to set an expectation of how to handle and learn from it. She discussed knowing the Council’s priorities and how to invest and if the Council interested in purchasing more land. She discussed tourism and its importance to the future of community, adding the Town of Gilbert did not have a niche and asking what was the niche for Gilbert going into the future. She said the Parks and Recreation Department had a big hand in that, then asked if they should focus on sports, entertainment, or a little bit of everything. Mayor Peterson said she hoped the Council would discuss their priorities, stating it would make it easier to discuss all of the other options. Vice Mayor Tilque said what we might be missing was “the how”, stating they talked about what was needed but had not talked about how they were going to package that so that they had the information when needed. She said she was a process person, and to her, the major issue was to outline what that looked like and the format to have those discussions. 8 Councilmember Koprowski said she thought it was a good experience building consensus on themes and to also recognize they had way more priorities than resources. She said it came down to how to prioritize and to move forward to understanding timing. Facilitator Casuga said the Executive Team was aware of that part of it and they were not going to make a decision in those two days, but it was an opportunity to share with one another. Prosperous Community Discussion Points Question Number 1: To what extent are we achieving our goals to create a prosperous community? The combined responses from the groups included:  Not limiting to a number scale, but acknowledging what Gilbert was doing well and that it could always do better  Being the right kind of prosperous, achieving and maintaining that definition  Maintaining a warm, welcoming feeling and being inclusive  Highest median family income  Leveraging technology and innovation  Safest city  Lowest unemployment rate  Highest education, great schools, three A-rated public schools districts  Supporting schools with their needs  High quality of life  Lowest cost of services  Outstanding and well-maintained parks, amenities, and infrastructure  Abundance of local amenities  Good response times with public safety  High-quality health care options 9  Great relationships with faith community and non-profits  Highly-educated and skilled workforce  Visionary mindset and looking toward future  Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Autism for community inclusion  Positive look and feel of community, unique neighborhoods  Strong zoning character and beauty  Willingness to invest and have longevity  Adaptability to best meet needs going forward  Community pride and engaged community Question Number 2: Where are our greatest opportunities to create a more prosperous community? The combined responses from the groups included:  Sustainability  Recycling  Higher education  Green infrastructure  Human services and partnerships with hospitals, non-profits, the airport, and the Chamber  Serving vulnerable populations  Advocacy Center  Adapting programming with autism  Maintaining investment  Further development of parks system, maintenance  Expand arts and culture, parks programs and development  Focus on buildout  Advocacy center and crime lab  Keeping high quality community and sustainability of services  Continue to understand community and tailor services  Understand needs of senior population and other community accommodations and inclusivity 10  Partnerships for advancement in technology, staying ahead of technology  Civic engagement through storytelling, transparent and clear to residents  Focus on employee retention and recruitment  Acknowledging “Hidden Gilbert” and true needs of community  Picking the right projects and amenities  Increase number of significant events Question Number 3: What should be our most important priority to ensure a more prosperous community? The combined responses from the groups included:  Understanding community and its needs  Effectively telling Gilbert’s story, community understands what Town is doing  Advocacy Center which demonstrates commitment and care for citizens  Redevelopment/development being strategic  One statement that shows the overall want for the future of Gilbert including why someone would choose Gilbert, consistent high quality of services, sustainability of services, facilities, and amenities Question Number 4: What are the most important areas for Council to provide guidance and support to staff? The combined responses included: Councilmember Anderson said he had a hard time coming up with thoughts on this one, noting the Council relied on input and also direction. He discussed preserving revenue streams and identifying new areas of funding. He discussed that effective feedback to staff was very important when presented with different initiatives and project, then with prioritizing and identifying funding. Councilmember Koprowski discussed differences with money coming from bonds, sales tax, Federal regional, and other means. She spoke of prioritizing with examples of using 11 sales tax money funding, adding that some projects might have a less urgent level of evolution of innovation to move forward. She spoke of providing expectations of level of services and in-house services versus partnership, she discussed taking that under Gilbert’s own umbrella or finding partners to take on a project, making trade-off decisions, maintaining existing services, deciding what new services should be adding, and understanding consequences and timelines of projects. Vice Mayor Tilque and Councilmember Buchli discussed having consensus on priorities and interests, meaning it was important for Town staff to understand what the Council’s priorities and interests were. They discussed being clear on direction to staff about items that were off the table so time would not be spent researching things that would not move forward. They spoke about understanding the scope of the projects and what were the spending resources available as the Town got closer to buildout. They talked about public safety infrastructure with scope and funding, as well as the advocacy center with wrap-around services. They noted the importance of regional partnerships and building relationships as new Councilmembers came in. They spoke about consistent development decisions, and the importance for staff to understand Council’s priorities and being clear about expectations. There was discussion on having good communications with the staff the importance of storytelling priorities so more people would want to invest in our community and live here. It was noted the Council was very open to ideas coming from the staff and willing to take risks and explore those ideas to see what was best for the community. The importance of the Councilmembers taking the time to ask questions when they did not understand something was also stated, in addition to gaining that understanding before responding to citizens or voting on an item. Mayor Peterson went back to the priority from the previous question which was funding for non-profits and our changing community. She said from the Council’s perspective they had looked at non-profits since 2015 and were on a slope to get rid of funding for non-profits but had not looked at the changing needs. She asked was the amount in the budget still enough moving this community into the future with all the changes seen, 12 speaking in support of a briefing or update for the Council. There was discussion on the changing needs within community parks and more infrastructure, as well as projects like Gilbert Regional, the advocacy center, and the possible crime lab. It was noted to update the Council on what that would entail, including facility needs, potential funding models for all needs, and policies on technology. Facilitator Casuga asked if there were any other thoughts; there were none. Town Manager Banger said a lot of what was noted from the exercises fell into the Council policy level. He spoke of identifying revenue streams and dividing them into a lot of projects. He discussed not losing sight of schools, utility providers, and non-profits and to think through what they could do to support those entities for the valuable work they provided in the community. Assistant to the Town Manager Bay provided information on the evening activities. ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 4:17 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Mayor Chaveli Herrera, 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 22nd day of May, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. 13 Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk 14