Council Regular/Special Meeting

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING OF TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2023 AT 8:00 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. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1. 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. Town Manager Banger thanked Assistant to Town Manager Bay and Staff for the exercise from the previous day. He spoke about his group exercise and his appreciation for the experience, then stated he was grateful for the work John Volken Academy Ranch did in the community. He said there was great conversation on the Strong Economy and Prosperous Community pillars and he looked forward to discussing the Exceptionally Built Environment pillar. He said they would consolidate all input to get an understanding on focus areas for the organization and community. He added that there would be two presentations at the 1 end of the session, one on the possible Public Works Advisory Board and another on recommendations from the Subcommittee on Communications. Facilitator Casuga asked the Council and Staff to discuss the highlights and key takeaway from their discussion on Retreat Day One. Mayor Peterson shared that they saw a lot of consistency with the topics that were mentioned, including a focus on the Northwest Corridor topic; she said it was important for the Council to have an input and move the community forward as a whole. Chief People Officer Williams said there was great discussion among staff members and the Council and stated some takeaways were listening to the customer, noting the outreach efforts from Parks and Recreation, getting more feedback on how that could be done more, serving needs of all residents, staffing level concerns, and what must be done now versus planned for the future. Judge Cutchen said their group talked about trying to put themselves in the victim’s shoes and how they could help those facing tough choices, adding that if they were able to help even one person that would make a difference and they could move forward. Management Analyst Begay said her takeaways were themes of strong economy being around Northwest Corridor, observation of how the groups had similar thoughts and were big-picture thinkers. She spoke about decisions impacting the Town many generations from now and spoke of team members moving into neighboring towns because they could not afford to live in Gilbert. She asked who Gilbert was planning for and which population it was trying to serve; adding was it planning for grandchildren to stay in the town or for a different population coming in. Town Manager Banger shared seeing overlapping themes, including water resiliency. He said without water there was not much they could do. He discussed preserving revenue strings and new sources of revenue, effective communication between staff and Council, storytelling the great things being done in the community, policy between Council and staff, cyber security, and competitive salary. He said they were focused in the right areas and to make sure the community understood their priorities. Chief Duggan shared the theme was common ground and meaningful conversation for future ideas and asked about long-term funding and how to start the discussion. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer said there was encouraging commonalities and priorities, stating the key takeaway was awareness and intention about land use and making sure to maximize parcels in the Town and being proactive in investments. She spoke about quality infrastructure being the foundation, and the need for prioritization. She discussed there being more needs than dollars and the need for clarity from the Council on 2 expectations on service levels and funding. She emphasized the definition of prosperity, remaining a welcoming atmosphere, and keeping Gilbert’s values. Facilitator Casuga introduced the last pillar, Exceptional Built Environment for discussion. Members of the Council and Town Staff were divided in their respective groups for discussion. Exceptional Built Environment Discussion Points Question Number 1: To what extent are we achieving our goals to create an exceptional built environment? The combined responses from the groups included:  Long range infrastructure, planning ahead and preparing for replacement  Water resources, planning and outreach with citizens for changes that will occur  Outreach and feedback, planning better for future  Maintaining roads, bonds core of all we do  Engagement with citizens  Repair and replacement funds  Northwest Corridor  Water Treatment Plant, investments to benefit community for years to come  Park awards, Cactus Yards, quality and level of development  Feel of Gilbert, Homeowner’s Associations (HOA’s) and communities  Energy efficiency  Partnerships and relationships  Roads, pavement quality, consistency throughout Town  Proactive maintenance of infrastructure  Thinking about big picture overall traffic system, Ocotillo Road and bridge major projects forthcoming  Supporting emergency response and communication system  Strong relationships with utility providers and other agencies  Inventory of all assets and infrastructure  Robust design standards and guidelines for quality of construction, inspection and materials testing  Well planned park amenities  Regional partnerships  Thoughtful master planning  Robust maintenance programs  Trail crossing assessments Town Manager Banger spoke about master planning and maintenance for the community, adding there would be challenges and difficulty to solve problems if preventative steps were 3 not taken. He spoke about the importance to start saving and putting away money for future needs. Assistant Town Manager Prince added understanding the tradeoffs of how projects were done, level of staffing, and making sure the future vision was understood; she stated the value of how things were done was key and it was necessary to prepare for the future. Question Number 2: Where are our greatest opportunities to create an exceptional build environment? Question Number 3: What should be our most important priority to ensure an exceptional build environment? Question numbers two and three were discussed at the same time among the groups. The combined responses from the groups included:  Life cycle timing and traffic  Parks and Recreation buildout, Parks Master Plan and reimage Freestone Park  Fiber, increase technology for efficiency  Design standards to improve efficiency of processes  Energy efficiency, doing well in this area but also area of opportunity not utilizing some things like solar and adding electric vehicles to fleet  Funding plan for major investment  Continued landscape plan  Multi use path connections  Revenue funding diversification and prioritization  New development and maintenance  Enhance overall trail system for all ages and abilities  Reconstruct roadways  Invest in recycles and sustainability  Northwest Corridor  Streetscapes aesthetics and functions  Integrate education through Police Department for large population of children  Resources, staffing and funding  Public Works Advisory Board  Water diversification and sustainability, diversity portfolio and opportunities for water on Colorado River  Regional importance of Prop. 400E  Leverage regional partnerships  Transportation network, connectivity, circulation within Heritage District  Maintain infrastructure to avoid catastrophic failure  Risk management and sidewalk pavements  Understanding what utility partners need from us 4   Recycling and green waste  Communication, education and storytelling Assistant Town Manager Prince said as buildout continued, it was important to think about partners outside of the Town and work closely with them to ensure they had what was needed to support the community. Councilmember Koprowski said to take into consideration the consequences of electrification of vehicles and if they would be reliable for the Town’s needs; stating that she spoke with another community who purchased an electric street sweeper, that the charge lasted only four hours and could not be used effectively during a work shift. Town Manager Banger commented on the level of knowledge of the Executive Team on all areas of importance to the community stating many major topics were talked about in the discussions thus far. Question Number 4: What are the most important areas for Council to provide guidance and support to staff? Councilmember Koprowski said the Council needed to express priorities which would then dictate funding options, adding the Council needed to create a shared vision with Staff and continued support. She spoke about the Council relying on Staff to bring things forward for consideration and to discuss approach and operating levels. Councilmember Torgeson spoke of desired quality of life and outcomes, stating Staff should provide balanced options. He emphasized early engagement for community to be informed in advance. Councilmember Bongiovanni said not to have preconceived notions and to create a safe space for staff to pilot new ideas. Vice Mayor Tilque spoke of the importance of guidance and support on aging infrastructure and property maintenance, future stages of water shortage plan, existing funding sources, Prop. 400E and System Development Fees (SDF), and technology changes. Mayor Peterson spoke about prioritization and expectations of parks and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects. She discussed options for funding, SDF’s and why they would be going away, and emphasizing the importance for planning for the future. She spoke about expectations for buildout on interest areas, sustainability, energy, policy, and direction. She spoke of possible private partnerships opportunities as options to offer to the residents that would not have a cost to the Town, such as water parks. She spoke of the importance for the Council to continue being innovative and keep an open mind to taking risks. 5 There was discussion on perspectives and preconceived notions and the Councilmembers shared their thoughts. Some comments shared included gratitude for the Retreat and valuable discussions, as well as appreciation for Staff and their passion for their work. Some Councilmembers spoke about the amount of time it took to see changes take place and the overwhelming amount of information to learn. Town Manager Banger asked the Executive Team what they learned about new members of the Council and what resonated with them that they found valuable. Various members of Town staff echoed their appreciation for the insightful discussions and appreciation towards the Council. Chief People Officer Williams spoke of the enhanced level of trust between the Executive Team and shared level of responsibility. Chief Soelberg spoke of managing expectations and protocols related to chain of communications. Parks and Recreation Director Carmona spoke about the importance of learning communication preferences and best ways of bringing information to the Council. Assistant Town Manager Prince said the goals and shared vision for Gilbert were apparent. Intergovernmental Relations Director Bohr commented on the level of collaboration of the Executive Team and the Council. Assistant Town Manager Goodman spoke of the importance for opportunities to connect and responsibility of bringing forward options and recommendations for discussion. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer said she appreciated the meaningful conversations about keeping Gilbert a prosperous community. Chief Performance Officer McCarty gave kudos to the Executive Team, stating how much hard work was done for the City of the Future initiative and vision around the three pillars. Chief Duggan shared his optimism for the common ground and processes in place. Chief Technology Officer Poureetezadi shared his appreciation for the feedback on the importance of technology and cyber security. Development Services Director Mieras commented on the strong relationships, comfort, and trust in having conversations about priorities and expectations. Assistant to Town Manager Horta shared her appreciation for the conversations. Assistant to Town Manager Bay said the coordination between departments amazed her, adding everyone had an investment in keeping Gilbert special. Chief Digital Officer Berchman said they were fortunate to have great collaboration and communication. Judge Cutchen said he appreciated the relationship and common ground between staff and the Council and spoke of not overstepping the branches of government. Mayor Peterson expressed appreciation for Judge Cutchen. She also spoke about her perspectives as an Elected Official, political aspect of things, and serving the community at large. Facilitator Casuga asked the following additional questions for discussion. Additional Questions Discussion Points Question Number 1: What haven’t we asked that would be important to address to ensure Council goals and policy direction are clear? Question Number 2: Is there anything that didn’t fit into our focus area? 6 Councilmember Koprowski said she would like to get thoughts on sustainability and recycling. Facilitator Casuga said due to time limitations that topic would be put in a “parking lot” to have staff bring something to the Council at some point in time. Town Manager Banger said Councilmember Koprowski brought up an excellent point and it was one of the focus areas for the Public Works Advisory Board that would be presented later in the day. Vice Mayor Tilque asked what type of information was needed by the Council in order to make good and informed decisions. She said she preferred to know the funding information, background history, long term vision, how to communicate it with residents, and perhaps which pillar it applied to. Councilmember Koprowski said it would be helpful to have quick fact sheets on certain topics and a place to locate them. Town Manager Banger asked about understanding how to best partner with other entities and utilities and structuring formalized liaisons with those entities that had particular importance of prosperity to the community. Facilitator Casuga said outside entities usually looked to create better partnership with cities or towns, whether through liaisons serving on entities or non-profits; usually there was a guideline for board service and formalizing that gave both parties an opportunity to get the right fit. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer said a combination of formalized approach through Intergov and staff-to-staff on project level created strong relationships and that hybrid approach was working well. Intergovernmental Relations Director Bohr spoke of long-term collaborative plans and discussion to know what people were looking at in a larger scope. He said something to look at would be meetings with utilities and key staff serving in technical fields and the Council for discussions on high level future planning. Vice Mayor Tilque said current Council liaison appointments were informal and liaisons did not generally give a report out at Council meetings. She spoke about setting expectations for liaisons on the type of information needed to be shared. Mayor Peterson commented that as liaisons the Council could do a better job of reporting back. 7 Finalize Goals and direction on all three areas. Facilitator Casuga and Recorder Jackson provided a consolidated summary of the main topics, themes and priority areas discussed throughout the sessions during Retreat Day One and Retreat Day Two. Facilitator Casuga said some overarching themes were notion of continuing to do long-term planning, protection of current revenue streams and exploration of new revenue streams, understanding the difference between role of the Council during policy and operations, effective storytelling when interacting with each other and communications among the Council, staff, and community. Recorder Jackson provided the following recurring themes and top priorities from the discussions which included: Strong Economy Top Priorities  Northwest Corridor development and support  Support maintaining water and other infrastructure and broadband  Investments to attract business and tourism  Strategically targeting right development for the community  Creating and maintaining positive community culture  Focus on demographic changes, relatively young community ensure future vibrancy  Exploring how to bring people back to Gilbert after college  Diverse affordable housing  Welcoming people  Supporting consistent stable leadership,  Business and economic development  Showing teamwork and working together with Council and staff Prosperous Community Top Priorities  Want consistent high quality facility  Civic engagement, understanding the community we serve then best serve them  Effectively telling our story  Focusing on changing needs of our community which could include advocacy center and crime lab Exceptionally Built Environment Top Priorities  Long term funding  Revenue financing and diversification including shift to maintenance versus build out  Parks and recreation build out  Northwest Corridor  Collaboration and communication 8   Education and storytelling, building civic engagement greater need for collaboration within Town and community  Operational labor costs, upscaling current workforce  Skills maintaining versus building out  Water diversification, sustainability  Maintaining infrastructure to avoid catastrophic failure  Maintaining transportation network Overall Council Guidance to Staff combined from all three Pillars (Strong Economy, Prosperous Community, and Exceptionally Built Environment)  Provide clear and concise vision and policy detail operation  Understanding role of staff and Council approach or mindset  Ask the questions with pragmatic approach  Providing guidance support to staff  Creating safe space for staff to pilot ideas  Don’t expect everything to be a success  Not having preconceived notions  Being open to creative funding opportunities  Open mindedness to continued innovation  Risk and reward  Establish and communicate priorities, whenever possible doing it by consensus  Establishing good two-way communication with staff and Council  Staff should provide balanced options  Education on function consequences, lifetime cost and qualitative ROI  Establishing communication touchpoints on projects and policies, knowing what is off the table, to not waste time, long term planning  Storytelling with staff, how do we tell story of us  Asking questions to make educated decisions, taking time to ask questions of staff  Expectations level of services trade off  Establish communicate priorities  Importance of being unified  Communication to community  Coming together as a group, cohesive voice about decision made, shared vison and continued support  Early community engagement  Prioritizing goals, best way to accomplish them including approach and operating limits and funding  Water conservation  Redevelopment infill  Scope of the town goal  Property maintenance  Funding revenue, preserving revenue identify new revenue of funding 9   Private partnerships  Funding limits or restrictions  Park development  Crime lab  How to prioritize funding and timing for funding  Funding models preferred options  Policies, are there particular policies Council would like guidance to update best practices with Town code  Energy sufficiency  Policies for technology Town Manager Banger said within these focus areas Staff was studying the redevelopment of the Heritage District, Northwest Corridor, and reviewing property maintenance codes to bring forward to the Council. Councilmember Koprowski suggested to include detailed topics in the planning of the Northwest Corridor for development and housing types. Town Manager Banger said plans that were worked on for years would then be brought for a Study Session for final review and direction on the elements of the plan. Councilmember Torgeson said to clarify property maintenance and redevelopment, adding they were not the same thing and the maintenance tool was not part of it. Town Manager Banger said property maintenance and maintenance codes were not redevelopment, but were elements the Council talked about as a tool to maintain the property in the community. He added that property codes would be brought forward in a Study Session to clarify. Town Manager Banger said the advocacy center design was underway as they continued to listen to the Council feedback through the process in working with additional organizations that would potentially be a part of the facility, adding it would be brought forward to the Council. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer spoke of site visits and researching other facilities and incorporating that research in the report to the Council. Town Manager Banger said staff was looking for a long-term solution for a crime lab and would bring available options forward to the Council. He spoke about park development, stating park assets and programs were at capacity. He then discussed the need to take next steps to analyze time frame and funding opportunities. 10 Assistant Town Manager Prince said the current Parks Master Plan process was gathering data which would help inform those conversations on the communities needs and desires. Councilmember Bongiovanni spoke of the messaging when bringing forward an advocacy center and crime lab, stating Gilbert was the safest community. Town Manager Banger said storytelling was important in how to message these topics to the community, to take action, to find solutions, and to maintain Gilbert’s high quality of life and low crime. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer added the needs assessment and business plan for the crime lab were being finalized and would be brought to the Council in the near future. She spoke of the messaging and storytelling for the Public Safety Training Facility, stating the team was working with Digital Government for messaging that would resonate with the residents about the importance of investing in the future. Vice Mayor Tilque said to look at the long-term visuals when introducing new lines of service to the community and to help deliver trust that what was communicated would be done. Councilmember Anderson commented that he enjoyed walking around the library during the break and said he hoped the parks expansion would include education centers. Town Manager Banger asked if there was anything missed over the two days that anyone wanted to discuss. Mayor Peterson said there may be things that were a “no” and might not move forward, but she did not want to stifle the team from bringing things they felt were important to bring to the Council in order to have open minded discussions. Vice Mayor Tilque spoke in agreement and said in knowing what was off the table would give staff the opportunity to have discussion before doing full research on a topic that might not move forward, but it was important to have conversations. Councilmember Koprowski added there were many good ideas narrowed down to key priorities and said she would challenge the team to look at other small changes that could be implemented with low effort to enhance the Town. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer said as staff they had a responsibility to understand what was going to be needed in infrastructure, public safety, and expanding regional park. She said their job was to bring options to the Council to help them decide, adding not bringing forward those strategies would be a disservice. Assistant Town Manager Goodman gave an example of the conversations about Heritage District Parking, stating if they did not have those conversations, it would be a disservice to 11  the community. She said their job internally and externally was to have that dialogue and think about options. Town Manager Banger thanked everyone for the great discussion and feedback, stating their input deepened their relationship and he was grateful for their support. He said they all were serving in different roles and capacities but all on the same team and working towards best outcomes and interests of the community. 2. Discussion on a presentation and recommendations from the Council Communications Subcommittee. Town Manager Banger provided a brief history on the Subcommittee, stating it was created last fall by the Council with direction to explore opportunities to communicate more productively in the community. He provided an overview of the outreach efforts and recommendations based on the feedback. He stated the Subcommittee conducted digital outreach by an online survey and received 1,094 responses, of which 95% of respondents were Gilbert residents. He noted in- person forums which included three Town hall meetings and outreach with Gilbert Student Government Days. He said the recommendations from the Subcommittee were developed by analysis of the feedback from the digital survey and in-person outreach efforts of the Subcommittee. He discussed some focus areas which were Town Meetings: training and consistent format of how meetings were held and a clear understanding of attorney’s role, communications from citizens, rules and procedures, and streamlining calls and emails for Council agenda items; Items Requiring Public Notification: radius, timeframe, and access and format of notifications; Two-Way Communication: inventory of current practices and Town halls; and Telling Our Story: communications outside of social media and opt-in system for notifications. Assistant to Town Manager Bay shared the feedback received from the community outreach which included countering misinformation with facts, promoting communication and exchange of information, continuing to foster a “yes” culture, easily accessible communication and information, acknowledging when things did not go right, reporting out status of items, and conducting education campaigns prior to major enforcement or projects. She discussed the survey questions and said based on the feedback, some issues that mattered most were maintaining infrastructure and the feeling of safety. She said feedback from Student Government Day was maintaining safety as top priority and maintaining infrastructure as second priority. She said the youth were looking towards the future and how Gilbert could be their home. She further discussed the survey stating it also helped identify how Gilbert best connected with its residents, stating social media and e-newsletters were the most preferred communication methods for receiving Gilbert news. She spoke of other questions asked in the survey, stating 61% of respondents had never attended a Council meeting, 65% did not have a good understanding of the Council’s issues or how Town business was conducted, 85% voted in the 2022 election, and 52% of youth polled from Student Government Day did not see themselves living in Gilbert in ten years. She discussed the analysis of the outreach results and recommendation categories of 12 participation in public meetings, consistency of public meeting protocols, customizing communications with the public, CIP and Town Projects, and outward communications. She spoke of the anticipated outcomes, some of which were transparency, clarity, education, enhancing trust, and being heard. She discussed some items that had already been accomplished and in progress, such as revision to the Request to Speak Cards at Council meetings, development of a video recording for Council meetings protocol information, and posting decisions voted on by Council on the website. There was discussion on the recommendations for participating in public meetings, determining a protocol for a spokesperson to speak on behalf of a large group, and exploring a process to allow the public to ask questions during Study Sessions. Vice Mayor Tilque said a lot of feedback was gathered during the process, and the goal was to be proactive in how to address communication to allow citizens to feel heard and create an understanding for the Council and citizens. Councilmember Koprowski said this topic mainly surrounded communication from citizens and public hearing items and how to best provide guidance for large number of people speaking on the same topic. There was discussion about researching how other communities conducted public meetings. Mayor Peterson asked about comments from citizens for Consent, Administrative, and Policy items on the agenda. Assistant to Town Manager Bay said this topic could be discussed at a Study Session for consideration of options. Assistant to Town Manager Bay discussed public meeting consistency and protocols, stating some recommendations were to have a consistent agenda format for all public meetings, formalized ways to announce intent of yes or no vote on agenda items where confusion existed, and easy to locate and short turnaround posting of decisions. She stated that transparency and clarity were big outcome themes in the outreach. There was discussion on the posting of decisions, and Vice Mayor Tilque said the Clerk’s Office already had this information and it was not designed to create a new tool. Town Clerk Herrera said Action Sheets were used internally and could be posted for the public. Mayor Peterson asked if the Action Sheets included who voted and how. Town Clerk Herrera said that information could be replicated from the Minutes and added to the Action Sheets. Assistant to Town Manager Bay discussed customizing communications with the public, stating the Subcommittee saw a lot of opportunity to work together and provide information to residents in a more accessible manner and enhancing trust, transparency, clarity and two-way communication. She said the residents loved the e-newsletters but did not always know where to find information. She said some ideas were to streamline information, work with homeowners 13 associations (HOAs), create overlays in the “What’s Developing Near Me” on the Town website, text notifications were preferred but had cost implications on the Town and needed further exploration, and opt-in programs especially with neighbors app. Vice Mayor Tilque said all recommendations were exploration items based on key components heard from residents. She said residents and businesses wanted specific information and a way to customize information to get automatic updates. She said the categories for recommendations were developed directly from the feedback received, adding they did not have the resources in the two months to evaluate all the recommendations and brought it forward for exploration to see what costs there may be and if would make a difference. There was discussion on the recommendation to formalize a process to invite a Councilmember to attend neighborhood meetings scheduled by Town or developers. Councilmember Koprowski said an example was invitation from the Chamber of Commerce for ribbon cuttings. She said the Council may not always attend but would be notified and it would allow the Council the opportunity to disseminate information, adding it would be more for awareness versus attending the meetings. Development Services Director Mieras said Staff attended and informed the Council of upcoming community meetings and were working with Information Technology (IT) on the “What’s Developing Near Me” page. Mayor Peterson said Planning Staff did a good job of knowing what information needed to be brought to the Council’s attention. There was discussion on the pre-application process, and Mayor Peterson said the goal of the pre-application meetings was to connect residents with developers and go through the public process. She said she would like to have the option to search by cross streets or addresses on the “What’s Developing Near Me” page on the website. Assistant to Town Manager Bay discussed the recommendations for CIP and Town projects and communication with stakeholders and the community, stating this category was created because of responses received from the freeform question on the survey and feedback received from the Town Hall meetings. Public Works Director Marlow stated the CIP Communication Specialist position was approved and posted for recruitment and would help with this category. Assistant to Town Manager Bay discussed the recommendations for Outward Communications stating continuing to enhance Town website, conducting quarterly Town Halls with the Town Manager, use of Quick Response (QR) Codes and shortened Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), expanding General Plan webpage to include information about zoning changes, and hosting Development Services clients to review timeline and process. Town Manager Banger said QR codes were used for outreach efforts and sidewalk graphics, and they were looking to expand opportunities for use of QR Codes. Mayor Peterson said the website was difficult to navigate and needed enhancement, adding she liked the idea to utilize QR Codes and shortened URLs, and said she believed there would be low attendance for quarterly Town Halls. 14 There was discussion on the zoning process and tracking the number of requested and approved zoning changes. There was also discussion on the challenges of counting and tracking applications that did not move forward or were withdrawn. Assistant to Town Manager Bay thanked everyone for their input and said some recommendations needed more involvement from stakeholders and would come back for more discussion. 3. Presentation and discussion of a proposed Public Works Advisory Board. Public Works Director Marlow discussed the proposed Public Works Advisory Board and highlighted the leadership staff of the department and key divisions and many lines of service. She discussed the requirements of all Town boards per Town Code, then noted the goal was to help avoid poor planning. Assistant to Town Manager Horta noted the following proposed purpose of the board: “The Public Works Advisory Board would be a 9-member body to consider and address the services offered by the public works department and the infrastructure that support these services. With a commitment to delivering projects and programs that enhance quality of life, economic growth, public health and the environment, the board will review and make recommendations to the Town Council regarding the strategy, approach and fund planning of initiatives and large-scale infrastructure projects across all divisions of the public works department for the current and future needs of Gilbert.” She then summarized the proposed mission, members’ duties, and ideal candidate characteristics. Public Works Director Marlow stated the three proposed pillars would be Services, Infrastructure, and Sustainability. Lastly, she reviewed the proposed timeline with recruitment to begin in June or July 2023 and implementation to begin in October 2023. Vice Mayor Tilque asked if getting feedback from residents would fall under the role of the Public Works Advisory board. Public Works Director Marlow said the Board would not be getting feedback from residents, adding the goal of the Board would be to vet out difficult projects before they got to the Council and provide additional perspective when making recommendations to the Council for their best interest. She said she did not see the Board being granular to seeing every single Capital Project before it got to the Council, adding high profile scale projects and policies that governed engineering standards would go through the Board first. Councilmember Anderson spoke about projects in Planning Commission and Redevelopment Commission, asking if this would be an extra level for review but add more time for the applicant and asked if the applicant would need to wait for this Board. Public Works Director Marlow discussed overlap that could happen with other projects and that joint meetings could be incorporated into that review where appropriate. 15 Town Manager Banger said the Board would be for Town projects and not public projects. Mayor Peterson asked how the Board was going to help in the long run, adding she did not want to add another Board if it was not going to be beneficial to the Town. She spoke about Planning Commission and gave an example of the Ocotillo Road Project, noting the opportunity for residents to engage and comments included in the recommendation to the Council. She asked how the Board would help in the long run versus, what the Town was doing now. Town Manager Banger said the Board would need to further define what the criteria was for projects that did not have service impacts on residents’ individual property or were significant enough, and to give opportunity to ask questions and provide answers. He said when the project got to the Council it would be vetted thoroughly with professionals in that industry. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer said a number of infrastructure needs were brought to the community and citizen feedback and engagement were important, adding the Board would help vet those ideas and help prioritize what programs the community might like to see in addition to what the Town was currently offering. She spoke about understanding the complexity of major projects and the need for rate increases to support infrastructure, adding they would be ambassadors for those projects. Councilmember Bongiovanni said getting citizen input made them more transparent. Vice Mayor Tilque spoke about bridging the gap and getting citizens involved in giving feedback in the community, adding if a project was not affecting their neighborhood they were not interested. Councilmember Koprowski said the intent would be to incorporate a component for the public to engage and a place for two-way communication, adding it provided an extra step for the community to understand what the Town was working on and have an early knowledge. Mayor Peterson said she wanted to know the expectations and clarify what projects the Board would be working on, how they would be handling projects, and how they would be getting there every step of the way before putting it out to the public. Councilmember Torgeson said it was clear the Board would only be working on Public Works projects. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer said the Board was intended for Public Works community and public infrastructure projects, not for private sector. Public Works Director Marlow said she did not anticipate every project going through the Board before going to the Council. Chief Soelberg asked if any Police Department projects would go to this Board. 16 Public Works Director Marlow said only Public Works lines of service infrastructure projects. Mayor Peterson asked if it would include public input. Public Works Director Marlow said it would be a public meeting and the public could attend and provide feedback. Councilmember Buchli asked how much weight was going to be given on the reports regarding what the Board recommended and who made that decision. Town Manager Banger said the Board would not generate projects, adding they would only review and get input from residents and make recommendations to the Council. He said the feedback given from Staff would be as any other body adding, the final decision would be made by the Council. Assistant Town Manager Rhineheimer added the Board would be purely advisory, stating it may not always be in full alignment on issues but would make recommendations and the Council would have full determination. Councilmember Bongiovanni asked what the best and worst outcome from this Board would be. Public Works Director Marlow said it supported innovation and great decisions that reflected what the community wanted and needed, and it also provided the Council confidence and support. She said worst case would be that they did not find any value in it. Councilmember Koprowski said Public Works members could bring best practices and provide recommendations for the Council to provide new policy, project assessment, and different changes in processes. Councilmember Bongiovanni spoke about not being afraid to fail and said tweaks could be made as they go. Councilmember Anderson asked if other organizations needed to be informed of this Board. Public Works Director Marlow said since the projects were Public Works-initiated, it would not impact HOAs, adding they would be working with engineers and would clearly identify the Board. The Council showed support to move forward with the Public Works Advisory Board. Town Manager Banger made closing remarks and thanked the team for the work they did in preparation for and during the Retreat. He stated there had been great dialogue and input from everyone, adding there would be follow-up on the items discussed. 17 ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 5:17 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 23rd day of May, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk 18