Council Study Session

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING FOR A STUDY SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2022, AT 5:15 P.M., GILBERT PUBLIC SAFETY TRAINING FACILITY, ATLAS AUDITORIUM, 6860 SOUTH 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: Laurin Hendrix STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Patrick Banger, Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Town Attorney Chris Payne, Project Supervisor Ryan Blair, Water Resources Manager Lauren Hixson, CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:21 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 1. Discussion on Ocotillo Road Bridge Project. Project Supervisor Blair introduced the Ocotillo Road Improvements Greenfield to Higley - Bridge Aesthetics presentation and outlined the content as the project’s past, present, and future. He summarized the presentation objectives as sharing the current outreach results, review of the top two aesthetic concepts, and presentation of the gathered input. He provided a visual project overview displaying where the bridge project laid on a map, explained the project’s aesthetic theme and how that was determined upon, and shared the focus groups that participated in the in-person outreach aspect, which resulted in 124 comments. He discussed the various platforms utilized in the virtual outreach efforts which included social media, an interactive mapping too, a project website, and an aesthetics survey. He emphasized the significant survey results yielded from the combination of all the identified platforms; he reported there were 3,490 results, the second highest number of survey results ever received by the Town. He provided a short summary of the top survey comments received per bridge design option, then answered the questions of why that option was chosen and what else could be included. David Rutkowski, Project Manager from Kimley-Horn discussed the excitement that surrounded the project for the Town and the impressive number of almost 3,500 survey results. He reported that the Palo Verde bridge design was identified as the top response in all focus groups amongst the different meetings held to discuss the design options. He added that the survey results were important in gathering public feedback in determining how to move the project forward and taking into consideration the feedback on the alternate options to honor all responses and to ensure the best version of the project. He commented that the second round of outreach would include the top two design concepts and would take place from May 31, 2022 through June 14, 2022, utilizing the same outreach platforms used during the first outreach effort. He highlighted that the Palo Verde option had undergone some changes and shared that the project’s inspiration was the Palo Verde tree, which was part of the natural surrounding environment, so they wanted to see that concept come to life in the project. He noted that the design for the Palo Verde visualization was relatively the same, but there was a separation of the pedestrian and bike area, and shade structures had been incorporated as a result of the comment feedback. He added they were still in the early stages of the two-concept project design and welcomed more comments to help guide them as they began diving into details on how to do things efficiently and with a design the community wanted. He moved onto the topic of the ground level of the structure and explained that the space was a blank canvas at the moment, as they had focused the design on structure itself to that point. He discussed the night view designs and emphasized the lighting was meant to be flexible so it could be dimmed, allow for light color changes, and possibly be turned off after park hours to keep the surrounding neighborhood in mind. He provided a quick day and night recap to compare the design images side-by-side and commented that he expected the Palo Verde concept to get a lot of votes, as it had been the fan favorite with the first outreach survey. Project Manager Rutkowski moved on to the second concept, Desert Falls. He noted the name change and explained that the second concept was an amalgamation of the other three design options — Water and Stone, Cascade, and Waterfall, as their best aspects were merged into Desert Falls in order to have another option that could compete with the Palo Verde concept. He outlined the elements in the Desert Falls concept that came from the other original designs and noted that they incorporated those elements with the approach of designing something with a clean, timeless look. He described the intention of blending the design concept with the existing park elements, such as mimicking the park colors by incorporating them into the steel wrapped around the bridge design pillars. He discussed the hollow towers that could be seen through by drivers and the overall flowing feel, with the addition of the blue wave elements and the textures under the bridge to allow the textures found in flowing streams to come to life on the design. He commented on the hollow nature of the design from a vehicular standpoint and expressed the importance of creating an experience for the drivers as well. He closed with comments and considerations on their approach to the night view and lighting approach, noting they were exploring up-lighting, light mesh materials, and other concepts to give a glimmering waterfall look and feel, while being easy to maintain, sustainable, and something that could be lit at all times. Mayor Peterson remarked that the almost 3,500 comments were an amazing response number. Project Manager Rutkowski clarified that there were approximately 7,500 comments from the survey results, with 3,500 unique participants. Mayor Peterson commented that the only other matter that she believed had as many comments before was related to Gilbert garbage, noting garbage services were important to the Town. Councilmember September shared that he liked how they took the other three designs and combined their best elements to create Desert Falls. He said that he was impressed and did not expect that to be an option. He added that he was anxious to see the comments and asked if the upcoming two-week comment period from May 31, 2022 to June 14, 2022 was long enough to get a good cross-section of comments from the community. Project Manager Rutkowski responded that he believed it would be enough time given the sheer volume of participants and comments in the first survey. He added that they also outreached public groups via the Parks and Recreation Board and noted that participation trickled off as the end of the advertisement period neared, so the two- week period should be the perfect amount of time. Mayor Peterson shared that the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee was active in the project and were thrilled to be able to participate. She agreed with Councilmember September’s statement that it was a great idea to combine the three other design concepts in order to provide a second option, as there were design elements of each concept that she liked. Councilmember Tilque asked for reminder of how public outreach would be conducted so the community would be aware. Project Manager Rutkowski explained that they would take the email address from the first survey results and would email those participants directly, would utilize the different social media platforms as before, would plan to do a tour of the different focus groups, and also reconnect with the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee as they had provided excellent feedback and ideas such as the blue wave design elements. Mayor Peterson commented that he could email the Mayor’s Aide, Kirsten Morgan, and she could email the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee to continue participation in the project, even though they had already graduated from the program. Councilmember Anderson asked that participants would be notified in some way, regardless of where they lived, county or town. Project Manager Rutkowski concurred with Councilmember Anderson that all would be contacted as there was a mailing list for the area. Vice Mayor Yentes commented that they did a tremendous job and produced beautiful designs. She stated that she was curious about public comments on costs and the “easy to maintain” approach. Project Manager Rutkowski responded that “easy to maintain” revolved around the surfaces and what would be easy to fix. He elaborated that efficiency, innovation, and alternatives were questions in their minds during the process at a high level, but had not yet been drilled down into each individual item. He said once they reached the later stages, they would conduct an internal value engineering session to determine the most efficient process for all elements of the project and the aesthetics. He added that what they were striving for were the designs presented, but said the materials may change based on efficiency. Mayor Peterson added that one of the elements discussed was the type of lighting and how easy it would be to change, as they want to avoid difficult and expensive changes when considering their maintenance plan. Vice Mayor Yentes asked for additional feedback on the nature of the negative comments that were received, and whether they were design-related or other. Project Manager Rutkowski responded that the most frequent negative comment was not to build the project, but the majority of the comments were positive, and otherwise the comments were design-related such as not liking the color, the arches, the height, etc. Mayor Peterson thanked him for his presentation. 2. Discussion on the current Colorado River Conditions. Water Resources Manager Hixson introduced herself and showed a video that was originally shared at a Board of Directors meeting of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA). She read AMWUA’s mission statement for reference, stating, “They work to protect their members’ ability to provide assured, safe, and sustainable water supplies to their communities. Working collaboratively, they advocate responsible water stewardship that supports economic prosperity and safeguards Arizona’s water supplies for future generations.” She said the update on the Colorado River was important to Gilbert and it made up about 30% of Gilbert’s water supply. A 9-minute video of the AMWUA meeting of April 28, 2022 was shared. The narrator discussed the roadmap for the presentation which included Colorado River Basin for hydrology and watershed conditions, which were poor; Lake Powell, which was reaching critical elevations with dam operations that were threatened; Lake Mead, with elevations declining; and the next steps of preparation, coordination and messaging. A graph was shown for the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center and Lake Powell. The narrator discussed the accumulation of snow in the Colorado River Basin; adding it received 88% of the normal snow pattern; but he said due to climate change, there was not the same runoff from the same amount of snow which would impact the reservoirs. He said last year they saw only 36% average runoff despite normal snow, adding there would be issues with dam operations and power generation when the reservoir levels fell below the elevation of 3,525 feet. The narrator provided another graph that illustrated projections from April 2022 with a 24-month study of inflow scenarios. It illustrated that at the current rate, Lake Powell was projected to fall below the minimum power pool in 2024, and Glen Canyon Dam would not sustain the volume of water releases needed for deliveries to the lower basin when the reservoir fell to the lower levels. He said the minimum release from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead in their operating guidelines was 7 million-acre feet (MAF) per year, adding the dam infrastructure design was not meant to pass that much water through in the conditions of such low lake levels. The narrator said the Department of Interior was taking emergency steps to send more water into Lake Powell from upstream sources and also to leave more water in Lake Powell and defer those releases for now to buffer the elevations. The video narrator provided an additional slide showing the Lake Mead end-of- month elevations and 24-month study inflow projections, stating they were squarely in the Tier 2 Shortage in 2023 and could fall to Tier 3 level within two years. He said Lake Mead levels dropped sharply when upstream releases were lower, adding supply and demand imbalance meant that more water was taken out of Lake Mead than annual inflows. The video from the AMWUA Board of Directors discussed the outlook for the Colorado River being bleak and stating it was headed in unprecedented territory and the system was vulnerable after going through two consecutive bad winters. It continued that it was happening at a speed that water managers all along the river were trying to quickly grapple with, noting issues including the uncertainty of Lake Powell, the energy and water nexus there, and that Glen Canyon Dam may not be able to physically release the 7 MAF with those lower lake levels. The video continued that the Tier 3 shortage for the Lower Basin may occur as soon as 2024. The AMWUA video also noted their conversations for the future yield of the River, possibly at 11 MAF, and needed conversations with the Federal Government and other entities on that yield. The video noted the need for water portfolios of the various entities to stay secure and to prepare for the accelerating and sustained shortage condition. It was indicated that messaging should have a balanced, yet serious tone, and to adapt what was said to prepare residents and elected officials. It stated the messaging needed to proactively transition with changing conditions, showing the seriousness of the Colorado River conditions and a reality check of living in the desert, but with reassurance that there was currently no shortage at the tap. Water Resources Manager Hixson stated she would send the video link to the Council in case they desired to watch the remainder of the recorded AMWUA video. She said the Town would begin looking to implement its local shortage plan this coming summer, stating Stage One would focus largely on education. She said the Council and the public would see more messaging soon. Councilmember Koprowski asked what should be said if the public asked what they could do to help with the problem. Manager Hixson stated the Town already had a very robust conservation program that included water audits for both residents and commercial properties. She said staff wished to educate the public on how to use water efficiently, noting a lot of water used outdoors was wasted by things being overwatered. She noted the Town had new magnets on how to find and fix water leaks, adding that was a good first place to start and individuals could begin water audits themselves. Councilmember Koprowski asked if the Town also worked with homeowners’ associations (HOAs), parks districts, and Public Works to find leaks. Manager Hixson stated yes, both internally and externally, adding there was a good landscape water budget program that was used with lots of HOAs to help with their landscape budgets which could be tracked and viewed monthly. She added they were also working with Public Works on the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) conversions and once that went into effect, they could track leaks regularly and quickly. She said they were also working with the Parks and Recreation Department on smart controllers in facilities to help stay on budget and to reduce over-seeding, as well as the removal of non-functional turf that was not used for recreational purposes and was hard to water. Councilmember September stated a year ago Gilbert staff came out to do a water assessment on his home, first going to the water meter to document where the meter was reading and have it checked without any usage for an hour to make sure there were not leaks. He said it was a neat opportunity and they discussed overwatering with him. He said it was good exercise that he would highly recommend. Councilmember Anderson voiced a reminder that the overall message in the region was to act together, that it was a regional problem, and the message was that there was a shortage at the River but not at the tap. He said not to panic, that each region had a plan and way to address it, adding that 30% of Gilbert’s portfolio was from the Colorado River but the other 70% was still in pretty good shape. Mayor Peterson stated everyone could always conserve water, noting the little things that could be done in our homes to make a big difference. She also discussed desert plants and overwatering. Vice Mayor Yentes stated one of greatest incentives was to conserve and make sure there was a sustainable water supply, but asked if there were any calculators for the public to show how they could save. Manager Hixson stated there was a water budget calculator on the Town’s website where residents could put in information such as how many people were in their home, if they had a pool, what appliances they owned, and landscaping details to show what usage should be. Vice Mayor Yentes discussed how usage may go down because it was hot, but said there was a lot of activities at parks where booths and messaging could take place. Manager Hixson stated they would be messaging and distributing magnets and stickers at events. Mayor Peterson stated she received and email from a resident asking if Gilbert used its reclaimed water, and she noted Gilbert used 100% of its reclaimed water. Mayor Peterson thanked Manager Hixson for the presentation. ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 6:09 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Mayor Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Study Session of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 24th day of May, 2022. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this __________ day of ______________, 2022. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Town Clerk