Council Study Session

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING FOR A STUDY SESSION, OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2023 AT 5:45 PM, MUNICIPAL CENTER I, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 50 E. CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, 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, Deputy Clerk Judy Martinez, and Water Resources Manager Lauren Hixson CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:48 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 1. Presentation and discussion from Warren Tenney, Executive Director of Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) Warren Tenney, Executive Director of AMWUA, said he was there to talk about the most important resource, water. He gave his background of growing up in Arizona and making every drop of water count. He said AMWUA was established nearly 50 years ago and was brought together through the foresight of city leaders. He said the group consisted of 10 members from Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Avondale, and Goodyear. He said collectively the group provided water to 3.7 million residents, more than half of the state’s population, as well as businesses. He said they had a history to be proud of including working to make sure water was well managed and that each member's water resources were protected. He discussed their work from the 1 Groundwater Management Act in 1980 to the 2022 Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) Legislation. He said the most important thing was to facilitate discussion among the members. He noted there was an elected board of directors with the mayor or a councilmember from each of those stated communities, and those elected officials were engaged and well informed about water policy and water resource issues. He said they were the ones facing and dealing with water issues every day and making sure that the water resources were protected and looked at making sure that all the resources were there for them to be able to meet the demands of their customers. He said they met twice a month and had in-depth and very robust conversations. He noted Lauren Hixson and Stefan Watson from the Town staff who participate in those meetings. He said they also met with Communications staff on messaging that related to water. He said they were actively meeting with Intergovernmental Staff during legislative sessions. He discussed collaboration to prioritize and strategize about the key issues impacting AMWUA municipalities including local, regional, and national issues. He said they then advocated with Federal and State Legislators, and stakeholders including Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), Central Arizona Project (CAP), and Salt River Project (SRP), while their focus was with their members in the Valley. He said they also looked at water issues throughout the state because a problem, whether it was in Southeast Arizona or Northwest Arizona, could have a ripple effect. He noted they made sure to work with the water communities throughout the state including outreach, not to just the public but the media so they had a better understanding of the municipal positions and perspectives. He added that they wanted to stay in front of the water issues, especially since the Colorado River situation had become more serious. He said that cities run on water so it was a necessity, never a luxury. Councilmember Anderson asked if how you become a member of AMWUA could be explained. Warren Tenney explained that per their by-laws each member must have a subcontract for Colorado River water, be in the service area for the Salt River Project, have a population of more than 50,000, have a water treatment plant, and a wastewater treatment plant. He added the municipalities were unique and had their own water portfolios, but they had commonality. 2 Councilmember Anderson stated the Town’s portfolio was different than the other municipalities, that the Town’s portfolio was 1/3 dependent on the Colorado River while in some other municipalities was as high as 70%. He then asked Water Resources Manager Hixson to describe the actions that the Town was taking. Water Resources Manager Hixson stated as the situation had intensified over the last 1 ½ years, they started reprioritizing well projects that had been in the long-term Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) program which would allow them to access those groundwater supplies to help mitigate the impact of drought. She said on the conservation side last June, they entered Stage One of the local drought plan and they had implemented a rebate program for smart irrigation controls and were considering launching a non-residential turf conversion program starting in April. She said internally they started the Shortage Management Team which included all the departments within the Town. She said they discussed how the situation would impact everyone, from the water department to development services and; economic development. She added that soon they would launch an external stakeholder team and a community shortage response team to gather input from the community on what they could do to increase water savings. Councilmember Torgeson asked Mr. Tenney what impact, positive or negative, would the growth of Buckeye and Litchfield Park have on the Town. Warren Tenney stated that they were growing and looking at different ways to meet the water demands that they were projecting. He said currently, they did not have an insured water supply and it would be very difficult to obtain certificates for an assured water supply because the demands exceeded the physical availability of groundwater out there. He said they would need to bring in another supply of water as they could not rely on just groundwater. He stated that Gilbert and other valley cities had invested in other water resources and the infrastructure to put them to use. He said it was important to continue to emphasize the importance of the assured water supply program for consumer protection for residents and to encourage businesses to come to Arizona and stay in Arizona. 3 Councilmember Bongiovanni asked if there were similar organizations in California and did we have any communication with them. Warren Tenney stated that AMWUA was unique in the way it was structured and how it was established. He said California had the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a formal organization that worked as a wholesale provider to its members. He said we were not having any regular dialogue with other folks outside of Arizona, but we were always open to it. ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 6:20 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 7th day of February, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. 4 Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk 5