Redevelopment Commission

MINUTES OF THE TOWN OF GILBERT REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION FINANCIAL RETREAT TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021 AT 4:00 PM, MUNICIPAL CENTER I/ VIRTUAL MEETING OPTION, 50 E CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA _____________________________________________________________________________________ COMMISSION PRESENT: Chair, Peter Sciacca, Boe Bigelow, Casey Kendel (virtually), Cassandra Mehan COUNCIL LIAISON PRESENT: Kathy Tilque, Councilmember STAFF PRESENT: Redevelopment Program Manager Amanda Elliott CALL TO ORDER Chair Sciacca called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. WELCOME – OPENING REMARKS ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1. Commissioner Introductions Each Commissioner had the opportunity to introduce themselves to get a feel of what it is like to stand at the podium where those addressing the Commissioners will stand. Chair Sciacca was born in New York and moved to Arizona when he was five. He is a graduate of Shadow Mountain High School and at age of 20, while attending Grand Canyon University, he took an opportunity to teach English overseas for 3 months and stayed for 10 years in Taiwan. His experience over those 10 years in Taiwan shaped how he feels about walkability, walkable amenities, conveniences, and public transportation. He learned what is nice about living in a very highly densely populated area with a lot of conveniences for food, dry cleaners, flowers, etc.… That made an impact on him without knowing at the time that it did. Upon returning to the States he moved to Chandler, became a property owner, and has been involved in the Downtown Chandler Partnership. In 2006, he purchased a home in Gilbert. Over time he watched the value, vibe, and energy around Downtown Gilbert really pick up. The Downtown should be the heart and soul, a gathering place for multiple reasons and for families to make memories. There is a nice diversity of businesses in our Downtown, education, and gift shops. We are fortunate to have the kind of downtown that we have. So, I serve on this Commission with that purpose. When I applied for the opportunity to be a Commissioner, three or four years ago, having lived overseas, I have been to many countries and I always ended up being in their town centers. These are places where there is a lot of rich history and our town is no different. I care and that is why I serve on this commission. Boe Bigelow has been in Gilbert most of his life. He moved here from Seattle Washington at the age of six, grew up in the Islands, and graduated from Highland High School. As high schoolers downtowns were a place to gather. Downtown Gilbert would be a place to eat at Joe's BBQ or  Oregano’s, but not really a place to gather and spend time. His profession is in construction. As an investment property owner in downtown Gilbert and living in downtown for the past six years, he absolutely loves it. The thing that strikes him is how much has changed over this period of time. We owe a lot of credit to the Commissions and especially Amanda Elliott for spearheading this and keeping it going along the way. I get excited to see what is going to be happening and how it is going to keep progressing and all tie together. Being a resident of downtown Gilbert I appreciate all that has been done and one of the main reasons I became part of the Redevelopment Commission is to help out and see what I can do to help it further come along. Amanda thanked Boe for the accolade and shared it is with the support of the amazing staff, Planning, and Economic Development, Council, residents, and those that get involved, I am fortunate to work with incredible individuals, including you all. Cassandra Mehan has been a resident of Gilbert for 21 years, not all consecutive, and is excited to have returned to raise her children in Gilbert just a few miles from where she was raised and taking them to areas she enjoyed growing up. She is seeing the town she was raised in from a new perspective through the eyes of her children and watching them experience the town that she loves. Cassandra expressed excitement to be a part of this Committee because it marries the things that she loves, her hometown with her career since 2007 as an Architect. She stated that she jokes that she is not a well-rounded one because most of her experience is in hospitals and noted she has done her fair share of other market sectors and lower acuity medical facilities that are not just hospitals. As the newest Commissioner, she thanked everyone for being inviting and welcoming and is excited about this opportunity to serve. Casey Kendel has been a resident of Gilbert since 2012. He often jokes that he and his wife found Gilbert by mistake and it was the best mistake they ever made. Since moving to Gilbert in 2012, he purchased his home in 2014 and has two children that attend school in Gilbert. Over the last nine years, he has seen the Downtown change tremendously. When he moved here, there was Postino's and Joe’s BBQ. The growth he has seen has been amazing. He noted he loves the Town of Gilbert, loves living here, and if he can help in any way to give back to his community that is why he is on this Commission. 2. Review of Robert’s Rules of Order Chris Payne, Gilbert Town Attorney introduced himself to the Chair and Commissioners. Mr. Payne presented a PowerPoint presentation to give a brief review of Robert’s Rules of Order. Per the Town Code, it is a requirement that all public meetings be run under Robert’s Rules of Order. Following the presentation, an explanation of why we follow these rules and how to handle motions will be discussed. Mr. Payne shared some background of Robert’s Rules of Order, developed in 1876 by Army Major Henry Martyn Robert. Robert’s Rules for Dummies book is a simplified version as the Robert’s Rules is very complicated. The purpose of following these rules of order is to provide order to public meetings, to maintain order, guarantee impartiality, and gives a voice to every Commission Member. You all have an equal vote and you all need to have an equal voice when you are debating and discussing items and voting on items. Mr. Payne discussed the Ethics Policy that was adopted by the Town Council, a copy will be forwarded to the Chair and Commissioners. As Commissioners, you have a duty to vote unless you have a conflict of interest or believe that he or she may have a conflict of interest or personal interest. Silence is consent. A Commissioner must declare a conflict of interest before the meetings starts advising Amanda Elliott which item the conflict applies to and complete the required form. The Commissioner cannot participate in that agenda item as a Commissioner or a citizen. The recommendation is to step aside, don’t be present while they talk about that item. Commissioners are encouraged to speak with one of the Town Attorneys to clarify any conflict of interest questions or concerns. The roles of the Chair were reviewed. The Quorum requirement is half plus one, to conduct business. For this Commission, the quorum is at least three members. Mr. Payne reviewed the process and procedures for making single and consent agenda motions. A motion is a call to action, request to do something, or to change something. A motion has to be seconded or the motion dies. Once the motion is on the floor there is no ownership of the motion and discussions can proceed. Once there is a motion and a second, the Chair will typically give each member an opportunity to share their feeling /perspective on an item prior to the vote. The person making the motion has the right to speak first on that motion. You can vote against a motion that you made; however, you cannot speak against that motion. A motion requires a majority, a tie results in a dead motion at that meeting. Councilmember Tilque noted, it can be very confusing when a lot is going on and a lot of people are talking. She recommended to the Chair and Commissioners to just pause and ask the Attorney that is present at that meeting to walk you through the next steps so that you understand it. A review of amendments to motions was discussed. For example: A motion to amend that has been seconded, then that will be the item that is being discussed. If that amendment passes, then it modifies the underlying motion. The original motion now really becomes the motion to amend and then you revote on that original motion which has now been amended to whatever passed. If the amendment is voted down and there is a second and that dies (3 of the 5 votes no). You return to the original motion, revote on this motion. That motion does not die it is sitting there and the original motion remains the same and you vote on the original motion.  Mr. Payne noted that one step that gets missed sometimes: A motion to amend passes and people want to move on. But the reality is you still have to pending underlying motion that has to get voted on that has now been modified. Examples of some additional motion options:  Postpone - If additional information is needed from staff or the applicant, the agenda item can be moved to be” postponed” to a date certain and specified the date.  Table - An item can be moved to be “tabled”, which permanently kills that matter. (This is typically not used for this Commission; it is better practice to move to disapprove.)  Call the Question - If there is a debate going on and someone moves to “call the question”, that indicates enough talking, just vote. If there is a sconed to the “call to question”, the discussion is over, and the voting happens.  Point of order. This indicates to the Chair, someone thinks there is a procedural deficiency, let’s talk about what is going on right now. Stop and reassess… Where are we in this discussion and make sure everyone understands. Are we talking about an active motion? Was there a second? What is the motion? What are the conditions? It resets to make sure everyone understands where you are in the discussion at that point. 3. Mock session to review motion, amending motion, etc. Amanda Elliott conducted a mock session of the process of a meeting format and the Commissioners conducted mock motions of the staff’s recommended motion(s). Communications from the Citizens – if it is not on the agenda it is a one way conversation. You can respond to criticism, but otherwise you would give direction to staff to follow-up with the Citizens. It is appropriate to respond during public hearings to citizens, applicants, or staff to an item on the agenda. 4. Staff presentation regarding Redevelopment Plan, Design Guidelines, and the Land Development Code Amanda Elliott shared a PowerPoint presentation of why we are here and about the redevelopment area, review of the Design Guidelines. Land Development Code, the General Plan and of great importance is the Master Plan(s). This Commission will use the Land use framework that is included in the General Plan. The Redevelopment Plan is really meant to be a vision and a document that tells us what steps we need to take to implement in order to achieve the build out we are expecting in 10 years from the Redevelopment Plan.  Ananda Elliott and Jocelyn Smith will provide the Commissioners with hard copies of the Redevelopment Plan and the Design Guidelines. A sample of the agenda packet was shown. The most important thing Commissioners can do is review the packet. If there are questions, Amanda advised you can reach out to her, the staff liaison, Councilmember Tilque, and the other staff. The Study Session's purpose is for Commissioners to ask a lot of questions and really dig into the items. It is a really good opportunity if you have questions at that time to ask as much as you possibly can so that you can get to know the item before it comes to the floor for public hearing. 5. Commissions roles and responsibilities Amanda Elliott read through a number of the roles and responsibilities to the Commissioners. The complete list of the roles and responsibilities as well as the Bylaws will be forward to each Commissioner for their review and reference. 6. Question and answer  Chair Sciacca inquired if it is acceptable or appropriate to lean over and ask a fellow Commissioner a question. Mr. Payne advised it is best to ask the questions into the microphone to avoid any misinterpretation from the public. It is best to remain attentive, do not give the appearance you are not paying attention, avoid distractions, do not appear to be discussing matters privately. In addition, Commissioners cannot conduct business or discussions outside a public meeting. You can speak to one other Commissioner outside the meeting; however, you cannot speak/discuss with multiple Commissioners. It is important to be cautious, if the one Commissioner takes to another and that Commissioner talks to another you have the potential of violating the open meeting law. Be cautious in public to avoid the appearance of business being conducted if more than one Commissioner is together. It is best practice to keep conversations to the meetings.  Councilmember Tilque inquired if the Chair should do a rollcall vote and then state what the final vote is? Mr. Payne acknowledged it is good practice if you are doing a voice vote to do a roll call, or raise hands but then make note what the votes were and who made them or just mention who voted no. This is also helpful for the note taker for confirmation of the vote count.  Chair Sciacca inquired the time frame that staff will respond to questions and inquires? Amanda Elliott responded staff can circle back on questions afterward. The real benefit to hearing the dialog if they are hearing questions about heights, or step-backs or setbacks, or landscaping they are going to look at their project and say; what are the concerns and start reaching out to you all to determine if they need to modify their designs or better explain. Mr. Payne responded; at a Study Session the item is for discussion. There is no legal vote that will be taken, that will be at a subsequent meeting. You should not say that you do or do not support this item. Ask any questions to the applicant, the developer, or staff. When you get to the subsequent meeting that is agenized for the vote sometimes, they will address it and sometimes they won’t. As Commissioners you will have to decide if they have  given you what you want and decide if you support this or not. If your answer is no that is fine. Each of you are individuals, you are appointed because of your background and experience. You do not have to vote yes. Just because staff recommends something, does not mean that you have to vote for it just because. You are individuals and that is part of Roberts Rules to give everyone a fair vote and you are here for a reason; the Town Council values each one of your opinions. It is best practice for the applicant, staff, and residents to know why you voted a particular way.  Chair Sciacca Is it appropriate to say what you like or dislike about a project? Mr. Payne responded – Yes, can state what you like or dislike, but not say if you are in support or not in support of an item that is to be kept for the date the item is voted on.  Commissioner Mehan – What is the protocol if someone reaches out to you? Mr. Payne advised – The best practice would be If an applicant or a citizen talks to you and says hey you had some questions about this or that – here is what we are doing and here is what we are thinking, etc. At the next Commissioner meeting where you are going to vote on that item, it is advisable to be transparent and state you talked to the applicant. You do not need to give details and it is not violating open meeting law as they only apply to conversations among the Commissioners, not among staff or citizens.  Commissioner Kendal – If the Commission recommends to deny can it then be reworked and represented? Amanda Elliott responded - If the Commission recommends to deny a variance it would still go to Planning Commission and Planning Commission will make their recommendations. Council when they make their final decision would have both recommendations before them. If you recommend to deny and the applicant says, I am really concerned about moving this forward with that denial, they can stop the process and go back to the drawing boards. It is the decision of the applicant if they want to continue moving it forward or stop at that point and see if they can work within the confines of the redevelopment code. ADJOURN Chair Sciacca adjourned the meeting at 6:03 P.M. ___________________________________ Peter Sciacca, Chair CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 25th day of May 2021. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________. ___________________________________ Amanda Elliott, Redevelopment Program Manager