City Council - Regular Meeting

Yeah, I don't Exactly what I said.

I don't know. I don't know. I didn't want to interrupt you.

Are we ready? Who wants the microphone first? Kendra does. Kendra, which one's Kendra? We just need to make sure that everybody when they're speaking is the microphone. Perfect.

I don't know who's speaking after. name in school or what school you graduate.

Hello everyone. No, we're going to introduce and then we'll go to the video. Nice to see you all today. So, let's see where do you want to go? could go every other. Hi. Hi. Hi. How are you? Good. Long time no see, right? Every other day. I know. How are you? Am I good to Hello. Almost. We saved the seat over there, sir.

Okay. Hey, good afternoon everyone. My name is Reese Measis. I'm the vice chair of the Casagana Youth Commission. Um, to get started, maybe we can go around say our name and then what high school we attend or graduated from. So, my name is Reese, my assist, and I go to Cassagana Union High School. And you are the And I'm the vice chair. Hi, I'm Matt Herman. I'm the adviser. I graduated from Cassagrani Union High School right here. Did you say the year? Yes. Hi, I'm Hayden Dick and I currently attend Cascar Union High School and it's my first year on the commission.

Hi there, my name is Pipro Sullivan. I'm homeschooled but I'm taking CAC classes and this is my second year. Hello, my name is Amaya Fischer. I am I am currently attending Cass Grande Youth Commission Youth Castle Grande Union High School and I am currently a first year commissioner. My name is Becca Romo and I went to Cassagran Union High School. My name is Holly Nash. I went to Cassag Grand Union High School. My name is Sarah Olsen and I went to Cassagrand Union High School.

Hi, I'm Bob Huddleston. I went to uh Cas Grand Union High and graduated in 76. Wait, as my as my grandkids say, way back in the 1900s. Hi everybody. My name is Vincent Viseri. I go to Mission Heights Preparatory and this is my first year on the commission. Hi, my name is Jaclyn Hernandez. I go to Vista Grande High School and this is my first year on the commission. Hi, my name is Lydiana Rodriguez. I go to Vista Grande High School and this is my first year on the commission. Hi, my name is Isabella Wagner and I go to Mission Heights Prep and this is my first year on the commission.

Hi, I'm Brent Bby Dylan. Graduated Cas Grand Union High School in 1986. Hi, I'm Victoria Nash. I go to Casan Union High School and I am the treasurer for the youth commission. Hi, I'm Anthony Edwards. I went to Casran Union High School. Graduated in 1984. Hi, my name is Kendra. I currently go to Kasag Grand Union High School and I currently serve as the public information officer. Hi, my name is Sean Dugan. Graduated from Casan Union High School in 1994 with Matt, just to let you know his year. There we go. Hi guys, my name is Sawyer Bar. I'm the chairman of the Cas Grand Youth Commission and I am currently attending Cas Grand Union High School.

Graduate 2026, right? 26. And I'm Lisa Fitzgibbons. Yeah, let's hope so. Let's hope so. We're hoping. Um Lisa Fitzgibbons, I'm a CA um a graduate of Cascan Union High School, class of 1982. So, I'm the second oldest next to to Bob and we went to the school right here in this building. There was only one choice back then. Yes, there was. Yes.

Okay. Thank you everyone. Um now Kendra has a video she made for us and then if she wants to share what it's all about. Yeah. So, this is pretty much going to be our recap video for the past year. It kind of just showcases a bunch of photos of us, you know, whether it's from our events. Um, we got to attend a concert hosted by APS or not hosted by APS, but thankfully APS allowed us to go to their suite and it was a really amazing time. So, this kind of showcases our journey throughout the commission, whether it's getting to volunteer, you know, we got to paint one of the bathrooms for the 911 day of service. It was just a really, really fun opportunity. Um, we had the appreciation dinner and then of course our day of shredding which was very very successful, very very successful. We had a lot of we were packed the entire time and then we also got to there was that concert and then of course the electric light parade which our theme this year was Alice in Wonderland and then another volunteering opportunity. So it was just an amazing time and that kind of shows our year. want to go next?

Sure. Um, so I'm just to talk a little bit about our upcoming Washington DC trip. Um, so we're going to be sending a few commissioners uh to represent Cassagrand in Washington DC um out in our nation's capital. So just this in the past two weeks, we scheduled a meeting with Senator Ruben Ggo. Um so we're going to go there. We're going to talk a little bit about community service, what they like to see from us, um, leadership from a youth's perspective, how they can take advantage of what we have to offer and and create real change. So, I think it's just going to be a great experience to send some of kids from our community and represent it on a national stage, showing that, you know, Cas is continually doing something, especially within our youth. We're we're going to have some passionate people out there just getting some insight, getting to become better leaders, and also showing really the world what we have to offer here in Casc. So, it's going to be a really, really good experience out there.

So, I'm going to be talking about our MLK Day of Service. So, this was actually our most recent volunteering opportunity and it was just a overall an amazing turnout. I know we seen um our mayor there and it was an amazing event and we had the opportunity to um let people know where they were going. If anyone had questions, they came to us. we were able to just help out the community and support them on that amazing day of volunteering. Yeah. Um so I will be talking about um our youth commission retreat which is was which was essentially our first meeting together as youth commission and that happened like the end of July and it really just set all of the expectations and it discussed what happened in all of our previous events and it's where we elected all of our officers and we got to talk to the mayor and the city manager. Okay, I'm going to talk just a little bit about our upcoming day of shredding. Um, it'll be on April 25th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at First American Credit Union.

Um, I'm talking about the Florence Teen Youth Symposium that a few commissioners went. Um, it was a really meaningful experience. The speakers were very interactive and they genuinely connected with us which made everything feel more personal. Um, they encouraged open conversations, ask questions, and truly listen to our thoughts and experiences. The activities focus on leadership and personal growth.

I just wanted to talk a little bit about um the Garden of Sunshine. Uh, it's an awesome project. I've had a lot of fun looking into it. It's very cultural. Well, it's very it's it's intriguing because um it's very respectful to improve on the memorial side and to um value the lives that were lost and you know just make the culture here a lot stronger.

Um on November 18th, APS gave us the opportunity to attend Billy Isish's uh live concert. Um, it was a great change from our usual meetings that we usually have and honestly just gave us a great opportunity to connect through her music and create memorable experiences. For some of us, it was our very first time ever going to a live concert and for others it was their first time ever listening to Billy Eyish's music. But overall, it did create great experiences and I can't and if another opportunity is given to the Cassag Grand Youth Commission. I hope you guys enjoy it and yeah, so I'm talking about our CGYC fall day of shredding which was on October 26th at First American Credit Union, uh which is where we shred old papers and documents. It was a great opportunity for some of us new commissioners to have an opportunity together to work as a team. And then we also raised $1,428 from donations, which is really, really awesome. So, yeah, I'm going to talk about the McCartney Ranch Fall Festival. In there, we helped support the PTO by volunteering throughout the event. We helped set up and clean up as well as run booths. and I think it's a great opportunity to show our leadership skills and giving back to the community. Okay. And I'm going to talk about the heart of Cassagrand scholarship. We offer a $500 scholarship to three winners. There's a video art and essay contest. Um there's community members in Cagran that select the winner. Um you answer the question, what is your heart of Cagran? And then you are selected later on. Um, yeah, it's just a great way of enhancing our youth and giving back to our peers. So, yeah,

and I just want to say a couple things before we go into the next segment is um these this group of kids again, amazing group and they run the commission. I mean, they they make the decision who's going to be on it next year. It's not it's not the the adviserss, it's them voting on on everything. And I need to say thanks to two adviserss. Holly has been on the commission almost as long as me, 17 years. Um, but Holly was on the commission when I was the adviser and now she's helping. And Sarah is our newest student. We call her a student adviser. She's going to CAC and she just she's like, "Hey, can I keep helping?" We're like, "Of course." So, these are the two that hold it all together. And then I just kind of wrangle the rest of it. So, I'm the dad. But, um, you know, it's just it's it's really neat to see because the kids are the ones that make the decisions. who does that, who gets to go to what, and who's on the commission, and what they're going to do. And this group of kids over the last couple years has been very serviceoriented as you can see. And that because I I kind of encourage them to pick what direction they want to take. You know, sometimes they want to learn more about the city government, sometimes they want to do community service, and they've been really community serviceoriented, which is great. And they're all getting a lot of good experience in getting out there in the community. So, great job to all of them.

Thank you. Okay, really quick before we move on. Um, I talked about the heart of Cassagrand and that's like a scholarship question, but I wanted to ask a question before you guys ask questions. What is your guys' heart of Cassagrand? If anybody wants to start, I'll go. Okay. The heart of CR to me is City Hall, which is our school because we keep coming here and it's I just never quit going, I think. But it's a lot of fun because this is really the the center of town and you know it's so important to so many people who grew up here and still it's important to people today who didn't grow up here because it's the center of our city and I got to take the easy one. That's why I went first.

You knew we were all going to say that since we're all graduates and went school here. You know, I think for me it's really just the the people and the sense of community. Um it really is home. you know, after you go away and go, you guys are all going to experience this where you're going to go away, whether you go to college or a trade school or go right out to work. This is always going to be your home. And I hope that you always keep that you've been so, you know, part part of this community and all your volunteer work. And I hope you, you know, come back someday and give back, you know, to a community that that, you know, helped you along the way and that you serve. But to me, it really is a sense of community and the people here. Sure. My heart of CR, as you probably guess, it's the agriculture community. I mean, growing up in Caster Grand, being in agriculture, uh, going to the the fairgrounds every year and and and you know, just dealing with all the animals, the livestock out there and everything and the dairy industry, the farms, everything. To me, that will always be the heart of Casrren for me personally. Uh, it's the way I was raised, the way I grew up. Um, and that's still alive and well here in CG. So, yeah,

that's a tough question. At one point, we used can say the people. Of course, everyone in the room is going to say it's the people we make up our community. Um, and and that's still true. However, I I trying to think of other things outside of this. Um, because you all do a lot in the community. Thank you so much for helping us with the MLK and the National Day of Service, your servantthood. We appreciate all that you all have done and all that you're going to do. Um, so back to it. Oh my goodness, that's a tough it's a tough question once once you leave the people because we make the the community what it is. Um, I'm going to go with our schools and our churches. How we're starting to come together a little bit more in other areas of avenues that we've opened up where we begin to communicate amongst the churches as well as working with the SKU the schools. And I do understand that sometimes there be a little bit of rival Vista and CG but you're able to come together and work together in servantthood which is key and as our mayor said please come back continue the good work the good service where you go but come back and invest back into your community. All right. So, for me, uh, my anchor to Cass Grand is Billan's Cactus Garden because that was my grandfather's house before it was a restaurant. But that's how I always related to Cass Grand was was the cactus garden. But a little bit deeper than that, it was also my grandfather's service and the fact that it was his service to the community. He was on city council. He was um a teacher at at the time was Votech Buildings. He taught all kinds of of trades and uh flying and he was on the CAC board, but it was that sense of service that he

instilled in me and that I'm now continuing on. So, that's always been the anchor for me, but I would say it's it's the service that the community provides. So, and and I'll remind you you when I was in school here, your grandfather was in the basement uh at Old Maine. That's where the shops were. And uh so I remember that. And I'm going to go along with Matt. This this campus, this school, specifically this building in this room, uh this room reminds me of my favorite subject uh in high school. that that was lunch. Uh cuz this was the cafeteria. I can still smell the tamalei pie and the pizza. And uh I I've always thought it it's cool that you know I I I have a lot of attachment to the school and then I end up sitting on the dis as a council member. So that that completes my story. Well, I'm going to say um the people of course, but really the schools are where um I think my heart is and you know, I've been in education for 19 years and I went to school here. I know lots of families and I got to teach or be part of um students lives of my friends as they grew up and had kids. And so it's great to see some familiar faces as I look at you all here. Some of you guys went to Cactus. Some of you might have gone to McCartney Ranch. Um and so just seeing the impact. Yeah. And just I mean I he was a kindergartener I think when I met him. Yes. And so and then just being

part of this community and I know parents and so I just think it's um amazing what I get to do and just make that impact. So, and I will say you guys are also at Cactus helping out and working with our student youth and our student leaders. So, you are doing an amazing job with that too.

Um, do you guys have any questions for us or individuals? Can we put another mic in next year's budget? How about the seniors kind of tell us what their plans are for the next year? Sure. Um, so next year I'll be starting at Duke University.

Uh, yes. And I've got to do that on a full ride scholarship. So that's going to be great. I just want to take a moment to take a statement just kind of about all of you. Um, you know, I've been a commissioner for four years and I've come to every study session for the past four years. And I just want to say that I'm thankful to that we are supported by a mayor and a council who continuously come and and fight for us and listen to us and and make us feel heard and prioritized. You know, we're students who who really genuinely care about this city. And it's good to see that. It's easy to align with your guys' vision of caring about the city. I mean, it means so much to us when you come speak to us at a retreat or when we come speak at these council meetings or or when we're at any event and you see us, you come talk to us. You recognize us. You acknowledge that we're here. we're serving alongside you and uh you know it's always fun to say to feel like you know we're an elected official too, you know, sit along you alongside you guys. So just know that I'm very proud to be a Cash Grand Youth Commissioner. It's something that I like to talk about. I remember at family gatherings I'll say, "Yeah, I know the mayor. Yeah, I know the council." Um so yeah, I'm just I'm very proud to be here. I'm very thankful for all of you and what you've done uh for these commissioners. And I know that it's going to be an even better hopefully an even better next four years after Ree and I are gone. So, it's going to be uh a very very very thankful for all of you and the future's looking good for the youth commission for sure.

Any other seniors? How many seniors are there? Anyone else? Rest of them have senior. Okay. I'll be attending Grand Canyon University. I'm going to major in biology with an emphasis in premed and hopefully go to grad school to become a pediatric occupational therapist. All right. Yeah.

I'm going to start out at CAC uh for two years on the panel promise scholarship and then I'm going to transfer to ASU to hopefully pursue a career in fashion marketing. Um, I will also be attending CAC for two years and I will also be enrolling into the veterary program that they have and get my associates in biology. After that, I hope to transfer to Colorado State University and hopefully get my doctorate in veterary medicine.

We got a couple more, but that's all. Any other questions? a comment.

No. Yeah, not not really a question, but just just again thank you. You know, I I hope you all seen, especially the new members, you know, that we are just, you know, regular people that represent the community just like all of you, you know, represent your um the youth in the community. So, I just, you know, we appreciate everything you do and I love seeing all of you guys at all the conferences when I get to see you all there and I'm just so proud, you know, when when we see you and and the way you represent the city. Um, but, you know, and just out in in the community. So, you just don't understand the impact you're making and it it you really are role models to a lot of people, you know, that that see all the things that you do. There are people that are a little more shy and don't want to engage, but they see all the things that you're doing and and we just are just truly grateful and we wish you all the best, you know, for you seniors that are moving on. And like I said before, we hope you remember that this is your home and we support you. You know, we, you know, want you to go off, you know, do whatever you need to do, but please try to come back. Try to come back and run for city council so we all can retire, right? So, um, but no, we we're just so proud of all of you and we really thank you. Is there anything that you all see that that we can do better as far as you know um reaching out to our young population? You I mean I know you guys keep it you know keep us informed um many ways but is there something that you think we can do a little better who would be brave to bring that up the show?

Oh

I I would never make a criticism. Um, I would just say just thinking about it, you know, I have enjoyed so much of our time that like when we ate lunch at the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, like I just think about how meaningful that was to me. So, if we could just keep doing that kind of thing, bridging that gap between you guys and us, between the youth and then city leadership, because really the students in here, they come from different backgrounds, different demographics, they have all kinds of different motives and and want to do different things with their lives and have different circles of influences. So thinking about when they have that opportunity to talk to you guys just like you have different circles of influences here on the council. Um that's a chance for you guys to hear directly from all of Cassandr students not just the leaders not just the students who are you know bold enough to be on the youth commission or show up at the events that you guys are are uh usually present at. So as long as we could just maybe even and you know ramp it up just a little bit the times that we get to meet and instead of you know just coming here at these study sessions we could do other things too. I think that'd be great. I think that'd be powerful,

right? Yeah. Nice. Absolutely.

And one more one more comment and I tell this to all young people that I talk to. Just, you know, make sure you take advantage of every opportunity that you have. You know, all of all these little steps could lead you lead to something that you never imagined. And so, just be patient, absorb all the information that you can and take advantage of all the um opportunities because, you know, you you just never know where life will take you. Um, I don't think any of us, maybe Matt thought that he would run for city council, but um I mean we I was in city government too. I I was I mean I not city um um school government too, but I don't think it's something that I ever ever imagined. So um but again, it's just all those different steps lead you to something that you might not imagine. So take advantage of all that and just yeah, be strong and stay true to who you are. who you are.

Proud to be from Proud. That's right. Yep. CG Pride. Anything else? I just

I have to thank these two again, the adviserss. You guys want to add anything? I did not I did not go to the Billyish concert and um they're like, "Hey, do they think they want to go to Billyish?" I go, "I don't know. I don't know who she is, but apparently it's pretty popular. Um, for anyone who doesn't know, I run Cass Grand Main Street. And so it's a big serviceoriented organization as a nonprofit. And these kids step up every event we have. Um, probably more so than past years. And so as a organization that thrives on volunteers, like it's really nice to get the assistance from the younger population so that hopefully they keep doing it and you know we can get some more young blood in the volunteer pool. Um but I mean street fair Victoria was there all day, Kendra was there all day. Sarah our student helper. Um but no, it's really great. So beyond just the basic service, they are going and doing other things and opening even more doors for themselves. And so it's really great to see that I'm also I I'm just really proud of these group of students because it is from so many different walks of life, so many different high schools, and just to have that representation and to see so many young leaders who truly care about their community and want to volunteer and serve to help the community in any way, shape, or form is just amazing. And I look at you guys and I'm like, I'm so proud. But but yeah, um I'm so excited for what you guys are going to do to Cassag Grand and of course to um the city council to make our Cassag Grand as great as it can be.

She's our mom.

I just wanted to give one special shout out to our uh community services, especially our director Danny. if we could just give him a little little round of applause. Um, and Aiden, and Soul, um, they consistently help us do, um, kind of the minutia, the details, the things that we don't always think about. Um, and they they help us get stuff done. So, we're very thankful for our community services department. Yes. Make sure we we keep those those people recognized because they are important. They do work that isn't always seen, but it's very important. And I'm proud to say that I'm a co-orker now with Danny. I am the front desk staff at the rec center. So, yeah, it's pretty awesome

and just thank you to thank you again to the to the adviserss and Matt, you know, this is something that you've, you know, carried that torch for for many many years. And so, um, on behalf of, you know, all of the city council and city staff, you know, and community, we just thank you for for doing this. I mean taking time away from your family and your work and you know being part of you know building this great group and so and to to the other adviserss thank you very very much for your time and commitment to this. So thank you. Good job. Hand for Matt. All right. Is that everything? All right. Thank you very much for having us. Thanks for coming. Yes. There you go.

of Okay. Okay. We all ready? Think we're ready for the next

Perfect. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. For the next half of our study session, we've got an update from the Arizona Water Company on the alternative designation of assured water supply program. And uh as mayor and council's aware, this is just the continuum of our dialogue related to water and effluent and uh the tie back into the effluent strategy that the council's working on. And so with that, I'll introduce the president, Fred Schneider. Are do you need this, Fred, or will Terry Sue be running this? I'll use it. Okay. Well, it's it's the lower one. It's reverse. I think I know that by now.

Well, good good evening, mayor and council, and I again appreciate the opportunity to come in and present on our designation that we're working on for the Pan Valley system, which includes the city of Kasa Grande. Um, so there'll be tonight there'll be myself presenting the first group of slides and then we get into the meat of the designation. I'll turn over to Terry Sui who is our vice president of water resources. She's got all the details and the ins and outs of of how the designation works and probably more importantly how did we get here? Because I think that's a big question. Without understanding the journey of how we got here, hard to understand all the work that was done the last year to get us to almost the finish line. Uh so tonight I'm going to going to uh kind of do a little overview. Um so in the last present last time we came in and presented the city council was uh Monday January the uh the 5th of this year and I kind of went through some highlights so I'm not going to go through it again but just to refresh everybody's memory kind of overview of who we are uh and what we do. Um a new slide here. This uh over is an overview of the water supplies we have across entire state for the 24 water systems that we operate. Uh what I want to point out here is that about a third of our water supplies across the state are non groundwater supplies or renewable water supplies. Uh we work hard to try to increase this number each year across the state. It's difficult to acquire those supplies, but it's a goal that we're always working on. And I'm pretty proud I'm proud that we're almost 40% of our supplies are non-groundwater supplies. So, just to take this map and show you where we're going to focus on tonight is the Panal Valley Water System. And this uh shows our our certificate of convenience and necessities. So this is the area that uh we serve or authorized to serve. And if you it's a pretty expansive area. So if you start on the

west side, it starts out by this by uh the community of Stanfield and we go east all the way to the Koolage airport. On the south side, we go from Arizona City to the north up to the Hila River Indian community. A little more specific to uh the Panal Valley system. So the graph on the left is the first graph I referred to. The graph on the right is for the Panal Valley system. So that's the entire area I just described. So here uh we've actually made uh some improvements on the overall slide I had before of 60%. Here just over half of all of our water supplies in the Pan Valley system are renewable or non- groundwater supplies. Uh we're still looking to acquire additional supplies that Terry Sue will get into and we presented before. There's Bartlett Dam. There's ever uh other uh basins that we can import water from. So, it's a goal we're working on to get that uh that 50% to be a little larger than that. And then to kind of anchor back to our water resources strategy. So, really comes down to those first two things. Maintain obtain and maintain a diverse water supply uh similar to the slide I just showed and then promote the efficient use of those water supplies. So if you recall on January 5th when I was here, we went through item number two. I wanted to use just quick refresher on that. So this is our integrated demand management program, our partnership with the city of city of Kasa Grande um to drive down and reduce water use uh and use it as efficiently as we can. Um so in here this is kind of the our flagship program as a save it program. Uh we have a toilet rebate program. We do efficiency checkups on our large water users or irrigation. And we have a conservation kit that we we have to encourage water conservation.

And what presented here I think is the most salient point uh that I want to hit on is that by having this program if we look at what our average usages per connection and we project that from 2020 to end of 2024 we have reduced water use per connection by 12.4%. a a pretty phenomenal number. I know our goal has been to achieve 20%. Um but I think 12.4 is a pretty phenomenal number uh in the very infancy and start of this entire program. So now to get the meat of the presentation tonight is to get into the details of obtain and maintain a diverse water supply. And if it wasn't probably for this specific goal that we have and to develop a system that that works under a variety of rules, we probably wouldn't be where we are today in working on a designation and and probably in the next 30 days having one complete. So with that, wrong slide. I will turn over to Terry Surasi to get in the details of the assured water program and what the uh the milestones have been over the last 15 20 years. Good. Oh dear.

Good evening. Thank you for having us back. Um, so I'm going to talk a little bit about the assured water supply program and a minute ago Fred was showing you our uh water resource strategy and we really seek to create uh a water supply that is indefinite for our community. So an assured water supply in Arizona which is considered to be one of the landmark pieces of water regulation in the country is a hundred years. So we don't feel that a 100red years is really good enough. It's really it's really a commitment a forever commitment. And so we're trying to develop that kind of a water supply. Um and so we want to be able to do that under a variety of hydraologic conditions and a variety of uh operational conditions. Um, and we want to protect in our our water supply, existing water supplies as much as possible and to diversify the supplies that we do have because you don't want to ever just like your retirement portfolio, you don't want to be reliant upon one one thing. Um, and then we want to also balance all of that with with affordability. So, you could have 100% redundancy in your system, but is that going to be affordable to to people? So there's some balancing against the redundancy in order to have an affordable water supply. Um but let's talk a little bit about the assured water supply program. Just kind of a real quick overview. So in the state of Arizona, there are actually two different programs within the assured water supply program. One is called assured water supply. The other is adequate. Assured water supply is a more stringent standard that applies within what we call active management areas, which is where we're located here is the panel active management area. there's less stringent standards outside the AMAs and we call those adequate water supplies. So there's a slight difference. Um but the basic idea for really inside or outside the AMA is if you're going to subdivide uh if you're going to record a plat and sell parcels then you the developer must demonstrate a 100-year assured water supply. And there's kind of a couple of ways you can do that. One is by securing a

certificate. The other would be by serving being served by a water provider who is designated as having an assured water supply. Irrespective of which system you use, there's several criteria that have to be met in order to prove an assured water supply. So the source of water has to be physically, continuously, and legally available. The source of water must satisfy the existing state water quality standards. The water provider and the developers must be financially capable of constructing the water infrastructure. And the water demands must meet conservation requirements and they must be consistent with the management goal. The conservation program, the uh the save it program makes us consistent with the conservation requirements in the state. And then the assured water supply application that we just put together and is still being reviewed is what is allows us to meet all those other criteria. So within that document, we filed 1500 pages of evidence to prove that we met all of those requirements. So, I'm going to talk a little bit about the assured water supply journey because it is a journey. It's an epic journey. And um and so it kind of all goes back to uh the early 2000 or the middle 2000s, the early 2010 time frame. And you might recall in the 2008 the great recession. Uh there was a substantial um a substantial change in the housing market. And so everything kind of came to a halt from an economic perspective. Well, what people didn't really know is right about the same time there was something going on within the assured water supply program itself. And so prior to that time frame, there was a big buildup in the number of certificates of assured water supply that had been issued. Um the problem was, and no one really knew this at the time, was there were more determinations made than the groundwater modeling ultimately could prove out. And so there was a little bit of time that went on and uh the last certificate of assured water supply was issued here for the

Aago village com commercial center that was in July of 2011 and the last uh analysis in the panel AMA was in an area called Addison Park. I'm not sure if Addison Park is in your you guys' area or not. Okay. And so those were the last two actual determinations that were issued in the panal AMA. Um and then from that point forward, even though the Department of Water Resources did not come out and say, "Hey, the basin is closed. We're not issuing any more determinations," it became gradually very obvious to folks because people were applying for things. And nothing was happening. And in fact, there was some uh an activ some activity going on within the city of Cassagrand relative to Copper Mountain Ranch. And we were working with the city and we were just kind of getting nowhere with it. And so and and the other thing that happened in that time which people may not be aware of is in the 2014 time frame, the department of water resources had asked Matrix New World and specifically Nathan Miller to add some analyses to the model. And when he tried to add those to the model, he discovered that there were a number of of analyses that the demands were actually not included in the model. So there was a significant error in the model. And so when he reported that to the department, the wheels just kind of came off the the cart. They they withdrew and they um went dark. They went dark for several years. They redid their model and then they popped out the other end in the 2018 time frame or 2019 time frame and announced that there was 8.1 million acre feet of unmet demand. And so it took them a long time to kind of come to an understanding that yes, this this error that was found by Nathan Miller was real and that they had to fix it and they had to figure out how they were going to fix it. So that's why we have what we call this unofficial close.

So for many years, really from 2015 until even today, the basin is closed. And so we started to push on that a little bit, tried to get the department to release the model. uh representative then representative Cook at the time put a lot of pressure on the Department of Water Resources. The model was finally released in October of 2019 and starting in 2020, uh, a number of us teamed up together to try to figure out what we were going to do about the model. And so we where we had the panel May stakeholder group which was led by Steve Miller and it was also co-chared by global uh, Jake Linder King and by Arizona Water Company. Previously it was uh Bill Garfield our previous president and then I became the co-chair of that and um and in in conjunction with Matrix New World we went through the process of updating the model and proving that we could show that the unmet demands associated with the municipal and the assured water supply determinations could in fact be met. Um it was uh I think just like in 2014 it was hard for the department to kind of come to an acceptance of the information that had been provided. The same thing was true when we were working on it uh the second time around and in fact the department never really recognized the efforts that we made in the first time. Then we turned it over to the Panal uh to the to Piqua, the Panal Water Augmentation Authority, Panal County Water Augmentation Authority, and they actually provided a second version of the model. And we have yet to hear from the department. And so all through this process, the department was saying was sort of channeling to us, we're not going to do this. We're not going to do this. We're not going to do this. And they wouldn't. And so we pushed them to the point where they finally made a declaration in June of 2021. the director of water resources came out and said, "In case you didn't hear me, we are not going to ever issue another assured water supply determination in

the panel AMA that is dependent upon any amount of groundwater." And then he also said, "By the way, this is the same movie is going to come to a theater near you in the Phoenix AMA." And about two years later, they did the same thing in the Phoenix AMA. And it took that closing of the Phoenix AMA model and of the assured water supply program. By then the entire program had been destabilized. We had been complaining about that for years. But until things started to fall apart in Phoenix, we were not getting a lot of attention. So, but we were trying on the side. And so we had some uh legislative efforts. So in 2021, this would have been pre-close. We had an effort to to change some of the existing provisions associated with certificates of shed water supply. We were able to change the number of units associated with a certificate um as long as we didn't increase the demand. So that was a a little bit of a change for us. It helped move a few projects that might not otherwise have moved forward, but it didn't really solve the problem. Then uh then when we get into the postclose era, things started to move a little bit and they moved for a number of different reasons. First of all, there was enough anger in the Phoenix AMA that people were starting to say this is intolerable and we were able to work within that context to get the same kind of benefits in the that were happening in the Phoenix AMA into the panal AMA. And so one of those was some uh legislation that had to do with how groundwater fees uh how central Arizona groundwater replenishment fees are collected. That was passed in 2024. The same bill was passed in 2025. And I'm sure all of you are aware that the more recent bill was the groundwater savings credit, which is the urbanization of irrigation grandfathered rights. But in 2024, while things were were a little bit quiet in the legislative session,

there was actually a lot more going behind behind the scenes. So this was when we were all very active in developing a rule change. So the governor's office and the department of water resources wanted to make changes without going to the legislature. And so they set about doing an informal public rule process, which was pretty much the first half of the year. And then they released the rules and we began the process of going through the formal rule making process. And we were very heavily involved with that as was the city of Cassandr and many and many others. And so there were three different council meetings at the governor's regulatory review council. Uh one was in October. That was kind of the first session where they heard what was going on. There was a council meeting where they did not vote on the rules and then we came back for another session on November 22nd where we closed it. And I will have to say that there were a lot of people involved at very high levels including three different mayors. So we had Mayor Thompson and Kulage. We had previous Mayor McFarland. And on November 22nd, your current mayor, Mayor Fitz Gibbons, and I I like to say that we were the closers. So we came in. and we we brought brought the house down and got the vote in in favor of of the uh the rule the new rule package. It became effective on November 25th. Uh the the rule package was really intended to help four of the largest water providers who were certificate-based providers. One was Buckeye, one was Queen Creek, one was EPCOR who serves up in the Sun City Sun City West area, and then us. And so as it turns out, uh, Epcore and Arizona Water Company are able to move through the gate sooner than either Kulage or than, um, Queen Creek or Buckeye. Um, but we both filed our application shortly after the rules became effective. EPCOR received its executed

designation order in October of 2025, and we are hoping to receive ours soon. So, with a little bit of luck, maybe by the end of February, we will also have a designation of assured water supply. So that's kind of how we got there. It was a long journey, an epic journey, but it was it was kind of a lot of fun. It was nailbiting at times, but it was really really fun. It was a great opportunity. We had um number of people from the community, provided letters of support. We we received over 500 letters of support from all different as aspects and sectors of the economy. So it was really a lift by many many people. Um so this is the designation area. So there's a lot that goes into defining the designation area and I won't get into it in detail but suffice it to say that that as you grow as a service area your designation area will expand. So this is not the way it will be always but this is the way it looks today and everybody's very curious about whether or not their land is located inside that boundary. That's the most most uh common question we get right now. Uh so let's talk about some specifics about our designation. So the term of our designation will be 10 years. The total designation volume is a little over 50,000 acre feet. The groundwater physically a physically available there are two water supplies pledged in our uh our application. One is groundwater and the other is cap water. And so the groundwater physical availability includes not just regular groundwater, but also water that's recovered in an air in in a what they call outside the area of hydraologic impact, which is far enough away from the recharge project for the Department of Water Resources to determine that it's not pumping those precise molecules. Um, we are also required by the designation process to join the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District and we're going to be we will be joining that. We have gone through the process of doing that and the

starting fees for that will be about $100,000 a year. Um, but I'm going to talk a little bit of more about that in a little bit because that's actually a great deal for our citizens and for all of us, our existing and our future citizens. We've also uh through this designation process have a very significant groundwater allowance and extinguishment credit portfolio which is going to help us make the cost of acquiring the new water supplies much more affordable in the early stages of the process. Um, and then we have our cap water. And so we have some cap water that we directly deliver to to uh the desert basin um uh desert basin generating station and to uh Francisco Grande in the and the park, the sports complex park. And then we also uh have created a new alternative water supply which they call a new alternative water supply, but it's just a new water supply. And what they mean by that is we are allowed to take our cap water and we're going to use it a little bit differently and they're going to count it as a new water supply. And then there's also what we have a water availability fee which is for all new growth. And they'll be paying this fee as they come online. So let me just go down one more here. Oh, this is just a list of the groundwater allowances. And I'm only showing this to to to show you how complex the groundwater allowances are here. The rules in the penal are very different from Phoenix and I won't go through each one of them but I just want to want to give you some idea of how complex they are and they've been very this is very advantageous for us. Now I'll talk a little bit about the water availability fee. So we're in the process of adopting a water availability fee. The prices of that fee are based on water market prices, current prices and the existing assured water supply entitlement. If you have a certificate today, you would be exempt from paying the water availability fee. Uh and then the water availability fee otherwise affects all new connections whether it's subdivided or not. So a designation of

assured water supply is applicable to everyone, not just to new subdivisions. So we can now provide an assured water supply to all of our residents whether they've been here for 100 years or been here for two weeks or are going to arrive here in five years. um large developments are free to secure their own water supplies if they want to in lie of paying the water availability fee. I'm just going to talk a little bit about an example of how that this would work. So let's say we have a 300 acre foot demand development. It doesn't matter really if it's a commercial or a non-res or a residential. And so the way that the process will work is that we will temporarily make a a a portion of our cap water available for that development to rely upon and we will pledge that as a new supply in our water supply portfolio. 25% of that demand will be cut over to the existing customers. That's how we build up the water supply for the existing customers. and the remaining demand the new development will have to either acquire a non-groundwater supply or pay the water availability fee. So uh so the developer has a number of different options available to it. So it can secure effluent. So for example it can go to whatever wastewater provider is providing that wastewater service and it can get a commitment from that provider to provide that wastewater. If they do that, then their total demand will be reduced by the amount of effluent and then that reduces their water availability fee. So if it's 33% of the demand, it'll reduce the demand of the water availability fee by a third. Uh they can also retire or extinguish their grandfathered rights that are in the area, their irrigation grandfathered rights, and create these groundwater savings credits. And so that would then also reduce their demand. They can also go out and acquire additional extinguishment credits if they want or other water supplies that might be available to them. And then any remaining demand after these other

supplies have been ticked off will be subject to the water availability fee. So let's go back to our our uh strategy. And there's a number of things that we're going to do in order to provide an assured water supply under any rules. So, I know my boss doesn't want for me to come back in a year and say, "Oh, you know, they changed the rules. This doesn't apply anymore, right? So, I need to come up with a strategy that's going to work indefinitely no matter what goes on." So, these are the things that we're going to do. We're going to continue to protect our cap water. We're going to develop and secure local effluent. We're going to participate in the expansion of Bartlett Dam, and I'm going to show that a little bit more about that to you in a minute. We're going to explore remote groundwater projects. And I'm sure you've heard some of these. There's Harua groundwater basin. There's the Butler Valley. There are a number of different uh open groundwater basins that people are considering. And we're going to explore ocean desalination projects. And all these things are currently underway. But the one that I want to really focus on is the Bartlett Dam expansion. So Bartlett Dam is a reservoir along the Verie River water system. It's owned and operated by CAP. And in the process of solving a sediment problem, they came up with a solution that allows for the expansion of another dam just downstream of Horseshoe Dam that's going to create a lot of new capacity, about 330,000 acre feet of capacity. We've been working with about two dozen non-federal partners and we have been recommended for an allocation of about 27,000 acre feet of capacity. Capacity does not equal yield. So when you have a flashy in in the desert, we have very flashy water systems and so you have to build a massive reservoir in order to have a certain amount of water come into it. So in the case of Bartlett Dam, you have to build a dam that's about three and a half times the size of the yield that you expect to get from the hydraology on that river. So the the amount of water that that probably

equals in in uh in a yield is probably more like around 8,000 acre feet. And the estimated cost of that project today is about $3.7 billion or $9900 per acre foot of capacity. So these projects are of course not inexpensive, but this is still uh competitive with the current market prices. Now, I want to make sure everybody understands how this is going to work. So I think a lot of people imagine that we're just going to like increase the size of the dam and we're not going to actually do that. And first of all, when I say we, I don't mean Arizona Water Company. I mean the US Bureau of Reclamation, the Salt River Project. This is a big federal reclamation project and we are one of 20 some odd me non-federal members. Um but we're not going to actually increase the dam. What we're going to do is build a new dam downstream of the existing dam structure and then we're going to inundate the dam, inundate the water behind the dam. So if you're familiar with Lake Pleasant, this is exactly what we did out at Lake Pleasant. There was the original Wadell Dam. We built a new Wadell Dam and then we inundated the the area behind the new Wadell Dam. So if you go out on the lake, you're actually driving over the top of the original dam. And so that's the same thing that's going to happen here. And and that's a there's kind of a long trajectory on that. I would not expect that this would happen before I retire. So um all right. So now I just want to go over the sort of the 10 best things about what's happened with the designation of assured water supply. There's so much I could talk about, but I just want to kind of go to like a top 10. So one of the best things about this the the uh new rules and this type of a designation is that it resolves the groundwater modeling issues at least for now. So we're going to move into that space and hopefully not have to deal with the groundwater model for some time to come. It also resolves in

infrastructure co-mingling problems. So before these rules, if we wanted to serve a new subdivision, we had to isolate the new water supply that we would be delivering to that subdivision and we could only deliver it through pipes that would actually go to that subdivision. Now you can imagine how that would complicate a water system and make it virtually unaffordable and also weaken the water supply system to where you really couldn't provide uh water in your water system at all. would actually harm the water system as a whole instead of making it a more of an assured water supply. So another thing the number eight best things about it is that it includes and aggregates all these groundwater allowances these extinguishment credits and the physically available groundwater. In the past those were all associated with very specific pieces of land. So we could only use that water on those exact pieces of land. Now it's all aggregated into a single pool and we can use it anywhere in our service area and that creates a lot of flexibility just like having a water system that's connected properly. It facilitates the use of effluent as a new water supply. So the developers are now encouraged and to uh in incentivized to work with the water providers or the wastewater providers in order to bring effluent back into the system to offset their groundwater demands. It allows Arizona Water Company to use its existing cap water as a new water supply. So, if we were unable to do that, we would have had to have gone out and acquired a whole new water supply. And the rules provided for a way for us to change how we were using it in order to create the new water supply. So, that's a big advantage for us. And it's going to relieve us of the existing replenishment cost on property tax bills. And um and I'm going to show you I think the next slide. This is a redacted example of a property tax bill. And the

person who holds this property tax bill shall remain nameless but perhaps sitting in the back of the room. And so this is a a home in Sunset View Unit One. And you can see down I've highlighted it's kind of hard to see because it's like the orangey color. I've highlighted two lines. One is the tax associated with the CWC. So you may or may not realize it, but you pay about 14 cents of advalorum tax to the central Arizona water conservation district each year. And if you go down a little further, you see the panel AMA GRD. That is a a function of the CAWCD where an additional amount of money is collected to offset the cost of the groundwater pumping of whoever owns this house. And so in the future, this will be paid through water bills. And we are going to be starting at a at a rate of about $100,000 a year. Currently, people who are paying through the GRD, their taxes for 2026 would have been almost $1.6 million. So this assured the new assured water supply system the designation allows us to um allows for a different way to use the CAGRD services. So that's in my opinion that's the one of the more significant contributions. So another top thing, top top 10 things, the fourth one is to reduce the water supply cost of all customers. And we do that by being able to aggregate all of our groundwater allowances and by being able to have the new developers bring in water supplies and to have expand our our customer base so that we can afford a water supply like like the Bartlett Dam water supply. And it opens the door to new subdivisions in the city and the county. And so up to now, you haven't been able to do a new subdivision since July 11th of 2011. So this will be the first time that this will be able to

happen. That's huge really. We're going to the the an assured water supply designation gives control over development decisions back to the city. uh and not just in in terms of the subdivisions, but in terms of how do you link the water to all of the decisions that you make in growth, which is really what was showing through in your last general land use plan was putting water as the focus of that general land use plan so that we could make good decisions about the kinds of industries we bring in, bringing in high level jobs but using as little water as possible. And then the top reason for a designation of assured water supply under the is it allows the city of Cas Grande and Arizona water company to work cooperatively to plan for, secure, manage and maintain a continuous 100-year assured water supply for the businesses and residents and not just new subdivisions. So we now have a tool where we can provide an assured water supply for every single person, every single business, every single home in the city of Cassag Grande. And so we're very excited about the designation. Um, and I think that's all I've got actually. So be happy to answer questions. Did I go over my time?

Okay, great. Oh. Oh, okay. So I'd be happy to answer any questions. Great. Thank you, Terry Sue. Any questions or comments from anyone? We're all ready to be tested. Give us the test now. We're ready to go. Okay. So, go ahead. How many gallons in an acre foot? Terry, see one question we get a lot um about the assured water certificates and how they apply to certain types of property, not to others. How is is that going to change anyway in here? like you know subdivided lots versus versus uh

so it it's really going to level the playing field in terms of people's ability to move forward. So in the past um we I would I would say that the somebody was in the lucky category. So if they had a certificate of assured water supply and they called me to find out if they could develop that was a call I really wanted to take and talk to them about. And then if I had somebody who was calling that I knew didn't have a certificate I had to find maybe a different angle to try to help them move forward. And there were some times when it was very hard to find a pathway forward. Any pathway forward that didn't involve a certificate was going to be a lot more costly than it will now.

And then so that goes to say this is a decision made at the state level about multif family not having to have certificates of assured water where single family does. Correct. So so multifamily if it is subdivided not subdivided. I'm sorry. Right. Exactly. And so this uh when you become designated it the designation applies to everything not just to subdivided property but to non-subdivided to commercial non-commercial there are commercial subdivisions in fact there are some here so it wasn't that commercial didn't get pulled into the into the net before um but now everybody is going to be provided an assured water supply any other questions sure

yeah I got a weird quick question I don't if it's an abstract number or anything, but I've been asked this by several members of our community. Why a hundred years? Why is that just an abstract number that they put out there? When did it start? When does it end? I mean, I'm not going to live to see the hundred-year water supply, but but why why is everyone say a hundredyear assured? Why is that number designated with this? Well, I you know that that's actually a really good question. And um I was not here when that was invented. Um that was invented in the late '7s. actually was even kind of before that back in the in the mid70s.

You might you might uh be familiar with the land there was a lot of land fraud in Arizona back in the 70s and so they were putting advertisements in the you know in the New York Times and telling people hey come out to Arizona you can have a you know five acres and retire out here and people would would buy these acres unseen and they would come out here and they would find out that there was no water, no sewer, no nothing. And so they were swindled and so they decided that wasn't good for the state of Arizona. Nobody wanted to come out because of that. And so they created an assured water supply program at that time. Um and how they came up with a hundred years, I think they probably just thought

seems like a long time, you know, past my, you know, past the the the horizon. So, I think that they just invented that at the time because they wanted to create confidence that people could come to Arizona and be sure that they would be able to buy property that would actually give them their retirement homes. Great answer. That's what it was too. So, thank you.

And and I will say that there there was a lot of wisdom in that because um today to this day that assured the assured water supply program is considered to be one of the like the pinnacle of the entire groundwater code. it is very well respected. Um and and I think that it gives the state a lot of of uh strength in speaking to other states and in negotiating with other states. Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions, comments? Just a comment again, you know, thank you, you know, for I I I love your attitude how you say it's been fun over all all of these years. And you can see Fred's just kind of like, okay, yeah, sure. Um but um but no, and of course I've seen firsthand your um all of your commitment to moving these forward to help us and and our staff, you know, with Larry and all of our staff members. And so you were keeping our fingers crossed and waiting for that call, Fred. So uh you have us on speed dial, but um but we look forward to it. But again, just thank you for your partnership and continuing to help us move forward.

Well, and thank you. I mean, it's definitely we've been working side by side with you guys for a very long time and um and I know I enjoy working with the city. I I I love Cocon. I've fallen in love with Cassagran. It's a wonderful and to listen to these kids that you had up here. Oh my gosh, that was just magical. So, yeah. So, thank you for everything.

Thank you so much. Thanks for coming this evening. Okay, we'll go ahead and close the um study session and break and start up again at 7 o'clock. Want me? I did not. 2017.

I think they're And we appreciate that. remember I think you They're well, right?

That's what happens. All right.

All right. Maybe there's something. You don't want to have any information. All right. How are you?

Thank you. If you walk by and just say hi to me.

Do you want to do that? We can talk later. doesn't have to be next month. make it a smooth immediate. She said, "So then come July, you need to But I'm done and I'm not absolutely no offense to you. It's nothing. I'm accepting it. I fully expect I went back and

this bothered me online last night as always. what I was told when I

Stephen. So you we run the everyday activities. Larry is a city manager. We run the mayor and council gives us direction. So is our form of government strong? So the mayor so all the department heads

I was interested all of that. I was saying coming from Michigan. The one thing we didn't have to worry about was running out of water. I was in Oregon. So yeah, there's I don't know there's going to take responsibility right now question I saw and I It's been a long time since

she came in. Yes, I went through all of the hard copy files that are in my office and there's nothing tomorrow.

Tim with it over it. But so I've asked Adriana, she has

I'll call Zach tomorrow. I just wanted to put up with you. If you saw my calendar, you know, let me ask you this. Who do you want me to go directly to?

Have you talked to Kevin at all? Kevin take care of it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'll and I'll I'll travel. Yeah. Yeah. But the deal is I went and got it surveyed by Harvey's. Yeah. And it pulls out of my property. Okay. But I need to hooked up to a damn sewer like down. Yeah.

Let me I'll That is good. There's 30 years. I knew. All right.

Yes.

Yeah. I mean, I see what they Everything. Excuse me. You got to speak. Yes, sir. Are you ready? Right.

Oh, it's Yes.

I usually have Larry, make the font bigger. So, I'm gonna have to wear my glasses for this. The font. I'm like, I know. I usually put it at like 22. I know. I know. It's okay.

I know. I know. I have my glasses. Okay. Here we go. Good evening everyone. We're going to go ahead and start the city council meeting. Thank you all for being here and joining us. We'll start with the invocation and that is going to be by pastor Jonathan Berkkey from Trinity Lutheran Church and followed by the pledge of allegiance from Mayor Prom Brent Pedillan. So, if you can please stand if you're willing and able.

Please join me in prayer. Good and gracious God, we just thank you so much for this opportunity to come together this evening for this opportunity to discuss the business of our great city. Lord, we ask your blessing upon our mayor and our city council. Lord, all those who uh make these decisions, give to them wisdom, guidance, insight. Lord, enlighten them uh fill their hearts with a sense of compassion for our community. Lord, for all those who are gathered, we pray that uh you would just bless them uh have that the conversations would glorify your name. Lord, we do thank you so much for all the blessings we enjoy in this community. And we pray that uh we would just always appreciate those who defend and protect our community. We pray for our police officers, our firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics. Lord, may you protect them as they protect us. And as uh we gather now in this meeting, uh may you be present and uh may it be uh foster a greater sense of trust and peace. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Amen. Please join me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, pastor. Thank you, Brent. Next item is roll call. Adriana, if you can please accept for the record that the council is all here. So noted. Thank you. In next item are the minutes.

Mayor Fitz Gibbons, I move we approve the minutes of the regular city council meeting of January 20th, 2026 and the city council study session of January 20th 26 and accept for the record the community services advisory board meeting of October 16th, 2025 and the historic preservation commission of November 24th, 2025. Second. Okay. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Okay. All those in favor of approving the minutes, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. Next item are the claims.

Mayor Stevens, I move that we accept the report for January 14th, 2026 through January 27th, 2026. Second. Okay. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Okay. All those in favor of approving the claims, please signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. The meeting agenda approval. Any changes to the meeting agenda?

Mayor, we have no specific changes, but do want to remind the mayor and council that we do have uh two executive session items that have been scheduled. The first is tied to the hearing. If the mayor and council would like to seek legal advice, you can uh convene into an executive session at that time. And then second, another topic uh for the council to consider uh later in the evening. So if you want reports before that, you may want to set it up uh accordingly. Okay. Mayor Fitzgibbiven, I move that we move reports ahead of our executive session. Second.

Okay. There's been a motion and a second to approve the amended agenda. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I.

I. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Special presentations. We have a couple presentations today. And I'm going to go ahead and step down here. So, this February marks um Black History Month. And so we have a proclamation that I would like to present to Billy Davis who is with our arts and culture commission. So Billy, if you want to come up and join me, that'd be great. Is there anyone else from the arts and culture commission here today? No, I don't think so. But we're proud that this is the first time that the city of Caster has a proclamation for Black History Month. So I'll go ahead and read this, Billy, and then give it to you, but thank you to the commission. So, Black History Month, whereas Black History Month is observed annually across the United States each February to honor the achievements, contributions, and history of African-Americans. And whereas this month serves as a reminder of the courage, strength, and perseverance of perseverance of generations of African-Americans who have shaped every aspect of our national identity and community life. And whereas the city of Cassagrand recognizes the countless contribution of black residents who continue to make an impact in education, business, the arts, public service, and beyond. And whereas this year's national theme, African-Americans, and the arts, highlights the rich artistic and cultural influence that continues to inspire creativity, reflection, and resilience. And whereas the city encourages all residents to take part in celebration, educational events, and community programs that promote understanding, unity, and progress. Now, therefore, I, Lisa Fitzgiven, the mayor of Casran, do

hereby proclaim the month of February 2026 as Black History Month in the city of Caster Grand and urge all citizens to honor and celebrate the achievements and legacy of African-Americans today and throughout the year. This is dated um January 30 30th with the seal of cash. So there you go.

All right. Thank you. Thank you, Billy.

And thank you to the the Arts and Culture Commission. So next we have um some students from Cactus Middle School. And I'm gonna have um um Council Member Becca Romo join me. Um Council Member Romo is the principal at Cactus Middle School. So um but this year um as part of the Unity March, Cactus Middle School held an essay contest that focused on Dr. King and his legacy. Every student participated in this contest in their social studies classes. The social studies teachers submitted their top 30 essays and those were narrowed down to the top four um that the entire staff had the opportunity to vote on. Leila Alvarado's essay was selected for first place. Isla here. Okay, Ila, come on up and join us. Somaya Eckles and Ezra Gonzalez selected as runners up. And are they are you all here? If you can come up and join us, please come on up and join us. Oh, Jere, sorry about that. I miss Jerick Rivera. Jerick Rivera, if you Okay, come on up. So, each each student student put a lot of thought into their words with each student reflecting on the impact that Dr. King made and the impact we can make on our own communities through love, kindness, and service. So, congratulations to the three of you.

And I think you guys One of you read the poem, right, at the MLK community. All three of you. All three. Okay. Okay. Oh, okay. They want to get They see you every day, huh?

All right. Well, thank you. Thank you for being here. And thank you to the parents. You know, where are those parents? Can you stand up of these amazing kids? Stand up, please. Thank you. Thank you for all you do. So, also Cactus Middle School had students participate in art contests to honor Dr. King. Each student was challenged to find an image and a quote that reflected Dr. King's legacy. Each student can choose any medium they liked, including ink, watercolor, paint, and collage. A committee then selected the top four entries for staff to vote on. The two runners up were Lily Griffith and Emily Simpson. Are they here? Okay, if you can come up please again. I know. And then and the second place winner was Eliza Bowl. Eliza. Hello, Eliza. Sarah Wilhight took first place with her image of Dr. King. Right, Sarah? Congratulations. With her image of Dr. King and the quote, "Our lives end the day we become silent about things that matter." So again, Dr. King focused on hope and making a difference through our actions. And it's so inspiring to see the youth in our community living the dream that he had for us as a nation. So again, congratulations to all of you. And we're Thank you for being here. Thank you. Congratulations.

Thank you. I think he wants to get a picture really quick. All right. Good job. Thank you for being here. And and if I can have those parents please stand. You know, again, thank you for for teaching your kids how important it is for this. Thank you so much. Appreciate you all being here. Okay, now down to business, the fun business. So, the next item is the consent agenda. All items list listed with an asterric are considered routine matters and will be enacted by one motion and one roll call vote of the council. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or member of the public so requests in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence of the agenda. Is there anything that um the council would like to pull from the consent?

No. Okay. Any anyone from the public? Well, and Larry, anything on the consent? Okay. Okay. Mayor Fitzim, I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Okay, if we can get a roll call vote, please. Adriana. Council member Remmo. Yes. Council member Dugan. Yes. Council member Edwards. Yes. Council member Huleston. Yes. Council member Herman. Yes. Mayor Promillan. Yes. Mayor Face Given. Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Okay. Public comments. Um, of course, the Cascran City Council values all of the citizen input. When called, I have sever several speaker cards, but if you didn't fill a speaker card, you can definitely um come up when we're go through these. Um, please state your name and address, speak clearly into the microphone, and limit your comments to three minutes or less. In fairness to all speakers, please do not exceed your time. In accordance with the law, the city council cannot respond to or discuss items not listed on the agenda, but we can direct them to staff upon conclusion conclusion of the public comments. So, we'll go ahead and start with the speaker cards that I have. The first one is Joseph Caruso. Hello, Joseph. If you can give your address, please. Hello. Uh, my address is 44003 West Mscow Street in the city of Maricopa, your neighbor. I've lived there for the last 18 years. I'm currently an employee of United Way of Panel County and I'm here to talk about reading by third grade. Um, United Way of Panel County, we've were founded in 1981 here and currently we're supporting education and financial stability initiatives. One of them being our reading by third grade initiative. Uh, why does reading by third grade matter? It's it's such an important educational milestone as I know many of you do know uh after third grade children are no longer taught how to read. They're expected to read to learn. So children who are not reading proficiently by third grade typically are struggling years after that. Uh what what I'm here today to talk about is reading to children before school. Reading to your children uh under five when their brains are 90 excuse me 90% of their brains are developing. They're little sponges. uh they really soak up that information, that literacy, those words so that when they start kindergarten they start on pace with

their peers and then they stay on pace with their peers. What we are seeing is happening is students who start behind are staying behind and then they're struggling throughout school and typically then they're not reading by third grade and one in six children who are not reading by third grade do not finish high school on time and other struggles typically happen there. They're frustrated at school, they're not reading, it's too hard. Uh so I'm here to ask parents of young children to read to their kids under five. Uh we do have a program for that. Uh first I'd like to share uh the most recent Cassagrand third grade reading scores. They reflect that only 15% of our third graders are reading. That's the most recent score. Uh that dropped from 20% in 2024. Um so there's definitely a big need here. We have 620 children in Cassag Grand that are enrolled are in our reading by third grade initiative. We partner with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. It mails a new book to their home every month. Uh it's addressed to the child. They get really excited about the book. They get read to 10 times in a night, the same book over and over. But they love books. They start to get exposed to those words. And then they start kindergarten with that key knowledge that helps them be successful throughout the rest of their life ultimately. Uh so uh like I mentioned, we're mailing over 7,400 books to Cassagrand each year through this program. However, we would like more children to be enrolled and we would like to grow the program, of course. Uh so families with children under five can sign up on our website, unitedwavepc.org under programs. Uh also we have an annual golf tournament that's coming up on April 24th here at the Francisco Grande. Uh people interested in supporting that effort uh can go to wpcolf.com and that uh all of those proceeds will support our reading by third grade initiative to bring more books to cast a grand sign up more children and give those children a better future. So thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Okay, the next speaker is Sonia Soto. Hi Sonia, if you can give your address also.

Hello, my name is Sonia Sto and I live in 211063 East Poco Cay in Queen Creek, Arizona, but I work for uh Penel County and we serve Penal County. Today I'm coming because I want to chair another program that we have through United Way. Uh it's called the familyfriend and neighbor program. We are funded through first things first and what we do is we serve anyone that is doing informal child care at home. In this case, most of our providers are grandparents. Anyone that is doing child care and is helping informally that is not receiving any kind of uh compensation qualifies as long as a child is not their own. What uh what the program how the program works is I get trained. I have a coworker. We go get trained. We we uh make sure that we know what is the most important right now in education and our goal is for the ch the providers to be ready uh to help the children to be ready for kindergarten. We provide them with free educational materials and free trainings each month and we have core topics like science, math, literacy. We make sure that everybody um knows exactly what to need to be doing for the children to be ready for kindergarten. Um instead of be watching TV and playing with an iPad or iPhone. Basically, we want to uh make sure that they're doing hands-on activities. In my case, I work for the um Hispanic community or Spanish speaking community here in Cassagran and we are currently enrolling. Um we usually serve around 250 families and we're constantly enrolling. So my purpose here today is just for everybody to know and get informed of our program. They can visit our website United Way PC under programs and we have all the information there.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you Sonia. Okay, next person Barbara Sundust. I'm Barbara Sundust. My address is 1273 East Cordova Avenue, Cassagrand. And um actually that young lady who said Martin Luther King said something about we can't be silent. That's why I'm here because we just can't be silent. And and this I feel like this is really a difficult thing for me to to say right now, but because it sounds harsh, but I just I have a sinking feeling that we as a city prefer our unhoused to be gone. We came up with an ordinance to get the to get them out of public parks, etc. before we gave any thought to a solution or before we had a solution. And I've heard people say we can just put the people and take them back to the reservation, the indigenous people, and we can move people to Eloy or Kulage or even I heard somebody say we can give them a ticket to Tucson if they know somebody in Tucson. So th this these this this is their home. Finding them and making them and move and hide it. None of that is a solution to the problem. So I we need as I've said before I guess a an extended stay shelter where the whole person can be ministered to a place where they can receive money management skills, employment help, psychological and spiritual services. This addresses the whole person. If there is the possibility of such a place, which it seems like there might be, we need to work quickly to get it up and moving. And maybe what we need is a GoFundMe page. People who could who pushed hard to get the public to get the homeless

out of public places. Maybe now they could donate money for the city to have an extended shelter and um a a management and and the um services the helpful services could various programs could come into this place. Giving someone money for a month to stay in a hope motel is not enough. They should be checked on and given help. I mean, how hard it must be to to have a month to find a job and affordable housing and then at the end of the month when you've had no success, you have to go back on the street again. So, I'm just pray that we have people who can hear the message, who can donate somehow money to help get a shelter, an extended care shelter where they can get help over a length of time till they get everything together and I did it in less than three minutes.

Thank you, Barbara. Okay, Michelle Robinson. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Michelle. We'll make sure we keep your name on it for the record. So, you're agreeing with Barbara, right? Is that what you're saying? Okay. Okay. Um Jake Pierce. Hi, Jake.

Hello. My name is Jake Pierce. I live at 232 West Hawaii Drive. I'm here tonight to talk about the dog park, which is one of the many wonderful, wonderful amenities we have here in town. And as all the amenities are, people who use them are the people they're the most valuable to. I have two boxers and the thing they need most after food and water is exercise. I'm at the dog park six days a week unless it's raining in the morning. Um the dog park, we moved here in 2006 from Michigan. Don't miss winter a bit. The dog park I was in existence when we moved here and I'd like to think it might have that would have been 86. If it was 86, that dog park's 40 years old. Recently at the dog park, apparently water waste has become an issue. The first thing that happened was they turned the source the valve for how much water comes out is not regulable by customers. The dog park has one main entrance. The water supply is inside there. The dog park has two sides. The bowls that the dogs drink out of are in there. The valve for the aside from the water being flow being reduced, the valve is they replaced with an onoff valve with a 90 degrees or a spring-loaded valve. I'm sorry. If you let go of it, the water shuts off. Unfortunately, that valve is 5 to seven feet away from being able to re there's a hose, but you can't hold the valve and get water into the into the containers unless you have two people or have some method to subvert the valve. Uh thirdly, recently a new program was in or wait, let me back up. The city has posted probably ever since the dog park's been in existence three signs with the rules for the dog park. The most important is the city has indemnified itself because you use the dog park at your own risk. That pretty much takes care of the city. The second one is any damage done by your dog to a person or another dog is your responsibility. So, the city's

pretty safe about the dog park. So, recently without posting, all of the containers were removed. Even though they were put there by citizens, they weren't city property. Removed. I wrote an email to Mike Edwards, park management, park maintenance supervisor, and asked what's going on. New program because of safety. We're worried about health of the dogs after 40 years. Suddenly, everybody's got to bring, this is what he told me, everybody's got to bring their own bowl to the dog park. Okay. So, like this Saturday, if there's 12 dogs there, there's going to be 12 bowls of water sitting around. You think the dogs care what bowl they drink out of? They're going to drink out of whoever's bowl they drink out of. And the city's indemnified itself. So, you know, the city's got wonderful wonderful Well, I'm running out of time. The amenities are great, but anyone who gets out of the swimming pool drips off water. We just write it off as a function of having a beautiful swimming pool. We have a beautiful water feature. everything that everyone that gets wet, the water drips off and either evaporates or goes down a train. We're worried about the waste of nobody bathes their dog at the dog park.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jake. And we can have someone follow up with Jake. Larry is can someone follow We have your your number. We can have someone follow up with you. Okay. Jean Henderson. Hello. I haven't been here for a while. Um 449 North Dry Lake Street, C Graham. Uh my cap is to show solidarity with the police and when people see me wearing it, they smile and I notice that they start acting a little better and even the kids and sometimes the people slow down on the streets. Okay. A special thank you to St. Vincent, Pat, and the other five groups who helped me on January 28th when I felt all was lost. Okay, for your information, young women are stealing jewelry from um great amounts of boxes at TJ Maxx. Okay, parents need to teach their daughters right versus wrong. I know this because I go into stores and I I check all the jewelry and I had like six big piles that I took up to the front. So, and sometimes it's at Walmart. Okay. Thank you to the Cagram police and firefighters for all their help. However, more police are needed to help curb the street racers. Plus, I have several reports from them regarding their continuing to harass me nights. Number five, the police the public toilets at Parrot Park need to be opened and utilized. As I hear often when families are at the park, "Mom, I need to pee." So, the families then have to leave because there's no place for them to go to the bathroom. Okay, that's it. I don't have much time. Give it to someone else. Thank you very much.

Thank Thank you, Jean. Okay, Jacob Petroski. Hi, Jacob.

Hey, name is Jacob Atroski, 194 South Lomodor Trail. Um, I want to revisit the flock surveillance system and how it's being used. Everything I'm about to say comes from the flock data city the city provided me on January 28th, 2026. The data format I wasn't provi was provided wasn't ideal, but I reviewed every page and the patterns are unmistakable. Between January 1st, 2025 and January 21st, 2026, the Flock surveillance system was searched 14,091 times. That's 386 days and on average 36.5 searches per day. Let me let me those numbers kind of resonate for a second here. That's 70% of those searches have no case number. Okay? Not missing paperwork, just no case. Blank fields, fake placeholders, the year followed by a series of zeros. And the reasons for these searches attempt to locate, investigation, or simply just nothing at all. Okay? Thousands of times. That's not targeted policing. That's search first and justify later. This matter. This matters because Flock isn't a camera. It's a time machine. It lets someone rewind the city and search where people were, even if there was no crime, no suspect, and no reason to search at the time. On August 18th, 2025, the police chief reassured this council that anyone worried about the misuse could rely on a builtin audit trail. You guys remember that? Guess what? It doesn't work. The data in the audit trail proves the statement that he made is simply not true. Okay, it gets worse. The logs also show inter agency searches, but they

don't tell us who's requesting them or why. That means someone outside the police department can search the movements of people in the city and the public has no reason why, nothing. When I requested the data, I was told that the license plate numbers had to be redacted for privacy. That's absurd. The plate numbers are not a privacy problem. The privacy problem is thousands of warrantless searches with no case, no reason, and no identified agency. Redacting the data doesn't protect the public. It protects the system from being questioned. If this system were being used the way the public was promised, the records would clearly show that and they don't. This community did not agree to become a searchable database quietly, indefinitely, and without accountability. Safety without limits isn't safety, it's surveillance. Thank you.

Thank you, Jacob. And again, we can't respond, but we can have someone contact you. Is this is your number, your telephone number on your card? Okay. And everything. Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak?

I didn't fill out a card. Um, no. Brad Workman, 928 North Brown Avenue. uh just bring the attention to to the council of uh rising trend around our my house and the evergreen district. Um I've got the addresses here. So at 715 East Tentth Street, we have had multiple breakins of homeless people breaking into the house and trashing it. We had at 700 East 10th Street is a home for sale directly across the street from me. the homeless broke into that house as well um while it was for sale at 913 North Kod. There's been three calls to the police with the alleyway being blocked and searching for people who broke into that house. On the lot on 1028 North Brown, empty lot. We've had two calls there for people. On the house on the corner of 9inth and North Kota, there's been multiple breakins and as of today, 119 East Choya Street had the door kicked in. So, um, just bringing attention to the council that although we have moved the homeless people out of parks, they are now targeting vacant homes in the Evergreen District. Um, I have called multiple realators and they are advising against placing signs on uh properties for sale in our neighborhood because of this problem. So, just wanted to bring that to the attention. Thank you for all that you do. That's all I got. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, we'll go ahead and close the public comments. And it looks like Kevin, you're up for I1, correct?

Thank you. Staff recommends that the mayor and city council execute a professional services contract with the Intellus, Inc. for Phase One Design Services for the Colorado and O'Neal project, an amount not to exceed $164,37. Uh the city published a request for qualifications for uh roadway design services and received five statements of qualifications. After a thorough review of those documents, uh we chose Intellus as the uh most appropriate firm to move forward with uh this design concept. Um if approved, Intellus will be completing a project in phases and phase one will consist of the preparation of uh project assessment with approximately 15% uh design plans, evaluation of up to three design alternatives at the uh intersections in the project area. Um preparation of probable construction cost estimates. Um phase one will also include uh coordination with the stakeholders and accommodate accommodations for existing half streetet improvements that are being done with the developments in that area. There's uh future developments that are currently going through the planning process. We're also going to be working with them on their uh design plans and making sure we come up with a good plan for the entire uh uh project scope area. Um the scope includes uh Colorado Street uh from just north of Cottonwood Lane near Mission Heights Preparatory High School north to Colorado Street at Silver Reef. Uh Colorado Street exists from there north to Courtzson. It will also include O'Neal Drive from the current end of pavement just past Legacy

Traditional School east all the way to uh Pier Road. Um, O'Neal Drive serves as a primary access to the Legacy Traditional School and the Cottonwood Ranch neighborhood. Uh, this connectivity will really provide uh opportunities for uh four-way traffic north, south, east, and west uh in in all those neighborhoods in that area. Um, the project should be uh completed in uh I want to make sure I get my notes correct here. uh in approximately four months uh we'll have this phase one uh ready to go and then we'll move into our uh phase two which will be uh moving towards final design. Probably a good opportunity for us to bring uh the different options back to council and have a study session and talk about uh what those improvements might look like. Um but with that uh we'd be happy to answer any questions. Okay. Any questions, comments?

Oh, he jumped out ahead of mine. Good. Um, okay. No questions. So, if we can get a resolution number, please. Resolution number 5882, a resolution of the council of the city of Cagran, Arizona, accepting a proposal from Intellis, Inc. for the signed services, authorizing the expenditure of public funds, and authorizing execution of a contract with or purchase order to Intellis, Inc. Mayor Fitz Gibbons. I move approval of resolution number 5882. Did you say zero or two? Two. Two. Okay. 582 is presented. Okay. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? If we can get a roll call vote, please. Council member Vermo, yes.

Council member Dugan, yes. Council member Edwards, yes. Council member Hules, yes. Council member Herman, yes. Mayor Prom Dylan. Yes. Mayor Fitzgiven. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. Boards and commissions. So, we have the appointment of David S. Is it Sansick? David

Sansick. David Sansick. And then the reappoints of Melissa Yost um Fuentes and Tabitha Avery. I don't think I see those two here, but David is here. and just wanted to thank David for um you know applying and agreeing to serve on the commission. We're happy to have you join us. So um if we can get a motion to approve. So second. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed?

Okay, thank you. Thank you again, David. Okay, item K1. Okay, we're gonna This is um an appeal. Do you want me to go ahead and start with this, Dan? I mean, I think I'm going to introduce this. Correct. As far as um So, this is an appeal um of the planning commission's denial of a conditional use permit for the KPPPC advanced chemical um for property which is located near Ash Avenue alignment north of Commerce Drive and South Hila Highway. So, this is an appeal of the action of the planning commission to determine whether to affirm or reverse the decision to deny the um conditional use permit. So, this is a little unique situation that we're in because we're serving as a quasi quasi judicial proceeding. And so that means council members and I will be will base their decisions solely on the applicable approval um criteria in the city code and the evidence presented on the record as established here tonight which includes the materials that were in the agenda packet and those other materials and statements that were presented tonight. This decision must be based on this criteria and competent evidence rather than on opinion or general public sentiment um about the project. So um before we begin, we want to I want to ask each council member to disclose any um exparte communications related to this item. if there were any communications that have occurred um outside of the proceeding um between council members and a party, an interested citizen or other stakeholder um or about um substantive issues relating to the appeal um including both written and oral communications about substantive matters. Is there any

disclosure that anyone would like to present at this time? Okay, go ahead, Matt. I have to say um I got an email from Dean Dill concerning this one from Brett Benedict um Joe Hanken uh emails I received and then I read an article in the paper that quoted Kirk McCarville about some things. I don't know if that's communication or not but and I will say that uh it will allow me to remain impartial. It's just emails I received from citizens. So okay I as well received a email from Bren Benedict. Okay. Yes, I've received emails no from all of them. No, no feedback to them. Just received from them. Okay.

I too received emails from uh Brent Benedict and uh also Kirk McCarville along with a request for a meeting from Kirk. I later denied that uh after some more information was shared at the city level. I also got a a phone call today. excuse me, uh from attorney David Fitzgibbons. Um we had a conversation. Uh he sent me a copy of a similar document that um that Kirk McCarville sent as well. Okay, that's all. I received the same emails as Matt. Okay. I received the same emails, but no response. I didn't respond to them.

Okay. I did respond to Dean Dill, which is public record just about transportation route. So, right, just FYI. and and I'm going to agree I also received those emails and just responded and thank them for the information. Um so thank you. Looks like we all received the same emails.

Okay. So um we'll go I'll go ahead and explain how this you know order the order of proceedings to ensure fair and orderly process. We're going to proceed as follows. We'll first have our staff present. Um then we'll have the applicant present at that time and then any public testimony and after that we'll have any um you know um council questions to the staff or the applicant. So and then of course if there's any type of rebuttal and then you know any del deliberation um after that. So, um, again, let's try to remember that, um, all the testimony should be limited to the issues to the conditional use permit criteria in the city code as we move forward. So, we'll go ahead and start with the staff presentation.

Goody, mayor, city council. Again, tonight's request is an appeal hearing to consider the conditional use permit for the production of volatile materials within the general industrial I2 zoning district. The site is located between Thornton Road and Burus Road just north of Commerce Drive. And again, the site is zoned I2 and consists of approximately 26 acres. Little overview of the project. Um, the applicant proposes to develop a phase chemical manufacturing campus on approximately 26 acres. Phase one development will occur on approximately six acres located at the southwest corner of the site and will include facilities for the purification and blending of semiconductor grade chemicals including hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide and as well as associated warehousing laboratories, quality control and office space on the site. Future phases will expand production capabilities supporting infrastructure. Um the applicant has also reserved space on the site for a semiconductor grade sypholic acid facility which is anticipated within five to seven years. However, that is subject to market conditions and c customer demand. Uh to the right is the conceptual site plan of the site showing phase one and the future phases. Did want to go overview of the safety regulations. Um the facility will be designed to comply with all applicable rules and regulations set forth by federal, state, county, and the city. Um some of these permits also include on the federal side um facility will obtain an EPA and resource conservation recovery act um registration to ensure they're compliant with the disposal of all generated hazardous waste. Um, Panal County obtains um or facilitates the air air quality permit um which strictly limits and monitors potential air emissions and requires best available

control technology. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality um facilitates um the storm water permit as applicable to manage and control runoff and ensure the quality of storm water leaving the site and that is conducted um through our um engineering site development permit. Um, other city permits include a wastewater permit which will be required from the city to um and setting strict standards for the quality and volume of any discharge in in the musful system and as well as city fire department. Um, a con comprehensive fire permit will be required in conjunction with the building permit and mandating that the facility's fire suppression systems, emergency response plans, and chemical storage design all comply with the latest international fire code and local amendments, ensuring the safety of first responders and the community. Here is our U conditional use permit review criteria. These are covered in detailed in the staff report provided with the RCA. Tonight I'll be covering the two highlighted items in more detail. However, we did want to um touch upon the fir the first item and the third item. The first is that the site um for the proposed uh use is adequate in size and topography to accommodate the use and all yards, spaces, walls and fences, parking, loading and landscaping are adequate. Again, this parcel is large large enough to support the required setbacks, internal circulation, parking, truck uh maneuvering, landscaping as well as security features as and as well as the proposed future phases. And the third item that the proposed use will have no significant adverse impact upon the budding properties. Again, as shown on the maps previously, all the zone um starting properties is for industrial purposes and potential impacts related to noise, traffic or safety are mitigated through building design, enclosed processing systems, site security, and compliance

with applicable environmental building and fire codes. With regards to that, the site for the proposed use has uh street access adequate to carry the quantity and kind of traffic generated for the proposed use. um their traffic statement indicated that they will have 61 AM and PM uh AM and PM peak trip hours and this is consistent with the number of employees that will be employed there. Um the applicant has indicated that there will be 10 to 12 trucks per day arriving anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The facility will maintain a three-day inventory of both raw materials and product, allowing for truck delivery to be spread out throughout the workday and typically outside the normal AM and PM hours. Additionally, um the site is also part of a five lot plat currently under review. One of the main purposes of this plat is to create a roadway that will connect the site to Helipin Highway to the north via Garden Avenue. There will also be access along the Ash Avenue alignment that will connect um the site to Commerce Drive to the south which will then have access to Peter's Road. And then that the fourth criteria is that the Pearl's use shall be in conformance with the general plan and zoning code. Again, um this area in the 2030 general plan was designated for manufacturing industry which supports the I2 zoning as stated in city code. The purpose of the I2's general industrial zone is to provide for the development of industries which because of their nature of their operations, appearance, traffic generation or emission would not be compatible with land uses in other zoning districts but which nevertheless are necessary and desirable activities in the city. Oops. So again, um I2 zoning district is intended to accommodate intensive industrial operations including chemical manufacturing subject to a conditional use permit. So the map on the right uh the first one shows the land use map of

manufacturing industry and the second map shows the industrial zoning in the area um I I2 to the south and then I1 along Hilipend highway with regards to the stakeholder process this um applicant and staff met all the requirements um applicant did send out a prescoping letter in November of 2025 to property owners within 1,000 ft. um again that met all the requirements for the January 8th planning commission meeting. Um for tonight's appeal hearing, additional notices were given in the dispatch and additional mailings were done again to property owners within the thousand ft and new signage was posted as well. Uh no comments or inquiries were received prior to to the planning commission meeting or tonight's meeting. Um one community member voiced concerns regarding the truck traffic on Panal Avenue at the January planning commission meeting. Um, planning commission expressed concerns over the ongoing truck traffic from the manufacturing area along Panel Avenue to I 10 and the concentration of chemical plants in the area. Regarding traffic, one, the city cannot prevent truck traffic um on Panel Avenue as it's a state highway and under Arizona Department of Transportation jurisdiction. In addition, there is also state legislation that standardizes how truck routes are designated statewide, particularly on key arterials, which Panel Avenue is that have cross jurisdictional boundaries by ensuring that if truck can trucks can safely travel on a major art road, it should not be restricted without clear justification and proper approvals at the state and federal levels. Um, to alleviate this issue, the city is working on creating alternative bypass routes for Panel Avenue. However, that title line is still unknown. However, um the applicant, as noted in their appeal letter, has indicated that they will have their truck traffic utilize I8. And the applicant is also interested in

working with the other regional chemical manufacturers in the city um fire department response team to create a unified set of emergency response protocols. Another safety concern that was brought up at the planning commission meeting is the safety of the isotainers um that transports the chemicals. However, the applicant's presentation will go over details on that. And then regarding concentrations, while there are a number of cups for projects in various stages in this area of the city, I I just want to reiterate that the city's general plan has detonated this area as to where they should be versus spread out throughout the city. And as noted earlier, there are various other safety regulations and permitting that is done to ensure compatibility. As noted at the January 8th planning commission meeting, the commission moved to approve the cap. How however the motion failed 34 resulting in the denial of the permit per city code. The applicant um timely requested that the matter be heard by city council. So tonight, um, council may after accepting comments from the applicant, staff, and public, elect to either approve the conditional use permit requests via resolution, denying the conditional use permit via res resolution, and the council may also table the matter, but that um, matter may only be tabled for not more than two meetings. So happy to answer any questions c commission may have, council may have, sorry.

Okay. Okay. Okay. There are any clarification questions for the staff at this time? We we'll open it up for um um public testimony, but is there anything you guys have to clarify? Sure. I would just like one clarification just so everybody understands it. On the traffic counts that you mentioned, you had 61, I believe it was 61, a.m. and pm and that's for employees, correct? in and try it. Those were the traffic counts for the peak hours. That would include the 10 to 12 truck deliveries during the if they were during the peak hours. Yes. But they indicated they were going to likely be outside of those peak hours. Okay.

Chairman, can you show that map of where the road's going to go through the Hila Bend Highway? Yes. Thanks.

Okay. Any other questions on that? Okay. Anything else? Any clarifying questions at this point?

Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. Um we'll go ahead and invite the applicant or the representatives Good evening, Madame Mayor, council members, and the residents of Kazak Grande. My name is Austin Lou. Uh, I am the general manager of KPPPC Advanced Chemicals and a board member to our parent company, KTOP PPC based in Taiwan, a family-owned company and that I represent here tonight and will help lead into the next phase of growth here in Kasa Grande. So, I currently live in Taiwan, so I don't have an address to report, but uh my long-term US visa has recently been approved. So, as we move forward with this project, my family and I will be spending significant time in Kasa Grande, and I have already made a personal investment here. So, this project is not remote to me. I intend to be part of this community. Uh we are excited about establishing a long-term operation in Kasa Grande, making s uh substantial capital investment, creating highquality technical jobs and growing alongside with the city for the decades to come. Our project supports a resilience of the US semiconductor supply chain at a time where reliability and predictability matter more than ever. Like other semiconductor supply chain projects already approved or in operation in Kasa Grande, we meet or exceed all applicate uh applicable safety, environmental and regulatory requirements. This is the same standard we uphold for our customer in North Phoenix and Chandler. We understand that the primary concern raised on the January 8th meeting relates to the transportation of chemicals in the ISO container on public roads which I have a little miniature model

here with me. So my uh so my team and I would like to address the concern directly using facts engineering standards and real world operation experience so the console can make can evaluate this issue based on evidence and help address the public concerns. So after my remark, our design team will walk through the ISO safety, ISO container safety and the proposed transportation routes. We welcome any question from the mayor, city council member as well as the public. Thank you. And uh Bo will have the mic now. Thank you. My name is Bo Droiaak of WMA Architects. Do you need my address?

Do we need the address? Yes. Oh, yes, please. Okay. 4231 North Cypress, Pine, Arizona. Thank you. I commute.

I work in Phoenix and I commute. Um, so I really thank you for the opportunity and the presentation, Jacqueline. That was really thorough. We have a lot of backup if you need additional information. We have um uh focuses down on the two subject matters by sustainer safety and the traffic route. I wanted to start with um something that's been occurring as we've been talking about this project for a number of years, but obviously over the last few weeks and month or so that we're really at this interesting pivot point in Kasa Grande for an interesting growth that's occurring um it's becoming a central part of the supply chain infrastructure for the state of Arizona. It's just no escaping that and it's supply chain that's tied directly to the semiconductor advanced manufacturing. And so it's a really amazing opportunity we're super excited about. But it is interesting because I think it causes these little pressures that came out of the planning uh meeting which was like hey you know two years ago is different than now. And I think that was really the key thing that was maybe um fully not appreciated initially but two years ago three years ago is a different Kasa Grande. The pressures are different the traffic's different. The growth is different and we kind of think that is the the driver for some of the concerns that came up at the planning meeting. And that's the opportunity we have today to kind of help clarify some of those concerns uh and to be a part of those solutions. So this is a very focused presentation. Let me see if this works. Did I do that right?

Well, there we go. So we're going to talk about isotainer safety uh transport route through Kasa Grande and then summary and conclusion and then um Austin's going to do a kind of some closing remarks. Oops. So really first um um isotainers are like unbelievably durable things. Uh they're more durable than typical fuel tanks are running over the QT to fill up. Uh they're more durable than um of the semis that are flying by full of materials and so on. Isotainers are actually designed to take a huge amount of abuse. There's even videos of isotainers rolling down hills. Um that's what their purpose is. They carry very precious cargo, really high purity chemicals that you know obviously have inherent dangers to them. So it's treated like that. So the uh isotainers are stackable. They're shipped around the world. They stack on each other. They stack on uh as you see there, one of the large versions. This is a small one of the uh of the KTO um isotainer on its own custom chassis. So it's not just thrown on any backa semi and taken off. It's got safety latches that connect it to that chassis. The chassis and the isotainer frame exoprame basically uh of treat operate as one which is really important. A couple of little details uh it's double lined. It's stainless steel. Um it's coated depending on what chemicals it's carrying. It has these particularly these interesting relief valves. So there's never ever if there is an accident which is it's you can't even find data on it. that's really tough, you know, where there's a pressurized release doesn't happen because of the safety valves and so on on the thing. It's excuse me, it's very very very durable. Um, and as a result, it's a great way to transport uh through um through Kasagrron. But the issue really is where that kind of concern is from the planning meeting is wait a minute, as we're growing, how are we or where are we going to start, you know, handling this truck route and so on. So the safety components of the isotane are

super important of course to route. But just to summarize the pressure relief valves provide additional safety during a very rare severe collision event. There's one other little thing that's not on there. There's a filling standard that is used that keeps the containers from being filled so high where they overturn. So even that even at the filling side of the KPPPC standard that's at a certain level to prevent that and that's a requirement. It's double contained. It's super rugged. Two layers of stainless steel. is puncture resistant. The materials robust materials safety and regular safety inspections every two and a half and 5 years. Uh it's got a steel exo frame safety attachment locks and regular inspections. The ultra pure focus I mean having the opportunity and privilege to work with KPPPC and other uh companies that supply the very amazingly advanced technology that's growing in Arizona. Their quality of ultra pure focus drives why the safety is so important to them. The safety is critical because of the quality of the product and how much effort has gone to make ultra pure product so we can have you know the incredible technology and our phones and everything else. So KPPPC's internal standards exceed industry norm norms and their customers Intel, TSMC and others they exceed the norms. So the quality of uh the quality of the product and the distri distribution of that uh product is higher than anything. It's because of the in intent and use as well as the safety requirements. Uh the chemicals are corrosive. Uh they're essentially similar to the um uh acid you might use to clean a filter for your pool filters. It's just a little bit more concentrated, just a little bit. There's no fire, there's no explosions, and there's no concentrated gases emitted if there's an accident. essentially it hits the ground. Uh and having worked with the met with the fire department, they've actually said that we can say they support the project. They agree with all the we've met with them twice to talk about safety procedures and just

the route and all the other things that we may not have considered and also talked about their emergency response. So they have a really amazing emergency response. So what they do right off the bat is something happens, they come and contain and cordon off and then there's a neutralization process if it's needed. uh and and then they have a a third-party hazmat company come in to actually take any disposal if that ever was to happen. Uh most cases if it hits the asphalt it just kind of evaporates and if it gets in the below the asphalt it doesn't hurt the water table and and the amount of it would never be enough anyway. So it's super important to know that that we are talking about a corrosive but not an explosive and some of the concerns that came up at the planning meeting that there might be explosions and so on. It's it's not the case. The transport route is really interesting. Um, we focused a lot actually originally on the um, I10 route originally because it's shorter and also everyone else is using it. But it's really been interesting the last few weeks particularly as we've been talking about what's the best for KPPPC, what's the best for the community. Uh, and then we realized and after Austin's research, the I8 route is the best route. in fact is the IIA route, interestingly enough, is longer, but it's actually easier, less traffic, it's safer, it's out of the density, it's lower risk, and if you have a high quality product that you care so much about, why take it on a high-risisk route? It doesn't make sense. So, the I8 route is our preferred route. It is a route that um Austin and team, KPPPC team will be codifying in contracts with the uh transport companies to make sure they stay on that route. And we kind of think it's a great opportunity for us as a team to be potentially that role model for your future projects. And granted, you can't mandate access to the roads or movement of roads, but we can be a role model for it, a reference. Hey, this actually is better. And as you grow, this might be a great opportunity to start setting this as a standard, not mandated, but for future op future companies to start

thinking about i8 as the primary pathway. It's the best solution. It's clearly the best. And had we had we thought about it earlier, we would have you have we thought more about it. And I think this is the point of the planning committee is to throw up questions like this. So we appreciated all of that. So in the end, um, uh, I'm going to go and hand it off to Austin, but we really appreciate the opportunity to explain this and maybe answer some questions afterward.

Thank you. Uh, so in closing, I would like to emphasize a few key points. So the first is the ISO container safety itself. This is a global uh industry standard and for safe trans safe safe transportation of chemical by road, rail and sea. So they are engineered rigorously uh to the rigorous international and US department of transportation standards and have an excellent safety record. These same system are already used by existing operations in Kasa Grande and throughout the greater Phoenix region. Second uh the chemicals we transport are corrosive but uh not flammable or explosive. They do not pose fire or explosion risk and do not generate toxic gas cloud. Our plans to re uh is have been reviewed by the city's fire department and no concern has been identified. In the unlikely event of an accident uh incident, the fire department has confirmed that the local emergency response responders are fully capable of handing lease materials. Third, our transportation plan is limited and controlled approximately 10 to 12 ISO uh containers deliveries per day doing normal business hours and uh with delivery spread out throughout the days to avoid congestion. Our carriers are trained certified drivers and through our contracts we require adherence to the city's recommend recommended routes. So taken together, we believe these facts address the concern raised today. Neither KPBCP nor the city's planning department has received public comments regarding this project and traffic. While an understandable topic in a growing city is something we are committed to addressing collaboratively with the city and the community. Finally, this project fully complies with the Kasaka Grande's industrial zoning and the city codes and reflect the same standard applied to other approved projects. Clear fact-based decision-making matters not only for

this project but for how the future investment uh evaluates Kasa Grande. We hope we provide this council with a clear factual basis to move forward so Kasa Grande can continue be a strong partner in building a resilient US semiconductor supply chain. Thank you for your time. We respectfully ask for your support to allow us to grow together with the city of Kasa Grande and its community. We welcome any question from the city council or the public. Thank you.

Thank you, Austin. Did you have anything else? Okay. Um Okay. So, let's go ahead. Is there the council? Do you have any questions? Any clarifications before we open it for public testimony? Any clarification? Sure, Bob. I I have uh several questions. Sure. So, um this material is coming from somewhere to Kasa Grande. Where where is it coming from?

So, uh our process basically we take industrial grade like commercially available uh chemicals like from the from the uh commodity market. So it can be either from local or from the maybe somewhere in the states and then we will be uh purifying that on at our facility and then it will be it will go to the semiconductor fab as a as a high purity product. Okay. Yeah. And is that a variety of locations that that it would be sent to? It will be sent to there's only two major site one in North Phoenix and then the other one in Chandler. Okay. Yeah. And so essentially TSMCA Intel. Okay.

And your um your willingness to uh go south to I8 um and and I I think it's kind of a general question that Larry you may have to answer, but can that be written into our conditional use? We we were burned on that exact agreement uh with another company uh promised that would be the route for their trucks. Uh to my knowledge they never used it and and in in argument today it's uh what the their their whole decision is based on u cost per mile and it's cheaper for them to go north to I 10. Um, so I don't want to get burned on that.

Well, I think Brett, it looks like Brett's trying to make a comment here. Are you or you

I certainly can. Would would prefer, but um and and we all kind of know I won't rat out that company and I wasn't here that um but but certainly we all have that. You know, generally speaking, um we don't recommend that you try to condition specific routes for a number of reasons. Um, one of those is that there is a state statute that specifically uh preempts us and a federal statute that preempts us from establishing essentially hazardous materials routes, which is what we would be doing. We'd be doing that only for one company when there are other companies that are transporting the exact same chemicals or very near chemicals that have already been approved in this community that use the other routes. Um, so it's difficult and it would also be very difficult to enforce if there was ever a reason for them to move. if we ever did another truck route, you'd have to come back and reopen the the CUP. So, we certainly don't recommend that um for a lot of reasons and and other cities have been burned when they've tried to put those conditions in only to find out that then they had to go back and open the cup and and take those conditions back.

Okay. So, really, it's uh listening to them being good citizens and we all heard the promise that they're making tonight. Okay. I can just add, you know, I8 is to our advantage. The idea of time is only one factor and I think whomever said it's miles and sure it's true it is shorter. It is not growing to be an easier road. It's not. It's going to be it's more complicated. It's higher risk. I8 is better for a high purity product. It's actually an easier drive. So that it's to our advantage to stick to I8 not do anything not to follow through on that. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Based on that I just have a really quick question. Um, I noticed on the initial staff presentation that that was I8 was going to be your preferred uh transportation route uh to I8. What would be the the situation where it would not become the preferred and you just have to take panel and you decide well I'm going to go down panel and I'm just thinking of an accident something like that that you couldn't access that route or would it be a hey we're in a hurry we go down panel. Well, I think in most cases, uh, the the transport would wait for an accident to clear. Uh, depending on where it occurs, turning around is not so easy and it's not actually recommended, right?

Uh, so I think not knowing kind of a hypothetical of course, uh, alternate routes could be worked out also with the fire department if that was a necessary ch if you had a accident that's down for hours, you know, I think that would be the recommendation. Uh, working with them on their their recommended route. Okay. And they would be more than happy to do that with us, too. Great. Thank you. And uh as as a business like uh of course if we can find a route that's shorter and then better of but also to thees to the city and also the public uh concerns then of course uh I think uh Jacqueline mentioned that there's there's work to establish an alternative route. So we based I think based on the results on that and when it's approved when the city is comfortable and the community is comfortable we would like to explore that as an option but not right now.

Right. Okay. Okay. Questions? Sure. Man, I would like to say that Thornton is a big nice beautiful road and we changed that road. Um, it really is. It's just been redone. You guys have been out there. I know you guys are investing money. Um, and what I'm looking at here is land use mostly and that's that's what a cup is for. Um, and you've answered a lot of the questions that people have had and I appreciate that. I have a uh, you know, some other people have been talking to me. Uh, I've got a couple questions, not people, not not since this, but just questions that have come up. is you have all this stuff about your transportation. What about the safety at your plant? How does that fit in? Well, because that's the land there, you know, I mean that's

I know you're going to adhere to the uh adhere to the ad, you know, all those, but just tell us a little bit about what kind of practices you have there.

Well, fortunately, we don't deal with solvents or any flammable combustible uh uh chemicals. So for so fortunately the two items we mentioned uh hydrogen uh hydrochloric acid as well as ammonia hydroxide these are like Bo mentioned these are actually not that special chemicals they are they are very commonly seen so at our practice everything in uh because of the customer's requirement of ultra pure and ultra high purity to give you a perspective is uh usually when you buy something from uh from the uh commercial grade they are parts per million we are dealing parts per trillion. So, so like it's about a million fold in terms of commu uh of contaminant concerns. So, uh all the pro all the processes are contained in PTFE special line materials and then none of our chem our operator would have a chance to to actually touch it just to keep it that clean. So, our process well contained automated and also recodable and traceable. So uh so this is something that we adhere to in Taiwan because of the customer need and then we are bringing here as well.

We have a double containment designed everywhere. So if there happens to be a spill to double contained tanks, it goes into a separate double contained area that then uh is then through a hazmat company will pull out where when it's required. Uh the other thing is we've designed uh our team has designed this incredibly advanced facility that's all about safety and cleanliness. Uh the clean room to test quality. Uh the whole process is about ultra pure safety and product. Uh so it it's it's unbelievable how beautiful the Taiwanese plant is and how beautiful this one's going to be.

Uh you said a couple important things to me is one it's not explosive or flammable. So we're not dealing with anything like that. And then Bo, you said um if it does spill, it's not enough to affect the water, too. You know, it's it's really a lot like the stuff I clean filters for my hot tub. It's the same stuff. It's a lower more pure purify. It's less pure though than the Yeah. Um and then you will write into your contracts with your transporters that you're telling us that to go down Thornton to I8 and I up to Thornton. That's all I have so far. Okay. Any other questions coming?

A Larry question. Um, how many plants um, do we have that produce a similar product and have there been safety issues with those plants?

Similar product. I don't know that there's anybody produce anything similar in Cassagrand. We obviously have recently um had other chemical companies that have gone through the process and I want to say that there is as many as nine type of of chemical type companies, three most recently that are uh really focused on either logistics for chemical supply to tractor or to TSMC and or uh specific chemicals that will be used in their process. Any other questions?

Is there any concern on air quality for our community at off the plant itself? Any emissions that anything that leaves the building or is everything self-contained inside that building? How's the ventilation system work? How's is is there I don't understand. We have a Yeah, we it's a great question. We have air permitting and water permitting required through the county. We have scrubbers that are designed to any any off gas is completely scrubbed to meet all the county standards and it's tested regularly. So there is no admissions that would enter the atmosphere. That's a problem. How often is it tested? Did you see regularly? Every year. Yeah. Okay. That was a good question because that's one of the concerns that we had come before us too.

So appreciate that. Okay. Any other question comments? No. No. And and again, you know, we appreciate you, you know, explaining everything, addressing some of the concerns um that, you know, I mean, that that's probably the good that comes out of this is we, you know, we we know that these are concerns that the community has. So, we appreciate you addressing them as well as giving us a background on um your your company and what you're doing. So, um, so with that, we'll go ahead and open it, um, to, you know, we don't have to have to have public testimony, but, um, we think it's important to do. And I know I have a couple speaker cards here. I'll go ahead and call those people up. And if you can give your address versus um, Vince, what is it? Brando.

Bianca. Oh, Biano, I'm sorry. I couldn't tell. Thank you, Vince. Sorry about that. You're not gonna hold me to three minutes, are you? That'd be rude. That'd be rude. Yes, Mayor. And I think that's that's the question I was about to ask. Oh, sorry. Because obviously the applicant and the staff are generally the presentation. You don't have to limit time, but then people could talk for for hours. So, mayor needs to make a decision at the beginning of public comment. Got it. How long you'd like people to be able to You guys will all get tucked in early. Okay. Don't worry about me. Well, we we would really like to limit, you know, we'll we'll put a three minute on there and so let's just try to stick to the three minute so we can get everyone.

That's rude. Just so you just go on record. Just go on record. You can't get your information. Listen, I I just read the newspaper tonight. I I've been uh born and raised here, born in a hospital right over here across the street in the 50s. Okay.

Okay. And one of the things that uh concerns me more than anything is a chemical plant on the west side. the west side of almost every city in every everywhere in the state of Arizona, the west side always gets crapped on. We throw all of the industrial out that way. Okay? And basically what we do is we create a cancer. When you put a chemical plant in, I don't care. I don't buy their their uh uh five trucks coming in a day, eight trucks coming in a day, 10 going out, 12 going out. What this man's saying is, I'm going to limit the amount of money I can make by only doing 12 and 10. Okay? And the um uh as far as it goes into the water system, been a farmer, lived on a ranch, still live on a ranch. Okay? Don't tell me it doesn't get into the water system and it doesn't show up in a in a well. Okay? It does. Whether it's a trillion particle or or whether it's not. And I think uh we've got about 30 seconds left. The other thing that bothers me more than anything else to be very frank with you is that you folks that are sitting on the deis right there have a fidiciary responsibility to when you approve things in this city that you look forward into the future. you don't create a a cancer area that there'll be no housing, there'll be no new schools, there'll be no convenience stores, there'll be nothing around it. Panel County just sold out 660 acres to three uh communist non-citizens of the United States to put in a solar farm. Okay, that's another cancer spot. Okay, there'll be no housing. There'll be no schools. There'll be no nothing. Now, an American person that owned that property out there for three or four decades sold

out to the Chinese. Now, I don't know about this gentleman here. He says he's going to create jobs. Is he going to bring the jobs from Taiwan like they're doing up in uh Cave Creek, the big plant there, building 3,200 homes to bring their people in. Is it going to create jobs? Are you going to see any revenue in Castle Grand or is it going to go out of Castle Grand like 60% of Lucid does? I mean, we got to think about it. I don't like the Westside having all that stuff jammed out there. The last time I was here, I don't think any of you were sitting up there, but I promoted the commerce of a Tessa. Okay? They've been trying to get out there since 2010. flood plane, this and that and the other thing. Okay, I love commerce, but good commerce, not chemical plants and volatility. It says it right in your paperwork there. Volatility explosives. Okay, so uh I applaud the 4 to three denying it. I hope it goes to 6 and 0 and I hope nobody got got to you. All right. Thanks.

Thank you. Okay. I have Jessica. I I can't read this last name. Sorry, Jessica. I'm just with the um with the applicant. So, I could I would like to respond to public comments for them when when I have time later. Okay. I think you have you've set time aside uh for rebuttal by the applicant and staff if necessary after after this other Thank you. Okay. Is there anyone else? Okay. Go ahead. If you can give your name and address again for us.

This is just anecdotal. Jake Pierce, 232 West Drive. came here to talk about the dog park, but I retired from Michigan as a 30-year veteran of a Southfield Fire Department, which shares common border with the city of Detroit. We have two freeways that went through our town, very little industrial, but a lot of commercial. And I think that there's some serious heavy consideration to be given to the fact that people who did what I do in this town, what I did for a living, approve this. We're the people who go where no one else wants to go for anything except criminal activity. We're the people that go they're our people are going to be going to that crash, you know, and so if your fire department has no problem with this, I mean, I know you got to do your due diligence, but that should carry some heavy weight because they're not going to prove nothing ridiculous. They're here to help you. They're not here to take. Thank you.

Thank you. And then Sure.

You can give your name and address again. I'm David Sansic, 503 East Dragon Springs Drive here in Castle Grant. I just have one quick question. The ultra pure is in your container, but you're getting your stock or your commercially pure from some other place, Texas or Los Angeles. How is that being transported by commercial standard commercial waste? So theoretically, is it not coming in the in your ISO container? Is it? Um, oh, they're all iso containers. Just if you can address us and then we'll have them in the bottle answer. Most chem you go to a chemical manufacturing plant in the California area, they're going to put it in a chemical tank truck, right?

Is that what they're going to use or is they going to use their special container because of the incoming may not be in the super container? Right. That's why I'm that's the only question I really have.

Okay. We'll have her address that in the in the rebuttal here after the um is there any other public testimony? Anyone else would like to speak? No. Okay. So, it looks like we got everyone. So, um I'll I'll allow the staff and the applicant to give an opportunity to address or respond to any of these issues. Sure. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um just to address some of the comments, um the question about how it's arriving. It's arriving with with a truck. Um it is in sync. It is a steel container just because it's coming in, but it's not in gas. So it's it'll be how you would usually see it. Um is it's not as volatile at that point. Um and then the questions regarding um uh Mr. Pierce, you know, this was discussed severely multiple times with the fire department. They have additionally um we were thankfully informed that the Cassandr Fire Department is hazmat certified. So they are able to do that but they also have on contract technical people within their company um to handle it if there's anything different or if fire is not able to at the time but there is an equal um discussion between the two that they are more than well avail feasible to handle it. Um with regards to uh Mr. Biano's comments. Um, Cassagrand for a long time has focused on the general plan of focusing areas of where we should place industrial and employment growth for a long time. And Cass Grant has also focused on building the employment base, creating it in higher wage jobs, creating all these things. Um, and so that is this is the what you're seeing the result of it. You're seeing a lot of growth, you're seeing a lot of interest, you're seeing a lot of quality companies coming your way. Um, and so with that, I mean, I can remember not even a couple years ago, we were in here doing 6800 acres of

industrial general plan changes because this area is high along I8, I 10, the railroad, a lot of you have so many great amazing things with energy, high pressure gas lines. You have so much going for the city. And so that is all that work that you guys have done has created this demand. And that is why you're seeing it in this area. And that is also because you try in good planning to focus areas away from the residential but you want to have the employment base. And so the question about where the employees are coming from as well. So the intent is to build the facility using the skilled people who have been using for over 20 years at their facility in Taiwan to come here and help build it and make sure it's up to their standards. They've been operating for over 20 years. Let me see here. with over 10,000 containers per year with no in no issues with those items. You guys are not going to be doing that that much capacity. But just to show that they h they are experienced in this and they plan to bring it and be the first US plant here in Cassagrand is a huge huge success. Once the plant is built, they fully intend and want as he's actually looking at properties in Cagground as well. He's fully intends to hire local residents. These will be high-paying jobs, educated workforce. You're going to have higher and higher demand. And this will associate also with higher more companies coming in and looking at your workforce and expanding and getting that that base that you so much looking for because you are the hot spot between Tucson and Phoenix. Um, and so by being in this really important area, this is this is why you're seeing that. Um and and it is on grouped in there based on your general plan which is citizens have voted on which you guys have voted on and so that would be I guess to address that concern. Um and if there's any other questions we can all address your questions.

Okay. And I mean I guess should we see if there's anything from staff? Do you want to follow up on anything or I don't have anything else to add but if there's any other questions. Okay. So any questions from anyone here? I any followup comment? Sure.

I just have a quick comment. Um lived in Casc for a long time, farmer, and I know chemicals have been shipped through our facility for a hundred years in the form of fertilizer. And uh thinking about volatile chemicals coming through our community, every time we go to a gas station, I mean, it doesn't the fuel doesn't just come up from the ground right there. They are trucked in. I've been blocked in a few times by a truck filling up their station. That's volatile chemicals. it's already transported through our community and that's just kind of a comment on that Kim if I may. So I would like to address uh uh sorry I forgot the name. Oh yeah sorry uh gentleman Mr.

Biano Biano okay so Mr. Biano uh is concerned about the the chem impact of a chemical plant to the community which is reason is very reasonable and we believe that well but the two chemicals that we are processing here just to give you a perspective uh as mentioned earlier hydrochloric acid used in pcaling so they're just different grade but they are essentially the same chemical and the other ammonia hydroxide exact is exactly what used to be made into uh to fertilizer as of now. So this is uh these two chemicals are not something you dig up from from the bottom of a of a mine or or any like toxic uh waste. These are just very general chemical. We just purify them to the standard that's needed uh in the semiconductor community. So uh so we just like to address that concern of yours.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um yeah. Well okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um any other questions from the council or comments?

Okay. So I you know I I know we if there's any closing statements that you want to present at this time um we'll go ahead and and move forward with any closing statement. No from me there. Okay. So if there now now is the time for the council to begin you know there are deliberations on the appeal. Um so again try to frame your dis any discussions on the conditional use um permit criteria and focus on that evidence um in the record and the applicable approval standard. So is there you know if we if we need if anyone needs legal advice we can go into an executive session and then you know ask our legal team but if not then we can go ahead and move forward if there is a motion at this time. Well, yeah. We can deliberate some. Sure. I mean, yes, of course. The thing that's that's getting to me is the uh I mean, the area is zoned I2. I mean, that's what we're looking at basically is conditional use. You know, according to our thing, that's all we can that's all we're considering tonight is the land, the use of it, and then the safety. And I think they've checked, you know, all those boxes because that land has been voted on by everybody. And it is I2, which is where this should be. So, that's kind of where I'm going. And Sean had some good points about uh you know the transport of chemicals already. My family in that business for a long time.

Sure Bob.

So I I think the applicant and the city has done a good job of uh addressing the concerns. Um they've uh they've been viewed by the county, by the city, by the fire department. Um, this is industry and I and I I I think there's hardly an industry out there that doesn't have some level of risk to it. Uh, but I think I think uh our city and fire department especially have mitigated those risks and made this uh acceptable. It's uh not not quite the ticking time bomb that I thought it might be. Um I'm very comfortable with it and and ready to vote on it.

Okay. Any other comments? Sure. The one thing that you know during planning and zoning that's been brought up everywhere is is the traffic on Panal and you know if you are stating that you will use the I8 route up Thornton Road. Um I wasn't necessarily burned by the original one. So I wasn't here. I didn't vote on that one. So um but I mean if if you are committed to that I think that addresses the majority of the problems that were brought up during planning and zoning

and that was the issue. If if this is now a fix to that issue then then I can understand that. No. And I and yes, I agree. And I think, you know, that the the good thing is that there has been some clarification and I don't know, you know, during that meeting, you know, all of this information wasn't presented, but at least it brought light to some of the concerns that the citizens had. So, we were able to learn more about your company and the products you'll be producing. And of course, the traffic issue is something that is not only the chemical, you know, traffic. You know, we're trying to address overall truck traffic in the industrial area. And we're, you know, from this, you know, we brought some of our industrial businesses that say, what can we do to help? And, you know, we're trying to organize a group of those companies to come together and address these concerns that we know are there. And so until we have a long-term solution for a route um you know we are trying to address this. So the good thing is this brought um this to all of our attention and you know brought clarification to to the community. So um we appreciate all of the um you know staff and and um the applicant as well as the community for your input. It's very valuable as we move forward. So um sure Sean you have another question? Yeah, just one quick comment also. Um, this is considered a supply chain for our semiconductors, bringing that supply chain home into the United States.

So, it is a matter of I mean national and economic security that we have this production here in the United States and I think it's great that it's coming to Castle Graham especially with the all the concerns being met in my in my view. Okay, thanks Sean. Okay, no other questions or comments? So, do you want to move forward if we can get a motion?

And I think mayor, I think just clarify a little. This is a little different because we prepared um two resolutions. Normally, you only have one to to consider. Um so, we have two options up to the chair. You can either have uh the clerk read both of the resolutions or you can have her read the first resolution. Um, ultimately the motion, if you seek to approve the conditional use permit, you would adopt resolution number 5884. And if you seek to deny the conditional use permit, you would adopt resolution 5885. Okay. So, I don't know if you want her to read both or wait until we have a motion and then she can read the title prior to prior to voting.

Okay. Let's maybe do that if whatever the motion is and then we'll read that resolution. Okay. Whichever whatever the motion is. Mer, if it's given, I move to approve resolution number 5884 as presented. Second. Okay.

Now, the resolution number, please. Resolution number 5884, a resolution of the city council for the city of Cassagrand granting a conditional use permit for a chemical manufacturing facility involving the storage, utilization or manufacturer of balative or explosive materials or products generally located approximately 800 ft north of where Commerce Drive terminates and the Ash Avenue alignment APN 503-48-0170. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Okay, if we can get a roll call vote, please. Adriana. Council member Rammo, yes. Council member Dugan, yes. Council member Edwards,

yes. Council member Hules, yes. Council member Herman, yes. Mayor Prodylan, yes. Mayor Fitzgiven, yes. Motion to grant the conditional use permit carries. Okay, thank you. Thank you everyone for coming. Okay, so we have um we're going to be going into an executive session, but we'll go ahead and start with reports from the council. Maybe we'll wait just a couple sec seconds here, guys. I have good reports. Why aren't they sticking around? Let's just wait a minute here.

Guess I don't want to hear reports. We'll just wait a minute here while people clear to do our I guess no one wanted to hear our reports.

Okay. All right.

Snatch. Okay. Hey, we're going to go ahead if you guys don't mind if you guys want to. Yeah, we're going to we're going to just finish the meeting here. Well, no, we're we have our reports, but yeah. No, no problem. We'll we'll have reports and so Matt was so excited about his reports. We'll start with you. Go for it. Uh, I know everyone left, but I don't know.

The day of the the the youth commission shredding day for spring has been set. If you didn't catch it when they were here, April 25th at the uh First American Credit Union, they worked with us to work around the ever important prom schedule because both proms are on the same day this year. So, that worked out convenient for us. So, please come out and support them there. And that's all I have. Okay. Surprisingly. Okay. Anthony, no reports. No reports. You had a report the other night. The other day, your event. Oh my. Um Oh, yes. We had a wonderful time with the youth for the win uh kickoff and also celebration of our local heroes. Uh we had Jesus Romos

boxer that won. He was there with Aaya Tager. Our youth mission president Sawyer as well as I'm missing one more. Where am I? Lisa, um Kenny Selenas. Kenny. Oh, yeah. Forget fan of the year of the Arizona Cardinal. And he is in the running for the National Football League fan of the year. And he's in the top five right now. And that's going to I think the voting ends in two days. Mhm.

And so you can vote as many times as you want. So if you want to step up all night and vote, you can vote for Kenny Selenus. And so we celebrated them, but we had a youth clinic before that. and we brought in some Arizona Cardinal players um former players as well as a current player and we had a hundred um youth there. We had different um uh what do you call it? Department areas where they can go and do different things in the area for the kids and we had high school uh football players there, our girls flag football players there as coaches

with the elementary students. And so it was a very successful uh outing. And a lot of parents was there and they want us to do more of these kind of events for our kids. And so I got to get to working because I used to put on these camps and they drive the Arizona Cardinal truck which was there. Yes. And so I'm so thankful to the Arizona Cardinals for bringing in the player as well as all the equipment and stuff for our ceremony here. um Jeff Lavender um our our school superintendent was the one that was pushing everything and um so thankful to him and the work that he's doing in our community and at our high school. Yeah. High schools. Good. Becca, no reports. Okay, Brett. No reports. Bob, no report.

Okay, Sean, I just got a quick one here. Uh all right. the City Hall North Plaza Arches mural project. The ribbon cutting is tomorrow, Tuesday, February 3rd at 2 PM. Uh, come by, check it out. The beautiful artwork that they've done out there. I can't wait to see the finished project myself. They'll be there. Um, also, um, Valentine's Day is coming up two weeks. So, make sure you keep your eye on the calendar. Don't disappoint your significant others. So, that's it for me.

Good job. Good job. Okay. Um, yes. No, the CG wins was great. Thank you. And and you know the number 87 from the Cardinals, Tip Re, he was so great with the kids. Really I had my little grandb babies there and they were just so cute giving out footballs and he autographed them and so it was really really nice to recognize all of those all those people there. So um you know last week we also conducted the point in time homeless count. Again, this is done once a year and so we had a great group of volunteers and staff members um you know our nonprofit agencies that went out and counted the homeless. It was definitely a little more challenging this time around um since they're you know we don't have a high concentration in the parks but um we I was out and we were in the desert areas and found you know um people you know in in certain areas that were a little bit harder to get to but you know we did. So, it'll be interesting to get the final count. Mary Allen will be um working with um Suzanne from HOHP and we hopefully in the next month or so we'll get the final count of those numbers. They they conducted I was out one day, but I think they were out three or four days, right, Larry? Right, Stephen? Yeah. So, it will be interesting to see um the the numbers, you know, what what they come back because they were definitely a little harder to find this time around. So, um, we had the employee service award lunch the other day, which was great. It's so nice to see all the employees that range from 5 years of service to 40. We had one employee that had Brent, thank you for joining me. 40 years with the city of Casan, which is amazing. So, it just, you know, give so much credit to these long-standing employees and what they do for the city. So, um, I've been tagging along with Richard Wilky going to our industrial businesses. is, you know, we hit Colar Price Industries, Daisy, Echobat,

Banner, um, you know, just again talking about their businesses, where where they're going, expansions, and we talk about transportation when we're meeting with these people, you know, to to address some of these um concerns, and they've they've all been open to um trying to address it, you know, the these concerns in internally. The um police department awards dinner, we're going to be I know. Thank you for the invitation. that is Saturday. I'll definitely be joining you there. Please everyone, the state of the city for Casran is March 4th at Casran Union High School. Um it's an evening event. Mark your calendars. 5:15. Hope you can join us. And um chamber dinner. Congratulations to Matt and all the um recipients of the chamber award. It was a great dinner and nice to celebrate these great um people in in our community and what they do. So with that, we'll go ahead and move into executive session if I can get a motion.

So moved. Okay. Um motion and second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you everyone for being here.