City Council - Regular Meeting

everyone and welcome to the city council meeting today on March 2nd. We'll go ahead and call the meeting to order and start with the invocation by pastor Herata from con covenant church. And if you can all please stand if you're willing and able. That will be followed by the pledge of allegiance for mayor pron. Thank you so much, mayor. Let let us pray. God of love, we trust in you with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. We acknowledge you in all our ways and in all our meetings so that you will direct our paths. Father, we do not rely on ourselves for effective results, for we are only human and often make mistakes. It is you who knows all things. So, Father, have your divine way in this meeting always. We pray in your name. Amen.

Amen. Please join me in the pledge of 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. Okay, first item on the agenda is the roll call. And Adriana, if you can please accept for the record that the council is all here. So noted. Thank you very much. Next are the minutes.

Given I move to Mayor Fitzgiven, I move to accept the minutes for the city council study session meeting of February 17th, 2026. Consider the minutes for the regular meeting of February 17, 2026. the minutes of the board of adjustment meeting of November 12th, 2025 and the minutes for the historic preservation commission meeting of January 26, 2026 as presented. Second. Second. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Okay. All those in favor, please signify by saying I.

I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next are the claims. Mayor Fgs, I've moved that we accept the claims for February the 11th, 2026 through February the 24th, 2026. Second. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on the claims? Okay. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. The meeting agenda. Are there any changes to the meeting agenda? We have no changes, Madame Mayor. Okay. We can get a motion to approve. Second. Okay. Motion and a second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I.

I. Any opposed?

Great. So, next item are the special presentation for the swearing in of our new officers. Thank you for being here. So, I believe Adriana will be doing that, right Adriana? Okay. swear support All enemies allies domestically.

Police officer All right.

Congratulations. Congratulations. Nice to meet you guys. Congratulations. Thank you. Be safe. Congratulations.

Congratulations. All right. Thank you. Okay. The consent agenda. All items listed with an asterct 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 the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence of the agenda. Is there anything that anyone would like to pull from the consent agenda? Anyone from the council?

Any staff or member of the public? Okay. So, if we can get a motion. Mayor Fitzgibbi, I move we approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Hey, Adriana, if we can get a roll call vote. Council member Ramo, yes. Council member Dugan, yes. Council member Edwards, yes. Council member Huston, yes. Council member Herman, yes. Council Mayor Pro Villan, yes. Mayor Fitzgiven. Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Okay. Public comments. So, the city council values citizen input. When called, please state your name and address, speak clearly in the microphone, and limit your comments to 3 minutes or less. In fairness to all speakers, try not to exceed your time. In accordance with law, the city council cannot respond or to or discuss items not listed on the agenda, but may direct them to staff upon conclusion of all public comments. So, I know I have three speaker cards, but of course, if there's anyone that would like to speak, um, you can also come up. First, I have Neil Jones. Hi there, Neil. Good evening.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I'm Neil Jones, 2623 East S Paulo, Cassag Grand, Arizona. Uh the reason that I'm here is concerning ebikes, class one, class 2 ebikes on designated sidewalks. Uh, this is a bit of a problem. And you may be asking, well, why am I speaking here now? Because I was almost run over by a class one or class 2 ebike when I was on a sidewalk in Mission Royale. And I decided that I would call dispatch. And dispatch uh sent me to a peace officer. and I spoke with the peace officer for some time. Uh he now understands who I am and my position um in my hometown. I'm a part-time resident here. And once we started talking about that, he said that I should address the city council because you cannot enforce a law that doesn't exist. So, one of the things that I talked about with the officer is right here. This is in the uh uh paper here. Uh December 11th, 2025, Mesa proposes new ebike rules and parks. This is something that is a blueprint. It's actually pretty good. And I'm familiar with ebikes in my position in Wo County, Nevada. And it's a problem that is not going to go away. The ebike situation is basically 100% per year, year over year

over year. It's explosive as far as how many ebikes, class one, class two, not three, class one and class two. The issue is when these folks are on sidewalks, I'm not talking about multipaths or bike lanes. I'm talking about sidewalks that those of us that are seasoned citizens, we can't move as quickly, especially when we have our dogs and we simply want to walk and enjoy this beautiful city and then we get well, not run over, but we have to get out of the way of the ebikes. Something needs to happen and that needs to happen fairly soon because this isn't going away. It's going to get worse as time goes on and my time is running out. Thank you for taking the time to pay attention to this matter. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Neil. And we have your contact information, Larry. Can we have someone follow up with him? Right. Okay. Thank you, Neil. Okay. The next um is Donna Stadium.

Hi, Donna.

Hi. Good evening. Um thank you, Mayor Fitzgibbons and the city council. My name, sorry, Donna Statam, 632 West Cobblestone Drive. Okay. Okay. Um thank you city council members as well for allowing me to come speak again. My name is Donna Stadium and I'm honored to represent the Panal County Veterans Memorial Foundation, a dedicated group of individuals committed to one powerful mission, honoring the service and sacrifice of every fallen hero who has called Panal County home. Thank you for giving us the time to share our story, our purpose, and how we may be part of preserving our county's military legacy. The Panel County Veterans Memorial Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization formed by veterans and proud citizens of panel county. Retired Panel County Sheriff Frank Reyes and attorney Thomas McCarville, both deceased, began the foundation on a vision and a dream in 2010. The mission is to create and maintain a per permanent memorial to honor all Panel County veterans who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Provide a sac sacred space of remembrance, reflection, and education. Build a community asset that fos fosters patriotism, unity, and respect. Why does Panell County need a veterans memorial? Over 35,000 veterans call this county home. That's 7.4% of our population. Many served in wars from World War I to the present day. We owe them more than gratitude. We owe them a lasting place in honor. Currently, there is no comprehensive central memorial in Panol County that reflects the scope of their sacrifice. Our vision is to create a beautiful, enduring memorial site that Panal County features, individual names of each fallen hero that did not make it home from war, and stories of their individual service. The memorial will be a peaceful park-like setting for

ceremonies and personal reflection, educational elements to engage future generations. This will be a place where veterans are seen, heard, and remembered. Here's what we've accomplished so far. We secured the land here in Cassag Grand at um Rodeo Road in Panell Avenue. Um convenient to I 10. Develop detailed design plans for the memorial layout. The memorial site is 90% completed to include underground services, retaining walls to assist with noise control, the memorial circle, which I'm sure you've seen. 30-foot flag poles to fly the United States flag, state flag P, and all six branches. Bonds breast of the colonel as a centerpiece in the memorial circle, sidewalks are completed, lighting, and sent large concrete pad for presentations. We have built partnerships with local leaders, veterans organizations, citizens, and corporate donors. 100% of the funds raised in the last 15 years have all come through donations, fundraising effort efforts, and our program um partnership program. We are not just dreaming, we are building. To bring this memorial to completion, we need the community support through financial contributions. And I've provided a um paper for you. Awareness and advocacy, our mission. talk to our friends, colleagues, and networks. This memorial is not just for veterans. It's for every American who believes in honoring service and sacrifice. Let's build something meaningful together. In closing, I leave you with this. Calvin Kulage once said, "A nation that forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten." Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Donna.

Okay. And Barbara Sundust. Barbara Sundus, 1273 East Cordova Avenue, Cassag Grand. Over the past weeks, I have come expressing my concern for the unhoused. I had shared stories of need. Elderly people living in their cars um elderly people on a fixed income with little opportunity to find a job uh are unable to afford housing. I have talked about the homeless who were forced out of all public and city places so now find themselves either out in the desert where it is difficult to get services or walking and hiding from the police. There was no alternate plan to help these people once the ordinance was passed. I felt like the general idea was to just move them out. So, we have a need for a temporary shelter, a need for some kind of campground area, and true lowincome housing for the elderly. I know this is a money and land problem. There's a huge piece of land right across from St. Vincent to Paul, and I know that they had some plans to use it, but um they couldn't come up with the money. So, the city sold the land to a contractor and for whatever reason, nothing's been done with that land over the past probably 2 years. So, as I said, these are things I talk about regularly because we are talking about people who should be treated with dignity and respect. Anyway, two weeks ago, after my short presentation, I listened to the city council award $1.4 4 million of public funds to build 12 pickle ball courts. And I understand

this evening there's another contract voting on to reward um for Dave White fixing up Dave White clubhouse. So, oh my god time. Um many other cities that are around our size have some sort of shelter for the unhoused. as we get close to the summer months and extreme heat, where will they go? And I just can you imagine living in your car when it's 110 outside? I mean, really, cars are like ovens or refrigerators in winter. So, um, just for me, $1.4 million for pickle ball and not and this is public funds, I understand, and nothing for shelter or anything for um the homeless and elderly. I might.

Thank you, Barbara. Okay. Is there anyone else that would like to speak? Okay, we'll go ahead and close the public comments. And next item on the agenda, I one. Hi, Aaron.

Hi, good evening. Thank you, Madame Mayor and Council. Staff recommends the mayor and city council award a contract with Capital R Incorporated to renovate the kitchen and patio area at the Dave White golf course for an amount not to exceed 280,000. Staff advertised a request for qualifications solicitation number 1039 26 CG on July 1, 2025 for design build services. Utilizing the design, build delivery method allowed staff to evaluate both design expertise and construction capabilities simultaneously, ensuring the proposed solutions aligned with the project scope, schedule, and the construction budget allocated for this project. A mandatory site visit was held on Thursday, July 17th, 2025 with 12 attendees representing eight companies. The city received four qualifying submitts for review. a selection committee consisting of Danielle Gyos, community services director, Mike Edwards, park superintendent, Jason D. Carlo, owner of Ellison Mills Contracting, and Scott Nice, architect lead with Wilson & Company Incorporated, independently reviewed and evaluated the submitts. The committee then conducted interviews with the three highest ranked firms. Following the interviews, the committee selected Capital R Incorporated as the best and most qualified team for this project. The project's purpose is to enhance the kitchen's functionality and close the existing outdoor patio to allow for year-round use. Objectives include creating space for an additional walk-in freezer, ice machine, and storage area, as well as rejuvenating the outdoor patio to provide a flexible climate controlled space for patrons. Each year, sales from retail, food, beverage, and other clubhouse operations generate about $400,000, representing 21% of the total revenue

generated from the golf course. By increasing indoor seating capacity, golf staff estimates an additional 50 to or 30 to $50,000 in annual food and beverage revenue and retail sales. staffed work with Capital R Incorporated on a design that enclosed the patio area and reconfigured the kitchen to accommodate additional walk-in cooler and ice machine counter space and storage. The final negotiated construction scope of work guaranteed maximum price of $279,94624 which includes a $5,000 contractor contingency. The project will expand the clubhouse to the east, which is currently used as a covered uh exterior walkway. This is going to add approximately about 585 square ft of interior space that we'll use for retail space. Um we'll ultimately use that space to build the manager's office and then also have additional space for a computer equipment room. Um we're going to take the existing manager's office and make that into our kitchen storage space. um as that's directly connected to the kitchen right now. So, it'll be the easiest way to be able to add some storage space to our kitchen area. The project will also then renovate the kitchen layout to add to add to provide the opportunity to add the additional walk-in cooler plus the ice machine and then also renovate and enclose 683 square ft of the existing patio area, adding that interior space for an enclosed room for approximately up to about 45 patrons. The clubhouse renovation project is scheduled to start this spring and be completed with 128 days after the notice to proceed. Funding for this project was included in the approved 4-year 26 capital improvement budget for 300,000. Uh general ledger account 510418998113 would be project number 25119. And I would open up for any questions, madame mayor and councel.

Any questions, comments? No. No. I just got one quick question. It, you know, you mentioned that this uh expenditure should increase revenue at the clubhouse by I can't remember what percent you said, but is there a way to that we could track that in the future and actually see that we that we can see our return on investment on this project?

Yeah, we we we actually do. We're hoping um we we've just started to partner with the chamber. Um they've been using a software program called Pacer AI which can um track how long people are at a specific space. Um, so we've been just been working with them, actually just started with about the last month to define the geospacing areas of our different facilities. One being the clubhouse that can then over time we can get reports on how long people are spending time in there, how long they're in there. Um, and then ultimately help track to obviously the longer the stay, the more spending that they do through food and beverage and those types of things. So that's kind of our method that we hope to be able to track that.

That would be great. that way we can actually see that hey yeah we put this investment to place but we're going to see a return on that through the city through the golf course and clubhouse and everything. So yeah, thank you for the question, Commissioner D. Any other questions, comments? Just Oh, sure. I think that's going to add so much to the space. If you go out there in golf, if there's a tournament, if there's something going on, that inside area gets so crowded. So, just having something additional to that, I think, is going to make a big difference for people that that go there regularly. So, I think it's great. Good.

Okay. No more questions, comments. We can get a resolution number, please. Resolution number 5890, a resolution of the council of the city of Cassagrand, Arizona, accepting a proposal from Capital R Construction, Inc. for the renovation at the Dave de Dave White Golf Course Clubhouse, authorizing the expenditure of public funds and authorizing execution of a contract with or purchase order to Capital R Construction, Inc. May Skip, I move that we approve resolution number 5890 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.

Council member Rammo, yes. Council member Dugan, yes. Council member Edwards, yes. Council member Huston, yes. Council member Herman, yes. Mayor Probe Dellan, yes. Mayor Fitzgiven, yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. Item I two, Kevin.

Thank you. Staff recommends that the mayor and city council award a contract to Ellison Mills Contracting LLC for the guaranteed maximum price proposal an amount not to exceed 12,375,553 for the uh construction management risk and construction services for McCartney Roadway improvement project segment one and this is from Panal Avenue to just past just east of TCO code. We did uh go through a request for qualifications process and followed all the title 34 requirements as they are outlined for uh doing a uh selection. We did have six uh different uh teams submit their qualifications and Allison Mills was selected as the most qualified uh construction manager at risk uh to provide uh both uh pre-construction and subsequent construction services for this project. Um the contract for pre-construction services uh for this uh portion was completed in no November of 25. It also included the pre-construction services for the Trello road project from McCartney down to Rodeo. That project is complete. Uh Ellison Mills was the contractor for that as well and did a great job. So looking forward to the uh next phase kicking off. Um this will be from Panal Avenue to Tallel Road just east of Tel Road. Um you'll see a lot of activity starting out there very soon if approved, but it'll include the uh widening to four lane or four lanes, two lanes in each direction, appropriate turn lanes, um uh medians for uh access control, uh new asphalt pavement uh to replace the existing asphalt pavement, uh curb, gutter, sidewalk, uh all the

typical improvements that you'll see on one of our arterial roadways. Um obviously uh if if successful, we'll be following this up with additional council action for segments two and three and that'll get us complete all the way out to I 10. But uh with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Kevin. Questions? Sure. Anthony. Yeah. Kevin, when was the starting date? Um hopefully uh as soon as this contract is approved um we'll have a uh because this was done as part of the uh overall resolution or excuse me the ordinance that approved the CIP projects. I believe we can get started in like two weeks.

Yeah, there's a schedule in here. March 15th is mobilized because this is going to be my question. They got substantial completion Thanksgiving. Oh wow. So March 14th I'm going to hit print around that's put in there three stages there right there panel to tle this is just panel to tle okay other questions comments no got a comment I know there's a lot of construction going on we all know but once it gets over it's going to be a lot better yes so we're trying to plan it and do it now thanks Kevin so this one's much needed needed.

No, you're right. And there's so many people that have waited. I know it's such a busy area. And there's, you know, what I try to tell people is there's never really a perfect time of year. I mean, we can't just do it in the summer months because it takes longer than, you know, four or five months to complete these projects, too. So, um, we just have to be patient and look in look at the end result, which is TKLE right now is beautiful, beautiful road. So, look forward to it. So, thanks. Okay. Any other questions?

Yeah, I just have one more. Um, and I don't expect you to have this tonight, Kevin, but um, I would like to kind of see a waterfall chart or something that shows the progression of the price from the 30% design to get to the GMP and what that price was doing um, on the different design levels and then if there were any value engineering ideas that they came up with, what that value was as far as value engineering and what was accepted by the designers. Okay, we can definitely uh look into that and get that back. Yeah, if you can get that. I just it's something that helps me. Yeah, good. Understand the overall price. Anything else?

All right. So, if we can get a resolution number, please. Resolution number 5892, resolution of the council of the city of Cassagrant, Arizona, accepting the proposal from Ellison Mills Contracting LLC to provide construction manager at risk services for the construction of the McCartney Road improvement project from Panal Avenue to TKO road authorizing expenditure of public funds and authorizing the execution of a contract. Mayor Fitzgiven, I move to approve resolution number 5892 as presented. Second. 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 Rammo, yes. Council member Dugan, yes. Council member Edwitz,

yes. Council member Hston, yes. Council member Herman, yes. Mayor Promon, yes. Mayor Fitzgiven, yes. Motion carries. Thank you.

Okay. Item K1. Uh, good evening, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Um, I'm pleased to welcome Danny Court with Elliot D. Pollock and Company. Um, Danny is a partner and senior economist with the firm and was part of the team that prepared the city's housing study. uh that was presented to you by um Rick uh Rick Merritt. Um since that time and with the benefit of addition some u leftover grant funding from the housing study, uh we've asked Danny to return and provide a uh a broader overview market, a broader view of the the housing market in Kasagrron and then a deeper dive into the um multif family housing here in Kasagrron.

Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm happy to be here. Um, yeah, we are going to briefly go through this presentation. Um, and then I open it up for questions if you have any. We're going to talk about um national trends in the housing market, um, home ownership trends, renter trends, and then get into the Casanran market. And then we've got, um, several slides um that we call myths and facts. Um they may be uh several points that are brought up in regular city council meetings when a a project is proposed. Um uh when we see anecdotes and we try to um kind of come back with with hard data to see if if u those are true or if they they have any merit to them. So we'll we'll go through those and hopefully you find those interesting. Um, you know, the last five, six years in the housing market, and this is a national issue. Um, you know, housing has really been turned on its head. The home ownership market has been a lot tougher to break into for first-time home buyers. Um, a a double whammy of um a housing supply crunch, which created increased housing prices. And then the increase in mortgage interest rates um has really become a barrier to home ownership. Interest rates is one of the big factors that we really don't have a lot of uh control over. We've seen some reduction in mortgage interest rates over the last two years, which is a positive, but we're still, you know, hovering above 6% when everybody in their recent memory remembers a 3% mortgage rate. So 6% sounds really high. Um we also had huge increases in construction costs. um all of us consumers had had to weather the um all the general inflation construction costs increase way above uh general inflation and they haven't come

down. Um other factors again the supply crunch that we talked about just the increase in prices over the last five and 10 years has been dramatic um well above the uh rate at which our incomes have increased. Residential construction is one of the most in interest rate sensitive sectors. So we've got a chart here. Historically, this is US-wide single family permits. The purple bar there is COVID. Um so you see that's when everyone thought the world was going to end. So permits dropped like a rock. Um at the same time the government shutdown, a government induced recession um led the Fed to basically drop rates to zero and meaning mortgage rates are you know at 3% or or even below 3% during some of that period. And so um everyone kept their jobs for the most part during that time. We had a lot of stimulus money come in and so there was huge demand for housing. Um and so you saw single family permits really skyrocket during that time and then again with inflation uh the Fed increasing their interest in increasing the interest rates. Um we we start to see 6% 7% 8% mortgage rates and you see how how fast the single family market reacted to that. Um now this the new home market was buoied by the builders themselves. If if if you've been in the new home market, you'll see that the builders are offering 5% mortgage rates. And so they've really been able to um kind of keep their market afloat. But in the in basically in the last 12 months, um they've really been under pressure and we're seeing um another decline in single family permits on the new home side. If you know a real estate agent, go give them a hug. They've been in a recession for the last four years. Um again because of these high interest rates we've basically seen

um a 50% reduction in home buyer demand. Um and that's been going on for the last four years. Um multif family multif family is also interest rate s sensitive and a lot of the new supply that we're seeing come online in 2023 and 24 and 25 got their financing in a low interest rate environment. So, they got their financing. Um, were able to then go through the permit process and build out those units. Um, and we're seeing again probably the the tail end of this big wave of apartment construction is going to be in 2026 and then we're expecting a lull in 27 and 28. Um, one due to high interest rates and two because excess supply did come onto the market. So, the market is basically self-correcting. um when there's high vacancy, the developer, if they had a plan to build, maybe delaying their project until they see those excess units get absorbed. So, um again, that wave is basically over. We're expecting um a lull, but we also have seen a structural shift towards more renters. So, um yes, we had a lot of new supply. We also had a lot of new renters come online. So um that new rent those new renters have absorbed uh historic levels of apartments. It's just that we built more than than than even that demand. Um so again that will be transitory that we expect that supply to be absorbed. Um and then we'll see where we stand after that. Um this again historical mortgage interest rates were just above 6% now. Um, so yes, better than 8% um than that that that we saw a couple of years ago, but still well higher than um what a lot of current mortgage holders have. Uh I don't know if you call this good news, bad news, but um so we've got, you

know, over 50% of our mortgage holders across the United States have a have a rate at 4% or below. The the orange line there is mortgage holders with a 6% rate or higher. And you see we're just kind of growing uh that ratio of mortgage holders. So the good news is is those that have a 6% mortgage have the option to move move up move across a lateral move. They don't mind swap swapping their 6% mortgage for another 6% mortgage. But for the rest of uh the homeowners, we have this locked in effect, meaning I'm not going to switch out my 3% mortgage for a 6% mortgage. Even if I'm you, if I'm buying the same priced home, I'm not going to accept another $1,500 a month just because the interest rate is high. So, that's really what's happening. So, you know, back in the Great Recession, we kind of had this uh similar effect of a lot of, you know, less mobility across the United States, people not moving. is because they didn't have any equity in their homes. Now people have plenty of equity in their homes, but they don't want to move. They don't they can't port their mortgage with them. Um, which would be a great idea that uh we don't have yet. So, that's what's happening right now. Um, still have this locked in effect that we'll basically kind of grow through. We're expecting mortgage rates to to to decline, but but probably much more painfully slow than what people want. Um, I don't know if we'll see 3% mortgage rates again. If we do, it will be it will be with a severe recession. So, it's not like it'll be all good news if we can get that 3% mortgage. But, um, you know, the mortgage has dipped below 6%, 5% may be psychologically an easier uh rate to handle. Um, and then there's just people that move by necessity. You get a new job, so you move by necessity or divorce or death. and that that will just eventually kind of um become a higher and higher

percentage of the market and that will help loosen things up. But for now, we're stuck with it. Last year, 2025, the median age of all US home buyers was 59 years old. Um in 2010, it was 39 years old. So, that is another data point that tells you there's a problem here. Um where pretty much the only people that are buying homes are the ones that have uh have paid off their previous home. first-time bo home buyers. We've been on a general decline in in terms of the percentage of of home buyers that are first-time home buyers. Um but in recent years, um the 20-year average was we'd have about 2 million first-time home buyers per year. And and in 2024 was 1.3 million. So we're nearly cutting that in half. Um first time the first-time home buyer market is um has struggled in the last couple of years. This is the University of Michigan puts out a a good time to buy index. And we're at a worse time today than we were in the early 80s. Um, and my parents purchased a home in the early 80s. My dad loves to tell me that he bought his house with a 16% mortgage.

Um, so how is it that today with a 6% mortgage, it's a worse time to buy than someone buying one with a 16% mortgage? And that's because of the prices. the prices with the mortgage and the fact that our income our incomes haven't kept up with the pace of of how much home prices have appreciated. And this is kind of where we're stuck with is this is again a national uh data point. If I'm a median uh if I make the median income as a household in the United States and I want to buy the medianric home in the United States, this chart is saying I have to spend 42% of my income on my mortgage. If you go to a broker and try to get a mortgage and say, "I'm just going to spend 42% of my income for this mortgage." They don't give you a mortgage. You don't qualify. So, again, we're we're priced a lot of of of um home buyers or previously would have been home buyers are now priced out of the market in Panal County. uh just in the last two years, you see in the top two brackets there the younger the younger age groups of householders um and how dramatically it's dropped um for those that were in their early 20s or in their mid to mid20s to to mid30s. Um we've seen a significant drop off in terms of homeowner the homeowner percentage in those age groups. Um which again it tracks with with income levels and what we what we used to be able to be able to purchase. So, uh, this list is too long to to go through, but, um, a lot of, uh, presentations we give, there's someone that just says it's just the interest rates. If we can get these interest rates down, then, uh, we'll be back in business, and it really isn't. Um, we would love to get interest rates to come down. We don't have any control over that, though, and we are not expecting any dramatic drop in interest rates. That combined with the fact that our housing prices have increased so dramatically. Um they've come down

slightly in the last couple of years, but still well well above what we used to have. Um we we've you know we've seen that huge increase in construction costs. We've got folks that have that low mortgage rate. So we've got a a a depressed demand um for homes. Um we're we're kind of in a slower economy right now. uh we were dealing again during COVID and and postcoid with labor shortages um supply chain issues. We now have tariffs that uh are creating a lot of uncertainty in the market and the focus now is um what do we do with this large segment of the population that used to be a homeowner in our market? Um what where do they go and can we build to their income levels? Um this was yeah this is again you know the red line there was um just headline inflation and and just what construction cost just from March 2021 to 2023 a 34% increase in construction cost you see that it's leveled out but it's not it has not come down so for Cassagrand um specifically this is uh this is the resale market that's been you know basically since 2010 10. Um, you know, from 2019 to to today, um, resale prices have increased by $130,000. So 2019, uh, the re the average resale price in Cagground was 205,000. Now it's 335. You see there again in 2023 was the peak in prices and that has come down but the double whammy of the higher interest rates um means we're in a you know in an un much less affordable market in the new home side very similar um very similar trend there in 2019 a new home was $225,000

reached a height of 378 and now we're right at about 358. So again, new home prices just since 2019 have gone up by $130,000. When we look at incomes in Cassagrand, the median household income right now in Cassagrand is just over 66,000. Plug that into a mortgage calculator and what they can afford is a $248,000 home. Um when we looked at uh all the sales both new and resale in Cassagrand in 2024, 12% of the resale homes sold for at or less than 248. So 88% of the homes were um too expensive for the median household income in Cassagrand. This is just to kind of highlight uh the double whammy of both price increases and mortgage rate increases. So going from that 205 to 335, that's a 63% change in the price, but it was 103% change in what it would cost um to afford that that home. So I needed $44,000 in 2019 to buy that home and now I need almost $90,000 to buy that home in 2025. Uh the new home market is worse. Um, you know, it used to be in 2019 if I made $48,000, I could purchase a new home in Cassagrand. And now we're at $96,000 to afford a new home today. So that's a 98% increase um in the required income just in the last six years. uh the the the Cassagrand apartment market. I think 2008, so that extends beyond this chart, was the last time that any new apartments had been built in Cassagrand. So, we had a 15-year gap um in no apartment construction throughout the city. And then you see those orange bars there was the multif family permits that came online in 23,

24, and 25 in response to really, really low vacancy. um you were at near 0% vacancy in apartments um in at in 2020 and 2021. Um similar to the ownership market, when there's no supply and you still have demand, you still have population coming in looking for a place to rent, there aren't any places to rent and the properties start to increase their rents. So in 2019, the average rent was uh just under $1,100 and that went up to just over $1,400 by 2022. And then in response to all this new supply, you're seeing actually rents are coming down. Um so not, you know, kind of similar to the single family market, but um that new supply has created competition among uh for tenants. Uh you're seeing a lot of concession activity right now. um two months of free rent, three months of free rent um really which is good for our residents and our tenants to work through and it's kind of this self-correcting market. Um you know we're seeing you know over 25% vacancy in the apartment market right now in Cassagrand that's transitory it will work its way through. Um, you may not see you you may have a pipeline of planned apartments and they might may have they may decide to delay their project until they see this start to come down or they see that trend to come down um and then they'll start to respond to that demand again. But um when we look at um housing burden um nearly 50% of all renters in Cassagrand spend more than 30% of their income and that 30% is a kind of a national threshold for affordability. So we have 2900 house renter households in Cassagrand that spend more than 30% of their income. I always point out the one

uh there are um 1,260 households that spend more than 50% of their income on their rent. So one in every two paychecks is going toward that rent. And this is the this is the number I uh kind of point to as far as like what is our homelessness issue going to look like in the future? Well, these 1260 residents are, you know, one economic hiccup away from homelessness if they're already spending more than half their income to just just to just for their shelter. On the ownership side, um, Cassagrand is slightly higher than the county and and the statewide average. 23% of homeowners are spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. So, they've there's 3,400 households today um that are also overburdened by their housing costs. So, we are doing so many housing studies throughout the state. Um, really there's no quick fix to all of this affordability. Um, a lot of the solutions are kind of on the margins is where can we incrementally make um inroads into this affordability, but when we look at as a whole, we just we need to just recognize there's just going to be a higher percentage of renters than we ex. And it's just this economic issue. If I was making $40,000 10 years ago, I could buy a home here. And now where do I live? Well, if I'm make $40,000 still, I can rent. There's there's there's an affordable place in Cassagrand to live, but it's in a rental unit. It's not in an ownership unit. Um interest rates will help this, but it's we're we're talking about um maybe improving from needing $90,000 to needing $80,000. So, we still have this huge gap in the market. Those households making $40 to $80,000. Where can they where can they comfortably afford to live in our city?

And here's our uh section on myths and facts. We'll just go through these pretty quickly here. Um, highdensity multif family housing being associated with affordable housing. Affordable housing sometimes has a stigma. If it's affordable, that means that's for uh poor people. That's for uh that's where the the crime happens. That's where our issues are. Um again, when you look at the apartment market in Cassagran, we're talking about folks that need to make $40 to $85,000 a year to qualify to rent in an apartment. So, these are the same folks that were homeowners 10 years ago um that are still in this market that um when when they get a job in the $40 to $80,000 range um they're just renters. They can't afford to purchase a home here. A lot of people are also renting by choice. This is a growing segment of the renter population. And in Cassagrand, over 30% of all renters make $75,000 or more. So, these are folks that could actually probably purchase a home, but have decided they want the they want the amenities, they want the lack of a of a of a yard or maintenance or what what have you, and they rent by choice. Um, highdensity multif family will cause too much traffic. And this is um I mean any any city council meeting I've ever gone to with a proposal for any type of development, no matter what the development is, there's als there's always a complaint that it will cause traffic. And it's true. Um compared to a vacant property, a developed property will cause more traffic. Um when we compare it to commercial, uh commercial establishments generate a lot more traffic than residential. And then when you look at it on a perunit basis, um apartment uh apartment renters typically have fewer cars. So when you look at the

owner occupied households in Cassagrand, the average is 2.44 vehicles per per household versus a renter is 1.6 vehicles per household. So on a perunit basis, um there's actually fewer cars per household in these communities. um those people that I hear this, we don't want those people. Um I find this comment extremely offensive. Um and

it's again when we're looking at um I just did this presentation in in the town of Gilbert. I probably shouldn't have mentioned the name, but we had a those people comment and um when I looked up um the salaries of of how much a council member makes, most of them wouldn't be able to afford to live in the proposed apartments that were being offered. These were these were luxury apartments, but um you know, I always encourage anyone who hasn't um lived or visited an apartment to do so. I mean, these are high quality developments. Um, I don't have 9 foot ceilings in my home and I and all these apartments standard 9 foot ceilings, stone countertops, uh, you know, LPV flooring. They're beautiful. They've got great amenities, a pool and fitness centers and things like that. Um, anyway, these are high quality developments. And again, when we look at who is renting, again, we're talking about households that are making4 to $85,000 or more. They already live and work in your community. They just need a place to live. Um and a rental option is the only option in that in that income range. And also again, we've got so many renter households already um that are burdened by housing costs and new supply helps to fix that. Uh multif family reduces property values. We can we have not found and I've been doing this for 18 years. We have not found a single study that can that proves that a uh multif family property neighboring another property reduces property values. It just doesn't exist. Increase in crime. Um the Arizona Multi Housing Association did a study several years ago um about this perception. Does do do apartments have higher crime rates than other other residential asset classes? And the conclusion was is just

a lot of times the statistics because uh you'll see a lot of calls at one address but there's 100 to 300 households living at that one address. So actually on a per unit basis the rate of police activity in apartment communities is no worse than in in a single family subdivision and in many cases it's actually lower. Um, now I know every community has um some project that said that that that's a probably a black eye um that comes up and they say, "Well, there's police there all the time." Again, it would be it's prudent to fact check whether or not that is actually the case. Does this community have high crime rates? Is it related to the fact that it's an apartment or are there property management issues or or something like that? Um, so again, this is where I go back to like anecdotally, um, I'm sure there might be some properties that need some help, um, that need to see improvement and that are not giving the general market of apartments a good name, um, by being a bad by by being a bad actor. But that should not be applied to just the general concept of multif family apartments or higher density residential development. Um, just to kind of conclude here, just as a as a recap, this is, you know, this is the the apartment market in Cagran. Now, again, the required income, we're still talking about 46,000 to $86,000 to afford a market rate apartment. Um, the median renter income right now in Cassagrand is 48,500. So, that's why we're seeing still the um the rent overburden. Um, we've got lower income renter households. um single heads of household with children have a median income of 42,000. We have 56% of Cassagrand seniors that are renters that

are paying 30% or more um of their income on housing and senior renters and owners account for 31% of all costbur. So different segments of the population to consider here. Um and there's also this, you know, the programs, the low-income housing tax credit program. We all know that federal dollars are limited. Um, if you can get those projects, I say, you know, take as many as you can because the state approves like 10 a year. Um, so there's limited funding there. Um, you can't get them even if you want them. Um, because of the how competitive it is competitive it is across the state. And again, these are high quality developments. Um, brand new. They look like market rate apartments. Um, and they address this segment of the population that's making less than $46,000. um for you know to again to address affordability. So

couple of couple of last slides just on just on different kind of asset classes to consider um to be open-minded to. We need more housing. Um again you saw that the the 25% vacancy rate in multif family that is that is that means you have excess apartment units right now. It's not a problem for you. It's actually great. you have you have you have available units for um these new employers that are going to start hiring. Um and it's transitory. So just just to kind of watch that. I don't think you have to be worried about the vacancy rate because it's just a self-correcting market. Um the developers will self-correct when they see low vacancy. You'll see the more more building come online. High vacancy you'll probably start to see a delay. But in in general, we still need more housing that's affordable to our to our residents. Um, so on the ownership side, we're really um, you know, proposing, you know, that open being open-minded to the small we need smaller lots, smaller footprint type developments, the duplexes. Um just being able to increase some density, get smaller floor plans in there to build to that that uh that income range that we used to be able to just have um houses for. We actually need we need to build be building smaller um and being cognizant of the the construction cost increases that the builders are facing. Um if we can allow density and smaller units that that can provide an affordable ownership side. Um the accessory dwelling unit is a great trend that we hope to see continue um on those lots that are that are suitable to add a cassita or a guest house to. That's that can be a great for another again a small household or rental unit. manufactured housing still one of the most affordable ownership options out there in the market and um you know combined with appropriate design

standards for those parks and those communities um they they look great and there's a lot of great examples in Cassagrand of some great uh manufactured home communities and then on the apartment side we you know the apartments are really filling that gap that nobody has able to been has nobody has figured out on the ownership side is where do people that make4 to $80,000 live that's affordable to them and the rental market is where private development has filled that gap. Also, you know, we have an aging population here in Cascan and Panal County generally really need to be looking forward to a being able to age in place and have an affordable and suitable place for seniors as they maybe age out of their ownership unit and want to still remain in the community. So, assisted living facilities, independent living facilities is a great option. And with that, I'll open it up for questions.

Thank you, Danny. Wow, that was great. Um, any questions, comments? Sure. I I have a question. Can we get a copy of this report? Uh, I'm back. Did we already get one? Okay. Right. It may well have been. and I didn't see it but um but very good information, very thorough and and uh eyeopening. Thank you. Questions? M

I just had a chance to moderate a panel discussion on this very thing last week and we had a lot of these same things come up and one thing that was neat, we had an uh community manager there from Mark Taylor and they said how stringent their uh background checks were for people. you know, you brought up the crime part and that's something that I hear a lot, right? And so she said that the the background checks are extensive and because they don't want bad people living in their communities. Um, so it's interesting thing that you brought that up as well and um and I drove to Ch I had to drive I had to drive to Chandler the other day and if you think we have a lot of multif family in our construction, I mean they have a ton of it. So yeah,

but you did say 2026 is the tail end, right? I mean, as far as as far as as far as greater Phoenix, yeah, that's I mean, we're really not seeing I mean, the pipeline is gigantic. I mean, if you if you look at the recent pipeline report, there's still 100,000 multif family units in the pipeline, but if it's not under construction, we don't believe you, you know. So, um yeah, it's it's market by market, but that's where we're seeing the tail end here is is 2026. And and again, these these managers are hoping for it to to to stop so that they can kind of recover and absorb absorb these excess units.

No, and I and I appreciate just the the myths. I mean, you must have been reading all of our we I don't Larry, did you feed him those? Because that Well, I'm sure you're getting it everywhere because that's that's what we hear all the time. You know, who's living in these, you know, about who's living in them. It just amazes me. I I'm with you. I I'm very insulted. I mean, I lived in an apartment. My husband and I when we first got married, my daughter's a professional now and lives in an apartment. And so, you know, it's just there there's different reasons that that people are living there. But, um, but it it makes me sad for people to think who lives in those. Yeah. You know, we all we all lived in apartments or maybe all of us, but

I was I was just up at Prescuit and we did a live poll of 120 people in this room and the question was if you had to buy your home today, could you afford it? And 80% said no. 80% of the people said, "I couldn't buy my home today." Right. And that's that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the lucky versus the unlucky at this point.

Right. Right. And you're you're right when you I've toured some of these new apartments is and one is a lit um apartment complex and it's beautiful like you said. I mean there there's nice, you know, flooring and the the countertops are, you know, granite and all the stainless steel appliances and washers and dryers in there. So they're they're very very nice. Um yeah. So um but no, I I appreciate you th those those are questions we get all the time. So I appreciate you hitting on all of that. We'll just have to have that like on a little card and flip it out when we we get them. So, um, any other questions, comments? No. Danny, no. Thank you. Thank you so much. This is really helpful. And, um, yes, if you can make sure we have a copy of the pres.

Absolutely, Mayor and Danny. Thank you. And, and just so the mayor and council is aware, essentially, we'll be bringing back the housing study that Mr. Merritt uh, reported on for your consideration at an upcoming meeting. I think it may even be the next council meeting. And Larry, do we have um when we post something like this online? I just think it's really good information for people to refer to that have questions, is there somewhere on our website where we can possibly have, you know, for people to have access? Um we need to make sure it's ADA compliant. But certainly we will get this type of information on Yeah, I think it'll be really good. Yeah. Okay. Thank you again. Appreciate it.

Okay. So, we don't have to vote on that, right? So, I think we're we're done. So, um we'll go ahead and close with reports. So, um anyone want to start? No reports. Becca does. I see you're ready. No reports. Yeah. Go ahead. I always have a little something, but um we got to go to Terminus Days with Brent and Lisa and and uh Representative Lopez. Had a nice question and answer. We told the stories we could about growing up in Cassagrand and left out some good parts probably.

Um but that was it that was a lot of fun and that event's growing uh every year. So it was neat to see everyone down there. And then the Arizona 250 bell um the Liberty Bell came from Secretary of State Fontes's department who's in charge of that. And I wanted to give Scott Barber um a round of applause for uh doing a good job MC. Yes. Had some good humor in there as well. Uh I liked it. It was It was good. And Lisa rang the bell and luckily she was wearing pants today because she had to sit down awkwardly because there was no rope on the bell. But she did she did a great That's why we were joking about it earlier cuz I was like what she have to do and he's like you got to lean down. I'm like poor Lisa. So anyway, you did a great job ringing the bell Lisa and speaking too.

So it was a really neat thing and a lot of good turnout and there was like a 20 30 minute line to get in that museum today. It was it was neat to see a lot of kids and everything and it's a real fullsize Liberty Bell replica that the state has. So that's it. All right, Brett. Well, Matt took two of them. There you go. Uh terminus days. That it was good. It was good to see that was more than last time. Um get a couple others to go on there and answer some questions so you talk about your high school days, too. Um did take my mother to road to 250 today. saw the Liberty Bell, but unfortunately we were late, so we missed the the talks.

Um, and then last week or the week before I got to fill in for the mayor at uh

Congressman Ciscomani's press conference where he was talking about some uh Panal County funding they got for the from the federal government for Panal County. Quite a few items, but two really important ones for the city. That was uh almost $2 million for the Cas Grand Union High School District's affordable workforce housing, which is good, and almost a million for the Cas Elementary School District's community center revitalization. So So he did a pretty good job getting some federal money in for for us locally. So that was good to good to hear and be be a part of. Um that's it. Good. And thank you for attending, Bob. No report. Thank you,

Sean. I'm sure you're going to cover State of the City, so I'm just uh State of the City is this Wednesday. Um, uh, Cactus Flyin also is this weekend. Um, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the at the Casc Municipal Airport. So hopefully get a good turnout for that. Yeah, that's my only report for today.

Well, good. No, thank you. Yeah, the America 250 great event today. Thank you to all of the everyone, the community service department, everyone, you know, that that participated. Scott, obviously, our police department, parks, library. It was just a really, really nice event. And it was so nice that they were able to stop here in Cassandr. It was a really nice nice museum and a great turnout. Um, let's see. I attended the the what is it called? The Caster Grand Element. No, no, the public schools band gala. And that's right. You're with me, too. Um um Rebecca Roma was there and um and so no, it was really great. There was approximately 700 students in this band from all the elementary schools and um middle school and high schools. And so it was just huge. There were so many parents there. It was just a great community event and just so happy to have all of those young musicians and um all the support that they had with their families. So um this this week is Dr. Seuss's birthday. I know it's a very important day. So, I don't know exactly which day. I just know this week. It's today. Oh, today is his birthday. Today is his birthday. And I actually went to legacy school and read a Dr. Suss book. No, I didn't. A w a walk in your pocket is what I read. So, yes, the second graders loved it. But, um, so if you have kids, grandkids, make sure you read them a Dr. Seuss book in memory of um, Dr. Seuss. Um, so for all of the seniors here, um, as far as high school seniors, the Caesar Chavez Memorial Scholarship Committee has a scholarship application that's out right now. So if anyone is interested in that, you have to email your application by March 20th or postmarket by the 18th and it's glea.chavez.committgmail.com. So please send that in if you're

interested in that. And um I also attended you know part of Cascran the the Catholic church is part of the Tucson Dascese and um was able to attend the new bishop ordination and that's why I wasn't there for your event but it was really a neat um um ceremony in the dascese of Tucson and so I was even able to get up and get a blessing by the new bishop. So it was really special and several other elected officials were there too. So um big day for the um Tucson Dascese and again state of the city 5:15 C Grand Union High School. Please bring your friends and family and just get caught up on what's going on in the city. So thank you to all of our staff, our PIO team, everyone that that's um put, you know, done all the videos. We have some exciting videos that are going to be in there from these guys. So we look forward to being there. So that's it. With that, we'll go ahead and adjourn the meeting. We'll adjourn. Thank you everyone.