City Council - Regular Meeting

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, hey, hey.

Welcome to the city of Maricopa's city council meeting. We're glad you're here because your voice matters. If you'd like to speak tonight, please start by filling out a speaker card at the council chambers entrance and turning it in to the city clerk before the meeting begins. On that card, you can let us know if you want to speak on a planned agenda item or during the general call to the public. Please keep in mind that all comments are limited to 3 minutes or less. Depending on the number of people requesting to speak, personal attacks and political speeches or threats are inappropriate in this forum and will be grounds for ending a speaker's time at the podium at the discretion of the mayor. We also ask that audience members refrain from applauding or showing disapproval of comments shared by fellow community members as every person who addresses council has the right to speak and not be intimidated. It's important to note that due to Arizona's open meeting law, council members cannot respond or take action on topics not listed on the agenda, but your comments will be heard and entered into the public record. can't stick around for the full meeting? You can always catch the replay on Facebook or YouTube where this meeting is currently being livereamed. Want more details about tonight's agenda items? Scan the QR code on your screen or visit www.mmaricopa-az.gov/aggenda. Thank you for joining us and getting involved. As a final reminder, please silence your cell phones and electronic devices. The city council meeting will begin shortly.

All right. Thank you for being here tonight, February 3rd, 2026 regular city council meeting. I call this to order and I am going to invite up Pastor Grady Root from Maricopa Springs Family Church for the invocation. And I'm going to invite Council Member Wade for the Pledge of Allegiance. Please rise if you're able.

I forgot to push the button. All right. I invite you to pray with me. Lord God, creator of heaven and earth. You hold all things together by your powerful word. And you alone are the source of true wisdom, righteousness, and compassion. You fashioned every person in your likeness. Each person having infinite worth in your eyes. As we gather in this place of government, we acknowledge that all authority comes from you. So may those here with authority steward it faithfully for the flourishing of those they are meant to serve. Lord Jesus, we lift up our council members and leaders today. Guard their hearts from pride, self-interest, or division. Instead, clothe them with humility. Grant them clear eyes to see the real needs around us. And fill them with courage to pursue what is just and good, even when it's hard. May their choices reflect your perfect will. Protecting the innocent, uplifting the weary, and building a community where peace can dwell and neighbors thrive. Let their successes point to your grace, and let their shortcomings drive them closer to you independence. We pray especially for the overlooked in our community and the suffering in our midst, the lonely, the struggling, the forgotten, the poor. Draw near to them with your comfort and hope. We ask your protection over our first responders, those who run toward danger so others can be safe. Surround them with your strength, wisdom in crisis, and peace in the quiet moments. Father, make the city of Maricopa a beacon of your common grace, a place of safety, opportunity, and kindness for all who call it home. We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Amen. Please join me in the pledge to our flag. I aliance 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. All right. Thank you, Pastor Grady. And thank you, Council Member Wade. Vanessa, that takes us to roll call. Council member Ghetto, present. Council member Noah, present. Council member Leman, here. Council member Marsh here. Council member Wade here. Vice Mayor Man Freddy here. Mayor Smith here. Madame Mayor, we have a qu.

Thank you very much. All right. We have no proclamations, acknowledgements, awards, and presentations. So that'll take us down to the report from the mayor and council. Who would like to start? Yes, Council Member Marsh.

It's been a busy couple weeks. Um, on January 22nd, uh, the mayor led an all day Maricopa futures planning meeting. For those of you who attended, thank you for coming. For those of you who didn't, we're going to plan a beautiful new Maricopa for you. On the 27th, uh, the Panel Partnership Government Relations Committee met. We're tracking the bills going through the legislature. I think there's over 1600 of them right now. On the 28th, uh I attended the Maroba Flood Control District Board meeting and they're preparing to hand over their their operations to the city. It's an exciting time in the flood business. On the 29th, I attended the Maricopa Unified School District dinner at Desert Sunrise High School. They had a panel discussion with Terresa Martinez and Chris Lopez, our two legislative representatives. It was pretty exciting. A lot of interesting people there. On February 2nd, the Maricopa Historical Society, uh, a historical society, um, had a a guest speaker, Roger Naylor. He's a famous author. He's written written a dozen books on traveling around Arizona. and uh he told the story of driving Route Route 66 from New Mexico to California and he published that story in a book. It's available on YouTube on Amazon. So check it out. Roger Naylor, N A Y L O R. And that's about it. Thanks.

Thank you, Council Member Marsh. Council member Ghetto.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh many of the same events that uh Council Member Marsh attended, I did as well, and it was a beautiful evening. One that I'll pull out was the um experience with the MUSD legislative briefing. It was a great event to hear some of the impacts the state legislature are making into our school districts and vice versa. It was wonderful to hear some of those updates. In addition to part of that, we we had a meal together and uh some of the representatives from our our neighboring auction community were there and having an opportunity to sit down with them and and talk about some of our joint um needs in our area community. It was a wonderful night to to bridge some of those relationships. Um, one other event I'd like to just report on would be the um amazing event that happened just this Saturday, the 31st. Our police department conducted a great training on the house of worship security and it was well attended. We had over 200 individuals um representing about 10 or 11 different faith-based groups including our uh school district was represented there as well. Well, it was fabulous evening or morning. Um, it went about an hour and a half, almost two hours. Uh, Chief Goodman, Officer Horse, Sergeant Cooer, Officer Nlander all did some presentations that really helped us to understand the need for security in some of our locations. Um, many of the attendants that I spoke with afterwards were all clamoring for a 2.0. They want a repeat later on this year. maybe even some opportunities to to learn a little bit more in depth of some things that they would like to see happen at their congregation. So overall, it was very very well recepted and I just want to express my gratitude to our police department, Chief Goodman. Thank you very much for making that happen and uh bringing that to our community. Um that's all I have tonight. Mayor, thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Ghetto. Council Member Wade.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much. um had an opportunity to spend some time with the uh security of churches and and the security of the churches as well with um Council Member Ghetto. It was in fact a very good program. The folks that were attending as far as giving the training were well versed on their training. They even had a a video of what to do in the case of an incident in your in your church. And it would work for any major situation if you have an active shooter, an active situation taking place. The the comments and the information they provided was very uh very helpful. I had had an opportunity to clone myself on uh Thursday by participating in the youth council as well as standing in for uh council member with the parks and recreation committee. And so it was uh it was pretty good to be able to go back and forth to share information with the committee, share information with with the students. the students are going to take on a new kind of uh idea with getting one of their members of going to be on on the uh on the council or the committee of their choice. We have some very sharp interesting young men and women in the in the uh organization and they they do a very good job of sharing with each other getting information across to each other and case in point they did the um mayor keep Maricopa beautiful situation on Saturday. And unfortunately, I was at another event that I had to attend. Actually was at the security uh event for the churches, but uh I know that the young men and women did a good job because we talked about it leading up to it. And um one of the things that I just

want to recognize um we had one of our our main directors if you will uh with the senior committee senior uh organization uh Chance Love and Chance uh has uh taken on another position in the city of Gilbert. He's he's going to be really missed. He's taken on taken up the task of the senior organization u with a lot of love and he put a lot a lot of effort into it. So we wish him well wish he would stay but if he stayed then that would mean we couldn't promote Brenda. So we need to make sure that we have a space for her and so Brenda would be taking over for some of the chances duties as well as the 1300 others that she does already. So that's that's all I have. Thank you very much.

Yes. Thank you, Council Member Wade. Council member No.

Thank you, Mayor. A couple of events that I was able to attend since our last council meeting that I want to report on. First was the uh Maricopa Women in Government Day at the Capitol. It was a fantastic success. We had over 30 women from Maricopa who met down at the Capitol. Representative Martinez really like gave us a fantastic opportunity to tour the Capitol, to sit on the House floor and to vote on mock bills uh which was really entertaining and she usually has kids do these tours and we were able to ask questions uh about the bills and kind of challenge her and she noted that it was a lot more difficult when adults were asking her questions. Uh so we gave her our best and then we were able to participate in presentations from ADWR about water and about AMAs and about 100red-year assured water supply laws uh which I felt that the group really found fascinating. And then also an update from AOT on uh 347 and all things transportation related which I can never get sick. I think I've seen that presentation like five times and every time I'm like beaming and so excited about it. I never get sick of that presentation but there were people there who had never seen it and so it was great to have u folks from AOT there to brief our women. And you know I felt like the women left really inspired and um they had a great time. and they learned a lot and I think there was even some people who were like you know maybe I'll get involved maybe I will put my name in the hat for for an office you know and it's whether it's school board or city council or state legislature or board and commission you know all of them matter and um you know the goal was just to encourage people to be involved and to use their voice and so I really want to thank Representative Martinez for making that possible and then of course uh Supervisor Vitiello was our speaker of the house and he actually did a really good job keeping us in line so

thanks to him as well. Uh I also attended the first responder heroes uh flag football game at Pakana Park on Friday night and that was entertaining let me tell you the firefighters did get redemption. They did they got redemption from the basketball game. Uh it was it was fun to watch though. It was a friendly rivalry. They all played great. There was lots of families out there. It was a great fundraiser for those organizations. And I have to say, Daniel, Daniel Will, like he was throwing dots. Like I was like, that's Daniel, you guys. He's got skills. So, he was like their secret weapon, I think, on the firefighters team. Uh, but it was a great game and a lot of fun and a lot such a wonderful opportunity to be out there with our first responders and their families. And I want to thank uh Leading Edge. They did a great job sponsor uh hosting that. What a great group of people. And then uh some things that are coming up, we have the Maricopa High School DECA is hosting the senior prom, Love Never Gets Old. How exciting is that? February 13th. So, um check that out if you're interested. But I love that they're doing that and interacting with the community and hosting something that's, you know, not just for students, but um to have the invite the community in to see what DECA does. And it's a great organization. So, I love that. And then I know there's a veterans painting fundraiser on February 10th at Lux Lounge. And so um I don't know how to paint, but I'm going to go try and um would love to see you there as well. And then finally, I just wanted to kind of recap. I know there was a lot going on over the weekend, especially about, you know, some pizza joints that may or may not come. And I had a great briefing from city manager and the mayor right before the meeting. And I'm hopeful that, you know, we can get that figured out. But I just wanted to let the community and businesses know that I did make some suggestions to the city manager that I hopefully can be

implemented so that this doesn't happen again. Um, you know, making sure that our city manager is aware when somebody says, "Hey, we're out." And that way um you know our city manager can get involved in that discussion because I just always want everybody, every person, every resident uh every youth, every entrepreneur, every developer to feel welcome here in Maricopa. And I know you do too and I know our city leadership does as well. And um and I believe that you know we we are capable of that and I think we need to change the motto like live, work, play, and build a business in Maricopa. Um, but I just want everyone to know that I'm always available via email, via phone. If you ever have any concerns, you have any issues, I'm happy to listen and help point you in the right direction or help get answers and do what we can to make sure that you can really thrive in Maricopa. That's all I have.

Thank you, Council Member Nor. Council Mayor Lurman.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to share a little bit about how busy our arts community has has been, and I didn't even know about the one at the Lex Lamb, so thank you. Um, so, uh, the city just gave out, um, our next cycle of arts grants and they went to Broadway Theater, the Historical Society, and Learn with Aloha. So, congratulations to those groups. Um, and then I also learned that Maricopa Friends of the Arts gave out $6,000 in scholarship to artists this year as well. Um, so that was really exciting to hear. Chile Keyles is having some art events this month. Um on the 12th and the 21st they're having an art and sip and then on the 13th they're having a jazz fusion. Um and then Maricopa High School is having an arts festival on February 28th. And then um the Mur Murder Mystery Dinner is on February 12th. Copa Cultural is on February 21st. And then there's Desert Music Arts Festival March 6th and 7th. So, I know I didn't cover all of them by any means, but our arts community is very active here. And I just wanted to remind everyone that there's lots of opportunities to attend some really great events. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, Council Lurman, Vice Mayor, and Freddy.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh it's great to hear of all the stuff happening. You know, I've it's these times of the year when the weather is pretty nice that it's an overflowing of things happening, different events you can go to, and it's really great to go to a lot of them. But it's also great that our council, no matter what event it is, somebody from this council is probably going to be there. Um, and it's a great thing to have that representation. We can't all make it to every event, but it's good to know that every event somebody's showing up. Um, this this has been a crazy couple weeks. What happens in November and December is a lot of the committees and state committees and advocacy groups and all that stuff kind of slow down. So then January rolls around and then it's like boom, it all happens at the same time because they're all getting back on track for the year. Um, I attended the transportation policy committee for Maricopa Association of Governments. And if you don't know what that is, it's the policy committee is dec kind of decides where all the money is spent for MAG, which is that halfsent sales tax in Maroba County. Within that is about $90 million for the 347. So attending those meetings is very important. and we get to actually have conversations with the folks who are going to decide when we can get that money, how we can move it up from 2029 to 2027 or 2028 and all that stuff and and how we're going to fund 347 in Maropa County. It was a great meeting. Um I attended a meeting at this really cool new spot in town called Ono Hawaiian. Hawaiian I think it's called. Yeah. Um I don't know if you've been there yet like me that have been there three or four times and my wife is enough, right? So, I had to get Mod Pizza yesterday. I was like, "All right, fine." Um, but I love it. If you haven't been there, go. They have this thing where it's um spam on on rice and they wrapped in I don't know the name of it. I just go, "Give me the spammy thing and they give it to me. It's really

good." Um, we met the mayor um the mayor, city manager, um our inner gov and myself. We met with Doug Coleman. Doug Coleman is probably going to be our next person on the transportation um governing board for AOT and that's a great thing is that we were able to meet with him and the reason for that is in Panal County we our population hit a point where we're we're going to have a person on the board for the governing board for the AOT and it's good great to know that it's a somebody who's actually served as a mayor somebody who's worked in the positions that we work in and hopefully gets approved has to still make it through the Senate and confirmations, but if Doug makes it on, you know, sitting with him was great and his understanding of what we need here for the 347. And as you know, the five-year plan is a funible thing. So, you want to make sure that the board understands it. And he said um that would be his number one priority is to make sure that that stays in place. Sorry. Um next was um MPA. Now, MPPPA is um you you you all remember MIA and how we had our um inner um sorry, our um economic development talks and all that stuff. Well, when MEA went away, we actually brought MPPA in-house and we actually just do a meeting where we talk a little bit about um economic development things happening in the city of Maricopa. I serve on that board, so it's fun. Um, it's always great to sit down and actually have a conversation with all the people who are making decisions on what they want to bring to the city and talk about that kind of stuff. So, it's great. Um, geez, Central Arizona Government Regional Council had its meeting. Um, and that was fun because I got reelected to the RTAC, uh, which is the Rural Transportation Advocacy Council. Um, I've served on that for about eight years now. And on our TAC, what we talk about is rural

transportation dollars and how we can advoc advoc um our advocacy for where to spend money that is not in the state of Mar uh state of Maricopa, but throughout the ra the greater Arizona area, the rural area, which we're part of. So, um I'm back on the rural transportation advisory committee, which was great to have my council reelect me there. And then last thing coming up on February 27th, I don't know if you've heard about this stuff, but seniors are getting scammed a lot. And when I mean scammed, I mean that telephone calls that come in, the email stuff, the clicking stuff on their computer, and they think or somebody's calling them and saying it's their granddaughter and they need them to ship money. There's so many scams out there, and seniors seem to be falling for some of these things because it's technology and stuff and it's just happening. So, I saw that um Attorney General Maize was her office was having this really cool event in Apache Junction. I think it was a couple months ago. So, what I did is I reached out and I asked them, "Hey, what about Maricopa?" And they're like, "Well, we had no plans." I'm like, "Now you do." So, on February 27th at 11:00 here in this council chambers, um the attorney general's office will be here giving a presentation for seniors to understand what to what to avoid. But it's not only for seniors. Um, it's good for people who have senior parents to come in and sit down and just listen to it because I I and the reason I did it, and I I don't want to say it, but I know someone that lost $5,000 on a phone call. And thankfully, the $5,000 was all they had in their bank account, or else they would have lost a lot more. But they used their checking account instead of their savings account when they gave them their information. Um, and they actually lost $5,000. The bank said, "There's nothing we can do." You gave them your information. You gave them everything. And so, they finally got a couple dollars back from the bank, but

it's a serious thing. So, please, if you can get people and fill this room, I don't know what the capacity is here. I think it's in the back, 183 or something like that. Let's fill it up with 183 people and make sure that we help this community avoid these scams. Other than that, thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. All right. So, just a little bit on the state transportation board position for Panel County. It was a very good meeting with Doug Coleman. Um, he does live on the east side, but I want you to know he came prepared with information, very specific information about the city of Maricopa, 347, what's important to us. So, I feel very good that he's going to do a great job representing all of Panal County. And as the vice mayor indicated, he does have a lot of experience. We also welcome down the GPEC Greater Phoenix Economic Council for a tour. They have a brand new executive director, Chris Machier, and she was willing to come down to the city of Maricopa from Phoenix and actually take a tour of our city. She walked away just impressed with what properties are down here to build on, what our roadblocks are to build on them. um she walked away with great ideas in terms of people she wanted to connect with the city of Maricopa. So well worth the time and I appreciate Joshua and Christian Price for putting that together. Um they did a phenomenal job and she was just a delight to be here. Um in terms of our futures meeting, if you have hadn't had a chance to see what went on at futures, let me just give you a quick rundown. It's a great opportunity for all of council, for many of staff to really work together to say, "Where are we headed in 2026?" So, we learned a lot about Maricopa's financial reality. And if you're curious about that, ask me. I'll share information with you. It was really worthwhile to hear where we're standing for 2026. Just to touch on it, you may know that Santan Valley Incorporating has an impact on our revenue and then also the legislators taking away rental tax has an impact on our revenue. So there is a

financial reality. But I also want you to know it's not a terrible horrible situation for the city of Maricopa. It just means we have to fine-tune more because of the fact that the city of Maricopa has been so fiscally responsible. Um, we also talked about commuting corridors. If you don't know about commuting corridors, uh, you know, talk to me. I want to share with you how the city is working on alternate ways in and out of the city of Maricopa. It doesn't 347 is not an end all beall. We have other plans going on, one of them being green road loop. Um, we also talked about various facilities and how do they play a part in our CIP, a senior center, a teen center, a swimming pool. um things like that. And so you can learn more about that as we move through the budget process. We determined that we we had a task force. Council member Ghtle and Council Member Marsh and I served on a task force to determine what we saw as founders for the city of Maricopa. Came up with a list of those founders. It's a total of 20. We shared it with the rest of council and with staff. And so we'll be moving forward with a monument for founders of the city of Maricopa over at the heritage district. We had an update from public safety, both police chief and fire chief, and their plans going forward. And we had an update on the industrial park, which is important for all of us. We know that's highpaying jobs. And then there were other little things as well. Uh the staff did a fantastic job walking all those elements through the process on that day. It was a full day. I just want to share although vice mayor shared ono Hawaiian barbecue went to the grand opening the ribbon cutting and I have to let you know I my he asks this a lot. Other councils might may ask this a lot

but the question is why Maricopa? And I loved his response. He said, "We've been in love with the city of Maricopa for years, and we finally found a great location." And they were excited. They were well staffed. I understand everything's been moving well. So, go check it out. Um, I also went to the Maricopa Art Council. If you're not aware of that, they're doing uh monthly or weekly, semi-weekly art talks. So, if you are an art advocate and you want to hear about our artists within the city, look up the Maricopa Art Council um talks and this month was Peg Chapidos who is the a designer of games and she shared her passion with us. It was quite lovely. Went to the MUSD legislative panel and I'm going to combine that one with the Maricopa women in government at the Capitol. Both of these were wonderful opportunities for our residents, for our teachers, for those women that serve um in various ways. They may own a business in the city of Maricopa. They may uh operate a nonprofit, but all of these women about 25 about 30 were at this um Maricopa Women in Government at the Capitol and then lots of parents and teachers at the MUSD legislative panel. This is an opportunity to look inside and see how legislation works. Um, it's quite amazing and I encourage anyone to take advantage of an opportunity like that. Just to touch on the public safety charity football game. If you didn't know, they were Leading Edge was raising money to go toward both the fire department and the police department. So, I again thank Leading Edge and their sponsors for providing a fun event and then a rewarding night too because we'll find out from the chiefs maybe one day how they use those funds. It's quite um

fun. Uh as was mentioned, we had a meeting with Governor Lewis that was really exhilarating because he came into the room and he had the topic of public safety. That was our main topic. But we finished that topic really quickly and then I said, "What other things would you like to talk about?" He wanted to know about the status of Green Road Loop because that is on Hila River Indian Committee. He wanted to know about status of other projects which includes some to the east and we had a great conversation in partnership and how well the city and Hila River partnered together. I do want to say oh I um had lunch today. This is really important with Zeke and his wife Jodie, myself and the city manager. It was a great opportunity to meet with them. They own Zesty Zeke's Pizza. They love that Z zesty in front of it. Um, but they were very grateful for the meeting. We were very grateful because we felt we left the meeting and they concurred in a positive state for momentum for what the next steps are. And so very good meeting. I really enjoyed meeting them. They're actually very wonderful people and it was a very productive meeting. I want to say congratulations to city manager Bidder. As many of you may or may not know, he was elected as the president of ACMA, which is the Arizona City and County Management Association. Did I get that right? Yep. And just so you know, this acknowledges from his peers, city managers, county managers, of his education, experience, and leadership abilities. They believe in you, and I really appreciate them sharing some of their thoughts with me as well. So, congratulations. Um, and then just some announcements. Uh, the Mike Ingram Heritage Park will

be doing a ribbon cutting on February 24th, and that will be at 10 o'clock. This is a great new park uh with ramadas, a playground, a wonderful playground with trains and water tank and just really cool. I can't wait to take my grandkids there and an outdoor amphitheater. And so speaking of the amphitheater, right now there's a concert scheduled there for March 7th from 5 to 7. And yeah, I'm announcing it, but we may change it because we found out that there is a conflict with another concert. So, we want to make the most of our entertainment in the city of Maricopa. Um, and then as a reminder, if you haven't turned in your comments for the general plan, make sure you do. Highly critical. I had some folks asking me online, do I really have to walk through this one at a time at a time at a time at a time. City manager, I'm sorry. I'm just I just said go to the end and put in your comments. And they seem to be content with that. So, if you haven't looked at the map, you know, it's it's a thick document. Look at the map and look where things are being proposed for locating within the general plan area and then put in your comments very simply. You can go to the last comment section and enter them very simply. And then last but not least, state of the city, February 11th, that's a week from tomorrow, 5:00 pm, Desert Sunrise High School. I would love to have you all there. All right. So that goes and takes us to the report for from the city manager.

Thank you, madame mayor, members of the council. Just a few short slides today. Uh the first to just provide a picture of the house of worship uh security training. I think it's a good example of uh if we can go to the next slide. Good example, there we go. Of some of the innovative things that our our police department is working on. You know, this starts with the chief and the lieutenants and sergeants, but also includes our officers and every single um person that spoke at that training that's working on our business watch program. They are all trying to find innovative new ways to uh bring community policing to life and and to improve everyone's sense of safety within our community. We know we have a safe community just based on statistics, but we want to make sure that everyone feels safe all the time. And so I think this is just another great example of that. So, um, next slide. This is something that that we often, um, overlook, but I think is important, and that's that we have 99 new miles, new lane miles of roads that we've added in the last 5 years. So, as we've continued to grow as a city, we haven't just grown in terms of population, but we've grown in terms of the amount of roads that we have. It's not just new traffic signals, but also new roads and lane miles and um adding in new ways to get around um new uh hiccups that that may pop up, traffic jams. Uh we we are trying to find routes around those. And so this is I think just a an opportunity for us to look back and say, "Wow, we really are adding great new things." And we'll continue to add those in the future and continue to to throw those into our capital improvement plan. But our goal is always keeping up with growth as as best we can and also um having growth pay for itself as much as we can uh to make sure that those roadways are in place. So um today some some interesting piece of

news is uh President Trump signed an appropriations bill that included an $867,000 uh congressionally designated spending amount to help fund our ambulances. So, as we are are going through the process to start ambulance service, um while these ambulances are tremendously expensive, more than a half million dollars a piece and will require multiple of those, uh this certainly helps us and is bringing taxpayer dollars back from Washington DC into our community. So, a tremendous uh positive thing for us that happened in the appropriations bill today that was signed. So, wanted to make note of that. And then finally, um, just we've talked a lot about transparency and how we try to provide as much information as we can all of the time. One of the best things that we consistently um try to advertise and make people aware of is our e newswsletter. Every Friday we send this out. We try to provide uh timely information, opportunities for comments, where it's alerts for traffic that might be popping up. All of those things get included in that newsletter. So, just wanted to to end with another thing as as it relates to transparency, which is sign up for our newsletter. We'll try to get that information to you as quickly and as as fully and completely as we can. Otherwise, by all means, our contact information is throughout the website. So, please reach out if you ever have any specific concerns. And with that, happy to answer any questions or have any uh further comments.

Council, any questions, comments? All right, that'll take us to the call to the public. I do have two speaker cards this evening and my first speaker card is Kelly Anderson,

Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council. You know, back in the day, I served with Doug Coleman on various committees and associations. He's a good man. He will do Marble well.

Um um I'm going to do a shout out to our street maintenance crew.Uh Uh they did do a great job on Ferrell, Hartman, and Murphy. Uh Frell and Hartman were done back in believe maybe 15, 20 years ago. Uh Federal Highway Administration grant to work on the PM 2.5 and PM10 projects. Um it's throw down pavement. So when I see a pothole, the next day it's filled. Murphy was built probably in early 90s to accommodate Volkswagen. A grant from the Department of Commerce. Uh it is showing where. So, they are keeping that that up to speed. You know, we are fortunate that we have Duncan Farms around us keeping the ground around the city complex clean and really nice looking, but it's not that way across the city. I know there's talk about keeping Maricopa beautiful, but we have land bankers, speculators, maybe a few farmers who are not keeping their ground uh clean. Uh we've had some rain. It's 80 degrees today. Maybe it's going to be a hot summer. Um, we have some high school, we have some new met elementary schools in Srento and if we get a lightning strike and a windstorm at the wrong time, we will have a wildfire problem. I'd hate to see that happen. So, I don't know if we've got a code some type that these these land owners need to keep their ground clean. If not, we're going to have a problem. And lastly, um there's a landscape median in front of Desert Sunrise High School. For the life of me, I don't know why we wanted to restrict that safe sight triangle in front of a high school. We have buses. We have students who are driving. So, we've got some trees planted, but they're going to be growing. And I just don't really understand why we have the potential restricting site in front of the high school. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good

information. All right. Our next speaker is Joseph Caruso. Hello, my name is Joseph Caruso. I've lived in this great city for the last 18 years. Uh, however, today I'm here to talk to you as a representative of the United Way of Panel County. Uh, we've been serving city of Maricopa and surrounding areas for the last 45 years. Currently, we have a few different initiatives across education and financial stability. Uh I would like to call out one of those today uh to speak with you all and the public about as well. We have a reading by third grade initiative uh which is in partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. I know many of you are familiar with it. Uh thank you Mayor Smith and council members for all of your support over the last few years. Personally, uh I appreciate that very much. Um however, uh reading by third grade is a very important educational milestone. For those who don't know, uh, reading by after third grade, reading is no longer taught. You're expected to learn to read in fourth grade. So, if you're struggling reading after third grade, your educational journey is an uphill battle from there on out. One in six readers who do not uh or one in six children who are not reading by third grade do not finish high school on time. There's many more statistics just like that. So 2025 test scores in the city of Maricopa reflect that only 29% of our third graders are reading. Uh that is a drop from 33% last year which is not a great trend. Uh we do have a program to help with this. Uh like I mentioned the reading by third grade initiative. Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails a new book to the home of children five and under uh to address to the child so that their parent, caregiver or whoever in the house can read to them. Uh gets them excited about books. gets them loving uh literacy and books in general so that when they start kindergarten they're on pace and that's the key is reading to our kids so when they start kindergarten they're on track. All the studies show that if they start kindergarten behind

typically they'll stay behind not just through third grade but through their whole educational career. Uh so we are encouraging parents and caregivers to sign up for our program. You can go to unitedwaypc.org board under programs and it's free to sign up uh for all residents of the city of Maricopa and everyone in Panell County in every zip code. Uh but they can sign up there uh receiving books for their children in the mail uh and really change the course of their lives. Uh we also have a annual golf tournament that supports our reading by third grade initiative that's on April 24th that will be at the Francisco Grande uh hotel and golf resorts just south of here. Uh there's a website for that wpcolf.com and you can go there uh check out uh the tournament, all the ways you can support the reading by third grade initiative uh for students here in Maricopa. Uh we do have 660 kids currently enrolled in the city. We'd love to grow that number. We'd love to grow the funding and the program in general. Uh once again, thank you all for your support. I know many of you have supported this program personally. U and thank you for your time. Thank you very much. It is a great program. Parents, check it out. All right. Would anyone else from the audience like to approach the podium and speak? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to consent agenda this evening. We do have consent agenda item 7.1 through 7.3. And um I don't have any speaker cards. Council members, do you have any questions, concerns, comments? All right, seeing none, do I have a motion?

Motion. Motion to approve by Council Member No, seconded by Council Member Wade. Uh, one last chance for questions, comments. Seeing none, please vote. This is new. I was going to be just hit. Very good. So, is it okay if I read Vanessa the results of the vote?

Very good. Okay. So, with that, the motion passes with a 70 vote. Can we Can we have a hand count? No.

I know. All right, we are going to move on to agenda item 8.1. This is an appointment to cultural affairs and arts advisory committee and this belongs to council member no. Thank you, mayor. Um, I have the opportunity to make a new appointment tonight to the cultural affairs and arts committee. But before I do that, I do want to recognize Cynthia Portray, who served on the cultural affairs and arts committee for me and for my predecessor, Rich Fitello. She served for almost a decade on that committee. She gave her heart and soul to that committee. She was always there. She was at every meeting. Um she was involved. She participated. She loves the arts in Maricopa. And I can't thank Cynthia enough for her service uh on the cultural affairs and arts committee. and I hope that we still see her uh around at the events. I believe we will. Um but I do want to thank her for that service. And along those lines, we have a new and exciting member. Uh I'd like to nominate Thomas Schilling to the cultural affairs and arts committee. Uh Thomas has been married to his wife Barbara for 55 years. They have four children, nine grandchildren, and six greatg grandandchildren. And Thomas is a acclaimed writer. He has been published 14 times in the United States and Great Britain. Um he was also the only nonprely published finalist in the adventure writers competition which is uh sponsored by the Clive Kustler family. So he's got some talent in writing. Um he's very active in the arts. He's got a great pedigree in terms of his professional background. And I think he will be a phenomenal addition to the cultural affairs and arts committee. and he is here tonight. Um, so if you'd like to stand up, Thomas, this is Thomas. Yes.

Very good. Council members, any questions, comments, I just want to make a comment because I worked a lot with Cynthia Petray. Wonderful. I think she might have been on the original and and has served continuously. She needs a break. Yes, she deserves a break. And she deserves one. So Thomas, thank you very much. Um, not seeing any questions, comments. Do I have a motion? Council member Nor. Yes. Motion to approve. Second.

Motion to approve by Council Member No, seconded by Council Member Lurman. Any other further conversation? Seeing none, please vote. Perfect. That motion carries. Congratulations, Thomas. Our next item is item 8.2. It's a resolution basically discussing vacating a portion of Honeyut Avenue. And our presentation is from Derek.

Good evening, Mayor uh members of the council. Derek Sheer with the planning division of the development services division. Uh prepared to present the next uh item on the agenda. Next item is uh for an abandonment for the First Baptist Church uh ABDN25-00003. This is a right-of-way abandonment uh to the west of the First Baptist Church lo located uh on the former uh North Maricopa Road uh alignment. Uh this is a leftover portion of property from the overpass uh for the 347. Uh as you can see here on the graphic in the vicinity map, it's located just south of uh North Maricopa Road and west of West John Wayne Parkway, south of the culdeac that's there. Uh the property area is approximately 477 acres in area. This is a right of way, but it's actually a public utility easement that we are abandoning and uh will be uh transferring over to the adjacent property owner, which is the uh First Baptist Church. uh for the public outreach. Uh on January 7th, utility contacts were notified via mail and email. On January 7th, we also posted the site and we're having the uh council hearing today on February 3rd. Staff has not received email or any communication either in support or against the proposed abandonment. The notification report is provided to the council uh in staff's uh report as exhibit C. uh staff supports the ease uh the easement abandonment because of uh the following findings. The city and staff and public utility companies have determined that this portion of the utility easement is not necessary anymore. Therefore, uh they are agreeing to terminate the easement on this portion of the property. The city nor the utility companies uh have plans to improve this portion of the easement in the future and the proposed request is in accordance with city code section 17.2.10 abandonment of rightaways. Therefore, staff is recommending uh that the

council motion for approval of abandonment case ABDN25-00003 for the First Baptist Church public utility easement abandonment. I'm happy to answer any questions that the council may have. Thank you. We'll move to the public hearing first. This is an open public hearing. I don't have any speaker cards. Um would anyone like to come forward and speak on this item? All right. Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. Council, do you have any questions, comments? I just have a quick question. The church is aware and they want the property.

Mayor Smith, uh, Council Member Nor, yes, the church is aware of this and, uh, this helps with them in their future expansion goals for the church uh, with either expanding their classroom space or an auditorium. Fantastic. Thank you.

Very good. Anything else? All right. Do I have a motion? So moved by council member Wade. Do I have a second? Seconded by council member Marsh. Additional opportunity for questions, comments. Seeing none, please vote. Very good. That motion carries. We will move on to agenda item 8.3. And again, Derek is our presenter. The next item on the agenda is abandonment ABDN25-00004 North Maricopa Road abandonment. Uh this is an application by the city of Maricopa uh to abandon a piece of rightway, actual rightaway uh located south of West Honeyut uh Avenue and west of North uh John Wayne Parkway. The abandonment area is approximately 182 acres. Very small area as you can see on the vicinity map. This is located on the west side of Maricopa Road and this is in conjunction with realigning uh North Maricopa Road. We had had rightway dedication uh come before the uh council before. Um the city is planning to realign uh North Maricopa Road so that it forms an actual X intersection instead of this offset intersection with this really wide uh no man's land in between the lights. Uh the road will bend to the west and then meet up with North Maricopa Road, realigning it how it was traditionally aligned before the uh overpass came in. Uh the abandoned portion of the rideway uh will be uh given to the property uh

adjacent to the west, which is also owned by the city. So, we're abandoning the rightway to give the land that isn't needed for the rightway anymore to the city so that that port parcel will gain a little bit of uh land and be more marketable uh for development in the future. Uh public outreach for the case uh the utility contacts were notified by email and uh mail on January 7th. The uh site was posted on January 7th and we're having the council hearing today uh February 3rd. Staff has not received emails or phone calls from the public concerning the proposed abandonment or from uh the utilities. Uh notification report is available as exhibit C in the staff report. Staff supports a rightaway abandonment request as it satisfies that the city and public utility companies no longer are determined that this portion of the utility easement is not necessary. Therefore agreeing to terminate this easement on this portion of the property and the easement being the right of way. The city nor the utility companies have plans to improve or use portion of the ement in the future. And the proposed request is in accordance with city code section 17.20.10 for abandonment of rightway. Staff uh recommends that uh the council motion to approve case ABDN25-00004 for the North Maropa Road abandonment. And I'm happy to answer any questions the council may have.

Very good. Thank you, Derek. This is a public hearing as well, so I will open the public hearing. Would anyone I have zero speaker cards. Would anyone like to approach the podium? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Council, are there any questions, comments? Very good. Do I have a motion? Motion to approve. Motion to approve by council member No. Do I have a second? I'll second.

Seconded by Council Member Ghetto. Last chance for an opportunity to ask a question or share a concern. Seeing none, please vote. That motion carries. Excellent. All right. Thank you, Derek. I appreciate that. And that brings us to the end of our agenda. Thank you all for being here.