City Council - Regular Meeting

what ADOT is doing to mitigate the impact to drivers during construction.

Sure, we know that there are a lot of drivers who travel SR 347 during those peak travel times, the morning and evening rush hours. Our work is generally going to be focused on the weeknight, overnight hours and on the weekends. That means when we have any sort of restrictions or closures, that's when drivers will expect those types of restrictions during those weeknight, overnight hours and weekends. keeping SR347 open with two lanes in each direction during the day for the most part. So we want to make sure that drivers know that and that we are as least disruptive as possible.

Excellent. Now, we're talking about a three plus year long project to go from Maricopa all the way out to I-10. Lots of phases, potential delays, unexpected things that happen. If people want to stay up to date on everything that's going on, what's the best way for them to get information from ADOT?

The best way is to log on to our project webpage and that is azdot.gov slash SR347. There you will get all of the updates that we post along with ways to sign up to get project updates. Traffic alerts will be especially important, so sign up for those traffic alerts. Also, we have our social media and we're still looking at different ways where we can communicate with our audience because we know there's so many people who are interested in this project.

Excellent. Well, I appreciate you being here. We're going to be talking a lot with ADOT as this project unfolds and sharing that information with you. So hopefully you'll follow their sites and ours as well. We'll make sure you stay on top of all the developments on SR347.

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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 Chamber's 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 three 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. In accordance to state law, city resources and facilities may not be used for election-related activities, including discussions of candidacies, vote solicitation, or campaign events. 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 live-streamed. Want more details about tonight's agenda items? Scan the QR code on your screen. or visit www.maricopa-az.gov slash agenda. 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.

Welcome everyone. I will call this meeting September 1. This regular City Council meeting to order and I am going to ask Pastor Roger Thompson to please come forward to give the invocation and Council Member Marsh to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please rise if you're able.

There we go.

Let's go ahead and pray, shall we?

Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity we have tonight, Lord, to gather with freedom. or this in its meetings like this in body what america is so what we pray for our time together we pray for wisdom discernment direction and for peace or i think you for the council members work give them direction and understanding in all things regarding our city in the direction we're going word we pray for the people of the city or would you bless them and prosper them keep them safe we pray for first responders our fire our police And all those, God, involved in keeping the city and the people of the city safe. We pray for the churches that are lifting up the name of Jesus tonight. We thank you for them and just how important they are, Lord, to this community. And Lord, we pray for our schools, school teachers, Lord, our parents and our students. God, we pray for our schools, that they would... Be a place of learning and growing and a place where our community comes together, Lord. And so, Lord, again, we offer this time, we offer this meeting to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice,

All right. Thank you, Pastor Thompson and Council Member Marsh. That'll take us to roll call. Vanessa, please. Council Member Gettle.

Present.

Council Member Knorr. Present. Council Member Learman. Here. Council Member Marsh.

Here.

Council Member Wade. Present. Vice Mayor Manfredi.

Here.

Mayor Smith. Here. Madam Mayor, we have a quorum. Thank you very much. That takes us to the next item on the agenda, which is proclamations, acknowledgments, awards, and presentations. Tonight we have one on fall prevention, and I'm going to ask the council to come join me if you would like to, and Ron Smith from the audience and any of your invited guests, please. All right, whereas slips and falls are the leading cause of injury related deaths amongst Arizona residents 65 and older. It is estimated that one in four adults will suffer a serious fall and it accounts for the highest mortality rate of men over 85. And whereas falls can result in sizable personal and financial tolls that greatly affect a person's quality of life, traumatic brain injury, TBI, depression, loss of mobility, and loss of functional independence are frequent challenges impacting those that are injured. And whereas the total cost of unintentional slips and falls, including costs associated with physician care, EMS services, rehabilitation, or long-term disability exceeds $3 billion annually. And whereas falling is not an inevitable result of aging, prevention programs can assist with everyday strategies to improve both mobility and stability and reduce risks. And whereas, I urge all older adults, family members, caregivers, health care providers, medical centers, first responders, law enforcement, and community partners to routinely assess older adults, including our veterans and those with disabilities for fall risks and enact strategies to improve mobility, stability, and independence. Now, therefore, I, Nancy Smith, Mayor of the City of Maricopa, do hereby proclaim the month of September as Fall Prevention Awareness Month, and this is on September 1, 2026. All right, that takes us to the report from the mayor and council. Council, do you have items you'd like to share? Yes, Council Member Marsh.

Well, it's been 28 days since our last meeting. I've been busy. On August 7th, the Pinal Partnership held a breakfast meeting and the topic was energy, gas, electric, solar, and wind. On the 11th, the Pinal County Water Augmentation Authority Board focused on adding additional water sources to Pinal County's water supply. We are in a long-term drought. The Colorado River is in a long-term drought, and the federal government has just reduced Arizona's allocation of the Colorado River severely. We do have some potential for new water sources from conservation doing things like reducing turf watering of potable water, converting turf watering from potable to reclaimed, Converting turf parks in HOAs and non-productive turf areas to xeriscape. Second solution is aquifer recharge. We're looking at putting beaver dams in the Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa washes to hold back the water and let it percolate into the aquifer. There's this consulting company that's doing a project down near Picacho where a wash is approaching I-10, and they don't want to wash out I-10, so they're going to put in beaver dams. uh... on the seventeenth the senior advisory council meeting uh... the committee and staff are starting to plan the january senior info expo uh... i do have a an opening to fill in the senior advisory council so anybody over fifty who's interested rich yes sir you cannot you can apply on the city website On the 20th, we had a Lunch and Learn featuring Jake Lenderking, the Global Water Vice President for Sourcing New Water Supply. It was an excellent presentation. He introduced his new water conservation expert, and she's excellent. On the 25th, Dolly Parton died, and I took two days off to remember her life, her music, and all the good things she's done. We all should be more like Dolly Parton. On the 27th, we held a Board of Adjustments meeting in Florence, same old undersized lots variances, even one case in Hidden Valley, South of Maricopa. Going forward, the Maricopa Community Senior Center calendar is posted on the city website and is available at the community center. Every Monday, 10 to 11 a.m., there's a meet and greet at the community center. It helps get seniors out of their houses. And there's a movie matinee every Friday at 1 p.m. except 9-11. It starts at noon. There's a blood pressure clinic on 9-11 at 10.30 to 11 a.m. Copra Seniors is on the 10th. At 9 30 a.m. And the lunch and learn topic this fall Is is fall prevention a star starring Ron Smith? that's on the 17th and Then there's a fall prevention awareness info Expo at the library on the 26th from 9 to 1 putting icing on the cake of fall awareness month That's about it mayor. Thank you

Thank you very much, Council Member Marsh. Council Member Learman.

Thank you. I would like to congratulate my son, a Maricopa High School graduate and Air Force cadet, Charles Learman, a senior at the United States Air Force Academy, for his job drop on Saturday, August 15th, getting his dream job of cyberspace operations. We are so proud of him, and he will be graduating June 3rd of 2027. And I remember when he was at Maricopa Wells, coming home and telling me, Mom, I want to go into the Air Force Academy, and I want to go into cyber. And for him to get his dream job this month, or last month, we were ecstatic. So we're so proud of him. Sorry. Okay. I want to thank Adam Orta for hosting Maricopa's Got Talent on August 29th. The judges were Mayor Smith, Fire Chief Patasi, local comedian DT, and Duke Roadhouse General Manager Haley Nelson. It was a really great night. There were artisans present, 34 acts. There were four categories, youth, senior, solo, duo, and group. It was great entertainment. I think there were about 12 acts that were moved forward to September 12th. They will be competing for first, second, and third place at Duke's Roadhouse from two to five. And the public will be the judges, so you guys will choose the winner. And that event on September 12th is a fundraiser for Maricopa First Friday. So it was a really great event. Thank you for everyone that came out and participated and just watched. I would like to also announce that Maricopa's second art gallery is opening this fall. We have a current art gallery in the library and we're opening our second art gallery here in City Hall. It's gonna be a solo artist spotlight gallery opening here for one artist to display their art. So this is something new that we're doing in Maricopa. We're really excited about it. We have an amazing art community here that we want to recognize and honor and give more opportunities to. And I want to thank our Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee and Travis Orian and Brenda Campbell for helping that come to fruition. And Maricopa Police Department made 80 contacts and 62 citations on the first day of school. The citations were for speeding, failure to yield, and cell phone violations. Thank you to our Maricopa Police Department for keeping our students safe and for continuing to educate our community. They were also reminding our youth to wear a helmet if you're under the age of 18. And I also want to give them a huge shout out. They have a Ride Safe program. It's an online program. for anyone that has any violations for e-bikes or scooters. So if they get a violation, they will go through an online program, just helping them understand the rules for riding e-bikes and scooters. So thank you to MPD for getting that program up so quickly. I also want to thank AZDPS for their presence on 347. I have seen them out there consistently, and I think it is helping, so thank you to them. And then I just want to give a shout out to our library for some great programming that they're offering our youth. They offer Friday Fibers, ages 14 and up, on Fridays at 4 p.m. They have an APOP group, ages 12 to 18, every other Friday at 5 p.m. They have Dungeons and Draggers Adventures League, age 13 and up, every other Saturday at noon. And they have a Lego Club, age 7 to 12 years old, Thursdays at 5 p.m. I also want to remind everyone that Stagecoach Days is coming up October 15th through the 28th. There's going to be a lot of fun activities going on, hoping everybody can get involved. And First Fridays is starting Friday, October 2nd from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Heritage District. I want to thank the mayor and council for your support and your sponsorship and for the community coming together to make that happen. I want to thank the Pinal County Supervisor Vitiello for having our second meeting regarding improving the welfare of our animals here in Maricopa and discussing the opportunity for a shelter here. I want to thank you for their engagement and conversation and we look forward to more conversations about that. I want to give a shout out to Global Water. This last month, I had a lot of meetings on my calendar and I noticed I kept driving to Global Water like over and over and over again. Global Water goes above and beyond in hosting meetings for community groups. Space is so limited here in Maricopa, so when you're a group looking for a space to meet, They continually are so generous and open their doors to nonprofits, small groups. Maybe they don't have a lot of money to spend. And so this is just a huge service that they do to our community. And I want to thank them. If you guys will give them a round of applause. They're here tonight. So thank you so much. I also just want to thank Maricopa Police Department. This month, I just kept hearing, oh, Maricopa Police Department's doing Cops and Cones, Maricopa Police Department's doing YANA, Maricopa Police Department's helping this nonprofit with a fundraiser. I mean, they're really just doing so many things. And we think about they're out there 24-7 serving us, but they're actually going way above and beyond just serving us on the street and in our homes. They're really serving our community. And when you ask them like, hey, we have this, would you want, yeah, what do you need? We'll help out. Off hours, they're just, they're here to serve our community. And we're so grateful for that. And so I just want to thank them for all that they do and all that they do that people don't know that they do. And then I want to thank Council Member Gettle He created a coalition. Maybe you're going to talk about it a little bit tonight, but I was able to go for the first time this last week to his group. He is bringing nonprofits and churches together to collaborate and coordinate so that we can serve the community. The room was packed. It was really a great event just for us to meet each other, learn about resources, and connect with each other of how we can do more together. And so thank you, Council Member Gettle, for that. And then I have one last thing. I want to thank Arizona Game and Fish Officer Travis Clarkson. He is the officer for our region here in Arizona, and he came out on August 5th and 6th to assess our bobcat coyote and fox situation. He was really helpful. He drove around Maricopa, looked at some different areas, talked to some different people. And what he is suggesting is if you ever see a bobcat, coyote, or fox, to please call their dispatch hotline. It's 602-942. 3000 and give them the address of where you spotted the animal. Because that's really helpful in tracking the animal and knowing where it tends to be. And then he also said that if you want to detour the animal away from your area. They do not like ammonia and music and talking. So you could play like a radio or something like that. They will not like that. Or he said dip rags in ammonia, set them out on your patio. They will not like that. And the things that attract them are bird feeders, water, rodents, and garbage cans. So those things might attract them to your area. And that is all I have, Mayor. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Council Member Lehrman. Council Member Wade.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I appreciate it. Listen, we have some dynamic young people that live in this community. They are always about the business of taking care of business. It's amazing how quickly they fall into step when they're called upon. We had an orientation here last Wednesday, Wednesday night, to encourage people, young people, to come and be a part of the youth council. The place was full. Just like you're sitting there now, it was full. But it was dark. And they did a Halloween type or... GLOW IN THE DARK ACTIVITY. AND THE LEADERSHIP OF THE ORGANIZATION IS ABOUT TO CHANGE BECAUSE WE HAVE SEVEN SENIORS THAT ARE PART OF THE LEADERSHIP, AND THEY HAVE BEEN A PART OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS. SO THIS SHOWS YOU HOW MUCH THEY PARTICIPATE. WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A GROUP OF STUDENTS TO THE LEAGUE OF CITIES AND TOWNS, AND THEY KNOW MARICOPA. They know Maricopa is an outstanding city with outstanding youth council, and we look forward to showing our stuff. And they did. They did very well. So I want to encourage you, if you have a young person in your home that may be civic-minded and wants to get involved, have them get in contact with me. You can do it through the city hall. Our next meeting is going to be September the 9th. and it'll be right here in this room starting at five o'clock. And on that night, we'll be holding elections for the new season. And so it's gonna be kind of a bittersweet because of the folks that are leaving. There's a couple that are really sharp young people and ready to take on a leadership role. And so we'll probably introduce them to you guys in one of our meetings as well. So be on the lookout for some sharp people. That's all I wanted to add. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Wade.

Council Member Knorr. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a couple of things to report. It has been a while since our last meeting, though. I wanted to follow up on Councilwoman Lehrman's uh... point about the cultural affairs and arts committee i serve as the council liaison to that committee and let me tell you they put in a lot of work uh... they're all volunteer they're appointed by the council and uh... they do a lot for our community in terms of cultural affairs and arts and i'm really excited that we're able to bring back the gallery that's going to be here in City Hall featuring our local artists and that's one of the things that they are working on and so that's just been something that I've really been looking forward to is bringing that back. I remember when we had it before some renovations and it was my favorite thing to do when I was at City Hall so I'm looking forward to checking it out again and I encourage all of you to do that. This month spent a lot about economic development. I was able to attend the Economic Development Forum put on by the Greater Maricopa Chamber of Commerce. I think that's their name, Greater Maricopa Pannell Business Alliance. Kelly Anderson's group. They did a great economic development forum hosted at Global Water, which was really fantastic, talking about what we need here in Maricopa, how do we bring it here, and some solutions, and bringing a bunch of businesses and public officials together. And so that was fantastic. And they're doing another one in October on workforce development. So I encourage you all to attend that. It was really great. I also attended the breakout session at the League of Cities and Towns on economic development, and that was also fantastic and gained a lot of good information from that as well. I was able to tour a senator from Phoenix, Senator Corinne Warner. She's also on the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board. She was really interested in our new Alma Farrell Innovation Academy when I had talked to her about it, and she wanted to come see it. And so she came out, and Dr. Lopeman and I and President Patti Cotre were able to tour her and one of her other fellow board members from Scottsdale through the Innovation Academy. You guys, they were so impressed. I mean, they want to bring our ideas from Maricopa into Scottsdale. That's how impressed they were. And so I just think that's a testament to all of the wonderful things that MUSD is doing to prepare our students for the future in career and technology. And it was just really a great event. Not only did they like the innovation of the academy and the career focus, and it's the first K-8 career academy, but they also really made comments about how professional and respectful our students are. And they go through schools all the time, and so I thought that was great and a real testament to our families and our kids here in Maricopa. Finally, this is about our community. I was able to get... a certificate in continuous compression CPR and AED skills. And really this is like the best display of communities working together. Bill Robertson and Kelly Anderson are a dynamic duo. They present this class for free. They were doing it for a church group at the time and I just happened to be able to tag in. It was also at Global Water, so you're seeing a theme here. Thank you for all you do for the community. And they do it with the... resources that are provided by the province HOA because they have purchased the mannequins and the AEDs, the practice AEDs. And it really is great so that our community can learn how to help when someone is in sudden cardiac arrest. And it's truly important that we are able to, as community members, be able to provide that support. level of care until the first responders get there, it really increases the chance of survival. And so I just want to thank Bill and Kelly for putting that on. And also, I encourage all of you that if you have a group that wants to learn, you just reach out to Bill, and he does it for free. And it's wonderful. So I think it's a great resource for our community. And that's all I have.

Thank you very much, Council Member Noor. Vice Mayor.

Like many of us up here, I attended the League of Arizona Cities and Towns meeting this past month. It was a great meeting and it always is a great meeting. We go to the federal one sometimes and the state one blows it away because all we deal with is state issues and that's of course the most important thing for us. We got to meet with state, county, federal representatives. Supervisor Videola was there, as well as I think all of our supervisors from Pinal County showed up, or many of them, a lot of our state reps. And you get time to just talk to them about what's important in the city of Maricopa and how they can help us, because that's what they're there for, right, is to help us out. Councilmember Wade mentioned the Youth Council, and that's always the greatest thing. They carry our flag. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's important. They carry our flag on the opening day, and they bring it through, and they come through, and they're so proud to be part of it. And then they have an entire day of learning about civics and what's happening and how to run a city and a town and things like that. One of the greatest things that we do there, one of the greatest classes, I think, not classes, they're breakout sessions or whatever they're called if you've ever been to a convention or whatever, is reading the tea leaves. That's really fun because in that, they talk about what's going to happen in the next legislative session, and you get to hear about what they think is going to happen. God, it scares me every year because of the fight that Katie and us will have to put on to stop some of the things they want to do Also last week I attended, was that last week or yesterday? I don't even remember anymore. The Pinal Regional Transit Authority. We all talk about this all the time. Remember Prop 416, 417, $90 million that was collected in sales taxes, while 48 million has been returned back to the taxpayer, which is the businesses that requested it back. although you paid it. So some of those businesses got it back. I think it's 650 businesses got refunds. Refunds closed a few months ago, so that's it. What's going to be left over is a certain dollar amount, depending on interest and such. Should be about $44 to $45 million. Now, what do we do with that is the question, because everybody up in Phoenix knows what we should do with it. Unfortunately, they're not looking out for us in Pinal County, right? So everybody up in the capital knows what they should do with it, but we in Pinal County, I think, know better. So my goal is to push that it is distributed the same way we distribute the half-cent sales tax currently in place in Pinal County that pays for road maintenance, and if we distribute it that way, cities should see about $6 million to $8 million, depending on that money, which is a good thing. That was our PRTA meeting. On 9-11 coming up, the Maricopa High School will have a flag raising at 8.30 a.m., arrive at 8.15 so you can get a good spot for it. And then Desert Sunrise High School has one at 10.30 right after. So you can go from high school to high school if you'd like. And I know the veterans will have one, but I'm not sure what time they'll be doing theirs. We've begged, pleaded, and fought to bring back the salsa festival. It's currently on our website. So all of you salsa chefs out there right now, sign up. Make sure that you come out and you taste salsa if you're not signed up. But if you want to make salsa, please sign up, make it. I've competed in it three times. I've lost three times. I guess I'm not good. Show me up, and you guys do it. I'm still deciding if we should do it. My wife has said no, but my wife has said no to a lot of things, like running for office, and I'm here. So last one, September. September is a crazy month because my birthday is in September. That's not why it's crazy. September is a crazy month because we have so much going on. Every weekend there'll be three or four or five different things that we have to all run to and this council will do that You'll see us at tons of different events and tons of different things but City Council at Maricopa dash AZ gov if you have an event send it to us That way you can have somebody from City Council show up if you want us if you don't want us don't send it Show up. We like talking to groups. We like showing up and answering questions all of us do so reach out and September is also important because it's Suicide Awareness Month. In Maricopa, we need to look out for each other. That's what we need to do at all times. September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time to remind ourselves that sometimes the people who seem like they're doing fine may be carrying something you don't see. uh... so check in on people you know askin extra question without judgment for what they're saying and remind someone who struggling that they don't have to face alone if you are someone you love need support you can always tax nine eighty call nine eighty is a suicide in crisis lifeline it is free it is confidential they're not calling somebody telling them that you call It's available 24-7. Sometimes a simple, are you okay to a friend or a family member, keeps them here with us another day, another week, and another month. You matter, everyone here matters, and we're stronger when we look out for each other. My cell phone number is 602-373-9996. It's my cell phone I carry with me everywhere. If you don't want to call 988, call me. I'm happy to sit and talk. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. All right. Excuse me. Grace Fellowship is a church here in Maricopa. They invited me to celebrate their 10th year anniversary. And what I'm finding is that as old as we are, we're working towards our 23 years. We're starting to see a lot of 10-year, 15-year, 20-year. I try to post those on my mayor page, so if you have a business, organization, nonprofit that wants to have a celebration and have me put it on to my mayor Facebook page, I'm happy to do that because these milestones are critical. As someone mentioned, the Arizona League of Cities Conference took place. I spoke on two panels. It was really a lot of fun. First spoke on the growth in rural communities and the interest that was involved in Maricopa and handling the growth, primarily still 347. They want to know how we got that to happen. But just a lot of good dialogue back and forth. The second panel was on Maricopa or global waters, aquifer recharge and water recycling. That was very interesting to the public as well in terms of understanding exactly how much water the city of Maricopa recycles every single year. It's pretty amazing. What was it, a billion gallons? Billion gallons every year recycled. So that took a lot of the people in attendance by awe. So great information to share there. uh... councilmember weight did mention the youth council at the conference and i have to tell you under the leadership of councilmember weight travis at travis and brenda are used excel in their leadership skills at this conference it was quite amazing when i was walking the halls people would stop me and say you're the mayor of maricopa your youth booth is so phenomenal and it was just beautiful very colorful and people noticed and our youth did a great job representing maricopa and then as council member wade indicated we they did a global event just last week where they were enticing other young people to join the youth council this is an amazing group of people and if you do have young people i agree council member wade encourage them to get started on this council member wade is our council liaison to the youth care I also attended a thing that was called Maricopa Art Council Open Mic Event that was held at Honeycutt Coffee. They had a variety of really great talent that's here in our city. They had comedians, they had spoken word which is really dramatic if you've never heard that a lot of music talent and so it was really quite quaint because you're in a coffee shop and just watching all of these artists so a lot of fun cops and cones was a huge success chief goodman my goodness i don't know how many more people you could have fit in there but what i loved is all of the children really interfacing with a room full of police officers and having dialogue with them and waiting in line to talk to Chief Goodman. So what a lot of fun, and they got ice cream too. And Chief Goodman, we had one police officer graduate on Friday, and so we just welcomed in one additional new police officer, so that's exciting as well. And then, as was mentioned, Maricopa's Got Talent, 34 artists. I had a ball being the judge, one of the judges. And you're going to be able to see, if you'd like, 12 of those 34 groups come forward at Duke Roadhouse on September 12th at 5 o'clock, where you get to be the judge. So that's the end of our report from the mayor and council. City Manager, I will turn it over to you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, members of the council. Just a few slides to run through today about really things that we're excited to have come to Maricopa really to enhance the quality of life. So our first one, we have restrooms coming to Mike Ingram Heritage Park. So here in a couple of weeks, we'll start construction. We're just wrapping up the permitting process. But two restroom facilities there, as we've seen the use in that park take off and as we want to have that available for, you know, uh... the amphitheater or as people are visiting the historical museum what have you uh... that became uh... a need and so we found a way to get that done and are moving forward with that should be done by the end of the year on that project second one i want to talk about is our veterans banner program and that is in partnership with the american legion who actually is able to use this as a fundraiser but you'll you'll see this we're we're really starting a uh... kind of a pilot program this year and and next to recognize some of the veterans and active duty members within our community. And so you might see some faces you recognize on that image there. But goal is really to fly these during Veterans Day and the 4th of July and have an opportunity for some recognition there. And then at the end of that two-year period where the sun will have hit them a little bit, then maybe they'll retire those banners and can be taken home as a keepsake for those that have sponsored those. And so we're gonna give that a shot and see how things go and as we get towards the end of that initial period, we'll adjust and see how we can make that work better in the future if that makes sense. And then the final thing to mention, we've obviously got a few construction projects that the city is doing around town. Here coming up, and just to kind of be a save the date, we've got the ribbon cutting for the outdoor pickleball courts. We have some indoor courts coming this fall, but the six additional outdoor courts at Copper Sky, you can see an image of what that looks like as of last week. There's The new sand volleyball courts there adjacent where those were moved previously so we could make room for the six new pickleball courts. So the courts are in. We're just waiting on getting the painting and the lines in place. And then those will be ready to go in about three weeks. And so we'll be doing that ribbon cutting on Tuesday, September 22nd at 9 a.m. So look forward to having some more information on that here in the future. But that's my manager's report tonight. Thank you.

thank you very much city manager better all right that takes us to the cause of the public this evening we have approximately twenty one cards each person will be given three uh... minutes if that is about an hour and so prepare yourself if you don't need all three minutes you're not forced to use three minutes uh... but if you would like to use them it's definitely there for you We're going to start first with Tori Anderson, please.

Mayor Smith, Council, I'm here tonight on behalf of Against Abuse Incorporated. I know I was here before for open arms. Now I'm asking for something else. I'm always up for asking. So October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and so I'm getting you all ready. October 10th is our 21st annual Seeds of Change Gala. and the gala has been used to build our domestic violence shelter here in the city of maricopa it's been open for twelve years and it has served thousands and thousands of families we also provide services for families who are not in shelter it's safe for them to stay at home and so we provide the same services they would receive if they were in shelter to their homes so we actually have our outreach program last year around christmas time i had twenty five additional families that were not in shelter that we were servicing. So we also have a men's program because we have several fathers who also have stepped up as we know that it's growing. So the Seeds of Change Gala has definitely made an impact on this city and I want to thank this city for coming together because we are a community who cares. So thank you for 21 years of making this absolutely best community project happen. So with that, my invitation to you is on October 10th at 6 p.m. at Harrah's Auction Casino We have a royal Christmas. So we have got Christmas trees from 22 different businesses who are decorating them. We're going to auction them off. And so you get to go home with a Christmas tree that's already decorated. We've got a moving company that's going to deliver them right to your home. So that's an exciting part that we've added to our Seeds of Change Gala. So the Royal Christmas takes place, again, on October 10th at 6 p.m. at Harrah's Auction. I do have your invitations. I know they went to your house, but sometimes we forget to check the mail. Not that I would ever do that, but I do have other ones. I'll give them to Vanessa so that you can have those. You can go to seedsofchangegala.org to purchase tickets. They are on sale right now. I am excited for all the sponsors that we have this year. And again, this opportunity would not be available to our families without you. So thank you for your support. And again, you can call me or email me. My number is 520-560-3665 if you have questions, concerns, or suggestions. But I will see you on October 10th. So thank you.

All right, next up is Ron Smith. And then I'll call the next person after Ron. And I'm sorry if I butcher your name. Rosemar Bacara, please. OK, please come up and be ready after Ron Smith.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council. Thank you for the proclamation. It's an exciting month and you already know about the event on the 26th. I'm here to make sure you don't forget, but I want to take it a little bit further. This event is not a solo activity. It's designed to be a kickoff for a series of follow-up events on fall prevention that go into the next year. We're going to be doing workshops, seminars, all kinds of activities, some outreach with the fire department, working on doing assessments, home assessments. So we're beginning to develop partnerships with other private entities to be able to go out there and do things together to be able to further our cause, which is to bring new resources and services to the city. So this event is the kickoff, and it will be followed on with a number of other events. We're going to announce those at the conference. For those of you who are unaware, I have brochures that I'll put up here, and my contact information is on here for those who need it. So thank you very much for the opportunity.

All right. Next up, I couldn't hear you. Please say your name.

Rosina Bakari.

Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Smith, members of the City Council, and members of the Maricopa community. My name is Dr. Rosina Bakari, and I'm the founder of Seven Exits. It's a professional and personal development business founded here in Maricopa in 2020. My husband and I chose Maricopa as our retirement home, but retirement for us does not mean that we are done serving. It means that we are entering a new season of service, and we want that service to begin right here in the community we now call home. On October 17th, Seven Exits will host the arrival, Aligning with Inner Ease, an inaugural women's empowerment event at the Element Event Center. We are expecting approximately 50 to 80 women, including women who have already registered from across Arizona and as far away as New York and California. This event has the potential to make Maricopa a destination for women seeking meaningful personal and professional growth, not only from across Arizona, but from across the country. The arrival is designed for women who have spent years caring for families, building careers, leading organizations, and showing up for everyone else. It will give them an opportunity to pause, reconnect with themselves, and consider what they need for the next chapter of their lives. Tonight, I am asking for your help in three areas. First, we need individuals and organizations willing to sponsor women who would benefit from this experience but may find the registration cost of $125 prohibitive because of current life difficulties. Second, the planning for the arrival is already well underway and thorough, but there is still room for community voices. We welcome individuals who would like to contribute to the planning committee in areas that align with the mission. Finally, we are still accepting sponsors, particularly those who can support our printing needs, advertising, and community promotion. Financial support is welcome, but we are also in need of resources, relationships, and a willingness to help us reach women who may not otherwise hear about this opportunity. My husband and I did not simply choose a house in Maricopa. We chose a community. 7XS is here, and we are ready to serve, and we welcome the opportunity to build something meaningful together. I have flyers I'll leave for you. Thank you.

All right, next is Dr. John and May. And after that, Tina Dugan.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. We are back again with Kids Day Maricopa. Just wanted to remind everybody about the event. It's an event for children. It's health, safety, environmental awareness. And we have about 100 activities for kids. And we want to teach them in a fun way. And we'd like to invite all of you to come out there. It is Saturday, September 19. It is from 10 to 4 PM at Maricopa Wells Middle School.

That's 18 days from today is Kids Day. And I wish our son was here so he could rap because we have a lot to share really, really quick. Maricopa Police Foundation is having their golf tournament the weekend after on the 26th. We're still looking for people to play, build a team.

Yeah, and I've seen people play in that.

But also, getting back to Kids Day, I just, you know, again, without all the support and sponsorship from our city council and the community itself, Maricopa Animal Hospital, Maricopa Rotary, the Akchen Indian Community, we have very fun events. We have the 4-H Club, Good Art, Equine Cactus, Cactus Equine, I'm sorry. I'm trying to rap, but it's not working. We're having pony rides. Maricopa Fire Truck. We also have bicycle safety with Maricopa Police Department and Phoenix Children's. We have life-size Lightning McQueen car that's going to be visiting us as well. We appreciate little electrical district 3 for their sponsorship, and then they're also teaching electric safety water conservation again with global water Pinal County search and rescue Sheriff's Department bring in their Humvee Duke's Roadhouse is cooking up some sliders for us. We're having a old-fashioned family picnic again Maricopa pantry served over 3,000 snow cones last year and then we also have for Maricopa with their cotton candy and So we have lots of goodies and fun. Gardening with Ace Hardware, Smokey Bears, 82nd birthday. So we want you all, everyone who has a birthday in September to come and join us. Let's see. Oh, and I just wanted to share, we are finalists for the Maricopa Scott Talent. My husband and I entered the duo, and our son took in a, I was really kind of happy that, you know, he's one of the finalists as well. He does a little bit of rap. So again, that's at the Dukes Roadhouse, Saturday, September 12th, from 2 to 5. So we are busy this month. You are correct. And I made it with 16 seconds left.

Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, Tina Dugan. Up next will be Crystal Ojo.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. A little over a week ago, there were proposed industrial zoning changes scheduled to come before planning and zoning. I submitted a number of questions about those changes, particularly because of the potential for data center development. Those items were ultimately removed from that planning and zoning agenda, and I'm glad they were because I believe we have an opportunity right now to slow down and get this right before we make any additional zoning changes to industrial property. on august twenty sixth the pima county health department released a public health review of data center development developed with researchers from johns hopkins they identified twenty one different pathways that should be considered or monitored in data center development Those include water use, air quality, diesel backup generators, noise, traffic, heat, light pollution, power generation, grid stability, energy costs, electronic waste, and what happens when those facilities are eventually decommissioned. Their recommendation is not to wait until there's a problem. It's as I've been saying all along, establish baseline information, site-specific data, and monitoring before and during development. And then we don't have to guess what can happen if we wait too long to put those regulations in place. Just up the road Casa Grande changed its status in a regulations after property already had industrial zoning and then faced approximately a hundred and forty six million dollars in proposition two oh seven claims. This should be our warning. Once development rights are created taking them back can be very expensive. Attorney General Chris Mays is calling for a statewide pause on data center approvals while Arizona develops a plan for managing their growth. So I'm asking you as the council to consider holding off on any additional zoning changes to industrial property until Maricopa has strong and specific data center regulations in place. And I don't just mean a few development standards. I mean regulations that address water consumption, power, noise, backup generators, air quality, fire protection, setbacks, heat, infrastructure, and most importantly, decommissioning. I believe we should require ongoing public reporting so that residents can easily see whether these facilities meet the requirements. And regulations without enforcement are just suggestions. There need to be meaningful penalties when those requirements are not met. Other Arizona communities are trying to deal with these issues after the door was already opened, and Maricopa has the opportunity to do something different. We can become that city that other communities point to and say they planned before it happened. Growth is coming. Technology is changing quickly. This is our opportunity to be proactive instead of reactive. Let's not waste it.

Perfect time. Crystal O'John, please. Hi, my name is Crystal O'John, and I'm to the mayor and all the city council members, thank you for having me, and in light and respect to all of the other people that have to speak, I'll make mine really quick. So as a concerned community member, and I've been talking to so many of our concerned community members about flock cameras, which I'm sure everyone's gonna talk about, But I had just a couple questions, and I'm hoping that you'll just think about or make these available. But I'm asking for a couple things. If possible, if there are documents that exist that could help us, I think, understand the flock situation a little bit better, Would you make these available? One would be the audit log, which is the flock records for every search of Miraculous data, which agencies, which reasons, and that sort of thing. And then two, would you publish the performance data? Performance data is the total searches versus cases actually cleared because of the flock hit and the cost per case. So if the cameras work, the numbers will, in fact, defend themselves. And number three, is there a data sharing list? Every outside agency with access to miracle post cameras and under what agreement so 41% of residents pulled down opposed cameras the flock cameras from up up from 28% and That's not fringe. So that's people losing their confidence in them So I just really have those questions and I'm wondering if we could make that information available to the public.

Thank you, you know Up next is Gregory Follett

Good evening, Madam Mayor, council members. My name is Gregory Follett, and I'm respectfully advocating for the city of Maricopa to become safer. Public safety matters. As someone who remembers needing protection, and the sudden surprise of realizing I was alone, I understand how our school-age citizens may feel every time they navigate the many busy and dangerous crosswalks, say that 10 times real fast, in our community. Going to school and coming home should not be a scary adventure. Parents need the confidence that their child is protected. Imagine being 12 or 13 years old and crossing a busy and dangerous roadway, praying that you'll be seen, that the distracted drivers don't harm you, that every driver doesn't creep any closer towards the three or four feet that separates you from the bumper of every car, or worse, the wheels of even an 80,000-pound truck that's perched on the edge of that crosswalk. The traffic is stopped. The signal flashes walk. You move off the curb, step into the street, and without warning, a car from nowhere passes right in front of you. There's no place or any time to escape. Your fear turns to anger, your anger to confusion, your confusion to wonder, am I safe? Imagine you are driving. You're stopped at a crosswalk and waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Your line of sight, both to the left and to the right, is obscured. Big truck, maybe the hood of an SUV. You hope the crosswalk is empty and suddenly a pedestrian is in front of your vehicle. Many of us in this room have had, heard, or seen these experiences. City Code Title 10, Chapter 10.50, Sections A, B, and D provide the city engineer or the chief of police with authority to designate and maintain safety zones of such kind and character and at such places deemed necessary and establish marks or lines. Wow, that was fast.

When you're talking, three minutes goes really fast.

I guess so.

City Manager, is there somebody he could give the remaining portion of his information to?

Yeah, we could, if you want to meet afterwards, we can talk. Thank you. That would be great.

Thank you. All right, up next is Brad Follett.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council. A couple weeks ago, I sent a letter to the city staff in regards to data centers. So Tina kind of like pushed the button, so I'm going to try to reset a little bit with some information. I want to thank staff for responding so quickly and trying to take initiative to move forward to developing some guardrails for data centers and everything else, and that's really what needed to be done. And also I had submitted documentation to the council and everybody else, and a report that I did, it's only about 60 pages, on data centers, AI, quantum, and also for battery storage units. Now, the paper is evidence-based, and it's entitled Why Maricopa Needs a Ban on Data, AI, Quantum Centers, and Battery Energy Storage Systems. This and other data is available on my website at earth-month.org on the data page site. Now, in pertinent part, being applicable over that of a moratorium, it was due to security concerns and components contained in centers. And they're predominantly obtained from countries of concern, China. And they are banned by Congress. and we can thank our late Senator John McCain for doing that, and also a fellow in other regulations. The administration along with other agencies in Washington are pursuing other avenues and regulations to prohibit other things coming from China. Now, along with the request that I made for the city to place a ban over a moratorium, I sent one to the state in July. They received it July 18th. In regards to this, yesterday, the Attorney General who received this made a response, and she's asking for the governor and also the state legislature for a moratorium. But more importantly to this, there's a reason for that, is that without guardrails, things happen. And this happened in the city of Phoenix. It was in December of 2024 that they finally realized what a data center was. They didn't know. They'd been building data centers for over 30 years, but they didn't know what a data center was. So it wasn't until July of last year that they finally put in some railroad tracks, supposedly, or guardrails to prevent it. But unfortunately, a data center slept overnight and got in. And the problem with that is that it is now zoned for data center in a light commercial area right next to apartments and homes. So it's a big fiasco. So I'd ask the city to not only move forward. I am willing to help out with doing this. But I wanted the public to know as well as to be able to develop these guardrails and also move forward with a ban, not a moratorium. Thank you.

Next up is John Corwin. After him, Alan Anderson.

evening mayor smith uh... council members just a couple of quick updates from global water that i wanted to share i will have some additional uh... communication on these items as well but uh... the first one was just a quick update on our payment processing vendor through our our customer portal that's gonna be changing in december so most customers probably won't really see the difference other than some additional functionality on our website that they can make payments through things like Apple Pay, Google Pay. It'll have a wallet where they can save their payment. The only impact that really will be to customers is those that are on auto pay will need to update their auto pay. So we'll be sending out information on that in the coming months, but just wanted to start to get the word out on that. The second one is our customer walk-in office here in Maricopa. So we have very low walk-in traffic, so we're trying to make it efficient and really right-size kind of our hours for the office here in Maricopa. So we are adjusting our hours from 8.30 to 12.30, Monday through Friday. It doesn't change our call center hours, the ability to, you know, A, to call in, or B, to have access to our online portal as well. We wanted to provide that update, and again, we'll be sending information out on that. That'll take effect on October 19th. And then lastly, Colorado River's kind of been a big topic recently in the news, and so I wanted just to provide a little bit of information on that. Probably the headline there is, maricopa global water we do not use colorado river water it is groundwater um so the i guess the the impact on the the immediate news is minimal to us at this point in time but i think it's important to continue to promote conservation councilmember marsh kind of the things that you were talking about on things that we can do to continue to advance conservation and also think to the future of of how we're going to find our future water sources for the city of Maricopa. So Jake and our team at Global Water, that's something that we focus on daily, and we're looking 50 years, 100 years into the future to make sure that the water availability is there for customers long after we're gone. So just wanted to provide those updates. Appreciate the time. Thank you.

All right. Next up is Alan Anderson. After that, Kathleen Stevens. Thanks.

Thank you, City Council. I'm going to just kind of wing this. I don't really do a lot of speeches. I'll look at this every once in a while for tips, but listen. I'm here about the flock cameras, as many others are. I gotta say, I'm extremely disappointed in y'all. That's something that should have been brought up for a vote, or at least with the city council, if not to the people. These are cameras that aren't just automatic license plate readers. They record everything. We know they record everything. Everything gets sent to flock. Flock has its guidelines, its guardrails, so to speak. Do you really believe them? I don't believe them. What we're getting here now is just constant surveillance. I've been here since 09, November of 09. This was a small town. I loved this town. It was small. It was family friendly. Everything was going good. And now look what this place has become. It's just a high tech, data center friendly, surveillance friendly city that has no personality. Flock cameras are like the worst idea ever. We've seen what happens. We've seen cops in other districts, other states, other counties. They've had to resign. They've been charged with abusing these systems. The government abuses every tool it has. So even if it's not being abused now, it will be. So what I'm asking is do something. Do the right thing. I know it may not be a popular thing. We may be in the minority. I don't know. But still, being the minority tells you that I know what's right, I know what's wrong. Flock cameras are wrong. That's all.

Kathleen, please, let's keep business decorum. Kathleen Stevens.

Yes, my name's Kathleen Stevens. I'm a fairly new resident of Maricopa. I won't speak long. I'm not used to public speaking, but I have some real serious concerns about the way that cameras are flooding our neighborhoods. I know that they're pointed at schools, they're pointed at playgrounds. I moved here realizing this was a city that was new and fresh and growing and evolving. And I'm really afraid that we're evolving in the wrong direction. It seems that the citizens are being forced into this kind of surveillance over them. I've lived in huge cities. I've lived in inner cities. I'm a former social worker. This is not a huge crime area. We don't need this kind of surveillance. It is very frightening to me. We look at what's going on in our whole nation. We have police in our cities. We have National Guard in our cities. We have men barely trained, supposedly police officers, wearing masks, not identifying themselves, running around in cars that aren't marked, kidnapping people off the street. Maybe it'll be weeks before we find out whether they're even citizens. They're taking whole families and children off of our streets. We cannot let Maricopa follow this kind of culture. This is a police state culture. This is not what any citizen in this group would want. You've got a lot of people that came here tonight on the spur of the moment, unprepared as I am, because they're very, very concerned. I'm sorry. I appreciate that you have a lot of work to do, and I think it's lovely, all these events that you have planned, but let's take a look at this flock camera and see if this is really what we want. I think there are a lot of people here who do not want it. Thank you.

Next up is Julia Romero-Gussie. Next is Gary Benedict after Julia.

Good evening, Julia Romero-Gussie from Sunita resident. I'm also a candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives. I attended the county supervisor's meeting last week to oppose La Rosa Data Center. Thank goodness this was defeated, but to my surprise, the water company proposed for that project was Global Water. For full disclosure, I was serving as a board member for the Maricopa Consolidated Domestic Water Improvement District, but I submitted my resignation this morning. For those that are not familiar with that water district, that's another company here that does water services within the city limits. I own a few properties and pay for the water for those properties. I have copies of four water bills here that I'm going to provide for the record. I'll go ahead and give them to our city clerk. I'm very concerned that Global Water is requesting an increase of our water at a time when they are venturing out to provide water to data centers, especially at a time of alarm with our depleting water resources for our own human consumption. I am determined to oppose data centers to find measures to preserve our water for our kids, for our grandkids, and the generations to come. In regards to the flock cameras, I am sure you're going to hear many, and I'm not going to repeat some of the issues that they're going to bring up. I joined the rally right before coming here to this council meeting because I do oppose those cameras. While in the Air Force, I worked at the National Security Agency. I had a top secret clearance, and I'm not going to go into details of what I did, but we were monitoring and surveilling the enemy. We, the residents of Maricopa, are not the enemy. These cameras must come down. I support the police, and I know that many of you discuss this and see this as a necessary need for our police department, but these cameras will only create more questions than answers. Like who will have access to this information? Is the data being sold or accessed by others? Can Maricopa Police Department staff access this data for personal reasons? Will a council member have access to the footage for his or her own personal gain or business? Will the images of the children caught on these cameras require parental consent? And I could go on and on. I just heard, just coming here, I saw the news, Corona does sold just at the high school. They have cameras in the high school. They just found that there was a person there that was using the footage from the camera for voyeurism. So flock cameras, data centers, and water are not partisan issues. You're going to hear from many people here today. I'm concerned and most concerned about the data centers and the use of our water. Please say no to data centers. Please take down those cameras. Lastly, take a look at these water bills that I'm going to provide for the record and make your own observations. Please work on conserving our water protecting our water and making sure that our utility bills stay down.

Thank you next up is Gary Benedict and Next after him is Dale Dressel, please

Mayor and members of the council, thank you for allowing me to speak. I'm asking you to do something very simple. Remove the flock cameras from the city of Maricopa and do not replace them with another system that provides the same type of AI mass surveillance. I know what the response will be. You'll hear that FLOC is a valuable law enforcement tool and that the answers to concerns about misuse is better policies, audits, and guardrails. I do not agree. The problem isn't simply what someone might do with the data. The problem is the data itself. A flock camera is not simply a license plate reader. The license plate is just the beginning. The cameras capture the vehicle's make, model, color, damage, dents, accessories, bumper stickers, decals, and other characteristics. AI then uses those characteristics to recognize the vehicle in various locations. AI begins to build a detailed picture of someone's movements without probable cause or a warrant. It profiles their activities. Where do they go? When do they go there? What places do they regularly visit? What other vehicles are repeatedly seen with them? That's not simply identifying a stolen vehicle. That's creating a record of people's lives. And this isn't just my concern. About three weeks ago, Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple canceled his department's flock contract because of concerns about the technology's expanding AI capabilities and the Fourth Amendment. Sheriff Teeple said he was particularly concerned that AI would build a database showing what citizens are doing on a day-to-day basis, profiling them, and I believe that's a critical point. Once information has been collected, we don't get to decide what someone might be able to do with it years from now. Edward Snowden put it very simply in chapter one of his book titled Permanent Record. To digitize something is to record it in a format that will last forever. We have a Fourth Amendment for a reason. It wasn't written because our founders believed government employees were inherently bad people. It was written because government power must have limits, even when that power is being used with good intention. I want Maricopa to be safe, but I don't believe we should create a permanent record of innocent citizens' movements without a warrant. in order to accomplish that. I don't want to live in a place where I have to surrender my privacy and Fourth Amendment rights so that I can feel a little bit safer. Please follow Sheriff Teeple's example. Remove the flock cameras from Maricopa. Thank you.

Next up is Dale Dressel, and after him is Jay Wolford.

Good evening, council members. I think I know most of you. I've been a realtor here in Maricopa for 14 years now, and I think I've sold at least one house on every street. But I'm here because of the flock cameras also. I just came back from Wisconsin, My goodness, they're everywhere. Everywhere I drive, as a realtor, I see a flat camera either in my windshield or in my rear view mirror. Is it really necessary? What does it cost? Who approved it? Why was it approved? Do we have that much crime here in the city that we need them? Could we have spent the money on something else like right turn lanes to help our traffic work better? You know, some other thing, like four lanes on Honeycutt going all the way up to Torchosa instead of two lanes. Or sidewalks along Bowlin Avenue there where the kids are riding their scooters and in the dirt on the side of the road just waiting for somebody to get plowed under. So that's my idea of the flock cameras. Besides the privacy, I just don't think that we need them in our community, and I think the money was ill-spent and should have been at least talked about before they were put in. The second thing I just want to mention is water usage. It is a big concern, being an Arizonan. I drove across the country just this last month. Lakes and reservoirs are so low everywhere. It's just ridiculous. And I get home, and I see a brand new school in my backyard with three acres of turf being watered six times a day. Now, really. Should we be putting six acres of turf in our school yard? Can't we put in real turf instead? It's pretty nice stuff. Football fields use it all over the country. Then the HOA sends me a note saying I gotta put in two more plants in my yard because I don't have 12 plants. So there's two more plants that have to use water. Where's the common sense at? Just think about it. There's no common sense to this at all. And don't get me going on apartments. Thank you.

Next up is Jay Wilford, and after that person is Jesse Martinez.

Mayor Smith and council members, thank you for the time. Also here to speak out for the removal of the flock cameras. They're a violation of both the first and fourth amendments. It gives a police state there is no need for this type of surveillance. We don't know where the information is going, where it's coming from, and there have been too many instances of misuse. And it seems a lot more harm than it does good. There is no need for the AI to know everything about everybody. And as safe as this community is, the money could definitely be used elsewhere to improve the community. Thank you for your time.

Next up is Jesse Martinez and then Alyssa Gallhoof.

Hello, my name is Jesse Martinez and I want to thank you for this opportunity. My first request would be to put out an article in Maricopa to share exactly how we got here. I woke up this morning and there's cameras all over this city and I don't remember any meeting out there that asked any of us if this is what we wanted. So it'd be nice to figure that out and share that with everybody. Next, as this meeting was starting, we stopped to say a prayer. Romans 13, one through four gives government a legitimate role in restraining wrongdoing and protecting society. That can reasonably include investigating crimes and gathering evidence, but the passage does not give government unlimited authority such as I feel you took advantage of by not asking the people what they wanted. There is a legitimate biblical argument that protecting people from crime can be an appropriate governmental function while creating pervasive surveillance of innocent people and using that information to exercise unjust control can cross into human overreach. In as much as it is stated this will not happen, we have already seen so many cases of this happening Does this activity not seem hypocritical to stopping to say a prayer? My stance is against these cameras. Thank you.

Up next is Alyssa, and then after Alyssa will be Sean.

Hi, I'm Melissa Kohuth. I'm so honored to be here tonight and thank you for your time. I feel very similar to everybody else. I'm a newer citizen here, but there is a lot of questions about the safety and where everybody's data is going to be going. So that's a huge thing, you know, and especially since this is such a beautiful city and everybody's been so welcoming, you know, it's been a big change with these moving in and the vibe is a little bit different. Everybody is, you know, fearful of what's going to happen here and especially, you know, people with kids, you know, where is our information on our kids going? So, again, respectfully and humbly, thank you for your time. And, you know, we just want the cameras taken down. Thank you.

Next up is Sean, and after Sean will be Kenya Rivers. Sean, please state your last name.

Hi, my name is Sean Stinson.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Members. I'm going to keep this really short. I'm also here to oppose the flock cameras. It's a violation of my rights. It's in the Fourth Amendment and the Constitution, and that's really all I have to say about it. Just mark that down as opposed. Thank you.

Next up is Kenya Rivers. After Kenya will be Amber Rustin.

I can't keep up with the crowd, but hi, everyone. I'm Kenya Rivers. I want to invite everybody to the Business Expo September the 12th. It's at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I have invited you, me and Freddie. I tried to send everybody an invite. If you didn't get an invite, you get one now. Everybody hears me. I hope to see you guys there to promote all the small businesses or networking or Just come and hang out. I would love to see everybody. Thank you. 10 to four at the High Library. Yes, thank you.

Next up is Amber. After Amber is Charisse.

Good evening, Mayor, council members, and members of our community. I'm here tonight as a concerned Maricopa resident asking our city council to seriously reconsider our use of Flock automated license plate reader. and to end our relationship with flock safety. I want to make something clear from the beginning. This is not about being anti-police. I support our local law enforcement, and I want them to have effective tools to solve crimes and to keep our families safe. But public safety and constitutional liberty should not be treated as though we have to sacrifice one to have the other. In September of 2025, Maricopa was reported to have 45 flock cameras throughout our city, up from just 32 two years earlier. These cameras capture license plates and vehicle information as people travel our roads along with the with the time location of those vehicle sightings. Most of those people are not suspected of committing a crime. They're going to work, they're taking their children to school, they're going to church, visiting family, buying groceries, or simply driving home. And I think we need to ask ourselves a very important question. How much surveillance are we willing to accept simply because the technology exists? Earlier last month, Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple announced that his office would not renew its contract with Flock Safety. He specifically raised serious Fourth Amendment concerns and concerns about the direction of newer artificial intelligence capabilities. That should matter to us. Our own county sheriff is saying there is a line between technology that helps law enforcement solve crimes and technology capable of tracking the movements of ordinary citizens. Pinal County is not alone. This month, the city of Chandler discontinued all 40 of its flock cameras after an audit discovered unexplained use of the system. An officer later resigned after admitting to using the flock system improperly to locate a family member. This is exactly why safeguards matter. I understand that flock cameras have helped locate stolen vehicles, missing people, and suspects. Those are real benefits, and I don't dismiss them. But effectiveness cannot be the only standard we use when evaluating government surveillance. The Fourth Amendment wasn't written only for people who have something to hide. Privacy and freedom from unreasonable government intrusion belong to all of us. So tonight I'm asking this council to follow Panao County's lead in Maricopa's relationship with flock safety, remove these cameras, and have a transparent public discussion about what limits the people of Maricopa wanted placed on surveillance technology in our community. Public safety matters, privacy matters, the Fourth Amendment matters, and the residents of Maricopa deserve a voice in deciding where that line is drawn. Thank you. Up next is Cherise Tresk.

Hello. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your time. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I'm coming here tonight as a mother and as a teacher because I feel it is my duty and all of our duty to speak up and encourage young people to speak up if they see something that is wrong. Myself and many other people in the town here, we have concerns about the surveillance of the flock cameras. We feel like we're being followed as we go home, as we go to work, as we go to the grocery store. And many people will say, why are you concerned if you're not doing anything wrong? Well, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm a teacher, right? I have to have my fingerprint clearance card in order to do that. What's legal today can be redefined tomorrow. So I think this is a pivotal moment, and we'll look back at this time in the future where we can stop the ushering in of the surveillance state or we can encourage it, and I feel it is our duty to protect the Fourth Amendment. Thank you so much. Have a good evening.

That is the end of our speaker cards. Would anyone else from the audience like to approach the podium? If so, please state your name. Mrs.

Gay.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council. First of all, I want to thank you. Who are you? Oh, Pinell County Supervisor Rich Vidiello. I'm actually here today because Vince Manfredi reminded me of 45 million reasons why I'm here today. Those 45 million reasons are our money, Pinell County's money, The state of Arizona has legislators who believe that $45 million that we paid taxes for should go back to their general fund and they decide what's going to happen to it. I need the encouragement of the council and everybody in this room. Those 120,000 emails that I got to visit for the 347, I hope that we can get another campaign to get that money brought back to Pinell County and let us decide what's going to happen with that money. Okay, so I encourage people to send us emails, Pinell County supervisors. I know my supervisors are going to be very upset with me about that, but that's okay. And our state legislators, they're going to be the ones who are going to decide where that money goes. And if it goes to the general fund, Pinell County, who paid those taxes, will not see a penny of it because they feel they know better. So please, encourage everybody here, when you talk to your friends and family, send us the emails, send your state representatives who are the ones who are going to make that decision. As Vince talked about the PRTA, they're getting back together, they're going to fight this, because again, that is our money. We already lost $50 million of that money. It went back to the stores, who we paid those stores taxes. That's our money. So again, 45 million reasons why we need that money staying in Pinal County to get distributed to Pinal County Roads. Thank you very much.

All right, would anybody else like to approach the podium? Please state your name.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Peg Chapados. I'd like to make a plea to my fellow Maricopans. One month from today is the deadline to register to vote in the November election. Our last primary election was a little over 20% voter turnout. I've heard a number of people come to the microphone tonight and say that my opinion, I want to share it with you. And I'm going to echo that sentiment. Your vote matters. Here in local elections, there have been elections that have been decided by single digits, by double digits. Please register to vote. October 5th is the deadline. November 3rd is the general election. There's a lot of things that affect Maricopa, our quality of life, our quality of education, our freedoms, our benefits that we enjoy. So please, you can vote at your kitchen table, but please register to vote and then remember to vote. Thank you.

Anyone else like to approach the podium?

The mayor forced me to come down here instead of doing it from up there. I forgot something during my conversation earlier. Vincent Manfredi, Vice Mayor, City of Maricopa. The reason I wanted to just chat for one second, I got an email from Earthwise Pet Supply. And I was going to mention it earlier, and I totally forgot, so I wanted to say it now. I wanted to let you guys know that Good Ark sustained a lot of damage over the weekend. And Good Ark is one of our pet rescue places here in the city of Maricopa, or animal rescues. They're located south of the city, but at Earthwise Pet Supply, they're collecting donations and having sign-ups for volunteers to help rebuild everything for Good Ark. And I really wanted to mention it earlier, but I totally forgot. So I wanted to step down here and just let you guys know. They're collecting cash donations at the store. And then if you guys want to set up a time to volunteer, go down there and help with all the animals and such. They've actually lost a few animals during the storm the other day. Just reach out through Candice over at Earthwise Pet Supply. Thank you.

Would anyone else like to approach the podium? Seeing none, I will close the call to the public. That'll take us on to the consent agenda. This evening we have consent agenda on items 7.1 through 7.6. I have no speaker cards for consent agenda. Councilmembers, do you have any questions or concerns? Seeing none, I will accept a motion.

Move to approve.

Move to approve by Vice Mayor. Second. Seconded by Councilmember Wade. Last opportunity for questions, comments. Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. That'll take us on to agenda item 8.1. 8.1 is a annexation public hearing, and we will first see a presentation from Loree Mason.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, Lurie Mason. On behalf of Development Services here to present Annexation 2601. You may recall this item came before you in June requesting your approval and direction to initiate an annexation procedure. In accordance with title 18 section 185 of the Maricopa City Zoning Code tonight we request that mayor and council listen to public comment regarding 73 acre property located in the unincorporated area of Pinal County Specifically, this is parcel 5 0 2 14 0 0 2 B as in Betty This annexation area map you can see to the right is the vicinity of the Maricopa City boundary. The arrow pointing to the southeastern portion to the left is a zoomed in version of the same area. You can see in gray with the dashed lines, that is the Maricopa City boundary, and the square with the solid line and the text inside is the 73 acres we're talking about. This property is on the east side of Anderson Road, one mile south of Maricopa-Cassegrain Highway. Inside that text, you'll see it's Dobson Trust with a parcel number of approximately 73 acres in size. Again, this is one mile south. The acreage is 73 acres, parcel 50214002B, as in Betty. Hopefully you can see a little bit more with this image. Property 2B annex is just that that is hashed with the solid boundary around it. Just want to go over the completed steps since you first heard this item After the June 16th meeting staff went ahead and prepared the area for a neighborhood meeting so that included posting On-site there were three I think 32 square foot signs we reached out to the neighborhood and had published a published a notice in the paper. I'm just kind of thinking of all those different steps. In addition, we did put something on the web page as well. Having met all those requirements, we did conduct a neighborhood meeting on July 13. We did have about six members of the public attend. A lot of the questions that came up were, you know, how does this affect my property? What's going on with the development? Is there going to be a rezone? I just want to just clarify at this time, this is just a request to have the city bring a property into Maricopa. There are no known plans to develop or rezone. The property itself is a single residence zone with a PAD, I think initially approved in 2005. After the neighborhood meeting, we went ahead to prepare for the public hearing. We submitted the annexation petition. reached out to the property owners once again as well as the board of supervisors chair posted the site once more uh... as well as the legal notices in casagrande dispatch and uh... as a secondary maricopa city a maricopa monitor believe uh... and tonight we meet uh... september one for the public hearing just to follow up and what you can anticipate next is the you know third segment here uh... city of maricopa staff will be prepare a tenure infrastructure plan for City Council to review and approve, and that will be accompanied with an annexation ordinance. We anticipate to see you again on this. uh... october six tuesday october six this year uh... with that staff recommend mayor and council open this meeting to for public comment regarding the annexation uh... concludes their presentation to the mayor and council do you buy any of you have thank you very much so as mentioned this is a public hearing and at this time i will open the public hearing i have zero speaker cards would anyone like to approach the podium on this topic

seeing none i will close the public hearing council do you have any questions or comments seeing none thank you very much that'll take us to item eight dot too And this is an appointment, and this is an appointment to the vacancy on Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee, and this will be turned over to Councilmember Lehrman.

Thank you, Mayor. This evening, it is my pleasure to recommend Lisa Anderson to the Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee. Lisa, if you would please stand. Thank you for being here this evening. Lisa is a Leadership Academy graduate with 14 years of volunteerism here in the city of Maricopa. She has experience in arts, performance, dance, choreography, and hosted a podcast for 106 episodes. And I just wanna read one quote from her application. I believe Maricopa has tremendous potential to use the arts to tell our story, celebrate our diversity, connect generations, and create opportunities. So Mayor, I'd like to recommend Lisa for our Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee.

Very good. Council, do you have any questions, comments? Yeah.

Yes, Vice Mayor. I had an opportunity, I think, to look over the resume. I've known Lisa for a little while, and I couldn't think of a person more capable and more just available to the community, and having someone like her in this position is going to serve the city greatly. I'd like to second the motion.

I have a motion and a second, but one last chance for comments and questions.

I couldn't let her get away without commenting. Absolutely. Absolutely not. Those of you who know or may not know, I have initiated, since I've been on council, a little private say attaboy that I give to members of the community who serve the community and do good things for the community. I submitted or served one or presented one to Lisa Anderson on Sunday, during her chair Sunday. And so I think that today she would be recognized as someone to support the city as she has been doing for many, many years. And I'm just ecstatic that she's going to be on the committee. So thank you very much for nominating her. I wanted to second it.

Withdraw my second I withdraw my second Second all right seconded by councilmember Wade any additional comments questions All right seeing none all in favor say aye aye any opposed that motion carries congratulations That brings us to the end of our agenda this meeting is adjourned Thank you