Mayor and Council - Special Meeting

I'd like to call the special meeting to order at 5 p.m. Roll call, please. Mayor Jose Grialva, here. Council member Melissa Rodriguez, present. Council member Jose Mont here. Council member Daniel A Costa. Council member Ray Shelton, present. Council member Maria Dilman, here. Council member Richard Aosta, present. City Manager, Honor Aiko, present. City Attorney Dennis Fitzgiven, present. City Treasurer Alejandro Martinez, present. Thank you. [snorts] Thank you. Item number three, persons wishing to address the council in writing or verbally on any item not on the agenda. Do we have anyone?

Item number four, discussion decision to call for and conduct an executive session for item A under the authority of ARS 38-431.03, 03, A1, A4, and A7 to consider its position, instructs its representatives and attain legal advice regarding prospective strategic investments of real property with the within the community. Item B, under the authority of ARS 38-431.0383 to consider its position, instruct his representatives and seek legal advice regarding DMC title 2 rules of conduct for council meetings. And item C under the authority of ARS 38-431.0 03A1 to conduct the annual evaluation of the city manager. May I have a motion to enter into executive session? Mayor,

Mrs. Rodriguez. I move to move into executive session. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mrs. Rodriguez. Second by Mr. Montano. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Rodriguez, yes. Council member Montano, yes. Council member Ray Shelton, yes. Council member Gilman, yes. Council member Rich Costa, yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion passes. We enter in executive session at 5:01 Yeah, right

04 p.m. Item number five, adjournment. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? Make a motion we adjourn. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Shelton, second by Mrs. Rodriguez. All in favor say I.

I. Any nays? Eyes have it. that we adjourn at 6:04 p.m. like to call this regular meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Uh Ro uh let's all stand for the pledge of allegiance and then let's keep standing for the invocation by Chaplain Femi. You're going to have to is he pronounce your name because I butchered your name again sir but let's standing and then tell us about your ministry afterwards of prayer after the prayer. and justice for all. Heavenly Father, we come before you today full of Christ especially this year as we remember the prince of peace. We thank you for the bless many blessings you have bestowed upon our city and for the privilege of governance. We lift up our mayor of city of staff and all works for the betterment of our community. We ask that you grant them strength and courage as they celebrate the important matters on the agenda tonight. like their discussions and decision so that they will promote

peace other and just all citizens. May we honestly put the interest of others above our act recognize your image every person. Help us to work for the flourish of all advocating for educational housing in our body. We pray that the message of peace and joy that the angels proclaim on the first Christmas resonate in our home moving us to be instrument of your peace in our community and beyond. All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our chaplain can you use the mic and tell us about your ministry and also your nonprofit. It's good to be here this evening. I'm Chapp. Okay. Or you just say okay Bab. I was born in Africa in the west coast of Africa. I move there more than 40 years ago for education and America transport me to be where I am today. And uh I was influenced by the American missionary My mom used to work for one of them. That's how I was to see to seek for the bra. This where I am today. May God bless Americans. I I am a chap I am a ch at the Arizona State Douglas. I'm here almost four years ago

and the ministry is very challenging but when you see yourself in there and they see you in in there

it's very challenging but rewarding because people have been all in prison but one of Life is not easy. Life is a problem solving problem. We never run at people. I have a nonprofit organ organization called Help in Africa. It's a organization. It's not profit based because I remember what another missionary gift my life to be where I am today. I'm trying to influence that uh narrative in ter of uh moving children of deadlock that's why in Africa eradicate literacy and poverty in Africa because that's that's a game in Africa and people who don't see the value of education because poverty comes and people worry about what they going to put in and go. So therefore the organization is building libraries you know and even assisting children to put on and we have some children in school right now because of that opportunity America is giving us spread out and uh we are like in Africa we are seeking for anything and support to make this world a better way. But even

missionary, I would not be here. Lord, thank you all. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Item number four, roll call, please. Mayor Jose, here. Council member Melissa Rodriguez present. Council member here. Council member Daniel Aosta present. Council member Ray Shelton present. Council member Maria Gilman here. Council member Richard Aosta present. City manager present. City attorney Dennis Fitzgiven present. City treasurer Alejandro Martinez here.

Thank you. Item number five events update. Hello and happy holidays from the Douglas Public Library. This is what's happening at the Douglas Public Library in the month of December. You can pick up a calendar just like this one at the front desk or you can visit us on Facebook and Instagram so you never miss out on any of our activities. Mondays, we have relaxing activities for all ages from 2 to 5:00 p.m. We will be coloring, doing crafts, puzzles, word searches, and more. From 2 to 5:00 p.m. for all ages. Tuesday, we have our steam club. We do different activities each week. Sometimes we do crafts, sometimes we paint, sometimes we do recipes, sometimes we use games to learn about how to save money, sometimes we do STEM kits. and that is at 3:30 p.m. every Tuesday. Wednesday, we have our movies for kids and this month we have Christmas movies. So, make sure you come to those. And that is at 300 p.m. every Wednesday. We have free popcorn and juice for kids to enjoy. Thursday, we have our story time for the little ones at 11:00 a.m. We will read books, sing, dance, and we will also have playtime afterwards. This Friday, the 12th, we have our Christmas paint night for adults. All materials are included. You can call or register here at the library, and that is this Friday, the 12th, at 5:00 p.m. Next Tuesday, we have our special Christmas movie night. Come in pajamas and enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies and watch the Polar Express with us on Tuesday the 16th at 5:00 p.m. And that is for the whole family. Everything will be included. We hope you join us this month so we can celebrate the holidays

together. Bye.

Hello from the Douglas Aquatics and Recreation Departments. We have a full month of December activities and we'd love for you to join us. Starting December 1st, our lab swim hours will be shifting to earlier evening times. Be sure to check out the flyer for the updated schedule. And feel free to give us a call if you have any questions. Throughout the month of December, the recreation department invites you to City Hall for our ice skating kickoff. Bring a donation of canned food, clothing, new toys, or cash to participate and help the community. Interested in being a vendor? Scan the QR code on the flyer or contact us for details. On December 10th, meet us at Walmart as we collect donations for the annual Stuff the Truck event. New toys, clothing, or canned goods are all appreciated. On December 11th, you are cordially invited to Mayor Joseé Grialva's first annual state of the city address at Raul Castro Park beginning at 5:30 p.m. Then on December 12th, join us at the old Kmart parking lot for our annual Christmas drivein movie. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the movie will begin at dusk. Check out the flyer for full details. And finally, wrap up the season with photos with Santa on December 14th at Raul Castro Park from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Enjoy free hot dogs, games, music, and festive fun for the whole family. We hope to see you at all of our holiday events. Happy holidays from the City of Douglas aquatics and recreation departments.

Thank you. And for the state of the city tomorrow, hot chocolate and pandulce and didn't say that just so we could get people to go. So keep you warm if you're going to go in the cold. Uh item number six, mayor and council member updates andor reports. I'll go again by wards. Ward one.

So first I want to thank city staff for putting a very nice uh tree lighting ceremony and parade. It was amazing. It was awesome. Um, I think I've heard from a lot of people that some somehow this parade felt very different, the tree lighting ceremony as well. Um, so thank you to city staff for for all their hard work. It it really turned out really well. Another thing, I'm doing something a little bit different this month. instead of uh having a uh um town hall, I'm having a warm hands and cool ideas. So, I want to not just talk to um adults in our community, but I'm also going to take the opportunity to talk to our youth. So, we're inviting them on December 20th at the skating rink here at the city hall. Um, so, uh, first 24 kids will receive, uh, beanies and gloves, and I really am, uh, curious to hear what our small constituents of Douglas have to say and what their wants are for the city. So, please spread the word. Um, I'll be here uh, during that event on the 20th. Um, I believe it's from uh, give me a minute, 4 to 8 that day. The skating is from 4 to 8 and I'll be there 4 to 5, but I probably I have my own kids, so I'll probably be there far past 5:00. So, I look forward to seeing you. Um, it's not just for kids, it's for parents as well. I want to hear what hear what everybody has uh to say and what ideas you have for our city. Thank you.

Thank you. Or two. I just want to get said about during the amazing event that all staff that put all that time and effort into it. Uh couple other things that I've I've done this this month. Uh I've been to a couple like I see a few of them here. I I've been to a couple of the coaches in the community meetings on Friday mornings. So I see them here. Are you guys going to talk about the three and stuff or

Yes. No, I'll mention it. So, they they they're amazing group of people. They've been uh I've met most of them a few times already. So, they they they just got together and said, "Hey, we're going to put something together for the kids." Uh it's just them. Uh I think there's like five or six of them that that put a they're going to collect toys for kids. They put a a tree out here. So, on gra a little park that had the the kids age and what they want, what they're they're wanting. Um, they also put it in a couple of restaurants and check. They probably have one at Cafe. So, you guys find these girls are amazing. They they just did it out of the business of their hearts. Uh, maybe a month ago they started and it's turning out pretty good so far. So, congratulations to them and grabbed a a card on way. Also, the the I don't know if any of you guys attended the the Presbyterian church, their ribbon cutting ceremony. That was an awesome little event that they had. Uh I was there for the unveiling of the mural that they put together. It's I I didn't expect it to look like that. So, if you guys get a chance, stop by there. Uh it's a really really good uh good thing that they did and congratulations to them for coming back from such devastation. uh also visited a couple other places. I stopped by saw had to helping him out with uh also I I met a few other constituents throughout the court and I don't have uh those meetings. Uh I I I I see it more as a as a if if I have one of those uh town halls I think it's usually an hour if you get four or five people you don't have time to discuss stuff. So, a couple of days ago, I

stopped a lady. Uh I was there an hour and a half. So, I I that's my thing. I I think that they're great if that's what I want to do. But I I drive around, if I see somebody, I'll stop, talk to them, and I think that's a little more of a a one-on-one conversation that that they open up a lot more uh about what what they're actually feeling. So, um that's about all I have for this.

Thank you. W three. Um, as far as uh 43 the um I spoke with um the last recalled uh there was a um grant funding that was provided to them. Their expansion was going well. Um and seems like they will be finished here soon. So, you know, thank you to the rest of council for providing them with that funding. They are doing the things that they said they were going to do. And then the other the last thing that I just um I be beginning um classes with the um Arizona Association for Economic Development and hopefully we'll um with those classes will receive the a um economic development pro certification um by the end of next year. That is

thank you board forum.

Okay. Once again, I have to mention the parade. Been in a lot of parades, but I think that's the most people we've ever had at a parade. I would say 5,000 maybe. Every block from start to finish was full. So, uh, you know, once again, thanks to the staff and and thanks to all of those that that attended. Okay, next thing. Um, in my ward, they're they're putting up curbs and sidewalks. Um, and [clears throat] what was it? 18 years ago when I first was on the city council. I had a councilman. Now, we're one house from going and and doing it. So, you know what I'm going to do? Hopefully, everything will be done by Christmas. I'm going to get a special Christmas card and drop it off to my ex history teacher at Coochis College and I'm going to say, "Merry Christmas. Your wish has come true." And um okay, and once again with the Presbyterian church, I was going to try to make that, but you know, just thank God that that church is back and and and running again, which is which is great. And yesterday I went with Anna and Louise up to Phoenix to discuss the port of entry. And it seems like we're the first on the block there. We've received our money and not only that, but even um uh money that how many years ago did we first get it? The about four or five years ago, they've even increased it every every

year. So if inflation hit, we're we're we're getting we'll be getting our u new port of entry and uh everybody from the state government and from the federal government was uh very encouraging yesterday. So port of entry is on its way. Thank you. Thank you. W five.

I just wanted to highlight some of the events that have gone on in the last month or so that I've attended. and I had attended the Coochis College Pitfire Pottery Festival and their family night. Each event was well attended and the community appeared to have a good time. And at the family night, Santa and Mrs. Claus were there and the parents, children, everyone was having a great great time. The pos well the soup and the pole were delicious and everyone loved it. Um there was many vendors showcasing their crafts at the pitfire event and there was entertainment also at both events. I want to thank Coochis College for all their hard work in putting on those two successful events. I attended the Native American Festival. Uh the festival's performers delivered a wonderful program. Uh I feel attendance could have been a little stronger and I would like to see them return next year. I want to give a special thank you to the Elks for their annual veterans recognition dinner. Uh the food also was delicious and they did a great job in recognizing our community's veterans. Without their service, past, present, and future, uh we would not have the freedoms we have today. And we have to remember that. And not just on Veterans Day, but every day of the year. Um, I also accompanied Miss Orho and Miss Smith to the mayors and managers lunchon in Tombstone. Uh, the event honored Mr. Howard G. Buffett and his contributions to Coochis County which are very extensive and I learned that about him and I would love to explore future partnerships between his foundation and the city of Douglas. Um, I also want to thank the Douglas Run

Club for their first annual Thanksgiving 5K run walk. It was a little cool at the beginning, but at the end of it, it was a really beautiful day. Everyone had a wonderful time. Uh, the donations of hygiene products, I understand, are going to go to the House of Hope, which is very welld deserved, and I hope that event returns again next year because I'll be there. Um and also the American Legion once again served their community meals and they distributed more than 400 meals that day with the help of a lot of volunteers. Um and it was wonderful to see these families just thank you. Thank you for the plate of food. Um and that that goes a long way. It it warms our hearts. It reminds us again why we are here. We are here to serve each other, our neighbors. We're here to be neighbors and we we enjoyed I enjoyed talking to many people and it was just a wonderful event and I thank the Legion for what they do. Their dedication to helping families in our community is truly commendable. My gratitude goes out to the city staff who worked hard at the tree lighting ceremony and the parade. Um the event as everyone has said drew a lot of people and it was again very different than the years past and uh I have also received many compliments from the community. What a wonderful time everyone had. And lastly I accompanied the mayor to the first Presbyterian Church of Douglas for their open house of the new multi-purpose room which at this time that will serve as their worship hall as the church is still being under construction. the the reverend spoke so much about the supporters and both locally and around the country that everyone has heard

about the fire and they're so willing to help and she she just was so grateful and so blessed to all the people that have helped. Um, the church still has a long way to go, but their faith keeps them positive, and I truly can't wait to see what the church will look like when it's finally over. Um, I en um I enjoy highlighting the many events taking place in our community because there's so much occurring in Douglas and it gives residents opportunities to get out and and enjoy our community. And I still hear so much there's nothing to do in Douglas, but I just did seven two pages of seven things that have gone on. So, um, I'll continue to highlight as I'm out and about. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Aosta.

Yes. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Um, again, piggyback on the other comments made on the uh Christmas parade. Um, it was great. I look forward to that event every year as I drive my Can-Am and get to display my lights and put my system on. But um I want to thank uh you know the city staff and I've always been proud of of the city manager and her staff that do an outstanding job in whatever they set their minds on. Um so also you know Miss Dilman I somebody had told me you might have uh some elves told me that you might have connection. Please thank Santa for his uh presence and uh it was it was great. And I believe he's also making appearances at our Douglas public schools and other schools around town. So, thank you. Uh on uh December 4th, I had a town hall at the country club. It was on a Thursday. I picked it Thursday because it's wing night. Have you guys ever been to wing night at the country club? Okay. So, I mean, compared to my first town hall, this town hall I did have five attendees. So, it was positive. Um, one of the comments or one of the dialogues that we had is about uh bringing a hospital to to Douglas and I I did reassure them that's on our list. Uh, the mayor has mentioned that prior uh other times and I would like to uh just uh hopefully soon here make that part of our project 2032 policy priorities. I know that we're checking some items off the priority list and maybe we could uh add that on in the future. Uh the other comment that was made by another constituent was what happened to the nativity scene in front of city hall. So told him I would let the mayor know and uh maybe next year we could uh you know please her and other you know Christians

that do believe in that. So, and the final thing, uh, you know, I I did make it a point that I will continue having these town halls because the more I have, the more interest I get and the dialogue during those town halls are so so much information is is gathered and given to us. And I also get phone calls and I do run into people. My wife don't like going to Walmart because I kind of get, you know, stuck there with but I don't mind. That's why we're here. We're here to represent you, every one of you out there. So, anything you need from us, just let us know. I mean, even if I'm not, you don't live in my ward, we're available. So, that's about it. Thank you, mayor. Thank you.

Wait, wait, wait. One, one other thought. One other constituent brought this up. Um, I live out there in the Pereas by the golf course. We do have two ponds out there and um the kids students cuz I'm a school counselor always asking me when can they fish there and I said well there's no fishing out there. That's a very unfortunate because uh so at that time the conversation with a student uh a staff member there from Paul Huber came up to me and told me that he would contact Arizona game and fish and uh you know they he has had communication with them in the past and they're willing to help us uh kind of bring a fishing pond with Douglas. So maybe the, you know, we start talking uh for a budget next year. Maybe we could find a few cents there to kind of build this and and I know there's a lot of fishermen here in town that do uh go out to Patagonia, they go out to Parker Lake, even up toward towards Safford. And I think uh you know adding that uh commodity or that recreational piece to our parks would be great. So So I think that's something we need to start looking into. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Costa. Um, got a few things. I want to thank Mr. Shelton. He took my place as mayor promp uh to the border congressional updates. Uh, heard he was the talk of the the whole room. Somebody sent me a text message saying he's been an educator for 52 years or Yeah. So, how did I know that was Mr. Shelton? Uh, he he lit up the room. So, I want to thank him for that. I don't remember where exactly this was, but I want to thank staff and APS for fixing a light pole, a pole. It was around, I think, 8th Street around CN D Avenue around there. Um, uh, I got a constituent who, uh, who asked about the condition of it. It was like tilting over. I also want to thank staff for helping out with Lorettto traffic. Um, and then we have a driveway out here that used to be a driveway, uh, that people were falling down, and I want to thank staff for making it into a a proper sidewalk. Um, also to everybody's point here about the Presbyterian church, I want to thank uh them for the invitation. It was a fun time. We had the folklorico that comes in. And I do have I'm not going to say it's incriminating footage, but I do, you know, the the folklorico asked us to to stand and dance with them. And I may or may not have some footage of Mrs. Dilman dancing uh w with the folklorico and the Grinches that were dancing there, but it was a great time. Um uh I want to thank uh Freeport for a donation they made made last month. Maybe Mrs. Kiho can talk about it in in her updates. I I forgot the specification for uh for that. Um also I want to thank Bonita Head Start for allowing me to read to their kids. I I told them I was an alumni to the Head Start. I read at the Head Start on Bonita and La Esquealita. Um they they were very excited and happy. So I want to thank them for that. I want to thank Nadbank. They had a representative visit. uh we talked about the opportunities in Douglas and not only that but they did say you know we need to help out you know uh other countries

other cities so we'll be um hopefully putting in putting them into contact with not only Awapeta but with Ganana to help out uh and build sister city relationships for those who are not sister cities and help out uh our sister country next door. Uh we are planning a a visit to Puebla in February for uh the manufacturer to visit them. Uh they're the ones that uh uh recite uh manufacture the recycled plastic uh hopefully to build cleats with the famous soccer player, but not only that, but household items that will be recycled here and manufactured here. They already have a contract with a store um very famous store. I want to thank the Turkey Run. Another thing about Mrs. Dilman that she did not answer and I'm very proud of her when she said, "Hey, you know, mayor, thank you for coming." She was number one and I'm pretty sure she got there before all the staff got there. That's how excited she was. But she's everywhere and I'm very thankful for that and I'm thankful for I think it was more than 200 around 200 people that went. Well, I think we'll have an update later on for that. So, it was a pretty big event and we want to thank you. I want to thank staff and Dave Raber. K. Rabber um asked for uh uh transportation help to the Special Olympics for their state uh was it softball state softball tournament and hopefully they come back with the gold. I you know we we lent them one of our vans which is one of our priorities and Mrs. Rodriguez has brought that up plenty of times. So we want to thank you for spearheading that. Um again want to thank everybody for the Christmas parade. It just felt different like everybody said. I've never seen so many people happy around City College. It's usually not the happiest of environments. We had all this side full with the ice skating. We had people in the bleachers uh in that. And I I want to thank staff because when we moved the Christmas tree here because of the shade at 10 Street Park, I asked them for inflatables and the city manager and our staff already were ready to, you know, do you want all these? So, um we have those, but we're looking to expand it.

And then the ice rink, too. Hopefully we have enough in future budgets where we can maybe one day just shut off a whole block where people can ice skate and have a good time. Uh and like Miss Dilman said, the Native American Festival when I was there in the beginning uh it was pretty slow, but I I heard that there was more attendance that uh that picked up at the end. The vendors there want uh that were there, especially with the fried bread, they want to come and be a part of our events here that we have here. Um they want us to invite them and they're always welcome back. And I want to thank Adelita Grihalva who came. Douglas was one of her first stops after she got sworn in and she was tired but she still came and she keeps us first and foremost. No offense to any other city that she represents uh when when uh it comes to representing us. So I'm very thankful for her and her support. If nothing else, item number seven, persons wishing to address the council in writing or verbally on any item not on the agenda. We do have a few. I'll start off with Mr. Carl Rockwell. Carl with a K.

Uh, Mr. Mayor and uh, council members, it's Finn.

Stop that. The middle the middle circle. What? It's on. Okay, it's on. Yeah.

Okay, Mr. Mayor and council members, I'm Carl Rockwell. I'm the public works director and city engineer. It's been exactly one year ago. I came to Douglas the first time in my life. I interviewed with Anna and Luis here. And at in that interview, I I made a commitment to them that I would look for and hire a deputy and deputy would be an engineer. And the engineer would would be younger than me. And also I would I would teach this engineer everything I know and we together would learn everything there is to know and and execute what we do as in in public works. And I'm proud to say that we have found that deputy a registered engineer and it's his name is is Alberto Reyes. And I'd like to have him say a few words and you can ask him questions if if you like.

Hi to everyone. Well, first of all, my name is Graves. Um, I'm a civil engineer with a license, a PE license in transportation. I have experience in survey uh in the private key industry and with heavy heavy machinery. You hear me?

Um uh I also possess a pilot license for drones but mostly I work for Kuchis County in the department of engineering and natural resources for over seven years. um work on many flood flood control projects and designed over 30 miles of road and work over on over 90 projects, many of those close to the city of Douglas. I'm also glad to say that we are going to cooperate with the county in future projects and um I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to help and I am excited to serve. Thank you. You have any questions? Yes. Well, well done. Thank you.

Well, thank you. Hope you enjoy your stay. And are you from here? No, I'm not. I am from Mexico. Well, welcome. Uh, hope you enjoy Douglas. We usually say it's an extension of Awapeta, so you'll feel right at home. And if you want to hear any stories about Douglas, this is the guy. [laughter] We don't have time for it right now, but this is the guy. Thank you. Welcome to the team, Alberto. We're very happy to have uh next person, Ida and Pedreal.

Good evening, council members, everyone in this room, and I hope that I have a teacher voice, but I hope you can hear me. What I'm going to discuss today, I would like to share my thoughts regarding the revitalization of G Avenue. First, how many members of the council have actually received a diagram for plans to this project? Most of you, current council members, weren't even here when it was approved. My question to you is how much have these feasibility studies cost the city of Douglas, the constituents? I do know, Mr. Shelton, after I spoke with you, and thank you with some people for upgrading the the website because on Monday when I read all the articles on there, it said there would be different things and different information, but then on Tuesday it said that about 80,000 had been the cause. It had been updated on Tuesday, not online Monday, but on Tuesday, the website had been updated. So, thank you. But the questions are still the same. And I'll ask and I'll explain to you why the feasibility studies has started way back when we had not Mr. Huish but the mayor prior to and if you remember Mrs. um I forgot right now but she had started it. They had already started feasible studies long before UK came up. So to me is how much all the feasible studies that we've done how much has it cost and cost us the constituents and we still do not have the G Avenue renovation. I'm specifically requesting the full amount spent since Mrs. Watson was the city manager and when when the project first began even though it didn't really begin then because came it came in 2012

but but that's when they started getting monies the money the funding for it. Douglas is known for its wide streets. Douglas is known for its white streets. So why fix something that isn't broken? Why is there such a great need to widen the sidewalks of Douglas? According they say if the goal is to beautify J Avenue and then make it more welcoming then let's focus on improving some of those buildings the buildings on G Avenue the the facades the awnings the removal of the asbestos and and fresh paint. Think about all those buildings. The prophy building it was bought from somebody from Douglas but it cost so much. Are they fixing it? No. My understanding is the Gatsson Hotel is up for sale again. Why? Because of the cost of fixing it now. And those are just two buildings. There's more. The Masonic building. Have you passed by and seen the Masonic building, the the Brophie building, the what we call it is the bakery building. Most of you would know. Some of the younger ones know, but the bakery building. These are all buildings. And I'm going to ask mayor in the given some time with more time if you would give me a few minutes please.

I think you have a crowd here correct so I I'll let you finish.

Thank you. You know Douglas as I said before is known for its wide streets. Why do we want to narrow? And in the paper when it says they're going to narrow they're getting rid of the turning lane. Think about it right now. Now they're saying get rid of the turning lane. And now they're not saying we're going to paradise. Now they're saying that we are going to park again. And it said that in the new version, not the one that was there on Monday, but the one that was there on Tuesday. Do you realize the parking spaces that we're going to be using? So when everything gets all congested, is the city going to come back and say, "You know what? We're making it a oneway street." I'm telling you, are we competing with Narees who has oneway streets? Are we going to be competing with Bisby who the streets are so narrow to n navigate? This is Douglas. According to the current streetscape, because that's what they're calling it. The sidewalks would be widened to allow potential outdoor dining. Has anybody applied? I'm asking you, how many businesses have come into town? We have business that have over a year trying to open and for various reasons have not been able to open in the community something is happening we're not encouraging people to have so where are these restaurants or these places that want to open I am a merchant on G Avenue and have been for over 30 years I want you to go and ask say you speak to your constituents ask how many of the constituents on G women were informed of the changes or asked what their thoughts were. You're going to tell me there was a survey. You write there was a ser

Mr. Shelton said you remember most of you know Mr. Bomb. Mr. Bond is very quiet that day. He yelled. He got up and yelled because he said the survey was far. You couldn't respond. You couldn't share your thoughts. So then they revised it. But if you had already answered, which I was one who had answered, I couldn't go back and revise my answers. So the answer was invalid. But that was a survey. And I remember because Damian was the employee and he's the one that took the for that survey. Over a year ago, two people were on one of these meetings, Mr. Munoz and myself. At that time, at that time, it was the gentleman that was doing the physical study. You might remember, I immediately told him, "Look, we need more parking. I believe you're putting the park before the horse because we don't have parking downtown. People in Douglas Drive are around and around and round till they find a parking space. If you eliminate more parking, what's going to happen to our businesses? Where are they going to park? Where could we have problem? I'm going to share with you and they're not here tonight, but the people from the Jones, they called people from the post office and said, "Hey, you're taking up all my customers parking." The post office responded, "Hey, now with Amazon, we can't park inside the post office, so we have to park outside and it's public, but they get there at 5:30, so they take up all parking before anybody else does. And that's not G Avenue. Just want to remind you that that is a problem through a house does this especially downtown. So at that time I responded that this

room and this was over a year ago in fact and that has not been addressed. That has not been. You know, I give you problems, but I'm also giving you some solutions. The city recently purchased I've been to the meetings and that's fault machine. Why aren't they doing the repairs instead of contracting out? I know they're still training training the employees, but why not use our own our own instead of going outside. Instead of spending money to widen the sidewalks, let's use those funds to beautify the buildings along to help the to help whether by loans or however to help those people that own those buildings that need assistance. By not widening the sidewalks, the city would preserve the much needed parking on G Avenue throughout downtown. If funds are not diverted to sidewalk expansion, they're making enough resources to finally finally complete the anticipated streetscape that has been going on. I'm telling you, Anna, long before you came, I've been This is my fourth round with this and nothing has happened. Nothing. We are not busy. I close with this. We're not busy. We're not. And we definitely are not. We are unique. Douglas is unique. That's what keeps Dus. I don't want to compare. I want to keep that and make it better.

I am very supportive the wall that we do and you know I love dogs. I plan on hiding it. But I want to beautify the rival. I don't want to change it to look like somebody else because you know what? We're not somebody. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Pedro. Next, [clears throat] Laura Franco.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, my name is Laara Franco and I'm here on behalf of the Douglas Run Club to present the impact summary of the first annual Thanksgiving 5K runwalk held at the airport park on Thanksgiving Day. Uh, this event brought our community together in a powerful and positive way. We had 183 online registrations and a final total of 200 runners and walkers that participated that day. With families included, we estimate an attendance of 300 to 350 people. Uh participants joined us from Douglas Awapa and surrounding areas and we saw the sense of financial support and excitement for what we hope becomes a long-standing holiday tradition. Uh the charitable purpose of the event was an incredible success. We collected over 547 hygiene items for the House of Hope, a local shelter here in Douglas that serves women and families in vulnerable situations. The items included um shampoo, diapers, wipers, wipes, um feminine products, um and toilet paper and more. Sorry, no wipers, wipes. Um the House of Hope expressed deep appreciation for the generosity of our community. Um in terms of resources, the event combined um both monetary and inind support. Um we have the monetary expenses they they totaled,769 with 32 cents including equipment, metals, supplies and race materials. The inind contributions totaled approximately a,40 including donated water, bananas, photos, equipment, banners, and wage fees. This also included the $200 insurance fee and the $50 event fee which were covered by Coochis County with a lot of support from the city of Douglas um in helping us navigate and complete the permit and insurance

process smoothly. Our volunteers were the heart of this event. More than 25 volunteers helped with the setup, the course marshalling, registration, timing and cleanup. Combined with the planning hours throughout October and November, volunteer efforts reached 500 hours valued at Arizona's volunteer rate of $15 an hour totaling seven $7,500 in donated donated community labor. Altogether, the Thanksgiving page generated overall community impact of approximately 10,000 $10,620 in combined support, contributions, and labor. Um, we really want to express our gratitude to Coochis County, the Arizona Border Alliance, the city of Douglas, the Douglas Police and Fire Departments, our sponsors, local churches, and all of our community partners. We also grateful to the Blueberry Cafe for hosting pickup at the at their restaurant the day before the race. And then on a personal not personal note, I just want to thank my husband and my children. and I have two babies. Um, that without their support, I would not have been able to organize this event. My husband, who helps me run the Douglas Run Club, did most of the hands-on work uh the morning of the race and supported me through every step, and I appreciate them so much. Um, this the community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Um, many families have shared that this was their first 5K and several participants said it was the healthiest and happiest way they had ever started Thanksgiving morning. Uh, people are already asking me for next year. Um, and our goal is to continue growing uh participation, maintain the donation tradition for for a local cause each year, and to strengthen partnerships to make this annual an annual signature event for the city of Douglas. Um, thank you mayor and

council for your support and for allowing us to bring this uh event that is has a lot of impact in our community. It's healthy and it unifies um our community in general. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Next up, Miss Alex Bono. Good afternoon um student council members and everybody here. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk. I'm just here to um brag about Arizona Border Alliance. The year is ending and I do um want to share with you all the amazing work we have done. Arizona Border Alliance is a local nonprofit um local board members and local programs. And our mission is to build healthier, more connected, and more resilient communities in southern Arizona by one um aligning resources, two the partnerships, and three um supporting the existing programs that respond to the needs. We're all about not duplication and about unifying the community. And we've done it for more than a year and a half already. And just as a summary to show you, we've done a total reach of 5,400 people of Douglas or border the b the border community. I want to say we've done more than 50 uh partnerships and collaborations with different sectors and different agencies and you name it. We've whomever's out there, we've tried to connect with them and enhance and promote their resources. We've also had a very successful number of volunteers that have helped us distribute and make things possible and they've donated about 1,50 hours in this past year and a half. We've also implemented a total of about 142 programs. This includes like teachings to this to the kids, collaborating with the schools, with the churches, community coalition meetings, community events, health fairs and the le the list is it's really really long. There are four areas that we're currently trying to make the most impact

in our community. One, it's our prevention program. Um, approximately 4,000 individuals have been engaged in through prevention initiatives, outreach, training, information, etc. And you can read it in the paper that you have in front of you. We've also done a lot of resource coordination. I think this is the heart of the work that we're doing. Again, we're trying to promote and enhance our existing resources in the different areas that we have. We've also done a lot around food uh food equity and gardens. It's my favorite. Who doesn't like to eat um and be out in the the gardening? The gardening has provided an opportunity for about 25 community volunteers to do all kinds of um garden related volunteer work in the community. And then last but not least, community health and wellness. And piggyback on LA's presentation, I also want to compliment LA and the great event that she did for the turkey. But it's an ongoing program. The turkey, the Douglas Run Club meets every Saturday around 7 8 in the morning. And we call it the run, but it's the run and the walk. You can see the moms with their karatas. And there's so many people that just come out and walk. Like you don't have to feel intimidated if you're a professional runner to be part of the club. and it has brought a sense of belonging and community so much that we're trying to promote and support. The Douglas Run Club is one of our focuses. And then the number two, it's yoga. We do offer free yoga classes with a certified yoga teacher Tuesdays and Thursdays um in the late afternoon at the Blueberry Cafe. And we're just looking for everything and anything that is required to provide and complement what we already have again in the community in terms of community health and wellness. Again, our mission is um to provide a build a strong and healthy community. Number one, aligning resources, partnerships, and programs that it already exists. On page number two and three on the packet that you have on number two, you can see the founding board members that we have local, the

new board members, um all the funders. Again, there's a lot of volunteer hours, but we also need money um in there. We do have some collaboration and donation from the city of Douglas. Thank you for putting your money your trust in us. Um and then the last year and the last page you can see a long long list of over 20 or 30 partners agency that have donated again one way or another my own timer because I'm not going to go forever. You can see the long long list of partners and agencies and this is only the beginning and this is only the first year. We're hoping to do twice for more the next year. If you need any resource, any contact information, you know where to find I think everybody has my phone number. If not, you know where to find me. Really hard to connect with and bring and fill in the gaps and and meet the needs of the community of any kind of all sorts. So, just let us know and to help you serve you and thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Thank you,

Sally. Hulcom and um we'd like to um this is going to be our formal presentation for the grant that you were awarded for Christina. that it's going to it's going to be part of the funding for a comprehensive effort for the city of Douglas. So, we're proud to be a part of it. We are looking forward to seeing what you're going to do. It sounds like amazing project. I don't know has a few more words to add in here, but today we're give you the uh check. It's all been processed already, right? Pay already. Okay. So the real jackets that you can take to the bank should have already been here. So this is just our of course the big

picture photo op. I'm just going to say it makes me so proud to be back here in my beautiful hometown. You guys know how much I love it and my heart's always here and I have an opportunity to work with Sally and an amazing organization that you know we can provide this these type of resources to to this town. So thank you uh council members. Thank you uh mayor uh for allowing us and giving us this opportunity to partner with you on this great cause. Absolutely. And you're always welcome home that you're always welcome back. Yeah, we can take it here and then I can take it to the bank tomorrow.

Yeah. This is going to be And uh the grant is for the community kitchen that we were talking about a month ago I think. So thank you Sally, thank you Melissa for all your help. Uh next is Diana Pacheco. Good evening. My name is Diana Pacheco and I just wanted to present um ourselves, me and Alba. We are currently organizing a Douglas market and we're

currently in the phase of raising funds to be able to pay for the insurance and um city and county fees. Uh we're hoping we're hoping to begin by February or March and we just wanted to let ourselves be known to the council and what we are currently um doing and that's in the works. Thank you. We clap for everybody. So also Alba is her mom, her proud mom and also in charge of the house of hope. So thank you for all that you do. Daniel Kosa Gonzalez.

Good evening, uh, mayor and members of council. I am addressing mayor and council today as a private citizen. The irony does not escape me because privacy is the last thing I have been given. Starting with local news media broadcasting life police situation providing false details that only opened up my children, friends, and family to undo scrutiny. Sitting in our audience is one of the many wonderful people affected by the salacious rumors created by people hiding behind anonymous profiles or people who neither one of us holds any close relationship to. Another ironic fact is that Mr. Corno, his family and I met four years ago in these same chambers when he received a recognition from a for former mayor promp and council member Margaret Morales uh for for reaching a five-year milestone in his business. A great friendship rooted on mutual respect, moral support, compassion, and sense of duty to give back to our community began that that day. We've worked on many community projects together and we share an understanding of facing a nurse. Whether reputations between us or not, our focus has always been to do something positive for our youth because we both are parents and obviously also wanting to give back to the less fortunate regardless of our own individual personal struggles. Our families became friends and we have always respected them. Now our children are seeing that no good deed goes unhunched. Is that the example that anyone wanting to serve the community is going to look at and think, "Oh, this sounds like fun." Obviously rhetorical question.

It's extremely disheartening that all of the hard work that I have provided my community with a close to zero salary has been forgotten by so many and the example has been set by a few of the people on the dice with very few exceptions. Mayor, your compassionless example is the most egregious. Since my hospitalization in June of this year, you have not bothered to check in on your former vice. I was cautiously optimistic. I was originally named Mayor Prom. If anyone ever noticed, I never changed my title on social media because my work is not based on what title I have, but for the betterment of my community in the fashion of a former mayor who exhibit exhibited that kind of old heartless carelessness for others on council. And I can see that you have taken in fact ages out of his book and all for ego. All you s all you sitting on those seats are like the rest of us sitting behind me. I'm going to leave you with a question. Ask yourselves what your reaction to the selfish actions of the person you trusted the most would be. If you say anything other than I don't know, you can try to sit there and pass judgment on my reactions and say that it wouldn't happen to you. But until you walk a mile in my shoes, you will never know the struggles and circumstances that I react to. From this moment forward, what I what and how I decide to share my life will not be up to anyone else but me and my

loved ones to decide. If I can take the biggest lesson of situation is that we can all do good things in our community and titles come and go. Um, and although titles come and go, if your primary goal is to be in a position of power because as the mayor you can do what you want, you can get rid quote unquote of people like they're disposable. This is not going to move Douglas forward. Please accept this public statement as my official resignation. the projects and community events that I have worked hard to bring to different groups within the community will continue in the near future because I don't need a title to be an active member of my community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh she just mentioned her resignation is immediate. So we'll have that on the record. Legal is that okay? Dennis, she's resigning and leaving. Item number eight, discussion decision on approval of consent agenda items A through F, expenditures for the month of November 2025 totaling 2,613,32983. B, meeting minutes for November 12th and November 17, 2025. Item C, resolution number 25-1700, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coochis County, Arizona, ordering questions be submitted with respect to the proposed amendments to the city of Douglas charter which shall be voted upon by the qualified electors of the city of Douglas at the special city election to be held on May 19th, 2026 providing an direction and authorization related to such election. Item D, resolution number 25-708, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona, authorizing the execution of a contract amendment to Corollo Engineers Incorporated for bidding and construction management support for the well number 18 equipping project. Item E, resolution number 25-1709, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coochis County, Arizona, authorizing the execution of an IGA, intergovernmental agreement between the city of Douglas and the state of Arizona acting by and through its department of transportation as a designated agent for the city of Douglas raise grant project. And item F, resolution number 25-1710, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas, Coochis County, Arizona, authorizing the city of Douglas to enter into a memorou memorandum of understanding with the Boys and Girls Club of Sarah Vista, BGCSV and establishing the terms and conditions for the operations of the BGCS SV- Douglas branch. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items? Mayor,

Mr. Costa. I move that the mayor and council approve number eight items A through F on the consent agenda items. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Augusta. Second by Mrs. Dilman. Any discussion hearing? None. Roll callics. Council member Rodriguez. Yes. Council member. Yes. Council member. Yes. Council member. Yes. Mayor for Shelton. Yes, Mr. Mayor.

Boys and Girls Club finally. Absolutely. Yes. And congratulations, Douglas. Motion passes. After everything that we vote on, let's just clap at this point, right? Thank you all. Uh item number nine, discussion decisions on approvals. Item A, second reading of ordinance number 25-1217, an ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas, Coochis County, Arizona, amending chapter 8.28 of the Douglas municipal code relating to noise, establishing serability of components of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. Um, is council okay with postponing this per uh some issues came up on the ordinance. So, we will postpone this to January. Is everybody okay with this?

Yes.

Okay. Yes. Thank you. Uh item B, second reading of ordinance number 25-1218, an ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona, authorizing the abandonment without compensation of a portion of the city rightway located on East 16th Street as legally described in exhibit A to BW Gas and Convenience Real Estate LLC pursuant to abandonment agreement entered into the parties establishing severability of components of ordinance and establishing a an effective date thereof. Miss Gonzalez. Good evening, mayor, members of the council. As you may recall, this item was presented to you for approval of first reading at the October 8, 2025 meeting. First reading was unanimously approved. After some minor language modifications to the abandonment agreement, we bring it back to second reading tonight. So, we do have the owner's representative, butcher that here tonight. if anybody has questions for her. But this is a right of way abandonment um to BW Gas and Convenience Real Estate LLC. Um their interest in obtaining a portion of E16th Street to combine with adjacent parcels for the development of a gasoline station and convenience store. It is desirable to encourage new commercial development within the city of Douglas as per the 2024 general plan update and the city council has an interest in abandoning the portion of rightaway that BW Gas and Convenience Real Estate LLC is looking to develop. Uh the abandonment agreement has been prepared by our legal council and reviewed by the owner's legal council which is included as part of the ordinance and will be executed at ordinance approval. Um staff is recommending approval.

Thank you, Miss Gonzalez. May I have a motion to approve the second reading of ordinance 25-1218? Mayor, Mrs. Rodriguez. I move that the mayor and council approve the second reading of ordinance number 25-1218 by number and title only. Do I have a sec? Second. Second.

Motion by Mrs. Rodriguez, second by Mr. Shelton. And it's not because you're my vice mayor. I heard you first. Any discussion or any discussion? Dank or we responsible as soon as they post they don't will be closing.

Thank you and welcome. Welcome to Douglas. We haven't voted on you yet. [laughter] Any other discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Rodriguez. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mayor Shelton. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion passes and welcome. Let's clap this time. Let's make it count.

Anything we could do for you, we're here to help. Welcome. Item C, second reading of ordinance 25-1225, an ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coochis County, Arizona, authorizing the purchase of real property adjacent to the city public works barn with assessor parcel number 408-21-00002mm approving the purchase and sale agreement and escro instructions with Bret Graham Quick Graham and Quantumar LLC authorizing the mayor and the city manager to execute all necessary documents establish lishing the severability of components of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. Mr. Pedrosa.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Again, this is the second reading for this the purchase of this parcel next to our public works barn. We're looking to utilize this parcel which is heavily in the located in the flood zone for some expansion of our barn as well as potentially some flood mitigation uh potentially water recharge uh in the future. So we we uh see this 69.19 acre parcel as an asset. Um even though it's it's u it's like I mentioned in in the flood zone um I think we can uh certainly do do some good with this parcel and and at the same time is grow our facilities which are uh we're we're quickly outgrowing them Mr. Mayor. So, uh, with that said, uh, the cost is 68,500 funded through the different, uh, enterprise funds that, uh, currently housing in that public works fund.

Thank you, Mr. Pedrosa. May I have [clears throat] a motion to approve the second reading of ordinance 25-1225? Mayor, Mrs. Dilman, I move that the mayor and council approve the second reading of ordinance number 25-1225 by number and title only. Do have a second. Second motion by Mrs. Dilman, second by Mrs. Rodriguez. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Rodriguez, yes. Council member Montano, yes. Council member, yes. Council member, yes. Mayor Shelton, yes. Mr. Mayor,

yes. Motion passes. Item D. Item D, first reading of ordinance number 25-1227, an ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coaches County, Arizona, amending chapter 2.02 of the Douglas Municipal Code, specifically as to section 2.02.020, rules of conduct for council meetings, establishing severability of components of ordinance and declaring an emergency. Mr. If it's given I want the entire vote on it. Best council made that decision because under our city that says that council or mayor of the street they're unexused their position. So interested council meeting out. Thank you, Mr. Fitzgiven. May I have a motion to approve the placement of ordinance number 25-1227?

Mayor, Mr. Ro Costa, I move the mayor and council approve the placement of ordinance number 25-1 227 and to place it on the first reading by number and title only and declaring an emergency. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Aosa, second by Mrs. Dilman. Any discussion? I have Mr. Mayor got a question. Okay. say if ex councilman or mayor Mrs. Three um and there's going to be a vote on it. The person that uh had missed, would they be voting?

Great question, Vice Mayor. Uh yes, they would definitely be voting because as soon as one of the mayor or council members say they're going to challenge it, it's not unexcused until council votes on. Very good. Any other disc?

Uh and I also want to include if it's okay, Mr. Fence Gibbons in the in this one we did include uh mainly for responsive it's to hold the mayor accountable to. So if I'm not here then promp excuses are not excuses. So, I don't get a free pass if I don't want to come to a meeting. Uh, so it's accountability all around and then transparency. If it's challenged, it comes to a meeting and it'll be open to the public uh for their constituents. So, thank you. And the the emergency is to declare it quickly after this vote. If it doesn't, because it's an ordinance, it has to go to two meetings and then 30 days after that. So, this is really to just expedite the process. Uh, if there's no other discussion of roll call, please. Mr. Mayor, if I may just ask the city attorney uh question. Are we still okay with the emergency clause? Because it's

Yes, we're okay with the emergency class, right? As long as It's a great question. It It will take It will take the mayor and the entire council because we have Right. We don't Do we lose six? Have the seventh member. Are we okay? We don't have the seven member. No, we need five plus the mayor. So we have six. This is something council member Montano taught me about a year ago. So I gotta go back to it. It's specifically on emergencies. Is it does it take it's the mayor in five or mayor in six? Mayor make sure that's okay with

I think we can go if you want to do the roll call. We have what we have and I'll let you know what we're doing. [laughter] Council member Rodriguez. Yes. Council member Montana. Yes. Council member Dilman. Yes. Council member. Yes. Mayor Shelton. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion passes.

Emergency one. Mr. It's yeah an emergency measure may be added to an order when it's first introduced upon the affirmative vote of six of the seven members of the council and upon receiving the approval of the mayor. So we have six so and the mayor approved.

Thank you. and ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona amending chapter 2.02 of the Douglas municipal code specifically as to section 2.02.020 rules of conduct for council meetings established in cereability of components of ordinance and declaring an emergency. Thank you. May I have the May I have a motion to approve the first reading of ordinance 25-1227? Mayor, Mrs. Rodriguez. I move that the mayor and council approve the first reading of ordinance number 2512, sorry, 25-1227 and to place it on its second reading by number and title only and declaring an emergency. Have a second. Second.

Motion by Mr. Rodriguez, second by Mr. Shelton. Any discussion hearing? None. Roll call, please. Council member Rodriguez, yes. Council member Montana, yes. Council member Deman, yes. Yes. Council member Aosta. Yes. Mayor Temper Shelton. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion passes. An ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Kochis County, Arizona amending chapter 2.02 of the Douglas Municipal Code specifically as to section 2.02.020 rules of conduct for council meetings establishing several components of ordinance and declaring an emergency. Thank you. Item number 10, presentation discussion. Mr. Mayor, if I may.

Uh, one more uh motion to approve the second reading, please. Okay. Or it's not in your um in my packet. In a packet. Uh, may I have a motion to approve the second reading of uh of ordinance 25-1227? Mr. Mayor, Mr. Shelton. I move that mayor and council approve the second reading of ordinance number 251227 by number and title only and declaring it an emergency. Have a second. Second motion by Mr. Shelton, second by Mr. Aosta. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Rodriguez. Yes. Council member Montano? Yes. Council member Dilman? Yes. Council member Aosta?

Yes. Mayor Protemper Shelton? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. In honor of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona, amending chapter 2.02 of the Douglas Municipal Code specifically is to section 2.02.020 rules of conduct for council meetings establishing cereab components of ordinance and declaring an emergency. Thank you. Item number 10, presentation discussion. Item eight, W Douglas wastewater treatment plant WWTP preliminary engineering report peer and recommending reuse alternative presentation. Mr. Pedrosa.

Yeah, Mr. Mayor, members of council, thank you. Um want to introduce uh partners at pace that completed a preliminary engineering report uh for the reuse potential reuse of our effluent from our wastewater treatment plant. Um we the mayor council received a a grant from WIFA to be able to perform this study and present alternatives that would uh be viable reuse for this valuable uh effluent. Uh this is all based on the uh the new Douglas active management area conservation goals and and the goals established uh through to our our partners at at the Sonoran Institute. So we're we're pleased to present uh our partners here at base uh and I'll just hand it over to Nick Edington and Mike Preb's presentation.

Thank you. Um good evening mayor and counsel. Uh it's good to be with you tonight. Um we're pleased to run through this uh presentation. Uh my name is Mike Krebs. I'm a principal here at Pace and I'm joined by Nick Addictington who is a design engineer uh on the project and um well is the uh PowerPoint opened up sharing? Do we need to share that Nick? Yeah, there it goes. Beautiful. Follow that.

Yes. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Nick and we can run through these. We we don't have too many slides, so it won't take too terribly long, but we welcome uh questions as we're going through it, you know, or if you want to wait till the end, that's fine as well, but uh sometimes engaging uh often and early is a good is a good thing. So, Nick, thanks, Mike. And um thanks Luis. Um thanks to the council for letting us speak tonight. Sorry we couldn't be there in person. Um could we go uh yeah so I'm Nick. I'm one of the engineers who worked on this project and yeah I'll be walking you through our report and the findings that we made along the way. Uh could we go to the next slide please? Or am I able to control it?

Sure. Nick, I'm sorry. This is um city manager Anna. Would you mind speaking into your microphone a little more? We're also just the volume at our end. Are you able to hear me better now? Thank you. Um, could we advance to the next slide, please? Next slide.

Why don't you try or am I able to control those? I think they are, but I'm not sure. There you go.

Thank you. Um, yeah, if you can't hear me, just let me know and I'll try to speak up a little better. But, um, like Louise said, the reason that we're doing this study is because, um, Douglas has recently been incorporated into an active management area. For the purposes of our project, what that means is the city's been enrolled in um a compulsory groundwater man or a groundwater conservation program. And the city believes and we believe as well that a really easy way for us to meet the goals of the AMA is to um put the wastewater tree plant effluent to beneficial reuse. And so that's what we were brought on board to do to determine well to evaluate the requirements of the active management area, come up with some alternative design projects to use the wastewater uh treatment plant effluent. Um make a recommendation and prepare a cost alternative. Um okay. Um like like all like all projects um you know there are some constraints and considerations that we need to consider when we're developing our alternatives. Um the most straightforward being you know meeting the AMA goals right we need to make sure that we're doing something that is putting us towards meeting those goals making sure that there's actually a demand for the water in the project that we recommend. uh making sure that we're producing high enough effluent quality and uh the biggest one is the relationship that Douglas has with the city of Aua Prieta. Um currently 100% of the effluent that's produced at your waist water treatment plant is going across the border to Aua Prieta where it's used by the farmers in Agua Prieta and even farther south for crop irrigation. And that's a really important consideration to take uh to take into consideration because it would be disadvantageous for both parties for Douglas and for Aaprieta if we were to completely cease flow uh to those

farmers who use the water. So that's one of the most important constraints. Um could we can we go to the next slide please? Um did you have something you want to say? No. Um

great. So, this is just kind of giving you a general overview of what the current treatment plant looks like. Um, it was most recently upgraded in uh 2020. No operational deficiencies. It's producing the quality effluent that it needs to be producing, which is um class B effluent. Um, for reuse purposes, effluent is class A, B or C. A being the highest quality, C being the lowest. and and the um the quality of the effluent dictates what kind of reuse activities you're allowed to participate in. Um these grades are given by the state and and they and they regulate, you know, how you can use uh reclaimed water. Uh so like I just mentioned, the selection criteria for the design alternative are I just went through them on the last slide, but they're shown here again. Um next slide, please. So now I'll go through really quickly the um the the alternatives that we came up with for consideration. Uh there are four in total. Uh the first one we thought to do would be percolation basins. The idea is that we take we take the uh the effluent, we put it in these storage ponds that are shown here in the diagram and the water just kind of percolates down into the aquifer, right? Uh direct aquifer replenishment. Um, one of the benefits to this alternative is that there's no need for any upgrades to the treatment site. You're already producing effluent of sufficient quality for this purpose. Um, it would only require a booster pump station to move the effluent from the uh treatment site to the percolation basins. And we've preliminarily cited them um on a city-owned property immediately north of the uh wastewater treatment plant. Uh, one of the advantages to this one is that it um it allows you to uh re to reuse 100% of the effluent if if you

want to. I know we talked about leaving some effluent for aua prieta, but in in our design considerations, we we want you to have the most flexibility to do with your effluent what you want. So, if you wanted to reuse 100%, you could do so with this um alternative. Um the only disadvantage is that the the preliminary site that we selected is not um advantageous for this purpose. We subcontracted with a geotechnical engineer and basically the the subsurface conditions may not be suitable for direct aquifer recharge. So if if if this alternative was to be pursued, it would need to be made feasible by finding a different site. U next slide please. Thank you. Um the second alternative that we came up with was um constructing a non-potable water irrigation system. The principle behind this is to take the effluent or some effluent from the waste water treatment plant and use it to irrigate the city parks and the city golf course. Um class B effluent is not of sufficient quality for this purpose. So this would require upgrades to the treatment plant, but it would um it would only really need tertiary filtration on the tail end of the treatment process. So what we recommended in the report was to procure some like for example cloth filters. Um that will give you the filtration that you need to reach A+ quality which um you need if you're going to be putting reclaimed water in a place where the public might come in contact with it. So, this alternative comes with the tertiary filters, um, two storage tanks, and a couple of booster pump stations to move water throughout the city. Um, the advantage is that it makes a new resource for the city. It um, it's the

intent is to reduce the amount of groundwater that you're using, portable ground water that you're using to irrigate the parks, right, and use reclaimed water for that instead. Um it it is able based on the customers that you have now, it's able to reuse about 240 acre feet per year. Um I I guess I forgot to mention it at the top end, but the the treatment plant produces um roughly 1,600 a year. So you're able to use with this alternative about 250 of that 1,600 acre feet per year with this alternative. Um one of the main advantages though is that it leaves a considerable amount of effluent to continue going across the border to Agua Prieta. Um one of the the main disadvantage is that to get to all the parks in the city it requires a pretty extensive um distribution network which will require a lot of work in the roadways. Right. Um next slide please. Alternatives three and four are they're similar. The main um the fulcrum I guess is building um well upgrading the treatment plant to a membrane bioreactor facility. Um membranes it it would basically be an entirely new treatment plant. Um the advantage being that a membrane treatment facility is able to produce some of the highest quality effluent that you can get with the technology that's available today. Um the major disadvantage is that you've only recently upgraded your treatment plant in 2020, but it it's worth mentioning because it is a viable option if that's something that the city was interested in. You could build a new facility, get higher uh treatment quality, and put the water to more um to more uses. Um other disadvantages to the membrane, aside from being a whole new facility, it has

higher operational costs. It's pretty energy intensive and um I mentioned in the slides that um a membrane facility would set you up for direct portable reuse in the future, but as it also says um DP direct portable reuse requires a water treatment plant to partner with, which there isn't one in Douglas. So it's it's not it's not something you're able to leverage at this point, but um it's alternatives three and four because it's basically partnering the membrane treatment facility with either the percolation basins from alternative one or the irrigation system from alternative 2. So that's how we got two alternatives from the membrane treatment facility. Um yeah, next slide please. Uh this is the cost analysis of all four alternatives. Um I you know that's the cost that's the cost alternative. Um based on our present worth summary uh alternative two the non-potable irrigation system was the lowest cost uh followed second by the um the percolation basins. The major cost to the percolation basins, the thing that set it a little bit higher was the cost of um moving all the earth, right? Digging out the basins that you would use for percolation. Are you going to say something?

Yeah. Just so uh this Mike uh speaking the um just for clarity, these costs are basically not just of capital costs but of operational cost and short-lived assets. It's a a present worth evaluation that looks at the life of the capital that's being spent, you know, in order to understand how the whole picture looks. So, if you could think of another way to think about it is is that you could go out and and buy a real inexpensive car, but if it's going to take a lot to maintain it, it's really not worth um you know, buying that inexpensive car because the maintenance is going to be 10 times as much, if you will, than if you paid a little more for a car and your maintenance was half as much. So that's the idea of this um these numbers and the evaluation associated with it. Go ahead.

Right. So yeah, so the so alternative 2 had the lowest capital cost but also lower maintenance than some of the other ones especially the membrane treatment facility. Um next slide please. So, so based on the um the present worth summary or the present worth analysis, the recommended project that we went with is um alternative two, which is adding tertiary filtration to the existing plant and building the non-potable water irrigation system to irrigate the parks. Um it so for the for for the reasons I listed there, it has, you know, the lowest life cycle cost. There is a potential to find future customers, right? You're not limited just to the parks. There are other places it could be used if there are people who are willing to irrigate like private property with um non-potable water or like schools for example. Um agricultural users can use it for some kinds of crops, right? There's a there's a potential to find more people to use the water and most importantly I think it it leaves the option to continue sending water to Aquabrietta.

Yeah. So the next steps are for PACE to develop a 30% conceptual design um a cost estimate and we'll be identifying um what permits are needed for this project to move forward. Do you have something you want to add? Yeah, I was just going to say uh it could be another source if there's a manufacturing uh entity that wants to come in town is looking for water. You don't have to pump it out of the ground. um you can utilize the effluent uh for whatever their needs are. Right. Uh next slide, please.

And this is this is a map of what the irrigation system would look like. Um all of the city parks are highlighted in green. The purple pipe shows the um the proposed network that we would put for this 30% design. Um, for the 30% we're not putting we're not directing pipes to all of the city parks, just the ones that we think are the highest water users with the potential to expand the the distribution system to the other parks in the future. And that's that's it. Do you guys have any questions? Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No questions. No. Do you guys have any questions for us?

Thank you, council. Any questions, comments? here. Mr. M. Uh, yeah. Quick question. Uh, the $12.5 million for the for alternative two, right? That include the piping and the infrastructure required to get the water to the parks and the golf course or is that it does? It does include the piping. Yes. Isn't that the whole value 12 or that was just the capital cost? 12. Uh, could we go back please to I think two slides. Can you go back two slides please? Yeah. [clears throat] Oh, it is. Okay. Capital, right?

Right. So, the capital cost of that 12,600, right? That is that includes um the tertiary filters, the booster pumps, tanks, and all of the piping to get um to get the distribution network to all the parks. Any other questions? All right. Uh alternative two, what do you guys happen to have uh any idea what type of water like a data center would would uh would need would uh the B+ or A be required for that type of thing? Just looking for the future.

Yes. So, so sorry I I I had a little trouble hearing you there, but it sounded like you were asking what quality of affluent do we need for this project? Is that right? No, actually I I I I know you said that we needed uh to upgrade it to eight, right? But for a data center, for example, you guys would require

um that's that's an interesting question. I don't I don't know that it's been put to that use in Arizona yet. Um, class A is the high like class A plus is the highest that you can get, but I'm not sure if they would want the water first of all, but I know that um it's been used for cooling water in other applications. For example, the Palo nuclear plant uses um reclaimed water class A plus for their cooling towers. So, if the data center is willing to take it, I don't see any reason why not. That's as good as

Yeah, it's difficult for us to uh determine what water quality that the data center would need because we don't know what, you know, where they would process it. If it's just for cooling, that's one thing. If it's for, you know, um some other process that we're not familiar with. And uh the main thing about the class A plus is that it allows and I'm uh stating basically how ADQ um would define it and it's unrestricted reuse. So if you were to irrigate with a a say a class B, you would have to close the park off for 30 days until the water's, you know, okay, deemed okay. And again, these are rules established by ADQ. Whereas, if you have a A+ water, you know, like on a golf course, you know, you can irrigate with it and it's not a problem that people are on it and playing golf and you know, that that whole picture. So, um, [snorts] and it might be that if we were to use a membrane, which does give a a much higher water quality, uh, ADQ doesn't rate it any higher than their A+, but the water quality is much better, and that may be um an avenue that the data center would be able to just utilize that effluent. Thank you.

Anyone else,

mayor? I'd like to thank Pace. If there are no other questions and just kind of a general comment as we move forward. Uh this has been a long time coming this type of uh feasibility study for our effluent such a vital resource uh for our efforts here on water uh conservation uh environmental sustainability. And as we move forward, at least we have um the covered funding right now through the grant that paid for this feasibility study to get us to at least the 30% engineering design, but we have our north star for future. This is all future oriented, but it's closer than we've ever been to a vision where portable water is not irrigating our vast fields. We want to build more parks. We want um to not have to have a water shortage in the summertime. We're trying to align with our AMA requirements that are coming and this aligns perfectly with that environmental sustainability. So, as I mentioned to many of you as we um met on agenda prep, this type of thing really excites staff because we see that uh we now have uh a way to pave that path forward. Uh it it takes it's a tall lift as everything has been, but it's something that we get to move forward. And I just wanted to thank PACE for their diligent work on this project. Um, I do see a day some, you know, can't tell you the year and not don't have a definite timeline, but where we have purple infrastructure added to what we're already doing with our other infrastructure. So, thank you again.

Thank you. I thought the purple is the mayor's favorite.

Thank you. Item third uh item 11, city manager reports. Mhm. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. First, I'd like to apologize for continued technical difficulties in the council chamber. Uh staff has been reconfiguring all of the microphone systems because at the other end when people are tuning in from the outside, it's very difficult to hear. So, they've been reconfiguring. But, um even with testing on our videos earlier, there seems to be further testing needed with novice speakers. So, I will make sure that we do further testing and I do apologize for them. Uh, my updates, our CDBG project on 15th Street, uh, I'm sure you've seen if you drive uh, to the east side. Uh, that is up and going. The sidewalk project is underway and should be completed by the end of January. always weather permitting, but we do have curbing um starting just east of Washington and it continues um to go to Airport Road. Also, as mentioned with your vote today and with the consent agenda, the Boys and Girls Club will get their key to the facility in the next week or so to begin setting up their temporary space at the call center for a January start date. They will begin with a 40 student capacity and we will assess demand and meet often with them to determine any added space if necessary and come back to you with modifications on that temporary plan. The permanent site for uh the club is still pending architectural design and funding uh which we are moving with a plan uh forward and then we will um get beyond that preliminary concept. It's all steps as we know and um we have some funding plans as well. The Friendship House at Castro Park has a fresh coat of paint just in time for Mayor Grihalgo State of the City address

tomorrow evening. Uh I hope the community can come out and support this uh event. It's been uh I understand we haven't had a state of the city address in quite some time. The event will begin at Castro Park at 5:30 p.m. Come out and enjoy some hot chocolate and panden. The timeline for uh the kickoff of the asphalt plant is approximately spring of 26. We did have some uh infrastructure challenges that were unanticipated. The immense size of the equipment requires more footings. Uh we are working on 10 additional areas before we can set up plant components and have that scheduled out to be finished in late February. Uh that includes the silo uh plus nine other areas for the equipment that have the need for further footings. Uh staff then trains in early March and we are also working with APS and Southwest Gas on all permitting and service upgrades to a new plant. Uh we may have to go on rental of alternate power sources if uh those transitions and upgrades aren't complete by then. But that is our timeline. As far as other announcements outside of our policy priority areas is we are excited to announce that this Friday the economic development office will launch 12 days of local Christmas holiday shopping as a campaign for the month of December. When you shop at any local Douglas business, you'll have the chance to win some great prizes, including a $500 grand prize for the highest local spender and three additional $100 gift card winners selected at random. Participating is simple. Just take a photo of your receipt and email it to

economicdevelopment at douglasaz.gov. Every receipt counts as one entry and the more you spend locally, the better your chances. This campaign celebrates our small business businesses and encourages residents to shop local this holiday season. Also, an announcement that holiday hours for all City of Douglas administrative offices will include closing the afternoons of Friday, December 19th for employee recognition, uh, Christmas Eve, and then full days on Friday, December 26th, and January 2nd. Police, fire, transit, and sanitation service will continue to uh remain in full operation. Uh these are departments that are pretty much our first responders and immediate service. Uh they do get substitute holiday time for that period. So merry Christmas and happy holidays to all. I also want to thank our city employees for their recent uh very quick and generous donations of over 220 items to the 2025 delivering smiles campaign organized by the Coochis community connections and other partners for our community senior citizens. These items included beanies, blankets, socks, and gloves. The event will take place at the Douglas Ark on December 12th at 11:30 a.m. And to the U mayor's point earlier, we did receive a free port donation of $15,000 for our transit services, particularly for routes, but also to um help with staff leadership training. Those are my reports. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Item 12, future agenda item request from mayor and council. Council, do we have any We should clap at that. Just kidding. Uh, item 13, adjournment. Do you have a motion to adjurnn, Mayor? Mrs. Rodriguez, I move to adjourn. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mrs. Rodriguez, second by Mrs. Dilman. All in favor say I. I. Any nays? Eyes have it. We adjourn at 7:53. Good evening, Dennis.