City Council - Regular Meeting

Council meeting of October 5th, 2026 to order and ask everyone to put their cell phones on silent. The implication will be led by Councilman Nesser and the pledge by Councilmember Johnson.

Heavenly Father, we humbly seek your guidance as we discuss the agenda tonight. May wisdom, justice, and righteousness guide our decisions, grant us strength to serve our community with integrity and compassion. May our leadership be a source of stability and peace, fostering a society where all citizens will thrive. We ask that you protect all of our military personnel and bring them home safely. And please protect all of our first responders who serve and protect our community. Amen.

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

Thank you. Mr. Cross is on his way. He let us know that he will be a few minutes late.

Consent agenda. As a reminder, all items on the consent agenda will be approved with one motion. If a council member wishes to remove an item for further discussion, the request will be made prior to approving the consent agenda and will be moved to new business. Do I have a motion on the consent agenda?

Your Honor? Yes. I move that the consent agenda be accepted as presented.

Before I vote, I want to make a quick little comment in the aspect on it. We are just in the process of approving two, I want to say, restructuring of a couple of roads, resurfacing, there we are. One of the, both of them are approximately a little over a mile, one of them is, and one's just under, right at about a mile. And it's the... Old West Highway between Idaho and Tomahawk, and Lost Dutchman Boulevard between Ironwood Drive and Meridian. And each one of them are costing us, as taxpayers, a little over $1.3 million each one. So you can see what the cost of just doing a mile of road costs

Okay, presentations and awards, proclamations. Presentation of a 30-year service award.

That library, they stay there for a long time.

Absolutely. Good people and decent bosses.

Okay, I got a couple of proclamations here. Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October 2026, whereas October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Awareness Month, an annual campaign to increase awareness about the disease, and whereas breast cancer remains one of the most common cancers affecting women worldwide, with over 2 million new cases diagnosed each year and countless families impacted by its emotional and physical toll, whereas advances in early detection, treatment, and research have led to a significant decline in mortality rates, yet continued awareness, education, and support is essent

Thank you. Thank you. And the next one is Domestic Violence Awareness Month for October 2026. Whereas domestic violence is characterized by abusive actions or threats in a personal relationship that seek to control, dominate one partner over another. Abuse can be manifested in various forms, including physical, emotional, sexual, economic, or emotional harm. And whereas domestic violence in any community can be hidden in often unrecognized issues, that often go unreported to authorities. And whereas it is essential to question the norms surrounding domestic violence, take proactive steps to pr

Thank you. Okay, regional intergovernment updates. Anyone have anything?

Okay. Excuse me. Thank you. City Manager's Report.

Yes. Thank you, Dr. Pappalato and company for giving us a look into what to imagine over the next few years. And I look forward to more of these updates. And I really am going to focus on over the next few years is bridging the gap between the city and the school district. I firmly believe that our students is a reflection of the city that they live in. And if there's anything we can do to help motivate that and to give our children a chance, I'm all for it. So thank you. And also, Bryant, I wanted to touch on this giving box thing. Oh, yeah. I did go to this, and it's truly exceptional. Our f

Mayor? Yes. I just want to say thank you for looking outside of the box, opening up a whole new way of teaching. giving the students a chance to pick what they learn, that, to me, is very impressive. I think that's going to make a huge difference. Because when they're interested, they learn. And they get to pick what they want. And you've got a perfect place to start with the drones and the aeronautics and all that, because right down the road is the Mesa Gateway Airport. And they have a lot of stuff over there on the ASU campus. So that's just wonderful that you started that. So I'm really im

Dr. Papparato, I would just like to commend you and your team on the work that you're doing, kind of echoing what everyone said here. I know that... Educating students these days is not an easy thing to do, but creating these kind of programs and challenging kids to learn and to think about some of the things that in third, fourth, and fifth grade, I'd be lost now. So I think that's wonderful that you are giving students that opportunity to learn that. So please keep it up. And as Robert said, we want to make sure we're encouraging you guys as much as we can because that school district means

Thank you. I want to throw in one little comment, too, on this aspect. Number one, a lot of times when the kids are young and they're coming up, of course, all they're wanting to do is get to the 12th grade and get the heck out of here. Whatever I have to do to do it, I'll do it. I myself, when I went through, they gave me an electronics class that I had to attend as one of my credits. And I said, what the heck am I ever going to do with this? Later on, when I went into the Air Force, that's where I really shone my light and it really helped me out. So sometimes in the aspect is when you get t

You're done, right? Thank you, Your Honor. Okay. Thank you. All right. Consideration and application for a liquor license for Walgreens number 4188.

Anyone have any questions? Seeing none, I will now open the public hearing. There's a five-minute time limit with a one-minute warning indicated by the yellow light. Please state your name and address for the record. I'll also say that you don't have to have one of these forms filled out for commenting on this open public hearing. It's only for the, say, the end. So anyone like to speak on this? And I don't see anyone moving. So I will now close the hearing and ask for a motion.

Yes. Mayor Schroeder yes councilmember Nessar yes councilmember cross yes councilmember hack yes councilmember Soller yes, and mayor Wilson yes motion passes unanimously your honor Okay Items 12 and 13 will be combined under one public hearing and as they relate To the same subject, but each item will require a separate motion

Okay. Before you start, Riley, I'm going to say in the aspect of these are the Discussions and public hearings, consideration for ordinance number 1577 and resolution number 26-34.

Don't see any. Any discussion among the council?

Your Honor, the fact that we haven't increased fees since 2010, I think it's only fair that we re-examine that. So certainly we all know the cost for virtually everything in our lives has gone up. I think to expect the same quality that we get from our parks and rec folks, I don't think that's unrealistic to get to. increase the fees.

OK. I will now open the public hearing. There's a five minute time limit with a one minute warning indicated by the yellow light. Please state your name and address for the record. Anyone like to speak on this? No movement again. OK. I will now close public hearing and ask for ordinance number 1577. Mayor? Yes.

I move that ordinance number 1577 be read by title only and the reading of the entire ordinance be waived.

Mayor? Yes. I move that Ordinance 15, number 1577, as read by the City Clerk, be approved. Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call.

All right. Do I have a motion for resolution number 26-34?

I move that resolution number 26-34, a resolution... Wait a minute. My... Got real small there for a second. A resolution of the mayor and city council of the city of Apache Junction, Arizona, declaring as a public record that certain document filed with the city clerk titled 2026 Amendments to the Apache Junction City Code Volume 1, Chapter 4, Fees, Article 4-1, Parks and Recreation, Fees Schedule, be approved.

Thank you. Okay, presentation, discussion, and public hearing for consideration of resolution number 26-42.

I know I'm not going to be in. I have surgery.

The applicant, do you want to put him up so we can?

Your Honor. Yes. It's not such a question as a comment. I realize that if this was coming in December, there's no cars on the road until, like you said, 18, 24 months. But because of the critical nature of Idaho Road, I wouldn't feel comfortable approving anything until that is done. It could very easily fall apart as it can be approved. So I wouldn't feel comfortable December 1st granting or not granting, however it may go, the decision on this when Idaho Road is still up in the air. So that's where I sit on it. I do realize that, of course, by the time it is built and people move in, that's

Mayor? Yes. City Manager, where are we at with the Idaho road?

Your Honor. Yes. So you've already started. This conversation has started already. And the temperature of the room, is ADOT giving you any impression that, hey, look, there are some major conditions here that we need to iron out? Or are they kind of saying, hey, all right, let's get this going?

So is this something, as far as the BLM goes, is this something that gets taken care of during the negotiations with ADOT, or is it ADOT is step one, state land is step two, BLM is step three? In other words, ADOT says great, but then by the time we get to step three, it's like, well, okay, we've got ourselves a problem.

One last question. You're on. Okay. So the five month timeline is this month and a half, two months of working it out. And then the other three months is just red tape and paperwork.

So we're looking at once we have an agreement that both sides, then there's red tape after that. That's the extra months. So you're thinking that maybe in January we could have an agreement that our city attorneys looked over and... That would be best case scenario currently, yes. Because once we have an agreement, then it's done other than the red tape paperwork and background, right? Correct. Because then we have this full commitment that is ours. Correct.

So we've got a few more months before we can say it's a deal.

So if we did a resolution into the first of the year.

Would you guys be, Mayor, go ahead. Would you guys be willing to go like early February?

Well, we've got two dates in January, the 15th and the 10th. Yeah, I'm looking at the 19th. 19th.

Yeah, yeah. There is. Thank you. OK, I will now open the public hearing. There's a five minute time limit with a one minute warning indicated by yellow light. Please state your name and address for the record.

Anyone else want to speak on it? I see no movement, so I'll close public hearing and ask for a motion on resolution number 2642. Mayor. Your Honor. Yes.

At the request of the developer, Bella Flora Communities, I move that the public hearing be continued to January 19, 2027. Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call.

To order items number 15 and 16 will be combined under one public hearing as Related to the same subject, but each item will require a separate motion Presentation discussion and public hearing consideration of ordinance number 1579 and presentation discussion of public hearing and consideration resolution number 26 43 Joel Mr.. Mayor City Council

Yeah, we made changes. We put in guardrails and we put in a penalty of misdemeanor one crime, which means if any technology gets used for anything other than government purpose, then you can be charged and you will be charged with a misdemeanor one crime, lose your job. And I know that the chiefs of police are going to run a bill down at the state to make it a felony, but right now what we can do as Apache Junction is make it a misdemeanor crime to misuse any of this technology we have. The unfortunate part was the technology was put out there and we didn't have the guardrails and penalties in

Your Honor, I have a couple questions I'd like to ask Chief Pulley. Good evening. Good evening. First, we've had these for these camera systems for months. Around three years, is that correct? That is accurate, yes. Have we had any difficulty with our cameras misreading any of the plates?

Difficulty or problems with reading the plates?

And is there a process to verify those before anything goes out?

So it is verified. Have there been any incidents in the recent months that these cameras have assisted in subduing any suspects? Any instances, please?

Chief, flock is not a probable cause, is it? No. And that's where some of the mistakes nationwide have been made with police departments using it as probable cause. You do due diligence and you follow up and actually have humans investigate these things and build probable cause. It's just a tool, correct?

Okay. I got another question for you, Chief. Since our last meeting, You reached out to everybody that was here and asked them to come to the police department if they had any questions, and you'd show them Flock, you'd show them what our system does, and you'd show them what our contract was, and that the state law has a law that these camera companies can't sell information, and if they do, it's a violation of state law. How many people took you up on your offer?

I'm going to ask one quick little question in the aspect on it. When I started touching base with you last night, one of the things that has been present, presented to me over and over again through several people, has been that if we get rid of these contracts, how many police officers can we hire?

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else have any other questions or concerns? Okay. I will now open the public hearing. There's a five-minute time limit with one-minute warning indicated by the yellow light. Please state your name and address for the record. And your address.

I don't see any more movement, so I will now close the public hearing. Any comments from the council?

I'd like to just address a couple things. What we're putting in here is safeguards, and we're doing the best we can do. Misdemeanor is not a slap in the face, and misdemeanor one is a legitimate crime, and you'll get booked into jail. I can guarantee you the Chiefs of Police of Arizona opening the session coming up here in January, are going to run a bill to tie it into the computers in the car. We've had computers forever, probably 30 years. And if you use them, it's a felony crime. There has to be teeth. The only thing we can do is misdemeanor crimes. So we are putting the heaviest misdemean

I ain't allowed to talk. I ain't allowed to talk to you guys. I'm just telling you, the lady that came up here, what is going on with the technology we're putting in.

Two-minute break. Anyone else? No, I'm done.

Anyone else? Your Honor, I recognize this is a very controversial issue. There's no doubt about it. And I've really tried to look at it from both perspectives. And I understand each one has a point. I guess what I go back to is If we keep limiting the means and the tools for our police officers to prevent and solve crimes, we're letting evil get the upper hand. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that. I think about that young girl that was abducted here in Apache Junction and was located shortly thereafter in Globe. It was the use of the ALPR technology that really helped. If I were t

Okay. I will now close it now. So I would like a motion for Ordinance Number 1579. Mayor?

Yes. I move that Ordinance Number 1579 be read by title only and the reading of the entire ordinance be waived.

Ordinance number 1579. An ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Apache Junction, Arizona.

Do I have a second motion to adopt the ordinance number 1579?

Mayor, I'll move that ordinance number 1579, as read by the city clerk, be approved.

Councilmember heck yes mayor Wilson yes motion passes unanimously your honor I have a motion for resolution number 26 43 your honor I Moved that resolution number 26 43 a resolution of the mayor and the City Council of the city of Apache Junction, Arizona Amending Apache Junction City Code volume 1 by adding and adopting by reference a new chapter 17 Automated license plate readers be approved second Moved and seconded roll call Councilmember Nesser.

Yes motion passes unanimously Direction to staff presentation discussion and possible direction to staff regarding procurement procedure for city code

Any discussion? Do I have a motion for the council direction to staff?

I move that direction to staff be given to create a draft ordinance that adopts changes to Article 3-7 Procurement Procedure of the Apache Junction City Code be approved.

Okay. Thank you All right. We're now to the call to the public and I do have two people here I would like to remind everyone to call the public as a courtesy and it's not a required by law It's a time for the public to express requests, communication, comments, and suggestions. Requests to speak forms must have been completed and handed to the city clerk before the end of the city manager's report. All issues shall be presented in a professional manner without personal attacks. Under the open meeting law, council cannot engage in a discussion on issues presented but may respond to criticism. a

You've already covered the flock cameras, so keep going.

Yes, I just want to thank everybody for coming. We can agree to disagree. I Get it. You know, you know what I do for a living I did you were professional. You were nice. I Appreciate you coming. I appreciate you giving us your input, you know, but what I do for a living I just have to agree to disagree with you. I like I like where we're going. So I That's it.