Remarks by Miguel Arias
198 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 8
- Play at 6:55:01
“Which ones, so under the currency, if there's,”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 6:55:58
“Walk me through the public safety CFD. Where do we stand on that, and what does that cover and pay for?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 6:57:28
“If you remind me and maybe the administration can, the last couple of fire stations that we've funded. 12 and 18. I recall impact fees were not sufficient to cover the cost. We have put in third party funds for that. We borrowed for some and then we put federal dollars for others and general fund dollars for others. Do you guys, can you guys get back to me on how much we spent and from what sources on the last two or three fire stations that we built?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 6:58:46
“And historically, Director, as I understand it, the city did not borrow money up front to build the stations. They were collecting money as they go until they had sufficient money to build the station.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 6:59:46
“So is it fair to describe the fact that we as a city are obligated to build fire stations at times and maybe police stations prior to the full build out of the area that fully funds that public safety service?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:00:15
“I recall numerous instances on the council where we've been told we're no longer approving occupancy permits for houses that have been built because we don't have sufficient fire service coverage. Hence why we had to borrow from Peter to pay Paul to complete the fire station because those stations are based on full build out of that area. So everybody pays their fair share. But the fire service is needed way before the full build out occurs.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:02:04
“I REMEMBER WHEN I RAN FOR OFFICE, I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY WE WAIVED FIRE, POLICE, PARKS, ROAD FEES FROM AMAZON. THEY PAID ZERO FEES WHILE EVERY SMALL BUSINESS HAD TO PAY ALL THEIR FEES. AND SURE ENOUGH, THEY CAUGHT UP WITH US AND WE HAVE TO SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AFTER THE FACT BUILDING A BUNCH OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT THEY ESSENTIALLY DAMAGE BECAUSE THOSE ROADS ARE NOT BUILT FOR TRUCKS. And I remember this council passing a policy, no more waiving fees for public safety, because we're all declaring that we don't have enough money to build fire stations. But that also brings me to this…”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:04:10
“Water or sewer main. Yeah, I don't recall.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:04:13
“I don't recall. Olive and First Street, was that water or sewer? Sewer. Sewer. And then there was a major break on McKinley and Golden State. And I think we ended up with litigation because there was like, was it our fault or high-speed rail? Right. Turned out that the thing was 100 years old, so whatever vibration occurred broke it. And I also recall being told numerous times that we don't have the money in the Enterprise Fund to proactively replace all these mains. So we are relegated to having to wait for them to break to do the emergency fixes.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:05:18
“So try to keep this on basic English without the technical language of sewer lines. If you were to give a percentage of the network, how much of it has been productively upgraded of the existing network for the existing city residents?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:05:41
“We can do that. Where would you put the cost on us fixing a broken sewer line when it breaks, an emergency scenario versus a preventative cost?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:05:58
“And does the current system allow us to say this proposal is asking us to borrow nearly $100 million for a trunk line? Could we easily borrow that money to simply replace existing sewer lines and upgrade them?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:06:22
“So if we could bond out for new trunk line on Jensen, we can easily bond out to fix an existing trunk line on Blackstone.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:06:55
“Yeah. But the same mechanism exists. So it's a matter of what you want to prioritize. Well, it's about where the revenue comes from. So walk me through why we wouldn't want the developers to pay for that upfront.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:07:57
“The Copper River. Yeah. In South Sata, there's a developer to that own nearly 1,000 acres, if not more. Would that be sufficient for that developer simply to come in and say, I have enough land? I want to go ahead and pay for the upgrade myself. I don't need the city to borrow on my behalf.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:08:24
“Um, if you can get back to me on the, EXISTING NETWORK AND HOW MUCH OF IT HAS BEEN UPGRADED, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL. THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD IS THIS ONLY REFERS TO A SEWER TRUNK LINE. I'M ASSUMING PEOPLE ARE GOING TO NEED WATER TOO, RIGHT?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:09:07
“But we could use the same model for the sewer, can't we? Condition the development on them, paying for the sewer extension?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:09:35
“Do developers build their own water lines? Don't we do that?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:09:55
“Irrespective of whether they do it or we do it, they pass as our inspections, correct? We control the quality of construction?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:10:03
“So we could easily condition a development for them to put their own sewer line and make sure it meets our standards.”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:10:27
“I noticed that when it comes to sewer lines and water lines, are they on the same physical space?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:10:40
“It would also require the city to buy right-of-way acquisition, right? Or you spend rights?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:10:57
“So we have existing right-of-way on Jensen for a new sewer line?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:11:04
“So we would have to obtain right-of-way acquisition?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026
- Play at 7:11:14
“Do we have to have any right-of-way acquisition of private property owners that may be in the vicinity of the project?”
City Council · Sep 3, 2026