Council - Regular Meeting

So he wanted to still support the newspaper industry and he's really really old like matter when I met him I [clears throat] thought he was No. Is this right? Okay.

Okay. I will call this regular meeting of the city council to order. It's January 28, 2026. The time is 5:30. Thank you to all members of the public who are in attendance. I invite you to stand with us for a moment of silence, after which councelor Pharaoh will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. [clears throat]

[clears throat] I aliance to the flag of the United States of the United States of America to the republic to the republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. A reminder to all council members to put on your microphones. Um, Madame Clerk, will you please do a roll call? Mayor Kidman here. Vice Mayor Pharaoh here. Councelor Hammond here. Councelor Hedinger here. Councelor Pller here.

Councelor Roundtree here. Item number three, consent agenda. Looking for a motion to accept the consent agenda. Mr. Mayor, I motion to uh approve item 31, the consent agenda. Second. I have a motion from councelor and a second from councelor Hettinger. All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? I don't think our our lag must be pretty strong with councelor Hammond right now. Oh, sorry. I said I I'm okay.

Not sure.

Maybe your microphone wasn't on. Okay. Item number four here from the citizens. We have two cards. We'll start with Oh, come forward. U state your full name and only the city of residence and you'll have three minutes. Nancy Walker. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Nancy Walker and I am a Paige resident. I live in Ranchettes on Pinto Road and our home faces south with a direct view from our property of the site being considered for a data center. We have lived in our current home for about 20 years and chose to move to this location due to the open space and amazing scenery that is in our close proximity. We see daily how our community enjoys this area and it that is currently zoned for open space and recreation. As someone who will be located near the proposed data center, I have some great concerns. I can appreciate the council's efforts to explore options for alternative revenues to fund future projects and services. My strong belief though is that future sources of revenue need to align with the values of our community and the vision that the city has outlined in the general plan which was adopted in 2022. A data center and all the potential negatives that it brings close to the city entrance and near homes and neighborhoods does not meet Paige's website description of us as a planned community. The city's general plan does not cite this and past discussions and planning prior to December 2024 do not support this. Planning would require a great deal of thought, discussion, and community support and not a reactive

action by council because a developer pressured them. If you search, there are many communities that are taking a stand against data centers for all the reasons you've heard many times from the community members. These concerns are compounded for those of us that live in close proximity. What options will we have when there is a light and sound pollution invading our life? The the isore of a huge commercial complex next door. The possible health hazards associated with the waste and development infrastructure to support this planned complex, not to mention the effect it will have on our property values. Paige is a great place to live. We have stayed here after retiring because of the quality of life. Bringing a data center into page will have an impact on this quality of life that no amount of potential tax revenue revenue can justify. In my opinion, the proposed land sale was made in haste, was not transparent in the process. The process was in favor of the buyer, not the city. I would encourage you to slow down, be more transparent, and make an effort to gauge the support of the citizens of Paige. What would be wrong with placing this on a ballot and letting the majority of the page citizens determine if the potential of new tax revenue outweighs the existing quality of life? Thank you for listening and considering my concerns.

Thank you. We have Zia. Zia or Michelle Zia.

Okay. Sorry about that. Mayor Council, others. My name is Michelle Zia and I'm a page resident. Obviously, a lot of the page citizens are showing um with our visits here and with social media chatter that there's a lot of opposition. We talked about that the last time we were here. That's clear. Um, so there's a lot of passion behind that. And so I have a question. I don't know if you're able to answer them now later. Maybe I'll submit it on the comments uh on the FAQ, but I think it would help a lot of people to have a time where we actually hear about the benefits. Um, we haven't really seen much information on the on the FAQs and it doesn't answer a lot of our questions, especially about the benefits and we see so many uh so much opposition, so little support. We want to hear from those that are in support. We don't see that on social media other than some snarky comments. Um, so I think that would be beneficial to hold a meeting, a town hall meeting, whatever you want to call it, next city council meeting, where we can hear all the great things about why this would be good for Paige, right, Frank? Be beneficial maybe just we're all unclear. We're being told this is, you know, going to be a great thing, but maybe it would quell some of the noise. I have some questions that I will submit

but I want to ask them to you here now. If we have we being our city have considered the impacts to housing values and business sales. We see buzz all over the internet about data centers, about the impacts to tourism. Less and less people are going to want to come here. Um especially and this is another thing we haven't talked about the aerial impacts. We have air tours. We have people that ride horses out there. We have people riding motorcycles hiking and so the aerial impacts even people that are flying in even our VIP visitors to Paige that fly in say on their private jet and they see this data center now in the middle of what they used to consider a postcard. I said postcard last time. This is a postcard. community. It's unfathomable. So, help us fathom why it should happen. Even business sales, if people aren't coming and if we're losing visitors, our housing sales will will our housing values will drop. But also business sales, less people will come here. We talked the land part was mentioned. There is a whole lot of um a whole lot of um concern about why others may you know interested in buying properties wouldn't get that kind of value, that kind of price, that kind of offering on the land. People are upset about that.

Go ahead and you'll need to um wrap it up. I'll wrap it up here. Thank you, Steve. Low water obviously, but think about the lowwater issues at the park and how that could impact tourism also. We don't need another reason to impact tourism. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you. Um [sighs and gasps] item [clears throat] 51, mayor's reports and announcements. I have none for today. Um 52 city manager current event summary over to you. Not too much today. Just want to give a quick update on the splash pad. We poured our last bit of concrete on that last week. So we should be able to open that up when [clears throat] the weather is appropriate. And so we will provide that information. And who knows, maybe we can even do a little something down there for the opening. See how that goes. So, thank you.

We have the mayor in a swimsuit. Item number six, boards and commissions. Did anybody attend count? We'll start with councelor Roundtree. I'll start that I think the mayor should be in his swimsuit when the

splash pad opens. Library. February is love your library month with special activities for adults, teens and children. Adults may participate in cooking classes this month and the month of February, Tai Chi, chess, and among other programs. There are many games and crafts planned for children and teens. Um they have a new full-time teen position and a and she it's Michaela Lee and she has a master of science degree in library information science. And then the annual job fair which I've noticed on a few places on social media. Um, we probably should get this out um in our by our PIO that the job fair is going to be the last Saturday in February the 29th from 12 to 3:00 p.m. And there will be three resumeé workshops. So, somebody there to help you um spice up your resume. And then the library statistics, if anyone wants to know them, they're they're posted. I won't go into that because it's really lengthy. Um what's up and what's down. attendance is down a little bit, but we think that has to do with the circulation of buses from the school district and how that's affecting kids getting over to the library. But a lot of the statistics are as great as the library we expect of our library and a great job that they're doing. Councelor Frell.

Uh I'll have two for you. The or for us substance abuse task force met and basically uh with the thanks to the city clerk's office Cindy and our city attorney uh basically they had a education cycle about you know Robert's rules and the process. So that was majority of the meeting. Same thing with the airport advisory board which was was last night and what we have is a new chair which is Mario and I don't want to say his name bad so I apologize for that Mario and then Sean Brown's co-chair the they also received the training and they'll be working um with our city manager and Laura at the at the airport to advance that program.

And then um ADAP was cancelled because they didn't have a majority of the board and um councelor Hammond wasn't able to make it. So that um report would they didn't meet.

Okay. And they will um there was a meeting with the uh what do I want to call that group? the water the water project group trying to get the funding in Washington DC and all of the items through the EPA and all the entities involved. We had that meeting on Monday. Had not met with them since before the holidays. Um the r the possible wrinkle is if there's another government shutdown, but otherwise things are progressing well with the EPA and getting everything in a row so that we can complete the water treatment plant upgrade and to get funding for the second straw. So it takes a long time with those entities. [snorts] Any others? Okay. Item number seven, um, unfinished business, a letter of support for Quality Connections 5311 grant application. So, we'll throw that over to to the city manager for a moment.

Thank you, mayor, vice mayor, members of council. This is the follow-up letter for the motion that was made at the last meeting to uh potentially lend the city support to utilize that 5311 grant money and and go for the application process. It doesn't obligate the city to the money at this time, but it just provides the support to continue that application process and the the actual money will be far enough in the future that it can be budgeted through the budget process.

Okay. I've asked councelor Hinger to read that letter. I got a lot of good information in it that I want the public to hear. Letter of support for Quality Connections 5311 grant application to whom it may concern. The city of Paige is pleased to express its strong support for quality connections application for federal transit administration FTA section 5311 funding to implement a new microtransit service model in our community while maintaining the long-distance transit routes connecting nearby rural communities. This initiative represents the most significant level of involvement the city has ever had in shaping public transit in Paige and we are excited about the new opportunities this project brings. We view quality connections as a trusted and committed ally deeply vested in the future of Paige through the extensive planning work they have undertaken with the Northern Arizona Council of Governments. Their leadership in developing a forward-thinking service model demonstrates a clear understanding of our community's needs and the challenges we face with the current transit system. The proposed microtransit solution aligns perfectly with our shared vision for a modern, reliable, and accessible transportation network that best serves this community while continuing to support the rural routes that help people in nearby communities access resources in the Paige area. The city of Paige is strongly in favor of this collaborative relationship and recognizes the transformative potential of this new service model. While we must still navigate our internal budgeting process, we are confident in our ability to work together for the future of transit in Paige. We look forward to working closely with Quality Connections to ensure the success of this initiative and to create a sustainable communitydriven transit system that reflects the values and priorities of Paige and surrounding areas. We thank ADOT for their long history of supporting transit in the Paige region via the 5311 program. We are excited about the opportunity to have a stronger role in helping improve our community's

quality of life. We respectfully urge your full consideration of this important grant request. looking for a motion to accept the letter or to approve. I want to make a motion um to accept this letter and encourage staff to move forward and excited about this opportunity. Second. I have a motion from councelor Roundtree and a second from councelor Preller. All in favor say I. I. I. I.

Unanimous. Thank you. Item number 81 new of new business, bid number 260, PAL substation North Bay upgrade project. That would be over to Brian Hill. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight we're look talking about the Powell substation. Remember in the utility here we have two of those substations. And the one that we're talking about down on Hall Road has three bays. Back in 2023, one of the uh one of the transformers, the transformers in in these bays take the 69,000 kilovolts we get from the the the switchyard at WAPA and brings it down to 21,000 that we bring around town. Also regulates, etc. Makes it nice for everybody to use. Um, when that transformer let go, it was still one of the old bays that didn't that just was on a slab way back from the 60s. So, that particular transformer served us for decades, a long time. We already purchased the transformer that's that's being made back in Virginia right now as we speak along with a breaker, some other apparatus that goes along with with this new bay. The old bay was about 7 1/2 megawws. That's I know that maybe doesn't make a lot of sense, but the new one that we're putting in is almost two and a half times bigger. And that's because we can we can increase the size for just economies of scale, just pennies on the dollar, and we and we double that. For example, 25 years ago, we only had 30 megawatts of capacity. Today, we have 77 with the completion of this. So, we've been able to build that up with that. Um, several things have have gone on. One of the contracts that we have to put out is we have to construct the infrastructure that goes under this bay. The old one just had a

slab. This one has got full oil retention. That's the standards that we construct to today. Uh so there is quite a bit of work to this erecting the steel for the for the different uh components. What's disturbing, I will say, um, is back in 2017 when we did the very same project, that project was just a little over 400,000. Today, that same work is 1.1 million, just to give you an idea of how costs have gone up in the utility business. But, so we uh staff um, of course, we we went out for competitive bid on this work. We [clears throat] got uh, three bids. uh one was incomplete. Uh one was for 1.5 million and the other was for 1.17 mil 1.197 million roughly. And so um this we we worked with uh an engineering firm up in Salt Lake City that works with Hunt Electric. They do this type of work around the Southwest, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, etc. and uh staff recommends that we move forward with that. The board at the last board meeting also voted unanimously to move forward with awarding this contract to to Hunt Electric. Any questions?

Councelor Hinger. Um I'm going to voice something I think to hopefully dispel any concerns that this is related to the data center. This is upgrades needed for the city and it's not getting us we're not doing this to give electricity to a data center, right? This is for the city.

Uh, you know, just upfront, I mean, I've talked with the data center people and it they're talking about a hell of a lot of power. I mean, it's not even fathomable. We're talking like what 20 pages would would consume. So, this isn't even in our league. I mean, in our industry, we're like a pimple on a gnat's butt flying around in a hurricane. That's that's what we This is just for the city. So, you'd have to build uh 80 or 90 of these to meet the needs of the data center. So, no, this is just course of business. We had a failed transformer. We're just upgrading it to stay ahead, keep the train going down the railroad tracks.

Awesome. Thank you, Councelor Frell. I'm going to move to award the bid 260 to Hunt Electric for the the PAL substation North Bay upgrade project in the amount of 1,197 809. I'll second it. Second. Have a motion from councelor Pharaoh, a second from councelor Roundtree and Hammond. All in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Thank you. Thank you. Let me know if you'd like to do a ribbon cutting. Nobody's ever been interested. [laughter] The same time we do the splash pad. Pardon? We'll do it the same time we do the splash pad.

Okay. And same dress. How much money do we save if we break out the uh golden shovels and each take one load of dirt out? Oh, okay. I think we have to pay for that. Item number 82, resolution 1338-26, notice of election. City clerk, will you, this is one you need to read, right? Will you please read the ordinance? Just the title by title only. A resolution of the mayor and city council of the city of Paige, Cookanino County, Arizona, providing notice of the regular primary election.

Regular primary election being on August 4th, but that may change by one week according to the state legislature. We will find that out soon. Any questions on this comments? Okay, I'll open it up for a motion. Councelor Hettinger. Mayor, I move to adopt resolution 1338-26. Second. Have a motion from councelor Hedinger and a second from councelor Farrell. All in favor say I. I. I. I.

Any opposed? Thank you. Item number 83 for declaring a vacancy on the city council. I am just going to make a motion that we declare a vacancy due to the passing of councelor David Auggie that there is a vacancy on the council. Second that motion. I made the motion. Councelor Pharaoh seconded the motion. Any comment or all in favor say I. I. I. I.

Thank you. With that item number [clears throat] I'm under item number 84 determining the process for appointment of city council vacancy. Um [clears throat] there has been discussion of how of how to do this and I will present this to the council and see if this if everyone be in agreement. First of all, I'll just read three items that are required for somebody to um submit themselves for this appointment to fill the remainder of councelor Aug's seat. The person needs to be 18 years old and needs to be residing within the city limits of page a qualified elector residing in the city within the city and will have needed to reside in the city for one year is what uh is that from the state or that's yeah that's the state okay so I was going to uh propose that we ask for letters of interest from public interested in filling this seat, a letter of interest, give us some information about yourselves to turn into the city clerk. There's three avenues of getting it to the city clerk at uh city clerk at pjaz.gov gov or contact the office at 928-645-4205 or if needed bring something a letter of interest in person here to the city hall and make sure that it will get to the clerk and opening this immediately and have the deadline be by the end of the day on Thursday February 5th at 5:00 the end of the business day here

I've already had a a question so is a year from the date that we declared the vacancy See today is it a year from the date that they would take office? It says oh let me [clears throat] person asked me is newly moved into page from someplace. Uh so it says resided in the city or town and this is Josh is going to help me have to help me with the way they word this for at least one year next preceding the election. Is that a typo? So would it be from um November of 2026 they would have to have been a member or would it be a year previous so a year in November before the upcoming primary election? I just want to they're probably listening. So I want them to be able to get their answer.

I don't know. It's a great question. He's he's looking. But I I'm assuming this means they live at Green Haven. They need to have lived here. So if this election takes place the last week of July, they will have needed to live here since the last week of July 2025. If I understand this correctly, this is an appointment, not an election. And they would be But that was a primary election. That wasn't a general election. So is it a primary general? Are you It would have to be a year before now if or before the the meeting that we appoint, which would be the first meeting of February. Do we understand that correctly, Josh? Do you think? I know you're not the question then that they asked me because I didn't know it either.

Well, he's looking that up. So, if um if we end the time for people to turn in any letter of interest the by 5:00 on Thursday the February the 5th, the city Oh, I'll get to councelor Hammond. um city clerk can compile those and have those to us so that we can have about six days before our first meeting in February at which point we can make a decision. Let's go with councelor Hammond and then councelor Pller. Uh thank you Mr. Mayor. So my only concern would be that doesn't give people a lot of time to discuss with their families employers put together a letter roughly only a week. I would prefer to see max participation and max opportunity for people to fill this vacancy. I'd rather see us take our time and choose the right person rather than rush into a decision. Um, so I would prefer that we set the deadline two weeks from now. I know that that slows things down a bit, but I think that it would be worth it in the end. Councelor Preller.

Uh yeah, I just wanted uh to clarify that the way we are determining if someone is uh living within page is that they're a registered voter. Correct. No. Um have to live in the they don't have to be registered. It's not based off of It doesn't say voter mailing address. It says a qualified elector residing within the city. You don't have to be a registered voter. And so the I don't know

just to get back to that discussion. So the statute talks about for an election you have to live here for a year preceding the election but for appointment of a vacancy all you have to be is a qualified elector. So the one year actually doesn't apply. The definition of a qualified elector in Arizona is you have to be a resident for at least 29 days. So I this is kind of pop quiz time here. I haven't had time to really research this, but my sense is that most likely someone would have to live in Paige for 299 days prior to the date of appointment. Um, and they would have to be 18 years old, um, and registered to vote and a resident of the city, I believe, would be the qualifications for someone to apply for the vacancy.

Okay. So, if you want to apply and you're not registered to vote, get registered. And if you don't want to be on city council and you're not registered to vote, still register to vote. To to councelor Hammond's comment, um I'm I'm fine with giving more time. Should we move this by two weeks and have that deadline instead be February 19th?

The only concern with that is then that puts us into the last meeting in February to make a decision and choose and then that person doesn't start in March until March. just puts off the time of whether or not we feel like we need a board member sooner or later because they're only serving until November. So, unless they choose to run for office, they can run for office or also temporarily or they could be just serving temporarily. [snorts] They they could start on February 25th, I believe, if you made the deadline. You could appoint on the 25th if you wanted to at that meeting. We could appoint, but they would need to be sworn in, right? Mhm. But they could do it right there.

And they could do it right there and join us on the dis. Okay. So, that's an option. Throwing that out for what would council like to like to do go with the um Thursday, February 5th deadline for letters of interest or push that out for two weeks? So you're saying then we would ch go into executive session at the beginning choose our candidates before the meeting started that night. Could Yeah.

So that they would be able to sit on the 25th. I'm fine with that then if we did that if we moved the executive session or came in at 5:00 and started a meeting early, go in executive session, discuss the candidates so they could be seated that night and then it wouldn't slow down the process. I'm fine withholding giving them longer then if we do it that way. Okay. Councelor Hammond, any comment or do you agree? I agree. Sounds like a good solution to me. Okay. Well, then I will ask for a motion to accept the process for appointment for city council vacancy. Anybody? What's I'll make the motion. What was the deadline that you're going to give them to? Until what date? February 19th.

I make a motion that we give the candidates until February 19th for application. the board meeting on the 25th, an executive session we will choose and they will be seated on the 25th. Is the 25th the correct date? Yes. Yes. Okay. Do I have a second? I'll second. Okay. We have a motion from councelor Roundree and a second from councelor Hammond. Comment question from councelor Hinger. Um, I think just to be very clear, all we're asking from candidates is confirmation that they meet those three qualifications and a letter expressing why they're interested. Is that correct? Perfect. Okay. Okay. Without any other discussion, all in favor say I.

I. Any opposed? I. Thank you. Okay. Send us an original composition of song. Item number nine, executive sessions. We have an unusual combination of executive sessions. I'll ask for a motion about executive session 91, potential land sale portion of partial 8022005A.

Amanda's got a hand up. You don't want a motion to go into executive session. Oh, no. I meant a motion to go into executive session for that is what I meant. No, could I let me let me ask for just the just 91 um councelor Hammond and then councelor Roundtree.

Uh thank you Mr. Mayor. Rather than moving to make a motion to go into executive session. This is these are two complicated transactions as you know because of their relationship to each other. And I think that to be in compliance with the Arizona sunshine laws, open meeting laws, be transparent, we should first have the conversation about which of these developments we're going to support or both or neither um before we get into executive session to discuss the details of their contracts. I'm not quite sure how that would work. Um

I mean it can

so the the business of the executive session would be to explain the terms upon which they're offering to buy that land, what they want. Um and wouldn't really be a discussion about, you know, necessarily whether we want their project. We don't have a lot of details about their project per se. Um but we as far as I know we don't have anything to share in the open meeting as far as um for their their project. They haven't authorized us to provide any information in a public setting. Well, without violating any terms of executive session, just going off what's been discussed in public meetings so far, we're talking about two resorts that are looking at overlapping land, and we have to decide which of these entities we're going to sell that land to, if at all. Like, to me, that seems like pretty easy to discuss in open forum.

Well, no, because we the existing contract that we have is not for this land. This is a separate request. This is a new purchase request. It's not for the land that they already have under contract. Councelor, I'm sorry. My question is I don't know how to I don't want to offend the gentlemen that are here because I don't know how to correctly pronounce their project name,

but are they wanting to speak before we go into executive session? Do they have anything to show on that one? Because sometimes we'll go into executive session and just do both of them back to back. Do they need to speak before we go in or are we just going to go into the one, come back out and then um go back in for the second one? So that's just my question because I see them here. So or are they just here to listen and they don't plan on giving a presentation this evening? I'm I'm not aware of any presentation presentation or no comments that you want. Counselor No. Okay. Okay.

Councelor Hinger. So, I think going back to councelor Hammond's concerns, what I and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, councelor Hammond, I think her concern is that we're going to get into executive session and have a hard time sticking to um 9.1 versus 9.2. So, maybe we could start executive session with just some clear boundaries of what we're allowed to discuss related to the two projects to make sure we don't get off topic. Yeah, I mean, if the council would like some legal advice, we can go into executive session to give legal advice. Um, and and we could talk about that. There will be a little bit of overlap because we're talking about the same piece of property to a certain extent. So, um, there would have to be some overlap as far as discussion of terms and whatnot. Um, because it's the same piece of property or at least in part. Councelor Frell,

I move that we go into executive session for 9.1 9.2. Second. Have a motion from councelor Pharaoh and a second from councelor Hinger. All in favor comment or question from councelor Prellard. Do we think anticipate that order is going to matter on this at all? Is there a scenario where it might be more strategic to do two first and then one or anything of that sort? No, the the we intentionally listed them this way on the agenda. Okay, cool. Thank you.

We have the motion and a second. Oh, councelor Hammond has a hand up. Yeah, thank you councelor Hettinger for mentioning the challenge that we face in discussing these issues separately but together. Um, but really my concern is more on the tendency to stray into debating the pros and cons of a project versus strictly negotiation. Um, that's an ongoing concern of mine. So, I'll be voting no on going into executive session. I prefer that we have this conversation in open meeting. [clears throat] Okay, with that I will call for the vote. All in favor to go into executive session say I.

I opposed. Nay. Okay. It is 51. We will go into executive session. Time is 609 and we will return here after we are done with that.