Town Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting of the Pintop Lakeside Council to order. We do have three separate meetings, all part of this one meeting this evening. So thank you for being here. We do have a quorum. I would ask that you make sure your cell phones are silenced. And please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance, and please remain standing for the invocation.

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 for all.

Vice Mayor.

Our Father in heaven, we're indeed grateful for this opportunity to to gather together in this council meeting this evening. We're so thankful for this beautiful community in which we live. We're thankful to thee for the moisture thou sent to our lands and pray that thou would see fit to bless us with more moisture. We're grateful for the free country that we live in and with all this going on in the world, we pray that thou would bless those who serve in our armed forces bless them and their families. We're thankful for our first responders and pray that that would bless them and their families. And we're thankful for the dedicated employees we have here in Pine Top Lakeside. Pray that that would bless them. We pray also for those elected officials at the national and state level, that they would make wise decisions in the best interest of those that they represent. And we pray that we will have wisdom and understanding this evening as we look at things that will affect our beautiful community here. And we ask these blessings in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Item B on our agenda tonight is call to the public. This is a business meeting of the town council. The town values and welcomes public input. Please address the council as a whole and not individual council members. Do not address staff or members of the audience. Council action on items brought up during call to the public is limited by the open meeting law. Council may direct staff to study the matter and reschedule for further consideration at a later date. Items on the agenda are not heard during the call to the public and individuals are limited to three minutes. I do have quite a number of requests to speak before us tonight. The first one is Betsy Peck.

Good evening, Mayor and Council and town leaders. In just a few days, I will be officially retiring from my role leading our wonderful public library. It has been my honor to be an important part of the town of Pinetop Lakeside. Thank you for the opportunity, the trust, and the autonomy you have given me. Since July of 2020, I have led our library and slowly changed the space to what you see it is today. A few of my personal highlights include improving the beauty of the library interior through displays and artwork, furnishings, and reorganization. Growing the collection, starting with the children's area and adult bestsellers, and focusing on special collections of homeschool resources and Arizona Southwest and local history to nonfiction and history and biographies and current event books. Using grants and funding for improvements of the outside space with seating and flower beds and flower gardens. gardens for the kids. Initiating the first ever Woodland Lake Story Walk, which Mayor, it was your idea to put it there. I was thinking small, let's just put it around the library. And you're like, what about the park? And today it's enjoyed by whoever walks the path at the park. Building relationships with our community, the patrons and families, that was definitely a high point. Being a real people person, that's been one of the special things. And then working alongside all of the department leaders, many of you guys who are here today, and the wonderful staff throughout our town and all of the departments. So those are some special highlights. I'm mostly proud also of my wonderful staff. So by the spring of 2023, the library had kind of settled into a sweet spot with a wonderful staff, stable, and they had all been hired by the fall of 2022. So we've got years together now. And over those next few years at the library, each of those individuals at the library have grown in their confidence and their skills. They deliver excellent customer service, they help their colleagues, and they take really proud ownership of their responsibilities and their projects. I am really proud of the team that I'm leaving behind. mayor, council, and town leaders and citizens. As a retired teacher, this has been my second career and my fun retirement job. So it's been deeply gratifying, rewarding, inspiring, and exciting, my happy place. I have truly enjoyed serving and being involved in our town organization. Having lived here for 20 years and visited here all my life, I have a deep connection to our town. This is where my husband and I now look forward to our retirement years. Thank you.

Betsy, thank you for all that you've done for the town. I know we're not supposed to interact with you, but I'm just going to say thank you. We appreciate you. I wish you so much adventure in your retirement years, you and Bruce together. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you for being part of our town. We appreciate you. So anyway.

Love our little town.

And our little high school. Okay. Simon Risk.

Good day, Mayor. As a member, Simon Risk, past western of Point Top. I wish I was here two weeks ago when you took your vote about the dispensary. I watch it online, half the time I was laughing, half the time I felt there's a lot of ignorance about cannabis and dispensary. My older brother Alex and I, we own the two first cannabis friendly hotels, one in Las Vegas, one in Phoenix. The argument that I heard about the cannabis was on one side of the members, the smell. On the other side, it's not good for my business. Maybe it's not good for his business, but maybe it's good for other business. Maybe it's good for a restaurant if their store owner wants to order 10 pizza at 9 o'clock at night. It's easier to get the smell out in a hotel room than cigarette or cigars or pipes or anything else. I can get it six hours done. We have the system for it. I can resell that room the next day. Cigarettes and the other stuff, I can't. Drunks that decide to puke, other stuff in the room, I have to shut down my room for at least two, three days to clean it up. Cannabis doesn't affect my business as a hotel owner as well. The fact that we're stopping ourselves and the revenue that can be generated for this town, and this town needs it. In Arizona, the past two years, Cannabis tax sales generate over $500 million. Alcohol sales the past two years, $310 million. If we are still thinking that restaurants or your liquor provider or people that sells alcohol here will bring more tax revenue, it's not. The dispensary will. In Arizona, one third of those tax goes to law enforcement. 32% last year. Imagine what we can do with 30% of the revenue that we can generate from a dispensary that is for 6,000 square feet for law enforcement. I'm going to ask you that question as well. Have you ever stepped into a dispensary? It's very high security. Nobody can get in if you don't have a valid driver license. You take all your information, and it's only plants that sell there. As far as the smell, there's vapes, there's gummy bears, it's only a joint. When I heard those arguments that was mentioned, I know you already vote on it, but this town needs the revenue. I'm not saying it's an easy way for revenue, but it's a revenue that we actually have to consider about it, not for our own personal belief, but for this town and the business owner. Thank you.

Thank you, Simon. Kim Boucher.

Good evening, Town Council, Mayor Irvin and staff. Glad to get a chance to address you guys a little bit. I'm concerned about the Woodland Lake shallow irrigation. joint. I can't read this whole letter all at the same time because I just can't get it all in. But I've given you some figures to go over. And some of mine may be a little off. I've tried to search out and get better. The Show Low Irrigation District started out their meeting THEY HAVE ABOUT 18,000 SHAREHOLDERS FROM WHAT I CAN PULL UP ON THE INTERNET, ABOUT 30 BUCKS A COST, AND AROUND 540,000 TOTALS. THAT'S IF EVERYBODY'S PAYING AND MAYBE SOME ARE NOT USING. THERE'S ONLY ONE ELLSWORTH RANCH THAT'S THE MAIN EXISTING RANCH LEFT, AND THE REST ARE JUST FRUIT TREES AND GRASS. SO HISTORY'S CHANGED QUITE A BIT. NOW, THE SHOLO IRRIGATION DISTRICT IS PAYING THEIR LAWYERS ABOUT $5,000 A MONTH. negligent in their early stages for getting in the justification process or getting their right to the water. They only own the surface water, not the ground underneath it. So historically speaking, they've run out of water before. And if that's the case, that's it. Supplying it with a well or trying to do other things like that is not a good idea. So, and the judification process is the... In the joint meeting, the Shoal Irrigation District started a meeting discussing the theft of water, and they implied that the town's use of the lake was a form of stealing profiting from the woodland lake itself, the view or the water aesthetics. They also stated the non-public users of stealing the water of the district's distribution system. Thefts from the upstream and downstream are illegal and outrageous. The Shoal Irrigation District had implied when profiting Questioned about the theft of the district, they replied that they don't have the manpower to legally take action on the residents and it would be a petty offense if they did. I disagree with that and that to me it's a failure to the 18,000 shareholders that are in it. They've had over the years lacked doing their ditches and taking care of their leaks and seeps and root intrusion. And if people are taking water, they need to be proactive right on top of that Because if they look at the loss of gallons just off evaporation and percolation, and then the theft in the water, and they're wondering why that, they want to count for every drop from the beginning to the end. then that to me is kind of a neglect to their shareholders. And so as history is changing, the irrigation district has the right to the surface water only, but not to the ground underneath it. They also mentioned that they could fence off the lake, cutting off the areas to the lake. The irrigation district should remember they do not own the ground underneath it. Thank you. You have my letter and I know my time was short, but I appreciate it Thank you for taking the time to give this and I'm sure we will all read it.

Thank you Ken We appreciate your passion for our town Larry McCormick Good evening everyone.

I just wanted to give you a short update on the senior community center today was liver and meatloaf day, and I want to thank Sterling and Stephanie, the mayor, and Priscilla for helping serve today. Full house, good food. Hopefully you can all agree on that. Anyway, the food bank is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we are out of food and have been for about a week now. I worked last Tuesday there. And it's pretty amazing. The line was wrapped around the building. And it's amazing how many people in our community depend upon the food bank for their meals. So in any case, the food trucks do in a week from tomorrow, the 26th, about 10.30. We take all volunteers. Tabor, your guys showed up the last couple times. Again, appreciate it if you could bring the boys that can handle the stuff that I can't anymore. So in any case, the Luau is on July 25th. We're roasting a pig. And buy your tickets from me, hopefully. Whether you're out of town or not, consider the donation. Anyway, it will go to the... We had an interesting experience last Friday. The people from hospice in Sholo came, and they had a program, a Hawaiian thing, where they dressed in Hawaiian clothing and were dancing. And one lady had three children. They were boom, boom, boom. And it was the cutest thing. And we were bringing them back for the luau. It makes perfect sense. So free entertainment. Other than that, we got a board meeting tomorrow at 1230 open to the public. And I believe that's about all I got for you, except the grant. We're still waiting for the contract for the half-million-dollar grant. Kind of anxious to get going, especially in the kitchen. We're finding a lot of electrical issues and stuff that have to be taken care of. So old building, tired building needs help. So thank you.

Thank you, Larry. Thank you for your passion for the community center as well. Kenny Cale.

Mayor Irwin and council. First, I'd like to say I really think geothermal is what we should be looking at as far as an energy source and income for many people who would be residents in this area. It would affect the town greatly. When you look at Round Valley, St. John's, because of their power plant, they have a lot of amenities through their town because of the tax base it provides. I request the council go to a dog park. That's where you're going to find people who use dog parks. They're going to tell you what they're about. Ask somebody who uses a dog park what they think. After three years of public silence by the council, I come to you again to talk about a dog park for Pinetop Lakeside Town. Chuck Waldo, a former town leader, once told me, you can't believe how much resistance we saw to having the family fun park in Lakeside. Change is hard. Growth needs wisdom. Any mule can knock down a barn, but few can build one. There are problems with the dog park. People who don't like dog parks will not use them. Both of these statements are true. Dog parks are the most frequented and appreciated sections of a town park. Dog parks can be closed by a lock and deconstructed cheaply. Both of these statements are true, too. One woman said to me that her puppy died from parvo by visiting a dog park. She would never go again. I felt sorry for her. Unvaccinated dogs meeting other unvaccinated dogs with parvo will cause this. If she didn't get this information from her vet, she might have been able to get it from a dog park sign and relieve the pain that she went through. Thanks a lot. Goodbye.

Thank you, Kenny, for your passion as well for our community. That concludes call to the public. Item C is the Consent Agenda. All items listed are considered routine matters and will be enacted by one motion of the Council. There will be no separate discussion unless a member of Council requests an item be removed for discussion. Council members may ask questions without removal of the item from the Consent Agenda and items removed are considered their normal sequence unless called out of sequence. Are there any questions from the Council on the items in our Consent Agenda? I move to approve the consent agenda I'll second that further discussion all those in favor please signify by raising your hand thank you that carries unanimously item D is business before the council Public comments shall be accepted at the beginning of each agenda item following the mayor's announcement of the item and the staff presentation. Any citizen who wishes may address the council, excuse me, to address the council may speak one time for a period not to exceed five minutes on each agenda item, either prior to or following council discussion. Questions from council members may be directed through the mayor to staff or members of the public at any time during consideration of the agenda item. Item D1 is a presentation of our May 2026 financial report. Gabe.

All right, well, thank you, Madam Mayor, Council. You guys have the May financial report in the packet. Starting off this year, total revenue for the general fund for the month of May, or should I say year-to-date, is at $6.7 million. Of that, TPT collection makes up about $4.7 million. Our other tax revenue is at $1.7 million, and non-tax revenue is at $297,000. We are still seeing a bit of decline year over year on TPT collections of about 4%. May, comparatively, was down 8.9% year over year. Again, it's kind of the same stuff that we've seen throughout the entire year. Our construction and commercial rentals are down. However, residential, remote sales, and restaurant and bars are up collectively. So while we are seeing an overall decrease of 4%, it's really driven by a few sectors of the economy and not the broader economy as a whole. So, you know, as we look into the rest of this year and the next year, I still feel, you know, like our sales tax numbers, both, you know, for this year's budget and next year's budget are, you know, strong numbers that will support the organization. Looking at our general fund expenditures, May year-to-date, we're sitting at $6.2 million in total expenses. That puts us at 65.8% of our budget, so we're well below what we had budgeted for the year as far as expenditures go. You'll see there are a few categories that are pushing up towards the limit of the budget with only one month left and We've talked about these throughout the year, but just reiterate magistrate is really due to timing on that county contract. We'll come in right in line with budget there on that category. Library as well had to do with some earlier purchases in the year. And then the only other one is fleet maintenance and that, you know, you know, I know public works is doing everything they can to maintain our fleet within the budget that's given to them. Other fund expenditures are at $3,695,000 or 10% of budget. Again, grants and capital are really the big drivers of those funds. And as you can see, we're not anticipating expending anywhere near what those projected expenditures were through the rest of the fiscal year. In closing, our general fund cash as of May is at $2,048,000, which is down slightly month over month, but up by $172,000 for May of 2025. We're still on track for a year-end projected fund balance in the general fund only of $1.8 million, which is about an increase of $470,000 from where we kind of started the year. Again, like we kind of talked through the budget process and everything a lot of work has been done by you know the council and staff To you know improve our year-end fund balance And we are happy to see the results. So with that if there's any questions, that's my report for me Seeing none

Appreciate that. Thank you. We'll move on then to item D2, which is consider resolution number 26-1819, designating Gabe Waldrow, finance director, as the chief fiscal officer to file the annual expenditure limitation report with the Arizona Auditor General for fiscal year ending June 30th of 2027. Is that correct? Yeah. Okay.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and members of the public. This is a housekeeping item tonight. This is something that we bring before the Council every year. Arizona revised statute 41-2012-7907 requires the town to annually designate a CFO. Right now, Gabe is our current finance director, and no later than July 23rd, I have to file this with the Arizona Auditor General. If you remember last year, I did take this with fiscal year ending in 2026. I did confirm with the Arizona Auditor General that I am getting this approved for the year we're going into. So right now, the staff recommendation is to appoint Gabe Boldre as our CFO to file the AELR.

Thank you, Christy. Any questions for Christy? A motion? Councilor Heiser?

I move to approve resolution number 261819, designating Gabe Boldra of the James Vincent Group LLC as the chief fiscal officer CFO to file the annual expenditure limitation report with the Arizona Auditor General for fiscal year ending 6-30 of 27. I'll second it.

Thank you. We have a motion to second. Further discussion? All those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Thank you, that carries unanimously. Thank you for that, Christy. Item D3, section A, this is a public hearing discussion and information regarding the tentative budget for fiscal year 2026-27 for the town of Pinetop Lakeside. Gabe.

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor and Council. We've been working on the budget now, actually, since probably February. We've had a number of budget work sessions with Council. Today, public hearing for opportunity for public comment. Also, at the conclusion of that, we'll ask Council to tentatively adopt the budget, which we will then post. And then at the second Council meeting in July, ask for final public hearing again and ask for final adoption of the budget. As been discussed over the last couple of months, the budget is balanced. We have a total of $35.5 million in total expenditures across all funds with available resources in excess of that at $39 million. There is a 2% COLA within that budget, maintaining staff at 55 FTEs, again, focusing on the long-term financial stability of the town, as well as ensuring that all the needs of the community is met within that budget. We do have projected about $360,000 within the general fund going to contingency, which ultimately planned for reserve funding as we continue to grow fund balance. The one thing that we don't really have in this budget is really a main capital funding source, but we do have a lot of opportunity grant-wise within the budget to support the town for capital infrastructure and investments. With that, I'll turn it over.

Thank you. Any questions from the council? This is a public hearing. Is there any member of the public that would like to address this issue tonight? Okay, seeing none, I will go ahead and close the public hearing and we'll move on then to item B of this agenda item, which is consideration of legal action to approve resolution number 26-1820, adopting the tentative budget for fiscal year 2026-27 for the town of Pinetop Lakeside. Do I have a motion?

I'll give you one. I move to approve resolution number 26-1820, adopting a tentative budget, adopting the estimated amounts required to meet the public expenses for the town of Pinetop Lakeside fiscal year 2026-2027, and authorizing and directing publication of statements and schedules of the tentative budget together with notice of hearing on said budget and notice of date of final adoption of said budget. Second.

Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? All those... In favor, please signify by raising your right hand. Thank you. That carries unanimously. Thank you, Gabe, and all the staff that worked on that so diligently. We move on then to item D4, section A, which is a public hearing, discussion and information regarding the proposed alternative expenditure limitation and its submission to the qualified electors of the town at the November 3rd, 2026 general election. Christy and Gabe, I see are on here as well, but go ahead, Christy.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, members of the public. I'm going to do a presentation tonight, and then if you have any questions afterwards for the public hearing, both Gabe and I are here to try to answer any of the questions you may have. Tonight's presentation is the second public hearing of two as required by state statute. The purpose of tonight's presentation is to provide factual information about what Home Rule is. how it works, and how it impacts the town of Pinetop Lakeside. This is intended to be an educational presentation so that residents can better understand the proposition that will appear on the November 3rd general election ballot. With that, I will begin tonight's presentation. Home rule is Arizona's alternative expenditure limitation. Arizona municipalities are required to operate under a state-imposed expenditure limitation unless voters approve an alternative expenditure limitation, commonly known as home rule. Home Rule does not create a new tax, increase tax rates, increase property taxes, which we don't have, and authorize additional debt. Instead, Home Rule allows a municipality to establish its own expenditure limitation based on local revenue and local needs. In simple terms, Home Rule gives local communities the ability to determine expenditure limits that better reflect the realities of providing services to our residents. Why this matters is Arizona's expenditure limitation formula was established decades ago in the 80s. It's based primarily on population growth and inflation. Although the state imposed limit increases each year, many of the costs associated with providing municipal services have increased at a much faster pace. Examples include public safety services, road maintenance, infrastructure improvements, employee benefits, insurance costs, and facility operations. One important thing to understand is that while the state-imposed expenditure limit has increased each year, it is not increased at the same pace as actual cost of providing municipal services. For example, the state's imposed expenditure limitation for fiscal year 26-27 is approximately $7.47 million for the town of Pinetop Lakeside. While that in limit has increased 11.9% over the past four fiscal years, the actual cost of providing services have increased significantly more in many years. As communities grow and service costs rise, the gap between the state-imposed limit and the actual cost of operating the municipality can become substantial. The next slide provides several examples of those cost increases. I'm sorry, that's kind of small. This site provides examples of how costs have changed over time. As you can see, the cost of providing public safety services has increased significantly along with the associated employee benefits needed to support those services. Public works and streets maintenance costs have also increased substantially over the same period. In addition, health insurance costs have increased by more than 46% during the period shown. These examples help demonstrate that the cost of providing municipal services have risen considerably faster than the state imposed expenditure limitation. These are not unique challenges to Pinetop Lakeside. Municipalities across Arizona are experiencing many of the same inflationary and operational cost pressures. The town receives revenues from a variety of sources. These include transaction privilege tax revenues, state shared revenues, highway users revenue funds, grants, permits, and user fees. These revenues support many of the services residents rely on every day, including public safety, road maintenance, parks, library services, community development, facility maintenance, and infrastructure improvement. An important point to understand is that the town continues to receive these revenues regardless of home rule. The question is not whether the town receives the revenue. The question is whether the town has sufficient expenditure authority to utilize those revenues for community services and projects. There are several common misconceptions regarding home rule. Home rule does not create new tax. IT DOES NOT CREATE A NEW SALES TAX. IT DOES NOT INCREASE SALES TAX. IT DOES NOT INCREASE PROPERTY TAX, WHICH I ALREADY SAID WE DO NOT HAVE. AND IT DOES NOT AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL DEBT. AND IT DOES NOT REMOVE COUNCIL OVERSIGHT OF THE BUDGET PROCESS. WHAT HOME RULE DOES IS PROVIDE LOCAL FLEXIBILITY IN ESTABLISHING EXPENDITURE LIMITS THAT BETTER ALIGN WITH COMMUNITY NEEDS AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES. REVENUES. THE TOWN COUNCIL WOULD CONTINUE TO REVIEW, DISCUSS AND APPROVE ANNUAL BUDGETS THROUGH THE SAME PUBLIC PROCESS THAT EXISTS TODAY. IN SUMMARY, HOME RULE IS A BUDGETING TOOL AUTHORIZED UNDER ARIZONA LAW. It allows local voters to determine whether the town should continue operating under state-imposed expenditure limitation or adopt an alternative expenditure limitation. Home Rule does not generate new revenue and does not increase taxes. Rather, it addresses expenditure authority and provides local flexibility in budgeting. Ultimately, this decision rests with the voters of Pinetop Lakeside. Before Mayor Irwin opens the public hearing, I would like to share a short animated video that the town has created to help explain home rule in a simple and easy to understand format. The video provides a brief overview of the concepts discussed this evening and serves as an additional educational resource for our residents. Finally, I would just like to remind everyone that if this proposition will appear approved by council tonight to go before the voters, it will not appear on the July election ballot. It will be on the general election held on November 3rd. This video has been added to our town website and our Facebook page. So if you have anybody who has any questions on Home Rule, this is a quick, easy video. If they have any other questions that aren't answered on this video, please ask them to call Town Hall and we'll do our best to answer their questions.

This ballot measure on the 2026 general election ballot in November is about home rule. Home rule gives our community more local control to make decisions that are right for Pinetop Lakeside. Let's start with the basics. An expenditure limit is a state-imposed limit on the amount of money cities and towns can spend each year. This is calculated based off of a formula adopted by the Arizona State Legislature in 1980. Now, this formula took into account the services and programs that Pinetop Lakeside had to offer back then, and it does adjust each year to account for inflation and population changes. But it does not adjust for new services, expanded infrastructure, operating costs, or new programs and facilities. Because of this, the state offers the option to voters to change the city's or town's expenditure limit. So what does it mean if you vote to adjust Pinetop Lakeside's expenditure limit? Basically, it would allow the town to spend more of the funds that have been set aside for things like public safety, park services, and road maintenance. It simply raises the cap on the amount of money the town can spend on municipal services and programs. Let's go over a few things that a base adjustment would not do. It would not raise taxes. It would not create new taxes. It would not allow the town of Pinetop Lakeside to exceed its annual budget. And it would not allow Pinetop Lakeside to spend more than it receives in revenue. For more information about Home Rule, please visit the town of Pinetop Lakeside Town Hall or call us at 928-368-8696. We will also be posting information on our town website at PinetopLakesideDaisy.gov. This ballot... You guys want to see it again, right?

Thank you, Christy. Appreciate that. Any questions for council? Okay. This is a public hearing. This is an opportunity for the public to address us on this issue, ask questions, anything you might want to say. So is there any member of the public that would like to address us tonight? Okay. Seeing none, I will go ahead and close the public hearing, and I'm going to recess our regular meeting. Vice Mayor.

I move that we recess the regular meeting and convene a special meeting for consideration and possible action on item D4B. Second.

Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please signify by raising your right hand. Thank you. That carries unanimously. This is a little different procedure than we have. So the item we're gonna talk about during this special session is consideration of legal action to approve resolution number 26-1821, calling for the submission to the qualified electors of the town of an alternate expenditure limitation at the November 3rd, 2026 general election. Any questions, comments from council or staff? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion. Councilor Heisler.

I move to approve resolution number 261821, calling for the submission to the qualified electors of the town of Pinetop Lakeside of an alternative expenditure limitation home rule option at the November 3rd, 2026 general election.

I'll second that.

Thank you, we have a motion to second. All those in favor, please signify by raising your right hand. Thank you. That carries unanimously. I will adjourn the special session and reconvene the regular meeting of the council tonight. And the final item on our council agenda is D5, the town manager monthly report. Christy.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, members of the public. Last item from me tonight, so for those who are sick of hearing me talk, we'll get a little bit longer. So tonight I'd like to provide a brief update of activities occurring throughout the town organization during the month of June. Some of this kind of fell into a little bit the end of May, beginning of the month of June. This report highlights ongoing projects, accomplishments, upcoming events, and departmental initiatives. Most importantly, I want to recognize the hard work of our staff who continue to deliver services to our community every day. I'm going to start with Public Works. The Public Works crew spent several weeks preparing and cleaning Highway 265. This effort included street sweeping, weed removal, mowing, sidewalk cleaning, and general corridor beautification. Many of you that aren't up at 3 30 in the morning I wasn't but I know they were out there with the skid stair buckets brooms and Cleaning the highway hadn't been cleaned for two years So it was quite a bit of work to get up there Not only that we went through two street sweepers a doc came and helped us one day and we finally finished it this week So I'm really proud of the work that the guys did on that Those are the guys out there finishing up yesterday and I think the highlight looks at the highway looks amazing. So I If you see a public works director, give them a pat on the back. They worked really hard on that, worked a lot of hours on that, getting our highway looking good. The public works department, I want to recognize Frank Naranjo and Mike Meddy for the work that they did installing bulletproof resistant glass over at our justice court. This project will improve safety for court staff, judges, and our public. This is a great example of how town staff completing specialized projects in-house is saving taxpayer dollars. Our park staff has been extremely busy preparing for back-to-back regional tournaments. This weekend, we are hosting the Senior Softball Tournament, and next week is the Regional Little League Softball Tournament. These events bring visitors to our community and support local businesses. In addition to staff continuing to maintain our parks, they are continuing to maintain our parks, athletic fields, landscape, and town facilities. They're doing a great job performing. So Frank, please pass that on to your parks crew. They recently, facilities group crew recently completed roof and gutter cleaning at all town buildings in preparation for the monsoon season. I was actually really surprised when I saw how much stuff came out of the gutters here at Town Hall. So it was really good to see the, not to see them up on the roof, but to see them being cleaned out. THE GREEN WASTE EVENT WAS A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS. WE COLLECTED 139 TONS OF GREEN WASTE, OVER 31 LOADS, AT A TOTAL COST OF APPROXIMATELY $3,900, DOWN FROM $5,000 LAST YEAR. AND A LOT OF THAT IS IN PART TO A PARTNERSHIP WE HAD, AND I'D LIKE TO PUBLICLY THANK TY READHEAD WITH PINE RIDGE GREEN WASTE. over on Penrod Road for partnering with us and giving us a discount. It saved us wear and tear on our vehicles, and then he charged us less per load. So that was a really successful green waste event. Fleet staff is continuing to maintain vehicles and equipment and also preparing for a surplus equipment auction coming up this summer. Administrative staff at Public Works continues managing park reservations, work orders, and supporting operations throughout the Public Works Department. We are excited to welcome Jeric Gradoville. Did I say that right, Jeric Gradoville? This is him right here, you guys. He's our new building official. So his first day was Tuesday. And he has jumped, is that right, Wednesday? He jumped right in. He's already done several inspections. And super nice guy, and we're glad to have him on board. The town zoning map has been updated and is now available on our town website I did post a picture for those of you that are in the audience that can see it right over there on the wall Jennifer with the help of Catherine Nunn has updated that so the new property we talked about earlier today in our work session has been added to that and Also, the 260 corridor was always on there, but Jennifer had Catherine add rim Road and Woodland Lake Road, and then Porter Mountain Road. Is that right? Penrod Road. I'm sorry. And it does show where Porter Mountain Road goes, just so it's easier for people to read. But there's been a lot of changes, a few areas we've annexed over the years. We now have an updated map. So for those that are not in the audience and can't see that, that is posted on our town website. If you go to our town website and you look up zoning map, the new map will come up. Staff will also begin reviewing our short-term rental policies to ensure that they are remaining effective and compliant with current regulations. And code enforcement has established goals to proactively address nuisance properties and improve community appearance. I heard that their goal is two properties a month right now, so. Good luck to them on that. We hope that that is successful. The next planning and zoning meeting will be a work session, and that's going to be held next Thursday. The Planning and Zoning Commission will be tackling sign code and review discussion. This is something that's really important. We've been looking at some of the issues we have with our sign code lately, and we're excited to kind of get that cleaned up for our businesses in town. I also want to remind everybody, but we have three planning and zoning positions available, so anybody that is interested, please submit letters of interest to Lisa, our town clerk, by July 3rd at 11 o'clock. Election season is quickly approaching. Early voting begins June 24th with in-person voting at Town Hall on June 30th. You can go to Snowflake, the first site hosting the early voting. It will not be a paper ballot. It will be electronic. So for those folks that want to get in on the 24th, it will be an electronic ballot voting process. So if you would prefer to have it done on paper, wait and come to Town Hall on June 30th. The primary election will be held on July 21st. Town Hall, right here in the council chambers, is one of the voting sites for Pinetop Lakeside. I want to recognize Lisa Mears in the clerk's office, the town clerk, for managing elections while also handling agendas, minutes, ordinances, resolutions, public notices, and helping out with employee onboarding. Our police department continues to actively stay involved in the community. They recently, well yesterday, participated in a Walmart safety fair. It's a lot like National Night Out. Participating in community outreach for public safety. Detective Ricky Bunch was there with our side-by-side and our drone and answering questions on that. Our VIP, Nathan Heller, he's our VIP sergeant, was there and discussed our house watch program. And then Katie and Priscilla were both there, and Priscilla was handing out brochures for our collection center. So I thank them for their efforts trying to let the public know not only about our department, but also about our collection center.

Let's see.

Planning is underway for both the High Mountain Marathon and National Night Out. Chief Barnes and Commander Wilkie are also updating emergency operation plans and leading emergency preparedness efforts with department directors. These efforts will help ensure the town remains prepared for emergencies and large-scale incidents. So all department directors will be on that committee, and we're going to go through the emergency procedures with a fine-tooth comb and make sure if there's any emergency that does hit our community, we are prepared for that. The police department stats for you, total incidences of 854. This is for the month of March. I actually think this is May, isn't it? This is me. I'm sorry. That's a typo on my part. Calls for service were 462. Officer-initiated incidents, 392. There was 199 traffic stops, 110 building and business checks, six accidents, four agency assists, 45 arrests, four of which were felony and 41 were misdemeanor. There were 87 citations written. 22 of those were personal criminal and 31 were vehicle moving and 33 warnings. I want to thank the police department for the hard work they do keeping our community safe. The town's audit has been completed and filed with Arizona Auditor General. The finance staff focused on final budget, sorry, tentative budget preparations for fiscal year 26-27, which was approved by council tonight. And I also want to recognize Wendy Watson, who continues developing standard operating procedures and assisting multiple departments throughout our organization. I've been working a little bit on purchasing policy training. I did complete training with town hall staff and the public works staff. Right now I'm trying to develop a video to share with all of the police department because they work such crazy schedules it's really hard to get over with all of them. So I think if I do a recorded video for them on purchasing policies, I'll be able to get good response from them on that, and then I will work with library staff, and that's the last town facility I need to work with on our purchasing policy training. I completed an RFQ process for our town attorney services, and I discussed those earlier today with town council. We continue working on grant opportunities, including Pickleball and Mount Meadow Water Tank Project, and staff has also begun educational outreach efforts regarding home rule. I'm excited to announce that we did fill four key positions. The community development manager, Jennifer Butterbrough, who's sitting right here on the front row. Public works operations manager, Frank Naranjo, has taken on that position and is doing a great job. Clay Reedhead was named street supervisor. And then, of course, Jared is our new building official. Current recruitments will be for a park supervisor to fill Frank Naranjo's old position and library manager position. Because Betsy's retiring and leaving us. All right, for marketing, Annie continues doing an outstanding job promoting both tourism and town activities. Social media engagement remains extremely strong with over a half a million tourism-related views and nearly 100,000 town-related views. Staff has also supported home rule education, Firewise messaging, election information, website updates, and community... So the top trending post is that picture right there on the right. That's at Porter Mountain Road in the rain. This is an old picture, but it was when we were expecting rain on a Monday, which I think we got a little bit. That view, that post got over 10,000 views. Hopefully they all come up and visit us. The first Movies in the Parks was held last Saturday. The movie was Zootopia. We had over 100 attendees despite the rainy weather. Some people did leave when the rain got a little bit downpour, but some people kind of waited it out in their car and came back. Overall, it was a really successful Movies in the Park. The next Movies in the Park will be held July 18th at Jack Barker Park. The gates will open at 7pm. so you can get premium seating. And the movie is Hoppers, and that movie will begin at approximately 7.50. The reason why it is so late is because we have to wait for it to get dark enough to see the screen. I want to just remind everybody that the next cemetery cleanup, because our last one was really successful, is scheduled for July 13th at 8 a.m. at the Lakeside Cemetery. Community volunteers are always welcome. Right now we're working on another ADOT community cleanup that we are hoping to partner with the Chamber of Commerce. And we have that scheduled for September. I just don't have the date on here. I'll remind you guys at the next meeting. And also working on a cleanup day for the property adjacent to Safeway. Thank you, Mayor Irwin, for bringing this to my attention. I drove over there and looked at it. It was actually really disheartening to see the trash. The pictures I took that showed all of the plastic bags and little pieces of trash didn't show up very well. But those are two different areas of just full bags of black trash bags over there. A small sliver of that property does belong to the town of Pinetop Lakeside. Another section belongs to Northwoods. I am going to reach out to the property owner and ask if they mind that we try to do a community cleanup on that property as we will be on their property but when I have that scheduled I will let everyone know I would appreciate having as much help there as we can get because I kind of thought I'll just go over on a weekend and clean it up and then I realized how much there is So we'll get a dump truck there from Public Works, and we'll get that property cleaned up with the summer months coming. It's really important that we're making our town look nice, and we want all of our property owners, business owners to take pride in our community. That made me really sad to see. It's a really beautiful piece of property back there. So thank you for bringing that to my attention. Library participation continues to be strong across all age groups. I would especially like to highlight the Dusty Bullying event. She's an author that came and attracted more than 200 participants. The America 250 Art Project and Star Wars May the Fourth Be With You event were also very successful. The library continues to serve as one of our most active community gathering spaces. There's a couple flyers here. I encourage residents to visit the town website and library calendar for upcoming events. The Dinosaur Show is one of the upcoming featured programs, and it's expected to be very popular. The town website is pinetoplakesideaz.gov. So if you go to that town website, those flyers are also on top of the town. Betsy, thank you for staying a little bit later tonight. I really wanted to be able to read this statement aloud to Betsy and give you your well-deserved thank you for what you've done for the town. So please bear with me on this. After six years of dedicated service to the Pinetop Lakeside Public Library, library manager Betsy Peck is embarking on a well-earned retirement. During her time with the library, Betsy brought an extraordinary level of passion, creativity, and commitment to serving our community. Under her leadership, the library expanded its role as more than just a place to borrow books. Through innovative programs, engaging events, educational opportunities, and meaningful community partnerships, Betsy helped transform the library into a vibrant gathering place for residents of all ages. Whether developing programs for children, creating opportunities for lifelong learning, supporting local organizations, or simply welcoming patrons with a friendly smile, Betsy consistently demonstrated her belief that libraries are the heart of a strong community. Her enthusiasm for connecting people, fostering learning, and creating memorable experience has left a lasting impact on countless residents and visitors. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Betsy will be remembered for her kindness, energy, and genuine care for the people she served. Her dedication has helped strengthen the library presence in Pinetop Lakeside and has enriched the lives of many throughout the community. On behalf of the town of Pinetop Lakeside, we extend our sincere gratitude to Betsy for her years of service, leadership, and unwavering commitment to our community. We wish her happiness, good health, and many exciting adventures in the years ahead. Thank you, Betsy, for all you have done. Your legacy will continue to inspire and benefit our community for years to come. So please join me in another round of applause for Betsy for all the work you've done. I'm almost done. And employee recognitions, this first one was written by Wendy Watson. And I would like to recognize Annie DeRozier for the considerable extra work she took on in the finance role prior to my hiring, as well as the time she has dedicated to training me during my onboarding. She has spent many hours walking me through processes, transitioning responsibilities, and ensuring everything is organized and clearly documented. Her thoughtfulness and support have made my onboarding experience exceptionally smooth, and I deeply appreciate all the efforts she has invested to set me up for success. Annie wrote that Troy and Louise from Public Works were a great help at Movies in the Park. So if they don't see this, will you please pass that on to them? Annie wrote a letter back to Wendy. They didn't know about each other's, though. Wendy Watson is a great addition to our team. She joined our team under chaotic circumstances, it was, and is one of the most positive people to be around. So thank you, Wendy, you're a great addition. I second that. that this one was from me to our police officers i recently had the opportunity to review your employee evaluations and the goals each of you have set for yourselves what stood out to me was not only your commitment to serving our community but also the thought professionalism and dedication reflected in your goals and your desire to continue to improve it is unclear that each of you take your responsibilities seriously and genuinely care about our community you serve Thank you for everything you do for our town. I am grateful for each of you and proud to work alongside such a dedicated team. This was written by Jennifer Butterbro. I'm almost done. Frank Young has been a truly outstanding during my transition, delivering an impressive depth of knowledge paired with thoughtful personalization that has made my onboarding both smooth and inspiring. Frank shares passion for innovative long-term solutions, has already laid a strong and exciting foundation for the future, and I am deeply grateful for the leadership and support in my short time with the organization. Lastly, I just want to remind everybody that town council meetings are held the first and third Thursdays of every month. Planning and zoning meetings are held on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month. Agendas and public notices are available on the town website, outside the front of town hall in a town kiosk, and at both the Pinetop and Lakeside post offices. Meetings can also be viewed at any time on our Pinetop Lakeside YouTube page. If residents have any questions or concerns, they're encouraged to stop by town hall and talk to us. We're not scary. I'll try to meet you with a smile. And with that, that's all I have.

Thank you for that, Christy. I would just like to announce for the public that we will not be meeting on July 2nd. Sorry. That's okay. Don't be sorry. Because of the proximity to the 4th of July holiday. So our next council meeting, regular council meeting, will be Thursday, July the 16th. So I would just like to wish everybody a very happy and safe 4th of July as we celebrate 250 years of our country. And I hope everybody gets to remember why we're all here. Anyway, thank you. This meeting is adjourned.