Town Council - Regular Meeting

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Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Call to order. Regular town council

meeting February 26, 2026. Clerk, please call the role. Council member Lopez, present. Council member Keel, present. Council member Finne, Council Member Greer here, Council Member Schumacher present, Vice Mayor Zer here, Mayor Paul Guda here. We have a quorum. Thank you, ma'am. At this time, I'd like to welcome down Pastor Jeff Jackson with the Christ Church of Presca Valley for our invocation and to lead us in the in the pledge. Please stand if you can.

Let's pray. Gracious God and loving father, we thank you for this amazing country, the precious freedom that we've been blessed with. Lord, we thank you for our community, place we call home, place of natural beauty and abundant resource. Lord, we thank you for the people of our community, blessed with their talents, abilities, and service. Lord, we know from your scriptures that you've appointed government to manage the affairs of man and bring justice. And so, Lord, we thank you for city government, for our town's servant leaders. And so we pray tonight, Lord, that you'll guide our counsel, those who make decisions. Give them wisdom, discernment, and all their deliberations and decisions that it might bless and benefit the people of our town. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, your son and our savior. Amen. Join me in the pledge. 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.

God bless America. Thank you, sir. Item three. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented? So moved. I'll second. Cler, please call a vote. Mayor, that passes unanimously. Thank you, ma'am. Next up, proclamation number 4A, National School Breakfast Week.

National School Breakfast Week, March 2nd through 6th, 2026. Whereas the school breakfast program has served our nation admirably since it was permanently established in 1975. And whereas the school breakfast program is dedicated to the health and well-being of our nation's children. And whereas the school breakfast program joins and has been joined through the years by many other excellent child nutrition programs. And recent research shows students are receiving their healthiest meals at school. And whereas there is evidence of continued need for nutrition education and awareness of the value of school nutrition programs. Now therefore, be it resolved that I Kel Paluda, mayor of the town of Presca Valley, hereby proclaim the week of March 2nd through 6, 2026 as National School Breakfast Week and encourage all residents to become aware of the benefits of the school breakfast program and support good nutrition habits for children in the hopes of achieving a more healthful citizenry for today and the future. Hi, I'm Amanda Garfield and on behalf of the Food and Nutrition Department at Humbult Unified School District, I just want to thank you all for reading this proclamation tonight and helping us recognize and celebrate National School Breakfast Week. For all the reasons that were said in the proclamation and more, school breakfast is very, very important. So, we are looking forward to celebrating. We've got some fun things planned for our schools and our students um for next week and we look forward to really highlighting that on social media and elsewhere. I would also like to invite everybody here please if you would like to come to any of our schools for breakfast. You can share breakfast with the students or even better uh help serve alongside our amazing food and nutrition staff. You can help serve the students. So invitations will be in your

email. If anybody wants to do that, just let me know. Thank you.

Next up, American Red Cross Month.

American Red Cross Month. In March, we celebrate American Red Cross Month by honoring our neighbors who make its humanitarian mission possible in Prescuit Valley. Every day, their acts of kindness changes lives, bringing relief, comfort, and hope when help can't wait. This compassionate spirit runs deep in our community, just as it has for 145 years through the American Red Cross. Today, those who serve with the Northern Arizona chapter light the way during emergencies. Whether it's delivering shelter, food, and comfort after disasters, providing a safe, life-saving blood supply for patients facing conditions like cancer treatments, childirth complications, and traumatic injuries, assisting military members, veterans, and their families with 247 global support, or empowering individuals with skills like first aid and CPR that saves lives. These collective efforts are a powerful reminder that the strength of our community lies in our shared commitment to one another. As we mark Red Cross Month, let's celebrate our local heroes and resolve to continue lifting each other up so no one faces an emergency alone. Now therefore, I, Kel Paluda, mayor of the town of Prescat Valley, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as American Red Cross month in Prescat Valley and encourage all citizens of Prescuit Valley to reach out and support its humanitarian mission. Thank you very much for the proclamation. Uh, we appreciate that. We try to keep the community safe and I want to know that um Prescuit Valley in particular has always been very supportive of our services that we can help people not only prepare to evacuate in case of a disaster but we can provide services should someone's home become uninhabitable. We can provide some financial support to them and casework and get them started

on their road to recovery along with many other services. So, we appreciate all your help and support and um we'll be here to help everyone we can. Thank you. Next up, call to the public. At this time, members of the public may comment on matters listed on the agenda or solely on matters within the jurisdiction of the town. Any persons wishing to address the council must register their name with the town clerk prior to the commencement of the meeting. At the conclusion of call to the public, the council may respond to criticism, ask staff to review a matter commented upon, or ask that a matter be put on a future agenda. Such remarks shall be limited to three minutes unless additional time is granted by the mayor. Clerk,

we have one registered, Sharon Freed.

Thank you, ma'am. Welcome. Mayor and Council, I'm here to respond to the recall efforts against Ken Floyd. I have known Ken Floyd for several years, both personally and as a member of the Prescat Valley Council. Throughout this time, Council Member Fry has consistently demonstrated honesty and integrity, qualities that are regrettably not always evident among other town officials. Mr. Fin is dedicated to serving the community and bases decisions on principle rather than external influence. I have never observed any misconduct, personal gain, dishonesty, or neglect of duty on his part. Unfortunately, Councilman Fuin's commitment to the best interests of the town's people appears unwelcome on the council as it contrasts with the actions of the majority who frequently approve projects opposed by most residents. This pattern of decisionmaking based on conflicts of interest undermines the values that Prescat Valley residents hold dear such as wildlife preservation, open spaces, tranquility, and water security. When council decisions favor land owners, contractors, and developers at the expense of the community, it raises concerns about corruption involving influential power brokers who are now targeting Councilman Fry. The recall campaign against Councilman Fry is unfounded and appears to be a coordinated attempt to discredit a council member who upholds the best interests of the town's people. Councilman Fo has addressed the

accusations transparently and provided evidence to refute them. The recall campaign is based on lies, disinformation with malicious intent, and personal attacks which lack any substantive proof. Those responsible should be held accountable and offer a public apology to Mr. Fin, his family, and the community. We need further investigation into the actions of the new planning and zoning commissioners and their conflicts of interest. And on another matter, Lakeshore and Navajo Foraway stop now. And with that, I bid you all ado.

Thank you, ma'am. Moving on, council communications. I'll start to my right. Councilwoman Kil, I just wanted to mention that I was at the 100 men um uh fundraising uh last night and uh the um we were there with the Freedom Rock, the VFW, and the Healing Fields. And uh I was really pleased to see that all three ended up with a check for $5,759. It was a really wonderful night. Thanks, Councilman. Vice Mayor, Councilwoman.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I have a prepared statement that I and I'm sorry that Sharon left because I think this would be a great segue into what I'm about to say. Um, as a member of Prescuit Valley Town Council, our primary commitment is the well-being in the unity of our community. Recently, council has taken intentional steps to improve the internal communication and the strengths of our ethical standards, recognizing that effective governance must be built on a foundation of mutual respect. Those who serve Presclli do so with a deep love for our hometown. However, with outside narratives aimed to pit neighbors against one another, it creates friction that distracts us from our collective goal, a thriving, safe, and respectful community. This environment has not only hindered our process, but has deeply affected the dedicated individuals who contribute their time and effort to the town's success. The time has come to to move past the fingerpointing. We must look beyond the external influences and provide this council with the necessary space to do its job, fostering transparent communication and deliver tangible results for our residents. I must be honest, personal and political bickering is a distraction that deflects us from our actual duties. Our priority remains the the residents that we serve. Our commitment to ensuring that every ind individual helping guide our town's future feels respected and supported as we work together for a common good. We are setting aside the conflicts and returning our full attention to the essential work of this town. We invite our citizens to join us in this renewed focus on shared values that make Prescuit Valley exceptional. Together, we move forward with integrity, civility, and singular focus on the

future of our community that we all call home. I would hope that everybody takes a lot of this to heart. We have got to stop pointing fingers. It does no good and the only people that are being hurt are the people that we all represent. Thank Thank you, ma'am. Moving on to management report. Report, Mr. Fair. Thank you, sir. Consent agenda. All matters listed under consent agenda are considered routine by the town council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the consent agenda. It will be considered separately. Can a motion, please? Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve all items listed under consent agenda by electronic vote.

A second. Clerk, please call a vote. Mayor, that passes unanimously. Thank you, ma'am. Next up 10, item 10, new business resolution number 2026-2445, call of election July 21st, 2026, primary and November 3rd. We have an old business on the schedule. I'm sorry, I skipped over that. Thank you, ma'am. Ordinance number 2026 976 amending town code chapter 11 traffic to implement traffic safety plan. It's a second reading. Mr. Parker, any questions for staff? Seeing none, clerk.

Ordinance number 2026-976, an ordinance of the mayor and common council of the town of Presca Valley, a municipal corporation of Arizona, amending chapter 11 traffic as recommended in the Presca Valley safe streets for all safety action plan. Providing that all other chapters, articles, and section of the town code, not here and amended, shall remain in full force in effect. and providing that this ordinance to be effective 30 days after its passage and approval according to law. Shall this ordinance pass?

Mayor, that passes unanimously. Thank you, ma'am. Next up, 10 A. Miss Fernandez, take it away.

Uh good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council members. Uh today we're here to talk about elections and what's coming for this election cycle 2026. Want to start off by um going over HB 2022 um which was an emergency bill recently passed and how this um bill affects our election cycle. Also, we're going to be going over what citizens can expect in this primary election and the general election ballot and just to provide other relevant information regarding elections and the call of election. So, as you probably have heard, um, couple weeks ago, Governor Hobbs signed a bipartisan bill, um, passed also by the Arizona legislature known as HB 2022 that permanently changed, um, the election date for the primary. Um, it used to be held in August and now it's going to be permanently be held on the second to last Tuesday in July. So, that date would be July 21st. Um, the bill also cleaned up some technical language and because it it was adopted as an with an emergency clause, it's effective immediately and it also protects the candidates who were already collecting signatures. um it protects all their filings that whenever they come in and file in my office, we will accept either date,

either the August date or the um uh July date. So, as you can see here on this slide, here are the new dates for the primary election. Um we are currently in the official filing c official filing period for candidates. It started February 21st and it's going to um go all the way up to March 23rd. That will be the last day for candidates to file their paperwork. Um the with that date change, it also changed the deadline for writing candidates. It is now May 22nd. Again, the difference between a writing candidate and a regular candidate is that the writing candidate doesn't have to go out there and collect signatures. They can just file their per the paperwork, but then again, their name does not appear on the ballot. The last day to register to vote um is June 22nd. For those citizens out there that do not know whether they're registered to vote or not, um that will be their deadline. and early voting begins June 24. Early voting will also be the same day that ballots will be mailed to um people who have requested an early ballot and when you can expect to see um early voting uh places open in the past. Um well, we currently have an IG with the county for early voting. Uh we have had a satellite location here, but it is my understanding the county is looking for something bigger and because we have the IGA with them, they're responsible for taking care of

those logistics. Um so our citizens can um expect to see an early voting site somewhere else, not um at the civic center. I do not have the locations yet, but as soon as I do, you will be notified. Um, election date again is July 21st. Polling places will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 700 p.m. that day. And again, I do not know the locations yet, but as soon as we find out, we will do public notices. It's the same thing um for the general election. Um now the general election did not the date did not change. It stayed the same. So we will have um our general election or runoff election if needed November 3rd. And you can see all the um same dates for for that election. So, um, with the call to the public, um, as you know, candidate packets have been available in our office, uh, for a while now. We've, um, held three open candidate houses since October. Um, and right now we're at the point where we are doing the official candidate appointments all the way up to March 23rd. The official names of the candidates will be released March 24. Um, and citizens can expect to see pretty much on the ballot for this primary election, the candidate race. So, we have that mayoral seat um to a 4-year term, the two council members seat to a four-year term, and the one council member seat to a two-year term.

So that's um what citizens can expect to see on the ballot for the primary for the uh general election. Um if we end up having a runoff, we may have another candidate ballot question in it. Uh but for the general election for sure, we will have at least right as of right now two items. One of them is um if you recall back in November of 2024, council voted to place the referendum petition lecture 650 to be known as proposition 492. Uh again, lecture 650 was an ordinance to refer the annexation of 652 acres of property on Lakeshore Drive in Feain Road into the town. Uh we also can expect to see um the aquatic recreation facility TPT initiative. Um this would be a conversation you've recently had um during study sessions on the proposal to construct and operate a rec recreation aquatic facility to be known as Proposition 493. Now we do have other uh ballot items that may be placed on the November ballot. Um that would be the referendum petition project links which is currently under an appeal status. Uh project links if you recall was the uh referendum of the was to refer the reszoning for the Amazon facility near state route 89A. Um, and another referendum that's currently in process would be the government tank query, which you're all

familiar with, and that's the mine and gravel pit near Fame Park, Stone Ridge, and the Country Club. Uh, per the call of election, we're required to do a publicity pamphlet with the um ballot propositions. Anyone interested in submitting for or against propositions must file their statements in my office no later than August 5th to be included in that publicity pamphlet. Uh this the argument or statement is limited to 300 words and must include a sworn statement from the person or political comm community committee sponsoring it. Usually um that statement is notorized. Um, and there's a $100 fee to um offset the cost of printing um that argument. And that's all I have.

Any questions? We have questions for the clerk. Yes, I have a question. Um, I know in 2024, um, there there was nothing on the general election. Uh, everything we didn't have a runoff. Um, can these referendums be put on a primary and what might the deadline be to to change that so that we don't have the additional expense of putting it on the general is which referendums are you referring to? The ones that are voted on 650 and or the pending ones

uh lakes shore 650 and um what's the other and the um facility tax. Okay. Well, those are already voted on. Um, that would be like I just want to clarify the sales tax item, mayor, uh, council member, is it it by law has to be on the November ballot. So, regardless, we have to have an item on the November one.

Okay. Thank you. And, um, yeah, I just wanted to save some money if we if we could. Um and then the other thing was um so project links and government tank when do we expect um those to be completed? Um because August 5th is the deadline to put those on the ballot. Is that correct?

Um correct. So with Sorry, I got to go back to my slide. with government tank, right? Um it's still in process. We are in the process of reviewing signatures. Once we're done, we have until March 6 to do that. Once we're done and we send those over to the county, I believe they have 20 days, 15 days um for them to do their review. Then they bounce back to my office and um we have 72 hours to issue a certificate. And after that um we will know whether um we place this on on the ballot or not if enough signatures are deemed collected.

Thank you. And do we have any dates for the um the hearing for project links? Mr. Mayor and Council, there is no hearing date set on the appeal. Thank you. You bet. Anything else for the clerk? Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Next up, we do have a Are we voting on this? Yes. To accept what she presented cuz it's not showing in the I know it says a resolution. It's a resolution. Making sure.

Usually it says voting for approvements for improve approvement. So, all right. I'll take a motion. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to authorize the mayor to sign resolution number 2026-2445 calling for a primary election on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026, and general election on November 3rd, 2026 to a elect one mayor to a 4-year term, two council members to a 4-year term, and one council member to a two-year term. and B place placing referendum petition number R-012024 Lakeshore 650 Proposition 492 on the ballot and C placing the recreation center aquatics facility transaction privilege tax initiative Proposition 493 on the ballot and D placing on the ballot any other questions or measures that may qualify according to law by electronic vote. I say clerk,

please call the vote. Council member Fry, that passes unanimously. And ma'am, I just want to say it was written correctly on the on this. I just didn't read it. So, you were right the whole time. Next up, 10B, amendment to professional service agreement with CivilTech Engineering for Section 2 sewer upsizing project consideration and possible action. Mr. Worth.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, as you're all aware, we have a project out there we've been working on, section two sewer. Um, and my presentation will show you what that is real quick, just to refresh your memory. Um, this is the sewer line crossing section two about a mile and a half long, 18inch diameter pipe. And as we are working through the construction, um there's a there's a section up there um along Viewpoint Drive and I'll show you real quickly what that is. So right there along Viewpoint Drive, there's the Viewpoint channel and underneath that are two sewer lines. Those sewer lines were put in before uh Viewpoint Drive was constructed in that area. And so when we were going through and doing this new construction, we were actually connecting to the manholes on either side and not doing anything in that channel. Well, as we were out there working or the contractor was out there working, uh, somebody discovered that the channel has eroded. And if you'll look at that photo on the right there, uh, that is a concrete beam that essentially the top of that beam is where the bottom of the channel used to be. So you can see that that beam is suspended in the air. It's four or five ft deep now at that location and our sewer lines are exposed in that area. Um and so you real quick there's the um the uh old sewer line that was in there. It's exposed. Uh we need to cover it back up and then make sure it doesn't erode again from the storms coming through. Um, and so this u amendment with CivilTech is to have them design what needs to happen in there. I I put a couple things up there. It's probably going to have a grade control structure,

a plunge pool, and large rocks and some other things. Um, but we're going to do that design and then we'll get a change order from the contractor to to construct that. Uh, so that's it in a nutshell. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Council, you have questions for Mr. Wsworth? Pretty simple. Thank you. None. Hearing none. Entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor make a motion to approve an amendment to the professional services agreement with CivilTech Engineering for additional design services in the amount of $17,958. I'll second. Please call the vote. Mayor, that passes unanimously. Thank you, ma'am. Anything for the good of the order, council? Being none folks, hey, thanks for coming