Town Council - Regular Meeting

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Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. to order. Town of Pres Valley regular town council meeting March 12th, 2026. Clerk, please call the role.

Council member Lopez, present. Council member Kio, present. Council member Bringing. Council member Greer, here. Council member Schumacher, present. Vice Mayor Searcher, here. Mayor Podan here. We have a quorum. Thank you, ma'am. I don't have it in my notes on who our person for the invocation is, so they're here. Oh, come on down, ma'am. Please let everyone know who you are. And if you can, please stand.

My name is Cheetah Olsen. And if you don't mind, I'm going to read a scripture before I pray. Thank you. from Psalm 46. It says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge. The Lord of heaven's armies is here among us. The God of Israel is our fortress." I just thought in light of everything that's happening that would be an appropriate scripture. So Lord, we just come to you tonight and we thank you for the opportunity to gather here in freedom. Lord, I ask tonight as we as we talk about what needs to be talked about that your presence would be here and that wisdom would be given to our town leaders. I thank you for the Lord for those who have chosen to lead our community. And I just ask right now that you would grant great blessing upon this time in your name. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, ma'am. This time, can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented? So moved. Have a second. I'll second. Cl. Please call the vote. That passes unanimously. Mayor, thank you ma'am. At this time I'd like to welcome down William Kushnes in reference board of adjustments recognition of his service.

Good evening everyone. So tonight we are honored to recognize an individual who has generously volunteered his time while serving as a dedicated and engaged member of our community. We would like to recognize former board of adjustment member William Kunish. The board of adjustment interprets and uphold town code related to zoning and regulatory matters, helping ensure decisions are made fairly and in accordance with established standards. Mr. Kunish served two terms on the board, contributing nearly six years of volunteer service. On behalf of the town and the residents we serve, we sincerely thank him for his dedication and public service to our community. Please join us in thanking William Kunish for his service. Thank you. Um Stacy Bristo, development services director. I just want to say it's such a pleasure to have people that are willing to sacrifice um what precious time we all have to doing something like this. and without you, we could not do what we do. Um so even if we don't get to see you very often, um that's okay sometimes, too. But um we're really really grateful and I'm so thank you for all of the the time that you spent with us. So thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

And I would just like to thank the mayor, the vice mayor, the council for giving citizens the opportunity to participate in local government like this and to be part of the town. I've lived in Presca Valley since 2007 and I saw this as a great opportunity to give back to our community and to really be part of it and it's it's a wonderful thing. It's great getting to know the people who work for the town and I want to thank the staff as well for all of the support they've provided to the board of adjustment throughout my time on the board. Thank you. She just texted me and I Next up, Steve Versetti from the Chamber of Commerce. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, members of town council and staff. On behalf of the Pres Valley Chamber of Commerce, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. It is always a privilege to share the work we are doing to support our local businesses, strengthen our economy, and cultivate the sense of community that makes Presca Valley such a special place to live and work. At the Chamber, we often say that strong communities are built on strong businesses. When local businesses thrive, jobs are created, families are supported, and more importantly, our homegrown talent does stay here. Over the past several months, the chamber has continued to focus on programs and initiatives that connect commerce with community. And I'd like to highlight a

few recent accomplishments. This past Friday, the chamber proudly hosted a fourth annual International Women's Day lunchon. This event continues to grow each year and this year was our largest gathering yet with 240 attendees. It was truly inspire an inspiring afternoon celebrating leadership, resilience, and the important contributions women make in business and our town. We were honored to feature two outstanding speakers. Our chamber board chair Meredith Dunlap, who delivered a powerful message about resilience and how to have self-awareness and believe in yourself. We're also fortunate to welcome nationally recognized professional speaker, author Bevon Ferrand, whose book, Your Damn Manifesto, has inspired individuals and organizations across the country. Her keynote message encouraged attendees to be intentional about their purpose and leadership resonating strongly resonated strongly with everyone in the room. In fact, at one point as she was telling her story, you would be hardressed to find a dry eye in the room. I would like to send a sincere thank you to the town council members and town staff who joined us for the lunchon. Your presence means a great deal to our business community and demonstrates strong partnership that exists between the town of Presca Valley and the chamber. And for those who could not attend, I have some gifts for you guys. Here is Ben's book, The Damn Manifesto. During the lunchon, we're excited to announce the launch of our brand new women in leadership program. This program will officially kick off in May and will meet quarterly throughout the

year. The goal is to provide opportunities for mentorship, leadership development, and professional growth for the leaders in our town. We are also have our business academy in full swing. Our next class is on March 24th and we partner with Desert Financial Credit Union and the classes are being taught by Jerry Tarling. The next class will be on balance sheets and cash flow statements. So for those of you who want to know about balance sheets and cash flow statements, the exciting terms of that, please come and join us. Another encouraging sign for our local economy is continued growth in the chamber membership. I am pleased to report that Prescuit Valley Chamber of Commerce now has 611 members. Recently, we're proud to welcome several new members to our chamber family, including including Reed Plumbing, Tri-State Metal Roofing Supply, Leap and Learn Preschool, and Hoey Construction. It is especially encouraging to see growth in the trades sector. business businesses in construction, plumbing, and related fields are essential to supporting Prescuit Valley's continued development and infrastructure needs. Their participation in chamber helps ensure that our local workforce and business community remain strong and connected. The chamber's message is simple but important to connect commerce and cultivate community. We accomplish this through the business advocacy, professional development, and community events and partnerships such as this one we have with the town of Presca Valley. As Presca Valley continues to grow, collaboration between the town government and chamber of commerce and local businesses remain essential. Together, we are creating an environment where entrepreneurs can succeed, families can build their future, and our community continues to thrive. Thank you again, mayor, town council, for your continued support of the chamber and the

business community we serve. We look forward to continue working alongside you to ensure Prescuit Valley remains one of the most vibrant businessfriendly communities in Northern Arizona. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next up, call the public. 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 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,

mayor, council, we have three speakers tonight. We have Patricia Bets, James Kimes, and Walter Kosar. Thank you, Miss Betold. You're up. Mr. times if you would work your way down to the front that would be great.

You don't need to speak. Okay. Go ahead, Miss Bitchel. Okay. Patricia Betsel 391 Armmitage Way um Chino Valley. This is concerning resolution 226-2446, the proposed annexation and purchase of state trust land parcel 800-200-065P and the placement of this item on the consent agenda. The combination of these uh items on this particular um resolution annexing land that the town already owns as part of the intergovernmental agreement for the purchase of Glastford Hill for the p purpose of preservation of hundreds of acres for a U price of about $3.6 $6 million and combining that with the annexation and purchase of 128 acres of state trass land um appear to be combined here for the sole purpose of misleading the public. Placing it on the consent agenda and robbing the public of their rights to hear the issues only confirms that annexation of this property will burden the Prescott Valley residents because it will then become the responsibility of the town to extend infrastructure, water, sewer, police, etc. to this property. That is the law. The use of evasive language in the resolution does nothing to protect the town against these responsibilities, nor does it render any confidence on the public's part. In other words, the resolution is irresponsible. And that's not all. Finally, the public needs to be aware that this could involve a purchase price of approximately $8.4 million. If you base it on the sale of an immediately adjacent parcel that sold for approximately $65,000 an acre, that was a total of approximately $6.5

million in November of 2025, only 3 months ago. Understand that the adjacent parcel was also specifically purchased for development, not for recreation or public space. And there is nothing in this resolution that guarantees that this land purchase would not meet the same fate. So this item, I'm asking that it be removed completely from this resolution and be presented as a completely separate item on a future agenda for discussion. $8.4 million plus the cost of infrastructure is not considered quote routine by Prescott Valley residents and the taxpayers. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Next up,

Walter. Welcome, sir.

Mayor, vice mayor, council members, and staff. My name is Walt Kosar, uh, Granville, Prescuit Valley. I wanted to talk tonight on the issue of the affordable housing and the plan that you'll be talking about later. And one of the aspects of that is the employer support for you providing um affordable housing for workforce. To me, one of the key one of the top employers in town that should be involved here is the medical center. Yavapai regional medical center. Um they're obviously a really important part of our community and provide critical health care to all our residents. Um I watched the tape from the state of the town meeting. Um, and they have some very big plans for the future in the town here, but I worry a little bit about whether or not there's affordable housing for some of the staff that they'll need for some of these uh new plans. And it's not just about doctors or nurses, but you have people cleaning the floors, cooking the meals, changing the light bulbs, keeping records. Um, it's important that you without this staff, these these staff people, the the facilities don't function. So I think it would be good to have the medical center be directly involved and take kind of a leading role in the side of the employer sponsored um affordable housing whether that be reap based employees or maybe even developing their own housing. For example, on Windsong, the east side of Windsong Road, just out from all the medical buildings, there's a nice open plot of land. And I'm not sure what the long-term plan there is, but that would be a great location to put in some rental housing for for hospital and medical staff. Um, even new people moving into the area, new doctors or nurses or employees that are new to the area, they're going to be working for the medical center, having to lay out a half a million dollars to buy a new home, which is kind of the average price these days. That could be a little steep. So, having that ability to have some dedicated housing for those employees, I think, is really critical.

So, I just wanted to bring that up to you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Confirming, Mr. times. You do not wish to speak? No.

Okay. Well, next time, ladies and gentlemen, if you're not familiar with Mr. Kimes, he is a uh a political rock star. He he served some time with former Governor Npalitano um in the political world. So, I've known Mr. Kimes for a very long time. And he's a man that speaks words of wisdom, and when he speaks, you should listen. So, we'll catch you next time, sir. Moving on. Council communications to my right. Councilwoman Councilwoman Greer.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just wanted to report that last week I spent a wonderful lunchon with the entire board of SRP and learned a lot about water and the development that they're doing for the state of Arizona. um and that it'll kind of go into a little bit about tonight, but they are looking at some of the rural areas. So, very impressed with what they plan on doing in the future. Councilman Greer, I just want to thank the the chamber again for a spectacular event. Um, everybody enjoyed it so much. So, thank you, Mr. Davidson. No report, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Consent agenda. All matters listed under the 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 and be considered separately. Uh Councilman Fry, you advised me you would like to remove item 8F. Is there another item you'd like to remove? No, sir. I just uh what I've seen is it seems like it has created 8F has created some confusion among town people. So, uh, I think it deserves a separate, um, airing thing. And that's fine. Councilman Ke, you have an item you wish you removed.

Uh, yes. Um, I was at coffee with the cop, um, yesterday and some citizens were a little bit concerned about, I believe it's item a 8C and so I just wanted um to give Chief Tyer an opportunity to address what that's, you know, what it's for. All right. Thank you. We'll start with uh, item 8F. We'll just do them individually. This is direction steps annexation town owned and ASLD property outside town limits. Councilman Frey, any questions you have for staff that is not in the staff report. M Mr. Mayor, c could I just explain it since I'm probably the one who caused this? Sure, sir.

Would that be okay? First of all, you probably remember that the town has already bought 1300 acres up on the hill. 352 of those acres happened to be in the county. So, at some point, we needed to annex it and we just haven't gotten around to it. We bought it back in 2023. We needed to annex it. It was our property. It was out in the county. We had never annexed our own property before. Normally, when you annex property, you annex somebody else's property. And the statute is set up for you to do it that way. you you you get a petition from them and uh they sign it and you go through processes. So we had actually never annexed property that we own before. And so we talked with outside counsel and said, "Do you have any idea how we can do that? It the statute doesn't quite fit really easily." And he said, "Well, why don't you adopt a resolution and just basically say this is what we'll do. This is how we'll do it in terms of annexing our own property." It doesn't annex the property. You still have to file the petition, hold the hearing, adopt the ordinance, and all of that is to come in the future. And so this was put on the consent agenda only because it says when you do this, the mayor can sign instead of a private property owner and and just went through and explained how the statute would be followed for annexing the town's property. So it it it it really is housekeeping is all it is. Councilman F.

Uh thank you, Mr. Leler. Uh I think that answers my questions. Um but Mr. Mayor, can can we open this up to public questions on this one particular item? No, it's not common. It's not in our agenda. We can't have a public hearing without agendaizing it. Okay. Thank you.

Uh I I just wanted to also follow up. Um I had spoken to Gilbert today um because it had talked about um including certain infrastructure within 10 years and um Gilbert explained to me that that's legally required language that needs to be within the contract and um and when the annexation actually occurs, it will come back to council, I'm told. So so this is just the first step in the process and council will approve the annexation should that go forward. And let me just add that it there's no contract. What we're doing under the statute is if you annex property, you have to tell the world how you plan to provide infrastructure for that property. And so it's not binding. You simply have a plan. And so we've actually been criticized by folks from time to time who said they didn't think we had done enough to set out a plan when we annexed property. And so we thought, ah, well, this is a good opportunity to say, well, this is property that's going to be used for trails, so we don't think we're going to do this and we don't think we're going to do that, but we are going to do this and this is how you'll get into it. And it's pretty benign stuff. Mr. Leg, just to confirm, this is just approving a process. We will have plenty of public hearings in the future. People from the audience will be able to come. We'll be able to answer questions through email. This isn't just a one and done. This is just giving staff direction on a process to handle this.

Let me explain one more thing about it. Some of that property that we reference in this resolution, we haven't purchased yet. It's still owned by the state. What we're suggesting is that we go ahead and annex that, which is a challenge because you got to go get the approval of the selection board at the state before you can even do that. But if we do that, once it's inside the town limits, the day may come where the town will then go to the state and purchase that piece and it'll end up being or doing the same thing that the piece next to it is doing, which is for recreation. It was all part of the Glassford Hill process. So, it was just it it was again if we annex it, this is what we'll do. We'll go to the state. We'll ask them if we can annex it. and we just included that in this resolution.

Any other questions for Mr. Leggler? Again, this is all part of the process and this was originally discussed when we first purchased Glassford Hill back um a couple years ago. So, Vice Mayor Oh, so for clarification, are we adding um AF back into We'll vote on ADF by itself. Okay. No further questions. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Just AF at this time. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to approve item 8F on the consent agenda as stated. I second.

That passes unanimously. Mayor, thank you ma'am. Item 8 C. Chief, any qu any clarification that is not in our staff report that you wish to share?

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, counsel. Thanks for the opportunity. It's really a good opportunity to share what what this is uh this task force operation is about. Um this is not unlike task forces around the United States. When you talk about the joint terrorism task forces, drug enforcement administration task forces, um FBI safe street task forces. When you have those task forces, you have multi- agencies working together, state, local, and federal. Federal credentials are granted to those state and local officers on that. This uh credentiing is a United States Marshall Service credential to one of our detectives assigned to the state gang task force which is under the leadership of the Arizona Department of Public Safety GDUM task force. That detective will have this as an additional uh certification and incillary duties as a credentialed US marshal which will also bring additional resources to our town to apprehend violent felony subjects who are wanted on warrants. Uh it'll also open up jurisdictional opportunities so that if we need to make arrests on tribal land or other jurisdictions, we can move those uh marshals over there, including ours. And then um it also brings significant resources to the Pres Valley Police Department in training equipment over time. And it is really a force multiplier. If I need a United States Marshall to come and support our operations, I'd have a task force uh officer there. and it makes it a lot easier to bring in in in that uh that type of force multipliers. Same thing with the state gang uh task force by having that detective on there. When we have a gang pop uh problem pop up in Pres Valley, frankly, I can make that phone call and we can have as many uh DPS detectives as we need here in the community. So, it's about those relationships and the ease of operations.

Thank you, sir. Any more questions for Chief? Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion for item 8 C. Well, says I made the motion. So, Mr. Mayor, I'll go ahead and make the motion to approve item 8 C as stated. A second. All in favor or I'm sorry, clerk follow the vote.

That passes unanimously. Mayor, thank you, ma'am. Now I entertain a motion for item 8 A, 8B, 8 D as in David and 8 E as in Edward. Mr. Mr. Mayor, are we going to do 8F? Didn't we do those before? So if we could do C and we did 8F separately. Okay. Yes, we already did 8F and 8 C. This is approving the rest of the agenda items. Correct. Mr. Mr. May, I'll make a motion to approve all under the uh items 8 A, 8 B, 8 D, and 8E on the consent agenda by electronic vote. I'll second,

Council Member Fry. Thank you. That passes unanimously. Mayor,

thank you, ma'am. Doesn't get any more transparent than that, I guess. Item 9A, Prescuit Valley Affordable Housing Plan Consideration and possible action. Lar, welcome. Mayor, vice mayor, council members, thanks for having me. This is Tracy Lera, neighborhood services director. So, I'm here to talk to you about an affordable housing plan for Presca Valley. So, why why do we have one? Why do we need one? Um, well, last year we did a survey for our residents and attainable housing or affordable housing was ranked as a top priority. Housing cost has um risen faster than wages here in Presca Valley and nationwide. U 29% of our households are costburdened and 41.5% of our renters are costbururden. Cost burden is 30 over 30% of their household income is going to the pay their rent or their mortgage and economic growth depends on workforce housing. So, what we've done already, we did create the neighborhood services department to help with these initiatives. We've implemented the home of my own PB edition to help support opportunities to build your own home um with pre-approved plans. We've updated some zoning that allows smaller lot sizes and housing flexibility. Completed a residential property study. So, we had an audit last year where um City Detect came and drove the neighborhoods and evaluated our current conditions and we completed our 2025 housing needs assessment. Here is some of our data that had helped support the affordable housing plan that came from the needs assessment. So on the left uh table one you can really see the gap when you chart our wages which

have had an increase just not as extreme as our housing costs. And on the table two um this kind of does a comparison over time showing going back to 1980 what our income was versus our um housing monthly payments. And 1980 it was about 40% of their income. So it was still really high then but you can see as it gets to 2010 2010 um it was only 16% of your income was used for paying for your home. Um now up in 2025 we have a 48% of your income is going to your home. So our recommendations in the housing plan focus on four key areas. One, neighborhood and housing preservation. And this is really just to keep our current homes preserved so that nobody is displaced. Some tools for that program are home repair partnerships, using our CDBG funding um to do home repairs for those that need it, doing cleanup coordination and targeted infill incentives. The second focus area is employer support for workforce housing. Uh this is working with employers in town to create partnerships, help provide them tools and resources to create their own um employer assisted programs. It's looking at home buyer assistance and incentives for those employers. And the goal with that is to really live where you work. So, we want to keep Prescuit Valley residents living and working here. Next is affordable owner occupied housing. To support that, we want to continue to look at maybe other pre-approved plans, flexible zoning

options, fee reductions tied to affordability, and looking at development of our own town-owned uh properties. And similar to this is affordable renting housing. So 12.5% vacancy rate here in Presca Valley overall, but that's limited affordability. So nearly half of our renters are costburden. So to tackle this, we're looking at flexible zoning for multif family, density bonuses, looking at reduced or deferred fees, and partnerships for mixed income projects. All of this is supported by community engagement. We definitely need the community to support this. It takes everyone. Um so this will evolve with our community, but we just want to continue listening sessions, some coffee chats, popup booths just to be a presence and have those conversations and organizational partnerships. I did want to provide some clarifications of what this plan is not. So, this plan does not mandate specific developments. It does not commit the town to new spending without council approval. Um, it does not override zoning without public process. And it does not eliminate private market solutions. So, it just does provide a framework for action and evaluation. With that, I'll take any questions.

Thank you, ma'am. Good job. We have questions for staff or comments. Uh, I just got a quick question. Um I believe Mr. Kosar had mentioned um partnering like with dignity and and having discussions getting in the room. Are you are you doing that with some of our employers? We have not yet but it's definitely on our list. Yes. It's one of the challenges when it comes to supply and demand. Right. Right.

When supply is uh low and demand is high, prices go high. I know our neighbor to the west, they have, I believe it's about 18,000 lots that are able to be permitted in in their jurisdiction that they haven't even touched yet and we are much much lower than that. So, it creates that challenge and this isn't obviously a flip a switch type of solve a problem. So, I I commend you and staff to do what you can and let's see what we can hear. I know unfortunately when we have our listening sessions we're going to hear prices are high, rent is high, sales sale of homes are high and that's because one there's not a lot of flat lots out there left in Presa Valley. For those of us that have been here for a while, a lot of them are sloped. A lot of them require a lot of dirt work and uh that drives the price of homes up. So, uh your work is certainly cut out in front of you and we appreciate all the hard work you've done so far.

Thank you, mayor. And we should entertain a motion. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the Prescott Valley affordable housing plan by electronic vote. I'll second that. Cler, please call vote.

Mayor, that passes unanimously. Thank you, ma'am. Next up, final item.Uou Salt River Valley Water Users Association and Salt River Project agricultural improvement and power district to assist financing storm water recharge pilot project. Mr. Leggler, I believe this is yours.

Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I'll lead off with it if there's any followup. Uh, Mr. Leggler can kind of chime in on it. Uh, this is something we've been working on for quite some time. Uh this memorandum of understanding is with Salt River Project which is a government entity here in the state of Arizona that's tasked with uh not only supplying water to the met uh metropolitan area of Phoenix uh and some of the surrounding communities there um but also they have a whole power division as well. And so we have been working with uh SRP as a partner on one of our exciting storm water uh pilot projects. This is one of the first uh projects of its kind in the state of Arizona. Uh and we are testing how we can try to get storm water uh down into the aquifer without it evaporating off which almost probably 95% of all rainwater uh either is uh is lost to evaporation. So this is testing how can we try to get more of that water back into our aquifer for the benefit of not only the aquifer but you know uh all of us and so this is SRP has agreed to provide $40,000 uh to the overall cost of the pilot project. There is a companion pilot project that's taking place down in Red Rock, Arizona. Uh, and we'll be kind of the second one testing with our particular types of soils. We have had to work with SRP extensively on and as you can imagine, Salt River Project has water rights in northern Arizona and they had great concern in terms of anything that would divert any of what they perceive as their water rights. And so we had to work with them on a whole formula of what was is called uh urban

enhanced runoff. So it's basically water that would be considered pre-development that is not part of would you know would be not part of their uh entitlement. uh and trying to figure out how do we quantify that so that we make sure whatever water we do get back into the aquifer is not water that they would have received uh as part of their reservoir system. Uh so this is a very positive thing. uh SRP is very selective in who they work with on different items and so to have them at the table with us is is I think very important and and as a strong testament to the council's leadership on trying to make sure that we're really thinking long term with our water resources. So with that um I'll take any questions that you have.

Questions for Mr. Davidson? None. Nicely done sir. I entertain a motion. Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve a memorandum of understanding with Salt River project to assist in funding the in Prescuit Valley storm water recharge project involving an anal analyst an anal analysis of the Iris system in the amount of $40,000. Sorry. I second. Please hold. Mayor, that passes unanimously. Thank you, ma'am. Thanks for coming out, everyone. Drive safe.