Town Council - Regular Meeting

Now 3:00, I'll call this special study session of the town council to order. Can we get a roll call, please? Council member Lopez, present. Council member Ke, Council Member Finne, Council Member Greer, here. Council member Schumacher, present. Vice Mayor Zer here. Mayor Paul Guda, we have a quorum. Thank you. Moving on to item number two, discussion items. The first on our agenda this evening or this afternoon is item 2A, zoning ordinance amendment 26-001, town code chapter 313 zoning text amendments. Britney Cleveland, take it away.

Good afternoon, Vice Mayor, council members. Thank you for being here. Um, for the record, Britney Cleveland, Planner 1 with development services. Today I have the privilege of sharing a project that we've been collaborating on with the community and staff for over a year since the adoption of the rewritten and recodified zoning ordinance. So as we know the zoning ordinance chapter 13 uh was rewritten and adopted late 2024. um staff decided that the best strategy to effectively implement a consistent interpretation of the new code was to meet weekly and talk through subjects that had come up. I happened to be stepping into my new role at that given time, so I had plenty of questions. Um having worked with the previous code in my former position, I can say that this new version was a breath of fresh air. uh we could easily find what we were looking for and not have to worry about hidden requirements in sections that I would never look to think to look for. Frank did an excellent job of improving the accessibility of this text. Because of that effort, our ability to clearly communicate our requirements to the community was significantly improved and as a result, we were able to have effective conversations with them. From these conversations with members of the community, um, applicants and with staff, we discovered opportunities to respond to the needs that our community has today and improve our process efficiencies. So, the text amendments that we came up with can be categorized into two groups. Uh, businessfriendly enhancements and clarity, consistency, and process efficiency. Um, our idea for businessfriendly enhancements are born

out of the out of applying the code to our existing infrastructure and buildings and adding that nuance and detail that's required to provide opportunities for businesses seeking to get started here in town. And when we talk about clarity, consistency, and process effic efficiency, that ranges from clarifying existing text, improving consistency across the code and making amendments to details that improve efficiency for the entire downstream process of our department from planning phases down to inspections. In total, we are proposing 40 total amendments. Uh that may seem like a large number, but those numbers start to add up quickly with non sub substantive modifications like clarifying language. Um in truth, only about half of these items have sub substantive changes. Um so how did we get here? Once our planning team identified something that could be improved in our code or something that was frequently requested by the community, we uh dedicated some time to vet out the proposal. We weighed whether uh leaving it as is or exploring the amendment would be in alignment with our goals as a community and with our general plan. And we looked at the code as a system and evaluated what else might be impacted. We researched our neighboring jurisdictions and we had conversations with other departments that worked closely with the public to explore the best solutions for all of the processes involved. We've been working with Frank for a few months to work out the language, but most importantly, we centered our community feedback. We're responding to the voices of the people we have worked with and we took our proposals to the groups mo groups most impacted such as the YCCA and CAFMA.

So, I didn't want to bore you with all of the different administrative changes that we came up with, but I did want to highlight some that we are really excited about. Um, so for example, that first item there, options for uses that were previously required to be completely enclosed. Uh early on in two in 2025, we met with an applicant who wanted to open up a daycare uh in a CG zone and we did our typical review of the code and let them know what zoning requirements would need to be met for their project. However, we found that as a part of this new code, there was a requirement for their use to be within a completely enclosed building and they told us that they wanted to have an outdoor play area. Uh under the current code, it was outright prohibited. So, this led us to explore more of this prohibition. Um, and we found other uses like preschools, restaurants, and bars that were prohibited from outdoor use. Uh, knowing that the town is wanting to encourage active outdoor spaces, we wanted to at least provide an option for these businesses to apply for outdoor use where it makes sense. Um, so we provided like a a cup conditional use permit process for those. Um, another frequent obstacle that new businesses face when trying to move to town or even if they're just trying to get started is a struggle to meet our parking requirements. Most of our business registration denials derive from a lack of parking per our code, which tends to be general and lumps many different uses in the same category. Staff recognizes that we may need to conduct a comprehensive review of our required parking in the future. Uh but for now, in the time being, we wanted to give businesses an option to prove that their site will have adequate parking for their business model with engineering justification. Our hope is that this will help expand uh location options for businesses and encourage a healthy economy.

For the sake of time, I'm not going to go over the rest of those, but we would be happy to address those if they interest you. Um I wanted to bring up a few examples under the clarity, consistency and process efficiency category. Uh one thing a good example is of a small change that helps our downstream process and provides clarity to the public is an example of the setback measuring points. Our code today states that the required front and rear yards are to be measured from property line to wall and required sideyards are to be measured from property line to drip line. That sounds simple enough, but it actually gets rather complicated once you start adding different variables. Is it an accessory structure? Is it in the rear half of the lot? Does the plat have a separate setback requirement? Um, not to mention in the field inspectors have an have to estimate where the drip line might project when they have a footer to measure to. Our proposal is to change the measuring point to the wall or post for all sides. This simplifies what we tell applicants and it helps all phases of the project. Staff was detailed in our approach with this one and we considered unintended consequences. So, we made sure to add language that kept existing protections in place, such as ensuring the minimum setback for accessory structures changes from 3 feet to drip line to 5T to the wall. And we also added language that any drip line cannot ever be closer than 3 ft from the property line, essentially maintaining the same same sense of open space. There's some more examples of things, small changes that we did just switching out words that kind of simplify and um strengthen our intent. And then I wanted to bring up three items that were frequently requested by

the community for us to look into. Uh mostly code enforcement, but also us dealing with staff at the front counter. We'll get a lot of questions about privacy screening which today in our code um must follow the same requirements as a fence or a wall. Um so and that height maximum being six feet is not necessarily enough for them to get that privacy that they're looking for. So, we worked closely with Frank and um with our team to kind of figure out how to separately define that and also keep make sure that the um negative impacts of a higher fence height would still be mitigated. Sorry, I wrote down exactly what we put for that. So, we're allowing a maximum of 8 feet so long as it meets setback requirements of a typical accessory structure and it meets our definition of an 85% screen. So, it can't be totally screened um and has a twooot opening for every four linear feet. And this is try to try to mitigate some of the concerns of a typical taller wall or um things otherwise like that. We also get frequent requests from uh the community about self- storage and warehouse uses which technically is not defined in our code. So we've been kind of tried trying to find similar uses to squeeze that in. Um we've added a definition for self- storage and then for self storage and warehouses we have added those to our industrial A uses just to make sure that we're consistent with that moving forward. And then last but not least, there's the spool pool setback reduction, which is a common request. Um, we consulted with the building code and our building department, and we also reviewed some other uh codes in the area,

and it seems to be that we're the only ones that have that much of a setback separation for a pool. So, we figured that zoning didn't need to be the determining factor. There would still be building requirements that would need need to be met, but we can reduce that to 5 ft to be in a regional alignment. So, in conclusion, this has been a long and iterative process. We're always asking ourselves where we can improve and how can we how we can respond to the community. We can't thank everyone enough for all of their work, input, and effort that went into these text amendments. Our next step um are to is to finalize the adopting ordinance and then take them to the planning and zoning commission on May 11th and then we'll be back here before this body on May 14th with an anticipated effective date of June 28th. And with that uh staff is available and also Frank Cassidy is available for specific questions.

Does anyone on council have any questions of staff? I do have a question on the pool setback. So that's is that five feet from the foundation or is that five feet from the house structure or a porch? W's edge. Right now zoning only requires that um it's 10 ft from the property line to the water's edge. So we decided that we can be consistent with what building requires. So 5t from the water's edge to a property line is going to need additional engineering, but we don't need to be more restrictive than that. You're reducing it down to 5T. Mhm. And so five feet is that clear up to the house then? I mean it could be like I'm I'm just picturing when we had swimming pools and I had teenagers and they were jumping off the roof into the pool. Not a good idea. Right. Right.

They don't do it from 10 feet but they would do it from five feet. So I'm just thinking safety wise and foundationwise when you do have a pool leak, you got other issues going on. So yeah, it definitely still needs to meet building code requirements and engineering code requirements which do have extra safety measures such as a completely enclosed um fence or if you use the house as a part of that enclosure, there have to be certain locks and safety mechanisms. Yeah.

Any other questions of staff? Just want to commend staff on this. This is I mean having you know been involved with the original chapter 13 changes basically starting on planning and zoning and then ending in council and then this this is phenomenal. So just want to congratulate staff on on this effort because I think this just helps uh with uh just better codes. So thank you. Agreed. Thank you. Moving on to item number 2B. Logan Simp Logan Simpson designed the wildlife connectivity guide. This is discussion only. John Jacobson, take it away.

Thank you very much, Vice Mayor Zer. Council members, great to be back in front of you on this subject. Um, one of the more enjoyable efforts I think as rigorous as it is, we really enjoy it. We know the value of it. Uh, a lot more to do. Uh, so really today is a status report. uh as you've seen uh hopefully in your staff report. Again, I'm John Jacobson, principal planner in development services here at the town and uh really fortunate to be involved in this and I'll even read out of the draft guide. Uh you know, we're looking to establish wildlife connectivity to accomplish a symbiotic relationship between the natural environment and development. And the term we like to use, I mean, we've talked about smart development. Uh, more recently, for me anyway, uh, tactical development, I like that term because I think it really reinforces what we're after. We're not one-sided. We're looking to really strike a balance and and implement this tactical development, uh, we call it. So, for today, I'll touch on a couple of items. Uh, then I'll hand it over to our consultant, Logan Simpson. Uh so again out of the staff report we're talking about the purpose uh of the session which I just touched on. We want to make sure uh I'll provide you a little bit of context a little bit of history. You might remember uh we completed phase one uh which was termed the foundation guide June of 25. And so for this piece, what we've termed the implementation plan, uh known as phase two, uh we're headed for June of this year to wrap this up. Um then we'll get into more detail of what that looks like. Um so attached to the draft report in your packet uh is the draft report. We also have it on our website for public consumption review

and comment uh on the town's website. and that's open uh for folks until May 3rd and then we'll collect all those up and compile and report back on those. Um I'd like to reintroduce Logan Simpson. You've met the team uh previously, but I'll remind you, you know, that Christina is a nationally certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners. She's a project manager on the consulting side. Um and Mary is a master's in science and environmental planner uh with Logan Simpson. So, I'd like to bring them back up.

Thank you both for being here.

Yes, thanks. Good or good afternoon, I guess, vice mayor and members of council. Thanks for having us here tonight. My name is Christina Keer Webb. Like John was saying, I'm with Logan Simpson. We're a planning, design, environmental firm based here in Phoenix, Arizona, and a couple other offices around the Inner Mountain West. So, we um presented to you at a work session, joint work session back in January. So, we're here to present on the summary of the the events and the materials and the report that we pulled together between January and and uh today. So, like John was mentioning, we we had two phases. We wrapped up the foundation guide which was a detailed review of environmental conditions, habitat types, as well as detailed case studies from around Arizona and also the mountain west where folks are looking at wildlife connectivity, wildlife corridors, sensitive lands planning, and how that's been implemented in in communities similar to yourselves. It also involved a very detailed and robust community engagement process. We had nearly 600 people participate in that phase one through different listening sessions um community events and online engagement as well as interactions with our technical advisory group which involved um folks from game and fish um AOT the Arizona Department of Transportation Y Plan or Simo as they were known at the time. we had to change all that in in the report and um the county adjacent communities as well. So we've had a robust um engagement from uh the community as well as technical partners to wrap up that guide. So from there we spent the past about nine

months from the fall to January and through April to put that implementation plan together. So we pulled out from those case studies what were the most important things that a community can do um to keep momentum to realize connectivity in concert with development and bring out um open space trails a lot of different um aspects to wildlife connectivity and open space preservation. So that um chapter is um laid out with multiple tools which we'll go over here from the rest of today. I'll let Mary jump in.

Great. Hello council Mary Gisinger with Logan Simpson. So just a brief refresher now on what has built our foundation for this guide. This guide is based on the key habitats of Prescat Valley. Uh so we're looking at the grasslands, the mountain forest, and the riparian waterways and really seeing what key actions can be done to preserve, enhance, and protect these three crucial habitats through then future projects. Um and so we brought together all of our understanding that we got to learn from phase one and establish the foundation that then supported where we have become. We also integrated extensive opportunities for engagement with the public share uh stakeholders and technical agencies. So through phase one as Christina had mentioned we had numerous listening sessions, focus groups, community meetings and two work sessions uh with yourselves to then build this foundation that led us to the connectivity guide where now we've been working with technical agencies through this whole process integrating their comments, their feedbacks and what has really worked throughout the state of Arizona to be applied to Prescuit Valley. So for the the draft plan, we got the online input currently open. It opened April 2nd and would go through May 3rd. Following that, the comments that we get

from the public as well as additional technical agencies will be integrated into the plan to then be in a final version. We also had a public meeting last night, April 15th, where we had around 40 attendees where they could come read the plan, read the chapter 5 implementation plan, and get to provide feedbacks, ask questions as well as get to have interactive exhibits um as you can see with some of our posters here in the room and and really say what they were excited excited for and what they really liked from the plan and provide any feedback to the staff. So this all built into where we are now with the inclusion of the implementation plan in chapter 5. That is really the crucial part that ties together everything that we learned from chapter 1 through chapter 4 and the foundation guide. And so this has really built to where we are with the public draft. Um and through this has led to the plan that we now have and the priorities that we see going forward. Okay. Well, we're going to see if this video works. Okay. We have a quick um well, it's f like five minutes or so to go over um a little bit about the process and to summarize chapter 5. So, we can share that with you today.

Is a natural or planned habitat or crossing that connects animal populations to other suitable habitats. These corridors provide safe passage for native species around development and human activity. There are multiple types of supported development corridors. Existing natural feature corridors such a rocky ridge line or raging river that cannot be developed upon and acts as a natural barrier to humans. These corridors can be planned around and form naturally with our landscape. Funnel-based corridors are created with the use of open space and zoning regulations that utilize the built environment as barriers to direct the wildlife to a single funnel that allows passage through a solar project, town or region. Trail corridors reserve land for the utilization of a trail for humans and wildlife, but can be slimmer than that of a funnel zoning style corridor. This type enlarges from the trail corridor utilizing open space parks or open style zoning that does not allow for this development. Over the course of two years, Prescott Valley actively worked with community members and technical partners on a vital initiative to protect and enhance the local environment. The wildlife connectivity guide isn't just about preserving nature. It's about safeguarding the quality of life and the unique natural beauty that makes the community special. Phase one focused on extensive research of wildlife habitats and movement patterns in collaboration with partners like Arizona Game and Fish and considerations of development and major roadways. The foundation was shaped by listening sessions, focus groups, and a community event with nearly 600 people engaged. The team compiled a guide that includes best practices and case studies from comparable communities across the western US. Base 2 built on those case studies to explore applicable tools for future implementation. The guide details actionable planning, policy, partnerships, and funding tools to achieve wildlife connectivity. The project team worked with technical partners to consider the level of

effort, orders of magnitude costs, funding approach, and phasing for each tool. A question came from the outreach efforts for the guide of is this doable? Through the review of over 34 case studies throughout Arizona and the western United States, opportunities and success stories form the foundational considerations for Prescott Valley. Phase 1 built the foundation to implement wildlife connectivity based upon three major habitats. For the grasslands, strategies focused upon wildlife crossings, fencing plans, guidelines on development, increased research, and zoning considerations. For the waterways, the recurring themes of restoration, buffering, and water conservation. And for the mountains surrounding the valley, the inclusion of collaboration, active management, and education establish the basis for identifying the project potentials to redefine the town. Interconnecting thoughtful development to support the community's economic and quality of life goals while improving wildlife connectivity. The town can provide predictability and flexibility to guide future development. Proximity to trails or open space often command price premiums. And spending to conserve, restore, and manage fish and wildlife species leads to increased jobs and tax revenues. Wildlife corridor projects present an opportunity to save costs while saving lives, leading to reduced insurance costs and wildlife mortality. Other benefits include reduced infrastructure costs through efficient growth patterns, attracting highquality residents and employers, increased ecosystem benefits like flood control, and increased physical, mental, and social health benefits. To accomplish the guide's vision, implementation tools guide ecosystem connectivity while considering future growth and development. Three project pathways were carried through for project initiation. land use and development standards, conservation of connected habitat, and wildlife connectivity improvements and designations. While each pathway is

grouped by a theme, the pathways are integral and often build off each other. Under project pathway number one, tools will focus on aligning zoning and development with wildlife connectivity. This begins with a general plan amendment that supports wildlife connectivity and habitat mapping. The general plan amendment supports future zoning and development code updates which could include waterway and flood plane buffers, cluster development incentives, density bonuses, revised plan development agreements, and a transfer of development rights program. Project pathway number two focuses on strategies for the conservation of connected habitats through two different approaches of land preservation. Conservation easements can be supported by partners and allow for the preservation of agricultural activities, while direct acquisition by the town opens opportunities for new open space for the public. Finally, project pathway number three concentrates on the tools that will enhance the wildlife connectivity mapping through designations and improvements. These begin with additional research and wildlife crossing designations and can lead towards transportation planning and a potential legacy project of a wildlife overpass or underpass. Through the establishment of these projects, a new vision for the town can be seen. Woohoo! That worked. Thanks. Okay, so that gave you a quick overview. So, let me see if I can go to the next slide. Quick overview of um the whole process, but introduce the implementation plan. Just wanted to hit on um a couple things that um is important to note about the implementation plan. So again um in that that section we also connected each of these planning policy regulatory and um

partnership tools to the town's current um strategic plan. So in in the draft document at the top after each plan we have a little highlight of how each of the those tools can accomplish also these town goals. Um like the video mentioned, we're trying to enhance multiple benefits through this um this implementation. So through the mapping and the guidance of of wildlife connectivity, we can create that predictability where different parcel owners can do different things in different ways. But we're showing a way to have that um understanding between the different um properties as the continue the town continues to to build out. um to show that connectivity in important areas um to enhance wildlife movement um and also flood plane connectivity for um our washes and um different uh waterway systems. Um, and like we mentioned, this is all important to a variety of your town goals from um reducing infrastructure costs, less roads to pave, less roads to to manage to safety and um pedestrian and vehicle um reducing conflicts to save funding there as well as a number of other benefits. So quick recap. Um these are the tools that we went to um in depth in our January work session. Um none of them really changed. We added some clarity that we heard from the work session to to the plan itself. Um but just a quick overview. The the land use and development standards focus on updating

or doing a amendment to the general plan. your primarily your environmental chapter to integrate ideas and um all the research and the community feedback that we heard. And that would lead to um code requirement updates from buffers to zoning and development as well as um integrating potential other um strategies for um benefits uh like cluster development, transfer development rights. So um updating your general plan, updating your code sets the stage for those things down the line. The plan um is is focused on working with partners for the second pathway. So working with land trust on conservation easements. There's a lot of um activity in the sort of northern Arizona um area with a number of different land trusts, the Nature Conservancy, uh the Central Land Trust as well. Um and then looking at probably down the road a little bit direct acquisition but we do say how that could work in very strategic ways. And then the third pathway is to um work on additional research building on that mapping so that when the time comes for um a need for a wildlife crossing whether that is um when ADOT expands a road you can you are already in a position to work with them and build off that that um project that may already be happening to integrate some of these wildlife crossings. So, how do we get this all done? Like I mentioned, partners and working with adjacent municipalities, the county and the MO as well as through the development process itself is going to be very important. However, we know through working with um communities across um Arizona that um having a

funding source that can provide some of that funding that matches either federal funding, provides those incentives um is going to be um important to consider. So, we do have two um options for that um in the plan. at very high level. We mentioned that this is something that the town could explore. Um and as well, and I'll talk a little bit more that about that in a second. Um and then of course the the town can continue to apply for grants whether that's at the state or federal level. Um this will require some additional um staff to acquire go after those grants and um manage those grants as well as those matching funds. So that's another great way to use that dedicated funding source is for those matching funds um for different grants. So the first step in looking at a dedicated funding source is to go to a conservation or yeah do a conservation fiscal analysis study. Um so the the trust for public lands they actually just presented to a working group of um you have a pie plan the the simp um talk about this idea and they do this work across the nation and they often do it for free um to come into communities and help you assess what the viability and community support for a type of um voter supported tax would be. And as this graph shows, they've um done some research on how important the local um funding mechanism is to the community and how well that leverages and um exemplifies those federal and state funding dollars. Another thing to to

consider um so in this plan in this the connectivity guide um this is just one of the action steps to move forward um is to think about doing this fiscal analysis study where they would come in they would work with um you as a town but they could also look at becoming a a bigger entity. So we could look at um doing this analysis at the countywide level, at the MO level, or even just like yourselves and the Todd Prescott and and Humbolt to see how that would work out. Um and they would look at what the feasibility of that from doing ballot testing with the different communities and they would attest like different tax rates, um different options and different um funding tools. Okay. So, some a few of the other priority action items like I've mentioned is doing the general plan amendment. Um, and each of the tools within the plan mentions these orders of magnitude cost. And then this table is like one of the last pages in chapter 5 to summarize um the the key steps to do in the next you know two to three fiscal years to keep the momentum going to um really set the stage for other um partnerships and other um entities to take over and and have this implemented through a variety of ways. So like I mentioned the general plan amendment um focusesing on the environmental planning chapter um and then there is you know other options to look at doing the land use chapter updates which um you see some that chapter is really really big but if we want to add additional mapping we would have to look at the land use chapter as well but we don't have to do that you could just do the chapter 9 as

well um looking at those land use code amendments ments from the buffers to development standards, whether that's um lighting standards, landscaping standards. So those things are you could do um with the staff you have, but also um additional um you know targeted time frame to to um to hire a consultant to help write those. And then the the conservation fiscal analysis, like I mentioned, sometimes TPL does this for free, but it would be in that like 100 to 150. Um, a couple new staffing that we are looking at, um, the grant writer or um, someone to help manage this like wildlife program with some like wildlife um, um, experience or natural resources background. And so this could be done in a couple different ways. Whether you hire someone that's um working with multi departments, whether that's from the city manager's office to community um services to neighborhood services or even in parks and wreck, you can kind of split um either like a an open space type oriented person that has a planning background or a writing background. So those two um staff positions could be combined or shared to PE um between departments as well. and they would also help manage um some of that new additional wildlife research that would need happen as well. Okay. So, like u we've mentioned a couple times um the draft plan is out there um for the public to review um up till May 3rd and then we hope to be back um in June for adoption. So, at this time, we'll take any questions or comments that you may have. Council

members have any questions? Thank you. Don, did you want to add anything? If there are no questions, just want to thank you again. We recognize this is out of the regular schedule for councils, so we do appreciate it making time to participate in the study session. We know how valuable it is for us and and again just to reiterate after you have some time to digest um you know, even after May 3rd for you folks, you know, you can always come to us. You know where I am. I mean, I try to hide from you, but it doesn't work. So, no, not at all. We really appreciate it. Um, so if there aren't any questions, thank you again.

Yep. Um, vice mayor, members of the council, uh, I just, you know, I want to remind everyone this is a long journey. Any most jurisdictions that have undertaken this, it's many, many years of of developing these these concepts. And there are some lowerhanging fruit items that were identified in this plan. So things like us updating the code and modifying that. When you get into some of the more complex things like land acquisitions and finding funding sources, that can take many, many years to put those things together. There's a lot of mapping that's going to have to be done so that we really identify what are the quote unquote critical habitat areas so that you from a zoning regulation you're able to clearly define the why behind your wanting to regulate someone's property. So there's there's a lot that goes into this. This is not going to be done in a in a year. The numbers that you saw are all going to be contingent on if the town has funding. So if we don't have, you know, the funding, these things just get kicked down the the road until we're able to, you know, fund a particular element of it. So I just want to make sure that we are setting the right expectation and you this is very exciting. Uh we are the lead in Yavapai County with this and and I think uh I you know other jurisdictions are wanting to tie in to to what we have started. So this is very exciting. I think it's going to be uh transformational for our community, but it is going to be a work in progress over a long period of time. So, just want to make sure we're all on the same page there.

Council member Greer, I just wanted to thank you guys. That's a really wonderful presentation and I know that you know the our town really is concerned about wildlife preservation. Um I think as we all are. So, thank you. You're welcome. I'll echo that. Thank you very much for all your hard work, John, and Logan Simpson as well. Just this is been an enormous effort. Look looking forward to getting this uh eventually implemented.

We'll get there. We will get there. Um, if I could add, uh, vice mayor and counsel, if you didn't already know what you just heard from our town manager, he's intimately familiar with these types of things and involved with the Puma County uh, conservation plan, which took many, many years, much longer than we will, uh, that they were one of the first. So, they were the blazing the trail. Um, and Gilbert has been intimately involved and lent his knowledge to this process if I didn't mention that previously. And as well Logan Simpson, I think you know that their expertise and we're comfortable relying on that and work closely with them. So want to thank them, recognize them both as well. Thank you.

All right, moving item number 2C, update on utilities and water resources project and initiatives. Tracy Len, take it away. Hello, Vice Mayor, Council. Uh, it seems like I was just here yesterday. Uh, but this is this is the major update. We do this annually uh just to keep you comprised of of what water resources and the utilities department are uh conducting at any particular point in time. And I don't even have an uh transition. We're just getting right into things here by talking about water awareness month. Happy water awareness month. Uh as far as I'm concerned though, water awareness month is every month. So, but we've been doing a lot of work lately, uh, getting the word out on, um, water conservation, uh, water initiatives, uh, water academy, and of course, we've been doing our our normal uh, uh, maintenance and operations of our, uh, uh, fabulous facilities here. And, uh, getting right into it, uh, effluent recharge, give you an update on that. We are in the midst of uh permitting work on on our hopefully expanded operations along the Agafria River. And um this is this is to kind of move the uh mound of water in the aquifer around a little bit. Um get as much water as we can into the aquifer without endangering potentially uh any of our wells. Of course, we all know that the clay soils are uh we're blessed with them here and they do slow down recharge. So, the way to expand your operation is to expand the surface area footprint. So, that means that we need to move further up the Aqua Free River

to accomplish this and uh we are looking at doing that. Our current facility is in red there, the North Plains Recharge Ponds and the uh reach along the Agua Fria. It's about two and a quarter miles. We are hoping to expand that upstream and uh we have existing infrastructure at Mountain Valley Park. Obviously those ponds there, our our our effluent uh reclaimed water and we would propose to just have uh water moving over the dam there uh most of the time and going down the lake shore drive wash and joining the Agra Frier River uh 2 and a half miles further upstream. Uh we're hoping to get that entire length there to be included onto our existing facility. We may be adding that portion downstream from our facility too. Uh it's early times yet. Modeling is is ongoing right now and we are looking to actually have a meeting with ADWR on the 12th of May. So we'll be we'll be uh kind of haggling uh going forward seeing how just how big this facility will be and how many credits we'll be able to earn each year as a result. Moving right along, uh we've been doing a lot of great stuff with the re with storm water recharge. Um and we've had two pro projects that um so if you're if you get them confused uh uh that's that's all right. There's a lot of stuff going on right now. We actually have just finished up uh setting up buildings. It's uh townowned buildings to collect storm water off the roofs. So, we did the fairgrounds reimagined building, aka the wheelhouse. Uh we did the police department, and we did the

library, and all three systems are in and they're working. They've now seen three uh storm storm events, and uh they are working. Um so, we are going to be wrapping up the the grant reporting uh the end of June. Uh so, we're we're nearing the end of things. Just for fun, we figured we'd show you a video of the police department project. They really knocked this one out within two weeks. So, as you see there, that would be the first day. Oops. The first day of the project, um, May or March 2nd, and they really moved. Now, that's sped up, but they they were moving pretty fast. And what they do is they dig a hole in the ground, uh, put a layer of of gravel down over some fabric, and then they put in the storm tech system. And the storm techch system was engineered here for a 1-in rainfall uh, of actually for each of the buildings, one-inch rainfall event. it will actually accommodate that entire volume and allow for slow recharge. So within 24 hours that should be percolated into the ground. So, the volume that you see there, those uh orange uh uh half uh I'm not even sure what shape that is, but anyway, it's it's it's actually completely uh left empty. And that is the volume of one inch of rainfall over that uh police department roof. So, that houses the water until it's able to percolate into the ground. See there the end of the end caps on there. And then

it's just covered over with dirt again. And the you'll see in a moment that they took up the old sod and uh were able to preserve that and were able to lay that back down. So it was a very beneficial project that way. We were able to re reuse uh some of the some of the stuff on site. And like I said, they're they're operating right now. They got it done March 17th. So, we were we were anticipating uh uh coming up against our uh uh deadlines, but they got it they got those that most of those projects done within uh you know, well within limits. So, uh, especially the police department and the library.

Oops. Nope. Well, we're in a pause. I'll just If you haven't gone over to where we did that project, you can't even tell that that grass grew back. It did. I mean, it was We had a great rainstorm and I think it just I mean, it was amazing how I thought we were definitely going to have brown spots all over and you can't even tell.

Yeah. No, it it it was completely uh completely down and ready to go for the events that that have happened in the area so so far this spring. Uh so that that covers the that particular project. The recharge storm water recharge pilot project in Pongghorn. Uh we are in the midst of amending the WIFA funding contract. You will be seeing an amended contract uh next Thursday um during the regular session. And the reason for that is because this is a particularly interesting project. So we'll be installing these uh parana into one of the two basins and uh comparing how the percolation happens in those two basins. But at the end of the day those basins will be covered over and uh homes will be built over those in those two uh lots that those basins are be in. So it's kind of a unique project. We're not building something that will be lasting long term. So, whiff had to redefine a few things in their contract. So, that's why we're waiting on that. We are still hoping to break ground on this project this summer. Um, and um, everybody's raring to go, so it should be u, we should be able to move quickly on it. This one I'm particularly proud of. This is be the AMI and large meter replacement project that I had to take over from uh, Scott Keith when he left. Um, we uh received a $2.1 million grant to replace all of the meter transmitters in that were uh remaining uh to be replaced in the system. We have done that. We replaced, let me look here at my stats, uh, 4,000 MXU meters, and that translates to 4,871

addresses that were not able to use the portal before this project here, uh, are now able to use the water smart portal. And um so every all of our customers uh with the exception of a of a few here and there who have opted out uh will be able to um u monitor their near realtime water use uh using the system. So we are I am also working on grant reporting that will wrap up the end of June and uh thank you WIFFA for that particular funding as well. And of course uh recently we I came and talked to you about the water conservation strategic plan. We did just recently have our open house and this will we are actually in the process of collecting and compiling all the public input. We did have a survey that uh that wrapped up yesterday. So we have fresh off the off the uh press uh information there that we need to integrate into our uh studies. Uh so our final strategies will inform the rate study that I'll talk about in a minute and we will have a blueprint for how we go forward to address what we need to address for conservation measures going uh into the fifth management plan here in coming years. And I just wanted to give you a quick update on where the Big Chino Water Ranch is. Just to remind you, Big Chino Water Ranch is the proposed uh uh import uh site uh for water for the Prescuit AMA. We are partnered with Prescuit for that project. So uh Prescuit owns the ranch and we have been working with them for more than 15 years now to get this

underway. We are in the middle of the of the very final stages of of basically model calibration and a little bit of uncertainty analysis that goes into that. We are going to be starting scenario studies in the coming months here. Um and uh so stay tuned for that. We'll be looking at a number of different things. How uh pumping might change if palden builds out. how we might be implementing uh uh buildout at the ranch, things like that. Lots of lots of stuff will be we'll be able to investigate the impacts on the base flow of the upper uh Verde River. And I'm particularly proud of my public outreach and education. I'm delighted always to fill in this particular slide. We are getting out there and getting the word out. uh been hitting HOA meetings. Uh we had uh panel discussion on some of on on the uh the Parana project. Um we are um looking to always uh have new and exciting ways to talk to folks. Um I'm going to be on the radio next week actually with with Mr. Bruce Evans. So looking forward to that uh to talk about water our water activities. Um we've had water academy with wastewater treatment plant tours. Um so folks have enjoyed that. Um I'm I'm always writing articles uh writing social media posts and um we're looking to do we've got a citizens academy coming up. I've got a water academy coming up just to let everybody know. So, end of September is the next water academy. So, look for signups.

They should be coming out. I'm guessing late July into early August. So, that's uh I know that there were a lot of folks that were coming to me and asking about when the next one was happening. That's when they're happening. So, um lots of lots of great outreach that we're able to do. And just for fun, I kind of sat down and thought about uh water policy considerations um that I kind of think about in my in my spare time. Um site infrastructure on Big Chino is one of them, although that's years down the road before we'll have to do that. Um regional partnerships, we're always looking to partner, always can we talk? We just so because these are really important and

this you know affects everyone in in our community. Um you know the big chino is so our region and and Miss Len can jump in on this but you know we have been overdrafting the aquafer for decades. Yes,

right. This is not a recent issue. This is this is a long-standing uh item and the region Prescuit Ash Chino has always known that additional water is going to have to come into the mix. So the big Chino um came about through a basically a trade. The city of Prescuit was awarded or granted water from the central Arizona project off the the can main canal feeding Phoenix and P and uh and the city of Tucson. Um obviously there is no way to get water to the city of Prescat from the CAP. So there was some concessions made where Prescat sold that uh to another city down in the valley and in lie of that uh the city of Prescuit was allowed to purchase the Big Chino a ranch site that had gr grandfather grandfathered water rights. So agricultural rights. Um, and there was a provision in state law that was uh made that allowed the importation outside of an AMA district. Right now, it's prohibited in in Arizona. You can't a city can't go and take water from another basin and bring it into to their basin. And so, but under this particular situation that that was granted through a extensive and Mr. leg probably lived through part of that that time frame. Um and so thus the big chino came to be and it's going to have a very large price tag.

It is

and some somebody has to pay that that uh cost of the infrastructure at the ranch, the pipeline and conveying that water into this area. uh tied to that and the town has been on the record with this is our concern as well as SRP and Prescuit's concern of any impact the impact that it could have on the uh river. And so there's a that's why this analysis is taking so long is to make sure that we get as good of a model as we possibly can so that we've got good data to be able to make good decisions how as to how it impacts the the Verdie River and then what water is available to be transported over here. So, we we're going to be spending a lot more time as a staff and then with the council and the public on how do you pay for this? And I don't think, you know, we certainly are not going to recommend that you sell this water to developers and have more growth. It's just you're creating a Ponzi scheme. So if if part of the existing population that's here, that means a percentage is going to need to be borne the cost will have to be borne by us that are here right now. So we're going to be talking a lot about this. Um and I just I think this is a good session to kind of get that out there, but the there's going to be a lot that goes into that because at the end of the day, we we have new water has to come into this region and

we have to get it right. We really do. I mean there's It's it's really important not just for us um but city of Prescuit as well. Um it's you know we can't we can't screw this up. Yep. Um other things um we're always looking for other water rights to purchase. there aren't uh as as one can imagine there aren't a lot of them but we're always looking right um because we do need to make sure that we have a a healthy portfolio um you know and we're always I'm I'm talking I'm talking to uh to uh uh John all the time where we we we're collaborating in house all the time about things that cross from water to um to the development services realm. And so we're, you know, things like landscaping changes um are are are definitely not off off the off the board. So So moving a little bit from the water resources realm to the utilities realm, uh uh Mr. Neil Wadssworth was not able to join us today, so I have I'm stepping in on his realm. Um we are going to be as I hinted uh discussing a water rates study very shortly and that is going to hopefully help us address things like uh needs for PAS operations um wastewater treatment plant expansions um that I mean we're we're going to be in the next several years um engaging in obviously just general repair budget and maintenance you know, our our infrastructure always needs it. And of course, uh the conservation plan, if we're going to do be doing any incentives, anything that's

going to require some funding, then we're going to need to fold that into the rate study. You will be seeing something on this hopefully uh sometime in June. Um and uh we'll hopefully have uh a contractor on board for that. talk touching a little bit on PAS. So we have um completed our study and I just wanted to share a lovely picture of that uh pilot study and uh essentially we compared how several different ion exchange resins actually perform when given our the water chemistry at Quailwood 3 just to make sure that we opt for the best technology to actually be able to address the PAS in that particular will and that study test that pilots test is now complete. We have bid doc documents being prepared right now and we'll be pre-purchasing some of the equipment. So like the the uh uh iron exchange containers, right? The the large vessels will probably need to be uh procured ahead of time just because there's a lead time on that. Uh so we'll be um in the next few months you'll be hearing from us more on that and um next so we've got some next steps here with um EPA and WIFA will need to be reviewing some of our documentation. So, the EPA is the keeper of a grant that we have uh a special appropriation from uh Senator Kelly's office and of course the WIFA uh loan documents will take up the uh rest of the costs on that. Um we are hoping to start construction this summer. So, uh that's one of our PAS

related projects. Uh the old Black Canyon transmission main is also the other one. So that project is at the 99% design stage. Uh we're still working on acquisition of the right of way along Old Black Canyon Highway and we've got loan documents that are being finalized with WHIFFA. So we'll be uh submitting construction documents to WHIFFA shortly and preparing for bidding in the next month or two. And construction uh will take four to six months. So, we're hoping by this time next year, we'll have a working transmission main over there. Other water projects, just to kind of keep you apprised of things, um we have um been working on some pre-bid uh situations. So, the the Windinsong Yavapai water line, just to kind of give you an idea what that is, uh the water line in that area tends to be fairly undersized. It's a 3-in line. Um, we are hoping we're going to be creating uh uh a loop in there that will be 8 in. We'll be able to put some hydrants in that area. Much needed infrastructure there and you know increase flows to the businesses that are in that particular neighborhood. Uh the bids will be opening uh next week actually. So for so stay tuned for that. We are going to be starting the fire hydrant installation project soon and we have the water fill station which uh got slowed up a little bit. It's at the 90% design stage and we're hoping to get that um going uh fairly soon. We do have

real quick. Can you go back to that previous slide? just want to highlight that fire hydrant issue and we hear that often of concern about not having fire hydrants in the older parts of the community. And just as a reminder, we had a study session on that whole item. Um when those areas were built, they put 4-in water lines. You have to have a 6 in or greater water line for fire hydrants. You cannot put a fire hydrant. We would have put fire hydrants everywhere if we could have or you know at in today's modern time. Uh and they should have done it when they built those areas. They didn't. So now you're talking millions of dollars to go in and change out whole water lines in entire neighborhood areas. So that's why we're trying to be very strategic of adding as many water uh hydrants as we can with the existing system. When we go in to re uh replace lines, we're looking at how do we up upsize those lines.

So, how do we move them too? Because a lot of them are on the back property line easement of of properties. The whole town was originally laid out, those were all put in the easements behind people's houses. Well, that doesn't do a fire truck any good um there. So,

so just for the public listening, it's we get we understand we want to have fire hydrants everywhere in our community, but this is not an easy thing. You can't just, you know, go out and put fire hydrants in areas that it's not going to work. So, that this is going to be an ongoing commitment that the town is making, but you're talking a lot of investment in those older parts of of the community. And we are anticipating putting in I believe I'm trying to remember I think it's somewhere between 12 and 15 or 16 new hydrants this next year. So um you know we we hear you. We're we're working on it. Um so yes

I just had a quick um comment to that too though. They still have coverage because when the fire department responds they bring the water trucks that come with it. So I think people think well we don't have a fire hydrant in front of my house. I don't have coverage, but they do. So, I just kind of wanted to clarify that part. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Thank you very much. Um, one other thing I had a question on too. We have all this greenery and the big dip out there where we put in the quanset huts, whatever those are called. Um, is is there any chance that we could have also done the par paron sticks with that? Would that have doubled it up for getting it down below?

Here's the thing. I want to make sure that they work before we start implementing them everywhere. Um, there it we need to do the science on it. It's It works pretty well out east where there's a lot of rain. We have a unique climate here. We need to make sure that they work here before we start implementing them everywhere. Otherwise, we're just going to be throwing money at something that may not work. We're good at it. No, don't

No, no, no. Respectfully, ma'am, I disagree. Uh, all right. So, um, moving right along. I just wanted to talk about one thing that, uh, we have completed. I've had several people ask me personally about what's going on out in that state land out there. That's the section two water line. We have just completed that. it. We re we uh put in place a parallel uh sewer line that is uh a larger diameter and better able to uh take the flows that are coming from the western portion of town and get that to the wastewater treatment plant. Um we have one more thing out there which is uh making sure that um erosion issues are addressed in that area. Um but otherwise that particular project is completed. So there's a victory there. And just wanted one last thing to to alert you to. So you'll be hearing about this in the coming months. Um we are in the midst of the wastewater treatment plant master plan. Um the we will be having to expand the plant to augment what the the biological process is already able to do. um just to make sure that we can um uh successfully treat all of the flows coming from the town for years to come. Uh this will be a study session topic in August. So stay tuned for that. The cost for that plant expansion is expected to be significant. So um keep an eye out for that. Um it's much needed though and um uh yeah it's it's it's going to be great once we get it once we get it done.

Sorry I'm weaning in so much but these these are good topics. Uh our current plant it this isn't an issue of of capacity of growth impacting the plant. We we have a 3.5 million MGD plant and we're well below that in terms of actual uh you know flow going to it. Our challenge that we have is really a credit to the our residents. We don't use a lot of water.

So, it's it's creating a thicker sludge that is going to the plant and that is messing with the biologics of the plant. The plant is not designed for that. And so, this is a serious issue. It is not something we can ignore. We have to make sure that that plant can process all of the waste in of this town. And so this is going to be a multi-year thing. We will go into a deep dive in August with you guys, but you are talking millions of dollars of uh expansion that's going to have to be done on the plant. Um but it's an absolutely critical thing for the well-being of our community.

Yes. So with that, I I ask you for questions. Anybody have any questions? Council member Lopez, I just actually want to say I enjoy all your presentations on water. You were so very just enthusiastic about it and I'm glad that you're the one running that. Thank you. I I I do enjoy talking about this. It's it's it's it's nerdy, but I enjoy it. Anybody else? All right. Seeing none, thank you. With that we stand adjourned. Thank you.