03 25 25 City Council Meeting Minutes
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1 TOLLESON CITY COUNCIL MEETING ACTION MINUTES TOLLESON CIVIC CENTER 9055 WEST VAN BUREN STREET, TOLLESON, AZ 85353 ZOOM WEBINAR ID: 840 6967 9194 TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2025 6:00 PM Doors open to Council Chambers at 5:45 PM for public seating. The public may be asked to temporarily relocate if an executive session occurs. The public will be invited back into Council Chambers when the Council returns from executive session. Members of the public may also participate in the meeting via Zoom Webinar (https://us02web.zoom.us/w/84069679194) with a computer or cell phone. A. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Rodriguez called the Tolleson City Council Meeting to order at 6:00 PM. B. INVOCATION/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was delivered by City Attorney Pierce, and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Council Member Laborin. C. ROLL CALL City Council: Mayor Juan Rodriguez, Vice Mayor Jimmy Davis, Council Members Christine Chavira, Clorinda Erives, Adolfo Gámez, Linda Laborin and Cruzita Mendoza. Council Member Cruzita Mendoza arrived at 7:47 PM. Department Directors: City Manager Reyes Medrano Jr., Deputy City Manager/Employee Resources Director Wendy Jackson, Deputy City Manager/Chief Government Affairs Officer Pilar Sinawi, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Artz, Chief Preparedness Officer George Good, Chief Technical Officer Steve Holliday, City Clerk Crystal Zamora, Development Services Director Jason Earp, Field Operations/Parks & Recreation Director Randy Babchuk, Fire Chief Michael Young, Library Director Mandy Carrico, Public Safety Director/Police Chief Rudy Mendoza and Utilities Director Jamie McCracken. City Representative: City Attorney Justin Pierce D. FINAL CALL TO SUBMIT SPEAKER REQUESTS 9055 W. Van Buren St., Tolleson, AZ 85353 • (623) 936-7111 • TTY users, dial 711 for Relay • www.tolleson.az.gov 2 All citizens and interested parties wishing to speak before the Council regarding non- agenda items or during a public hearing shall fully complete a Speaker Request Form and submit the form(s) to the City Clerk prior to the meeting being convened. Citizens must complete one form for each item they want to address. Speaker Request Forms are located at the entrance of the Council Chambers. For Zoom participants, click the chat button, and enter your name and the item you would like to address. Submissions should be made no later than the Mayor announcing the “Final Call to Submit Speaker Requests”. All speakers will be limited to 3 minutes unless otherwise noted by the Mayor. Speakers are not required to disclose their identities or personal information. You may also submit an online speaker request form at https://www.tolleson.az.gov/speakerrequest at least one hour prior to the meeting. E. CALL TO THE PUBLIC (NON-AGENDA ITEMS) This is the time for the public to comment on non-agenda items. Members of the Council may not discuss items that are not specifically identified on the agenda. Therefore, pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.01.H, action taken as a result of public comment will be limited to (1) responding to criticism; (2) directing staff to review the matter; or (3) asking that a matter be put on a future agenda. F. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES AND PROCLAMATIONS – FOR DISCUSSION 1. Proclamation declaring April 21-26, 2025 as Neurodiagnostic Week in the City of Tolleson, recognizing the vital role of neurodiagnostic technologists in diagnosing, treating, and monitoring neurological conditions. The Tolleson community honors their dedication to advancing patient care and remains committed to supporting excellence in neurological healthcare. – Anna Costina, President of AZ ASET Mayor Rodriguez proclaimed April 21-26, 2025 as Neurodiagnostic Week in the City of Tolleson. 2. Proclamation declaring March 2025 as American Red Cross Month in the City of Tolleson, recognizing the contributions of the American Red Cross and its volunteers in providing humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and emergency assistance to those in need. – Georgi Donchetz, American Red Cross Communications Manager Mayor Rodriguez proclaimed March 2025 as American Red Cross Month in the City of Tolleson. 3. Introduction of New Employees: Development Services Department – Diego Padilla, Sr. Traffic Operator Utilities Department – Alejandro Padilla, Wastewater Operator Employee Recognition: Employee Resources Department – Daishawna Matthews, Employee Resources 3 Specialist and Yareli Zavala, Employee Resources Specialist: Public Sector Human Resources Certified Professional (PSHRC) Designation G. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR – PUBLIC HEARINGS AND ACTION ITEMS 1. Public Hearing – Soliciting comments from interested parties in reference to establishing new fees as outlined in the proposed Citywide Fee Schedule for City services, permits, and licenses, pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes § 9-499.15. The public hearing opened at 6:12 PM and closed at 6:19 PM. Council Action: Adopt/Deny Ordinance No. 615 N.S. of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, amending the Tolleson City Code, revised, by amending Chapter 2, Article 2-6, Section 2-6-5 - Court Fees and Charges; Chapter 5, Articles 5-1, and 5-4 through 5-8, Sections 5-1-8 - License Fees, 5-4-3 - Special Permit Fee, 5-5-8 - Fees, 5-6-21 - Fees, 5-7-17 - Fees, and 5-8-13 - Fees respectively; Chapter 7, Article 7- 3, Section 7-3-4 - Permit Application; Chapter 10, Article 10-3, Section 10-2-3 - Utility Bills; and Chapter 12, Articles 12-2, 12-4, and 12-5, Sections 12-2-24 - Filing Fees, 12- 4-169 - Site Plan Review and Building Permits, 12-4-170 - Filing Procedure and Fee Schedule, 12-5-16 - Site Plan Review and Development Fees, and 12-5-18 - Zoning Fees, respectively; providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances; and providing for severability. (Finance Department) Vice Mayor Davis moved to adopt Ordinance No. 615 N.S.; the motion was seconded by Council Member Laborin. The motion carried 6 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye Council Action: Adopt/Deny Resolution No. 2595 of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, adopting the Consolidated Fee Schedule for City Services, Municipal Court Services, Field Services Fees, Fire Department Fees, Development Services Fees, Library Fees, Parks and Recreation Fees, Police Department Fees, Utility Department Fees, and any fees related to use of City facilities, permits, and licenses; providing for repeal of conflicting resolutions; providing for severability; and setting an effective date of April 25, 2025. (Finance Department) Council Member Gámez moved to adopt Resolution No. 2595; the motion was seconded by Council Member Chavira. The motion carried 6 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye 4 Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye H. CONSENT AGENDA – ACTION ITEMS Items on the Consent Agenda are of a routine nature and are intended to be acted upon in one motion. Council Members may pull items from Consent if they would like them considered separately. 1. Approve Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of February 25, 2025. (City Clerk Department) 2. Approve Claims and Bills Report for the period of February 19, 2025 to March 18, 2025. (Finance Department) 3. Approve the Employee Staffing Agreement between the City of Tolleson and Educational Services, LLC (ESI) for employee staffing services, and authorize the City Manager to execute and deliver said Agreement. The initial term shall be effective from April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, with a total amount of $50,000 for FY 25 and the option for annual renewal upon mutual agreement of both parties. Additionally, approve and authorize the City Manager to enter into and execute the second Employee Staffing Agreement, as necessary, to facilitate the implementation and continuation of employee staffing services, with a total amount of $150,000 for FY 26. (Employee Resources Department) 4. Approve Second Amendment to the Cooperative Purchasing Agreement between the City of Tolleson and CDW Government, LLC for Software Value Added Reseller Services, and authorize the City Manager to execute and deliver said Agreement. The City desires to amend the existing Agreement to increase the annual aggregate amount from $250,000 to $300,000 for additional services. (Information Technology Department) 5. Approve the Fourth Amendment to the Cooperative Purchasing Agreement between the City of Tolleson and Pump Pro LLC for the purchase of goods, materials and/or services described in the Contract as vertical water pumps, maintenance, purchase and repair, and authorize the City Manager to execute and deliver said Agreement. The City and the Contractor wish to retroactively amend the Agreement to extend the term of the Agreement through November 18, 2025, and to increase the annual aggregate from $300,000 to $500,000 for additional goods, materials and/or services. (Utilities Department) 6. Approve First Amendment to the Chemical Purchase Agreement between the City of Tolleson and PVS DX, Inc. for the purchase of chemicals for the Tolleson Wastewater Treatment Plant, and authorize the City Manager to execute and deliver said Agreement. The City desires to amend the existing Agreement to increase the annual 5 aggregate amount from $200,000 to $500,000 for additional chemical purchases. (Utilities Department) 7. Adopt Resolution No. 2596 of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, authorizing the City Manager to execute a Termination and Release of Development Agreement on behalf of the City; and providing for repeal of conflicting Resolutions. (Development Services Department) Council Member Gámez moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1. through 7.; the motion was seconded by Council Member Erives. The motion carried 6 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye I. REGULAR AGENDA – ACTION ITEMS 1. Approve/Deny the Job Order Master Agreement between the City of Tolleson and Achen-Gardner Construction, LLC for Job Order Contracting (JOC) Water/Wastewater Pipeline Utility and Infrastructure, and authorize the City Manager to execute and deliver said Agreement. The City shall pay the Contractor an annual aggregate amount not to exceed $1,500,000 for services. This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect until September 2, 2025. (Development Services Department) Council Member Gámez moved to approve the Job Order Master Agreement; the motion was seconded by Council Member Laborin. The motion carried 6 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye 2. Adopt/Deny Resolution No. 2597 of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, (1) providing for the sale and issuance of City of Tolleson, Arizona General Obligation Bonds, Series 2025 and for the annual levy of a tax for the payment of the bonds; (2) approving the form and authorizing the execution and delivery of the necessary agreements, instruments and documents related to the sale and issuance of the bonds; (3) delegating authority to the City Manager and the Chief Financial Officer of the City or their designees to determine certain matters and terms with respect to the foregoing; and (4) authorizing the taking of all other actions necessary to consummate the transactions contemplated by this resolution and ratifying all actions taken to further this resolution. (Finance Department) 6 Council Member Chavira moved to adopt Resolution No. 2597; the motion was seconded by Council Member Laborin. The motion carried 6 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye 3. Adopt/Deny Ordinance No. 616 N.S. of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, prohibiting camping in designated public areas and providing penalties for violations; providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances; and providing for severability. (Police Department) 4. Adopt/Deny Ordinance No. 617 N.S. of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, prohibiting the unauthorized removal, possession, or alteration of shopping carts; providing penalties for violations; providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances; and providing for severability. (Police Department) Vice Mayor Davis moved to table Ordinance No. 616 N.S. and Ordinance No. 617 N.S. to the June 10th City Council Meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Gámez. The motion carried 6 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye J. WORK STUDY AND PRESENTATIONS – FOR DISCUSSION 1. Discussion pertaining to a potential development on the property located at the southwest corner of 91st Avenue and McKinley Street. – Jason Earp, Development Services Director 2. FY 2025 Second Quarter Update – Kevin Artz, Chief Financial Officer 3. FY 2026 First Budget Work Study – Kevin Artz, Chief Financial Officer K. MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER’S REPORT OF CURRENT EVENTS – FOR DISCUSSION 1. Community Events Update – Randy Babchuk, Field Operations/Parks & Recreation Director 7 2. Council Update on National League of Cities Congressional City Conference on March 10-12, 2025 in Washington, DC. L. CONVENE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION 1. Motion to go into executive session. Vice Mayor Davis moved to convene into executive session at 8:15 PM; the motion was seconded by Council Member Erives. The motion carried 7 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye Council Member Mendoza – Aye 2. Convene into an executive session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3) and (A)(4) to receive legal advice and discuss and consult with the City Attorney regarding a contract that is the subject of negotiations relating to a nonprofit organization. 3. Convene into an executive session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3) and (A)(4) to receive legal advice and discuss and consult with the City Attorney regarding a contract that is the subject of negotiations relating to joint use of school facilities and funding. M. RECONVENE INTO PUBLIC MEETING N. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Davis moved to adjourn the Regular City Council Meeting; the motion was seconded by Council Member Gámez. The motion carried 7 to 0. Mayor Rodriguez – Aye Vice Mayor Davis – Aye Council Member Chavira – Aye Council Member Erives – Aye Council Member Gámez – Aye Council Member Laborin – Aye Council Member Mendoza – Aye The meeting was adjourned at 9:01 PM. Pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.01 and A.R.S. § 38-431.02, notice is hereby given to the members of the Tolleson City Council and to the general public that the Council of the City of Tolleson will hold a meeting open to the public. Council Members of the City of Tolleson will attend by telephone/video conference call. 8 Note: The City Council of the City of Tolleson, by a duly passed motion, may vote in public session to adjourn to executive session on any agenda item in conformation with A.R.S. § 38.431.03 for legal advice from the City Attorney. Zoom’s live transcription feature can provide automatic captioning by clicking on the Closed Caption (CC) button during the meeting. THE CITY OF TOLLESON ENDEAVORS TO MAKE ALL PUBLIC MEETINGS ACCESSIBLE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. With at least two business days advance notice, accommodations can be provided at this meeting for individuals with vision, hearing and/or speech disabilities, including a transcriber, large print, an interpreter, an assistive listening device, etc. Please call the City Clerk at (623) 936-7111, or TTY users may dial 711 for Arizona Relay Service (AZRS), to request an accommodation to participate in this public meeting. The City will try its best to accommodate any last minute requests. LA CIUDAD DE TOLLESON SE ESFUERZA PARA HACER TODAS LAS REUNIONES PÚBLICAS ACCESIBLE PARA INDIVIDUOS CON DISCAPACIDADES. Con al menos dos días laborables de previo aviso, se pueden proporcionar adaptaciones en esta reunión para personas con discapacidades visuales, auditivas o del habla, incluido un transcriptor, letra grande, un intérprete, un dispositivo de asistencia auditiva, etc. Llame a la Secretaría Municipal al (623) 936-7111, o los usuarios de TTY pueden marcar 711 para el Servicio de Retransmisión de Arizona (AZRS), para solicitar un alojamiento para participar en esta reunión pública. La Ciudad hará todo lo posible para satisfacer cualquier solicitud de último minuto. VENDOR NAME AMOUNT CHECK # CHECK/PAYMENT DATE CITY OF PHOENIX 535,080.60 183895 03/13/2025 CITY OF PHOENIX 417,776.40 183799 02/27/2025 ADAPTIVE ARCHITECTS INC 181,003.00 183793 02/27/2025 FSL HOME IMPROVEMENTS 174,483.02 183985 03/17/2025 BROWN AND CALDWELL 146,840.00 100305 02/26/2025 UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCE INC 139,890.00 183730 02/19/2025 AZ MUNICIPAL RISK RETENTION POOL P & C 127,701.80 183855 03/06/2025 BROWN AND CALDWELL 52,384.00 100305 02/26/2025 FSL HOME IMPROVEMENTS 49,087.60 183668 02/19/2025 CITY OF PHOENIX 48,958.71 183798 02/27/2025 BROWN AND CALDWELL 48,696.00 100305 02/26/2025 BROWN AND CALDWELL 45,760.00 100305 02/26/2025 SANDS MOTOR COMPANY, INC. 44,219.18 183953 03/13/2025 AZ PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL RETIREMENT SYSTEM 38,627.59 100354 03/11/2025 DON SANDERSON FORD INC 37,410.38 183952 03/13/2025 AZ PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL RETIREMENT SYSTEM 36,620.58 100322 02/28/2025 STRAIGHT ARROW CONTRACTING, LLC 34,771.07 183961 03/13/2025 Fiber Glass Systems LP 34,721.70 100309 02/26/2025 CITY OF AVONDALE 34,056.30 183859 03/06/2025 AZ PUBLIC SAFETY RETIREMENT, POLICE 33,208.01 100355 03/11/2025 AZ PUBLIC SAFETY RETIREMENT, POLICE 33,002.77 100323 02/28/2025 SOLENIS LLC 32,976.00 100380 03/14/2025 SAN TAN AUTO PARTNERS LLC 28,955.27 183950 03/13/2025 ASR CONSTRUCTION GROUP LLC 27,243.02 183885 03/13/2025 TYLER TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 27,031.70 183783 02/25/2025 AZ MUNICIPAL RISK RETENTION POOL P & C 26,629.63 183855 03/06/2025 AZ MUNICIPAL RISK RETENTION POOL P & C 26,449.87 183855 03/06/2025 SAN TAN AUTO PARTNERS LLC 24,904.28 183950 03/13/2025 STRAIGHT ARROW CONTRACTING, LLC 23,180.71 183961 03/13/2025 ASR CONSTRUCTION GROUP LLC 22,877.30 183885 03/13/2025 LYFT, INC. 21,781.97 100365 03/11/2025 WASTE CONNECTIONS OF ARIZONA 19,693.28 183806 02/27/2025 LYFT, INC. 19,021.70 100294 02/21/2025 CDW-GOVERNMENT INC 18,178.68 100349 03/07/2025 KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC. 16,300.90 100361 03/11/2025 JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC 15,990.00 100311 02/26/2025 CLARK ELECTRIC SALES INC 15,568.90 183751 02/25/2025 City of Tolleson Checks Recorded Check Dates: February 19, 2025 to March 18, 2025 PAYMENTS OVER $10,000 Metropolitan Life Insurance 15,057.73 183767 02/25/2025 TRAFFICADE SERVICE LLC 14,078.16 183886 03/13/2025 MATLICK ENTERPRISES INC 13,498.83 100371 03/11/2025 ARIZONA STATE TREASURER 12,847.61 183883 03/13/2025 MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE 12,648.87 183930 03/13/2025 VERIZON WIRELESS SERVICES LLC 11,660.72 184000 03/17/2025 KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC. 11,643.50 100313 02/26/2025 LIBERTY PROCESS EQUIPMENT, INC. 11,527.18 183923 03/13/2025 CITY OF TOLLESON-MEDICAL 11,171.57 100289 02/21/2025 VERIZON WIRELESS SERVICES LLC 10,371.43 183732 02/19/2025 WEST YOST & ASSOCIATES INC 10,158.00 100382 03/14/2025 CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 1 of 55 Post-Production File City of Tolleson City Council Meeting Minutes March 25, 2025 Transcription Provided By: eScribers, LLC * * * * * Transcription is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * * * * CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 2 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Also we’re moving on to the -- now is the final time to submit speaker requests to the City Clerk. All speakers will be limited to three minutes for comments only. Is this working, Crystal? ZAMORA: It is now. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Limit to three minutes for comments only. Actions taken as a result of all the comments will be limited to one, responding to criticism; two, directing staff to review the matter; or three, asking that a matter be put on a future agenda. City Clerk, do we have any final call speaker request forms at this time? ZAMORA: We do not, Mayor. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: It is now call to the public. City Clerk, do we have any call to the public submissions? ZAMORA: We do not. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. Scheduled public appearances and proclamations. I believe we have two of those -- maybe three. Well, we have two. So first one is proclamation to declare April 21st through the 26th, 2025 as neurodiagnostic week in the City of Tolleson, recognizing the vital role in neurodiagnostic technologies and diagnosing, treating, and monitoring neurological conditions. The Tolleson community honors their dedication to advancing patient care and remains committed to supporting excellence in neurological healthcare. I believe we have Anna Costina, the president of AZ ASET to say a couple of words about the proclamation now. You have the podium. COSTINA: I want to say thank you. This means a lot to us. There's neuro diagnostic technologies throughout the entire country, and we are uniting to bring awareness to what we do. We take care of patients with neurological issues such as epilepsy, brain tumors, any type of brain -- I guess -- damage that you can get from accidents, and we want to make sure that more people hear about this, and hopefully none of you guys ever end up in our hands. So thank you, Mayor. We really appreciate it. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 3 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: We have a comment. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, question. Anna? COSTINA: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So do you have a facility where you do this or do you go to other facility? COSTINA: We have -- actually most major hospitals in the valley have a neurodiagnostic department -- not all of them. I work for Barrow Neurological Institute. We have another person who's not here yet. She's going to be so sorry she missed this. She works for Phoenix Children's Hospital. Mayo Clinic has one, Banner -- a couple of the Banners have some. Yes, St. Joseph is where Barrow is so we have epilepsy monitoring units where we bring in patients and take them off their medications to monitor them for seven days to treat them for their epilepsy. And at Barrow we also have a surgical program, where -- in the awesome case where we find where the seizure focus is, we're able to remove that focus and actually give them a life. And just in case you guys didn't know, this Saturday, March 29th, we have Epilepsy Walk. It is for the entire state of Arizona. It is the local one here. I will have a table there. If any of you have nothing better to do on a Saturday morning by all means, come on by. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Thank you. COSTINA: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I do have a proclamation here on behalf of somebody who had a friend who had a brain tumor, and a mother-in-law who also had -- oh, they're both doing fine. Thanks for all the research you all do. But if we can, we'd like to get a picture with you. COSTINA: I'd love that. Thank you. This is so awesome. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yay. ZAMORA: Ready? COSTINA: Thank you. ZAMORA: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 4 of 55 COSTINA: Thank you, Mayor. We really appreciate it. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Fantastic. COSTINA: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. Now, therefore, I, Mayor Rodriguez, do hereby proclaim April 21st through 26th as Neurodiagnostic Week in the City of Tolleson. Be it proclaimed. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mayor, may I? MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Anna -- oh, she's walked out. That's okay. I just wanted to thank the organization for their work. 25 years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy. And there were no resources out there then like there are now, and it's so important and you don't know how important it is until you need it. So I'm glad that we've taken this step to acknowledge that and thank them for their service. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Anybody else? All right. We're going to move on to Item number 2. We're going to proclaim declaring March 2025 as American Red Cross Month in the City of Tolleson, recognizing the contributions of American Red Cross and its volunteers providing humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and emergency assistance to those in need. Georgi Donchetz. Did I say that right? Close? No? Okay. American Red Cross Communications Manager. So I'm just going to call -- you're standing up so you get to come up and talk. QUIJANO: Hi, everyone. My name is Jeff Quijano. I'm Vice Chair of the Board for the Red Cross Central Arizona Chapter, and I have two board members here with me. We just wanted to thank you for your support. I'm sure everyone in the room knows about the partnership that our chapter has had with the City of Tolleson, and it -- you've given us the opportunity to roll out an initiative that is really in the early stages and will continue to evolve. But I think what we've witnessed in our partnership with you is that -- that it works, that using the Red Cross's expertise in building disaster response infrastructure in cities is something worth investing in and it does work. So I think it's -- of course we would say this but I think the American Red Cross is the most important CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 5 of 55 humanitarian organization in the world and we're proud of our partnership with the City of Tolleson here in Phoenix Metro. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you for your efforts. I know that we have built a strong partnership. QUIJANO: Absolutely. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: And so we look forward to continued partnership. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Under the alarm that we did when we installed 112 alarms into the neighborhood where we watch. And yeah. It was super humbling, right? Because you're going into homes. Many of the alarms that were in there are no longer working. And then we had a new family that had just moved into the home that they bought and there were no alarms in there. So they -- and we gave them the escape plan so that was -- like, it was a very humbling experience but you realize the focus. You know? Especially because maybe nine months ago there was that big fire in the trailer parks on 43rd Avenue so -- it was just a wonderful experience. Yes. Yes. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you all for doing that. This time I'm going to do it right. I'm going to proclaim it and then we're going to take a picture if that's okay. QUIJANO: Of course. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Now therefore I'm Mayor Rodriguez do hereby proclaim March 2025 as American Red Cross Month in the City of Tolleson. Be it proclaimed. QUIJANO: All right. Now let's take a picture. ZAMORA: Thank you. Perfect. QUIJANO: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Number 3. I'm going to turn over to our City Manager. It's the introduction of new employees. We have a number of employees, but I know our City Manager will be moving forward introducing or introducing the Director of that Department. MEDRANO: I will. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of Council. This list is comprised of new employees, employees who've been promoted, or achieved CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 6 of 55 certain recognitions or certification. So we'll start with Traffic Operator Diego Padilla who apparently is a starting third basemen -- he's not here -- for the Tolleson Wolverines in high school. Oh good. He's online so -- I was told that he played baseball for the Wolverines which was always an aspiration of mine and we have a few Wolverines in the room I know that that did play. So welcome Diego. And then Wastewater Operator Alejandro Padilla. I asked both of them if they were part of the Padilla family we grew up with here but they are not. But maybe -- you know -- you never know. And then employee recognition. For those that were here 20 years ago when Wendy Jackson started as a Director of Human Resources, you recall the challenge she had to bring that department into this century. She's done an incredible job and has built a team that is simply unrivaled. So with that, receiving their Public Sector Human Resources Certified Professional designations are Daishawna Matthews, and Yareli Savala of our Employee Relations Department. So congratulations. I'm proud to be down the hall from them. They're the first people we see when we come in, and it's always a reminder of how lucky we are to be here. So thank you all very much. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: As always, I'd just like to welcome all the new employees. Here in Tolleson, we're like a family. So if you've been here for a while, we embrace you, we look forward to you being here. We as Council take your work very serious. We have external candidates -- or external customers which are residents and people that visit Tolleson and then we have our own internal customers as well which is all of our employees. So just know that if you're entering brand new, you're entering into a great organization that puts their employees first. And every employee puts the service of their community first as well. So it's a win-win recipe that has worked for Tolleson since its inception so thank you and welcome. All right. We're going to move on to G which is business from the floor. Public hearings and Actions, Item number 1. It's going to be a public hearing so any comments from interested parties in reference to establish new fees, as outlined in the proposed city fee schedule for city services, permits, and licenses pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes, CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 7 of 55 special series 9-499.15. I will now open this public hearing and turn this over to CFO Artz. ARTZ: Thank you, Mayor, Council. So before you tonight are actually three items under this one item. So the first is the public hearing. The second item is an ordinance -- Ordinance Number 615 which would remove all of the fees from the City Code. And then there's a Resolution 2595 which adopts a new fee schedule. So again, city fees are currently in the City Code and they're throughout the City Code numerous places, so there's not one document that has all of the City fees. So the ordinance will remove all references to city fees in the Code. The Resolution then establishes a fee -- a citywide fee schedule, and included in the new fee schedule are some new fees that were not in place previously. So I just wanted to go over a few of those, so that you have a good understanding of what we're adopting here. So Ordinance 615 removes Chapter 2, Chapter 5, Chapter 7, 10, and 12. All of the fees are coming out of the Code for those for the Ordinance. And then the Resolution adds the Citywide fee schedule. Again, the benefit of this is it's all fees are in one place, one document, so if we wanted to know what the fees are, there would just be one document. You wouldn't have to search all through the Code to find it. Going forward the Citywide fee schedule will be part of the budget process. So every year when we adopt the budget, there'll be a fee resolution included in there so that the fees will be updated every year with the budget. And then, as I mentioned, there's some new fees that are being added as part of the Resolution. So in Development Services, there's some new fee for zoning verification letters, actually oriented business application fees -- there's some new fees for that -- special permit fees, credit card fees. So the Development Services Department is going to start accepting credit cards for some of the large permits, but we want to be able to pass on the credit card fees for doing that. In Fire, they're adding some firework fees. And Fire we really didn't have a lot of fees before, so all of these fees are new, but we're adding fees for fireworks and when they're going out and looking at -- you know -- one of those retail establishments or the CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 8 of 55 tents and doing their inspections of that, there will be a fee for that now. They're adding operational permits, hazardous materials, and fire staffing. And I know the Fire Chief may want to add some to this once I'm done here. Library -- we're adding the passport fees, so this is a new service that the City is providing so we're providing passport services. So this will establish the fees for those services that we're providing for passports. And then Parks and Recreation has some staffing fees, so when they have staff for an event, it's establishing the fees so that we can pass those along to other -- to the users. State Statute does require a few things when we're establishing new fees so ARS 9- 499.15 requires that we post this on the City website for 60 days, so that's been done. It requires that we publish it in the newspaper. That has also been done, and the City has also prepared a schedule and a written justification of all those fees and that's included in your packet as well. So with that, staff recommends that Mayor and Council hold the public hearing, and then you would adopt Ordinance 615 which removes the fees, and then you would adopt Ordinance 2595 which would establish the new fees in that city-wide fee schedule. With that, staff is available if you have any questions or if the Fire Chief wanted to add anything. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Presentation. I want to turn it over to Council. Do we have any questions? I know I have some comments. I reviewed the fee schedule and it looks like they're pretty much in market rate with fellow -- other cities in the West Valley, including the bigger city to the east. And so I think we're in line with what other organizations would charge their residents or clients. Also, you mentioned the schedule that's going to come before us during the budget process. If there are changes to that schedule, will those be called out during future years and budget processes? ARTZ: Yes, Mayor. So this would be the fee schedule for this year, but then next budget year, any fee that's amended or any new fee would be called out and would have to go through this process where we post it on the website for 60 days, and then we would address each of those changes with you during the budget process. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 9 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Also, it keeps us from incrementally just adding more fees over time and this way there's some checks and balances and I think that would be great. Any other comments or any other questions? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I think it's far more user friendly. So if I'm a member of the public I can go to one place and know what all the fees are as opposed to having to search different pages and search for a specific fee so I like that idea and this is much, much better. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Awesome. All right. Well with that, I think you're off the hook. ARTZ: All right. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Well, we still have -- do you have a question? Well we still have a speaker from the public. We have three minutes. City Clerk, do we have anybody from the audience that would like to speak on this public hearing? ZAMORA: We do not, Mayor. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Once? Twice? This public meeting is closed. Now we move on to Council Option. It's action to adopt or deny Ordinance Number 615, a new series of Mayor, City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona amending the policy City Code revised by amending Chapter 2, Article -- well, it's a bunch of stuff -- Article 2-6, Section 265, core fees and charges, Chapter 5, Article 5-1 and 5-4, 5-8, section 5-1-8 license fees, and a bunch of other stuff. So for repeal of conflicting ordinances and provide for severity. Also, does anybody have any comments at this time? I will entertain a motion to approve or deny. We have a motion to adopt? DAVIS: Motion to adopt. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: We have a motion to adopt by Councilmember Davis. We have a second from Councilmember Laborin. All those in favor. All those in favor please signify by saying aye. ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed. Okay. That long motion passes unanimously. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 10 of 55 Thank you very much, CFO Artz. So now we move on to the Resolution. So the Mayor of the City -- I think I was going to read this one. It doesn't have small lettering -- City Council, Resolution number 2595. The Mayor, City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, adopt or deny the consolidated fee schedule for city services, municipal court services, field services, fees, Fire Department fees, development service fees, library fees, Parks and Recreation fees, Police Department fees, Utility Department fees, and any fees related to the use of city facilities, permits, and licenses providing a repeal of conflicting resolutions, providing severity, and setting an effective date of April 25th, 2025. Council, any questions at this time? I will entertain a motion. GAMEZ: Mr. Mayor, I move that we adopt resolution number 2595. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. We have a motion by Councilmember Gamez. Do we have a second? CHAVIRA: Second. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: We have a second by Councilwoman Chavira. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed. Not hearing any. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you, everybody. We're going to move on to Item H, which is a Consent Agenda Action Item. I see Items 1 through 7 for consideration. These are items that should have been reviewed in your packet and at this Council meeting, we can ask questions. We can do whatever we need to as far as those items, but if you are in agreement with Item 1 through 7, I will also entertain a motion to approve them all in one move. GAMEZ: I'll make that motion, Mr. Mayor. ERIVES: Second. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: So we'll make a motion. Councilmember Gamez, we have a second by Councilwoman Erives. All those in favor of passing or approving the Consent Agenda Action Item, Item 1 through 7, please signify by saying aye. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 11 of 55 ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed? Again, not hearing any. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Moving on to Regular Agenda Action Item. It's time for a minute break. Promise it's just water. I heard a story about a cruise and you're not allowed to take certain chemicals or liquids onto the cruise -- only bottled water. Starts going to purify. This is truly H2O. All right. Regular Agenda Action Items. Item number 1, approve or deny the job order master agreement between the City of Tolleson and Achen-Gardner Construction, LLC for job order contracting JOC, wastewater, pipeline, utilities, and infrastructure and authorize the City Manager to execute and deliver said agreement. The City shall pay the contractor an annual aggregate amount not to exceed $1.5 million for services. This agreement shall remain in full force and effect until September 2nd of 2025. Development Services Utility Director McCracken. Is there a discussion or presentation? MCCRACKEN: Yes. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of Council. It's a fairly straightforward project. We have a water facility at the corner of 97th Avenue and Roosevelt. And currently there's a large tank there, and there's no established drain right now if there was to be a catastrophic failure of the tank. And so we needed to plumb and install a line that's going to connect to our storm sewer over closer to Van Buren. So this project would put in that line essentially from the facility all the way to our connecting storm sewer. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: A requirement. So any questions for Mr. McCracken at this time? Not seeing any. Okay. I will entertain a motion. GAMEZ: So moved. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. We have a motion by Councilmember Gamez to approve. And I have a second by Councilwoman Laborin to second the item. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed. Awesome. Motion passes unanimously. Mr. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 12 of 55 McCracken, you have the money for the pipe. MCCRACKEN: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Number 2, adopt or deny Resolution number 2597 of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona. Number 1, providing for the sale and issuance of City of Tolleson, Arizona general obligation bonds, series two of 2025, and for the annual levy of a tax for the payment of the bonds. Number 2, approving the form and authorizing the execution and delivery of the necessary agreement, instrument, and documents related to the sale and issuance of the bonds. Number 3, delegating authority to the City Manager and the Chief Financial Officer of the City of Tolleson of the City or their designee to determine certain matters in terms with respect to the foregoing. And number 4, authorizing the taking of all of other actions necessary to consummate the transactions contemplated by this resolution and ratify all actions taken to further this resolution. Finance Director Artz, you have the floor sir. ARTZ: Thank you, Mayor and Council. Before you tonight is Resolution 2597. It is authorizing the bonds -- the general obligation bonds for the Aquatic Center. Tonight we have Paul Gales here who is our bond counsel and Mark Reader with Stifel who is the underwriter on this transaction. So back in 2020 -- November the 3rd, 2020, the voters approved a bond election for $21 million of general obligation bonds to construct an aquatic facility or Parks and Recreation amenities. The City has purchased the land for the Aquatic Center and entered into a design contract for the facility. The budget has increased. The estimated budget is now at $32 million, and so additional funding is coming from a $1 million private donation. And then in the next budget year, in fiscal year '26, we're allocating $10 million of fund balance towards this project. So $21 million worth of bonds, the $1 million dollar private donation, and $10 million of fund balance gets us to a budget of $32 million for the Aquatic Center. And as I mentioned, Stifel is serving as underwriter on this transaction. So the Resolution provides for the sale and issuance of the bonds, but it also approves CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 13 of 55 several agreements and documents that are included in your packet. It also delegates authority to the City Manager and the CFO to determine terms, rates, maturities of the bonds. And the reason for that is once we sell the bonds, you basically have 24 hours to get all the documents signed and everything done. So we wouldn't have time to bring all of that back to Council, so you're delegating to the City Manager or myself to just sign some of those final documents. And then it authorizes and ratifies all the actions taken to consummate the sale of the bonds. So some of the documents that are included in your packet. The preliminary official statement, this is the offering document that goes out to the investors, so it includes a lot of financial information on the City demographics. Basically, it provides information so that the investors can make an informed decision on whether they want to buy or purchase our bonds. So the City, along with Stifel and Mark Reader, put this document together. It is our responsibility to make sure it's correct and everything in there is accurate. There's also a continuing disclosure agreement. This outlines the City's responsibilities in providing ongoing financial data. So once the investors purchase these bonds, they want to see financial data going forward, so they may purchase a bond that's 20 years out. They want to be able to see our financial statements and any information, so it's a document that we agree to provide certain information. We also agree if there's certain items occur over the next 15 or 20 years, such as a ratings change, or if we were in default on our bonds, that we would have to disclose that information on a website so that all of the investors would know. So it's a document that requires quite a bit of information from the City. There's a bond purchase agreement. This agreement would be with Stifel acting as the underwriter to purchase the bonds from the City. So they will actually be purchasing the bonds, and then they'll be turning around and selling those to the end investors that would ultimately purchase them. And then the bond register paying agent agreement. It's an agreement to help facilitate the registration of the bond ownership so that the City doesn't have to keep CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 14 of 55 track of who owns the bonds. There would be a vendor that would track all of that information. So those are all the documents that are included in the Resolution and that you're approving tonight or that we're asking you to approve tonight. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. Is that the end of the presentation? ARTZ: I have a little bit more. Sorry. So again, the Resolution is also delegating authority to the City Manager and the CFO just to be able to determine date, the principal amounts of the bonds cannot exceed $21 million. That's the maximum amount. To determine maturity dates not to exceed 25 years; interest rates based on the bids from the investors, so we'll determine what the interest is as the bids come in from investors. If there's any call dates, sales date, pricing, closing costs, all of those things then will be delegated to the Manager and myself to determine as we go forward. As far as the budget, the bonds have been programmed into the budget for two years. The repayment source on this is secondary property taxes, and we are projecting that the combined property tax rate -- so the primary and the secondary rate -- will not increase. And it's actually going to go down very slightly, but we're able to issue these bonds and not have a property tax rate increase, so we're able to maintain the rate and still provide the amenity to the community. So with that, staff recommends that Mayor and Council adopt the Resolution 2597, providing for the sale and issuance of $21 million of general obligation bonds, and staff is available if you have any questions. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I will turn it over to Council for any comments or questions. Well, I'll start off. I have a comment. We have a design firm. We have a construction company. I think we have a final design. We have authorization to purchase the bonds, and we have excess income to cover the difference between the $21 million bonds and the $30 million price tag. This building aquatic facility, I'm very excited. I've been waiting for this for a very long time, and I think the residents of Tolleson have been waiting for it. They deserve it, and our kids will know how to swim, and someday, CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 15 of 55 hopefully, God willing, we'll have a Tolleson Olympian and another one for swimming or something. But it all starts with building that pool, so I'm very excited. And hopefully the rest of the Council is excited as well. ERIVES: Just to add to that, the taxes, right? So I'm going to get something within my community to swim, to exercise, to have a great time with, and yet I'm not going to feel like I can't go swimming anymore because I have to pay the taxes for it. So it's a win-win for our community. I'm excited. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: It doesn't fall off the reality that a property -- you're selling $21 million bonds and secondary taxes and the residents not really going to feel an impact more than they're already feeling. None of us are ignorant to think that that just happened by accident. We know that you and your staff have worked hard with that. City staff have worked hard to make that happen, and so on behalf of the residents, we're very thankful for that, so thank you. Councilmember Gamez. GAMEZ: Yes. Can the public -- regular John Blow out there -- buy bonds? ARTZ: Mayor, Councilmember Gamez, I think they can, and I'll probably turn that over to Mark on how -- if a private individual can bid on the bonds. READER: Thank you, Mr. Artz. Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. Good evening, Mark Reader with Stifel, and we're very pleased to have the opportunity to work with you on this exciting project. With regard to your question, could residents of the City of Tolleson, if they were interested, purchase the City of Tolleson bonds? And the answer to that is yes. We do our best when we're selling the bonds, if someone in the community is interested, to contact our office and we will do everything within our means to allocate bonds to local residents; so no promises, but that's something that we really try to accommodate for you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: That's great. READER: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. ERIVES: And that's with the 25 year maturity, right? So they would see an investment. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 16 of 55 ERIVES: Is there a minimum investment amount? READER: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. Excellent question. Probably minimum of $5,000. You know, we certainly could accommodate that if somebody wanted. The interest income, as you all know, is exempt from federal and state taxation, so we like that. The interest rates will be very low, so when they hear how low the interest rate is -- hopefully. Knock on wood, right? We like low interest rates. They may say no, but that being said, we're glad to offer them up to them. Thank you very much. ERIVES: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Awesome. Thank you for that answer. I do have a question for staff, but I think this is something that we can do on the back end. I would like to know what percentage of residents don't have pools in Tolleson. And again, this is something that we can look into and get an answer down the road, but I think building an aquatic facility for a community that, quite honestly, I think at least for my family, nobody in Tolleson -- and we have 10 households -- has a pool. And so I think it's a very important and needed amenity that we have for a long time in partnership with the high school, and it just disappeared overnight. I think we're correcting a wrong and providing a service to the Tolleson residents that is really, highly needed. ARTZ: Absolutely. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: So I think it's a win-win. GAMEZ: I agree. ARTZ: Members of the Council, based on just my empirical observation over the years, I can think of three houses in Tolleson that I remember having pools, two of which have been filled. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: We have put irrigations up every two weeks. ARTZ: That's pretty easy. GAMEZ: We had a pool growing up. It's called the R.I.D. ARTZ: And it's still there. GAMEZ: Exactly. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 17 of 55 ARTZ: It's amazing. GAMEZ: Actually the high school was our swimming spot. You know? And if you were lucky enough to have a quarter, it was cool. If you didn't, R.I.D. Simple as that. Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Go ahead Councilmember Davis. DAVIS: I will say I'm excited. I'm eager to get this built so we can open it up for our community and I can do a cannonball into the pool. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, you heard it here. Vice Mayor Davis will do the first cannonball. ERIVES: I'll hold you to it. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Summer first, right? All right. Well, with that, I will entertain a motion. ERIVES: I make a motion to adopt the sale of bonds to accomplish the building of our first aquatic center. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. I have a first from Councilmember Erives. ERIVES: Motion. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. It's getting late. And we have a second from Councilwoman Laborin. And so all those in favor of building a new Tolleson pool and passing this item, please signify by saying aye. ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed, say R.I.D. No, I'm just kidding. All right. Everybody said yay, so we're building a pool, sir. Thank you very much. ARTZ: Thank you, Mayor. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you folks for your service. All right, Item number 3. Adopt or deny Ordinance Number 616, new series of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Tolleson, Arizona, prohibiting camping in designated public areas and providing penalty for violations, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances, and providing for severity. Turn it over to Chief Police. Our Police Chief --Mendoza. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 18 of 55 ARTZ: Before the Chief, if I could, this is both Items 3 and 4 are on the agenda pursuant to your direction, and we're excited to report back to Council that we're ready to move forward on these critical tools. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. Very critical. MENDOZA: Good evening, Mayor and Council. So should we go over both of them? Can we go over both? We'll just cover both. The first one is going to be for the urban camping ordinance -- or I think it's referred to as the anti-camping. We do currently have an urban camping ordinance in the City of Tolleson. There was a Supreme Court case. I think it was surrounding whether or not it was violating the 14th amendment and it was found that it does not. And so that started this kind of trend where cities were rewriting their ordinances and this kind of brings ours up more to date and it falls in line with what other cities are doing. And I know Justin and his group did a good job of kind of mirroring what's been going on around the valley and probably around the country. So the anti-camping ordinance basically has two parts that would be considered violations or the prohibited acts. It shall be unlawful for any person to camp in on or a public street, alley, sidewalk, rights of way, park, preserve or other public ground owned, possessed or controlled by City except as permitted under subsection 5. And part B is it shall be unlawful for any person to camp on or within 500 feet of a parcel where a school, childcare facility, shelter, or city park is located if reasonable notice of camping prohibition is provided except as permitted under subsection 5; and subsection five basically states that if the Parks and Rec director is coordinating an event -- so let's say, like, some students are going to sleep in at the -- you know -- set up tents to be at the park for whatever reason that that is allowable and would not be in violation of the statute. That's the easiest example I can give. The second ordinance is a shopping cart ordinance. It says a person shall not do any of the following with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the owner or retailer possession of a shopping cart. And then it goes on to talk about removing shopping carts from a parking area or retail establishment, be in possession of a CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 19 of 55 shopping cart that belongs to another retailer, removing serial numbers, leaving abandoned carts that belong to retailers in the City of Tolleson, or convert or tamper any of the parts on the shopping cart for personal use. Both of these would be Class 1 misdemeanors, which typically for Tolleson Police Department, when we're talking about a class of misdemeanors, it's usually a citation, which gives the person a notice to appear in court. We typically do not arrest and book people for Class 1 misdemeanors unless it is multiple offenses of the same type. So for instance, shoplifting is the easiest example. First time shoplifter, Class 1 misdemeanor, they usually get a citation, come to court. You know? Down the road we start getting into multiple times, then that's comes a time where we will actually book somebody. So on both of these ordinances, staff makes a recommendation to adopt and I'm open for any questions. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Comments? I have a comment. DAVIS: I have quite a few questions and comments, so get ready. MENDOZA: And -- sorry. Mayor and Council, I do have Marc Simmons here from Human Services, and I kind of put him on the spot about ten minutes ago and he agreed to help speak to probably some of the answers that you're looking for as far as what we're currently doing city-wise other than having this ordinance. DAVIS: So I want to begin by acknowledging that homelessness is a widespread urgent issue, one that affects communities across our region and state and country. It is complex. There's no one-size-fits-all solution, and I understand the need to keep our public spaces safe accessible. But we cannot legislate our way out of homelessness with criminal penalties. This ordinance on urban campaign, though well-intentioned, risks putting a target on those who are already among the most vulnerable, people experiencing homelessness, mental illness, substance use disorder and poverty. Criminalizing their existence in public spaces doesn't solve the problem. It simply moves it, delays it, and ultimately deepens it. As policy makers, we must ask ourselves, are we treating the symptom or are we addressing the cause? So today I want to ask a few questions in the spirit of creating policies that gets to the CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 20 of 55 root of these challenges, not just the surface. I have a bunch of them, you can answer them at the end. What data or evidence do we have that criminalizing urban camping actually reduces homelessness in the long term? How will this ordinance impact individuals who have nowhere else to go, especially if shelter space is limited or unavailable? Can we discuss what investments we are making or plan to make in affordable housing, mental health care, and substance abuse support as part of a holistic solution? How are we measuring success -- by how many people are connected to services or by how many are cited or displaced? What safeguards will ensure this ordinance isn't disproportionately enforced against people with disabilities or mental illness? How will we ensure that citations of arrests don't make it harder for individuals to access housing or employment later? What community-based alternatives were considered before turning to criminal penalties? I believe we should invest in outreach, housing-first strategies, and real systems of care, not citations and jail time. We should be engaging with people who lived through homelessness to shape better policy. If we truly want lasting change, we must be compassionate leaders who will be willing to do the hard work of addressing root causes, not just passing ordinances that kick the can down the road. And in the same spirit of compassion and accountability -- and both at the same time, I'll do both -- I want to address the proposed ordinance on the carts as well, on the unauthorized possession of shopping carts. On the surface, this may appear to be a matter of neighborhood cleanliness and retail protection, but in practice, this measure has the potential to further criminalize those experiencing homelessness, individuals who often use shopping carts as a means to carry their belongings, not to commit a crime. Let's take a closer look at what this ordinance really does: makes possession of a cart outside of the store premises without written permission a Class 1 misdemeanor of the same level of offense as you mentioned earlier, shoplifting. So what problem are we trying to solve here? How significant is it within our city? Have we meaningfully engaged local retailers to understand their current practices and pain points around abandoned carts? And really with the shopping cart thing -- you know - CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 21 of 55 - I've seen some community members -- you know -- who are going to the food bank or whatever, pushing carts around. So are they going to receive the same penalties? If our goal is to create cleaner streets, let's also work towards creating more just and equitable policies. It is our goal in public spaces. Let's include public health and dignity in that vision. As I said earlier, we must be leaders who address the root causes, not just the viable symptoms. That means investing in outreach, wraparound services, affordable housing, and mental health resources, not leaning on the criminal justice system to solve social problems it was never designed to fix. Let's aim higher. Let's lead with both heart and strategy. You know? I think that here in Tolleson, we pride ourselves on being a family. Doesn't feel like a very family forward policy or ordinance. That is all. MENDOZA: Yes, Mr. Mayor -- I can wait. Want me to make my comment first? I have a suggestion. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Then I'm going to turn to Council. MENDOZA: Just a quick suggestion. I appreciate Vice Mayor Davis's questions. They're very much valid, and I think fruitful to produce a poignant policy. I would recommend to Council that we postpone both of these items so that we can develop a presentation for our work study, to spend a little more time on these issues before Council considers them. GAMEZ: Yes, Mr. Mayor. Jimmy, that was great. Thank you. And I think that a lot of these issues and concerns will be addressed when we establish a nonprofit -- TASA, Tolleson Alliance Against Substance Abuse -- because a lot of things that you're talking about stems from substance abuse. And the things that we will be trying to do is to have fundraisers and those dollars can be attributed or directed to events like this or programs like this in partnership with health providers. That's coming down the pike. And you and I know that we've talked about this and this is something that can be addressed with TASA. But thank you for bringing those items up. They're all legitimate, all concerns. But I keep wondering, I don't remember seeing any business in Tolleson has shopping carts, so they all must be from Food City. The only one that CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 22 of 55 comes to mind is Family Store, and I don't think they're that big, but nonetheless, they're out there. Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Councilwoman Chavira. CHAVIRA: Having spent 30 years in the housing industry -- in public housing specific - - and working with homelessness for 30 years, Jimmy's points are valid and they are issues. The difficulty is that Tolleson is a small city, and we do not have our own housing department, nor do we have a federal funding specific to affordable housing or ways in which to help the community. And we rely on partners like Community Bridges and Maricopa County Housing Authority and our sister housing authorities to help in that capacity, and we don't have the control. So I love the idea of the nonprofit, and I love the idea of further discussing it. And maybe it's a time for me to reach out or for us to reach out to our partner cities and to Community Bridges to help us solve this. But I also want my streets cleaned and for -- you know -- to kind of help solve the homeless program, but it's just not a problem easily solved. It's just not. And so I like the idea of maybe discussing this further and maybe coming up with other ideas of how we can address this. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Anybody else? So my comments are the majority of the complaints that I get for the City of Tolleson are twofold. One is the transient population and two is traffic. So I've seen it get worse, and it's going to continue to get worse, because they're being pushed in this direction. And so I don't want our Police Department not to have the tools necessary for them to be able to enforce certain rules in parks, in right of ways, in places that people should not be sleeping or hanging out on. I mean, I can tell you right now, there's a spot where people go and get high behind apartments. They're all transients, and the police go by there, and then they just go right back onto Van Buren. And so this problem is not getting better. I do agree that we need to have a more holistic approach to it. And I think our Human Services Department, along with the Police Department and other key departments are going to be key players in that. I mean, obviously we're not -- you're right. We're not going to arrest ourselves out of this problem, especially they're Class 1 CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 23 of 55 misdemeanors. We don't even arrest Class 1 misdemeanors, but I do want our Police Department to have some team. So if you have somebody out there that is doing something you shouldn't be doing, and they're clearly not part of our community, and they're outsiders coming in, and they just want to do as they want, our Police Department can address that. And I've had those situations in my main job where somebody just says, "I'm going to this Ramada. I don't care what you tell me". And then you end up having to arrest them when you run their background, turns out they're sex offenders or they have some kind of criminal activity from other states that they're running from. And you're like, I didn't know this. Well, now we have something that's codified that can help us deal with that population because they're out there too. And last time I checked, they like to hang out in certain areas of the coast where we cross our kids from north of Tolleson to south of Tolleson. And so to me, having these things on the book is just another tool for us to use in the most extreme situations. But I agree, I don't think it should be the only choice. I think it should be one of a number of choices, and part of that could be housing vouchers, some of that can be counseling, some of that can be drug education and counseling. And I know we have some contracts that we have with the nonprofits as well for treatment, stuff like that. So we have to have a wide array of different ways of addressing this. But to sit here and act like this problem -- and I'm not saying you are -- but to sit here and say that this problem is not getting worse and that the people that are homeless here in Tolleson are Tolleson residents born and raised, we'd be lying to ourselves because we know who those people are. And you know what? When they come to my house and I happened to grow up with them, I'm the first to offer them a water, some food, whatever, but these folks aren't them. So let's just make sure that if we're going to paint this with a wide brush and -- you know -- it's going to be trying to solve everything, it includes some teeth. Because if it doesn't have teeth, then nothing else matters. There's some folks that as long as there's no teeth in your community, and they know that there's no teeth, they're going to continue to do what they're going to do because they know no one's going to stop. And I see -- if you don't believe me, go to Cesar Chavez Park. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 24 of 55 There's about 40 of those people there. Every single day they have taken over Ramadas, burned down a restroom, and all kinds of other havoc, and the community's had it. I don't want to become that. I'd rather do things proactively. So I'm okay with the bigger discussion as long as we make sure that we're addressing every part of the problem. And part of that has to do -- I'm not going to say creating a criminal element, but we have to be able to address the criminal element. And these types of ordinances are the teeth that our Police Department needs. Without them, their hands are tied, and I don't want to be in that situation either because the complaints are going to keep coming in. And the answer's -- you know -- it can't be this. We have to allow them to do their job as well, so that's my two cents. CHAVIRA: The City of Phoenix has already shown us, right? They had tent city where they didn't have ordinances in place and look what became of that. And then you're in the news and you're spending millions of dollars to clean up -- you know -- tent city and having created issues in there, so it's a difficult subject. DAVIS: Can I say something else? I actually just read an article today about somebody who works in homeless services -- which I used to, for the record, work with homeless families for a good part of my 20s. But there's some research that's showing that these types of ordinances and the cost to the taxpayer is more than it would be to do a housing-first model. So I mean, it's just something to look at. It could be a cost savings to our taxpayers. I do agree that we do need to have some, our PD does need to have some authority and some teeth. We cannot allow urban camping to just run amok in our city. We don't want that, and we need to make sure that our residents are safe. But that doesn't mean that we cannot come up with a compassionate policy. When people get criminal convictions on their record, it makes it harder for them to obtain housing and to get employment, so that just perpetuates the cycle of homelessness. We can do better. That's all I'm saying. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. And I think we need to have a discussion to do better. DAVIS: Agree. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 25 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. And so I'd be for that, but for me to say we shouldn't pass this now, I think it would just inhibit police -- the Police Department's ability to do their job. So I'd be okay with moving forward with these and then having a discussion to figure out how to best address these other issues or other services that will fill the gap. MENDOZA: Mayor and Council, and Councilmember Davis specifically, I agree this should not be the primary tool that we use to address homelessness. As long as I'm the Police Chief here -- and I hope I get to finish out all of my time here, the rest of my career -- this will never be the primary source of dealing with homelessness. And I hope that I get to groom the next Police Chief and they have the same type of attitude towards homelessness. I agree with you, it's a social issue that should never have been primarily handled by the Police Department -- by any Police Department, and we can see what's happened specifically in Phoenix. You can look at businesses that are suing the Phoenix Police Department for not doing anything, and you can see the ACLU is suing the Phoenix Police Department for addressing it, so it's a lose-lose situation for Police Departments. And so I don't think there's any Police Chief that is volunteering to take this up. DAVIS: Sorry. You bring up a good point, and it's something that I have mentioned before that I would like to see is potentially a crisis response team being part of our public safety portfolio. I know that that has happened in lots of other cities, and it seems to be having great success. I agree with you that PD should not be the first responders when it comes to mental health situations or homelessness. It should be some type of social work component. So that's something that I would definitely like for us to look at as well. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I think we might be missing the second part of this conversation. Were you going to call them up to do presentations of what we're doing from the human services side? LABORIN: Well, not yet. Let me just -- so I just wanted to finish my thought really quick if I could. The -- so what we already have going on with the Police Department is we're not typically citing people for any of these things. We're getting -- we're talking to CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 26 of 55 them. We're trying to get them connected with services. We have partnered with CBI. However, that team has been dissolved by CBI, and so we're in need of another partner, but that's our primary mission was to connect them to services. It's always been that way. Even when they refuse, we go back out the next couple of days and do this. As the complaints start stacking up, those are what we would call, like, a frequent offender or someone that's getting calls on. The best example I have is there was a couple, a boyfriend, girlfriend that, I mean, there must be 20 or 30 calls involved in the same couple from businesses, private citizens, passer buyers [sic], you name it. That's where this would come into play. When we have exhausted all of the other avenues to try to help them get back on their feet. I don't have it in front of me, but it's definitely not as specific as the current one we have. And I'm not sure if we can bring that up. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I will say, I think it's important to note that this ordinance, the ordinances that are being proposed are not something that is designed to be overly punitive, that we want to outdo the other cities or anything like that. Quite the contrary, we use other cities as a model and these ordinances have been able to be defended in court. And so -- you know -- bigger cities have taken these ordinances on, they got sued, and they were able to win, so the ordinances that have been readily accepted by law enforcement, by the courts, and by the community at large, and they passed the public mustard in that sense, and so we would just be in line with what other police agencies are already doing. And I wasn't going to say anything -- any kind of public -- like, the carts -- you know -- if there's information in those carts that's specific to a person and they don't want to move it or whatever, I say, we don't throw it away, we have to hold it. And if they ever want to come back and maybe there's medical information in there or identification or whatever, they're welcome to come back and get it. You know? We hold it until their court date. And then if they say, I don't want any of that stuff, then that's different; we can discard it at that point. But even in my opinion, for 30 days, I don't discard anything. And we put a date on the day that it was collected. MENDOZA: Mr. Mayor, I'm sorry, I thought you were done. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 27 of 55 Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. That's what we can do is put together a presentation because it is a multi-pronged approach. We've found out during our - - while we were putting this and going over this with the Council that the previous Director of the Human Services Division was supposed to solicit the partnership with the Phoenix Rescue Mission, is that right? That obviously there's been a change over there. We have a new director that's sitting over there that we all know and love so well. And he is going to reignite that -- those discussions. So I guess what I'm asking for is a little bit of time to put that presentation together so we can talk about what we currently do and what we plan to do moving forward with potential partnerships with groups like the Phoenix Rescue Mission, if that's okay with Council. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I'm open to whatever. Yeah. I just think it's -- the conversation had to be had. And so these ordinance are here, they're to address. And if today's not the day to adopt them, we want to have a deeper conversation, I'm okay with that. If we want to adopt and have a deeper conversation, I'm okay with that too. I just -- I'm not okay with continuing to get phone calls about things that are obvious and we're just ignoring them, and they're only going to get worse if we don't -- we're not proactive about it. MENDOZA: Thank you, Mayor and Council. One more, and Councilmember Davis, to your point. There are definitely cities -- I think Scottsdale and Phoenix come to mind - - of having the actual social workers or counselors inside of the dispatch center. And those being the first to go out. Resource wise, we don't have that, but what we've been doing is sending our officers to the crisis incident training. And so we have, I would say, well over half of our Police Department are trained in crisis intervention training. I'm sorry -- not crisis incident -- it's crisis intervention. And that is a one-week school on how to deal with people with mental health issues. It talks about autism and -- correct, right, right. Agreed, agreed. But it is to have the majority of our Police Department be trained in that, that's something that you're not going to see in any other city. You're talking about other cities that they actually call for a CIT trained officer. And we pretty much have one or two on every squad. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 28 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I would suggest -- and this is just an idea -- but I don't see a problem with finding somebody who has a master's degree and specializes in -- you know -- interacting with folks who have mental issues, drug issues, homeless issues, that maybe they're willing to work for contract, on-call kind of employees. When we have a situation, we call them in, they can help us address it. I mean, I know there's other opportunities out there for us to -- and you know, our budget cycle is right around the corner. So if we're going to identify expenses for that, right about now would be the time to start -- you know -- having those conversations. So like I said, I mean, there's definitely an opportunity for us to continue to have the better aim. I mean, I think this is a good solution on one extreme to kind of fill the gaps between having to get there. You know? If we get there, it's because it was the extreme, but we should have done a bunch of things prior to that to prohibit us from getting there and try to get these folks back on the right track. GAMEZ: Yes. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yes. GAMEZ: Mr. Medrano, are you suggesting maybe we table those items until you give us a presentation? MEDRANO: Mr. Mayor, members of Council, Councilman Gamez, yes. I recommend that we postpone until such time that we can coordinate efforts between -- it'll be several departments -- but to get some feedback from those partnerships, those potential partners that were approached and we haven't heard back from. There's at least two I'm thinking of right now, so we can address Vice Mayor Davis's questions as well, because I think it lays out a very -- a solid framework for our approach going forward. ERIVES: Like a clarifying question, but yes to do a more in-depth exploratory, however you want to word it. However, does that change these ordinances? Like it wouldn't, right? Like, so these ordinances, the way I understood, have already been vetted in other cities, other communities. This is kind of -- but this is not saying that the moment you see one person is immediately going to give them a citation for this. Like there's CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 29 of 55 other parts that go, this is just like in an extreme case. So even if we have a work study in a couple of weeks, that won't change the wording for these two ordinances. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All we're doing is we're taking these two ordinances and literally facing them up. If the recommendation is taken by Council, we would take these two ordinances and they would be placed on a table. And then we're ready to have a presentation. The ordinance would be brought back for action. ERIVES: But what would be future discussion would be something different, right? Like now we're looking for something with housing and something else, something else. That won't change these two ordinances. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: No. I mean, really we could adopt these and have the discussion also. Right. DAVIS: Personally, I would like to see a policy that says this is what we're going to do first, right? Something in writing, like the steps, like how it's all going to look for me to feel more comfortable with these. That's what I would want, personally so -- because Chief Mendoza -- you know -- you're a great guy. We love having you. It might be different, you know? So I just, I would like to see some clear policy, a clear plan in place before we adopt something like this. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: So yeah -- I mean, I'm here. I'll entertain any motion. I mean, if you guys want to table it, you need to make a motion to table it. I'm not going to do it. I think we need to adopt this and have something on the books and allow us to respond to it and then have the conversation. But if the discussion is going to be to table it now and then go back and have this discussion, and then sometime in the future, hopefully the problem doesn't get worse, we're able to address it. I'm okay with that too. DAVIS: Can you -- could you guys present at the next Council meeting? Is that too soon? SINAWI: I just need a little bit more time just to be able to get it -- a hold of the partners. So I mean, we can attempt the next meeting, but realistically a month from now would be more realistic to get a thorough presentation. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 30 of 55 GAMEZ: You hear the question? A month? MENDOZA: It'd be difficult, Mr. Mayor, members of Council, to put a timeframe on it. We currently do enforce what's on the books now, but to say in two weeks, it'll be ready, even a month, I'm reticent to commit to that for us to do a comprehensive. Right. DAVIS: Not to sign agreements with organizations yet. MENDOZA: No. But even just to get, like Mrs. Sinawi said, getting the potential partners to respond to us is my main concern. SINAWI: And Council, just in my own experience, it's not that easy. You don't just get to call a partner and say, hey, we want a partner. Can you help us do that? If it was that easy, we wouldn't have this problem. It's just not that easy. And federal funding is diminishing. It's not growing. And so -- you know -- who knows how much time it could take us to have a partner that would be willing to work with us. And because we do need to solve the problem -- it doesn't really solve the problem, but it does give us some teeth to help us move in the right direction. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: This was identified two years ago at our advancement. It was identified this year in our advancement, so it's taken us literally two years to get to this point. And now we're saying, let's table this. And we don't know how long it's going to take us to get to the point where we can feel comfortable with it. I honestly think it's time for us to adopt something to have on the books, and then we can come up with a more comprehensive approach, which would make sense for our organization. And quite honestly, it's not going to be the Phoenix solution. It's not going to be the Scottsdale solution. It's going to be the Tolleson solution. And that's going to take different players, different nonprofits, different organizations to help us out with -- maybe some internal staffing, I don't know. But I think it's a conversation worth having. GAMEZ: Mayor? I think if we waited two years, another month, two months is not going to hurt us. Is two months too short? MEDRANO: I think within that timeframe, we can provide an update on what we are doing and how we do approach. We take a more proactive approach to these CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 31 of 55 issues, both through PD, like Chief Mendoza mentioned, with CBI -- I didn't realize they disbanded their task force -- but that was our main approach with PD, but the other Human Services Divisions approach to helping prevent homelessness or unhousedness in the first place. So we can provide that update sooner than -- and then while we're working on trying to contact these potential partnerships. GAMEZ: Is two months okay? MEDRANO: Are we good with two months? SINAWI: Yes. MEDRANO: I'll let a snapshot presentation of where we're at and the direction that we want to go in. GAMEZ: Okay. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Well, Jimmy, make a motion. You want to table this for? DAVIS: Yeah. I motion that we table this item for two months so we can come up with a more comprehensive plan and then take a second look at these ordinances. But I would also like some data on if these ordinances are working in other cities. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Reyes, what would be the Council meeting in the issue for the meeting in June? MEDRANO: Procedurally Mayor, just because there's a motion on the table. So what -- and I would say for ease of the motion, maybe just it -- because it's a lot -- just a motion to table to a future agenda. And that way, and then get a second, and then you can talk about that as much as you want. To table the item for a future agenda. DAVIS: Table the issue for a future agenda item, preferably in June. GAMEZ: I'll second it. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I would have a friendly amendment to add June 11th. DAVIS: So June 11th. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: June 11th, so we have the date that we're going to pull it off the table. Okay. Friendly amendment adopted. Second, okay with the friendly amendment? GAMEZ: Yes. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 32 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. So we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed? Okay. Motion passes. So these two items for the record, Ordinance 9617, new series, and 616 will be tabled until the June 16th -- June 11th meeting. Okay? Okay. Now we're going to move to Work Study and Presentation for Discussion. Discussion pertaining to a potential development on the property located at Southwest -- Yes. SINAWI: Just for the record, that meeting date would be June 10th, not June 11th. MEDRANO: You don't need to redo it, but I think that's just, we'll call it a scrivener's error. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I'll make that one is zero. Okay. All right. Tolleson, Arizona, prohibiting the unauthorized removal, possession of, or alternative -- that's one we just got done. Work Study Presentation for Discussion. Discuss pertaining to a potential development on the property located at the Southwest corner of 91st Avenue and McKinley Street. Development Services Director Earp. EARP: Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. So this is TCS. I think everyone's familiar with TCS on 91st and McKinley. It's been a body shop, transmission shop, you name it for many, many years. So the owners -- they want to sell the property. They're having a legal issue, civil issue that has nothing to do with the City, with the tenant that's in there, Tony's Transmission, so they're trying to figure that out. So once they figure that out, they want to sell. And on the Zoom is Mr. Luke Grecia (ph.), and he will provide what he wants to do with that property. It's one -- it looks like one big lot, but it is about five small parcels, and majority of those parcels are already zoned for multifamily. And I believe that's where the direction he wants to go, so I'll let him take it from here, Mayor. GRECIA: Thank you, Council and everyone here today. So we are proposing a CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 33 of 55 multifamily development there on McKinley. We're currently working through the legal process right now, civilly with Tony's Transmission in order to try to resolve that issue and develop a multifamily housing unit there. And I wanted to propose and see if there was anything from the City's perspective that would be beneficial to the community here. There is currently five parcels there and that -- those parcels, we'd prefer to merge those APNs and actually build some multi-housing units there. So I just wanted to open the floor up to see if there was any questions, concerns, anything that comes up with that and see how I can work with the City in order to achieve our goal of building multifamily here on that corner. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Well, two thoughts come to me. The first is, is there going to be any opportunity for economic development? Let's say there are apartments, which it sounds like you're proposing apartments. The first floor of the apartments facing onto 91st Avenue or even McKinley, if they could be a commercial development on the first floor and apartment on the second floor. GRECIA: And that is something that we're definitely open to doing. Currently right now, that is not something that we have on the table, but it is something that we would be open to doing, like the first level retail and then above that would be apartments. I just didn't know with the current zoning -- it's in your guys' core district, which I've spoke with Brett Harris on. And it's kind of odd how one parcel is core and the other four parcels are zoned multifamily. And from my understanding, it is -- I don't want to use grandfathered as the term, but it's currently being operated not as multifamily. And we're looking at it from a multimillion-dollar development perspective and trying to see exactly what we could and couldn't do on this parcel, being that we'll most likely have to rezone that front parcel to multifamily or potentially -- you know -- retail with the upstairs being apartments. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Jason. What do you -- EARP: Yes. Thank you, Mayor, members of Council. So in our meetings with Luke before, we suggested possibly if Council's in favor of going into this direction, a PAD, which is a Planned Area Development, and then you could write your own things in that. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 34 of 55 So we can write exactly what you would want to see and not want to see in it. And also to help with maybe lessening the setbacks so we can -- there'll be more parking, especially if there is going to be a retail component and living component of that. So -- excuse me -- so we would look into rezoning the whole thing, making it one APN. And when the time comes, we'll come back before Council with me working with Luke and figuring out what's the best, highest and best use for that property and then get your thoughts from there. This was the first initial steps for Luke to find out if this is even something that Council would entertain. And then I also want to mention that it's been a transmission mechanic shop. We have a grant -- the City has a grant, and Luke's aware of this -- through the Brownsfield and they approved that site as they'll go in, check it out. If it's contaminated, then we'll mitigate that issue as well so we can build on it. Mainly from a staff point of view, cleaning up that area would be number one. And if we could get some retail with a multifamily above would be great for the City. GAMEZ: I'm sorry. I like the idea of the retail and also the residents. I think that's cool. I like that. I was hoping for more parking. We have issues with parking. We need parking on 91st Avenue because you have a lot of businesses -- not a lot -- but those that are thriving, but they have nowhere to park, and that's an issue that causes issues on 91st Avenue. 91st Avenue alone is a big issue when it comes to traffic in the morning and in the afternoon, so one of these days I would like to have a meeting out there so everybody can see what the hell is going on over there. It's not good and it's not safe. That's another issue, but I like the ideas. I think that's great. Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Councilmember Erives. ERIVES: I have a couple of questions. You know, because the property is kind of like fenced off, so you don't really get to see what's in there. Can you tell me how much space -- I know you're saying five properties -- but is it like two acres, one acre? Are those -- you say little properties, but what does my little look like as far as yours? Are there currently homes that are there now that you -- GRECIA: No. ERIVES: -- because it says it's multifamily, right? So there's no homes on there. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 35 of 55 EARP: That's what it's zoned for. ERIVES: It's zoned for, right. But - so what type of property -- how much land are we talking about? EARP: I think Luke probably has that answer for you. GRECIA: Yeah. So each parcel is roughly about 5,000 square feet, and there's currently five parcels, so we're talking about 25,000 square feet of total land. The other thing is, is we don't -- we would prefer -- we're under contract to purchase the property right now, and we'd prefer not to leave it the way it currently sits. But from my understanding, that is, for lack of better term, grandfathered in and currently being operated as that. So depending that phase one and phase two, we'll be able to see exactly what the costs are and associated with -- you know -- developing that parcel. But yeah, roughly about 25,000 square feet total. ERIVES: Thank you, Luke. Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. We have another question from Vice Mayor Davis. DAVIS: I just wanted to say that I would also like to see retail on the bottom, housing on the top. We do have a couple of other developments that are coming to our city that are designed that way and we're landlocked, so we got to go up. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Or down. DAVIS: Or down. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, we have Councilwoman Chavira. CHAVIRA: Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. If there were tax credit dollars available through the Arizona Department of Housing, given our previous conversation, would you be open to tax credit affordable housing units? EARP: Yes, and that's something that I've proposed actually in earlier meetings to see if there was any need for low income housing or government subsidies -- you know -- that would prefer. Currently, we have a development in Glendale that is more kind of Section 8 through HUD and being a federal program, we're able to do that. I'm not sure if that would work with the proposed retail at the bottom and apartment at the top. The other thing would be the height that we're able to build. Currently, I believe we're CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 36 of 55 at 40 feet total, so I don't know through the PAD if we would be able to write in our own -- you know -- height requirements in order to build higher, or if Council would have any objections to a taller building in City of Tolleson to increase that skyline. CHAVIRA: Perhaps because it could help us solve another problem that we have, if we have some affordable or low-income housing units available in the City, and so it could be a win-win for us. Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I think we'll all start with looking at what it is you're proposing to build for us to respond to, because right now we're kind of -- we all think have a different image of what it's going to be. And we're hopeful because what it is right now is really not what we would prefer. It looks like -- well, you've seen it. It looks like - - you know. Yeah. GAMEZ: Sanford and Son. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, very much a junkyard. But so -- you know -- anything new and shiny would be great, but it also has to be good fit for our community. I'm a big proponent for ownership. I would love to see residential condos where people can actually buy the individual condo and be able to say that this piece of land, this little parcel, is mine versus rental, but that's something else to consider. I think we've talked about doing lots in other parts of the City or condos where people can actually buy at a much lower price point than a residential home. And I think the Tolleson market would be very, very much open to that, because we have a lot of young people that want to stay in Tolleson, but their option is stay with mom and dad -- or in some cases, Nana and Tata -- or have to buy a house, which is a big jump. You know? So I mean, it's significant, but a condo, the price points typically are lower and they make it more affordable, so I guess that was my contribution to this conversation. Give us something to respond to. I would like to see a product that could sound like a condo approach. I would like to see retail on the front end, especially on 91st Avenue. And to Councilmember Gamez's point, parking that is sustainable for the development because we are in a very tight spot there, and that's a lot to be asking for on five residential parcels, so we get that. So I think Council would be open to showing some flexibility on CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 37 of 55 ideas and possibility what we can develop there, assuming that we get it to the point that it turns into a PAD because then we have a lot more freedoms at that point, not only as a developer, but also as a Council. Council for the comments? Yeah. Okay. EARP: Okay, sir. Do you have anything else you want to add? GRECIA: Yeah. The final thing would be with the condominiums, if we were to propose with an architectural rendering of that, would that be something that the Council would consider any sort of grants or any help to develop that or anything that we could do to work in tandem here with you folks to achieve our -- you know -- mutual idea of what we're looking to do? We're not opposed to the condominiums, but the main thing is just parking, and also on 91st, I think you guys have a 12-inch waterline and in the alley, I want to say it's 6. So we're looking at utilities currently to see if that would even be something feasible and if there would be any help from the City to kind of help us offset those costs -- you know -- depending on kind of what direction we go, if we have to tap into the 12 or the 6. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Well, what I would say to that is we're -- in the City of Tolleson, we're in the constant mode of improvement, making things better. And I can tell you what we have there now needs better. And it sounds to me like you can help us get to better, but you're in good hands. You're with Jason and with his team and your players and management team. Anything that we can do on behalf of the City, they would know about, and they would be more than happy to have that conversation with you and try to get to a point where everybody is in a win-win situation. Jason? EARP: Thank you, Mayor, members of Council. One thing I can say right off the bat, the City of Tolleson does not -- eliminated their Development Impact fees, where I know in Glendale or wherever else he's building, those can get significantly high, and so those right off the bat are -- there's no cost for that. CHAVIRA: And just for me, I still would like to see maybe an option for affordable housing. I think that plays into the other issues that we're having, and I would like to CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 38 of 55 see that, but it's just me. Thank you. DAVIS: You know, I've been thinking about that. You know, affordable housing for veterans is another issue that we have. CHAVIRA: For veterans, yeah. Yeah. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Jason? EARP: Thank you, mayor. So if Council, Mayor and Vice Mayor and Council agrees, I think we have a good idea on Council's direction. I could continue to work with Luke and move forward and probably, if Luke agrees, we may bring a couple of different ideas before you that -- when we're ready, and then we can move on from there. Does that sound okay, Luke? GRECIA: Yeah, that sounds great. I can't see the name here, but to the person that spoke before, regarding affordable housing, would that be affordable rental housing or would that be, like, affordable housing for sale? CHAVIRA: Affordable rental, I think. I think it helps us address our homelessness issue that we spoke about earlier. GRECIA: And to comment on that, that was something that I was thinking as well would be something to do with affordable housing on the rental side. If we're able to get -- you know -- a Section 8 vouchers to help -- you know -- offset that. That -- you know -- CHAVIRA: That would be a wonderful thing, yes. And we could work with our local housing authority to get those vouchers specific to a project-based unit that are specific to us that would enable us to even open the door to working with our Human Services Department to say this family is homeless in Tolleson, and we want to try to mitigate that to Jimmy's point. And that so we can work with the housing authority to allocate that Section 8 voucher to that unit and have some input on what family obtains that voucher, so that would be a great thing. Yes. GRECIA: Would that be foregoing the retail and just making it all residential rental housing? CHAVIRA: I think everyone would like to see some retail, and I can't say in my experience in housing that I've seen that, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. It's a CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 39 of 55 whole new world, so maybe. Yeah. In housing, we just want a housing unit, right? So I think it would be okay. GRECIA: Would there be any specific or any insight from Council regarding beds and baths in terms of what the need for the City of Tolleson would be regarding if these are families moving in -- you know -- if we were to do a larger unit, I just want to have something to propose our next meeting, a few different options regarding the beds and bath mixture between each unit, because for us, it's an equation of the current income. CHAVIRA: Right. GRECIA: You know, we're under contract to purchase the property, so -- you know -- we have to look at costs on that side, but I don't know if there's any insight regarding beds and baths in terms of what you feel like would be the main need, if that would be a three bed, two bath, or a two bed, two bath, or anything regarding that. CHAVIRA: And I apologize. Yeah. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Many of the houses in Tolleson are three twos, three beds, two baths, but I don't think we'd be opposed to two bedrooms, one bath. I mean, really, at the end of the day, I know there's some folks that want to see rentals. I still think ownership is better, and quite honestly, I want to get my kids out of my house and they can't afford a house, but they might be able to afford a condo. But I think just go back and just come up with the magic solution. I know you've got a magic deal somewhere that you can show us and we're going to be blown away. And working with Jason, you're going to come up with all the right answers and we're going to be extremely impressed. CHAVIRA: And I apologize. I do not know what our homeless community looks like here, and so maybe I'll get a better feel for what we see every day in our community and get a better feel for what the need is so we address the need. But I don't know how many single people as opposed to family, so we can find that out for you, but probably a good mixture would be an easy solution. GRECIA: One other idea just in closing here was to deed one of the APNs to the City for some sort of community center and to develop the other side too. That's something CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 40 of 55 that we've been exploring in other markets and that we've had a lot of success with doing depending on if there is any particular need from the City in exchange for allowing us to do other things on the parcel. So we will definitely get to the drawing board here this week and start working on different proposals and different renderings so we come prepared next meeting with an actual -- you know -- vision and some concrete detail regarding exactly what we're going to. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. CHAVIRA: Great. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Sounds good. Thanks for your time. CHAVIRA: Thank you. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Jason, anything else? All right. Well, that concludes that Work Study Session. We're going to move on to -- do you guys want to take a break before we get into the budget or – we're going to take a five minute -- or 10 minute recess for a little rest room break before we get into the fiscal updates for the coming year. (Recess from 7:30 p.m. to 7:41 p.m.) MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. We're back in session 7:41. Item J, Work Study Presentation Number 2. Fiscal year 2025, second quarter update. I'm going to turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer Artz. Sir, you have the floor. Good evening. ARTZ: Evening. Thank you, Mayor and Council. So tonight we have the second quarter update for fiscal year 2025. That's the current budget year that we're in. And we just wanted to go through where we're at currently. So this is the financial information through December 31st, 2024, and these are the revenues of the revenue side. So taxes, we had an original budget of 38 -- a little over $38 million. That's our sales tax and our property tax. We've collected almost $20 million of that through December, so we're at about 52 percent collections on the taxes, which is, as you can see, the largest percentage of our total budget in the General Fund. Intergovernmental is our revenue that we get shared from the state, so the CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 41 of 55 income tax, the state sales tax. Those revenues were right at 50 percent there of our collections on the intergovernmental. Licenses and permits. We're a little bit behind what we had budgeted there. We're at 34 percent, so we haven't seen quite as many of the licenses and permits coming in, but the other areas are making up for that, and that's a fairly small revenue line item for us. Charges for services. That is primarily the dispatch services that we have with El Mirage and the TO, and so we're above our collections there. We're at about 70 percent, 69 percent there, and I think we actually have one extra receipt in there is why. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Dispatch services for the TOs right here off of the 101, but are we also doing it at the 303, both of them? Okay. CHAVIRA: Wow. Okay. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I wasn't aware. I want Chief Mendoza to answer. MENDOZA: So -- and I'm -- I don't think my mic is working. Here we go. So TO is still running the same number of officers. They have gone back and forth with the one that's -- you know -- kind of helped them to get through. So yeah -- that same number of officers provides service to two different locations. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. So we're able to service both with same number of people? Okay. That's all. Thank you. MENDOZA: Sorry about that. ARTZ: And then interest is our next revenue line item. We had budgeted $1.5 million. We've collected almost $1.2 million, so we're well ahead of our budget there -- about 37 percent collected on our dividend or interest income. The miscellaneous. The big amount there is the sale of the old City Hall property, so that's what's included in the $3 million actual. And so in total, we're at about 61 percent collected of our budget for through the second quarter. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Looking at 50 percent of the year that already passed. ARTZ: Exactly, so being right on budget would be at 50 percent. So we're about 10, 11 percent above budget on the revenue side, which is a positive variance for us. Just looking at some of the other funds. Public safety tax, we're at 41 percent. There's CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 42 of 55 just -- when we collect the taxes overall, there's a journal entry that has to be made, so that's only actually five months worth of revenue there at 41 percent. So that's actually exactly where it should be after five months. HEERF is at 47 percent. Water, sanitation, both coming in right where they should be or a little bit above. The wastewater looks low, but again, that's the one where we bill out our partners, and so when we get to the expenditure side, you'll see that we have $4.7 million of revenue, but we'll have less than that on the expenditure side. So don't really look at the percentage on that one. It's more of the dollar amount, and then we're right where we should be again on the wastewater side also. Again, this is one of the graphics that we like to keep track of. Just looking at our sales tax collections on a month over month basis. So for fiscal year 25, we've collected $21 million through the first six months. Comparing that to 24, we're at 17.5, so we've seen very strong growth in our city sales tax. And then just looking at the graphic on the right, you can just see where the dark blue is the 25 number, and so you can see that each month, basically, we're collecting more than we did in the previous year, except for December, which was a little bit low, but it's basically right there about the same amount. So everything is looking good on our sales tax collections. We track this on a monthly basis so that if we start to see a trend of our sales tax collections coming in below the prior year, we would be able to come to Council and discuss that and then discuss possibly what options needed to occur if we see a continued trend of that coming in below our prior year. So looking at the expenditure side, I won't go through all of them. I mean, basically, again, we're at 50 percent. Mayor and Council's at 55. That's because both of the City Attorney payments have been made by the end of December, so you've basically got the full year of the City attorney's contract being charged through six months, so it looks good there. I know I'll get some comments from some, so I'll just point it out. Finance is at the highest there at 58 percent. I heard a little bit about that last quarter when we were over. But similar thing, it's our insurance premiums to the risk pool. We've made three CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 43 of 55 of those through the six months, so by the end of the year, I'm confident that all departments will be below budget, and so we'll just kind of scroll through here. The rest of these are all below 50 percent on their percentage of budget. And everyone's looking good, right on track. And so in total, $15 million of expenditures or about 30 percent of our budget on the expenditure side. So again, a positive variance when we're looking at budget to actual on the expenditure. So revenues coming in higher than projected, expenditures being lower than the budget, so very positive news. Looking at some of the other funds, everything here is again in line. You know, nothing stands out is on the expenditure side. And then you'll see there, the wastewater treatment plant, that $4.1 million on expenditures; revenues were about $4.4 million. So again, everything is tracking right as it should, and we're very comfortable with where we're at on the budget through the second quarter. But just the key takeaways. Revenues are projecting to exceed budget, expenditures coming in under budget, so we anticipate that the results of the year is that we'll be adding to our fund balance. And that number is already very positive and we'll be continuing to add to that number. With that, staff is available if you have any questions. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: My only comment is great news is always embraced. And you said it best. Expenses are low, under projections, and revenues high, above what we expected, and so that's a win-win. We got to make up our difference in our new aquatic facility, so this will help us go a long way with that. Other comments, questions? GAMEZ: So you're going to get a raise soon, right? Good job, man. ARTZ: Thank you. GAMEZ: Absolutely. ERIVES: I'll just say, I appreciate the visuals with the graphing. It makes it really easy because I'm not a numbers person, but I can understand that. So thank you for the presentation, that ease of understanding. Thank you. DAVIS: I appreciate the same thing. I am lucky enough to sit on the -- I'm not going to say actually that -- let's just say thank you. Thank you. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 44 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I can tell you that one of the biggest things that we do as a Council is approve the budget and hope that the City's in a good financial place. And we got people that are surgical like yourself and your team that help us stay there, and quite frankly, reports like this, help us sleep at night, knowing that we're doing the best that we can, of course, with the support of all of you folks that actually do the day-to-day. So thank you, I can rest tonight knowing that we're in a very good place. So if there's no other questions or comments, take a seat. No, not yet. We're going to move on to Item number 3, which is fiscal year 2026 First Budget Work Study. ARTZ: Mayor. So tonight we're going to focus on the revenues. So we're not going to get into any of the expenditure side or any of the requests from the departments, so we just wanted to focus on revenues tonight. And then when we come back at the next meeting, we'll get into the department's request and the departmental budgets, the expenditure budgets. So just focusing on the revenues tonight, this is just a snapshot of where we're at for each of the funds. It starts on the left column with an estimated fund balance in July of 25. So three months from now, this is what we're projecting our fund balance to be. So for the General Fund, just shy of $80 million, $49 million of revenues, and then $71 -- and on the expenditure side, we're still fine tuning this, so when we come back in a couple of weeks, these numbers may change a little bit because we haven't completed the expenditure side of the budget. But these are the numbers of where we're at today. So expenditures of a $71.6 million, transfers out of $13 million. $10 million of that is going down to the Aquatic Center, so that's where the funding for the Aquatic Center is at, is in the transfers out. So projecting ending fund balance to be at $44.7 million. Now we're very conservative when we project that beginning fund number, so I'm confident that the ending fund balance is going to be above the $44 million, especially when we have the results of next year where we should have positive revenue variances and positive expenditure variances. So although it appears that we're spending it down quite a bit, I think we've been very conservative on those numbers. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 45 of 55 And then you can see that with all of our other funds, there is one fund there that the impound fund that's showing in the negative, and so we still have some work to do there to figure out what we're going to do if we're going to transfer money in or adjust expenditures. But by the time we bring this back to you in two weeks, all of the funds will be balanced and we'll have a positive ending fund balance. So included in your packet tonight was a detail of all of the revenue line items, so I'm going to keep it fairly high level and not get into all the details, but you do have every line item and what we're projecting the revenue to be. So if you want the details, you have it. And if you have any questions on that, I'm happy to answer it tonight, but otherwise I was going to try to keep it at a fairly high level on the revenue side. So taxes, we're at -- current year budget is $38.4 million. Next year, we're budgeting $43 million. So a $4.5 million increase in taxes is what we're projecting -- almost a 10 percent -- or actually a 12 percent increase on sales tax. We then go ahead and break all of our revenues down into one-time revenue and ongoing revenue so that we can balance our budget to the expenditure side, so all of our revenues are categorized and then all of our expenditures are categorized on ongoing and one-time revenues. So we've got $37.7 million of ongoing revenue for taxes. Intergovernmental, we're projecting a slight decrease. That's because the formula for the income tax changed a little bit, and we're actually going to project it to see a little bit less in revenue from the state on that. Excuse me. We did decrease license and permits just based on the current year results where we were seeing that those weren't coming in as strong, so we've reduced those a little bit. Charges for services staying about the same. And then the miscellaneous, we're showing some increases and the majority of that is again in the interest income. We're seeing very positive results from our investments and our -- so we're seeing increased revenue from our dividends and interest income. So total of $44 million in the current year and we're projecting in the General Fund over $49 million of revenue -- so a 10 percent increase on the revenues, which is fairly substantial. And when we bring back the expenditures to you, you'll be able to see where we're programming all of those funds towards. Some of the other funds, HEERF CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 46 of 55 is going up a little bit. Grants, we're showing an increase. You know, the grants -- a lot of what's in there is the federal appropriations and there's obviously some unknown with whether we're going to get some of those revenues. But we thought it was better to leave it in the budget because if we do get the grants, we need to have it budgeted so that we can expend the funds, and so we understand that there's not a high likelihood that we're going to get $56 million of grants next year, but we need that flexibility based on what does come in or what becomes available to us. Public safety, showing an increase of a couple of hundred thousand dollars in the public safety tax. The Aquatic Center, the $21 million is the bonds, so we're showing the revenue from the bonds coming in. So in total, going from $167 million of revenue to about $180 million of revenue is what we're projecting. AAA is our -- I forget what it stands for now, but it's basically the senior center area. We've got -- thank you. And so it's the meals and some of those, so it's a grant that we get from the county. Also just wanted to talk a little bit again about the property tax. So for the last several years -- so back in 2021, our property tax rate was at $3.52. We've been able to gradually decrease that. And then we're actually holding it the same now for the past four years or just a very slight decrease this year, but it's nice that we're able to maintain that tax rate and not have any increases and actually show almost a dollar decrease from back in 2021. So -- you know -- providing more services, providing more amenities, but keeping the tax rate at a stable rate and not having to increase it, so that's a very positive. With that, staff's available for any questions that you may have on the revenues. As I mentioned, we'll come back in the first meeting in April and we'll have all of the expenditure budgets and go through the increases on the expenditure side and the new programs and services. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Awesome. Well, I've got to say 25 is looking great. We're getting better, and so it's a rolling. Thank you very much for the information. CHAVIRA: Thank you. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 47 of 55 GAMEZ: Good job, man. Thank you. Thank you so much. ARTZ: Thank you. Thank you, mayor. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Mayor and City Manager Updates of Current Events, community events. Director Babchuk? BABCHUK: Thank you, Mayor and members of the Council. Excited to update you guys on some events that are coming up for the month of April. We have a few of them starting with our Whoopee Daze event -- or Whoopee Daze Festival -- starting next Friday. We have a good lineup starting with our Youth Day event and then live entertainment starting at 6 p.m. and going to 10:30. We have our 5K run with the elementary school that we'll be doing. We'll have an update tomorrow. We have a meeting with them to see exactly how many runners we have. So that'll be followed by our parade, which is themed community spirit. After that, we have our Dia de los Ninos from 11:00 to 4:00, which library has graciously helped out with in the past years and is helping us this year again with that. So Sunday, we will have our friends and family kickball tournament starting at 8 a.m. So if you guys can get a team out, we're currently at five teams. We're possibly looking at staying at eight, so if you guys know anyone that wants to get in, it'll be a good time. And then our live event -- or live entertainment -- will start at 1 p.m. and go through 8:30 on Sunday night, April 6th. We have our Easter event the following Saturday, April 12th, which we do in conjunction with our VFW. We've added a car show component to help fundraise for them -- for their facility as well -- so we'll have a car show component, which will go from 10:00 to 1:00, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 12th. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: What is it? Just a show and shine or -- BABCHUK: It'll be a show and shine. Cars will be paying an entry fee of $20 to show their car and all proceeds will go to VFW 6310, post 6310. April 19th, we will have an Arbor Day event. We partnered with a company called Trees Matter. They've donated 25 trees for 95th Avenue Park. We're going to do a tree line CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 48 of 55 on the south end of the field, as well as the west side, so they're donating 25 plush Pistache trees, and then they're going to do some volunteers as well as helping them train some of our staff as well, so we'll have a good time, and that'll be from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. that day. And then that'll line up so we can be a Tree City USA, so that'll be the last component for that, and we'll become a Tree City USA. And that's the month of April. MEDRANO: Public safety has an update too. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Public safety. MEDRANO: Thank you, Randy. Oh shoot. CHAVIRA: Wow. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I just wanted to be noted. I will not be pushing out the trouble. LABORIN: For the record. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All right. Well, we got some good events coming from Randy. Thank you, sir. We got another great event over there. And Public Safety -- CHAVIRA: We have a Tolleson Talks. ERIVES: Don't we have one on Friday? MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: We have a Tolleson Talks this Friday. Yeah. I think it's going to be at Irma's? ERIVES: Irma's. Yeah. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: And so we'll be talking about Parks and Recreation and events coming up this summer. So I'm moving to Item number 2, and I guess I'll go first. It's just the Council of the National League of Cities. This year was a little different. At least for me, it felt different. Like the vibe in D.C. has changed a little bit. I'm not going to say for the better, but I'm going to say it's definitely different. But like I explained to the Councilmembers, our job is to ask. You know? We do what we can, and there's certain things that are out of our purview and those -- you know -- eventually the congressman's got to take over and the executive branch and everybody else, and then they decide what's going to be funded and what's not. Going back to the CFO's earlier CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 49 of 55 comments, we don't expect to get $50 million, but you never know. I know what's going to happen if you don't ask, and you don't apply; you're going to get zero. And so this year we had a -- I'm not going to name him, but we had a guest that came along with us, and he was observing City staff and Councilmembers. And before I forget, Reyes and Pilar did an amazing job along with our Anna and Bob putting together our talking points. And we proposed four projects, and each one was, I think, 1.25 -- so $1.25 million -- so in totality, you're looking at $5 million, cross our fingers. But having said that, I asked him -- I was kind of -- when we went to dinner, I said, hey, so what'd you think of today? And he said, you guys are like a well-oiled machine. At first you guys started off, and it was a little kind of -- you know -- and you have a strategy, but by the second one, you guys were hitting on all eight cylinders and you guys had your talking points, little committee things here and there. And so I think overall, the Councilmembers that went this year was Jimmy, and we also had a Councilmember Chavira, and they did an amazing job. And so I think we did what we wanted to do. And I got to tell you, there were some people that went and never even met with the Councilmembers, other cities. And they were convinced that, for what? They're just going to cut the budget, we're not going to get anything. Okay. If that's the way you want it. Well, first of all, if you want to come all the way to D.C. and say you're advocating for your city, and then you don't advocate for your city, that's on you. But we went there to do a job, and I feel very confident and comfortable knowing that we did exactly what we wanted to do, and that was good. And I didn't want to talk too much beyond that, because I know maybe some other Councilmembers that went or staff wanted to add their own two cents, like something. DAVIS: This was a different conference for me. It was the first time -- I had to get there a couple of days early because I had my federal advocacy committee meeting for human development. So that was really interesting, just kind of hearing all those different perspectives of change to human development, just from all over the country and some of the problems that different people are having. And I also sat in the Small Cities Committee meeting. And I will say one of my takeaways from that CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 50 of 55 meeting is that even though Tolleson is a small city, technically, and rural at that, where you have a rural designation, you don't really have small city problems. We have -- how do they describe it? We're a small city wearing big city clothes. Like, we have big city problems, but it's good. We have very different issues as a small city, so that was awesome. And then, I was really excited that our team Council got to go -- seven Teen Councilmembers, right? Yeah, seven Teen Councilmembers. We had that retreat high, so to speak. You know what I mean? They were so excited and just so grateful for the opportunity. And I'm really glad that as a city, we were able to provide that opportunity to them because that's our future. Those are our future leaders, so we need to really cultivate that and grow that, nurture that. I don't think any of them had traveled out of state before, right? MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: None of them have been to D.C. DAVIS: Yeah, and none of them had ever been to D.C. So it's an amazing opportunity that we were able to provide for them, and so I'm just glad we got to do that. Also the busiest NLC schedule I've ever had in my life. And I actually came home a little early on Wednesday because I was so tired. I went to the airport and was in their face, like send me home. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I mean, you literally get picked up and we go to the Capitol and from the moment you get dropped off, it's walk, walk, walk, walk, stop, present. Okay. Thank you. Shake hands. Get up, walk, walk, walk, walk, present. And then okay. Now we're going to go to the other building and you get out of this building. So it's a lot of -- it's all synchronized. When you're done with it, it all makes sense. You hit all the important points. And the only one that I was kind of disappointed -- it wasn't a disappointment -- but obviously it was out of his control, but we used to see Councilmember Grijalva. CHAVIRA: Yes. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Not Council, I'm sorry. Congressman Grijalva. And he wasn't there today. He wasn't there during the -- he was at home getting treatment and we asked him how he's doing, and we knew he was feeling a little bad. And so they CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 51 of 55 reassured that he was doing great and this and that. And unfortunately we came back and we got the sad news that he had passed away. And -- you know -- on that note, I got to say, we're very thankful for all of his past support and he's been a great friend of Tolleson and we're surely going to miss him and -- you know -- our prayers are with their families. And so we'll see what happens with District 7 moving forward, but it's very important that we stop and we thank people when they help us out. And to say that Congressman was a friend of Tolleson is a huge understatement. He was a huge advocate for us and we're very thankful for all of the service, and so we wish the best for his family. But Christine? CHAVIRA: It was an amazing experience that I very much appreciate. A little bit intimidating to be in our nation's capital and speaking to people who -- you know -- work there and are seasoned people. So yeah, I think the first time it was like, wow, I kind of bumbled that a little bit. So definitely we'll get better at that, but it was an amazing experience to go and speak about our city and pitch for money for our city. And you're right, if you don't ask for any, you're not getting any. So we'll see what happens. Staff, wow. You guys do a great job. First of all, keeping us in line, knowing our schedule and getting us from point A to point B and organizing it, and that's a tremendous task in and of itself. So thank you for all your hard work and hopefully Tolleson gets some money. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: I didn't get to thank Ruben. Ruben had probably the hardest job. He had seven teenagers that he had to take care of the whole time from the moment he got there to the moment that he left. And I got to say, we sat down and after a couple of days, the teams get to go on team tracks. So they're with other teams from across the country and they get to talk about leadership and about governance and vision and themselves. And you sit down and have a slice of pizza with these kids and they're just gleaming of leadership. I mean, they're hungry for the opportunity and for just -- it charges your batteries because you're sitting there and you're kind of tired because you've been walking all morning and you're just having a general conversation with CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 52 of 55 them and they're just -- they're ready to go. You know? And that's what we're producing here. And I think that's a testament to guys like Ruben, Randy before him, and the entire Parks and Recreation Center. That was their Teen Council. You guys are producing an amazing crop of young teenagers that are ready to take that next challenge, so let's continue to do that. Let's expose them to great opportunities. I think that was very, very good. DAVIS: Yes. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely. DAVIS: About the Teen Council, I thought of it. They called me by my first name. So that's a testament to our family dynamics here in Tolleson and something that we need to keep with our Teen Council, making sure they do know us and they know that we're there to support them. And of course, thank you to Ruben for -- they had a horrible trek to D.C. Their flight got delayed. They got to the airport at like 7:00 in the morning and they were on my flight in the evening, so they were there all day long. CHAVIRA: They lost their luggage. DAVIS: Yeah, they lost their luggage. So every horrible travel situation happened to them, so they're prepared for their future now. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Get it out of the way. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. DAVIS: Yeah. No. I didn't say it earlier, but thank you so much to the staff for preparing everything for us and you guys do a really good job of playing to our individual strengths, so we appreciate you guys and all your hard work. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Randy, you had your hand up. BABCHUK: Yeah. Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. Just wanted to -- you know -- thank you guys for being so accessible to our teens. That was, I think, one of the biggest things they took away from the conferences is that they know your names. They know you come in and visit with them and they have that accessibility to you guys and whatever you guys are doing. They're there with you guys. So they really appreciated that, and I think that was the biggest part that they took from it and they loved. So -- and they came back ready to work for sure. CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 53 of 55 MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Awesome. Staff? MEDRANO: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You want to say something before I do? So I'm going to disagree with Councilwoman Chavira. You were outstanding and you've been outstanding since you've been on this Council and it's an honor to work with you. Vice Mayor Davis, equally as outstanding and I loved how you pointed out how proud you are about how diverse our organization is and how reflective we are about the community we serve. Most notably, when you mentioned the promotion of the two deputy City Managers, that meant a lot to me. I know it did to them. When Senator Gallego's staff was so impressed when they sat down with us and looked around and said, you're all Latino. It was awesome. It was awesome. And Mayor, the way you facilitated all the meetings kept us all in order and it went extremely well. So thank you to all three of you for investing the time in that. I have a couple of announcements after to present too. SINAWI: Mayor, members of Council. I just want to say a huge thank you to all of the directors and staff, their support. You know, it's an official project. There's a lot of work to get it ready to have projects, to present things. There's also a lot of work in the community that we can't do without your support. It's priceless. I feel very blessed to have the support that we've been offered. Like you've all mentioned, it's a lot of work throughout the whole entire process, but we definitely, like you've all mentioned, worth it for the community for us to -- you know -- at least to make that attempt for the community. So thank you to Council and thank you to my teammates. MEDRANO: Thank you very much, Pilar, for acknowledging our team. Yes, first, I want to acknowledge the 10-year anniversary of one of the most bold steps I've ever seen anyone take. Today is the anniversary of the formation of the Pierce Coleman, who's now been our -- we were his first client and we are the first of 16. So Justin, congratulations on your prosperity and thank you so much. And then lastly, at least under this category, I want to thank Stephen Holliday for his 17 years of service. He's reached his retirement age and I'm overjoyed that he's decided to CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 54 of 55 stay with us and thank Council for honoring that today with the passage of our new contract. And I look forward to 17 more years of working with you, Stephen. You've changed my life personally, both with your contributions to the organization and helping us get through the pandemic the way you and your team did, but also through your friendship, so thank you and congratulations. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay. Well, with that, I know you guys are waiting for the next one, at least most of you are. We're going to convene into executive session, so I'm going to make a motion to go into executive session. Now, I always have to read this. Now the time for Council to convene into executive session, we are asking members of the public and those that are not involved in the executive session to please exit the meeting at this time. The only action items after the executive session will be to adjourn the public meeting. Do we have a motion to go into executive session? We have a motion by Vice Mayor Davis. We have a motion by -- second by Clorinda Erives. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. ALL: Aye. MAYOR RODRIGUEZ: All those opposed? All right. We're now in executive session. Everybody have a good night. Take care, folks. APPROVED: ____________________________________ JUAN F. RODRIGUEZ, MAYOR ATTEST: ____________________________________ CRYSTAL ZAMORA, CITY CLERK CITY OF TOLLESON MARCH 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Page 55 of 55 CERTIFICATION I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING MINUTES ARE A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TOLLESON, ARIZONA, HELD ON MARCH 25, 2025. I FURTHER CERTIFY THAT THE MEETING WAS DULY CALLED AND HELD, AND THAT A QUORUM WAS PRESENT. ____________________________________ CRYSTAL ZAMORA, CITY CLERK