20260204 NEIGHBORHOODADVISORYCOMMISSIONMINUTES.PDF

Minutes of the Neighborhood Advisory Commission (NAC) Meeting held on Wednesday, 
Feb. 4, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. as a hybrid meeting with in-person attendance option along with 
virtual component option via Microsoft Teams platform 
 
(MEMBERS) Present: Brandon Abrahams, Lane Carraway, Joe Caudill, Ray Devine, Jan 
Doughty, Gavin Hamilton, John Kozel, Caitlin Rynn, Joel Stern, Casey Thomas, Suri Wall 
 
(MEMBERS) Absent: Eric Johnson, Stacy Novis, Kaylyn Smith, Angie Taylor 
 
City Staff: Shauna Warner, Neighborhood Services Director; Elizabeth Thomas, Neighborhood 
Services Specialist; Keith Burke, Deputy City Manager; Eric Iwersen, Transportation and 
Sustainability Director; Michelle Beckley, Senior Civil Engineer/Traffic Engineering and Cathy 
Hollow, Principal Civil Engineer/Traffic Engineering  
 
Guests:  
None. 
 
Agenda Item 1 – Call to Order 
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chair Kozel 
 
Agenda Item 2 – Public Comment 
None. 
 
Agenda Item 3 – Welcome and introduction of new and existing commission members  
Newest NAC Member Gavin Hamilton, participated virtually and introduced himself after joining the 
meeting at 6:00 p.m. Gavin grew up in the Gilbert and Queen Creek areas and now lives in Tempe 
Gardens, is an ASU Graduate and current Management Intern with Valley Benchmark 
Communities.  He especially enjoys coffee and local business Brick Road Coffee. Fellow members 
will offer their introductions at a future meeting when more time is available. 
 
Agenda Item 4 – Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes: December 3, 2025 Neighborhood 
Advisory Commission Meeting and January 7, 2026 Neighborhood Advisory Commission 
Meeting 
There was one motion to approve the December 3, 2025 and January 7, 2026 Neighborhood 
Advisory Commission minutes by Commissioner Carraway and seconded by Vice Chair Caudill. 
The motion passed unanimously by all members present at that time with a vote of 10 ayes.  
 
Commission Member Ayes: Brandon Abrahams, Lane Carraway, Joe Caudill, Ray Devine, Jan 
Doughty, John Kozel, Caitlin Rynn, Joel Stern, Casey Thomas, Suri Wall 
 
Absent: Gavin Hamilton (joined meeting at 6:10 p.m. after minutes vote), Eric Johnson, Stacy 
Novis, Kaylyn Smith, Angie Taylor 
 
Agenda Item 5 – Proposed Speed Limit Changes Updates, Michelle Beckley, Senior Civil 
Engineer/Traffic Engineering  
Senior Civil Engineer, Michelle Beckley provided background information, existing conditions and 
an overview of the proposed speed limit changes and their locations. Reasons for the proposed 
changes include acknowledgement that roadway functions can change over time, “right sizing” the 
speeds to match what is happening in the area and establishing speeds that more closely match 
the adjacent roadside culture.  
 
     
  
Minutes 
Neighborhood Advisory Commission 
February 4, 2026

2 
 
The primary purpose of speed limits is to enhance safety by reducing risks imposed by drivers’ 
speed choices with the intent to reduce disparities in speeds and potential for vehicle conflicts.  
 
Types of speed limits: 
Statutory: Set by State statutes, enforceable even if not posted (15 mph, 25 mph or 65 mph) 
Posted: Set by State statutes or local ordinances, sign posted to be enforceable 
Special Conditions: School zones, work zones, and variable speed limits and advisory speeds 
 
Proposed changes and their locations: 
Broadway Road: Reduce the 45 speed limit to 40 mph from Terrace to the east city limit and also 
reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Priest Dr. to the west city limit 
 
Priest Drive: Reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Alameda Drive to Baseline Road 
 
Guadalupe Road: Reduce the 45 mph speed limit to 40 mph from Kyrene Road to east city limit 
 
Veteran’s Way/Fifth Street: Reduce the 30 mph speed limit to 25 mph from University Drive to 
Farmer Avenue 
 
Miller Road: Reduce the 35 mph speed limit to 30 mph from the north city limit to Curry Road 
 
McKellips Road: Reduce the 40 mph speed limit to 35 mph from College Avenue to Scottsdale 
Road 
 
Roosevelt Street: Reduce the 35 mph speed limit to 30 mph from Broadway Road to Southern 
Avenue 
 
Member questions and comments included:  
?: Why change speed limits? 
A: Density changes, consistency throughout corridor, more pedestrians and bikes as well as 
existing conditions like schools and activity centers, multiple lanes of travel in each direction. 
 
?: Will there be a media campaign to help implement and educate people about the changes? 
A: We’re not trying to create a surprise or a trap.  First and foremost, looking at safety 
considerations, uniformity amongst motorist speed and high severity crash reduction. If the 
proposed speed limits are approved by City Council, a media campaign is envisioned to inform the 
community of the speed limit changes and locations.  
 
? Are these hot spots? Is that why these areas were picked for changes? 
A: With safety in mind but not crash data.  More about consistency, right fit, acknowledging 
significant changes over time to these streets.  Some streets have had speed limits remain the 
same while uses of street have largely changed.  If a specific street has serious issues and we see 
a trend, we tackle those directly.   
 
I go with the flow.  I think this could be impactful with Waymo, may not be as abrupt as you go with 
these slow-downs. 
 
?: Enforceability – how will you do that and what will that look like? 
A: Transportation staff and the Transportation Commission have been meeting and communicating 
weekly about trends, PD is well aware of the coming changes.  There will likely be a grace period 
with warnings and education first followed by tickets.  The Police Chief is giving a safety 
presentation next week about various safety measures being implemented throughout the city to 
make a safer city.   
 
Maybe use schools as a conduit for sharing information to drivers and high school students. 
 
?: All proposed locations are north of the US60 save for Guadalupe. Any plans for Southern end of 
city?

3 
 
A: Yes, we intend to address that as well.  Older sections of the city will be prioritized first since it’s 
been so long since they have been changed. 
 
?: Do you have data that reflects traffic speed? 
A: Yes, we have reviewed the 85th percentile speeds on each corridor, which serves as one of 
several factors considered in the speed limit recommendations. 
 
Comments are being taken about the proposed changes through March 1 at tempe.gov/Forum.  
Members were encouraged to participate online and to share the opportunity with others. Two 
public hearings will follow that are tentatively scheduled for April 2026. 
 
Note: Commissioner Carraway had to depart this meeting for another meeting at 6:05 p.m. 
 
Agenda Item 6 – Mill Avenue Streetscape Project Update, Eric Iwersen, Transportation and 
Sustainability Director 
Agenda Item 6 – Mill Avenue Streetscape Project Update, Eric Iwersen, Transportation and 
Sustainability Director 
The Mill Avenue Streetscape Project runs along Mill Avenue from University Drive to Rio Salado Parkway.  
Started in summer of 2024, the project is 90% complete and anticipated to be finalized by Fall 2026.  This 
project encompasses a refresh of Mill Avenue infrastructures which have not been holistically upgraded in 
over 40 years.  Improvements will support Tempe and its businesses, events and residents for years to 
come. 
 
Eric described each of the new elements: 
✓ Irrigation lines adjacent to the sidewalk and electrical lines 
✓ Sidewalk brick to complement the existing older brick and concrete pavers and bands with “bulb-
outs” to expand pedestrian space at multiple intersections 
✓ ADA improvements including pedestrian ramps at all intersections, new push buttons and sidewalk 
cross-slope upgrades 
✓ Bike racks 
✓ Expanded diversity of trees (125 added with 5 new sustainable desert tree species), preservation of 
existing healthy ficus and larger planting areas using mulch and avoiding use of tree grates when 
possible  
✓ String lighting adding ambience on Fourth Street between Mill and Maple and on Sixth Street 
between Myrtle and Maple 
✓ Mosaic medallions highlighting historic Tempe locations and images 
✓ Light and signal foundations 
✓ Bus shelters with indigenous designs, working with a regional public art indigenous collective on 
some Hohokam designs 
✓ Mill Avenue Gateway sign structure with anticipated installation coming in March or April 
 
Member questions and comments included: 
The mosaics look like manhole covers to me, maybe we should do those as well? 
 
Bus shelters with seating and shade encourage unhoused to congregate.  What is being done? 
A: We have 800 bus stops in Tempe, nearly half of them have shade or shelter.  On this stretch of Mill 
Avenue, three new bus shelters are going in.  One of them is a replacement and all will feature indigenous 
designs. Anyone can use the Transit system.  It’s understood that passengers are needing to wait for 
bus/public transit, it can be up to one hour.  Some stops have enforcement as needed just as some with 
higher use are cleaned daily. The four different sizes of bus shelters allow staff flexibility to work with the site 
and the volume of passengers at that location. 
 
?: Are arch structures (the gateway sign) going to be silver? 
A: Yes, brushed aluminum so as to not be hot to the touch and graffiti repellant.  The material is reflective of 
heat so less likely to retain it and we’re not anticipating glare. 
 
?: Will the cables be lit? 
A: No, the sign lettering is intended to be free standing and not too much.  Our sign is similar to some in 
California, we were determined to minimize future lighting and maintenance issues.

4 
 
?: City has history of building assets without sufficient funds to maintain them.  How much will all these 
additions cost to maintain? 
A: The city prepares an annual budget, each item has a separate line litem with maintenance costs then 
plugged in.  Not sure of the overall cost for new infrastructure maintenance.  Keep in mind that maintenance 
costs were high on these old assets, they were at the very end of their life cycle. We engaged in lots of 
planning and discussion around life cycle of assets for this project.  We’re not sprawling, we’re adding more 
vertical housing, our focus is on maintaining what we have. 
 
Agenda Item 7 – Maryanne Corder Neighborhood Program Overview and Updates 
With the addition of four new NAC members, Shauna Warner, Neighborhood Services Director, 
provided a Maryanne Corder Neighborhood Grant Program overview similar to the presentation 
given at the September 2025 NAC meeting. Launched in 1994, nearly 700 projects have been 
completed with $6.3 million invested. Each grant cycle, $275,000 is available with possible 
additional funds available through Water Conservation and Sustainability and Resilience for 
projects addressing water conservation and green stormwater infrastructure improvements.   
 
Eligible communities include neighborhood and homeowners’ associations, and crime free multi-
housing properties. The maximum grant is $20,000 per association with joint and collaborative 
projects welcomed. Projects are neighborhood-initiated enhancements and improvements of 
community wide benefit that must be inclusive of all members of the neighborhood from decision to 
apply and what to apply for through project completion. Grants are for one-time expenditures and 
grantees are provided one year to complete the project.  
 
All application submittals must include an application form, bids, pictures of existing conditions and 
documentation of community involvement. Each project type has specific requirements as well.  
Current Project types include:  
• 
Arts 
• 
Entry and Neighborhood Signage 
• 
Fencing and Walls 
• 
Landscape, Lighting and Environmental Impacts 
• 
Trees 
• 
Parks Improvements (benches, basketball hoops, bike racks, trees, BBQ’s, accessible 
paths, chess boards) 
• 
Traffic Calming 
• 
Adaptive Streets 
• 
Water Conservation (includes Water Harvesting and Green Stormwater Infrastructure) 
 
New project ideas and suggestions are always welcome.  
 
The timeline for grant application preparation is similar every year, schedule details, project type 
guidelines, past applications, project examples and recordings of a January 28 informational 
workshop and February 9 workshop about using data to enhance your grant application are all 
available at www.tempe.gov/neighborhoodgrants. The 2026-2027 application deadline is April 23, 
2026.  
 
NAC member comments and questions included: 
?: Do we use up that grant money every year? 
A: Yes, the process is always competitive and there are always more requests than funding. This 
requires some No’s and some grants receive partial funding only. 
 
?: Who is responsible for the maintenance costs? 
A: Depends on project type and location. If art is agreed to become part of the public art collection, 
Public Art must be included in application discussion and has to agree to take on maintenance. If in 
a park, Parks has to agree to the ongoing maintenance and so on. If on private property, the 
property owner is responsible.

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Staff offered to circle back following outcome of this 26-27 grant cycle, perhaps at the August NAC 
Retreat, to provide an update. 
 
Agenda Item 8 – 2026 Neighborhood Awards Overview and Neighborhood Celebration Event 
Planning and Updates 
There were three nominations submitted as of this meeting date. Members were strongly 
encouraged to help support and promote nominations through the February 12 deadline. Staff 
briefly reviewed the NAC created nomination rater forms that will precede each nomination in the 
meeting packet.  As always, following this cycle, NAC members will look at the overall process 
elements including: 
• 
universal nomination form  
• 
nomination form being open all year long 
• 
actual timing of nominations coming in 
• 
rater forms 
• 
city outreach methods 
• 
NAC outreach  
• 
group discussion and voting on award winners  
• 
type and quality of nominations 
 
All NAC members are asked to save the date and plan to attend the Saturday, April 11 
Neighborhood Celebration in their role as hosts. Help is also needed with set up beginning at  
7 a.m. and take down from 11 a.m. to Noon. A sign-up sheet will be created by staff. It was noted 
that Pat’s Run is the same day, it’s especially challenging to avoid event conflicts during the nicer 
weather months.    
 
Agenda Item 9 – Proposed Future Agenda Items and Member Shares 
Remaining prior topic suggestions pending appropriate timing and speaker availability 
included: 
➢ Economic Development overview (coming in May) 
➢ Update on new required laws addressing unhoused community- response thus far and 
impact to neighborhoods 
 
Potential future agenda topic suggestion: 
➢ Door to Door Solicitors – what measures and controls are in place? 
 
Member Shares/ Any upcoming events noted: 
March 1 – Neighborhood Olympics at Daley Park from 2-5 p.m. 
Learn more about and comment on the City of Tempe Budget, survey open through March 1 at 
www.tempe.gov/forum  
 
Appreciation for: This Week in Tempe publication, Tempe Blooms event, January 31 Music on Mill, 
Hayden Flour Mill 
 
Agenda Item 10 – Adjournment 
Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m. 
 
Prepared by: Elizabeth Thomas 
Reviewed by: Shauna Warner