I would like to call to order the regular city council meeting of October 6, 2025.

Would you please all stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God with liberty and justice for all the thank you.

Marcella, can we have roll call, please?

Councilmember Condi.

Here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember Weiss.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Present.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Here.

Mayor Peneva.

Here.

Thank you.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up first is Jody Novak, our Development Services Director to present uh the proclamation for Community Planning Month.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Uh National Community Planning Month has been around for many years and it celebrates the city planning profession, its importance to growing cities and managing the pattern of development, as you see all the growth and development happening within our own community of Avondale.

I want to say a congratulations to our planning division team for the professional management of the development projects that you see coming to fruition.

Josh, Cole, Monica, Martin, and Zach, our planning division manager who's our Deputy Director of Planning, Catherine can't be here this evening.

And also a congratulations to our chairman of our planning commission, Larry White, and our Vice Chairman Alex McBurney, who are here as well standing behind me.

And as uh we go forward and celebrating all the great things going on as we build Avondale, um, I will turn this over to Councilmember Conde to read the proclamation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jodie.

The proclamation for community planning month, whereas change is constant and affects all cities, towns, suburbs, counties, rural areas, and other places, and whereas planners can help navigate this change with data-driven insight and expertise that provide better choices for how people work and live.

And whereas community planning provides an opportunity for all residents to be meaningful, involved in making choices that determine the future of their community, and whereas the full benefits of planning require public elected and appointed officials who understand support and demand excellence in planning and plan implementation, and whereas the American Planning Association endorses National Community Planning Month as an opportunity to highlight how planning is essential to every community and how planners are uniquely positioned to identify solutions to communities' most difficult housing, transportation, and land use questions.

And whereas the celebration of National Community Planning Month gives us the opportunity to publicly recognize the participation and dedication of appointed planning commission members who have contributed their time and expertise to the improvement of the City of Avondale.

And whereas we recognize the many valuable contributions made by the local government planning and development professionals of the City of Avondale and extend our heartfelt thanks to the continued commitment to public service by these professionals.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Avondale City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona, hereby proclaims the month of October 2025 as community planning month in conjunction with the celebration of National Community Planning Month.

Thank you so much to your team.

And again, as you mentioned earlier, it's uh economic development that residents typically see as things start to erect out of the ground.

Um, but there is such a uh an important role that is played behind the scenes often through your department uh that allows for our ideas and for economics economic development's ideas to actually come to fruition.

So thank you for the important role you all play in our city, and more importantly, thank you to all of you for being a part of Avondale.

We really appreciate you.

Thank you so much.

Ron, next item.

Thank you.

And really quickly, will we be taking photos with all of yes?

If we could, if people could stick around uh after we finish the uh proclamations, we will um take pictures uh for council and the group being recognized.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next, Mr.

Mayor and Council is uh the proclamation for fire prevention week going to be presented by Fire Chief Larry Rooney.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Uh charge into fire safety, lithium ion batteries in your home is the theme for fire prevention this year.

And so I'd like to just uh say a few things about uh those batteries and the and the importance for the fire safety, and then we'll get on with the proclamation.

When purchasing electronics uh with lithium ion batteries, look for safety certification marks from nationally recognized testing laboratories.

This ensures the product has been tested and meet safety standards.

Avoid cheap uncertified products from questionable vendors, these low price, low quality items can pose a greater fire risk.

Handle with care, follow the man manufacturers' instructions.

Use only the charging equipment that comes with the product, store batteries away from extreme temperatures and direct sunlight.

Charge larger devices such as e-bikes away from your exit path outside of your home if possible.

And do not charge large devices overnight.

Always stay alert for the warning signs, check battery power devices often for damage and abuse.

Um listen for unusual hissing or popping sounds, watch for excessive heat or strange odor.

If you notice any of these warning signs, stop using the lithium ion battery powered device immediately.

And uh when recycling these batteries, uh, do it properly, do not throw them away.

Um you take them to a recycling center.

At this time, I will turn it over to Councilmember Solario for the reading of the proclamation.

The proclamation for fire prevention week, whereas the city of Avondale is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living and visiting our city, and whereas the City of Avondale, in collaboration with the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA, and fire departments nationwide, recognizes the critical importance of fire safety and the need for community education.

And whereas the theme for fire prevention week 2025 is charge into fire safety, lithium ion batteries in your home, highlighting and growing risks associated with these common devices powering many everyday items.

And whereas mishandling, improper charging, and incorrect disposal of lithium ion batteries can lead to dangerous fires and explosions in homes and other public spaces.

And whereas it is imperative to educate the public on the safe practices for buying, charging, using, disposing of lithium ion batteries to prevent these devastating incidents.

And whereas our local firefighters and fire prevent fire prevention professionals work tirelessly to keep our community safe through education, prevention, and swift response.

And whereas the City of Avondale residents are responsive to public education measures and are able to take personal steps to increase their safety from fire, especially in their homes.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Avondale City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona, hereby proclaims proclaim the month of October 5th through the 11th, 2025 as Fire Prevention Week 2025, and to support the many public safety activities and the efforts of the City of Avondale Fire and Medical Department.

Thank you so much, Chief.

And you know, if fighting fires were just part of the job, uh that would be understandable, but I I I love the fact that we do we are proactive and provide that educational piece to the community in many more ways than just one and being passive on a website or things of that nature, going into the community and attending all the events and providing all this education is great.

And so we just appreciate you and and all of our public safety members and just keep doing a great job.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Ron.

Next item.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

As October is National Co-Compliance Month, we are here to recognize our co-compliance division.

I'd like to introduce to you our co-compliance officers.

We have Carlos Cano, Claudia Rojas, Michael Morada, Albert Soto, and Francis Martinez.

And our legal compliance officer is Martha Ortiz, who I'd like to say just recently, very proud to say that she just received from the Arizona Code Enforcement Association the award for code enforcement supervisor of the year.

And I would also like to add that for the second year in a row, our division received the Community Service Award from the Arizona Code Enforcement Association, and that was for our property also award program and just for the partnerships that the officers have created with the residents and the business community members.

And I just like to say I thank the council for your continued support that you provide to us, and also to say thank you to our city management for their support as well.

And with that, I'd like to turn it over to Councilmember Weiss for the reading of our proclamation.

Thank you, Josh.

The proclamation for Code of Compliance Month, whereas co-compliance officers provide for the safety and welfare of residents in Avondale through the enforcement of building, zoning, housing, environmental, property maintenance, and other city codes and ordinances, and whereas co-compliance officers often have a challenging and demanding role in improving living and working conditions for residents and businesses in Avondale, and whereas code compliance officers are dedicated and highly qualified professionals who share the goals of preventing neighborhood deterioration, enhancing and ensuring safety, and preserving property values through knowledge and application of zoning, housing, nuisance codes and ordinances, and whereas code compliance officers often have a highly visible and interactive role in the communities while providing quality customer service and excellence to the communities in Avondale.

And whereas code compliance officers are called upon to provide quality education and excellent customer service to the residents and businesses of Avondale, and whereas we recognize the many valuable contributions made by the code compliance officers throughout our country and extend our heartfelt thanks for their continued commitment to public service.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Avondale City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona hereby proclaims the month of October 2025 as co-compliance month, and we call upon Avondale communities to join in recognizing and expressing their app their appreciation for the dedication and service by the individuals who serve as co-compliance officers.

Thank you so much, Josh, and I love seeing the hardware.

Where's that going to be uh stationed?

We're gonna have to get a bigger space.

That's right.

And just, you know, I mentioned uh to uh Chief Rooney in regards to the education piece, and often, you know, the residents that you encounter, uh, it's not always uh about citations or uh something negative.

I know that often it's about that education piece as well, and working with the residents to overcome a challenge or a barrier.

Uh but more importantly, uh coming up with programming, whether it's in combination with our public safety or even what we're about to celebrate tonight in regards to the property awards, you guys do so much, and we appreciate all of you.

Thank you.

Hey, run.

Next question, mayor.

Uh Mayor and Council.

Up next is uh proclamation for domestic violence awareness month.

Uh Chief Espinoza will uh kick us off.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

Congress officially designated October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 1989.

Uh Domestic Violence Awareness Month gives us an opportunity to educate the community on this unfortunate type of crime.

It also gives us an opportunity to show victims that they are not alone.

A key component to letting such victims know of available resources to them and that they are not alone are our staff that regularly work with victims of domestic violence.

I did invite uh several of our employees that regularly work with uh domestic violence victims.

I'm gonna ask them to stand up to be recognized.

As we turn it over to Councilmember Garcia for the reading of the proclamation, Councilmember Garcia.

Proclamation, domestic violence awareness month.

Whereas in just one day across the U.S.

and its territories, nearly 75,000 victims of domestic violence sought services from domestic violence programs and shelters.

That same day, more than 9,000 requests for service, including emergency shelter, housing, transportation, child care, and legal representation could not be provided because programs lack the resources to meet victims' needs.

And whereas the impact of domestic violence is wide-ranging, directly affecting individuals and society as a whole here in this community throughout the United States and the world.

And whereas discrimination based on physical ability, nationality, or other factors helps to perpetuate domestic violence and makes finding safety even more difficult for some victims.

And whereas the need for safe house continues to be rated as survivors' most urgent need.

And whereas the city of Avondale joins with others across Arizona and the nation in supporting victims of domestic violence, as well as local programs, state coalitions, national organizations, and other agencies nationwide who are committed to increasing public awareness of domestic violence and sending a clear message to abusers that domestic violence is not tolerated.

And whereas domestic violence impacts millions of people each year, but it can be prevented.

Preventing domestic violence requires a collective voice and power of individuals, families, institutions, and systems, each whose number one thing adds a valuable and powerful component to transforming our communities.

Now, whereas on behalf of Avondale City Council and the City of Avondale, Arizona hereby proclaims October 2025 as domestic violence awareness month and encourages all Avondale residents, businesses, schools, and hospitals to support domestic violence survivors and stand against all forms of violence and abuse in relationships.

Thank you so much, Chief, and thank you so much for being with us, advocates and partners to help us, you know, unfortunately have to manage and deal with uh this crisis uh of uh of domestic violence.

And so thank you so much for everybody wearing purple uh in support, and I look forward to taking pictures with you guys in just in a few minutes.

Thank you, Chief.

Ron, next item, please.

Well, Mr.

Mayor Council Josh will come back up one more time.

I know you all are tired here in front of me, but uh he wants to talk about us award one more time.

Uh your phone.

Good evening again, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Uh, this evening I'll be presenting our property all-star curb appeal awards.

The property all-star curb appeal awards was created to recognize residential property owners and business owners who are demonstrating community pride by maintaining their properties at higher standards.

Properties are evaluated based on landscape care, design, and property maintenance.

We received several nominations for consideration, and with the assistance from our selection committee comprised of members of the neighborhood commission and city staff, we selected the following property owners.

Gina and Jason Kaiser.

Can I have you come up?

For our forester ward, Gina and Jason Kaiser with Kaiser Construction are owners of our first commercial property selected for our property all-star award.

Their building is located on the southeast corner of Indian School Road and Santa Fe Trail and holds the Love Dental and Duncan Donut Baskin Robbins location.

Built in 2021, this commercial property has served the Avondale communities by maintaining their landscaping and property proactively, providing a great example to our community commercial communities.

Gina and Jason, I'd like to thank you for your contribution in keeping Avondale looking very beautiful, and I like to present you with a certificate and assign the display for your property.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

How exciting our first commercial winners.

That's right.

For our second property, uh, Mr.

and Miss Mansfield, they can have you join.

Everett and Janet Mansfield have been in their Avondale home for 26 years, providing wonderful wonderful curb appeal in our historic Avondale community.

With their son Ryan, they also started the Los Amigos Neighborhood Blockwatch Program, which consists of 12 active members since twenty uh 2019, and they can they continually host community unions and working with our Avondale public safety offices assist in providing and creating a safe community on their neighborhood.

So, Mr.

Ms.

Spanswell, thank you again for your contribution in keeping Avondale looking very beautiful, and again, I also like to provide you with a certificate and assign a display on your property.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

And I'd also like to announce that we are in the process of creating a holiday edition of our property all-star award program.

So please stay tuned to our social media and pages and information to come.

I don't think thoughts about how good we go through.

Okay.

Let's move on to unscheduled public appearances.

We have a is it the uh two blue cards all we have tonight, Marcella?

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, that is correct.

Okay.

Then um I call up uh Mayor Bell.

Maribel.

Oh no, gotcha, sorry.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

First of all, I need to say how sad I am to even have to be here today.

But unfortunately, things have to be said.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight.

My name is Maribakka Chew, and I live right here and serve in the city of Avondale.

First, I want to say how proud I am to be part of this community.

You have created a city that values safety, dignity, and community.

Across the country, however, we are seeing the frightening reality of ice raids, families being torn apart, children separated, and people taken without warning.

Recently, one of our farm workers was stopped by Avondale PD and taken to jail.

ICE was contacted, but when she appeared before the judge, the city did the right thing.

She was released based on civil law, not handed over to ICE.

Because of that, she could return home to her seven children, American citizen children, instead of losing them.

She now has a lawyer and is following the proper immigration process.

Good evening, Mayor, Council.

First of all, I couldn't help hearing the congratulations to the planning department here.

And I know from membership on that planning and zoning.

It was, I think, 20 years ago.

What a great job.

The city is done moving forward.

But I'm not here to flatter the city.

I'm here to complain about the police department.

So let me get on with that.

I have I believe the clerk has distributed photographs that I took from with my iPhone to each of you.

And each of these photographs depicts a scene at the intersection of West Siena and North Silver Sand Lane.

And that area is it's called Garden Lakes Estates.

It's a small circular set of streets on the north side of the Roosevelt canal there.

So I would like you to look first of all at the photograph I took on September 14 at 717 a.m.

And then compare that with the photograph I took about, I think 20 minutes earlier.

And I I'm including this here to show that the owner of these vehicles is parking the vehicle there in violation of the city code.

And the third the third photo taken on September 23rd at 628 in the morning depicts a silver Mercedes parked at the intersection of Silver Sand and West Seattle looking south.

And you can see that the vehicle is crowded, uh, the intersection in violation of your city code.

Well the photographs that I've shown you, uh I just happened to take the other day.

Uh there they're not really typical.

Some days there's no crowding, some days there's one or two cars or trucks there, but the net result is frequently there is obstruction of that intersection, which creates a very dangerous situation.

Now I have complained, I've called several times, I think in the last two years, two and a half years maybe, uh, to the police department dispatcher, and um have asked that to have the city abate, the police department abate uh the risk there, the danger that's there.

And um I have to tell you, sadly, um nothing ever happened.

There was no change in behavior of the people who are parking the vehicles uh so dangerously at the end of my street.

So it's it's clear to me in summary, and and to finish up, police department is not bringing.

I ask you to intercede.

Thank you.

Uh Ron, can we have Chief Speaker, Mr.

Kent Scanlon?

Yes, we already have, including uh code enforcement as well.

Got it.

Okay.

Okay, thank you so much for being here tonight.

Thank you.

We have consent agenda.

Are there any council members who wish to have an item removed for separate consideration?

Seeing none, we have a motion from Councilmember White, second from Councilmember Condi.

Please vote.

Item passes.

Uh Ron, item five, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh, and council.

We are up.

We're gonna have a presentation by Renee, your Finance and Budget Director uh for a public hearing of proposed land use assumptions and infrastructure improvement plan.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

The purpose of tonight's item is to conduct a public hearing on the city's proposed land use assumptions and infrastructure improvement plan that will be used as the basis for updated wastewater development fees that will be assessed to new development.

The item tonight is for public hearing and discussion only.

No item, um, no action will be taken.

I would also like to note that we have our consultant, Todd Cristiano, Vice President of RAF Talis online tonight with us, and I have Kirk and Eric here with me.

So the purpose of the development impact fees is to require new development to pay one-time fees that fund the cost of necessary public infrastructure and services such as roads, parks, water and sewer systems, and public safety facilities that are needed to accommodate the increased demand from new growth.

These fees ensures that the growth pays for itself, preventing the burden from falling on existing residents and businesses.

The revenue generated from development impact fees can only be used for necessary public services and facility expansions identified in the infrastructure improvement plan.

Development impact fee revenue cannot be used for repairs or operation or maintenance of any existing necessary services or facility expansions.

And impact fees are used to ensure that the city can maintain the same service level as the city grows.

So the city's necessary public services for which we charge development impact fees include fire, police, parks, streets, water, and wastewater.

So the components of the study consist of first, a land use assumptions.

So this includes metrics such as population, housing, units, jobs, and non-residential square footage estimates, and must be updated at least once every five years.

The infrastructure improvement plan or IIP, this includes the assessment of needs and the capital projects necessary to maintain current service levels as the city grows, and an anticipated timeline of those projects.

So in our update for wastewater, we did not change our land use assumptions from what was previously published back in 2022.

We did update the IIP.

But both the land use assumptions and the infrastructure improvement plan, they are used to calculate the development impact fees.

So as I mentioned, the city's uh land use assumptions and IIP were last updated on November 23rd, 2022 and were adopted by council on January 9th, 2023.

So at this point, I'm going to turn it over to Eric Bay, our public works assistant director, to discuss the need to update our wastewater development impact fees.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council.

My name is Eric Bay.

I'm the Public Works Assistant Directors, one of the Public Works Assistant Directors.

And I'm going to be talking a little bit about the project that will be utilizing these impact fees.

Basically, why we're doing the update.

And this update is essentially being driven by the costs associated with a single project.

That project being the water reclamation facility expansion.

Far and away the largest wastewater project that the city has going.

This probably comes as no surprise as council has approved the project budget and a previous budget cycle, and expansion projects like this are generally growth related because population growth is what leads to greater volumes of wastewater.

And this particular expansion is adding an additional three million gallons a day of treatment capacity, which will take our plant from 9 million gallons a day of permitted capacity up to 12 million gallons a day to accommodate these growing flows.

And the project is coming with an approximate price tag of 155 million dollars, roughly $50 a gallon, which is in alignment with what we've seen around the valley and the industry as far as post-pandemic expansion pricing.

But it is also significantly different than what we saw for expansion costs in the years before the period of rapid inflation throughout the pandemic.

Moving on, a question I get a lot is why now?

And this question is a pretty easy one.

We, as a city, are required to have sufficient treatment capacity to treat wastewater per regulatory agencies.

We recently passed a regulatory trigger of utilization of 80% of the plant's capacity, which means that we need to be in the expansion design phase.

And we are.

We are currently at the 60% design, moving towards 90% design and the associated compliance submittals.

Another question I get is how do we know it's time to expand?

And the answer to that question is monitoring and trending.

My staff collects wastewater volumes every day, and we project those volumes into the future to predict expansion schedules and associated funding needs.

Also, what another question I get uh what does the facility expansion entail?

And it includes a lot of really cool stuff: aeration, equalization, clarification, primary and secondary, digestion improvements, dewatering, and support system expansion.

There's quite a bit that goes into a project that has the 155 million dollar price tag.

So finally, we want to ensure that the costs are allocated correctly.

So public works worked extensively with finance and legal to ensure that the existing utility rates covered as much of the project as possible.

And how did we split these costs?

Well, the philosophy was to apply existing utility rate dollars to any part of the plant infrastructure that needed to be replaced or rehabilitated during the project to support the maintenance and operations during the expansion.

Additionally, we prorated utility rates for any new infrastructure that had the capability of handling existing flows at the plant, but would also handle new flows at the completion of the project.

These were generally prorated at about 75% rates, 25% impact fees, because out of the 12 million gallons a day, 75% or 9 million gallons would be existing permitted capacity, and only 25% or 3 million gallons a day would be the new expansion capacity.

Then all new project infrastructure that was strictly for new capacity was accounted for towards the development impact fees.

We went line by line for the breakdown, utilizing each construction component, then we summed everything up.

And the final number calculated shows to be about 15% utility rates, 85% impact fees, were really what was needed to take the plant from 9 million gallons a day up to 12 million gallons a day.

Which candidly is rounded just a little bit because I believe the final percentage was like 14.92% utility rates.

So we rounded up that last 0.08%, which works to keep the DIF, the development impact fees a little bit smaller, uh, but also creates a lot of less headache for our finance team in breaking apart these uh impact fees.

So kind of a win-win situation there.

Uh and that's the water reclamation facility project in a nutshell.

Uh so now I'll pass it back over to finance.

Thank you, Eric.

So when you look at the report um, and it was published and posted online, you will see that our wastewater development fee structure is based on meter size.

And the most common meter size for a single family residence is a three-quarter inch meter, um, which you will see on that first line there, which is currently um the fee is $3,153.

So based on the update, the supported calculated fee would be $10,854, which is an increase of about $7,700.

And you can see based on the different rates that the prices will increase as the meter size increases.

So let's look at an example of what that does to our total development fees.

So looking at an example of single family residential.

Now you can see that um the fees for all of our necessary services, which we uh previously discussed, which include water, wastewater, fire parks, police and streets, the total development impact fee is currently 14,432.

With the updated fee to wastewater, that total of development fees for single family residents would be 22,133.

And as um Eric mentioned, the driving factors in that increase is due to the significant increase to the cost of the project, as well as um the city having to debt finance the entire project and incur finance costs.

So when you compare what our fees currently look like with other West Valley cities, you can see those two purple arrows.

Um again, uh the current fees, Avondale is at the bottom half.

If you calculate it with the um updated wastewater fee, it would move Avondale's development fees up to the top half of that list under Peoria.

So the process of updating our development impact fees, it is governed by Arizona revised statute, and the first required action was to post public notice and release the land use assumptions and the infrastructure improvement plan.

We published a public notice in the Arizona Republic West Valley on August 2nd, 2025, and we were posted the report on the city's website.

In preparation of tonight's meeting, we also held some stakeholder meetings.

The first was on August 28th, where we had a total of six members from the developer and home builder communities in attendance.

We held a second stakeholder meeting on September 11th, and we had a total of uh four stakeholder meetings, and both meetings were held virtually.

In our meetings, we did receive some concerns about the increase in the fee and the impact on new single family home communities.

So there was a question on the assumptions and calculations in the report.

Um staff has gone back and there was a written comment that included this, and our response was also included to tonight's agenda.

But staff did go back and look at the calculations and the assumptions, and there was an adjustment to an assumption regarding the capacity of the plant itself, which did result in a reduction of the fee with this agenda is the revised fee.

So that $10,000 is less than what was originally posted.

If you look on our website, we have the original report dated earlier in August, and then the new report dated in September, which was after the adjustment.

We also sent an email out to all of those targeted developer and home builder community, notifying them of the adjustment that was made as a result that we changed after those stakeholder meetings.

Another question that came up was about the need for financing.

Because if you look back at our prior um infrastructure improvement plan and the fees itself, we did not have any financing costs included.

Well, that is just a result of us needing to finance the project due to the cost increase.

And then lastly, um the last question was on basically when the fees would take effect.

Um so with that, if we look at the next part of the process.

Tonight we're here just to hold the public meeting on the land use assumption and the IIP.

We will be returning to council on November 17th to recommend adoption of the land use assumptions and the infrastructure improvement plan.

We would follow that process by posting a notice of intent to assess fees, and then we would come back for a public hearing to discuss the fees themselves.

Um the effective date.

Uh we're coming for adoption on February 23rd of 2026, and with that, the fees don't take effect for 75 days.

So they wouldn't go into effect until May 9th of 2026, provided they're adopted on February 23rd.

That was one of the questions that came up in our stakeholder meeting is if there's projects currently in place, um, what are they subject to?

And it would only be when they hit those triggers after May 9th, would they be subject to that that increased fee?

So, with that, our recommendation is to hold the public hearing on our land use assumptions and infrastructure improvement plan.

Thank you so much, Renee and Eric, for your presentations.

At this time, I would like to open up the public meeting.

Marcella, have we received any requests to speak?

Thank you, Mayor.

We have not received any requests to speak.

Thank you.

And so hearing none, I'd like to close the public hearing and at this time open up the floor for comments from City Council.

Okay, Councilmember Weiss.

Thank you, Renee.

You answered one of my questions.

I did have a question whether or not we were going to grandfather in anybody who was already in the pipeline.

Um so I appreciate that.

One of the things that I'm wondering is if we could do down the road something that just shows us the percentage of the cost of the home when these when our initial fees were done back in 2022, the home values have obviously gone up.

So what percentage of the impact fees were used or were assessed according to the value of the home then and then now?

Like is it 7% of that cost of the house?

Is it 8% of the cost of the house?

Something like that, just to kind of give us a little bit of an idea of where we're at.

And then I did have a question.

I know I looked at the LAUA, I'm sorry, over the weekend, and it looks like we're set to to build out about 3,600 more homes over the next 10 years, but we're looking, it looks like we're gonna increase non-residential building.

But we're looking, it looks like we're going to increase non-residential building.

So I saw the impact fees for the bigger um pipes, the bigger sizes, and they looked pretty high.

So can we go back a couple slides for that one?

And my question is is it do we have a concern that it's going to impact growth?

Development of those.

So for instance, current fee of 52,000, and then bringing it up to 180,000.

I don't know what a four-inch meter size covers.

So if somebody from water could maybe address that.

Just not sure what the different sizes are.

I saw that the three quarter inch was more for the homes.

Mr.

Mayor can't Mr.

Mayor and Councilmember Weiss.

Eric or um Kirk.

The question is what kind of business uses a four-inch uh line given the significant cost increase.

Is this for apartments or is this for commercial?

What's a typical um business?

Yeah, thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and council.

Um off the top of my head, I'm gonna say medium-sized apartment communities uh would utilize a four-inch, but sometimes the architect gets creative, they use a bank of two inches.

Um they have reliability and redundancy in that metering.

Um four-inch pipe can provide a pretty substantial amount of water.

And I don't have that volume right in front of me.

Um a community um or a business that would use a six-inch meter would be a significant or substantial water user.

So that's going to be one of the larger, if not one of the largest users of water in Avondale.

So they're they're less common.

Uh most of the meters in the city are in that three quarter or one inch range for the single family type.

Okay.

Hopefully that answers the question.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

That's really it.

I think those are all my questions.

Well, appreciate it.

Any other council member?

Okay.

Vice Mayor Yelson?

Just I think that answered one of my questions is what size meter would there be on an apartment compared to a residential single home when you've answered that one for me.

I guess the other question I have 12 million gallons.

Is that what the final build out for Avondale will be?

We won't have to expand that anymore.

You won't have to go uh 15 sometime in the future or somewhere or anything like that.

Mayor Weissner, uh thank you for that question.

Um we do have one additional expansion uh that's going to take us up to 15 million gallons a day.

Uh I ran some rough numbers just the other day, and I'm projecting that that final expansion will probably happen 2036, 2037 range.

Uh so it'll be about 10 years off into the future.

Okay.

That that will be the build-out capacity.

And that will be paid the same way, or do we have to look at other creative ways of paying for that?

Um these fees and these calculations do not include another expansion.

Okay.

So there will there's going to be some other type of a type of meaning.

Something at that particular time.

And I guess what's the life expense expectancy of a facility like that?

Is that like 25, 30 years or whatever?

Wastewater, whatever.

Uh thank you.

Yes, the typical life expectancy that we shoot for is going to be a 50-year project.

Uh of course, different equipment has different life on it, and we enter all that equipment into our asset management program, and then we plan to replace that on a regular basis with operational funds.

Uh so pump may not last as long as a bar screen, which may not last as long as the digester.

Uh, but if we project all those costs out and bring them to present day costs, we can set a pretty reasonable asset replacement value and collect those dollars on an annual basis.

And I guess just the last one is just for me.

This is this is Avondale residence.

It's not like I guess 91st Avenue where you can pull in different ones from whatever, it's just those within the confines of the boundaries of Avondale.

That is correct.

Uh currently our wastewater service area is within the bounds of Avondale.

We don't uh treat or serve uh I don't think any areas outside there may be a county island or two, but if there is, it would be a very small percentage in our overall wastewater collection.

Okay, thank you.

That answers my questions.

Thank you.

Rice Mayor.

Uh, you know, Renee started off the presentation uh with the statement that growth should pay for growth.

And I think this is a a great way to communicate uh to our resident uh residents uh of that commitment that we're not going to penalize our residents uh for us wanting to to grow and excel as a community.

And so for that very reason, while the original calculation I can see, which I believe was roughly around $13,000 on the original calculation.

Am I correct?

Yes.

I could see how that could scare away potentially those interested in investing in Avondale from the home home builders business models, and as they look to see if that meets their needs investment-wise, then could that potentially lead them to choose another uh municipality?

Maybe.

But at the same time, I think we have to initiate a balance between that growth and maintaining these costs for our residents while the developers are paying there, and I hate utilizing this this uh these words, but the fair share.

Um so as that growth pays for growth, one of the other things I can appreciate is going back in time, looking through that calculation and determining that the reduction from the 13,000 to the 10,000 makes it more manageable.

And I believe uh if I am correct that the letter from the Home Builders Association uh proved that.

Am I right?

That is correct.

Okay.

So at least you know we aren't uh gouging them, um, but we're also being fair again to our residents and and not um uh trying to collect an abundance of cost from them to to recoup uh what has been built out, whether they're utilizing some of the uh development that we're bringing to the city or not.

Um then my last statement I will say is that thank you so much for showing and demonstrating the information because one of the things that I've communicated with others and different municipalities and just residents in general come from utilities and the rates and not really knowing how to parse them, who's utilizing more or less.

Uh you know, recently there was an article in regards to public utilities uh power uh and the data centers and the consumption that they bring with them to communities.

And in this case, with water and the water utility, we're able to demonstrate exactly kind of how those numbers are broken out, which are pretty clear for anyone to follow.

So uh I really I really I really appreciate the fact we're able to demonstrate that to our residents.

And so that's it for this evening.

If unless there's any other comments, uh Ron, is there anything to add?

Thank you for all of this information in the presentation, and I look forward to November's meeting.

Thank you.

Ron, next item.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Council.

Up next is Kim Moon, your engineering director, who will give a capital improvement program project update.

Hi, good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council members.

I'm Kim Moon, City Engineer, director of the engineering department.

I'm here to provide for you an update and talk with you about transportation capital improvement projects this evening.

Tonight it will give a brief orientation on some key concepts, but I will focus mostly on the projects themselves.

I encourage you to ask questions or give me feedback as I go through the slides.

And so let's get started.

A capital improvement project or CIP is a big project that the city plans and invests in to improve our community.

It usually involves things that we build, fix, or upgrade that will last for many years.

Examples include streets, parks, public buildings, water and sewer systems, as you heard a little bit about just a moment ago.

CIPs are not routine maintenance, such as fixing potholes in pavement or replacing burned out street lights.

Projects are determined by the city council, staff, and come and by community input to help identify needs and based on priorities identified during planning and studies.

They're prioritized based on safety, community benefit, and available funding.

The city plans a five plans five years ahead, so projects fit into the budget responsibly.

The engineering department handles project management of transportation projects, parks projects, recreation libraries, public safety projects, and telecommunications, fiber and tower projects.

Tonight I'm highlighting some projects specifically about transportation to help address some of the questions we've received recently.

On this slide, um highlights transportate uh transportation projects can include roadways, widening existing roadways, new street improvements, new improved sidewalks and crosswalks, trails, new and renovated traffic signals, and more.

These types of projects are not determined randomly.

Engineering studies provide guidance on which projects to build and what to include in the project.

Long-term general studies, such as the Avondale General Plan, Transportation and Master Plan, the active transportation plan, predict future growth patterns, and identify projects to provide guidance in planning for the years to come.

They're also very specific in current studies, such as a traffic impact analysis or TIA report for specific and current developments, such as new commercial or residential developments.

These types of reports help determine the amount of additional traffic generated by each development.

Traffic flow patterns are the proposed on-site on off-site configurations, the way traffic flows around on-site and how it exits off-site, and concluded traffic improvements are needed.

Traffic improvements include a variety of things such as additional driving lanes for traffic flow, stop signs or traffic signals for traffic management, retiming of existing traffic signals to optimize traffic flow, changes in signage and markings on pavement for improved safety, or pedestrian crossings.

Some transportation projects are memorialized in agreements with developers as determined during zoning, site planning, and engineering design.

These types of projects either the developer contributes funds to the city for the city to build the project, or the city contributes funds to the developer, for the developer to build the project.

Some transportation projects are created from citizens' requests, often through the AVYES program.

When we get citizen requests, the first thing we do is study the area and evaluate the existing conditions and compare it with the engineering criteria to see if improvements will result in the desired outcome.

Traffic signal, new lanes, stop signs, and other types of transportation items are not just installed automatically.

They must meet federal and state guidelines to ensure they are truly needed and will improve safety and traffic flow.

The manual on uniform traffic control devices by USDOT provides for a list of warrants to justify such traffic items.

Key factors include traffic volume, trap crash history, pedestrian activity, school and community uses, vehicle delays, and other criteria.

The evaluation process includes data collection, engineering analysis, and determination of required improvements.

With the goal, of course, being to install signals and other devices only where they will enhance safety and improve traffic operations and not introduce new delays or risks.

So now I'd like to move into talking more about specific projects.

The first project this evening is McDowell Road and Dysart Road.

This project is to add additional turn lanes and make the turn lanes longer to increase the capacity at the intersection.

It also includes widening parts of the roadway near the intersection, updating traffic signals, signage and markings, as well as ensuring sidewalks, bike lanes, and crosswalks are safe and accessible.

During construction, residents can expect temporary lane closures or detours, but the city will work to minimize disruptions with communications from the city on timelines and progress updates.

For the project status, design and permitting is in progress, and construction is scheduled for 2027.

Normally, this would be a three-year cycle project, but we're expediting where we can to get it done sooner with a goal of a two-year cycle on this project.

The next project I want to talk about this evening is the Thomas Road and 11th Avenue project for a new traffic signal.

This location has met four warrants per MUTCD for a traffic signal, including traffic volumes on both roadway legs, the four-hour and peak volumes, and crash data.

The project includes installing traffic lights, poles and wiring, updating pavement markings, crosswalks and signage, adding pedestrian push buttons and accessible ramps where needed, coordinating with nearby signals for true smooth traffic progression, and residents can expect a safer, more efficient intersection when the signal is operational.

This intersection has also brought up an interesting aspect regarding wildlife and has resulted in a new geese policy for transportation projects.

And so with that, I just want to take a moment and talk about the new geese policy.

Canadian geese have become a defining feature in some areas of Avondale.

Geese and other birds are attracted to water features, manicured lawns, and shade, and flourish with lack of natural predators and availability of human provided food.

While these iconic birds are a valued part of urban biodiversity, their growing often year-round presence can bring challenges for the health and safety of the birds and the residents.

Canadian geese are protected under the migratory birds convention act of 1917 as updated in 1994.

This act is to protect migratory birds, their nests, their eggs, from destruction.

Additionally, they are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1980, 1918, making it illegal to harm or kill them without proper permits.

Engineering has developed a policy for geese with feedback from citizens, city staff, and consultants for use on transportation projects.

This policy provides for integration of humane and cost effective Canadian geese management best practices, and includes, as you can see here on the slide, natural deterrence, strategic attractance, low cost physical barriers, and public education signage to help prevent collisions leading to animal mortality, vehicle damage, and in rare case human injury, as well as helping keep sidewalks clear of bird droppings and aggressive geese during nesting season.

For the new traffic signal at the intersection of Thomas and 11th, the project will include natural landscaping modifications and some short walls or rock outcropping barriers with some educational signage as a result of this new geese policy.

We will continue to look for opportunities to throughout the area for future improvements to improve upon this policy.

There are geese in other areas of the city as well.

And so if there's no questions on the geese policy, I'll keep going on some additional projects.

Next project is in Canto Boulevard and 99th Avenue.

Avondale has a project for a new traffic signal at 99 in Encanto, north of Costco, which is currently under design.

This project is for a new traffic signal caused by nearby development and general increase in overall traffic flows.

This project has required an intergovernment intergovernmental agreement between Avondale Phoenix and Maricopa County to identify and define responsibilities as it's across jurisdictional boundaries.

Design is almost complete.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026.

At this intersection, the north and south leg is in the county, the west leg is in Avondale, and the east legs in Phoenix.

The traffic signal and equipment will be constructed to Avondale standards, and the roadway will be constructed to county standards.

Upon completion and acceptance, Avondale will be responsible for maintenance operation and liability as it uh relates to the traffic signal equipment, and the county will be responsible for maintenance and operation of the roadway.

Next project is McDowell Road and 116th Avenue.

This is for a new traffic signal near the intersection of McDowell Road and Avondale Boulevard.

The development to the north has completed most of their street improvements, and the development to the south is in the process of working on their street improvements as well.

The city is receiving contribution from both developers towards the construction of a new traffic signal.

Once developers are complete with their work, then the city can build this signal.

Next project is Roosevelt Street and 107th Avenue.

This project is for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Roosevelt Street and 107th Avenue due to upcoming commercial development on the north northwest corner.

For the agreement between the city and the developer, the city will provide funds to the developer to build this new traffic signal as part of their overall street improvements.

Work is anticipated for 2026.

Avondale Boulevard and Miami Avenue is for a new traffic signal.

Similarly, there are developers in this area as well that have contributed to a traffic signal.

In this case, developers are providing funds to the city for the city to build the traffic signal.

This will provide required traffic control for new grocery store and near new nearby residential subdivision.

The developers are already beginning their on-site and off-site improvements.

Next project is Avondale Boulevard and MC 85.

This project is for a new north pound outer lane to provide a more complete intersection and through lanes at this intersection.

The work for this project is mostly on the southeast corner and is for installation of an additional lane over some existing utilities.

Yes.

Oh welcome.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Next project is Lower Buckeye Road Widening.

This is one of our big projects coming up to provide additional through lanes in each direction with turn lanes at intersection, completing gaps in sidewalks, and bike lanes on each side.

A design concept report or DCR for Lower Buckeye Road Corridor from 107th to Lichfield Road is near completion.

Currently, Lower Buckeye Road has a single lane in each direction and a low water crossing at the Agua Freya River.

The city has been awarded a MEG Arterial Life Cycle Program ALCP ALCP competitive grant award for this widening and improvements of Lower Buckeye Road, which 20 over 28 million dollars of federal grant funds with a match from the city of about just over 7.7 million for a total project of over 35 million dollars.

The city has met with the county to coordinate on this project.

Once brought up to city standards, the street will be ready for the city to take over jurisdiction from the county on this portion.

The city has met with Meg staff for a kickoff meeting.

This project will be administered by ADOT like other federal aid projects the city has done previously.

An IGA will be executed, and ADOT will build the city for their portion of the development fee and design costs.

And then matching funds for construction will be due prior for ADOT going out to bid.

And just kind of wanted to also touch on some sidewalk and trail projects.

Transportation projects also include sidewalks and trails.

The Western Avenue Pedestrian and Decorative Lights Project has a contractor on board, and the work is being scheduled around the Billy Moore days events and other upcoming holidays.

This project includes new pedestrian lights and decorative string lighting overhead.

The Van Buren Bridge Lighting and McDowell Bridge Lighting projects are to retrofit existing bridges to include lighting for pedestrians.

And the city continues to connect gaps in the trail system along the Agua Freya River for the Avondale Active Transportation Plan.

Grant funds are being used to provide connectivity across the ADOT drainage channel at I-10 to Friendship Park, including the North Landing Trail Loop.

A trailhead is planned at McDowell Road and Friendship Park.

And there are also other trail connections being addressed along the Agua Fria River at significant crossings.

So we just highlighted a few projects, and I wanted to close out with upcoming ribbon cuttings.

We have some uh ribbon cuttings for Fire Station 171, Civic Center, and Friendship Park, and we would love to see you there.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Kim.

I know that's a lot, uh, but uh just demonstrates again just how busy we are uh responding to growth and others.

At this time I'd like to open it up to council, other members of council.

Okay, we'll start with Vice Mayor.

Kim, I just have a question on that one on McDowell and 116th.

Is there a distance that you can have?

I don't know if there's a policies, regulations between one stoplight and another stoplight is at like 500 feet, 400 feet, a thousand feet.

I'm seeing 116th and 115th coming on this way with McDowell and this light being stop and this one just coming up, and you're gonna pile up in that intersection there at uh Avondale.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, yes, those intersection, those two traffic signals are gonna end up being as close as they can be within the engineering criteria.

And that was determined as part of one of those uh TIAs for the amount of volume of traffic coming in and out of the uh the apartment complex, commercial area, and even some of the area to the south.

So it'll be close, but that's it's all included in the engineering schematics for the turn base and everything in that area.

Thank you.

Okay, Councilmember Weiss.

Yeah, thank you so much, Kim, for your presentation.

Um the geese, and thank you for the policy on the geese.

I um I sent a text message to Ron after our May 8th meeting because there must have been 25 geese, you know, little babies and their parents all crossing, and they cross in the crosswalk.

Um I know there are residents from Garden Lakes here.

And um, as far as Crystal Gardens, I know we have the water retention ponds there.

I don't know if I'm saying it correctly, the correct term for those, but that we have.

Will this landscaping that we're using to avoid the street, you know, avoid um that we're using as a deterrent to keep them around the water and not in the street.

Well, we do the same thing up in garden lakes, and the reason I ask is because they cross Thomas Road to go up to the other lake.

And so that's my question.

To answer your question.

This uh project, the project for the traffic signal is limited to just the right of way at that intersection.

But I will take your comment and we will look at the larger corridor.

I may have another project development uh as a result of it.

But we can take another look at that.

Mr.

Mayor, Councilman Weiss, if I can add, so um, this project is funded.

That one wouldn't be.

So the best time is during the budget process is if we uh fail to bring a project forward if we miss it or gets lost or it's buried in another project.

Feel free to ask about it during the uh CIP process because uh we'll need to fit uh those improvements into the five-year CIP plan.

But um, we can look at that either through engineering, possibly if there's trails in the area or sidewalks, uh it could be public works or it could be even parks.

But uh the CIP when we do that um in the uh spring, I guess, uh when we have our CIP meeting on the actual budget would be a good time to to make sure we didn't forget.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you, Kim, for the presentation.

Um can we go back to the slide with Lower Buckeye um and that expansion?

Um I did want to just thank the city management team, your team, and all those folks who applied for the grant.

Can you give us the amount of money we had uh received as well again?

Yes, for Lower Buckeye Road, uh the federal grant amount.

Just look it up was 28,64,725 of federal grant monies with a city match of 7,742,025.

And have we gone through the process already to make sure we receive those funds?

Mr.

Mayor, uh Councilmember White, yes.

Um so if I can take just a second to thank uh Kim and team uh and Mag and everybody on board.

So um uh it started with uh we need sidewalks uh on um on uh on that road and and we need some improvements and we're like well we don't own the land, there's lots of issues, and and so um I had asked Kim's team to to look for uh some monies to see what we could do and exceeded my expectations.

Her uh her team uh finance, our grants people, I think even Liz helped out, James helped out.

It was a group effort.

Uh two separate projects awarded by MAG.

One of them was the number one received the number one award, and I think the one might have been number three, but I I don't remember, but way up there beat out the rest of of the Maricopa County uh to get this project.

And that wasn't done on accident.

That was because of their hard work, defining it, being ready for it, producing the need, showing that.

Uh very exciting.

So thank you for bringing that up.

Yeah, that's 28 million dollars that we would not have had uh to help build this road out at the end of the day.

And as you guys know, that road has a lot of four lanes, two lanes, one lanes, half lane, no sidewalk, lots of sidewalk.

And so to get it consistent, it's great.

And if it pleases council, um we didn't really talk about it, but since we're talking about it, um, if we want to talk about the lower water crossing, we we're not gonna be able to get a bridge.

Um, but I believe that we're trying to uh make some improvements on the river bottom as well.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Corbin.

Congratulations.

I would just like to say I don't I I think that we should be very proud of the work your team is doing and that we're being able to position ourselves to continue to receive federal grant dollars here in Avondale, Maricopa County, and I believe ADOT is a great steward of those funds.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Council um sorry, Councilmember Solorio.

Kim, thank you for the presentation.

Um after just being at a policy institute for transportation and infrastructure two weeks ago, um, it's really interesting to see that they're encouraging more local things happening and less on the federal government.

So it's really good to see us moving in the right direction and getting all these projects seen through.

And um thank you to everybody really, because it's it's key components with everyone involved, but it's nice to see that because some of the presentations we heard, it's it makes me a little bit sad that you know, basic needs that you think that every state, every city should have, they don't have it.

And you know, the political climate that we're in right now doesn't look like they're gonna get it anytime soon.

Thank you.

Councilmember Conde?

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for your presentation.

Well, you know, I have to echo council um member White's um comments because I'm most excited about the lower um Buckeye Road widening improvement.

You know, for years um we've have such a beautiful park down there at Festival Fields, and oftentimes I would see kids on their bikes or their skateboards trying to get um from LIGAS over to festival fields.

Um and it just saddened me, right?

That they couldn't get over there, that there's this road that's not safe for them.

And then I have received numerous complaints throughout the years from people that were in wheelchairs or people that had kids and strollers to get them to the festival fields.

So really bringing this road down there with um those improvements, it's gonna provide connectivity for our residents to go down and enjoy beautiful festival fields where that has the the best splash pad and um different events and this beautiful skate park.

So thank you and your team so much.

You really don't realize how much this really means to our community.

You guys did such a wonderful job.

And thank you for City Manager for really letting them know kind of what we expressed to you.

And now it's come to fruition, so I'm very, very excited for it.

So thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Comments are that you know, back in 2016 when I originally ran for council.

Um my big uh issue at the time was the number of lights on Dyser.

Just you drive down Dyser and it's light after light after light.

And it was then that I said, you know, we can't let this happen moving forward.

Uh and through education and time and learning about that it sometimes it's just they're required, whether we want them or not.

And I think that's an important point that we need to be able to communicate to our residents is that we don't just arbitrarily throw a light somewhere, but often it's the result of these is it CIA studies and others that uh require them for safety and for other purposes.

And so um as one who sits on Dysert every day going to work and just looking at the number of lights that I have to encounter.

And now, as your question alluded to McDowell 116th of another light just to the west of the um Avenue Boulevard light, um, that we don't just do them arbitrarily.

And uh and while you know sitting with them, sitting behind the light is not fun, or stopping and and going is not fun, that they are there for a purpose.

And so I'm I'm just glad for that education and information.

So I just wanted to make sure I communicated that.

Thank you, Mayor.

Okay, thank you so much, Kim.

And I think that was just for discussion.

Am I correct?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

This time we got a summary of current events from council members.

We got one from council member Solario.

So two weeks ago, I was very fortunate to receive a scholarship.

So it was no funds came out of the city budget for that one.

Um it was myself and 64 other elected officials from 14 different other states for the Nileo Policy Institute on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Uh Nileo is a national association of Latino elected and appointed officials, and they had a really great summit on transportation, infrastructure, and the climate that we're in today.

Uh very good.

Everything was great.

Obviously, the weather was not conducive on the way back home, but we drove home to make it back home to Avondale.

Um, other than that, I mean, just a wonderful time with elected people, like-minded people that have the same goals, nonpartisan and being in a room full of people that just want to do the right thing by their cities is always great.

Thank you.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, um, Mayor.

Thank you to Council City Manager's office.

I had the opportunity to be a member of the um governor's commission on African American Affairs and attend the leader as a member of the leadership consortium's delegation to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, 54th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, September 24th through September 28th.

Um I had the opportunity to listen and learn.

Um APS SRP supported a lot of the events for the consortium and the commission.

Um I spent time with Senator Kelly, got the opportunity to go visit his staff and their office.

Also had the opportunity to advocate for us to get more transit dollars here in Avondale.

Also um spent time with um Brittany Kohler, the um head lobbyist with NLC and Transit, Transportation Infrastructure Services, and I got to have the capstone of going to National League of Cities headquarters.

It's been remodeled.

And um behalf of Clarence Anthony, he invited any member of our council or any member of our city staff to come out if we're ever in DC and working.

NLC opened up their offices to all of us as a home away from home.

So that was amazing.

Um that was kind of a side quest that I took.

So just to thank everybody that um made that time great, including Arizona State University, I did say SRP, APS, um, Arizona, and the leadership consortium.

And today I had the opportunity to represent the entire city and unveil the countdown clock for um championship race weekend here at the Phoenix Raceway.

Um very proud that we have NASCAR coming back to do one more championship race in this cycle, and um we had a great kickoff clock countdown.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you.

Councilmember Weiss.

It's been a busy couple weeks here in the city, and I love it.

Um I did stop by Project Connect, which helps the homeless and um our sonar team was there as long and there were health care checks and people were getting showers and they were getting haircuts, and so these were the unsheltered people in our um city, and they um received multiple services there, and it was wonderful to go to.

Also toward uh Latty Corps School, uh their literacy hub, and I just really love the fact that they are um doing so much to help raise the um raise the green the reading grade level for the students um that are there and teaching them and their families how to make reading fun and engaging.

Thank you.

Councilmember Garcia.

Um, I attended the Mercy House Gala this Saturday, and it's so wonderful to see everything that Mercy and her team is doing out in that area.

And they kind of like talked about like maybe starting a like a new house in like the north of Avondale.

I think they just threw it out there, but that's kind of exciting because what they do is so amazing.

Um, I think one thing that I really love about what they do is like they're helping it teach the kids how to read.

Um, and that is something that I see as a mom and like being around a lot of children all the time that our kids don't know how to read, and no one takes the time to stop and like teach them, and they have the opportunity with tutors that volunteer their time to do that.

So it's wonderful.

And I also attended the new farmers market at um Astoria Mountain Community College, and it's so exciting.

The food was really good, and the shopping's gonna be fun, so that's where all my money might go for the holidays.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

No, I just like to add to what Jeanette said about the Mercy House.

I think the thing that touched me the other night was that they had four of the young the men that were in there originally.

Uh Mercy got them off the street, and the success that they've had and their families and everything else.

So it was an opportunity to see the success of some of these programs that we really have.

And then the night before that I had an opportunity to go to the QANES inauguration.

They've got uh clubs in 15 different schools throughout the West Valley, and they inaugurated all the presidents' vice president.

It was just amazing to see those young people participate.

Okay, really quickly, thank you, Dave.

Uh sorry, Parks and Rec putting on a great parks and treats event.

I was there, and I wanted to make sure I threw that in there among all the other events that were attended.

All right, can we get a motion for adjournment to executive session?

Got a motion for Councilmember Garcia, second from Councilmember Solorio.

Please vote.

Everybody, please drive safely home.

Have a great week.

We'll see you next meeting.

And for those who are listening online, City Council will not be coming back out to the council chamber.

Thank you.

Have a great night.