I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and public for which you stands one nation under God and visible with liberty and justice for a moral thank you.

Marcella, can we do roll call, please?

Councilmember Condi.

Here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember Weiss.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Present.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Here.

Mayor Panena.

Here.

Thank you so much.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

First, we're going to have our employee presentations and announcements.

First up will be Anisa from our own office for our senior management analyst who is going to introduce one of our interns.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers.

I'm excited to introduce tonight Basil Bayes Ribba Carey.

He's our newest Marvin Andrews, Jean Morris Fellow with the city.

Bayes is in the second year of his master's public administration program at Arizona State University with a concentration in public finance.

He is a double devil with a bachelor's in psychology from ASU.

During his undergraduate years, Bayes was able to engage with the community through uh his service with several nonprofit organizations, including Seed Philanthropy and the Assistance League of Phoenix, building his commitment to public service.

Most recently, Bayes served as a management intern for the Center of Urban Innovation at ESU and is also a budget and finance intern at Meracopa County.

So we're very excited to have these join us this year.

Bayes, welcome aboard, and thank you for joining Avondale.

Is there anything that you've uh encountered while you've been here this short time that you'd like to share?

Yes, and it's been a uh amazing team, and that's been the best part.

Will you join a uh a heck of a group?

I don't know if it's uh would it be a fraternity or what a cohort uh what I don't know how to to define it, but I hear nothing but great thing uh things about uh the fellows and how you still stay connected even after uh you you know put your time into wherever you're being hosted, and so thank you for joining us and we appreciate you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Mayor Council up next we have our engineering department, uh Kim Moon, your engineering director, your city engineer, uh, to make a uh new employee introduction.

Hi, good evening, Mayor Vice Mayor and Council.

I'm excited to introduce and welcome Eric Carrosco, who has joined our team as an associate engineer.

His first day of work was last week on Monday, August 18th.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Northern Arizona University, and he actually just received his engineering and training certificate and designation, so congratulations on that.

He brings a diverse range of experience, including work in SRP electric plan design, cell tower infrastructure, geotechnical field testing, and construction inspection.

In addition to his engineering background, he also has experience as a high school science teacher.

Eric will be doing civil engineering plan review for Liz Kahn.

We've got Liz in the back with us, as we often do in his workstation is near Viennet, Raoul and Carlos.

So if you get a chance, please be sure to stop by and say hello.

Welcome aboard, Eric.

Uh, you were a former uh teacher.

So tell me how does that correlate with this new position?

How can you use the the tools if you will?

Hi, yes.

Um I was a teacher.

I like to get everyone engaged, and in fact, that's I'm glad you brought that up.

Uh we actually had our uh about an hour session of the seat um video competition.

And it was really cool bringing all the engineers together working uh as a group to uh get that video going.

All right.

Well I'm sure that was a heavy lift.

Have they taught you the secret handshake yet?

I'm just I'm just jumping.

No, welcome aboard, Eric.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Mayor Council next we have uh the fire and medical department, uh Chief Rooney to make uh introductions.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

I have the pleasure and the honor of introducing you to our two newest firefighters.

These two gentlemen just spent 14 weeks training in this hot weather in the middle of the summer.

Uh they're about 10 pounds, 20 pounds lighter than them when they started.

And uh, but they they completed everything and they got signed off, they graduated last week, and we're really excited about introducing them to you.

And and they've actually both completed two shifts out there, so Avondale is that much safer because these guys are out there.

So I'm gonna start with uh Javier Vargas.

This is Javier next to me here.

Uh he was born in Los Angeles, just like myself, which is so I'm very proud to have him another Los Angeles uh um born and raised.

But you weren't raised, you were raised in Avondale, right?

See, he he got smart and came out here sooner than I did.

Um and has lived here ever since.

Before joining Avondale Fire and Medical.

He worked at the local In N Out Burger here in Avondale.

So uh after the words, you can ask him all the secret sauces and things that you can get, the secret menu there.

Um he played baseball his whole life, and he started in center field uh in varsity for all four years in high school.

So um uh we're really looking forward to him playing against PD here soon.

That's Javi Eric.

The next I have uh firefighter Scott Kimme, and he was born in Avondale.

And uh before joining Avondale Fire and Medical, he worked at the local Sands Club here, and I just found this out from his family that four months ago he was named uh he received an award for Juicer of the Month.

So you might see him in the paper, he might have a plaque up there for him.

I don't know, but we're really excited he's on our team now.

Uh let's see, he went to school here in Avonil at West Point, and you may or may not know, but his father, Rich, works for us, he's he's right over here.

And uh he's our uh fleet manager.

He grew up playing soccer, football and basketball and baseball, and again, that should help us against PD this next year.

Um let's see, what else can I say?

Um whenever we hire or promote anybody in the fire department, I sit down and talk with them, and I say their first job is to make me look like a genius for hiring them.

And that's a tough job.

That's a long haul.

So these two guys are gonna be um uh great firefighters for a number of years here in Avondale.

So please welcome so really really quickly, uh, Chief or Javier and Scott, uh, being that you were raised here in Avondale or grew up in Avondale and attended schools here, just if you could just quickly uh share with us what that feels like to represent the community that you were raised in uh or even grew up in.

Yes, sir, absolutely.

Well, I've lived here in Avondale almost my whole life, moved here in 2007, so I've seen the city grow to what it is today, and it's just an absolute pleasure, means everything to me to serve the community that I live in.

So thank you guys so much.

Thank you.

Welcome aboard.

And uh again, it's a huge honor serving uh the city of Avondale, uh seeing how much it's grown, and also brings a lot of pride, you know, being from here, being raised here, just being a part of that that growth and uh being a caretaker for my community.

Well, thank you so much.

And uh, you know, I'm sure our youth can look to you, people in the community who know you can look up to you and just realize that the potential is there to do just what you did.

So thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Mayor and council up next, we have our IT department.

We have uh I believe it'll be Jeff, yep, our IT director, CIO, uh making the next presentation.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

I get the honor to introduce you tonight to uh Rob Pagazzo.

Um he joined our team as our senior network engineer this summer.

So Rob joins us um from the city of Peoria, where he served for the last six years as a network engineer and then later the infrastructure architect.

Um in that role, he led uh numerous citywide projects that modernized and secured their critical network systems.

Um focused on uh the water systems and the city's fiber network.

Um prior to municipal work, um Rob gained a variety of his expertise um in the public school system, uh, working for uh the Dys Art Unified School District.

Um so having grown up in the West Valley and he's now raising a family here.

Rob is personally invested in using his experience to benefit the community where he lives.

His primary focus will be ensuring the availability and the network security of our system too.

Awesome.

Welcome aboard, Rob.

And I'm not gonna ask you to compare uh our great city to Peoria.

Uh but uh what what is something that lured you over to Avondale?

And now that you're here, um, what is something that you've uh come to learn as part of that experience?

Well, I think uh one is that um I live in Bocai, and I spend a long time out of the book area.

So being closer home and actually getting to work in the community that I live in and use every day was uh definitely good to me.

Uh I think as far as what I'm bringing from there, just some of the different technical practices and some of the skill we have there for here and here at Avon.

Well, we're glad to have you and welcome aboard.

Thank you.

Mayor and council.

Um, the Office of Public Safety staff, she could not be here tonight, but we will introduce Carolyn at our next uh meeting.

So up next we have our public works department, uh, your public works director, Kirk.

Uh, we'll make the introductions.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council, and pleased to introduce the new employees in the public works department.

I have one in person here tonight, and we have a short video to share.

First, I'd like to introduce Alyssa Rojas.

Alyssa wanted to be in here in person tonight, although she has a very early start time tomorrow morning.

She joined the city in May as a solid waste equipment operator.

Um, she's been in the industry for about five years and was previously operating at the city of Peoria.

We have her working on both the bulk trash crew as well as operating the uh automated side loader for curbside trash and recycling collection.

Alyssa really enjoys seeing how appreciative people are when she actually does that service to them, knowing that she's made a positive impact on our residents.

When Alyssa isn't working, she enjoys video games and anime.

Um she's been doing great work for the city, and we are excited to have her on our team.

Mayor, if you would like to ask a couple questions before we go to the video, I'm sure she'd be happy to answer them.

Yeah, no.

See, Kirk puts you on the spot.

That that was not me.

That's just on the record.

Uh no, but thank you for your service here to Avondale.

But while you're out there in the neighborhoods and and working with residents, what are some of those things that uh you would like for them to know uh in regards to being out there with bulk trash or utilizing the sort of the side loader as you're traversing through the communities that uh might be a fun fact that they're not aware of.

There's a whole bunch of fun facts, but just one thing that a big big note is that it's pick up a lot of trash and say I don't know how heavy it is or how dangerous it is, but uh I don't smoke back, but close enough.

You you do a good job out there, and and you're right, our residents may not know how much tons of material are are taking that go through your hands and and others.

So welcome aboard and thank you so much, and we look forward to watching the video.

Thank you, Mayor Vice and our council.

I'll direct your attention to the screen in front of you for the video.

Hi, my name is Joshua Bagnosh.

I'm with the public works division in solid waste.

I am an equipment operator, and um I came to the city because everybody I know that has ever worked for a city has nothing but good things to say about it.

They all love their job here and there, so I wanted to be a part of that.

The schedule's good.

Um the wages are really good, so that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to come.

And uh I really enjoyed so far.

I love enjoying learning about the city and seeing new things about it and learning about it.

So I'm really happy and thank you for having me.

Hello, my name is Sheldon Bayguy.

I am a wastewater operator at the water recommendation facility here in the city of Avondale.

Uh who brought me to Avondale with my family, and my favorite part of being part of this city municipality is that it was very welcoming.

They made me feel right at home uh working with the team whenever I need help.

They help me with I don't know anything.

They're everybody's more than more than happy to help me and show me how to do it right, how to do it properly, and uh what I do with my free time is I go to the gym, I go hiking, I go outside and explore.

I live in Tempe, but uh I would love to move to the city of Avondale.

And it's very beautiful out here.

I like the scenery.

I take the back home, the road back home, and I enjoy just the mountain to the south.

And uh I like looking at that view every day for that work as well.

Well, Kirk, thank you to Sheldon Josh, and thank you for being here tonight, Alyssa.

We appreciate having you.

Thank you.

Ron, next item, please.

Mayor and council, uh, and mayor, vice mayor, and counsel, I really appreciate this.

I don't get down on this side of the podium very often, so I get very happy when I get to recognize uh one of our employees, uh, someone especially of Tracy's caliber.

Come on up.

You have to be bad, you can be bashful later.

So good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

I'd like to take a moment to recognize a significant professional achievement by one of our own, Miss Tracy Stevens, our assistant city manager for the city of Avondale.

Tracy recently uh earned the credentialed manager designated from the International City County Management Association, also known as ICMA.

It is a prestigious honor that reflects a career built on leadership, integrity, and dedication to public service.

The ICMA credential manager designation is awarded to local government leaders who demonstrate a high-level executive experience, a strong educational foundation, and a firm commitment to ethics and continuous professional development.

Fewer than 1400 professionals across the across the country have earned this designation.

Tracy brings 29 years.

Wow.

29 years of experience in planning, development services, economic development, with most of it right here in the West Valley, specifically here at the City of Avondale.

Nineteen years, right?

Going on 19 years here at the City of Avondale.

Since joining the uh City of Avondale since in 2007, Tracy has served in several leadership roles, including planning manager, development engineering services director, deputy city manager, and currently is our assistant city manager.

Tracy is a proud graduate of the ICMA High Performance Leadership Academy.

She also is an active member of both ICMA and the Arizona City and County Management Association, better known as ACMA.

And we're proud to have such a dedicated and accomplished professional serving our community.

Please uh uh join me in congratulating Miss Tracy Stevens on this outstanding achievement and thanking her for continued leadership and service to the City of Avondale and her residents.

So, Tracy, share with us the experience of going through this process.

I mean, as busy as you are here and being able to fit in this education component to your schedule, just kind of walk us through what that was like.

Um okay, thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council.

I appreciate the support and recognition, and thank you to Ron for supporting me through this process.

And um, as you mentioned, Mayor, is it it is a process.

Um it is a um a requirement that you complete a work plan and um provide that to uh members of my peers through ICMA.

Um it's through an assessment that is completed and then identifying areas where um it's important to uh focus on those two areas.

In my case, it's um efficiencies in system and service deliveries and strategic leadership.

And so those are the two areas that uh I will be focusing on over the next year.

And it's also just continued leadership, a commitment, as as Ron said, a commitment to high performance standards and working with the highest integrity.

Um it's a commitment to lifelong learning and professional development.

And so over the next year, those are the two areas that I'll be working on.

Well, that was uh a lot to take in.

I can only imagine how busy you were again in in uh working towards this credential, and we are grateful for you know that opportunity and that experience and expertise that you bring to the leadership team.

So are there any members of council that have any words, comments?

Okay, Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Congratulations, Tracy.

I think the entire city knows how important I feel about credentialed leaders, and so I'm very proud that you're a member of our team and all of your service to the city, and I look forward to all the great things that you'll be doing in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, well, thank you so much again, and we share your your achievement.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Mayor Council up next is we have a proclamation for National Police Canine Day.

And I believe uh Chief Espinoza will kick it off.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

As we let our uh team in, I'll tell you a little bit of the reason why we're here.

First of all, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council, thank you for having us.

Also, thank you for uh taking the time to recognize our canine unit.

If before we turn the mic over to you for the proclamation, if I can introduce uh our team and tell you a little bit about our canine unit.

The canine unit is led by Lieutenant Heath Britton and Sergeant Morgan Ayers, but no canine.

Uh Officer Bo Wagner with his partner Ake.

Oscar Samoniego with his partner Paco, who couldn't be here today.

Officer Michael Orosco and his partner Barrett, who's not here today.

Officer Caleb Newman with his partner uh Seek.

Oh, you brought him in, all right.

Uh and Officer Joe Torito with his partner X.

So a little bit about our canine unit.

Uh, all of our dogs are dual purpose dogs, meaning that they have uh two jobs.

Their main job, every uh dog is trained in being a patrol dog, meaning that they are trained to uh do article searches, they're also trained to uh search for people, and they also are trained to assist us with uh making arrest.

All the dogs have a secondary job.

We have uh five dogs, three of them are trained to uh detect narcotics, while the other two are trained to detect uh explosives.

Uh mayor, at this time we'll be more than happy to answer any questions, or I will turn it over to you for the uh proclamation.

Thank you so much, and I'll read the proclamation and then we can have comments by council.

I'll just start by saying that I was just sharing earlier that last year I was able to go and see Zeke compete.

And if you've never seen these officers out in action or on duty, um they're amazing animals.

And um I'll go ahead and read the proclamation now, and again we'll we'll see if there's any comments from council.

Whereas police canines are highly trained and courageous partners in law enforcement, relied upon by agencies across the nation to help ensure public safety, detect illegal substances, locate missing persons, apprehend suspects, and protect their human partners in the line of duty.

And whereas these loyal and skilled dogs perform critical roles that often require precision and speed beyond human ability, making them invaluable in enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement operations and saving lives every day.

And whereas the city of Avondale proudly recognizes and honors the extraordinary contributions of the police canine units across the nation on National Police Canine Day and the outstanding service of its own police canine unit, whose tireless efforts strengthen public safety and demonstrate unwavering professionalism, dedication, and excellence.

And whereas National Police Canine Day is an opportunity to express deep gratitude for the bravery and sacrifice of police canines, as well as the commitment and care of their handlers who form strong bonds with their canine partners and exemplify the highest standards of service.

And whereas this day also serves to honor the memory of fallen canines who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty to reaffirm the city's support for the ongoing growth and safety of its canine program, including the opening of the new canine facilities in 2025.

And whereas police canines also play a vital role in community outreach, hoping to build trust and positive relationships between law enforcement and the public through demonstrations, school visits, and public events that educate and inspire community members of all ages.

And whereas September 1st is National Police Canine Day, a day dedicated to recognizing the importance of our police canines and a time for us to thank our City of Avondale police canine handlers.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the city of City of behalf of the City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona hereby proclaim September 1st, 2025 as National Police Canine Day and affirm our city's commitment to the Avondale Police Canine Unit.

Congratulations.

Right on cue.

Good job, Z.

There are any other members of council who wish okay, uh Councilmember Solorio.

Thank you for being here tonight.

It's so great to see everyone here.

And not was really hoping to see all of them, but I get it.

But I'll take more than one.

But when I got into council, um, I think I met Officer Sammy first, and that was my first interaction with the dog.

And I I love dogs, so I was like, can I pet the dog?

Can I do this?

And he was like, nope, you know, doing that.

But um they work so hard, and it's so great to see that you guys now have a dedicated facility to have them where they can have fun.

I actually asked one of the officers, I'm like, he probably doesn't want to come home anymore.

He wants to be there.

Um, but it is such a great facility.

You guys all work so hard, I imagine, you know, having a career in law enforcement, but not only that, then learning the component of working with the dog is huge.

So thank you for everything you do.

Thank you.

Councilman Roy.

Thank you so much for being here tonight.

I one of the funnest things um that I've gone to as a citizen, and I strongly recommend citizens to do this, is the Citizens Police Academy.

And one of the great nights that we had was when we got to see the dogs in action, and you guys were showing them to um all of the citizens to see the new um building that you have, the kennel.

Um, with the ability to train there and practice there.

I just I'm so grateful.

That was something that came before I was on council, but I really, really love the fact that we invested in um in your department and in in our canines.

So anyway, thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you for all you do.

Thank you, Councilman Weiss.

Councilman Roy.

Thank you so much.

Um, Mayor, thank you so much.

Chief, uh Lieutenant Sergeant, and the entire team in Canine.

I really appreciate the fact that I know I'm not supposed to touch the dogs now.

And I think that's probably the hardest thing because not only um do we see all the hot hearts around the city, but you guys are one of the most caring um law enforcement agencies in the valley, so it's very hard for us to kind of walk away from you and not want to touch the dogs.

But thank you for all that you do.

Thank you, all the dogs that are here.

You guys are being really quiet and well behaved.

And I know I have made a quick request of um the city manager's office, and you guys came through and gave us all dogs as well.

Um, I know former um chief uh assistant city manager Nanagay had a lot to do with us getting canine here in the city, so I want to thank you as well, sir.

I think it's very important that we know where we've gone, where we've been and know where we're going.

And we really appreciate all of your contributions.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Councilmember Garcia.

They always behave exactly when you need them to, right?

I having experienced, you know, being on that side working with them.

I know how what a strong relationship you guys build with them, but they save lives.

These dogs work harder almost than some people, and they're not acknowledged as much.

And I love that we're doing this.

I love how you guys treat them.

Um I've heard the way you guys feed them, where they sleep, and it's just wonderful to see that here in Avindale that we love and support our canine partners and that we acknowledge them because they do work really, really hard, and they save lives more than people could ever imagine.

So thank you guys for everything you guys do, and thank you for you know, training them well.

Thanks again.

We appreciate you guys being here.

We appreciate you.

We appreciate our our canine friends here, and um I'm glad that we're able to celebrate this day.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

At this time, uh, we have item number three, uh public appearances.

I do have a blue card here.

Are there any other cards or anything else, Marcella?

Mr.

Mr.

Mayor and Councilman go on.

Um, we have two new recruits and they're family members who would love to have they're not recruits, they're firefighters now, but love to have a picture with council before we move on, if you don't mind.

No.

They'd love to.

Well, I don't know if they'd love to, but I would love for you to have pictures with them.

Yes, no, thank you.

Sorry, I skipped that part.

Okay, Council wouldn't mind joining me down there for some photos.

Okay.

Item number three again on schedule public appearances.

We this this we have no other cards but this one, correct, Marcella?

That's correct, Mary, just one.

Okay.

Okay, Teresa DeSante.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members.

On June the twenty third, two thousand twenty-five, I requested a copy of the intergovernment governmental agreement contract of unit LA one seventy-five.

Remember I said the little red truck from the city of Avondale.

What I received made no mention of unit LA one seventy-five.

There was absolutely nothing regarding unit LA seventy one.

So on August 17th, 2025.

Excuse me.

I submitted another request to the city specifically requesting a copy of Avondale's unit LA 175 contract.

They are owned by the city and not lease.

Pleased to be here before you this evening to provide you with this update regarding the family bridge housing program.

The purpose of tonight's presentation is to share some project history.

We want to provide some updates regarding the design of the of the building.

Uh we want to share some information about the services, review the budget, and then define the action that's being requested.

Before I jump into that, I want to provide a little refresher about what family bridge housing is.

Family bridge housing at its core is temporary housing designated to fill the gap.

It's exactly that a bridge between homelessness and permanent housing.

It provides a safe and supportive environment for families to work towards and secure long-term housing.

Bridge housing is often the critical step in the process of moving from the streets to shelter, streets or shelter into permanent housing, particularly for those families that already have a housing voucher in hand and are just waiting for a unit to become available.

A little background regarding this project.

We initiated and got council support for this project back in July of 2021.

We began design for that project in December of 2021, and then in August of 2022, the project was paused due to supply chain issues, inflation, and then also contractor performance.

In April of 2023, the project was infused with funding as Maricopa County contacted us and wanted to support the project with 1.7 million dollars of American Rescue Act funding.

Then again, in April or in October of 2024, County wanted to infuse additional dollars into this project and increase the total funding or the total contribution to 1.9 million dollars.

In June of 2025, we closed an IFB with seven bids that all came in above our current budget.

We do anticipate with your support moving forward with this project and completing the project in April of 2026.

The image before you provides an aerial of the project and its relationship to our resource center, uh the Avondale Police substation and canine facility.

And we're sharing this with you today because it's really important to acknowledge the uh relationship between the bridge housing project and the resource center.

Uh we believe that there's a lot of synergy and power behind having uh bridge housing located on a campus with the Avondale Resource Center because those wraparound services provided out of the resource center are so critical to the success of these families.

Here's a detail of those units.

Uh it's a total of three duplexes, um, which are on the east side of Elysio C.

Felix Way and right across the street uh to the east of the resource center.

This image is a floor plan for a duplex.

As you will note as you're reviewing this, there are two bedrooms for each unit, a living room, a kitchen, a covered entry, and a dedicated laundry um room in each of these units.

These units are approximately 85 or 858 square feet each.

And um we think these are fantastic units designed to serve families and um will really enhance the their future success.

Here's an elevation of the units.

Uh again, this is a duplex.

The units are constructed with uh stucco, painted stucco, brick veneer, and metal paneling.

I'm gonna go back to this.

Um I also want to re indicate that the architecture is designed to reflect and echo the architecture of the resource center, creating a cohesive campus, a cre cohesive look and feel of the campus.

Before you we have an overview of the services, um there are really three parts to this, beginning with eligibility.

Uh, we've worked to create a program that's designed to prioritize Avondale residents.

Um we're looking to serve families with at least one child, one minor child.

Um the families should be enrolled in a housing voucher program.

As I mentioned earlier, it's really important that these families already have an off-ramp and a way to uh connect with permanent housing.

So these families that we identify will have a voucher for housing, and they're just waiting for a unit to become available.

Uh another important piece is that commitment to casework.

We want to make sure that these families are set up for success.

And so there'll be uh intensive case management that happens with these families and skill building.

Um that leads me to engagement.

Um but uh on occasion you'll have families that are able to move into permanent housing in as little as six months.

Again, that case management is so critical that case management will help these families develop skills such as workforce development, um, you know, resume writing, interview skills, um, how to maintain and upkeep a house and the residents, uh, access to child care, and all of the wealth of resources that we have available at the at the resource center.

And then ultimately we want to exit these families into permanent housing.

We do that through navigation, um, ongoing wraparound support for si up to six months after they've exited the bridge housing, and then uh frequent follow-ups with those families.

Uh a little overview of some of the goals.

Really, our ultimate goal is family stability.

We want to make sure that these families have a stafe, a safe and stable environment for the children.

Um, as Brian um reminds me often, one of the greatest, if not the only predictor of homelessness is previous experience of homelessness.

So we really want to make sure that these children that grow up have a stable environment and don't end up in the same situation.

Um we want to make sure that that stability helps the kids maintain attendance and that they keep their grades up and they're connected to the same school in the same community that they grew up in.

We want to make sure that the adult parents have access to stable employment and that having a roof over your head helps folks maintain that stable employment.

Uh we help them through the goal setting of uh managing their finances and maintaining and developing that financial security and ultimately again permanent housing.

We do uh anticipate some costs and so annual uh operation costs for these units.

Uh we're looking at 150,000 of general funds per year.

And then there's also a case management and navigation component, and uh, we have these funds in hand already.

These are um home ARPA funds uh at amount at an amount of sixty thousand dollars per year.

So tonight for um the budget request that we are are requesting, we're requesting two hundred and eighty thousand dollars from contingency for construction.

This will allow us to award the contract to the lowest and a responsible bid.

This request will increase the total uh city's total compar contribution to just over one million dollars and the overall project budget to 2,989,061.

The second part of that is $75,000 from contingency for project operations.

This is a prorated amount that will allow us to engage with a qualified property management, um, a nonprofit organization to operate the units that will be opening um in FY26.

The 150,000 of ongoing annual operating costs will be included in the city's long-range financial forecasts.

The slide before you now is the recommended motion.

Uh we're request requesting a motion to approve a budget transfer from contingency for bridge housing in the amount of 280,000 dollars, and the approval of a budget transfer from contingency in the amount of 75,000 for operations of the built bridge housing.

Um, and then authorizing finance and budget to and staff to take the necessary steps to execute the transfer.

With that, um I'm available for any questions and comments you may have.

Thank you, Chris, for the presentation.

Um it was earlier in my meeting with leadership that I was reminded and it was communicated that you know these are things that large municipalities do for their residents.

And so a city of our size, uh, while we kind of fit, we're not a large city, we're not a small city, but the fact that we're able to provide six units uh to assist with this transitional period uh speaks wonders and speaks volumes of of our commitment to the community.

Um I also mentioned or to leadership uh that I was happy with the six units, but was what was also communicated to me as well is the fact that while that's six units potential is really 12 families if they're going through this transition and utilizing the short time prior to these these off-ramps, if you will, or finding permanent housing.

So again, while it's only six units, and I don't I shouldn't even say only, while it's six units, the potential impact is greater than that.

And uh I know that the families are gonna benefit through this transitional period, and you uh you mentioned the term synergy.

The fact that it's so close to the to the uh the center where for whatever reason I can't think resource center um just helps again in term terms terms of that commitment uh to those services and the engaged the engagement that will be required uh just makes things so much easier.

Access to local school districts, whether it be charter or otherwise, is also close by, and so I believe these families are gonna benefit for a whole for a whole host of reasons.

So um I like to open it up to council.

I know we do have a motion and a second here, but before we get to that, um council member conde?

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Chris.

I love everything about this.

I absolutely everything about this.

Um thank you guys for being so thoughtful in the process.

It's not just providing them a place to live, it's providing them with resources and a goal to get out and get into something more permanent.

And it's six houses, six units is a lot.

Just like Mayor said, it's more than six families, it'll be ultimately maybe up to twelve per year.

So that's huge.

Um I do have a question.

Um I know transitioning into something more permanent.

If it's uh rental, those often require deposits.

Do we have resources available for them to help them with deposits in a new apartment?

Mayor, vice mayor, uh council member condee, members of council.

Um we do.

Um so the idea is again identifying families that already have a housing voucher.

But if we encounter a family um that doesn't have the voucher or they need additional support, um our resource center is armed with multiple funding streams that can do just that.

We can provide those deposits um for folks for both rent um and utilities.

Nice.

And that was my next question.

Are they responsible for their own utilities?

Mayor, vice mayor members of council.

So while they're in the um the bridge housing units, they will not be responsible for utilities.

Um we will be working with them to develop um savings accounts and make sure that they're building up that that um safety net um for when they do transition transition into bridge housing.

Um but ultimately that case management is designed to make sure that they're they've got all the skills they need to be successful.

Gotcha.

And then I had a question will pets be allowed?

Uh mayor, vice member members of council, pets will not be allowed on site, but we will be working with a nonprofit partner who's armed with a variety of resources.

So we'll make sure that we support those families, and we do not want um pets to be a barrier to to housing.

Okay.

And then are there patios in those homes for folks to sit outside or mayor, vice member members of council?

I'm sorry, I breezed over the the um the uh site really quickly, but there are um there's a covered entry uh where somebody could set up a couple of chairs and sit out front, and then there's also a um dedicated backyard area with each of the units.

Nice.

I'm I'm glad you you mentioned um that you'll be working with them regarding like um how finances how to manage that.

That's so important as they continue to move on on their journey in their own own homes.

Um but thank you guys for all that you do.

You guys have done a fantastic job.

I'm super proud of it.

Thank you.

Um there's nothing on this side.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Chris, for being such a good steward through the resource center and your leadership of neighborhood and family services.

Um, what is the occupancy of each unit?

Mayor, vice center, members of council.

Um so we're anticipating families of approximately uh four people in size.

We could probably accommodate five.

Um it would be be kind of tight, but we're anticipating families you know, mother, father, and uh up to two children.

And do we have to have um a different gender children in different rooms?

Because I could see that might be uh concern.

Mayor Vice Mayor, we would work closely with the families to figure out you know how best to situate the the families and the children.

Um we will be working with a highly qualified nonprofit partner who can help us navigate that.

And they have other um resources and units in their inventory.

So if we encounter something challenging like that, we could perhaps tap into some of their other um resources.

Um thank you for doing the financial stability um piece there.

Will we be working?

Is this a part of their case management?

Are we using a separate financial stability program that will be um that they'll kind of have to meet milestones with?

Mayor by Snayer or members of council.

So the nonprofit organizations that we intend to work with have a huge umbrella of support services, um, and they do specialize, have specialists within the organization that focus on financial literacy.

So um that operator uh and case management team will be able to provide all those those services.

And finally, are these non-smoking units?

Mayor Vice Mayor members of council, yes, they would be non-smoking units.

Thank you.

Okay, Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Chris, thank you so much.

I know Tina and I were on council a long time ago when we talked about that.

And we're just grateful to see it to come to fruition at this particular time.

Thank you for all of that.

I just had a couple of questions just in my mind.

ARPA funds, do they have a limit?

Are they going to run out sometime?

Do we have to use them before a certain date or am I confusing that with something else?

Mayor, license members of council, that's an excellent question.

Yes, the ARPA funds do have obligation timelines.

Obligation for the ARPA funds, if I remember correctly, is um December of 2026.

They do need to be obligated by that point.

So by April 26th, we should be well with fundamentals right there.

The other question I had is maintenance of the unit.

The people are in there for six months.

Who handles the maintenance cleanup uh air conditioner repair?

Is that the property management?

Is that Avondale?

Mayor, Vice Mayor members of council.

So the operator would be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance.

And then there's going to be frequent check-ins with the families.

And part of that is inspection of the units to make sure that they are caring for them properly.

That's going to be part of the arena is that they understand that it's the responsibility to use the equipment and the facilities properly.

And I guess the one the last one here is furnishings will be furnished.

It will be furnished.

We do have that included in the budget.

Very good.

And I guess just the last comment I've got is thank you very much for attempting to or training these people to meet the future.

I mean, not only do you provide a house and a place for them, but that only does so good the training and financial aspects of it.

I was talking to grandkids the other night, and Bellinfant and Chuck Booker are just doing some things like that.

They just don't get that opportunity or understanding in school anymore.

So you and your group teaching and training them how to face the future is is excellent.

Thank you so much.

Mayor Vice Mayor, if I may I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge um the team behind me.

Um I acknowledge James, who's been instrumental in helping us move this project forward.

I don't know that we would be here without his effort.

Um and then of course Brian Planty, who's just phenomenal, um, knows this issue.

Councilmember Condi.

Thank you, May.

One more question.

Um, who's going to be doing the case management piece?

Mayor, vice mayor, members of council.

So our desire is to find an operator who all is also skilled in the case management.

Um we do have um organizations that we're currently working with that are providing that service um currently.

Um our ultimate desire with with the guidance of uh finance and procurement is to um you know work with an equally qualified provider, if not that provider.

Thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, uh, before I just want to clarify um the ARPA funds have to be spent by the end of next year, by December of next year.

They had to be obligated last year or this year, and they have to be spent by next year, which um will be open in April, so they'll be spent.

Thank you.

That's why I'm in uh family services and not budget and finance.

Well, thank you so much, Chris and the team, Brian and James.

Thank you.

We appreciate it.

We got a motion from Councilmember White, second from Councilmember Weiss.

The rest of the council please vote.

Okay, item passes six to one.

Thank you so much for being here and and uh presenting on this.

Okay, item number six, summary of current events.

Okay, councilmember Garcia.

Um I attended the Black Canvas Summer Showcase Art Show, and Parks and Recs, you guys always knock it out of the park.

But to see all of the children who participated in it was amazing, and their artwork that they spent all summer doing it was beautiful.

Like I was like, I need to grab some of these.

I waited until everyone left to see what was left because I wanted to put some in my office.

Um but it was such a such an awesome opportunity for the kids to get involved and do something that they love and are passionate about, and then to share it with the community.

And then I also attended the annual awards banquet for the police department this past weekend, and it was just it's so great to hear the heroic stuff that our police department does every day that it's almost sometimes unspeakable.

Um, you know, they talked about how some of our police officers say that a baby that had uh got it into fentanyl, like a six-month-old, and we don't realize all the hard work they do every day.

So I just want to thank the police department for everything they do, and that I really do pray over you guys and hope that you guys go home and are able to, you know, sleep at night knowing that you guys are saving lives.

Thank you.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

I had the opportunity to represent the city of Avondale at the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials in Houston, Texas, um, July 30th through August 2nd.

I was honored to be a part of what we called homecoming advancing educational equity and excellence and economic opportunity for black Americans.

The historic mayor, former mayor of the city of Houston was honored.

Actually, Congressman Sylvester Turner, who passed away at the top of the year.

So that was absolutely interesting.

I'm honored also that NLC allowed me to conduct yoga for our participants the three mornings that we were there.

And so we had a small group, but we focused on really healthy cities and being able to have sustainability and innovation.

And by far, this was one of the best tech conferences I've heard of in a long time.

We heard from NVIDIA, Google, um, and a few other major tech players, and so I got the opportunity to learn a lot and want to make sure that we continue that innovation and support often communities that are underserved.

And then this past week I had the opportunity to attend League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

And I'm sure everybody else has a lot to share about that.

But I was very excited that in Arizona we've kicked off, and now we have Arizona Black Caucus of Local Elected officials.

So I'm very proud of that as well.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Councilmember Solorio.

Uh, like Max, I attended the Arizona League, the or what we call the state conference, which was very nice.

I was also very privileged to attend Civic Craft, which is the first program of its kind.

Very excited to represent Avondale and be with um 49 other participants from across the state in a program that's being held and seeing where they go with it and at no cost to our city for the inaugural year, which is always great.

And to be in a place in space with other people around us.

And uh, we played Step in the Circle.

I was not in the circle more than two times.

So I am very thankful for people like Ron because some of the stories they shared.

I was like, we don't have that in our city, not in my city, I would say.

And thank you to Liz and Dillard and Whitney who uh are constantly you know rounding us up, make sure we get to places, telling us where we need to be, because you know, elected officials get talking to other elected officials, and there's no coming to find us.

So thank you, Liz.

Thank you, Dillard, thank you, Whitney, thank you, Ron, for being out there, Nicole.

It was great to see you out there as well.

Thank you.

Councilmember Weiss.

Hi.

Um, I also attended the um Arizona League of Cities and Towns.

And I just wanted to say um, Cheryl, you were um recognized in um a couple of the different um talks that I went to.

One was on innovation in the workforce and um the collaboration from um the high schools and EMTC, and they specifically um shouted out to you.

They also shouted out to our Wii Ride, getting people to the colleges.

Um it's really nice to be in a in a room with a bunch of different people from all over the state and have Avondale shout it out a few different times.

So just thank you, and then thank you for the team for supporting us.

So pretty much everybody's already mentioned many of the events uh that I was able to attend as well.

So thank you.

Um I will share that about three weeks ago um I had the pleasure of joining our code enforcement and uh our NROs at the Block Watch that was hosted at the Mercy Mercy House with Mercy and uh Cash and Has Hart.

And um I really appreciated our organization having such a uh a big seat at the table.

All right.

Um next item is adjournment.

Can I get a motion, please?

We got a motion from Councilmember White, a second from Councilmember Solorio.

Please vote.

Item passes.

Everybody have a uh great night.

Please be safe going home.

You saw the weather out there and uh drive safe, please, and we'll see you at the next council meeting in September.